"Gibrine's effect activates!" Yumi declared, raising his hand. "All monsters I control gain 800 ATK until the end of this turn!"
The young warrior nun snapped her rifle into place. A burst of radiant light enveloped both her and her sister, bathing the field in holy energy.
[Exosister Gibrine, 1400 -> 2200 ATK]
[Exosister Asophiel, 2100 -> 2900 ATK]
"Battle!" Yumi's voice rang out with conviction. "Gibrine, attack Yuki-Musume!"
Gibrine took aim, her rifle crackling with sacred light, the barrel pointed directly at the tiny ghost kneeling on Yuki-Onna's field.
"Trap card open- Half Unbreak!" Yuki-Onna's voice cut through the air.
A card flipped open behind her, revealing a shimmering magical bubble barrier.
"I target Yuki-Musume. She can't be destroyed by battle this turn, and any battle damage involving her is halved!"
"Not so fast, Asophiel's effect activates!" Yumi snapped back instantly. "I target one monster you control, and return it to the hand!"
A glowing glyph erupted beneath Asophiel as the girl raised her glowing bow. A pulse of exorcising light shot out like a command seal, enveloping Yuki-Musume.
"Nani!?" Yuki-Onna flinched as the ghost girl vanished in a swirl of icy mist, banished back to her hand.
"With your monster gone, the number of monsters on the field has changed. A battle replay occurred!" Yumi called. Gibrine smoothly adjusted her aim, now pointing her weapon at Yuki-Onna herself.
"Gibrine, direct attack!"
"Trap card activate!" Yuki-Onna shouted in response. "Zoma the Spirit!"
Her final face-down flipped open. The field darkened as a grotesque, skeletal-like creature with a contorted black body and crossed arms rose before her.
[Zoma the Spirit, 500 DEF]
Yumi widened his eyes, realizing the trap monster before him, which has the powerful effect of once it's destroyed by battle. It will inflict damage to the opponent equal to double the ATK of the monster that destroys it at the end of the Battle Phase.
Since he already knows about this effect, Yumi isn't afraid, not when he is using this deck instead of his Sky Striker Ace.
"Not happening." Yumi raised his hand again. "Gibrine's second effect, target one face-up Effect Monster you control and negate its effect until the end of the turn!"
A pale blue binding circle appeared beneath Zoma, chaining the spirit in place. The grotesque creature writhed as its sinister aura faded.
"Gibrine, attack Zoma!"
With a sharp pull of the trigger, Gibrine fired a shimmering bullet of holy light. It pierced through Zoma, shattering it into black smoke and dissipating its threat completely.
"Now, Asophiel, direct attack!"
Asophiel stepped forward calmly, drawing back her radiant bowstring. A magical arrow of pure white light formed, glowing with power.
The arrow soared across the field in a flash, striking Yuki-Onna dead center.
"Ahhhh!" she gasped, stumbling backward as the force of the blow pushed her nearly to the ground.
[Yumi-Onna, LP 4000 -> 1100]
The duel spirit gritted her teeth, regaining her footing as frost blew out from her sleeves in frustration.
Off to the side, Celina frowned.
"Tch. Yumi, are you going easy on her or what?"
Yumi shrugged coolly."Well, this is my first time using this deck. Plus, this is an unfinished deck." He casually flicked the last two cards from his hand onto his duel disk.
"I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."
Two glowing cards materialized behind his Fusion monsters as their temporary boost faded.
"You really don't go easy on a woman," Yuki-Onna complained.
She even tried pouting and acting cute until she noticed the two exorcise sisters glaring at her, readying their weapons.
This causes Yuki-Onna to back off, feeling as if she pushes too much, those sisters might actually beat her up physically once the duel ends.
"My turn, draw!" Yuki-Onna declared, her fingers elegantly drawing her next card. A smirk curled across her pale lips.
"I activate the Spell Card- Card Destruction! Both players discard their hands, then draw the same number of cards."
She tossed her entire hand into the Graveyard, the cards vanishing in a swirl of snowflakes, before drawing five fresh ones.
"Now I activate Mezuki's effect from the Grave!"
Silence.
Nothing happened.
She blinked, then repeated, a bit louder this time.
"Ahem. I activate Mezuki's effect!"
Still nothing.
Her eye twitched.
"I SAID-"
"When Asophiel is on the field," Yumi cut in calmly, arms crossed and wearing a smug grin. "While she's out, neither player can activate card effects in the Graveyard."
Originally, these Exosister Extra Deck Monsters are Xyz Monsters. Summoned through the Overlay network by stacking monsters with the same Level on top of each other to create a monster with Rank.
