Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

After a pause, Baron glanced at the three cards in his hand and set them all face down on his back row: "Well, that's quite an excellent counterattack, Ms. Peacock Mai. If it weren't for luck, you might have wiped out all my monsters."

"Since there's nothing left to do, I'll turn three cards face down and end this turn."

As Balong spoke, he looked at Kong Quewu and suddenly felt a surge of anticipation for her performance.

He had to retract his initial assessment of Kong Quewu. She was not at all the loud, affected woman he had imagined. On the contrary, she possessed a firm will and tenacious fighting spirit, and was fearless in the face of all kinds of difficulties and challenges.

Honestly, even though Baron considered himself incapable of being attracted to women, his heart raced faster than ever before when he saw the Peacock Dance. It wasn't the adrenaline rush he usually experienced from exciting duels, but rather a surge of hormones.

Come on, Miss Wu, I look forward to your next battle.

Let me see your strength as a duelist, and your indomitable fighting spirit that has moved me!

[Baron: 1900LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Phoenix Sword Saint - Kia Freed】【ATK2800】

[Diamond Power] [Gaikka] X3

Once again, it was Peacock Dance's turn. Drawing a card from her deck, she calmly declared, "My turn, draw a card."

With the card being drawn, the [Dark Seal Sword], which had entered the preparation phase for the second Peacock Dance after activation, was completely shattered and entered the graveyard.

Looking at the five cards in her hand, the face-down card in her back row, and the [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] on Baron's field, Mai took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and focused her gaze intently on Baron opposite her: "You are a powerful duelist, Baron."

"It is an honor to receive your praise, Miss Peacock Dance."

When Kong Quewu heard Ba Long's compliment, she shook her head: "I don't need that kind of verbal flattery."

"I am a duelist, and my goal is to prove that female duelists are not necessarily weaker than males. Glory and praise are all unimportant to me. All I need is strength and victory!"

"Therefore, I will activate my face-down card on the field, [Hysterical Ball]!"

The last face-down card after the Peacock Dance is revealed, showing the "Hysterical Ball," with a group of Harpy monsters gathered together on the card.

After sending a card from her hand to the graveyard, Mai explained the effect of "Hysterical Ball": "Harpies are social animals, skilled in teamwork, and this card is the monster that can summon the maximum number of Harpies."

"After discarding a card from my hand, Special Summon as many Harpies as possible from my Graveyard."

Peacock Dance waved her hand towards the sky: "Return to my field, Harpies!"

"【Harp Queen】!"

"【Harp Spirit Master】!"

"【The Harpist】!"

"【Harpie Perfumer】!"

"And, the [Harpie Dancer] that I just sent to the graveyard!"

【Queen Harp】】【ATK1900→2100】

Harpy Spirit Master [ATK 1400 → 1600]

Harpist [ATK 1700 → 1900]

【Harpie Perfumer】【ATK 1400→1600】

【Harpie Dancer】【4☆/Wind】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

【1200/1000→1400/1200】

With a loud eagle's cry, in this [Harpy Hunting Ground], one [Harpy] after another appeared and circled in the sky, eyeing [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] who was on high alert on the ground, ready to face the [Harpy] army.

"They summoned a full five monsters in an instant!"

Baron was also shocked by the appearance of the harpy army in the sky, but at the same time, he knew that the harpies could only rely on their numbers at this moment.

"Although there are many of them, Miss Wu, even the [Harp Queen] with the highest attack power only has 2100 points, which is not enough to defeat [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Fried].

Mai the Peacock wasn't angry; she just smiled confidently and replied, "Whether that's true or not is hard to say. Well, because of the Special Summon of [Harpy], the effect of [Harpy's Hunting Ground] is forcibly activated. Although there are five of them, since they are all included in the same Special Summon, I choose to destroy one Spell/Trap Card on the field."

As she spoke, Mai Peacock pointed to the face-down card in the very center of Baron's back row, right behind [Phoenix Sword Saint - Giafrid], "I choose to destroy your middle face-down card!"

"Although I don't know what that card is, my intuition tells me that it's dangerous!"

Surrounded by the other four harpies, the Harpy Queen's pale yellow, amber-like eyes were fixed on Baron's face card. She flapped her wings and launched several winged arrows, about to pierce the face card.

Seeing this, Baron pressed the button to activate the face-down card with a somewhat helpless expression: "I didn't expect your intuition to be so sharp, Miss Mai. Well then, I'll chain the effect of [Harpy's Hunting Ground] and activate this 'Dangerous' face-down card!"

