"Before you end your Battle Phase, activate Covering Card."
Yugen snapped his fingers.
"Continuous Trap 'Blood Compensation'!"
The Cover Card flipped over, as if blood was flowing out from the dark card image.
"The effect of Blood Compensation can only be used during your Main Phase, or the opponent's Battle Phase."
Yugen slowly drew a card from his hand.
"Therefore, I will use this effect during your Battle Phase. Pay 500 Life Points to perform an Upper-level Summon with a monster in my hand."
"I will use 'Divine Mage' on the field as a sacrifice for an Upper-level Summon, placing this monster in Face-down Defense Position."
[Yugen, LP 4000→LP 3500]
Divine Mage transformed into golden light points and vanished from the field, but replacing it on Yugen's field was a Face-down card, hidden under the mysterious Cover Card without revealing its true form.
Zombie Senma stared intently at his face-down card, uttering unintelligible groans from his throat.
The Battle Phase ended, and then entered Zombie Senma's Main Phase 2.
He squinted his eyes, seemingly straining to study his hand for a moment, with his rough, long fingers sliding over several cards like picking soldiers, and picked one out.
"Covering Card... end."
A burst of golden light appeared in his backfield, and the Covering Card appeared on the field.
"Now it's my turn, draw a card.
"First of all, of course, the card retrieved by 'Divine Mage'."
He immediately played a Magic Card.
"Magic Card 'Pot of Greed,' draw two cards from the deck."
After drawing two more, he promptly revealed another card from his hand.
"Magic Card 'Spider Silk,' which allows a card sent to the grave last turn to be added to the hand." (Original Card)
He pointed to the opponent's graveyard.
"Add 'Angel's Charity' from your graveyard to your hand."
White threads shot out, extracting a Magic Card from the opponent's Duel Disc's graveyard area, and flew back into Yugen's hand.
"Then activate 'Angel's Charity,' drawing three cards from the deck, and then discard two cards from the hand."
Yugen drew three more cards and discarded two from them.
"However, one of the discarded cards is 'Scholar Spirit.' When this monster is sent to the graveyard, draw a card." (Original Card)
Yugen glanced at the drawn card, added it to his hand, and then looked at the zombie opposite.
The zombie was also staring at him with hollow eyes.
"At least they still have a clear understanding of the rules of dueling, but to what extent is their intelligence... just checking a bit."
Yugen flipped open the card covered on his Duel Disc.
"Reverse summon the covered monster on the field. The covered monster is this one..."
Like a towering mountain-like monster, seemingly composed of hard rock, emerging on Yugen's field like a majestic Sphinx.
"Guardian Sphinx!"
[Guardian Sphinx, Attack Power 1700]
"Guardian Sphinx's effect, when this card is successfully reversed, all monsters on the opponent's field are returned to the owner's hand!"
Zombie Morioka's eyelid seemed to twitch in that instant, as if glaring at Yugen again.
An AOE-like skill that doesn't target, and bounces all cards on the field back to the hand!
The gigantic Sphinx's divine power activated, and the Thunder Fighter could not resist, flying back into the zombie's hand under the relentless gaze of the statue.
The backfield returns to hand, the field returns to hand...
After taking a two-hit bounce attack, the zombie still maintained that dull expression staring at him, with empty eyes, but seemed to carry a faint hint of resentment...
No, perhaps it was an illusion.
Yugen held his chin.
Further confirmation is needed.
"Then normally summon 'Rock Soldiers,'" Yugen said.
[Rock Soldiers, Attack Power 1300]
Rock Soldiers, also used by players in the theatrical version, is the new avatar of the famous old card "Rock Giant" that players used back in the day.
Rock Giant was famous not because of its strong capabilities or any impressive effect, but because it's known to have a powerful hidden effect not written on the card.
That's the card can attack the moon to cause the sea to ebb...
"Then it's the Battle Phase," Yugen said, "Guardian Sphinx's direct attack."
The mountain-like giant slowly moved forward, resembling an imposing Mount Tai pressing down.
But the zombie had a countermeasure, raising its trembling head: "Covering Card... Trap..."
The backfield's Covering Card turned over, placing a Trap Card in front of him.
Trap Card "Precise Defense."
Select a monster in your graveyard under 4 stars in face-up Defense Position to Special Summon when the opponent's monster declares an attack.
A monster card discarded to the graveyard last turn emerged with golden light from his grave.
"Flying Disc Turtle... Defense."
[Flying Disc Turtle, Defense Power 1200]
The Sphinx's attack crashed down like a mountain, but the small Flying Disc Turtle, with its resilient body, held its ground and did not get destroyed.
"Precise Defense... Cannot be destroyed."
The zombie said dryly.
A monster summoned through the effect of Precise Defense cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects for the duration of that turn, forming a layer of ironclad defense.
"Cannot be destroyed? Well, I won't attack then."
Yugen was unconcerned, and politely smiled at the zombie.
"Then, Main Phase 2, activate the effect of 'Guardian Sphinx.'"
"Once per turn, this card can switch itself to face-down Defense Position."
With that, he gestured to the monster on the field.
"You've worked hard, take a break and hide back again."
The silent Guardian Sphinx quickly contracted, becoming a face-down Covering Card.
The card visibly lay quietly in Yugen's field, yet inexplicably emitted a cold aura, as if a deadly and insidious hunter was lurking under the Covering Card.
Zombie: "!"
"Oh, you quickly grasped the situation again," Yugen chuckled.
Guardian Sphinx, because of its effect, can flip itself back once per turn.
And each time it's flipped, it returns all monsters on the opponent's field, regardless of amount or position, back to the hand.
Next, with the Field of "Stone-Throwing Area," even if a strong monster is summoned to take it down, it's difficult. Attacking it might even trigger the effect of "Stone-Throwing Area," throwing Rock Race monsters from the deck to replace destruction.
The thrown Rock Race monsters might trigger various effects—like "Intercepting Crusaders" thrown down by Yugen recently, that can blow away the opponent's backfield Magic Trap, or cover a monster face-down.
The entire lineup conveys a clear concept—
——Today is not a day to play Yu-Gi-Oh!
Though the zombie maintained that blank expression with hollow eyes, the unoccupied hand somehow seemed clenched into a fist...
"Hmm, that's quite smart."
Yugen continued observing, hands against his chin.
"See, you even know how to get angry."
Zombie: "......"
"As expected of a Professional Duelist turned into a zombie, with high dueling understanding."
Yugen smiled, beginning to have expectations of him.
"Hope you become a bit smarter, so you can answer my questions after the duel: tell me what happened here, how you became this way, and where the person I'm looking for is...
...Zombie mister, try not to let me down."
Zombie: "..."
Yugen drew two cards from his hand.
"Set two Covering Cards, end the turn."