With Yumi's change, turning them into Fusion Monsters, their effects also got a makeover to fit their new card type.
This alteration causes the Summoning mechanic from two Level 4 monsters to two "Exosister" monsters with different names.
Most of the monster's effects are kept the same.
A vein pulsed on Yuki-Onna's temple as her pale cheeks flushed pink.
"You could've said that sooner!"
"Shut it, evil spirit!" Gibrine snapped, reloading her rifle with a divine click.
"Tch..." Yuki-Onna clicked her tongue, shooting a glare before refocusing on her hand.
"Fine then. I'll Normal Summon me, Yuki-Onna, the Ice Mayakashi!"
A swirl of icy wind erupted as a ghostly version of herself materialized beside her.
[Yuki-Onna, the Ice Mayakashi, 1900 ATK]
The double presence of the haunting maiden gave off an eerie symmetry, like sisters born from snow and spite, which only seemed to intensify the exosister's intention to exorcise them.
So the Link Monster got turned into a normal effect monster. Is this also the same case with the other ghost cards?
"I activate Asophiel's effect," Yumi said coolly, raising his hand. "Return yourself back to the hand."
Asophiel nocked her spectral arrow and fired. A light-infused bolt struck the Mayakashi, sending the ghost back into the hand.
"Annoying woman!" Yuki-Onna snapped, rifling through her hand. Then she smirked. "But I'm not done yet."
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell- Ghost Meets Girl: A Shiranui's Story!"
Celina blinked. "That's a mouthful..."
Shiranui falls into the same archetype as Mayakashi, both being zombie monsters that heavily rely on Synchro Summoning and later on get some Link Summoning. They have a relationship similar to Elemental HERO and Destiny HERO, which both heavily rely on Fusion Summoning.
"If you control a monster, I can discard 1 Zombie monster, then Special Summon a 'Shiranui' monster with a different name from my Deck of Grave."
She discarded the same Yuki-Onna card that had just returned to her hand. A flaming sigil appeared beneath her.
"Come forth, Shiranui Squiresage!"
Rising from the flames was a stoic young woman with short black hair, clad in a pink and red Japanese-style samurai training clothes, she held a katana blade in her hand while her naginata was strapped on her back. The phantom of a long-haired samurai loomed behind her.
[Shiranui Squiresage, 2100 ATK]
Another main deck monster...
So the Synchro and Link monsters in these archetypes got changed into Normal Monsters.
By now, Yumi has understood the change in both the Mayakashi and Shiranui archetypes.
"I activate Squiresage's effect!" Yuki-Onna continued. "I banish a face-up monster I control or one from my Graveyard, then apply its traits to enhance Squiresage!"
Her Graveyard lit up as a fiery card rose from it.
"I banish Shiranui Swordsage, Level 5, FIRE, Zombie-type."
A fiery aura surged around Squiresage, and she took a stronger stance.
"Since it's a Zombie, all my monsters gain 300 ATK!"
[Shiranui Squiresage, 2100 -> 2400 ATK]
"Since it's FIRE, I can destroy one of your backrow!"
She pointed to the left-most card on Yumi's field. Squiresage's blade swung wide, slicing through the air and igniting the Trap Card, Blazing Mirror Force, which shattered in a burst of light.
"And since the banished monster was Level 5 or higher, I can destroy one monster on the field!"
So this is the change.
The original Squiresage is a Synchro monster, and this last effect only triggers if the banished monster is a Synchro monster. But now that the Synchro Summoning hasn't been created yet, the Synchro monster is changed to a Level 5 or higher monster.
Squiresage raised her blade high, and flames surged forth, aimed squarely at the two Exosisters.
Only for a radiant wall of holy light to repel it.
"What?!" Yuki-Onna's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Gibrine and Asophiel," Yumi said evenly, "can't be destroyed by the effects of monsters summoned from the Graveyard."
"These sisters really are a pain..." Yuki-Onna muttered, brushing her hair back.
"Battle, Shiranui Swordsage, attack Exosister Gibrine!"
She ordered, as the young samurai girl charged forward, blade in hand.
"Gibrine's effect activates, increasing the attack point of all my monsters until the end of this turn!" Yumi said as a radiant light enveloped her and her sister.
[Exosister Gibrine, 1400 -> 2200 ATK]
The attack went through, and Gibrine was destroyed.
[Yumi, LP 7200 -> 7000]
"Trap card open! Miracle's Wake!"
A beam of holy light shot down from the sky, and the form of Gibrine reemerged.
"Target 1 monster that was destroyed by battle and sent to my graveyard this turn. Special Summon it."
[Exosister Gibrine, 1400]
Gibrine reappeared, giving her sister and master a warm smile before turning back to glare at Yuki-Onna with murderous intent.
