Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【Nephthys Priestess】In her remaining four cards, there just happens to be one monster that can be Normal Summoned. Originally, she wanted to destroy it with the effect of 【Nephthys Guardian】, but now it's not bad to use it for Normal Summoning.

But before that, let's test the waters with another card and make the most of [Guardian of Nephthys], which can't activate its effect for the time being.

Thinking this, [Nephthys the Priest] played a spell card: "Since the core of the problem is that [Wind-Walking Bird x Emperor Penguin], why don't I just destroy it? Spell Card [Nephthys's Hope] activated!"

"This card can only be activated by targeting one [Nephthys] card on my field and one card on your opponent's field. I've chosen [Nephthys' Guardian] on my field and [Windwalker x Emperor Penguin] on your opponent's field." [Nephthys' Priest] waved her hand, "Destroy those cards under the effect of [Nephthys' Hope]!"

Although the effect of 【Windswept Bird x Emperor Penguin】 is very suppressive, it already has two powerful effects: summoning and searching, and sealing effect activation. It shouldn't have any other effects, right? Even if it does, it can't be some excessive resistance. Therefore, in the eyes of 【Nephthys Priest】, the spell card it played at this moment can definitely kill it!

While it deviated slightly from the expected outcome of [Nephthys Priestess], it wasn't too far off. [Windwalker x Emperor Penguin] has a third effect, and it's quite strong, but it's not really a resistance card. It has no ability to resist the destruction effects of spell cards. But the problem is, Hayato's [Mist Valley Giant Bird] on the field isn't just for show, is it?

"When the effects of spells, traps, and monsters are activated, target one of my [Valley of Mist] cards—that is, [The Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist] itself—and activate its effect!"

On the field of [Nephthys Priestess], the activated spell card was immediately met with a "level 8 hurricane" as soon as it appeared. [The Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist], which flapped its wings and created a storm, left the field and returned to Hayato's hand, but left behind a terrifying tornado. "Return [The Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist] to its owner's hand, negate that activation and destroy it!"

"Kamisaka Storm!"

Although it doesn't have the overwhelming suppressive power of [Windwalker x Emperor Penguin], the [Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist], with the same attack power, possesses the more noble power of the three colors of Kang. In this storm, [Nephthys's Hope] was crushed into dust without any surprise and disappeared from the field.

—In a way, the Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist not only saved Hayato's team of the Windwalker x Emperor Penguin, but also the Guardian of Nephthys.

"So that's how it is. It's such a powerful effect? ​​But that also means that I've already used up that powerful effect!" Knowing the effect of the [Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist], [Priestess of Nephthys]'s eyes lit up, because she felt that she was about to reach the best time to start normal summoning to achieve a breakthrough.

However, she doesn't have enough tributes for a normal summon, and just in case Hayato's last card on the field is a Trap Card like "Trap Hole," she plays a card from her graveyard first, saying: "The second effect of 'Nephthys Priestess' in my graveyard: This card can only be activated if it is in my graveyard. Target one 'Nephthys' card in my hand, destroy it, and Special Summon it from my graveyard."

"I destroy the [Prayer of Nephthys] in my hand."

A young girl, dressed in an outfit strikingly similar to that of the Guide of Nephthys but much younger, appeared on the stage of the Priestess of Nephthys, her hands resting on a cardboard replica helmet. Suddenly, flames erupted from her body. The bright yellow flames transformed into azure blue, and within this power of fire, symbolizing reincarnation, the young girl reverted to a young woman.

【奈芙提斯之祭祀者：4000LP，手牌7→4→3→2】

[Guardian of Nephthys] [ATK1400]

[The Priestess of Nephthys] [DEF1200]

Because the first effect of [Nephthys Priest] only activates upon a successful Ritual Summon, Hayato's [Face Bat] did not use its effect to change its battle position again. Seeing that Hayato hadn't revealed his backrow cards yet, [Nephthys Priest] felt completely relieved.

"Now! I'm going to Tribute my two monsters, [Nephthys Guardian] and [Nephthys Priest], as tributes!" If [Nephthys Priest] hadn't been Tributed by Hayato's [Windwalker and Unknown Wind] earlier, it might have been Normal Summoned sooner. But even now, it doesn't make much difference; the advantage is still on my side—after all, the monster I'm about to summon is overwhelmingly powerful!

"Superior Summoning - [Holy Flame King - Phoenix]!"

【Holy Flame King - Phoenix】】【8☆/Flame】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[2700/1700]

"【Flame King】!?" The unexpected turn of events surprised even Hayato, because the one he was dueling with was clearly 【The Priestess of Nephthys】, not 【Flame King's Consort - Phoenix of Fire】, right?

