Bird in the Birdcage #1
“My turn...”
Gurrrrgle...
Glontes quietly drew his card. A raucous echo reverberated from the one grotesquely bloated part of his gaunt frame—his belly. A glance at his steel-like jaws revealed thick drool trickling down in sticky strands.
“First, I'll deploy the magic circle, Collateral Loan...”
Glontes of Gluttony
Mana Crystals: 4 → 3
[Collateral Loan]. A magic circle card that sends the top 5 cards of your own deck to the graveyard and draws 2 cards from the deck.
It could be considered an incredibly powerful card, handling dumping and drawing simultaneously. However...
Due to the surprising number of potent draw cards like [Heaven's Blessing], and the fact that graveyard utilization was relatively low in this world, it wasn't a card you saw often.
A crime syndicate executive who stole support cards—hell, even Origin cards—on a continental scale wouldn't slot in a card just because he was short on options.
'Sending cards to the graveyard is the whole point.'
“On top of that, I'll add another magic circle, Joint Guarantee...”
Glontes of Gluttony
Mana Crystals: 3 → 2
Glontes's sunken eyes gleamed.
“This forces the opponent to pay any costs beyond the mana crystals I spend to deploy magic circles...”
“...”
[Collateral Loan] chained with [Joint Guarantee]. Oddly mismatched cards for his image. Taken alone, he seemed more suited to Gluttony than Greed.
I silently sent cards from my deck to the graveyard, lost in the thought.
“And with this, I'll summon this card...”
Glontes fiddled with the Battle Arc for a moment, checking something, then thrust out a new creature.
“Predator of the Underground Banquet - Musca Turndrink..!”
Squelch.
The wet sound of flesh slapping the floor. What emerged was a blood-red mass even bulkier than [Musca Premion].
Its fly wings were comically small relative to its body, useless for flight, yet they fluttered ceaselessly, playing a dissonant tune.
A banquet suit woven from veins and mold. Legs so spindly it was a miracle they held it up wriggled restlessly.
Like prayer. Or eager anticipation for the feast to come.
“Activating Musca Turndrink's special ability..! Remove up to 5 creature cards from opponent's graveyard from the game..!”
“...!”
[Musca Turndrink] gaped its sponge-like maw. A humid stench of rotting corpses flooded the air.
It scraped the earth with its spindly legs, dragging its bloated bulk forward into my zone.
Splurch! Head-first into the primordial muck, it thrashed in a grotesque dance, devouring away. The sound of melting steel and ravenous gulps echoed in succession. The air itself seemed to turn spongy.
“For each creature removed by this ability, Musca Turndrink's stats rise by 500... You had 3 creatures in your graveyard. +1,500..!”
After its brief feast, [Musca Turndrink] lifted its head. No face on that fly-like mug to read, yet its oil-smeared snout splitting wide felt like a grin.
Predator of the Underground Banquet - Musca Turndrink
Stats: 400 → 1,900
Weeeeeeng... No deck shrinkage, no Soul Point drain, yet [Lost World] wailed sharply.
I clenched my throbbing left eye shut, waiting silently for what came next.
“Battle! Musca Turndrink attacks K-56..!”
Gurrrrgle... Graveyard raid hadn't sated it? [Musca Turndrink] rumbled its gut and fixed on [K-56].
Compound eyes thick with pus-like heat. Thousands of ommatidia writhed like maggots within.
Before it could devour [K-56], I activated the magic circle I'd set last turn.
Ricardo Bardi
Mana Crystals: 3 → 2
“Gray Mine Gray Moore! Deploy by consuming 1 Factory Gauge when opponent declares an attack! Destroy the highest-stat creature in opponent's zone!”
Plus, [Gray Moore] debuffs all opponent creatures' stats by 300 until end of my next turn.
If [Musca Corpse Cradle]'s hatch relied on stat boosts, this would check it some.
But.
“Then I'll deploy magic circle, Circuit Burst..!”
Glontes of Gluttony
Mana Crystals: 2 → 1
“When opponent deploys a magic circle, negate its deployment and effect... And deduct 2 of opponent's mana crystals...”
“...!”
“S-such a card exists..!”
[Gray Moore]'s circle flushed red, flickering erratically.
It swelled, then shattered like glass with a split-second pop.
The shock hit me directly.
Ricardo Bardi
Mana Crystals: 2 → 0
Mana crystals depleted, my head spun with vertigo.
Damn, not just Soul Point damage manifests..!
“Gray Moore deployment negated... Thus, Musca Turndrink's attack hits K-56 directly..!!”
But something was off. Was I seeing wrong?
[Musca Turndrink]. Its sponge maw yawned, body swelling like a freshly yanked tumor.
That head aimed not at K-56, but at me, staggering from dizziness.
From its abyss-like gullet, swarms of flies erupted. Each tinier than a nail, but their number blotted the sky like a black claw descending.
-Woof!
Then [K-56] barked short and lunged.
No hesitation, it blocked me, enduring bites into its scarred flank steadfastly.
Thud—.
Only after the assault ended did it collapse, spent.
“...”
The camera eye, pulsing contraction and dilation at me, froze wide—its final light fading.
