Chapter 1 A Stroke of Luck

Fortunately, this "empty field" situation didn't last too long.

Seconds later, the white shards from the shattered Eight-Armed Snake Demon slowly gathered, reforming into a Python Monster with an attack power of 1000 in face-up attack position.

Although this monster wasn't strong, it could still serve as a barrier, which was better than nothing.

"Alright, this daddy's turn is over." Feng Bujue, having completed the battle phase and with no cards left to play, immediately declared the end of his turn, "It's your turn..."

At this moment, Snow's expression had become quite solemn.

Currently, he had no cards in hand, and the field was heavily disadvantageous (the field magic card was placed in the neutral zone, so it didn't count as his field); this situation... was a far cry from the "superior field, health, and card advantage" that he sought.

Feng Bujue's seemingly desperate but calculated play had suppressed Snow's thoughtful and scheming tactics, which had a certain impact on the latter's emotions.

"Where exactly did things go wrong..." Snow murmured to himself, "Judging from the cards revealed by the Bureau Chief's Prophecy and the results of several dice rolls, his luck is at best average... On a tactical level, he can't compare to me either. From beginning to end, this guy has only played three cards, the rest he washed or discarded... But now, both of us have zero cards in hand, and he has a 4000 ATK monster on his field, while I only have a trash monster. What... what factor led to this disparity?"

This was a very good question...

If Feng Bujue were to answer, he would definitely say, "That's the difference between a true duelist and scum like you."

However, Snow had a more rational answer...

"I see... it's 'card quality' and 'draw luck'," Snow mused after a few seconds, "The cards this guy uses all have 'expensive costs' and gambling-based effects. If used carelessly... not only will they fail to establish an advantage, but they'll also result in a huge loss. But, he has used every card appropriately... and the most crucial part was when he drew Sakamoto-kun at zero hand cards on the second turn. That one draw allowed him to summon such a powerful monster at 'zero cost.' The card advantage gained from that one move alone... is worth two to three cards. Later, Sakamoto-kun's effect successfully activated, causing me to lose two cards from my hand for nothing... This back-and-forth is what led to the current situation."

"Hey! What are you spacing out for?" After waiting a few seconds and seeing no reaction from his opponent, Feng Bujue began to urge him, "Just say you want to surrender!"

"Heh..." Having "figured things out," Snow's confidence returned. He smiled and replied loudly, "Don't rush me, I'm just sorting out my thoughts... I'll start now."

As he spoke, he raised the duel disk on his left arm and reached out towards his deck with his right hand.

"My turn, draw!" Snow declared, drawing a card and glancing at it.

In that instant, his expression froze, then turned to surprise, and then... transformed into a strange smile.

"Heh... hehe... hahahahaha..." This standard three-stage laugh undoubtedly heralded the arrival of something quite astonishing.

"What? Did you draw a magic card that replenishes your hand, and now you're laughing like an idiot?" Feng Bujue said with dead fish eyes.

"Sigh..." Snow sighed deeply, "To be honest... according to my own idea, drawing a 'magic card that replenishes your hand' would be best at this time, but... hehehe... sometimes luck comes, and there's no stopping it~"

As he spoke, he slammed the card in his hand onto the duel disk.

"I special summon from my hand... one of the Three Demon Gods - Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae!" Accompanied by Snow's summoning declaration, a gorgeously dressed, plum-red-cloaked ancient beauty appeared in the arena, standing before Sakamoto-kun.

Feng Bujue knew this card's effects even without looking, because it was a "God Card." In Thriller Paradise's current card pool, there were a total of four sets of God Cards, namely "Heaven and Earth Dual Demons," "Three Demon Gods," "Seven Divine Fighting Stars," and "Nameless King."

In terms of strength, every set and every card in the God Card series was astonishingly powerful, but ranked by the "severity of summoning conditions," assembling the "Heaven and Earth Dual Demons" was the easiest, followed by the "Three Demon Gods," and so on... The "Nameless King" was practically an unsummonable "god."