How can you pull out a card that's clearly not from the same set while playing cards? The purity of the cards is just too low!

—This is what Hayato, who has always liked playing "pure XX" decks, was thinking.

"There's nothing surprising about that. The Flame King has been allied with Nephthys for a long time. After all, the gods we worship have highly similar powers and are very compatible with each other."

[The Priestess of Nephthys] casually remarked, "Although there was a 'religious war' in the early days to compete for dominance, we united under pressure from [Black Feathers]."

Both the [Flame King] and [Nephthys] are tribes with considerable status in this forest. Even if their powers are compatible, there will inevitably be disputes and friction. But who can blame them when the [Black Feathers] suddenly became one of the most powerful beings in the forest after obtaining the power of Synchro Summoning? Under the immense external pressure, the [Flame King] and [Nephthys], who naturally have the affinity of allies, quickly completed their "fusion".

However, it is clear that even with the alliance, the two sides were still reduced to a near-collapse by Blackfeather. This is why the Priests of Nephthys appeared here. They need the power of the "Absolute King of Birds and Beasts" to further strengthen the alliance and contend with Blackfeather.

In Hayato's opinion, [Fengos] and [Nephthys] are actually quite compatible. Both monsters have the effect of being destroyed and are mainly of the fire attribute. The terminal "big brother" is also a bird-beast type and is also 8-star. They can stack Xyz or release one to summon the other through ritual.

While this combination is a bit unusual, it does have some merit, especially now. If [Nephthys the Priest] hadn't been wielding [Holy Flame King - Great Roc Phoenix] but instead had their own [Nephthys the Phoenix God] with an attack power of 2400, there would have been no chance of turning the tide.

Initially, she probably planned to use [Sacred Flame King - Phoenix] as a tribute to ritually summon [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God], and then use the effect of [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God] to destroy the card and trigger the effect of [Sacred Flame King - Phoenix] in the graveyard to Special Summon it. Unfortunately, due to the presence of her [Gale Barrier Statue], this plan was aborted, so she only managed to summon [Sacred Flame King - Phoenix] through normal summoning now.

"【Holy Flame King - Phoenix】has long wanted to be summoned from my hand, but because of the existence of 【Wind-Wandering Bird × Emperor Penguin】 on your field, I've held back until now," said 【Nephthys Priestess】smugly. "The current 【Holy Flame King - Phoenix】 was Normal Summoned by Tributing a monster in a proper manner, and even though it's in Attack Position, your 【Wind-Wandering Bird × Emperor Penguin】's effect can't control it!"

The scorching air emanated from the wings of the [Holy Flame King - Great Roc Phoenix], spreading outwards with the gale whipped up by its wings, covering the entire forest clearing and making it difficult to breathe. In this scorching air, a female figure, slightly distorted by the high temperature, appeared and turned to ashes with the flames that burst forth in the air.

"Destroy any FIRE monster of the Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast type in my hand, field, or Deck, and increase the ATK of [Holy Flame King - Great Phoenix] by half the ATK of the monster destroyed by this effect until the end of this turn!"

The effect of [Holy Flame King - Great Roc Phoenix] was explained, but just as [Priest of Nephthys] was about to deal with it and officially take out the card to be destroyed from his deck, Hayato said, "Then I also have an effect to activate to chain the opponent's monster summon."

"Hmph, whatever, just a mere [Face Bat]." [Priestess of Nephthys] said disdainfully, "The effect of [Holy Flame King - Phoenix] can be activated upon Summoning or Special Summoning. Does your [Face Bat] need to chain its effect? ​​Whether it's a face-up or a face-down, [Holy Flame King - Phoenix] has already been successfully activated!"

Although it is turned face down to defense position, even if the effect of [Saint Flame King - Phoenix] is successfully activated, the attack power cannot be added to the face down defense position [Saint Flame King - Phoenix]. However, the main purpose of [Nephthys Priestess] is actually to destroy the card itself, because the card she wants to destroy is [Flame Queen - Fire God Phoenix].

Seeing Hayato's [Face Bat] already chain-activated its effect and flipped a coin, [Nephthys Priestess], with its excellent dynamic vision, instantly discerned the final result as tails. Unperturbed, Hayato continued to think: 'If I destroy [Flame Queen - Fire Phoenix], I can Special Summon [Flame Beast - Great Roc Phoenix] from my deck in Defense Position. Then, combined with my Field Spell Card [Ancient Forest], I'll have two monsters with 2700 ATK on the field!'

