"I summon Kaiser Sea Horse in Attack Position!"
The younger brother slammed his card down.
Roar!!
A humanoid monster clad in blue and purple finned armor, wielding a yasha-style polearm, appeared on the field.
[Kaiser Sea Horse]
[Level: 4]
[Attribute: LIGHT]
[Attack: 1700]
[Defense: 1650]
"According to Tag Duel rules, no one can attack during the very first rotation, but I'm not just going to stop after summoning one monster!" The younger brother's fighting spirit was ablaze. He smirked at Jiang He and prepared to play another card from his hand.
"I didn't think you'd stop there either," Jiang He interrupted, raising his hand toward one of his three set cards. "At this moment, I activate my face-down card! Trap card: Secret Barrel!"
The trap flipped up, revealing an illustration of a colorful toy machine gun.
"This trap's effect deals 200 damage to the opponent for every card in their hand and on their field!"
"A burn trap?" The Paradox Brothers were startled.
"Secret Barrel?" Alexis looked curious. She had never heard of this card before. Was it like that One Day of Peace spell he used in his Exodia deck against Chazz? A card no one had ever seen?
Jaden, Crowler, and the others watching from below shared her surprise.
"Based on the effect of Secret Barrel, the elder brother has five cards in hand and one Jirai Gumo on the field. The younger brother also has five in hand and one Kaiser Sea Horse on the field. That's a total of twelve cards," Bastion calculated aloud.
"Jiang He's burn trap is perfectly suited for a Tag Duel. It doubles the effectiveness of the damage calculation," Zane added, nodding slightly.
On the field, Jiang He smiled thinly.
"200 damage for each of the twelve cards... that's a total of 2400 damage!"
"Secret Barrel, open fire!"
As Jiang He gave the command with a mischievous wave of his hand, a massive toy machine gun materialized from the trap. It let out a rapid da-da-da-da sound as it strafed the Paradox Brothers.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
A deluge of colorful wooden cylinders rained down on them like a storm. Though they were just holograms, the impact created a stinging sensation upon contact.
"Ugh!!"
The brothers raised their arms to shield themselves, let out muffled grunts of pain. Their Life Points plummeted from 8000 to 5600.
[Ding! Paradox Brothers (Yellow/Green) Emotion Points +400!]
"Curse you!" The brothers gritted their teeth, their eyes burning with even more intensity. Losing 2400 Life Points was bad enough, but being pelted by a toy machine gun made them feel like they were being mocked. Their fury was reaching a breaking point.
"A fine trap offensive. However, the Paradox Brothers' counterattack begins now!"
The younger brother took the card that Jiang He had interrupted earlier and placed it on his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell card: Tribute Doll!"
"This card allows me to tribute one monster on my field to Special Summon a Level 7 monster from my hand!"
The younger brother glanced at his elder sibling in tan. After receiving a nod of approval, he grinned and continued, "I tribute my brother's Jirai Gumo to Special Summon from my hand: Kazejin!"
"Come forth, Kazejin!"
Whoosh!!
A violent white gale swept across the younger brother's field. From the center of the storm, a green, orb-like figure emerged. It looked like a giant toad with only a torso and a pair of long green arms. The kanji for 'Wind' was inscribed in a circle on its forehead. It floated in the air, arms wide.
[Kazejin]
[Level: 7]
[Attribute: WIND]
[Attack: 2400]
[Defense: 2200]
"...No matter how many times I see it, that is one ugly green toad," Jiang He couldn't help but complain.
The Paradox Brothers glared. Have you no manners?! That is our signature monster!
However, Jiang He noticed that Alexis's expression had turned grave.
"That monster might be ugly, but they just used a partner's monster with a negative effect as a tribute to summon a high-level powerhouse. They pulled off a chain summon with perfect coordination in a single turn," Alexis said seriously.
From this simple setup, she could see that the opponents' decks were truly built for Tag Dueling. Their synergy was seamless, and they surely had more tricks up their sleeves.
"Don't worry. If it's coordination you're looking for, we're not doing too bad ourselves," Jiang He said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
Alexis blinked, taken aback for a moment, but then she caught his drift and offered a small smile. She looked at her own face-down card. Even though we didn't have time to discuss tactics, he seems to have guessed what kind of trap I added to my deck specifically to support him.
Indeed, they weren't lacking in coordination. They had... a bond!
Reinvigorated with confidence, Alexis turned her gaze back toward the Paradox Brothers, ready for their next move. Jiang He felt her reaction was a bit subtle, but he didn't dwell on it. He focused his attention on the enemy.
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