"Constantly bouncing back cards through reversals, I see, you're that type of Duelist."
Tania snorted heavily.
"That's quite unfortunate, it seems you're incompatible with me as a Duelist."
"Oh?"
"A duel should use real weapons, where both Duelists clash with all their willpower!" Tania said, "What's the fun in a duel that avoids battle?"
"Really? I find winning without fighting more interesting... well, personal goals differ."
Yugen smiled and said.
"Set one card face-down, end my turn."
"My turn, draw!"
Tania was visibly displeased, but her fighting spirit seemed undiminished, rather more vocally she declared.
"In that case, let my power show you what a fiery duel is all about! See how long you can keep dodging...
Activate the Field Spell 'Amazonian Death Arena'!" (Original Card)
The ground began to shake, a massive iron cage rose up with the earthquake, as if an overturned dome enveloped both sides.
"When Amazonian Death Arena is activated, both players restore 600 Life Points!"
[Yugen, LP 3500→LP 4100]
[Tania, LP 4000→LP 4600]
"While Death Arena is on the field, whenever monsters battle, both players can pay 100 Life Points to deal 100 damage to the opponent."
"Oh, this one." Yugen smiled, "It truly is a warrior's hot-blooded field."
This field also best reflects Tania's personality; she's probably the Duelist most devoted to pure combat in all of GX, even surpassing Judai in pursuing the feeling of "battle."
Simply put, whenever monsters battle, each turn both players can inflict an extra 200 damage on each other. However, whether to activate this effect is up to the players.
Looking at this card from a physical card perspective is utterly meaningless, it's extremely inefficient, and calling it burn damage is inaccurate. The player pays 100 LP to give 100 damage to the opponent, which is probably the most meaningless type of burn imaginable.
But if viewed from the animation's real combat effect, you'll understand the charm of this card.
It's about fighting.
The specific activation form of this card effect allows both players to project a portion of their consciousness through the extraordinary power contained in the field, almost like an extension of their body and mind.
Then both rush forward with their consciousness projections, delivering a hot-blooded punch to the opponent.
Though just an exchange of a hundred damage points, it creates a true feeling of intense hand-to-hand combat. Judai and Tania got carried away during their duel, gradually focusing on "throwing punches to activate Death Arena's effect," making it perfect for ramping up emotions on a hot-blooded battlefield.
In other words, legally summoning your fist in Attack Position is possible.
Of course, the prerequisite for triggering the field is "monsters fight."
"Activate Magic Card 'Star Burst'!" Tania said, "By paying 500 Life Points, a monster's star level can be reduced by one.
I pay 1000 Life Points to reduce the star level of 'Amazon Queen' from 6 to 2, allowing me to Normal Summon directly from my hand without tributes."
[Tania, LP 4600→LP 3600]
"Therefore, I Normal Summon 'Amazon Queen'!"
[Amazon Queen, Attack Power 2400]
"As long as Amazon Queen is on the field, none of my Amazons can be destroyed in battle!" Tania said, "Then switch 'Amazon Swordsman' to Attack Position!"
[Amazon Swordsman, Defense Power 1600→Attack Power 1500]
"Now let you taste the power of Death Arena, a sample of true dueling!" Tania shouted, "First, 'Amazon Swordsman,' attack the face-down defense position 'Guardian of the Royal Family - Sphinx'!"
The swordsman drew her sword, tracing a silver arc that slashed directly!
"The Defense Power of Sphinx is 3000, using Swordsman's counter-damage effect to rebound 1500 damage." Yugen nodded.
"Correct, and this will trigger the death duel effect!"
Activating Death Arena means Tania can project her consciousness and legally summon her fist to punch Yugen.
Though just 100 damage, it's exhilarating.
Especially today, for some reason, she couldn't wait to punch this man, and it had to be the most beautiful hook she's ever thrown.
"Then, I activate a Continuous Trap."
Yugen calmly waved his hand.
"Continuous Trap 'Traveler's Trial'." Yugen said, "During the opponent's attack, randomly select a card from my hand, guess the type of that card.