Even if you use [Teostra Beast - Roc Phoenix] to destroy [Windwalker x Emperor Penguin] together, you can still use the effect of [Teostra Beast - Roc Phoenix] to Special Summon a new [Teostra] monster to the field, and then unleash a powerful attack to wipe out all the monsters on your opponent's field in one go!

As the [Priestess of Nephthys] was thinking this, another icon suddenly lit up on the [Wandering Bird and Mysterious Map] above Hayato's head.

“C1 Normal Summon of [Holy Flame King - Great Phoenix], C2 First Effect of [Face Bat] Activated for the second time... Then, C3, Second Effect of [Wind-Traveling Bird and Mysterious Map] Activated!” Looking at [Nephthys Priest], who looked like he was about to yawn, Hayato said with a smile, “You didn’t actually think that a Normal Summon monster could avoid being affected by [Wind-Traveling Bird × Emperor Penguin], did you?”

"While that is indeed the case, it is because of this that you have fallen into a trap—this can only be activated if the opponent successfully summons a monster. I summon one [Wind-Traveling Bird] monster!"

"Although I've already used the effect of the [Wind-Traveling Bird x Bald Eagle] that I previously retrieved, this [Wind-Traveling Bird x Ostrich] that I searched for using the effect of [Wind-Traveling Bird x Robin] this turn hasn't been played yet. Normal Summon it from my hand in Defense Position!"

Chapter 1732 Imperial Enterprise: Cuckoo Cuckoo Cuckoo!

Even without looking at the lit-up baobab tree icon representing Africa on the [Voyager and the Mysterious Map], most people would immediately associate the image of an ostrich with Africa. [Voyager x Ostrich] is naturally the creature that the [Voyager] encounters at their next stop after leaving London on their long journey.

However, while both [Wind-flying Bird x Robin] and [Wind-flying Bird x Bald Eagle] provide opportunities for development, [Wind-flying Bird x Ostrich] can be used to disrupt the opponent.

【Flying Migratory Bird × Ostrich】【1☆/Water】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[700/1100]

After successfully summoning [Wind-Traveling Bird x Ostrich], watching the coin flipped by [Face Bat] land tails without any pattern, Hayato said, "Then because of the effect of [Face Bat], [Holy Flame King - Great Phoenix] will change to face-down defense position."

[Holy Flame King - Great Roc Phoenix → Under-face Defense Position Monster] [ATK 2700 → DEF 1700]

"Hmph, whatever, as long as the effect of [Saint Flame King - Phoenix] is successfully activated, that's enough." Watching Hayato summon a new monster, [Priestess of Nephthys] felt like she had forgotten something. Although she had a bad feeling, she couldn't remember what it was, but she still took out a card from her deck. "The last thing to deal with is the effect of [Saint Flame King - Phoenix]. I will destroy this FIRE-attribute Winged Beast monster in my deck - [Flame Queen - Phoenix].

"However, the effect of [Fire Queen - Phoenix] will also trigger if it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard! Special Summon one [Fire King Divine Beast - Roc Phoenix] from my Deck in Defense Position!"

C1 [Flame Queen - Fire God Phoenix]!

Seeing that [Nephthys' Priest] had its effect activated, Hayato followed suit: "You're not the only one whose effect has been activated, I have too. If [Wind-Walking Bird x Ostrich] is successfully summoned, you can target 1 card in either player's Graveyard to activate this effect. Banish it, and after that I can summon a Winged Beast Monster."

C1 [Empress of Flame - Phoenix of Fire] C2 [Wind-Traveling Bird × Ostrich], because of the chain's effect of being dealt with first, Hayato's [Wind-Traveling Bird × Ostrich] was dealt with first. He decisively pointed to the opponent's graveyard and said: "I will banish [Nephthys' Priest] from the opponent's graveyard!"

"Then, I Tribute Summon 'Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist' from my hand. However, due to the effect of 'Windwalker and Unknown Wind,' as a substitute for Tribute Summoning, I send 'Windwalker x Robin' from my field and 'Holy Flame King - Phoenix' from my opponent's field, which were changed to face-down Defense Position, to the Graveyard!"

It wasn't until Hayato mentioned it that the Priestess of Nephthys remembered something she had overlooked: when Hayato used the effect of [Wind-Traveling Bird and Unknown Wind], he never mentioned that its effect was limited to once per turn!

Your own card from your graveyard, 【Nephthys Priest】, is banished. 【Holy Flame King - Great Phoenix】, which you barely managed to summon on the field, is not only set to face-down Defense Position but is also instantly sent to the graveyard. Meanwhile, your opponent's 【Windwalker x Robin】 is banished due to its own effect, and 【Valley of Mist Giant Bird】 returns to the field!