"Trap Card [Double Thruster]: Target one Double Monster on my field and equip it with [Double Thruster] as an Equip Card that increases its ATK by 700!"

Baron's actions were quite strange, because even though "Double Thruster" became an Equip Card after activation, the effect of "Harpie's Hunting Ground" was not nullified just because it changed from a face-down Trap Card to an Equip Card equipped to a monster. "Double Thruster" would still be destroyed, and the effect of increasing the attack power of "Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed" would also disappear when "Double Thruster" left.

On the surface, Baron's move seems to have been futile? His card activation went nowhere?

Before being hit, a machine emerged from the Double Thruster and mounted on the back of the completely mismatched Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed. However, less than three seconds after being mounted, the feathered arrows launched by the Harpy Queen spun in mid-air, changing their trajectory, but still accurately struck the Double Thruster, detonating it with a bang!

【Phoenix Sword Saint - Kia Freed】【ATK 2800→3500→2800】

Kong Que Wu frowned. Even though she had already destroyed the [Double Thruster], the sense of crisis in her heart not only failed to be relieved, but her opposition became even stronger.

Her doubts didn't last long; the situation on the field revealed to Peacock Dance the true source of her sense of crisis.

At the site of the [Double Thruster] explosion, [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed], engulfed in smoke and flames, slowly emerged from the smoke, his greatsword dragging on the ground. Behind him, the fire phoenix, identical to the one he had when equipped with [Super Double Summon], also appeared!

"How could this be!?" Mai exclaimed in surprise. "Don't Gemini monsters require a second summon to activate their effects? Besides, [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] doesn't have any cards equipped like [Super Gemini Summon]!"

Baron smiled: "The answer is the [Double Thruster] that you just destroyed, Miss Wu."

"If an Equip Card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, [Double Thruster] can designate one Double Monster on the field and transform it into its Double Summoned form."

After hearing Balong's explanation, Kongquewu realized that she had been used.

Originally, while the [Double Thruster] could increase the attack power of [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] by 700 points, that was all. In that case, [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] would just be a mortal monster with an attack power of 3500 points.

Unfortunately, the Harpy Mai used was adept at destroying cards in the back row, and it just so happened to destroy the Double Thruster, which in turn fulfilled Baron's wish, allowing the Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed to regain his power.

"Tch, I actually used the Harpy's properties and got tricked," Mai complained, then said, "Then I'll continue with the previous effects."

"When [Harpie Perfumer] is Summoned or Special Summoned, I can add one Spell/Trap Card with the name of [Harpie Sisters] from my Deck to my hand."

After retrieving a card from her deck and replenishing her hand to five, Mai pointed at the [Harpie Dancer] on her field: "Next, I'm going to activate the effect of [Harpie Dancer]!"

Upon hearing Peacock Dance's words, the Harp Dancer, which had been flying around the Harp Queen in mid-air, broke away from its flock and came to Peacock Dance. After nodding slightly, it began to spin and jump with its eyes closed, dancing as if it came from an Indian movie set and started dancing without warning.

Mai took the lowest-ATK monster, Harpie, from her Duel Disk and said, "The effect of Harpie can only be used once per turn. I return one WIND monster from my field to its owner's hand. Then I can summon one WIND monster."

Mai drew the highest-level monster she had played in this duel: "This is the monster I will summon. I will use the monsters 'Harpist Perfumer' and 'Harpist Harpist' as tributes for a Superior Summon!"

"It's your time to make your appearance, [Harpy's Pet Dragon]!"

The Harpist and the Harpist vanished from the field, replaced by an orange-red dragon with a collar and chains around its neck, which let out a deafening roar at the Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed:

"Roar!!!"

The appearance of the Harpy's pet dragon injected new energy into the Harpies on the Peacock Dance stage. The Harpy Spirit Master swapped the collar in his hand with the collar around the Harpy's pet dragon's neck, leading it around with an air of superiority, while the Harpy Queen arrogantly stood on the Harpy's pet dragon's head, her head held high.

"The Harpies are intelligent enough, though they aren't very good at fighting, but they tame dragons to use as fighting power," Mai explained. "The Harpies' pet dragons have the ability to increase their attack power as the number of Harpies on the field increases."

"Each Harpy can increase the attack power of the Harpy's pet dragon by 200 points!"

【The Harpy's Pet Dragon】【7☆/Wind】

[Dragon Clan/Effect]

【2000/2500→2400/2500】

The Harpy's Pet Dragon is level 7☆, requiring two sacrifices, which reduces the number of Harpies in the Peacock Dance Arena to two, resulting in only a 400-point attack power boost.

