Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1710 Cloud of Ammon
"Although he was so arrogant just now, in the end he was easily defeated by me, Mr. Manjoume."

Seeing that Amon only had two cards left in the back row, Manjoume said smugly, "Although your tactics are very good, they are completely useless against me, Mr. Manjoume!"

Not to mention that Manjoume only had two monsters on the field in attack position that could attack, because of the effect of [Pluto Barrier Wave], Manjoume could not deal any damage to Amon. Therefore, after destroying [King of Mist] and [Rain Barrier Statue], he decisively ended his battle phase and entered the second main phase.

Since he had already completed most of the possible developments, Manjoume didn't have many good cards to play even though he had entered the second main phase. One of the two cards in his hand was a trap card that was not useful for the time being, and the other was the [Original Stone Dragon - Imperial Jade Dragon] that had just been added to his hand. Therefore, Manjoume planned to just set one card and end his turn.

"In the second main phase, I place a card face down, and then end the game—"

Just as Manjoume was halfway through his sentence, the mysterious face-down card in Amon's back row was suddenly revealed at that very moment, as he inserted the card into the Spell & Trap Zone.

A golden scale appeared before Manjou's eyes, but it was not the Millennium Scale, one of the seven Millennium Items that had disappeared from the world; it was merely a trap card.

"Trap Card [Balance of Judgment]: This card can only be activated if the number of cards on your opponent's field is greater than the total number of cards in your hand and field."

After being cleared of the field, Amon, who only had two cards left on the field and whose hand was returned to the deck by Manjoume's effect of "Dark Lord Diablos", was naturally able to activate this card. At this moment, Manjoume not only had three monsters in the front row and three cards in the back row, but also had a full four more cards than Amon!

"The difference in the number of cards between the two sides is four. Therefore, I can draw that difference in the number of cards from my deck."

Thanks to the effect of [The Scales of Judgment], Amon actually drew a total of four cards from his deck in one go!
[Amon Garram: 3200LP, hand 0→4]

Location: [The Village of the Magic Clan]

"What?!" Manjou raised an eyebrow, glaring at Amon with displeasure, then glanced at the [Hades Barrier Wave] card in his graveyard. "Although it has a very strong effect, the inability to finish off the opponent in one turn is a significant drawback."

"But—don't forget you don't have any Spellcaster monsters around right now, Amon Garlem. The spell card that sealed my spells before is now being used on yourself by your own cards!"

"Drawing a lot of cards is meaningless if you can't play them. My turn is over!"

【Manjou: 4000LP, Hand 2→1】

【Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -】【DEF1100】

Diablos, the Dark Lord, [ATK3000]

【Original Stone Dragon - Underground Yellow Arsenic Garnet Dragon】【ATK2600】

Backcourt: [Raw Gem Royal Vein] [Flip Card (Raw Gem Light Piercing)] [Flip Card]

Because of the presence of [Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -], Manjoume's current Dragon monsters cannot be targeted by Amon for attacks, and [Dark Lord Diablos] cannot be targeted by effects or Tributed. Even if Amon were to attack [Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -], Manjoume could simply discard a Dragon monster in his hand to counter it, not to mention that he has two cards in his back row to protect him.

On the other hand, while "Village of the Spellcasters" is indeed a very powerful field spell card for sealing off enemies, its biggest flaw is that once the opponent can play a Spellcaster monster, the sealing effect disappears. And after Amon loses his Spellcaster monster, this field spell can even hinder Amon's own spell card activation.

However, breaking this restriction is actually quite simple. Although Amon cannot activate spell cards, including field spell cards, he can set a field spell card on the field to replace the already activated "Spellcaster Village".

"My turn, draw a card." As expected, Amon used this method after starting his turn, taking out a card from his hand to replace the [Spellcaster's Village] in the field zone. "During my Main Phase 1, I set a Field Spell Card and send [Spellcaster's Village] to the Graveyard."

[Amon Garram: 3200LP, hand 4→5→4]

"Tch, you actually prepared a second Field Spell Card? Did you anticipate this situation?" Manjoume scoffed, but wasn't too disappointed by the departure of [Spellcaster's Village]. "However, even if there's a second [Spellcaster's Village], your Field Spell Card is useless against me because I have [Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -] on my field!"

“I don’t have a second copy of [Spellcaster’s Village].” However, Amon said at this moment, “The Field Spell Card I set, [Sanctuary of the Sky], is activated.”

The battlefield has changed again. Amon, who was just using a water-attribute deck with his main strategy of containment, including the [King of Mist], [Rain of Light], and [Swift] monsters, suddenly pulled out an angel-type Support Field card and activated it!?

"As long as the [Sanctuary in the Sky] exists, the damage inflicted by angelic monsters on their controllers will become 0."

