“There once was a philosopher who talked about a place that was called the Land of Kings. He stated that it was a world of monsters, Gods, and magic. He said cards wielded the power to create and destroy entire lives. He explained it all in vivid detail. It was later discovered that the said philosopher who shall not be named, took an ungodly amount of LSD, and logged into the Grid for five straight days. He was found dead in his low-income apartment. But think about it, what if that world truly existed? The Grid would be completely useless, and we would be our own gods. No more cancer, no more heartache.
- Count Van bon Trellium of Vanderguard
Cyrus
Cyrus held five cards in his hands with purposeful intent. He looked at his opponent as he weighed his limited options. Cyrus was playing his dragon deck and held three dragon egg cards and two other cards that offered him a few options for his opening turn. He focused on the two cards.
[Land Dragon]
[Class: Draconic Knight]
[Level 5 Epic Monster]
[Power Rating: 800]
[Defense Rating: 1500]
[Intellect: 4]
[Conditional Summon: Any card that is summoned onto the battle zone with the word “Dragon” in the card’s name, summon this card to the battle zone at zero cost immediately. If summoned on an opponent’s turn, take an emblem from the opponent’s side and destroy all monsters on your side of the field. If summoned on your turn Land Dragon is summoned in defense position.]
[If two or more Dragons are in a battle zone with different classes, search your deck for Fives Pact and summon it to the field. If you have a Dragon egg in your hand you can discard one to move Fives Pact to the side deck zone.]
He studied what his best options were. Cyrus did not know what type of deck Xander was playing since he didn’t have access to Xander’s deck list. Cyrus was playing with a sense of uncertainty. He admitted to himself that he felt uneasy about that. In most duels he knew most decks he played against due to understanding the meta of Emblem Duel. Cyrus did not like how old and intricate the cards Xander wielded were. He looked at his other card.
[Fives the Dragon of Glut]
[Class: Draconic Reaver]
[Level 1 Rare Monster]
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
[Power Rating: 1000]
[Defense Rating: 500]
[Intellect: 3]
[Conditional Summon: None, please refer to card effects]
[Fives Dragon cannot attack or steal emblems unless Fives Pact is present on the side deck zone. Fives cannot equip attachments unless Fives Pact is in the side deck zone.]
Cyrus looked at the board state. “Hey Xander, what are we using as emblem tokens? I don’t see any on the field.”
“We are not using any,” Xander waved his hand in dismissal.
“Well, how do we win the game? Getting Emblems is the whole point of the game there is no other way to play,” Cyrus protested. Tera and Harlow watched without a word, interested in what the man had to say.
“The old way my boy. We both have two thousand hit points. Whoever reduces their opponents HP to zero will be declared the winner,” Xander stated in a jovial manner.
“So, the rest of the rules are the same?”
“Yes, just ignore the card effects that say emblem,” Xander corrected.
Cyrus proceeded to look at his own Guardian.
[Red Fang Nightmare Dragon]
[Class: Draconic Nightmare]
[Level 12 Epic Monster]
[Power Rating: 4500]
[Defense Rating: 1500]
[Intellect: 5]
Conditional Summon: If the player has five different draconic classes on the battle zone, the player can Activate this monster to any battle zone.]
[No Abilities. Meet your worst Nightmare.]
Cyrus was so used to playing Emblem Duel that the notion of playing without Emblem effects made him second-guess his strategy. The two options before him now had a twist. All the rules were the same, but the win condition was different. Cyrus glanced at Harlow, and he could have sworn the look on Harlow’s face said; maybe you should play more than only one game. Cyrus snapped out of his wandering thoughts and looked at Xander’s Guardian.
[Aken The Custodial Ferryman]
[Class: World Traveler]
[Level 12 Legendary God Card]
[Power Rating: Infinite]
[Defense Rating: Infinite]
[Intellect: 12]
[Conditional Summon: None, please refer to card effects]
[Aken cannot be summoned to the battlefield nor attack the opponent. Aken remains in a deep sleep until Mahaf the World Traveler enters the battlefield. Once this condition is met banish your opponent to The Land of Kings. If Mahaf’s Anchor is attached to Mahaf the World Traveler, your opponent will receive an anchor point.]
“What the fuck,” Cyrus said out loud. He felt his heart burst out of his chest. A legendary card, he thought to himself. How did Xander obtain it? What does banish to the Land of Kings exactly mean? How the fuck can he have twelve cards in his hands? As his mind raced, he tried to stand up but couldn’t. He looked at Xander in terror. And Xander stared back with a knowing smile.
Cyrus read the card effects for a second time. He noted that the text read differently than most Emblem Duel cards. In particular, Cyrus noticed that the world battlefield was used instead of battle zone. He considered that he was at a disadvantage because Xander has playing a whole different game. Cyrus felt as if he were tricked into a bad situation. He felt that he didn’t have any control.
“What’s the matter, my boy?
“Hey Cyrus, you alright,” Tera asked.
“I…I can’t move my feet!” Cyrus panicked.
“Hey man, stop this right now!” Harlow yelled, believing his friend without hesitation.
“Oh, we can’t stop even if I wanted to. The ritual has already started,” Xander laughed.
“The ritual?” Tera questioned. She looked at Xander’s guardian card which started to glow a bright golden color. She thought it looked mesmerizing, beautiful even.
“Hey man make that card stop doing that,” Harlow demanded.
“Who are you?” Cyrus asked.