【小林隼人：4000LP，手牌1→1→2→1→0】

【The Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist】【ATK2700】

【Migratory Birds on the Wind × Emperor Penguin】【ATK2700】

【Flying Bird × Ostrich】【DEF1100】

【Face Bat】【DEF0】

Backcourt: [Migratory Birds and Unknown Winds] [Given Card]

Location: [The Migratory Bird and the Mysterious Map]

Although Hayato emptied his hand, his monster lineup on the field was expanded again. On the other hand, although [Torchbearer of Nephthys] successfully Special Summoned [Flame King Beast - Phoenix] to the field, she now only had that one monster left on her field.

[Nephthys' Priestess: 4000LP, Hand 2 → 1]

【Eirin God Beast - Roc Phoenix】【8☆/Eirin】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[2700/1700]

Although I have [Foalmon - Phoenix] on my field with a built-in "Deathrattle" effect, and although I have [Ancient Forest] in my hand that can replace my opponent's field spell card and change my [Foalmon - Phoenix] from Defense Position to Attack Position, I still... can't win, right?

The opponent is too strong. Even before today, the Priests of Nephthys, who had gathered the power of the Flame King, believed that Nephthys was the most skilled elven tribe in the world at resource management and recycling; no one knew better than them how to fight a protracted war. But against these seemingly cute Wind-Walking Birds...

I'm so sorry I didn't let [Traveler] have a good time...

However, I still want to try one last time and struggle to the very end!

Thinking of this, [Nephthys' Priestess] would play the last card in her hand, [Ancient Forest], to change her [Flamingo Beast - Roc Phoenix] from defense position to attack position, at the very least to take down the opponent's [Windwalker x Emperor Penguin] together...

"I'm starting—"

"I don't understand, damn it!" Hayato didn't even give [Nephthys' Priestess] a chance to finish speaking, waving his hand and saying, "[Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist]'s effect doesn't have a one-turn limit, she can activate the effect again now that she's back on the field!"

"Whether it's a spell/trap or a monster effect, recall my [Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist] to my hand, negate its activation, and destroy it!"

The Field Spell Card [Ancient Forest] has the ability to change all Defense Position monsters on the field to Attack Position after activation. It can not only change the position of [Flame King Beast - Phoenix] on [Nephthys Priest]'s field, but more importantly, it can also change several Defense Position monsters on Hayato's field, such as [Windwalker] and [Face Bat], to Attack Position.

Although [Ancient Forest] has the effect of destroying the attacking monster at the end of the battle phase, for [Flame King] and [Nephthys], this effect destruction is not a disadvantage but a great advantage—but the problem is that [Ancient Forest] was negated by Hayato before it could even be successfully deployed!

Its only achievement was replacing Hayato's Field Spell Card "Wind-Walking Bird and Mysterious Map" when it was activated, thanks to the current rules of Duel Monsters.

Having emptied his last hand and failed to eliminate even a single monster on Hayato's field, [Nephthys Priestess] could only helplessly declare the end of his turn.

"I... end my turn."

[Nephthys the Priest: 4000 LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Eagle King Divine Beast - Roc Phoenix】【DEF1700】

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, hand 0→1]

【Migratory Birds on the Wind × Emperor Penguin】【ATK2700】

【Flying Bird × Ostrich】【DEF1100】

【Face Bat】【DEF0】

Backcourt: [Migratory Birds and Unknown Winds] [Given Card]

However, although the lineup on the field looked pitiful and rather shabby, [Nephthys Priestess] was still somewhat confident that she could withstand Hayato's attack for one turn.

If the [Flame King Beast - Phoenix] on your field is destroyed by battle, you can Special Summon other [Flame King] monsters from your Deck. If the [Holy Flame King - Phoenix] in your Graveyard is destroyed, you can Special Summon yourself. In other words, as long as Hayato doesn't start by Tributing [Windwalker and Unknown Wind] to Summon [Mist Valley Giant Bird] again, there's a high probability that he can survive another turn.

But hoping that the other party's scumbag tactics will leave you a chance to survive...

“My turn, draw a card.” Hayato glanced at the card in his hand, added it to his hand, and then said, “Next, during my Standby Phase, I open the face-down card on my back field, the Quick-Play Spell Card [Wind-Traveling Bird and Travel Preparation]. I banish one Bird-Beast monster from my hand and face-up monsters on the field to activate this effect. The monster I banished is [Wind-Traveling Bird × Ostrich] on my field.”

Remove the cards from the field and banish [Windwalker x Ostrich] after it leaves the field. Hayato now has a card he just searched in his hand. "I add one [Windwalker] monster or one [Windwalker] Field Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. After that, my Life Points are restored by 500."