"Tch, that woman is back so fast." Yuki-Onna complains.
With a sigh, she played her last cards.
"I set three face-down cards and end my turn."
The three cards appeared in a shimmer of frost.
"My turn. Draw!"
Yumi drew a card in one smooth motion, eyes scanning it instantly. Without hesitation, he slammed it onto his Duel Disk.
"Spell Card, Heavy Storm! Destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field!"
Yuki-Onna: "…"
"Talk about top-decking..." Celina muttered under her breath.
A howling vortex of wind surged between the duelists, spiraling with raw energy. All of Yuki-Onna's set cards shattered, disintegrating into the storm.
With Yumi's deck filled with Duel Spirits, getting the cards he wanted was as simple as drawing cards.
He wasn't like Jaden, who is blessed with a god-like drawing skill, pulling the perfect card when everything seemed lost.
The large amount of Duel Spirits resting inside his decks usually helps him get the cards he needs. This is also the case with Jaden's Winged Kuriboh, Neos, the Neo-Spacian, and Yubel later on.
They only show up to assist him when needed, never staying to brick his hands.
If Jaden and Yumi were to swap decks, Yumi is pretty sure he would draw enough bricks to start building a house. While Jaden could still draw into some good cards and create a strong setup.
That is just their differences.
Jaden's ability to draw any cards he needed is natural.
Yumi's ability to draw any cards he needed is artificial.
As the field cleared entirely, Yuki-Onna's voice cut through the night.
"Since my set card, Zombie Bed, got destroyed and sent to the graveyard. I get to Special Summon a Zombie monster from my grave."
A heavy stone coffin erupted from the ground. Its lid creaked open, and stepping out was a taller, more mature version of Yuki-Onna.
This one looks more mature, and her personality is also a bit bigger.
[Yuki-Onna, the Icicle Mayakashi, 2400 ATK]
"What do you think of my adult form?" she asked coyly, twirling a strand of snow-white hair.
She looked proud and elegant.
Originally, she plans to summon this card through the effect of Mezuki, but because of Yumi's Asophiel has the nasty effect of negating the activation of graveyard effect. She couldn't bring this version of her out early.
Fortunately for her, Yumi didn't bring out the Ultimate Unfriend HERO Dark Law, with the effect of throwing her entire graveyard away. Otherwise, she might cry and call him a bully.
Even Raye has to be afraid when facing Dark Law; she couldn't exactly jump between the grave and the field, or get her power boost when there is no graveyard for her to do so.
"Just so-so," Yumi replied bluntly, deadpan.
With the many female Duel Spirits in his possession, with different ages, sizes, shapes, styles, and personalities, a single ghost in a fancier dress and large personality didn't exactly impress anymore.
"EHHHH!?" She looked personally insulted.
Before she could whine, both Exosisters glared at her with the fury of exorcists on a mission. She wisely shut her mouth.
Yumi snapped his fingers.
"Asophiel's effect, return Icicle Mayakashi to the hand!"
But Yuki-Onna was ready.
"Not so fast! Icicle Mayakashi's effect activates when she's Special Summoned, I can negate a face-up monster's effect!"
She waved her hand with flair, icy energy forming.
"Gibrine's effect, negate the effect of one effect monster you control!" Yumi retorted, eyes flashing.
Yuki-Onna's eyelid twitched. Wait, that also works, too?
Negating my negate?
Dueling isn't much different from a commander commanding their troops in battle.
The difference between a Duel Spirit and a Duel Spirit with a Master landed on this. One is a soldier trying to act as a commander, while the other has an actual commander commanding them in battle.
The chains finally resolved, Gibrine's effect negates Yuki-Onna's effect, and Asophiel's effect launches Yuki-Onna back into her owner's hands.
The pale ghost girl looks at her adult form being sent back into her hand, meaning this duel result is already determined.
"Gibrine's effect activates, increasing all of my monsters' ATK by 800."
[Exosister Gibrine, 1400 -> 2200 ATK]
[Exosister Asophiel, 2100 -> 2900 ATK]
"Battle. Asophiel, attack Shiranui Squiresage!"
Asophiel readied her bow, a glowing arrow of radiant energy notched and pulled back. She released it.
A streak of light pierced the air, and Squiresage was blown apart in a flash.
[Yuki-Onna, LP 1100 -> 600]
"Now, Gibrine, direct attack!"
The exorcist took aim. Her rifle glowed with divine power, and she pulled the trigger. The shot blasted through the cold air, striking Yuki-Onna dead center.
She stumbled back, ghostly form flickering, before collapsing with a soft thud.
[Yuki-Onna, LP 600 -> 0]