Chapter 74: Garden Of The Doomed Maiden Part 5: Relentless
Alabaster
Alley wouldn’t have activated the CorpseBlossom Dryad so soon if he had been lady Astley. The tree woman had used the Creature’s effect as soon as she had Manifested the thing in her first Creation Phase of the turn. Even if you had something monstrous in your Hand the correct play would have been to wait till you had redrawn and done it in the second Creation Phase.
All of that was instantly clear after his opponent had arrogantly explained the effect of the dryad monster.
image [https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXctZdi_MtU25nFn9K6bW8KYF2toUoHjedXHSB77NJIi7pS31a_jCsqCb3PS0F0-W96liDGYQ5EmQmx8tKf0vOQWJoBYuZZiIYKeQtf-_n54qC-SikGQZFZn9H__214fW2uI4uIzfQ?key=KvPGZ9FuGnfATktAtsidK8gA]
[Cost: 1 Vial
Power:1100
Vitality:1
Once per turn you may Banish three Creatures with the Undeath Resonance from your Crypt. If you do,you may Manifest an additional Bloom Creature this turn without paying its Vial Cost.]
He figured that the woman just got a little bit excited when she realized she could get one of her ‘boss’ monsters out onto the field right away. So that is precisely what she did, Banishing Armon, Rotting Wish Fae, and Swamp Zombie from her Crypt Astley Manifested a powerful Unique practically for free.
“I call forth Malaithe, Lord of The Rotting Woods!”
image [https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeHgTQlHeUs83iLVSDqLFj3ovGCLU0Uw8GXy0orFKBvLAyVrCw6p5L-dVWAmZMbxvM2nlZ8hFBuURWIPVjb9zZ6n9fjSVkC3T8DoDhqL8gPl8ZNJ0B3Rd4LFEj1Y-z28br17ZCzpg?key=KvPGZ9FuGnfATktAtsidK8gA]
[Malaithe, Lord Of The Rotten Woods
Unique
Resonances: Undeath, Bloom, Faekin
Cost: 4 Vials
Power: 4800
Vitality:3
When Malaithe destroys another monster in combat you may Manifest a copy of it under your control. The copied Creature's Resonances are replaced with Bloom and Undeath Resonance.]
Instantly the creepiest patch of forest Alley had ever seen appeared on Astley’s side of the field. The rotting and desiccated trees blocked out everything else he could see. The Botanist, the dryad, the seed spell, even the tree woman herself were all hidden from view by the copse of grasping woodland.
There was a sound like wolves whimpering and the trees suddenly parted to reveal a strange Undead man with piercing yellow eyes, a crown bearing antlers, and ornate if rotting robes covered in leaves and feathers. The man himself was obviously some sort of Undead, maybe a lich? Alley wasn’t sure, but it certainly hadn’t been quite human when it had died.
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Realizing she was about to start her War Phase, Alley rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck in the manner he had seen Darius do so often. The boy had a feeling this Challenge was going to require some serious dodging on his part. This turn wasn’t so bad as it was just the Botanist, but as powerful as the thing had become he definitely could not allow it to actually hit him.
In terms of target order, Clataire stuck to traditional wisdom at least, opting to target the most powerful Creature on Alley’s side of the field first and sent the 3000 Power Unearthed Botanist to assault Alley’s 2000 Power Saoirse. For maybe half a second Alley considered activating the Chill Of The Grave spell in his hand, but thought it might hurt his planned path to victory. So instead he tensed up and allowed the clash of monsters to take place without interference.
In an almost comedic manner, the Unearthed Botanist raised a potted plant and came charging through the center barrier. Letting out a deafening scream Saoirse strode to meet it, but before the banshee could do anything the botanist had smashed her over the head with its ceramic and dirt weapon causing the Banshee’s wail to cut off abruptly and her form to explode into blue light that flowed into the Crypt.
Turning its gaze on Alley the Undead plant expert charged on swinging another pot plant it had produced from somewhere.
As powerful as the monster had become thanks to the combination of its own ability and the Obsession Beyond Death spell, its movements were still a bit on the awkward side. Awkward enough that he didn’t have an awful lot of trouble sidestepping the attack, even with the shocking speed the creature displayed.
Having avoided a swing of the ceramic pot, Alley decided to take an educated gamble. Several of them had worked before and the clues were there in front of him if he could just put them together one more time.
He thought that he had in fact put them together, Saoirse was a Unique which meant she almost certainly had some sort of special ability. She had Undead and Curse Resonances which suggested some sort of Crypt interaction, and perhaps most of all she was a part of The Crown Of The Cursed King. A Deck that clearly specialized in Crypt manipulation.
“Uhh, I activate Saoirse’s effect.” He guessed trying to sound far more sure than he was. To Alley’s immense relief, there was another wail and Saoirse reappeared on the field. When she did the effect continued and the top five cards of his Library were ‘milled’ to his Crypt.
image [https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXebBSY89NVd2EPs1WQvWmU0PxlCCAkMraPeym13QgwhGS6tlPaPJi6UrXPF3l1wbb7qhn1y6YgvGUnnz8F1pxKNY3l09elomrGps_BsYZYlNInSB1-q059im1SweRfN8CTJuUJJxw?key=KvPGZ9FuGnfATktAtsidK8gA]
[Saoirse, Relentless Banshshee
Resonances: Undeath, Curse, Cacophony
Unique
No Cost
Power: 2000
Vitality: 1
The first time Saoirse is sent to your Crypt you may send the top five Cards of your Library to the Crypt. If you do, Manifest her in Play and lower a Creature in play’s Power by 200.]
It seemed there was more, a faint glow appeared around both of Astley’s monsters. Immediately Alley recognized and knew only he could see it. Whatever the final part of the banshee’s effect was, it required a target from Creatures in play.
Unsure exactly what he was working with, he chose the more powerful of the two enemy monsters, the Unique Malaithe, Lord Of The Rotten Woods. His selection prompted Saoirse to send a shriek from her mouth that was actually visible to the naked eye as a series of distorted clear rings. When they struck Malaithe he had hoped something powerful would happen, but The Lord of The Rotten Woods only lost a measly 200 ower. Not great, but also just a little bonus to the banshee’s resurrection and the sending of his own Cards to the Crypt.
That thought reminded Alley that he needed to inspect what had been sent and gauge how it affected his plans. Guardian of the shallows was first, an off-Resonance Water monster. Then had come the Bone Golem he had added to his collection just outside of this very mansion. Failing Lich was next, a Card he actually wanted to play and understand, but this was a fine use for now. Wraith Master, which had won him the Challenge against the pirate captain. Last was Lesser Shade Hound which joined its greater equivalent.