Bladedge seemed to gain even more power from the trap. Flames burst from the engine on his back, a massive golden hammer assembled in his hand, and he charged fearlessly into Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning's sword aura with the hammer raised high.
"Then I activate my facedown card," Yugen said. "Trap Card Shift! When a monster on my field becomes the target of the opponent's Spell and Trap Cards effect, or the target of a Monster's attack, it can be activated. That target can be transferred to any other monster on my field!" (ANIME EFFECT)
The Silent Magician on the field turned back and gave Yugen a small nod. "I change the target of Ring of Destruction to Silent Magician!" Yugen declared.
Judai Yuki said, "But you have five cards in your hand right now. Silent Magician gains 500 ATK for every card the Duelist holds, so Silent Magician's ATK is 3500 right now!"
Silent Magician, ATK 3500
"No." Yugen smiled. "The effect of Ring of Destruction inflicts damage equal to the original ATK of the Monster it Destroys. Silent Magician's current ATK is 3500, but the increase from her own effect does not count. So I only take her base ATK."
Boom!
The golden blade and hammer crashed down together, and the white-robed magician and the metal Hero were both swallowed by the blast and erased from the field. "...which is 1000 points."
Yugen, LP 2800 -> LP 1800
"You're really strong, Yugen," Judai Yuki could not help saying, but then he smiled again. "But now your Silent Magician was Destroyed, and Black Luster Soldier already used Chaos Dimensional Slash. You can't keep attacking."
"Not necessarily." Yugen gave a light laugh. "Did you forget Silent Magician's other ability?"
"Ah, right..."
Bladedge had completely vanished from the field, but after Silent Magician disappeared on Yugen's side, the released energy formed a pure white magic circle. "Silent Magician can, when destroyed by battle or by the opponent's effect, Special Summon one Silent Magician LV8 from the hand or Deck, ignoring its Summon conditions." (ANIME EFFECT)
"At the meeting point of Chaos and order, let silent brilliance bloom. Magician of Light, descend here. Silent Magician LV8!"
A white figure spun out from the magic circle. Her robe fluttered, her staff turned lightly in her hand, and her silver hair streamed behind her like a dream.
Silent Magician LV8, ATK 3500
The students in the stands held their breath once more. With Judai Yuki's Bladedge used as a tribute, his side of the field was now completely empty.
Judai Yuki, LP 3300
In just a few seconds, what had looked like Judai Yuki's finishing blow had turned into Yugen's counter-kill. The entire dueling momentum had reversed in an instant.
"Silent Magician LV8, direct attack!" Yugen ordered.
White light gathered at the tip of the staff, and a sphere of blasting magic shot forward, about to swallow Judai Yuki. Judai Yuki raised his hand and shouted, "Then I activate a trap, A Hero Emerges!"
A Hero Emerges!
"When an opponent's monster declares an attack, your opponent randomly chooses one card from your hand. If the chosen card is a Monster Card, Special Summon it to the field. If not, send it to the Graveyard."
Judai Yuki now had four cards in his hand, all of them drawn this turn through the effect of Mirage of Nightmare. That meant this could not have been something he had prepared in advance, because in theory, whether Yugen would choose a Monster Card, and which Monster it would be, should have been completely random. Of course, for a true Duelist, everything was inevitable.
"So you're still that confident in your luck?" Yugen said with a smile.
"Haha, that's right. But just to be safe..." Judai Yuki said. "I chain the Quick-Play Spell 'Emergency Provisions' and send my Spell and Trap Cards on the field to the Graveyard. I recover 1000 Life Points for each one."
"I send the Mirage of Nightmare on my field and the currently activating A Hero Emerges to the Graveyard, and recover 2000 Life Points."
Judai Yuki, LP 3300 -> LP 5300
That was his second layer of insurance. This way, even if Yugen failed to choose a Monster Card, he would not lose on the spot by taking Silent Magician LV8's magic blast head-on. And since the effect of A Hero Emerges had already activated, leaving the field would not interfere with its resolution.
Judai Yuki grinned and held up his four cards.
"Pick one."
Yugen pointed casually. "The second from the left."
"Very good, it's a Monster Card!" Judai Yuki declared. "So I Special Summon 'Card Guard' in Defense Position!"
Card Guard, DEF 400
As he spoke, he smiled confidently. "I'm actually pretty good at this. I still haven't lost once when it comes to drawing the joker."
"Then Silent Magician LV8, attack Card Guard," Yugen said.
"Card Guard's effect. When this card becomes an attack target, I can send up to three cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard, and it gains 500 DEF for each one." (ANIME EFFECT)
Judai Yuki pulled three cards from the top of his Deck in one smooth motion.
"I send all three cards to the Graveyard, and Card Guard gains 1500 DEF!"
Card Guard, DEF 400 -> DEF 1900
Of course, that much DEF meant nothing in front of Silence. His real goal was not the DEF increase itself, but the three blindly loaded cards in the Graveyard as future resources.
Boom!
Magic Bolt crashed down. The small shield was pierced in an instant, and Card Guard exploded into the Rift. After that, Yugen set two more cards and ended his turn.
"All right, Then, my turn. Draw!"
Judai Yuki glanced at the card he drew and played it at once.
"Spell Card 'Fifth Hope'! I shuffle five 'Elemental HERO' in my Graveyard back into the Deck, and after that, Draw two cards from the Deck."
The Cards in the Graveyard leaped out one after another in golden light. "I shuffle the Elemental HERO 'Elemental HERO Avian', 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix', 'Elemental HERO Clayman', 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman', and 'Elemental HERO Bladedge' from my Graveyard back into the Deck." The five cards returned to the Deck one by one, and Judai Yuki quickly shuffled before sliding it back into the Duel Disk.
"Then I draw two cards!"
"Appropriate's effect," Yugen said. "When the opponent draws outside their Draw Phase, I draw two cards."
"I activate 'Pot of Greed'!" Right after drawing, Judai Yuki revealed another card from his hand. "Draw two cards from the Deck."
Yugen chuckled. "Then I'll draw two more cards as well."
The more this continued, the more Yugen felt his judgment had been correct. In the real card environment, this Continuous Trap had never been truly prominent, but in the anime world it was absurdly powerful. In this relatively slower environment, where Special Summoning was less frequent, it was even more useful than the infamous hand trap Maxx "C" that would appear later.
And when facing this card, the situation felt a little like the old competitive question of whether or not to play into Maxx "C". If you had no combination in hand that could break the current board, doing nothing probably meant dying next turn. But if you started speeding up your drawing, you might find a way out while also feeding your opponent more cards.
In a sense, this Appropriate was basically an anime-only version of Maxx "C".