“You didn't think I would let myself fall for a trap without benefiting myself, did you?”
Cross shrugged lightly.
“Well, I had no reason to suspect you'd fall for it at all. Do I really seem like the sort to give away my move ahead of time?”
“I'd say that's more down to your deck,” Hester noted. “But nonetheless, my fighter… I had my own reasons not to play him earlier, but his on destruction effect is nevertheless rather useful. I activate Masters Guidance, removing my Order of Ermine Officer of Arms, Templar Swordsman and Mounted Freelancer to summon Master of the Order of Lazarus!”
Master of the Order of Lazarus
Atk: 28 Def: 40 Life: 8 Level: 6
Passive effects: is treated as a ‘Knight’ by effects. Must be summoned by activating the effect of ‘Masters Guidance’ and removing ‘Knight’ fighters from the discard with a total level of 12 or higher
Condition: this card damages an opponents fighter
Conditional effect: until it leaves play, that fighter takes damage equal to its level at the end of each turn
The fighter was an armoured figure mounted on a horse, but looked off.
He was drooped, as though he couldn't sit upright, the lance in his right hand pointing downwards.
“Now I use the effect of my Castle of the Round Table to equip my Master with Crest Shield and Heirloom Blade.”
The fighters lance and shield glowed briefly as they warped, the shield becoming the same as the Mounted Freelancer had borne while the tip of the lance altered to match the look of the Heirloom Blade.
“Still short,” Cross noted. “Unless you mean to destroy my Harbinger.”
“Not quite. I summon Templar Squire using my levels for the turn,” Hester continued.
Templar Squire
Atk: 8 Def: 4 Life: 8 Level: 2
Passive effects: this fighter is always treated as a ‘Knight’ by effects. While this fighter is in play, all other ‘Knight’ fighters you control gain 4 Atk
This squire was lightly armoured, wielding a metal sword and carrying some kind of stone rather than a shield.
“Now, Master of the Order of Lazarus, attack his Steampunk Flying Fortress!”
The knight guided his horse back slightly, before turning into a charge, hurling his lance up towards the Flying Fortress.
The lance flew straight and true, nicking the Fortress before falling back down to where the Master could retrieve it.
Cross couldn't resist.
“Half your hand, and you only managed to deal 1 damage?”
Hester raised an eyebrow.
“Just 1? You should count again. Turn end.”
“Draw,” Cross responded with a mental shrug, ignoring what was probably his strongest fighter dropping its Life again, from 19 to 11.
Right, what to do…
Sacrificing his Mascot probably hadn't been his best idea, preventing him tricking his opponent into destroying his first Harbinger, and his other fighter was only going to last until Hester ended her next turn, while her new fighter was all but indestructible with his current cards.
It would take either bringing back a fighter he had already discarded or the next Harbinger to deal any damage to the Master, and-
He paused, reviewing the effects again, before it was his turn to smile.
“Hey, Hester,” he called out, “you know the restrictions on destruction effects?”
“That they only activate when the fighter is explicitly destroyed, rather than sacrificed or otherwise removed from play,” she responded sarcastically.
“And you know what happens when a fighter attacks something with higher Def than its Atk?”
“It takes damage, maybe gets destroyed.”
Realisation crossed her face.
“No.”
“Yep. Harbinger of Discord, attack Master of the Order of Lazarus!”
Cross promptly regretted watching the attack.
The distortion appeared to strike the Master at first, before somehow reflecting off, in a way that made his eyes hurt, to strike his Harbinger.
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And revealing the Harbinger of Bloodshed in its place.
Harbinger of Bloodshed
Atk: 21 Def: 21 Life: 21 Level: 6
Passive effects: while summoned, each enemy fighter loses 2 Life whenever a turn ends. Does not prevent enemy fighters attacking directly
On destruction: if a copy of Harbinger of Starvation exists in the owners deck, summon it at no cost
“And my Flying Fortress attacks your Squire,” he added, the heavy ordnance once again utterly removing the Squire from play. “And…” he trailed off.
If he left the Fortress in play, it would be destroyed before he could get any further benefits from it, functionally abandoning the levels used to play it.
At level 8, the only conventional use for sacrificing the Fortress would be to summon a level 9, and then only if he had a level 1 in his hand too.
But there was nothing in the rules preventing him from doing something different.
There were rules to discourage his alternative plan, especially with his current hand, but as it was the cost wasn't that bad.
“I sacrifice my Steampunk Flying Fortress,” he declared, the mighty fighter turning into a cloud of lights that quickly faded, “summoning in its place Goblin Wizard and Mechanical Spider!”
Goblin Wizard
Atk: 19 Def: 4 Life: 17 Level: 4
Activation cost: return another fighter you control to the top of your deck
Activated effect: deal 8 damage to your opponent
Mechanical Spider
Atk: 4 Def: 20 Life: 20 Level: 4
Condition: this card attacks a fighter that was in play during the previous turn with this card, and did no damage to this card
Conditional effect: that target is destroyed at the end of the turn
The first fighter was a small, greenskinned humanoid wearing an oversized and floppy hat, theoretically pointed but pointing at the ground, while holding what Cross had always thought was just a large stick, but which was presumably the staff it could wield.
