[Elemental HERO Knospe ★★★ EARTH][Plant-Type/Effect ATK: 600 DEF: 1000]
Blooming, yet not fully bloomed, the bud-like HERO form appeared on Yilin's field.
"Yilin Austin, she really is using a HERO deck." Ling Ling confirmed again, expressing envy.
"Attack, Knospe! Destroy Aisha's defense position monster!"
Immediately initiating battle after the summon was complete, [Elemental HERO Knospe]'s 600 attack points weren't considered high.
But she could still confidently attack even when the defending monster was unknown, the reason being Yilin knew Aisha's deck too well.
Nearly half of the trash monsters in Aisha's deck couldn't block this attack.
The probability of winning or losing was fifty-fifty.
"You lost the bet, Lin!"
Ling Ling flipped over the defending monster card in front of him that revealed its true identity after being attacked.
"The monster I summoned in face-down defense position is——[Watapon]!" ( - White Dust Fairy/Demon)
[White Dust Demon ★ LIGHT][Fiend-Type ATK: 0 DEF: 1000])
Lightly materializing and floating from the revealed card, the cute monster [White Dust Demon] with zero attack power appeared on Aisha's field.
No attack power, but its defense power was 1000 points, higher than [Elemental HERO Knospe].
"Inflicting 400 points of reflected damage to you."
"Lost the bet? It's too early to draw conclusions now, Xiao Ai."
As Knospe and White Dust Demon clashed, Yilin urgently flung a Magic Card from her hand.
"Can be used during the Battle Phase——Quick-Play Magic Card [Graceful Dice]!"
C-rank Spell Card.
[Graceful Dice Quick-Play Magic Effect: Roll 1 die. The ATK and DEF of all monsters you control increase by the result x 100 until the end of the turn.]
Above the two cute monsters, a giant die summoned by Yilin's Quick-Play Magic Card was held in the arms of a small angel.
"If we're talking about gambling, it starts now. Increase the attack power of [Elemental HERO Knospe] based on the result of [Graceful Dice]!"
The difference between Knospe's attack power and White Dust Demon's defense power was 400 points. But according to the rules, when equal attack power clashes with equal defense power, no damage is inflicted, nor is destruction caused.
If Yilin wanted to break through White Dust Demon using this [Graceful Dice], she had to roll a 5 or higher.
At first glance, Ling Ling's side seemed to have a better chance.
Of course, if Ling Ling hadn't seen Yilin's strong luck when playing Magical Tycoon yesterday, he would think so too.
Roll result: 6
"Humans can't beat dogs ( slang for extreme luck)." Ling Ling thought secretly.
"According to the effect of [Graceful Dice], increase the attack power of [Elemental HERO - Knospe] by 600 points!"
[Elemental HERO - Knospe ATK: 600→1200]
Strengthened by the angel's blessing, Yilin's blooming petal offensive successfully engulfed the harmless [White Dust Demon].
[White Dust Demon] destroyed
Only a faint wisp of smoke remained, representing the monster disappearing from Aisha's field.
"Turn end."
"The instant your turn ends, I activate the set Trap Card——[Human-Wave Tactics]!"
A new C-rank Trap Card crafted by Aisha using the reward Spell Points after defeating Kevin.
[Human-Wave Tactics Continuous Trap Card Effect: During each End Phase, Special Summon Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from your Deck. The number summoned is equal to the number of Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters you control that were destroyed by battle during the same turn.]
Similar to [Three White Bone Zone], it's a Trap Card suitable for Aisha's kind of low-star trash monster deck, and it's a Continuous Trap that can remain on the field indefinitely.
As long as the Continuous Trap Card [Human-Wave Tactics] is active, it functions just as described by its card name.
However many trash monsters were destroyed that turn, that many trash monsters will be summoned from the deck at the end of the turn.
"Since my [White Dust Demon] was destroyed this turn, I can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Normal Monster onto my field."
Spreading out the entire deck from the Elven Eye, Ling Ling selected the one standing at the pinnacle of trash monsters, the one with the highest defense power.
"I Special Summon in Defense Position——[Priestess Who Received the Chalice]!"
[Priestess Who Received the Chalice ★★ WATER][Spellcaster-Type ATK: 0 DEF: 2100]
Possessing an impressive 2100 defense points among low-stars, the blue-haired priestess, whose chest was also as flat as a steel plate, lightly tapped her cute toes and landed on Aisha's field.
"So it's this card, the one that gave even Kevin trouble. But this monster card, it shouldn't be one you summoned yourself, right, Xiao Ai."
Stemming from the girl's keen observation, or rather, Yilin, who understood Aisha better than anyone, couldn't possibly not know that Aisha had never summoned this monster.
"To be able to obtain cards you never even possessed, Xiao Ai, you've changed a lot too. That's right, everyone changes. Being content with the status quo, staying put, will instead make you lose the things you cherish."
"Lose the things you cherish?" It was hard to imagine these words coming from the usually lively and cheerful Yilin. Ling Ling frowned slightly.
Aisha: "I think Lin-chan is talking about that incident 8 years ago..."
A conversation between childhood friends that only they could understand, Aisha explained to Ling Ling.
Don't be fooled by Yilin's current lively and assertive personality; eight years ago, Yilin was actually much weaker-willed than Aisha.
Many times, when encountering trouble, she would instead hide behind the childhood Aisha.
However, until that incident happened, it completely changed Yilin.
——Edy Austin .
The second son of the Austin family.
Also the one among Yilin's three brothers who doted on her the most.
No matter how mischievous, how much trouble, how willful the childhood Yilin was, he could help Yilin smooth things over.
"Leave it to me, Lin."
No matter what difficulties or dangers were encountered, Edy's smile, like the warm sunshine in spring, was the greatest reliance for the formerly young girl Yilin.
Until that day arrived.
Aisha, Yilin, and Edy, the three were drawn into a Shadow Game by followers of an Evil God cult.
To protect the two girls, Edy went all out and dueled the Evil God cultist in what was called a 'Shadow Game'.
Any country on the Elf Continent explicitly prohibits Shadow Games in law, precisely because during a Shadow Game, irreversible real damage will be inflicted upon the Duelist.
Every clash in a Shadow Game is a genuine gamble, fighting with the Duelist's soul and life force on the line.
Ultimately, the outcome of that Shadow Game was that Edy Austin barely managed to take the Evil God cultist down with him using a [Self-Destruct Switch].
Although he successfully protected the two girls, Edy, due to the damage sustained in the Shadow Game, damaged his Elven Eye and could no longer duel.
"So something like that happened..."
After hearing Aisha's description, Ling Ling couldn't help but sigh; the usually cheerful-seeming Yilin actually had such a heavy past.
However, Yilin's cheerfulness also indicated that the incident eight years ago didn't cause the girl before him to fall into depression and depravity.
The dark reality she personally witnessed instead pushed her onto another path named 'growth'.
Putting down her card to formally declare the end of her turn, Yilin showed a smile.
"Only by constantly moving forward, constantly getting stronger, can one protect the cherished people around them. I will definitely become a hero who protects friends, and protects family!"