"An ultra-rare spirit?"
As a professional Spirit Hunter, Trapper's keen hunter's instincts immediately flared. His eyes lit up.
So the rumors were true!
They all said the Duel King had spirits swarming around him. There were even rumors that he got along so well with Kaiba Seto that they could wear the same pair of pants, and that his relationship with Industrial Illusions was anything but ordinary.
Any monster that came from the Duel King' hands—no matter which one—had to be worth a fortune.
Thinking of this, a look of eager malice crept across Trapper's face.
Come on then. Show me your spirit.
Your spirit is pretty good—but soon, it'll be mine!
"I activate the effect of Matriarch of Nephthys."
Kira had already begun his next sequence of plays.
"Matriarch's effect: I target 1 Level 4 or lower 'Nephthys' monster in my GY," Kira said. "I destroy 1 card in my hand, and then Special Summon that targeted monster from the GY in Defense Position!"
Kira drew a card from his hand.
The Matriarch chanted a spell, and a plume of flame rose from Kira's hand, instantly engulfing the card he held. The card was wrapped in fire and burned to ash.
He raised his Duel Disk, and the Graveyard zone flared with golden light. A rocket of fire shot out, the burning arrow slamming into the ground and blossoming into a massive fireball. From the rolling inferno, flames surged and twisted together into a humanoid form.
"I revive Defender of Nephthys from the GY!"
A silver-haired girl appeared, wielding a greatsword blazing like living fire. She too wore golden armor representing the Nephthys faction, a crimson cloak fluttering behind her, her figure bathed in flames.
[Defender of Nephthys – DEF 200]
"However, any monster Summoned by Matriarch's effect has its effects negated," Kira added.
Trapper studied the newly arrived girl for a moment, resting his chin on his hand.
Obviously, this one wasn't a spirit. In other words, this was just set-up for a spirit to be summoned later.
A Nephthys deck… Don't tell me…!?
Trapper's eyes flashed. "The Phoenix God!?"
"Huh?" Kira blinked. "What?"
"Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys—that's the rare spirit you were talking about, isn't it?"
Trapper could no longer hide the feverish joy in his eyes.
Phoenix God was already a rare card to begin with. If it were a spirit, its value would be impossible to estimate. This could practically be the lifetime dream of a Spirit Hunter.
But Kira just laughed.
Trapper frowned. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry to disappoint you," Kira said, still smiling. "But the spirit I meant isn't Phoenix God."
"I Tribute Matriarch of Nephthys and Defender of Nephthys to Tribute Summon!
From the Planet Series, the ruinous machine—
—The Big Saturn, come forth!!!"
Planet Series!
Those few words exploded in the Spirit Hunter's ears like rolling thunder.
The legendary set modeled after the nine planets—each card utterly unique, only one copy existing in the entire world—super-ultra-rare cards!
And now, one of those nine planets descended: a gigantic machine fully encased in white heavy armor, landing with earth-shattering force, like a steel mountain dropped from the heavens!
[The Big Saturn – ATK 2800]
Trapper's eyes were full of longing.
It was like his whole expression said: "Dad, I want this one."
Kira obligingly granted his wish at once. "Battle. The Big Saturn, attack Malice Doll of Demise!"
Saturn had only just begun gathering power when Trapper burst out laughing.
"You've fallen for it again, Duel King!"
The Dark Scorpion gang, watching tensely nearby, went: "NANI!?"
"You thought that just because I didn't Summon a Lure Phantom this time, attacking would be safe, didn't you? You underestimate us Hunters far too much!"
Trapper laughed loudly and swept out his hand.
"I activate the Trap Card: Capture Snare!
If there's a card on my field with a Prey Counter, I can activate this. I negate the attack of 1 of your attacking monsters, then that attacking monster is also captured into my back row—and I place a Prey Counter on that card too!"
The Dark Scorpions suddenly understood.
"Crap, last turn the Storm Caller he abducted had a Prey Counter on it…"
"That's right! Because I had a card with a Prey Counter on my field, I used Storm Caller as bait to lure Saturn in!"
Trapper laughed uproariously.
"Get over here!"
Saturn was captured as well. Its massive body was sealed inside a gigantic net and hoisted up into Trapper's Spell & Trap Zone.
"You damn bastard!" Zaloog roared. "I knew he'd steal other people's monsters again!"
Trapper was overjoyed.
Another catch.
And this time, not just a Tribute monster, but a spirit—a heavyweight, one-of-a-kind Planet Spirit unmatched in the whole world!