Perhaps because the King of Fog had been temporarily defeated, the thick fog around them had thinned out, though it hadn't completely dissipated. Or perhaps because they saw the clouds around them that were similar to the fog but completely different from it, Manjoume and the others noticed that Amon's tone had become a little more lively, though still somewhat stiff.

Because the [Scales of Judgment] replenished a large number of cards in his hand, Amon did not hesitate to play another card and said: "Next is this [Angel's Charity], which draws three cards from my deck and discards two cards from my hand."

"This scene seems to be a reflection of my life up to this point."

As he discarded the card, Manjoume also heard Amon utter a sigh that seemed to come from his own subconscious. Because of his previous in-depth investigation of Amon and the mysterious background information provided by Misawa Sora, he quickly connected it to Amon Garlem's childhood experiences.

"Being adopted and becoming the son of the Gallamy Corporation, is it what they call 'angelic charity'?"

Hearing Manjoume's words, Amon's consciousness became more active, and he couldn't help but say, "No, to be more precise, I have kept company with the clouds in the sky and death, which is always with me. After all, when a person is powerless to do anything, all he can do is quietly watch the clouds in the sky and wait for death."

"If it weren't for that fateful moment that brought about change, I wouldn't be who I am today. So, Jun, after you break through the fog that obscures your vision, what awaits you is the true cloud of death and half of my body—the [Cloud Monster] deck."

(Note: Animated version)

"Under the effect of [Angel's Charity], I send two [Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud] cards from my hand to the Graveyard." After discarding the two cards, clouds suddenly surged up on Amon's field again, but this time the mist gathered into four sheep-shaped clouds. "And the effect of [Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud] is that when this card is sent to the Graveyard, I Special Summon two [Cloud Monster Tokens] in Defense Position to my field."

"These tokens Special Summoned by this effect cannot be Tributed to cards other than those with 'Cloud Monster' in their name. Since I have two 'Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud' cards sent to the Graveyard, I Special Summon four 'Cloud Monster Tokens' in Defense Position on my field."

[Cloud Monster Derivative] [1☆/Water]

[Angel Race/Derivatives]

[0/0]

“Four ‘Sheep Clouds’. Are those some kind of ‘Cloud Monster’ version of ‘Scapegoat’?” Manjoume scoffed. “But those weak monsters are no match for my monsters!” Despite his arrogant demeanor, Manjoume’s finger was poised on the button to activate the face-down card, ready to unleash his ultimate monster as soon as Amon revealed it. He would then activate his invincible ‘Original Stone’ in the back row.

"As you know, these Cloud Monster Tokens Special Summoned by Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud cannot be used as Tribute Summons for monsters other than Cloud Monsters, and I am now going to perform a Tribute Summon of this monster."

(Note: Animated version)

Showing a monster card in his hand, Amon said, "The Tribute Summon of the Level 5 'Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man' requires one Tribute. However, when the 'Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man' is Tribute Summoned, I can use any number of WATER monsters on my field as Tributes."

"Release my four [Cloud Monster Tokens] on the field, and summon [Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man]!"

The seemingly cute cloud sheep leaped together and transformed into a single, enormous cloud giant on Amon's field, with four cloud-shaped markings appearing on its body.

【Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man】【5☆/Water】

[Angel Race/Effect]

[1000/1000]

"Just like the [Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud] from before, it's a monster with rather low attack power. No wonder it needs the [Sanctuary of the Sky] for protection."

Upon hearing Wan Zhangmu's assessment, Amon explained, "Protection? Quite the opposite. The [Cloud Demon], as my other half, is used to perform protection, because they all share the common effect of not being destroyed in battle."

"The Sanctuary of the Sky grants the Cloud Demon monsters the effect that they cannot be damaged by battle, and the Cloud Demons themselves cannot be destroyed by battle. In other words, battle cannot bring victory against the Cloud Demons."

After a pause, Amon continued, "Moreover, is its attack power low? The power hidden beneath its pure white exterior is actually quite terrifying. There's a reason why I used the effect of [Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man] to release so many [Cloud Monster Derivatives]. Based on the number of water-attribute monsters released, I placed the same number of [Fog Counters] on [Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man], which is four."

"For each Fog Counter placed on Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man, this card gains 500 ATK, and the ATK of any monster other than WATER Attribute against your opponent decreases by 500. Since there are four Fog Counters, under the effect of Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man, its ATK increases by 2000, and the ATK of any monster against your opponent decreases by 2000!"

[Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man] [Fog Indicator 0→4] [ATK 1000→3000]

The monster that looked rather weak just moments ago suddenly gained an attack power of 3000 points. Combined with its resistance that cannot be destroyed by battle, it could even take down the "legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon". At the same time, the attack power of the monsters on the field also dropped.

【Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian-】【1500/1100→0/1100】

[Diablos, the Dark Lord] [ATK3000→1000]

[Original Stone Dragon - Underground Yellow Arsenic Garnet Dragon] [ATK2600→600]

"It's not over yet. I'll banish [Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud] from my graveyard and the [Cloud Monster's Cloud Core] that was sent to the graveyard in my first turn, and activate the effect of [Cloud Monster's Cloud Core]."

By banishing one card from the Graveyard, Amon draws a card from his Deck and says, "I Special Summon any [Cloud Monster] monster from my Deck."

"I Special Summon the Level 8☆ Supreme Rank [Cloud Monster] monster - [Cloud Monster - Eye of the Typhoon]."

Behind the enormous Rain Cloud Man was a terrifying blue-purple cloud formed by a horrifying hurricane. From within it emerged a cyclops whose size was no less than that of the [Cloud Demon - Rain Cloud Man], which appeared so easily on the field of Amon!

【Cloud Monster - Eye of the Typhoon】【8☆/Wind】

[Aquarium/Effect]

[3000/1000]

However, it is also because it is different from the [Sheep Cloud] and [Rain Cloud Man], which are actually still clouds. The [Cloud Demon - Eye of the Typhoon] is a temporary cloud created by the typhoon phenomenon. It is not a separate cloud, its attribute is not water but wind, and its race has changed from angel to water.

But this did not stop Amon from continuing his strategy. He played another card from his hand and said, "I banish another [Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud] from my graveyard and Special Summon this [Cloud Monster - Storm Dragon] from my hand by its own effect."

【Cloud Monster - Storm Dragon】【4☆/Water】

[Angel Race/Special Summon/Effect]

[1000/0]

Although the Cloud Monster - Sheep Cloud appeared harmless at the beginning, as its power increased, the monsters of the Cloud Monster gradually revealed a ferocious and terrifying appearance, just like the unpredictable natural phenomena. The flying dragon named after the storm could only be described as ugly.

"[Cloud Monster - Storm Dragon] and [Cloud Monster - Eye of the Typhoon] are like [Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man], possessing the ability to be undestroyed by battle. Furthermore, [Cloud Monster - Storm Dragon] can place a [Fog Counter] on one monster on the field once per turn. I placed it on your [Original Stone Dragon - Underground Garnet Dragon].

Manjoume didn't quite understand Amon's move, because Amon could have placed the Fog Counter on his own Cloud Monster - Rain Cloud Man to further increase its attack power and weaken Manjoume's monsters. However, he chose to place the Fog Counter on his own Primal Dragon - Underground Garnet Dragon, which had no related effect.

—If it weren't for the fact that the Dark Lord Diablos has target-targeting resistance, Manjoume has no doubt that Amon would have placed that subtle Fog Counter on his own Dark Lord Diablos.

Unlike the previous Manjoume, Amon did not activate any cards like [Hades Barrier Wave] this turn. So after summoning enough monsters to defeat Manjoume's current field lineup, Amon Gallam held two cards in his hand, pointed at Manjoume, and said: "Stop in this storm, Manjoume Jun—I'm entering my battle phase."

"In retaliation for the attack from last round, I launch an attack with my [Cloud Monster - Eye of the Typhoon]!"

Upon hearing Amon's words, Manjoume explained, "As I said, [Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -] grants me the ability to prevent my Dragon-type monsters from being targeted for attacks. You cannot inflict battle damage on me by attacking them while they are in attack position!"

“I remember you said that [Dragon Witch - Dragon Guardian -] can be destroyed by discarding a Dragon-Type monster card from your hand.” Amon indicated that he remembered it clearly, and then suddenly said, “But what if this happens—when [Cloud Monster - Eye of the Typhoon] declares an attack, its effect is forcibly activated, changing the battle position of all face-up monsters other than [Cloud Monster] on both players’ fields!”

Manjou's eyes widened as he watched a massive storm unleashed from the [Cloud Demon - Eye of the Typhoon], completely altering the behavior of all the monsters on his field!
　Hakimi (1302) has also been strengthened. Leaving aside Cotton Candy Cat, the new Green Array's effect is surprisingly Super Synchro, allowing you to Synchro Summon opponent's monsters.
　　Marshmallow is even more of a heavyweight, since even just having one more lower-level Hakimi is a significant improvement. Marshmallow's special move is more versatile than the previous three, offering both movement and support, and it can also activate spell/trap cards and even recover banished cards.
　　I was so scared by the intensity that I cried.
　　Powerful cards usually come at a high cost, but truly powerful cards are often incredibly strong in both cost and effect.
　　I'm already starting to think about how the K Foundation will show love for cats in January, six months from now.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)