Like my past-life mutt. Its tail would wag no more.
Ricardo Bardi
Soul Points: 11,200 → 9,400
A loyal hound indeed.
Thrust onto the field twice, dying in your stead.
Its final gaze fixed solely on you.
Yet you couldn't protect it.
Pitiful, my powerless king.
But fortunate, isn't it?
You shoved it into battle yourself. A gambit for victory, you tell yourself.
Simple, then.
Just scrap from a machine outlived its use. No need for guilt.
Weeeeeeeeeeng──!!!!!
[Lost World] spewed a spasmodic siren.
“At this moment, Kingdom of Fasting - Pamesium's effect triggers... All my Musca creatures in zone gain +500 stats...”
-Screee, skreeek, screee, skreeek.
[Musca Turndrink] gaped and snapped its maw, emitting eerie cries. Laughter, almost.
Predator of the Underground Banquet - Musca Turndrink
Stats: 1,900 → 2,400
Musca Corpse Cradle
Stats: 650 → 1,150
“And when my Musca creature destroys an opponent in battle... Boost my Musca Corpse Cradles by half that creature's stats...”
From the kingdom of flesh, fly swarms rose again. With gluttonous wingbeats in chorus, they dismantled [K-56]'s wreckage, ferrying bits to the [Musca Corpse Cradles] atop.
Musca Corpse Cradle
Stats: 1,150 → 2,050
Why? Staring at it all.
My left eye refused to close.
“I end my turn...”
Glontes of Gluttony
Hand: 2 | Soul Points: 9,500 | Mana Crystals: 1
“My turn.”
The moment the turn passed, I mechanically drew.
The card throbbed thump at my touch—a card I'd never seen before.
I read its effect silently, then slotted it into the Battle Arc.
“I remove 1 Factory Gauge and deploy magic circle, United Operation - Tactical Fusion: Red Line.”
“Ah...!”
“Fusion...?”
Ricardo Bardi
Mana Crystals: 2 → 1
Glontes's eyes—devoid of all but hunger till now—widened.
“Remove fusion materials from hand, field, graveyard, and Special Summon a fusion creature from Latency Deck.”
But I ignored the graveyard. Drew two from hand.
“From hand, I fuse Machinery Aspect - Centauro II and Machinery Raptor - B-2 Spirit Strikes.”
Instantly, two war machines materialized over my zone.
One a stealth-jet-like mechanical bird. Silent wingbeats, body semi-transparent, blending into cavern gloom.
The other a unicorn-esque mechanical beast. Intricate machinery charred black, horn replaced by elongated cannon.
Weeeeeeeeeeng──!!!
[Lost World] bellowed. [B-2 Spirit Strikes] and [Centauro II] disassembled, merging.
Steel clangs pierced ears, drumming brains; acrid oil stench soaked the soul.
“Fusion Summon. Machinery Annihilator - MQ-20 Avenger.”
Silent death descended amid old world's screams.
Intricately meshed machinery birthed a streamlined form evoking a unicorn. But black wings, forward cannon, camera eyes streaming crimson like blood tears—devoid of sanctity.
“Battle. MQ-20 Avenger attacks Musca Turndrink.”
[Musca Corpse Cradle] was the priority target, but with [Pamesium] and [Turndrink], impossible.
Goal unchanged regardless.
“Hellfire Rain.”
[Avenger] soared silently, wings unfurling. Thousands of missiles gleamed beneath black steel—death's feathers laden with hellfire vengeance, drifting down.
-Skree?
[Musca Turndrink], wallowing with grating cries, sensed wrongness and glanced skyward, uttering a peep.
Too late. Vision filled with vengeful blades.
─────.
No sound. Or drowned by [Lost World]'s screams.
“Guhh..!!”
“When Avenger destroys opponent in battle, inflict 300 additional Soul Point damage.”
Glontes of Gluttony
Soul Points: 9,500 → 6,800
Glontes reeled from manifested pain, eyes bulging.
[Musca Turndrink] should've vanished—yet lingered in his zone.
“Why...?”
“I deployed Hell's Chain.”
“Hell's Chain...?”
Ricardo Bardi
Mana Crystals: 1 → 0
“When my creature destroys opponent's in battle, resummon it from graveyard at pre-destruction stats.”
“What...? Not undead—reviving from graveyard...?”
“If successful, boost 1 of my creatures' stats by half the resummoned creature's until end of turn.”
[Musca Turndrink] held 2,400 pre-destruction. Half—1,200—added to [Avenger].
Machinery Annihilator - MQ-20 Avenger
Stats: 3,000 → 4,200
“...!!”
“Plus, Avenger can attack each opponent creature once. Your Musca Turndrink is freshly resummoned—valid target.”
[Avenger] spread wings again. Silent death poised to repaint the earth.
“Battle. Avenger attacks Musca Turndrink.”
Hellfire Rain.
Hellfire engulfed the rampant glutton.
“Gaaahh..!!”
Glontes of Gluttony
Soul Points: 6,800 → 4,100
Amid Glontes's successive screams, [Enolla Fortress] watched silently—whispering as if savoring an ancient masterpiece, ever so quietly.
Ecstasy incarnate.