Putting aside the other sets of God Cards for now, let's talk about the one in front of them...

Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae could be said to be the easiest of the "Three Demon Gods" to summon, and she had two ways to be summoned.

The first was naturally a normal summon, i.e., sacrificing three tributes to summon her from the hand -- this kind of "three tribute" normal summon was basically standard for God Cards.

The second was a special summon: when the opponent controlled at least one male monster (it had to be male, asexual species or females didn't count) with 3000 or more attack, and the total number of cards in your field and hand was less than or equal to two, you could summon Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae directly from your hand without any sacrifices.

If Feng Bujue drawing Sakamoto-kun earlier was considered a god draw, then Snow drawing Tamamo-no-Mae under these circumstances was simply a super god draw...

"Tch... troublesome thing's on the field." Feng Bujue looked at the monster with "0" attack and defense, a hint of solemnity flashed in his eyes, and his mind quickly analyzed what tactics the opponent would use with this card, "Speaking of which... you can actually draw a 'God' in the random card selection mode... With that kind of luck, you probably have more than one, right?"

"Hehe... who knows?" Snow gave a mysterious smile, avoiding the question, "Even if I do, you might not see them..." Saying this, he immediately changed the subject back to the game, "Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae's special effect... activate! Tamamo-no-Mae halves the attack and defense of all male creatures on the opponent's field, and the total attack and defense reduced becomes Tamamo-no-Mae's attack and defense until the start of my next turn."

As he spoke, Tamamo-no-Mae in the arena threw a flirtatious glance at Sakamoto-kun. Sakamoto-kun's expression didn't change, but his attack power dropped to 2000, and the 2000 attack that was reduced became Tamamo-no-Mae's attack power.

"Hmph... you should be glad, Feng Bujue," Snow said after completing his declaration, "If you had a lot of male monsters on your field right now, you'd already be dead."

"Hmph..." Feng Bujue also snorted coldly, replying, "Boring hypothetical... Tamamo-no-Mae's effect of absorbing attack and defense can only be activated during each turn's main phase. Even if my Sword-Wielding Trickster was still here, his attack power outside the battle phase would still be 0... the attack power you absorb would still only be two thousand."

"Oh? Looks like... you know all about the special effects of God Cards." After two seconds, Snow added, "Heh... then you should also know that Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae has more than one effect!"

As he said these words, the monster's form on the field began to suddenly change...

This was Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae's second special effect – Demon Fox Transformation.

The gorgeous beauty spun around, raised her cloak, and in the blink of an eye, transformed into a giant demon fox. Its fur was silver-white, as clear and pure as moonlight; its eyes were blood-red, radiating a terrifying demonic aura. Behind its massive form, nine gigantic tails resembling soaring flames danced wildly in mid-air.

Honestly, just for this animation effect, it was worthy of being a ten-star God Card.

"Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae's special effect number two... transform into a demon fox, destroy one card from the opponent's hand, and make its controller draw nine cards from the deck!" Before Snow finished speaking, he had already begun to draw cards, "Unfortunately, you don't have any cards for me to destroy, but... just for this drawing effect, I have to activate this move."

In one sentence, nine cards were drawn.

At this moment, objectively speaking... Feng Bujue had fallen into a very dangerous situation.

Because... Snow's battle phase for this turn had not yet begun. Relying on the nine cards he had just drawn... he had a good chance of finishing off Feng Bujue.

Not to mention that there wasn't a single card in Brother Jue's magic and trap zone right now... even if he had a set card, it might not solve the problem, because all God Cards could resist magic and traps to some extent.

Of course, each God Card's performance in this area varied. For example, some cards "don't take any magic or traps," while others "don't take magic or traps that target individual monsters, but are still affected by some general-purpose cards." Also, there were God Cards that "can reverse the effect of magic or traps"...

And Snow's Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae on the field belonged to the type that was "unaffected by any magic or traps."