Yes, that was also a trait of Spirit Hunters' cards. Spirits caught by their cards in a duel weren't just holograms bound in place—the real spirits would actually be temporarily trapped inside the Traps.
"Stealing my monsters again…"
Kira sighed in mock helplessness.
"All right. In that case, it'll be dangerous if you get to attack next turn. I activate the Spell Card One Day of Peace. We each draw 1 card. Until the end of your next turn, all damage either of us would take becomes 0."
"So you're going to cling on for one more turn like this? That's not really befitting of the Duel King."
Trapper let out a smug chuckle.
"My turn. Draw."
He glanced at the card he drew and snorted again.
"I can't take advantage of this turn to attack. But it's only this one turn."
He revealed a monster card from his hand.
"I Normal Summon Battle Ox!"
[Battle Ox – ATK 1700]
It was just a minotaur swinging a battle axe. Nothing particularly special, but it suited the image of a Hunter whose profession was wrangling beast-type spirits.
"I Set 1 card and end my turn."
Trapper's face radiated confidence.
The set card was Capture Snare No. 2.
In other words, the moment the opponent attacked again, history would repeat itself and even more of his monsters would be captured.
Come, Duel King! Show me even more of your rare and precious spirits!
"My turn. Draw."
Kira drew, but didn't even bother to look at the card—as if he didn't care what it was at all. He simply raised his head and said calmly:
"There are some people who are already dead. They just haven't realized it yet."
Trapper paused.
"…What?"
"Last turn, you seemed pretty eager to see Phoenix God," Kira said lazily, slowly raising his Duel Disk. "So I'll indulge you."
As he spoke, actual flames burst from his Duel Disk, billowing skyward and surging into a solid shape.
Trapper's eyes grew even hungrier. "Oooh… that's…"
"Last turn, when I activated Matriarch's effect, I destroyed a card in my hand. That card was this one."
Kira's voice was indifferent.
"Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY, during your next Standby Phase, you can Special Summon it from the GY.
Reborn in the flames of nirvana and take flight once more—
—Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, come forth!"
The blazing flames formed vast, outspread wings, a proud head, and a golden body radiating endless light, shining like the scorching sun itself.
[Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys – ATK 2400]
"So it really is Phoenix God… Hmph. A shame it's not a spirit, but it's still a powerful, rare monster."
Trapper flashed a dangerous grin.
"After this Duel, that card'll be mine too."
"I told you, there are some people who are already dead. They just haven't realized it yet."
Kira's tone was flat.
"When Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is Special Summoned by its own effect, all Spell and Trap Cards on the field are destroyed."
Trapper: "!"
Damn it! If his back row was destroyed, he wouldn't be able to activate Capture Snare, and his Minotaur couldn't corral Phoenix God…
"Tch."
Trapper clicked his tongue.
Even so, he still had two monsters on the field, and his LP was untouched at 4000. Clearing his back row didn't mean Kira could necessarily OTK him this turn.
"The Storm Caller and Big Saturn you stole from me are currently in your Spell & Trap Zone, so they'll be destroyed along with everything else when Phoenix God's effect resolves.
And both of those cards have their own effects."
Kira paused, then calmly explained:
"When Storm Caller is destroyed by a card effect, its controller takes damage equal to its ATK—so 2300."
"And The Big Saturn's effect: when a face-up Big Saturn controlled by your opponent is destroyed by your opponent's card effect and sent to the GY, both players take damage equal to Big Saturn's ATK—2800.
Of course, since you took Big Saturn, from your perspective, 'your opponent' is me."
Trapper: "…"
It all happened too fast. The Hunter's brain momentarily crashed; he couldn't process it.
Kira paused, then gave Trapper a gentle smile, kindly elaborating:
"So if those two cards are destroyed together, thanks to Big Saturn's effect, I'll take 2800 damage.
As for you, you'll take the sum of both their ATKs—5100 damage total."
Trapper opened his mouth wordlessly, as if something was lodged in his throat, leaving him speechless. He stared at his own back row—at those two monsters that he'd thought he'd so cleverly captured.
He looked at Storm Caller.
Then at Big Saturn.
His expression twitched.
So in the end…
…he'd caught two undercover traitors for himself?
The flames unleashed by Phoenix God swept across the field in a vast tide, devouring everything. Storm Caller and Big Saturn both detonated like massive powder kegs, erupting into the most dazzling fireworks against the night sky with two earth-shaking blasts.
"Uwaaaaaaah—!!"
[Trapper – LP 4000 → LP 0]