Yeah, I have to deal with another fissure today. What did you think the chapter title was about? It isn’t about some mysterious shadow specters as much as I would like to deal with some, but it is a set name. But I’m skipping ahead here. I need to stop using Time Magic while writing this stuff.

But let me quickly recap how the fissure went before I actually get to the new set.

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Cailie and I, as well as the other members of the Nixie clan who lived on HomeBase, had returned to the waters around Jala’s island. Alice had told us about Amilie’s situation so I had called a meeting about it.

I know her current situation is my fault and while I know she deserves it, at the same time, it is extremely cruel. So I can admit that maybe she could be moved somewhere else, somewhere where she doesn’t suffer quite as much.

And while we were considering where we could move Amilie to, I just got a System Mission informing me about a fissure that was about to pop open. As in just a few minutes.

It was way less of a warning than I usually get from the System Agents, and even my own warning system should have picked up on it, but the reason why neither had was the location. 

It was in the middle of the ocean, over 200 kilometers away from the coast. And apparently the System Agents don’t monitor the ocean nearly as much since it has no people who use the System.

And naturally my warning system also only works on land, so that led to me having to fly off mid meeting to go deal with the fissure.

The distance from Jala’s island was quite a bit, nearly 1000 kilometers. I wish I could teleport somewhere close to there but I can’t coordinate teleport yet. But soon I should be able to though. 

So instead I flew as fast as I could, which you might assume would involve a ship, but even with Blue-Eyes Space-Jet Dragon being faster than the Gradius ships, the fastest way to fly is still using the Numeron Code flight.

Spoiler

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I was a bit late getting to the fissure, and a few monsters had already spawned. I wasn’t sure what everything appeared because they could be hiding in the ocean, but I did see a massive kraken looking monster fighting an equally large shark. But those two are just S-rank monsters, so if any SS-ranks appeared, they might be hiding somewhere.

I decided to deal with the monsters first so I summoned out Levia-Dragon - Daedalus and upgraded it to Ocean Dragon Lord - Neo-Daedalus. I then ordered Neo-Daedalus

to use its effect. This was to both deal good damage to the S-ranks and also clear away a small part of the ocean so I could see if any other monsters had already spawned.

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And yeah it will cause some waves, but immediately Neo-Daedalus dealt the damage with his effect, I summoned the superior spirit of Water, Thalassa. And I also called out Exodia to close the fissure.

Thalassa and I watched over the ocean as it crashed back to the area that Neo-Daedalus had cleared, and as the waves were about to rebound with a force so violent that it might lead to a tidal wave, Thalassa and I did a spirit synchro and used our combined force to remove the excess energy from the sea.

We then helped Neo-Daedalus to deal with the two S-ranks, and I also collected the corpses of a handful of A-rank monsters that had been killed by Neo-Daedalus’ effect. Or maybe they died when the sea rushed back into place.

We then kept watch as Exodia closed the fissure, dealing with the occasional fish that got too close to the fissure and super evolved into an A-rank monster.

And because multi-tasking is nice, I also began writing a mental report that I’ll send to the Empire. There is a chance an S-rank swam away before I got here, and the Empire and the Dragon coast are the only places where it could end up in, so I wanted them to have a heads up, just in case. I’ll just tell Janina and Jala when I get back there, so I don’t have to send a report to the dragons.

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After I teleported back to the Nixie clan, I gave them a quick rundown on what happened. They knew the truth about the fissures, mainly because they can’t really spread that information, so no need for panic beyond what their clan had.

We then continued our talks on Amilie, and we decided that we would move her to a more comfortable prison. And I was tasked with building it and moving Amilie to it.

It won’t be that bad. I think I can make a prison in a few hours. I just need a decent location for it. And no, I’m not bringing Amilie to HomeBase.

But I’ll deal with Amilie soon. First I have some packs to open. And you already know what set.

Shadow Specters.

So 10 packs, coming up.