The second was a much larger metal spider, eight long and jointed legs holding its body above the ground while eight eyes shone out of its head.
“Turn end.”
The consequences of sacrificing a fighter for levels without spending them all ran through him, burning his Life to 86, reducing his lead over Hesters 72 as his Harbinger drained her Master of the Order of Lazarus to 6 Life.
“Bold move,” she acknowledged as she drew a card. “You really aren't playing how I'd have expected. So, I only have my Master until my next turn, unless I want to face your third Harbinger, and assuming it damages your spider, while you clearly have faith you'll be able to play another level 4, or maybe a level 8, fighter next turn. Meanwhile, the best I can do is spend 2 levels. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm out of options.”
Cross had a bad feeling about the way she was smiling, and still holding the card she'd drawn with her right hand.
“But still, you aren't the only one with level 8 fighters. I sacrifice my Master of the Order of Lazarus to summon my Dragonist Crusader!”
Dragonist Crusader
Atk: 33 Def: 24 Life: 26 Level: 8
Passive effect: this card is treated as a ‘Knight’ by effects
Condition: another ‘Knight’ fighter you control is destroyed by an opponents card
Conditional effect: this card gains a ‘Wrath Token’
Activation cost: remove a ‘Wrath Token’ from this card
Activated effect: this cards next attack ignores Def. Any Atk over the targets Life is dealt as damage to the opponents Life
Like many of her cards,this fighter was an armoured figure on horseback, but as always there were elements to set it apart.
First, the horse was much larger than the previous fighters, a heavily muscled mass, while for a second point the armour looked much fancier, more detailed.
The helmet, for example, looked much akin to a dragons head.
And third, was the lance he wielded, a pennant flying from near the tip that bore the same symbol as the Crusaders shield, that of a snake eating its tail over a red cross.
“Neither of the equip cards on the Master are inherited of course,” Hester noted, “that’s just the limit of my castles effect. But given that I'd be losing them soon anyway, I can accept the loss. Now, Dragonist Crusader, attack the Mechanical Spider!”
The Crusader charged the Spider, lance piercing into its body and reducing it to 7 Life, before returning to Hesters side of the arena.
“Now I activate Crusaders Spirit! By targeting a fighter that took damage from a Crusaders attack but survived, I can deal damage to that fighter equal to the Crusaders level,” she continued, placing another card on her gauntlet and leaving just two cards in her hand.
A phantom crossed the arena, slamming into the Spider and destroying it.
“I end my turn.”
The Harbingers effect activated, dropping the Crusaders Life to 24.
“Draw.”
Cross took a moment to examine the new card, finally discovering one that could take the card he was borrowing.
He considered quickly, whether this would be the best place to use the card or if he should hold off, but given the need to use his levels or take damage, the choice was obvious.
“I summon my Vespa Guard, equipping her with your Wind Lance!”
Vespa Guard
Atk: 24 Def: 17 Life: 4 Level: 4
On destruction: deal 8 damage to the fighter responsible, or your opponent if this card was not destroyed by a fighter
The fighter looked like an insect forced into humanoid form, clear wings neatly arranged upon her back while she held a spear in her left arms, one that reshaped to match the thinner and sharper lance from the card he had been given.
“While the piercing effect doesn't do me much good right now, the six extra Atk are more useful,” Cross continued. “And so, Vespa Guard, attack the Dragonist Crusader!”
The Guards wings blurred into motion, sending her forward to pierce the knight and drop his Life to 18 before falling back to her former position.
“Turn end,” he finished, his Harbingers effect taking its toll upon the knight and dripping his Life further to 16.
“The risk was calculated, but I may have misjudged the odds,” Hester commented as she drew a third card into her hand, leaving her just one behind Cross. “And clearly I can't just leave it in play, unless I want to lose my knight that much faster. So my Dragonist Crusader must attack your Vespa Guard.”
The knight ran down the insect woman, spearing her with his lance, giving her just enough time to lance him with her stinger through his armour before she was destroyed.
“And turn end.”
Between the effects of the Guard and the Harbinger, the knight was left with just 6 Life remaining.
Cross paused a moment before starting his turn.
He was out of playable fighters, unless he was to take damage from unused levels again, so there was nothing to stop him performing a special draw.
As long as he could name the card from the deck he needed.
But…
He had learned the names, statlines and effects of his deck, memorised what all the cards could do, but hadn't paid any attention to their colour and had no idea what weapons any of his fighters could use.
And without the second use of the lance, from his opponents zone card, his only options to remove the knight before his Harbinger destroyed it would only cause problems later.
So on balance…
“Draw.”