"Hehehe..." Snow stared at the nine cards in his hand for a long time. While looking at the cards, he would occasionally glance at Feng Bujue and laugh a few times, as if the other party was a lamb to be slaughtered.

"Even if you leer at me repeatedly, I won't panic." But Feng Bujue... calmly responded with mockery, "You can't win against me, that's beyond doubt." He also laughed, "Heh... whether you have nine cards or ten cards, whether you have a god or a demon on the field... someone like you who despises duels can never defeat this daddy, a 'true duelist.'"

"Hmph..." Snow was a little annoyed when he heard this kind of remark that went against his own philosophy, "Enough already, you're in your twenties, don't you feel ashamed saying such chuunibyou lines?"

"Nope." Feng Bujue replied without even thinking, and asked in return, "What? Is wearing a duel disk and dueling with others a shameful thing for you?"

"It's alright..." Snow replied, "After all, I wouldn't use your kind of wording and actions..."

"That's why I said... you don't understand anything," Feng Bujue said, "There's no point in arguing with people like you, stop laughing and hurry up and make your move. You can't kill me anyway, right?"

"Tch..." Hearing this, Snow couldn't help but spit.

He was really upset, because... he really couldn't kill Feng Bujue.

He had drawn a full nine cards, including monsters, magic, and traps, but... no matter how he calculated and combined them, he couldn't directly achieve victory in the current turn.

"I summon from my hand - Evil Kappa, in attack position!" Snow hadn't used his normal summon for this turn, so he summoned another monster to the field.

After the summoning declaration, a humanoid creature less than a meter tall, with a monkey face and a bird's beak, covered in slime, appeared in the arena.

"Evil Kappa, launch a direct attack on Feng Bujue!" After summoning the monster, Snow directly ordered it to attack.

Of course, this was possible; according to the rules... when a player orders a monster to attack without saying "enter the battle phase," the system will default that the player has entered that phase and terminate their main phase.

Pa—

Soon, the slimy guy rushed over and slapped Brother Jue. However, this kappa's attack was even weaker than the Desk Lamp Monster... it was just a two-star monster with 800 attack, but because of the Oxygen Deprivation Zone's effect, it could still bypass Sakamoto-kun and directly attack the player.

"Python Monster, direct attack!" Before the kappa finished attacking, Snow issued another attack command.

Hiss—

The snake monster's attack wasn't high either, and Feng Bujue casually parried it with his duel disk and withstood the attack.

However, the combined attacks of these lackluster monsters had already brought Brother Jue's LP down to 1500, and he was one attack away from dying.

But... he just couldn't deal that last blow.

Because... Nine-Tailed Fox Tamamo-no-Mae was "unaffected by any magic and traps," which meant she didn't even take the Oxygen Deprivation Zone's effect, and couldn't directly attack the player by bypassing the humanoid creature on the opponent's field.

Furthermore, since her and Sakamoto-kun's attack power were both 2000, she couldn't get past this "wall"...

Snow would naturally never let his "demon god who can continuously activate attack and defense changing effects" self-destruct with the opponent's "ordinary monster that has already activated its effect," so his Tamamo-no-Mae could only stay put during the battle phase of this turn...

"I... set four cards." After a few seconds of hesitation, Snow reluctantly said, "End this turn."

"Ha! What did I say?" Feng Bujue laughed arrogantly, seeing this, "A deck without a 'soul,' no matter how big the advantage, is just an empty illusion!"

"Enough nonsense!" Snow's anger was stoked, "I have three monsters on the field, four set cards, and four cards in my hand! And you only have one monster on the field, with no cards in hand... Do you think you can survive until the next turn?"

"Hahahahaha..." These words triggered an even more insane laughter from Brother Jue, "That's nonsense! The first card on the deck... symbolizes a duelist's hope and determination towards victory! As long as there are still cards in the deck, I won't give up!"

After saying that, he made that exaggerated posture, reached across his body to draw a card, swung his arm, and cried, "This daddy's turn... draw!"