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Spoiler

SHSP 1

Intrigue Shield; Ghostrick Scare; Ghostrick Stein; Numbers Overlay Boost; Ghostrick Mansion; Sacred Serpent's Wake; Yellow-Bellied Oni; Ghostrick Specter; Giganticastle

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Intrigue Shield is pretty interesting. Once per turn cannot be destroyed by battle is nice, but the no battle damage is way better. If I can actually add that effect to a shield, the shield should protect the user for all physical damage as long as they are holding it.

Ghostrick Scare is fine for TCG use, but pretty useless for me.

Ghostrick Stein searches Ghostrick spells and traps when it inflicts battle damage.

Numbers Overlay Boost is fine but I have better ways of attaching Xyz material to monsters.

Ghostrick Mansion is okay-ish. It is just a massive mess of ‘how does this work in real life’, sadly.

Sacred Serpent's Wake can return monsters, traps or spells from the GY or banished to hand depending on how many different types of monsters I control. It is good, but I feel like I have easier ways of doing that.

Yellow-Bellied Oni is fine, but not really all that useful to me. Mainly because the second part of its effect only affects Xyz monsters.

Ghostrick Specter is one of the better Ghostricks since it special summons itself and even gets you a draw.

And Giganticastle is just a giant golem with a good attack stat. 

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 2

Gagagatag; Ghostrick Vanish; Yellow-Bellied Oni; Mythic Tree Dragon; Ghostrick Specter; Vampire Kingdom; Mira the Star-Bearer; Blue Duston; Battlin' Boxer Cheat Commissioner

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Gagagatag is fine but it really should be a Quick-Play Spell. 

Ghostrick Vanish is just targeting and destruction protection for Ghostricks. 

Mythic Tree Dragon combos with the Mythic Water Dragon for a Rank 8 play, that’s about it.

Vampire Kingdom I’ve had for a long, but this is the first time it was printed.

Mira the Star-Bearer is fine, but the summoning condition should probably be 2+ Level 1 Monsters.

Blue Duston is bad, like every Duston is.

And Battlin' Boxer Cheat Commissioner is … okay-ish. The forced attacking is nice, but the detach 2 to set a Spell from your opponent’s hand is okay at most. I think that effect should be ‘set from their hand, and if they don’t have a Spell in hand, set one from their deck.’ or something like that. And maybe if they have no spells in their hand or deck, your opponent would take like 2000 damage or something. Maybe then this thing would actually be a cheat.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 3

Black Dragon Collapserpent; Ghostrick Mansion; Soul Drain Dragon; Mecha Phantom Beast Sabre Hawk; BIG Win!?; White Dragon Wyverburster; Intrigue Shield; Malicevorous Knife; Giganticastle

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Black Dragon Collapserpent is a ‘free’ special summon and a search if it goes from the Field to the GY. A great monster for TCG but just alright for me.

Soul Drain Dragon has 4k attack and can gain even more. … sadly it still isn’t all that amazing. They really nerfed the anime version too much when they printed it for the TCG.1

Here is a link to the anime version so you can read it: https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Soul_Drain_Dragon_(anime)

Mecha Phantom Beast Sabre Hawk is pretty meh as far as Mecha Phantom Beasts go. Yeah it isn’t bad, but just not good either.

BIG Win!? is a really mediocre level modulation card.

White Dragon Wyverburster is Black Dragon Collapserpent’s partner in crime. Both are equally as okay, or busted if you actually play the TCG.

And Malicevorous Knife is just Rank 2 material.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 4

White Dragon Wyverburster; Malicevorous Knife; Secret Sect Druid Dru; Ghostrick Stein; Rasetsu; Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts; Mecha Phantom Beast Sabre Hawk; Knight Day Grepher; Vivid Knight

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Secret Sect Druid Dru is just another Rank 4 enabler.

Rasetsu is just a Spirit monster version of Compulsory Evacuation Device.

Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts goes to the backrow when it dies and slowly gains counters. And all monsters you control gain 100 attack and defense for each counter. Kind of nice but a bit slow.

Knight Day Grepher is the slowest equip spell recoverer probably ever. I would call it okay if it wasn’t a Gemini monster, but some moron at Konami made it a Gemini, so it is complete trash.