If guessed correctly, the attack continues.
If guessed incorrectly, the attacking monster returns to the owner's hand."
"What!?"
Tania's face twitched
Another card for bouncing back to the hand, another card avoiding battle.
If you hate face-to-face duels so much, why duel at all?
But she held her temper and guessed, "Then, the one on the far right."
Yugen had only three cards left in his hand. He leisurely pulled them out: "So, can you guess what this card is?"
Tania frowned deeply, staring at the card for a long time, as if trying to see through it.
"...Magic Card?"
"Magic... you say?"
Yugen smiled and revealed it.
"Sorry, it's a Monster Card 'Sphinx Helak'."
"Uh, monster..."
"Therefore, Traveler's Trial activates. Amazon Swordsmen returns to the hand."
The swordsman's sword was barely drawn halfway before his form turned into a streak of golden light and flew back to Tania's hand.
The battle was nullified, and the effect of the Death Arena couldn't be triggered naturally.
But Tania's desire to summon her fist was stronger.
"Ahhhhh, how frustrating!"
She swung her fists in the air twice, shouting.
"But I still have the queen's attack!"
"But the queen's Attack Power isn't enough to surpass the Defense Power of the Royal Guardian," Yugen reminded cheerfully, "and even if you want to flip it early through attack, the Sphinx has the ability to 'once per turn actively return to face-down defense position'.
Next turn, I'll use this effect to cover it myself and then flip summon it, and all your monsters on the field will still be forced to return to the deck."
"Don't underestimate me!"
Tania retorted angrily.
"I'm attacking the face-down Sphinx with the 'Amazon Queen'!"
Yugen raised an eyebrow with interest, "Oh? You're attacking even with that?"
Are you so determined to trigger the Death Arena effect?
Or is it that you just can't stand it and want to summon your fist for a direct attack...
"Your spirit is commendable. But you haven't forgotten, right, the Continuous Trap 'Traveler's Trial'. This effect doesn't have a once-per-turn limit.
When an attack declaration is made, randomly choose a card from my hand and guess its type."
Yugen shuffled and mixed the three cards in his hand repeatedly face-down, then turned his back to Tania: "Go ahead, choose."
"The one on the far left!" Tania shouted.
It seemed she no longer had any intention of playing cute or trying to charm.
"Alright, so what do you think this card is?"
Tania gritted her teeth.
There were three cards in the opponent's hand, although two were unknown, at least the one I just guessed was a Monster Card, which was already known.
So naturally, she should guess...
"Monster Card!"
"Is that so?"
Yugen chuckled and flipped over the card in his hand.
"What a pity, it's a Magic Card 'Spider Silk', wrong again."
"Traveler's Trial, return the 'Amazon Queen' to the hand as well."
Tania: "..."
"It's my turn, draw." Yugen said, "Then activate the Magic Card 'Spider Silk' you just saw. It allows me to add a card sent to the graveyard a turn earlier to my hand." (Original Card)
Spider Silk retrieved a card from Tania's graveyard.
"I'm adding the Magic Card 'Star Burst' from your graveyard to my hand," Yugen stated, "Then I activate 'Star Burst'. Paying 1000 Life Points, I reduce the 'Sphinx Helak' you saw in your hand in the previous turn from 6 stars to 4 stars.
Then Normal Summon."
[Sphinx Helak, Attack Power 2400]
"When Sphinx Helak is present on the field, the opponent cannot choose face-down monsters as attack targets."
Tania: "......"
Can you even believe someone would provoke that damned-faced creature?
"Then I flip summon 'Royal Guardian - Sphinx'. When flip summoned, all monsters on the opponent's field are returned to the deck... haha, but all your monsters on the field have already been sent away, so it doesn't matter now."
Tania: "........."
[Royal Guardian - Sphinx, Attack Power 2300]
"Royal Guardian - Sphinx, Sphinx Helak."
Yugen slowly raised his hand.
"Direct attack."
[Tania, LP 3600→LP 0]