My Stubborn Soul Card Follower-Chapter 402 - 369: Fine! Then Nobody Plays Anymore! (Table Flip) (5K)
Shen Sui’s mind flickered, and the total time bar for the turn was slowly passing.
Vivian smiled softly, waiting quietly for Shen Sui to make his next move.
"What is player Shen Sui hesitating about?" Jian Jia noticed Shen Sui’s strange pause and asked curiously.
Tan Song, ever the professional player, stated sharply, "He likely has a Spell Card in his hand that he can set, but he needs to release a Follower on the field to do so. He must be debating whether to seize points or set the card."
"If that’s the case, would you choose to seize points?"
"I would choose to set the card," Tan Song replied decisively. Since you can’t kill, it’s better to set the card for countering, provided that the card you set has a counter effect.
Shen Sui didn’t consider his deck unique; if he could start under 8 Soul Points, Vivian, daring to initiate the Spirit-Devouring Storm, probably had similar means.
Shen Sui made a decision, releasing the Golden Ship and Destiny Ring Snake.
The total star level of the two cards was 8 stars. Because of the Spirit-Devouring Storm, Shen Sui only received 6 Soul Points, bringing his total Soul Points back to the full value of 8.
Shen Sui paid 2 Soul Points to cover the last card in his hand onto the field.
"No, something’s off!" Canglan immediately sensed something was wrong, "If the set card is only 2 stars, why did he go through the trouble of releasing two Followers? Is he afraid the opponent will directly take him out by attacking low Spirit Value Followers? But with only 8 Soul Points, how could he possibly summon a Follower big guy that can deal over six thousand damage?"
"I think it’s fine; at times like this, it’s indeed better to be cautious," An Hai agreed.
Shen Sui’s caution was perfectly reasonable.
Because An Wei’s deck could indeed achieve such a thing, even with only 8 Soul Points.
After setting the card, Shen Sui entered the battle phase.
The Radiant Lion destroyed a Flame Derivative, and then the Flame Witch attacked directly.
Both attacks went through, dealing 2200 damage to Vivian, lowering her Life Value to 3800 points.
"My turn ends," Shen Sui concluded his turn.
The turn card flipped over to Vivian’s field.
"My turn!" Vivian quickly drew a card from her deck, "Draw card!"
"You’re too cautious, missing out on a free 600 damage," Vivian glanced at her hand, glaring at Shen Sui, "You’ll never accomplish anything big."
"I never aimed to accomplish anything big," Shen Sui chuckled, "As long as I’ve got a wife, daughter, and a warm bed, I’m good."
Vivian’s cheeks flushed slightly but she quickly concealed it, giving a cold snort. She drew a card from her hand and said, "My turn, I pay 5 Soul Points to activate the Spell Card [Trample] from my hand, targeting a set card on the opponent’s field and destroying it."
In an 8 Soul Points duel, any set card on the opponent’s side can be a huge turning point. Vivian would never allow it to remain.
Shen Sui had no choice but to activate the set card.
2-star Spell Card, undoubtedly [Infiltration Disguise].
Shen Sui originally intended to use this card to transform Alice according to the situation, but now forced to open it blindly, Shen Sui could only choose a versatile form.
Shen Sui chuckled and transformed Alice from the Flame Witch form into [Gem Merchant Alice].
[Gem Merchant Alice], both players need to pay an additional 3 Soul Points when using a Life Card.
Hmph, since you restricted me with the Spirit-Devouring Storm, don’t blame me for being impolite.
Don’t let me play cards?
Fine!
No one plays then!
Vivian was visibly startled at the sight of Alice in the Gem Merchant form.
Using Life Cards requiring an extra 3 Soul Points, she had only 3 Soul Points left; this meant any upcoming Life Cards she used had to be 0 stars.
But where are Life Cards like that?
Vivian was slightly frustrated.
Though it wouldn’t affect most of her moves this turn, she likely couldn’t set the Spell Card from her hand.