And Vivid Knight allows for effect or battle dodging. 

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 5

White Dragon Wyverburster; Survival of the Fittest; Skelesaurus; Mythic Water Dragon; Mira the Star-Bearer; Bujingi Boar; Secret Sect Druid Wid; Mecha Phantom Beast Sabre Hawk; Vivid Knight

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Survival of the Fittest is fine. 1000 attack boost and double attacking. But why is it not a continuous trap? Usually traps that equip themselves to monsters are.

Skelesaurus is okay, but again, it is a Gemini so it is too slow. But taking opposing monsters is always nice.

Mythic Water Dragon just goes with Mythic Tree Dragon as I already said.

Bujingi Boar can change the battle position of an opposing monster, while also lowering its defense to 0. 

And Secret Sect Druid Wid recovers a continuous spell from the GY.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 6

Ghostrick Scare; Chow Chow Chan; Armed Protector Dragon; Secret Sect Druid Wid; Bujingi Ibis; Ghostrick Vanish; Black Dragon Collapserpent; Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand; Oh Tokenbaum!

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Chow Chow Chan is basically ‘negate Mirror Force’ the card.

Armed Protector Dragon is fine, protecting your equip cards. But why does it only gain attack for each equip equipped to it? It really should also gain defense because it naturally has higher defense than attack.

Bujingi Ibis just gives a monster you control piercing for a turn. Okay enough but it really should come with an attack boost.

Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand is cool. I mean, it is the Ghost Rare of the set so just that makes it cool. But it can also negate the effects of a monster, while also making it immune to all other cards and effects. So you can either use it to negate your opponent’s stuff, or to protect your own.

And Oh Tokenbaum! is interesting. It can work quite well in some decks, but for me it isn’t really worth the setup required.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 7

Soul Drain Dragon; Black Dragon Collapserpent; Knight Day Grepher; Magicalized Duston Mop; Sacred Serpent's Wake; Risebell the Star Psycher; Baby Raccoon Tantan; Rasetsu; Bujingi Raven

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Magicalized Duston Mop is probably the best Duston card, but it is still trash.

Risebell the Star Psycher I already had, but new from the set.

Baby Raccoon Tantan special summons Level 2 Beast-Type monsters from the deck so that is nice.

And Bujingi Raven is just a bad revenge killer.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 8

Baby Raccoon Ponpoko; Bujingi Ibis; Ghostrick Scare; BIG Win!?; Mythic Tree Dragon; Mythic Water Dragon; Armed Protector Dragon; Bujingi Raven; Battlin' Boxing Spirits

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Baby Raccoon Ponpoko also specials level 2 beasts.

And Battlin' Boxing Spirits is a Monster Reborn for Battlin' Boxers. 

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 9

Vampire Grace; Malicevorous Fork; Ghostrick Stein; Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts; Black Dragon Collapserpent; BIG Win!?; Terrene Toothed Tsuchinoko; Bujingi Crow; Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus

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Vampire Grace I already had, but it is new from the set.

Terrene Toothed Tsuchinoko turns all special summoned monsters to face-down defense. Which is good for TCG use, but not useful for me.

Bujingi Crow is just Magic Cylinder as a hand trap. Except that it is worse than Magic Cylinder.

And Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus is pretty good.

Next pack.

Spoiler

SHSP 10

Terrene Toothed Tsuchinoko; Risebell the Star Psycher; Ghostrick Witch; Secret Sect Druid Dru; Battlin' Boxer Rabbit Puncher; Knight Day Grepher; BIG Win!?; Intrigue Shield; Vampire Duke

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Ghostrick Witch is fine. Forcing something into face-down defense isn’t the best, but it does work. And she is cute.

Battlin' Boxer Rabbit Puncher destroys defense position monsters if it attacks them. Like before damage calc and all of that.

And Vampire Duke I already had, but it is new from the set.

But yeah. That was the first ten packs of Shadow Specters. 

Now I have a new prison to design. And I’ll try to make it better so that others don’t feel bad for Amilie. … well, I do too, but not as much. I was perfectly content with letting her suffer, as I think I should, had I done what she has.