However, the peacock dance's offensive had not yet fully unfolded.

"Two harpies aren't enough, so, Harpy Spirit Master, begin summoning the other harpies!"

"Once per turn, I can discard one 'Harpie' card from my hand to activate this effect." Peacock Dance sends the 'Harpie Dancer' card, previously recycled from her hand, to the Graveyard. "Special Summon one 'Harpie' monster from my Deck, except for 'Harpie Spirit Master,' in Defense Position!"

After slapping down a card, Mai said, "I Special Summon Harpy Seer, and then activate her effect. If Harpy Seer is Normal or Special Summoned, during the End Phase of this turn, I can add one card with the name of Harpy Sisters from my Graveyard to my hand!"

Another Harpy monster has been summoned to Mai's field. Although it is in defense position and cannot participate in attacks, and its effect is a delayed activation type that can only be used at the end of the turn, it is already a contribution as long as it is a Harpy.

In addition to the increased attack power of [Harpie's Pet Dragon], the effect of [Harpie's Hunting Ground] is activated once again, allowing Mai to choose one Spell/Trap Card to destroy.

Before Mai could explain anything, Baron calmly spread his hands and pointed to his field: "I have these two face-down cards in my back row. Shall we destroy them, Miss Mai?"

"Hmph, do you even need to ask?" Mai snorted unhappily. "Then this time, I'll choose the face-down card on your left to destroy!"

The Harpy Seer held a delicate stargazing instrument in his hand, carefully examining the image inside. After seeing something, the Harpy Seer suddenly threw the instrument like a shot putter, hitting Baron's second card.

This time, Baron didn't chain the effect of [Harpie's Hunting Grounds] to activate the face-down card that was about to be destroyed. But before Mai could even get happy, Baron let out a soft laugh.

"What a pity, Miss Mai, the card you destroyed this time was this one." Baron opened the destroyed card in his back row. "Trap Card, [Security Ball], its direct effect is to change the attacking monster's battle position in a chain attack declaration."

"However, when a Face-down Security Ball is destroyed by the effect of an opponent's Spell/Trap Card, another effect can take effect. I can choose one monster on the field to destroy directly."

Baron pointed a finger at Mai's field: "It's a little bad to just crush your hopes like this, but a duel is all about giving it your all. I choose to destroy your [Harpie's Pet Dragon], Mai!"

A laser beam shot out from the remains of the destroyed [Security Sphere], instantly piercing through the body of the [Harpie's Pet Dragon] on the Peacock Dance Arena, detonating it, and sending it into the graveyard.

Oh no!

Mai's expression was grim. Because of [Harpie Dancer], she still had a chance to Normal Summon after summoning [Harpie's Pet Dragon], and she did indeed have monsters in her hand that could be Normal Summoned.

In her own plan, she could use three separate summons of Harpies to destroy the three face-down cards in Baron's back row. After summoning all four Harpies, the attack power of Harpy's Pet Dragon would also increase to 2800, allowing it to take down Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed. Then, the Harpies would launch a direct attack.

However, the most crucial part of the plan has been lost. Without the Harpy's pet dragon, even if Mai summons another Harpy, it will be useless. There is still no monster that can rival the Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed.

She still has four cards in her hand, none of which offer any hope, except for the [Mega Hammer] she drew during her draw phase this turn.

So, should you summon the Harpy from your hand to defend against a wave of attacks, or use the Maul to replace all the cards in your hand with new possibilities and go all out?

Peacock Dance's answer is clear: she has never been a calm person; her emotions have always outweighed her rationality.

"I activate the Spell Card [Melting Hammer]. This card can shuffle itself and my hand into the deck, and then draw the same number of cards." Mai placed all her cards into the deck. "I place my hopes on this draw. Respond to me and create hope!"

"Draw a card!"

Upon seeing the card drawn, Mai Kongque smiled and said, "Yes! This seems like it could work!"

Baron didn't know what card Mai had drawn, but he still declared, "It seems like I drew a pretty good card? In that case, I'll activate the effect of [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Fried]."

"If my opponent activates a Spell Card, I target one Gemini Monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. I then Special Summon [Gemini Soldier] in Defense Position."

【Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Fried】slammed his shield into the ground, gripped his sword with both hands, and forcefully slashed a cross in the air, tearing open space. Then, a monster that Peacock Dance had never seen before emerged from it.

That's probably the monster that Baron sent to the graveyard last turn using [Angel's Charity], right?