"Ah... both players are really working hard to restrict each other," Canglan commented, "I’m curious how the two of you might respond to this kind of Soul Point restriction."
Hearing this, Tan Song entered a meditative state, pretending not to hear it.
Ridiculous. "If confronted with it?"
I’ve directly faced such a situation myself!
It reminds me of my duel with Shen Sui at the Bu Pei Villa.
I, a dignified ninth-tier Life Card Master, had to concede just to preserve my last shred of dignity. It was quite humiliating.
An Hai evidently recalled Tan Song’s earlier duel, and his once cold demeanor seemed to barely restrain his laughter.
Tan Song caught An Hai’s micro-expression and gave a stern glare as a warning.
An Hai raised a hand, gently smoothing the corner of his upturned mouth, and began to answer Canglan’s question, "It’s difficult; despite various search specials being a thing, Soul Points remain a fundamental rule. Such an extreme cost restriction would make the duel extremely challenging."
"Does that imply that player An Wei is at a disadvantage?"
"Not necessarily," An Hai replied, "An Wei’s deck relies on graveyard resources; she has a lot of Tomb Effect Cards."
No sooner had the words been spoken than An Wei, on the field, opened the graveyard and activated the effect of Imaginary Spirit Dragon therein, or rather the effect of one of her Soul Card forms.
When there are no other Followers on her field, she can transform the Imaginary Spirit Dragon in the graveyard into [Fantasy Beast Taming: Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body] and special summon it to her field. This special summon transformation effect can only occur when the Soul Card in the graveyard is in the Imaginary Spirit Dragon form, and it cannot be activated during the turn Imaginary Spirit Dragon enters the graveyard.
When the Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body is special summoned successfully, cards are turned over from the top of the deck until a Life Card with a star level higher than the previously revealed Life Card or five Life Cards are revealed. Add all revealed Life Cards to the hand, and then the Spirit Value of that Follower becomes the total star level of the revealed Life Cards multiplied by 300, with a maximum of 3600.
Vivian placed her hand on the deck; the first card revealed was crucial.
The deck revealed a 13-star card.
"Great! A very good start!" Vivian exclaimed loudly, turning over the next card.
9, 6, 5, 8.
Vivian revealed a total of five cards. Although the last one ended this round of revealing, it still counted as a revealed Life Card.
She added all five cards to her hand, and the Spirit Value of the Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body became 3600.
"And then!" Vivian continued, "I activate the effect of [Fantasy Beast Taming: War Frenzy] in the graveyard."
This card was discarded during Vivian’s opening turn for explosion and expansion; now she activated its tomb effect, banishing this Follower in the graveyard, discarding all hand cards, and increasing the Spirit Value of a [Fantasy Beast] Follower on the field by the number of discarded hand cards times 500.
War Frenzy, warmongering.
Discard all hand cards, aiming for a one-turn kill.
This was the core idea of Vivian’s deck configuration.
Including a card drawn during the draw phase, Vivian had six cards in total; after discarding them all, the Spirit Value of the Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body increased to 6600.
This was where Vivian’s regret lay.
If Shen Sui had been greedy for that 600 damage and left the Golden Ship or Destiny Ring Snake on the field, she could have directly finished him.
But it’s not bad now either.
"Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body, attack directly," Vivian declared her attack without hesitation.
The attack target, of course, was Alice, the Gem Merchant, the Follower with the lowest Spirit Value, and Shen Sui’s crucial Soul Card.
6600-1200, 5400 damage was dealt to Shen Sui.
His Life Value quickly dropped to 600 points.
"My turn ends."
Vivian finished her turn.
"Phantom Spirit Dragon Chaos Body’s effect activates," Vivian announced again, "At the end of the turn, it enters a dormant state, reducing its Spirit Value to 0 until my next turn begins. It cannot be targeted by effects and cannot be destroyed by effects. The battle damage I receive is reduced to 0."
