Chapter 105: Fear of the New Summon

Duel start.

Tenjou Hikari LP: 4000

Shankou LP: 4000.

"I go first..." Shankou drew a card from his hand, glanced at it twice, then set one card face-down in front and one behind, "I summon a monster in Defense Position, set one card in my backrow, and end my turn."

Surprisingly, Shankou's first turn was utterly conventional, without any flashy tricks.

Tenjou Hikari thought for a moment and understood.

No matter what "new power" Akama Reo had prepared for them, it was impossible for them to actually play cards like Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder in front of so many teachers and students; moreover, they hadn't even expanded that strange "Field," so there was no way these could be cards related to the Phantom Demons.

Then what could it be?

Tenjou Hikari pondered for a bit, then raised an eyebrow.

"My turn, draw!" Tenjou Hikari quickly drew a card from his deck.

"Go for it, Brother Guang!"

"Brother Guang, teach them a lesson for us!"

This time, the spectating students unusually made no extra noise; whether those who disliked Tenjou Hikari for showing off too much or those who simply disliked the "mainstream voice," everyone cheered for Tenjou Hikari together.

The root cause was that the Fusion Department's recent actions were simply too outrageous.

If you usually bullied people while playing cards, no one would say much about you; at most, they'd say you were a bad person or less skilled than others.

But if you monopolized new cards, then you were practically asking for trouble.

Tenjou Hikari acknowledged his classmates, feeling quite good about it.

Regardless, his two primary temporary goals since transmigrating—"making the bald guy suffer" and "I am Fusion"—seemed to be progressing quite well so far.

"I activate the Magic Card, Fusion Reserve!" Tenjou Hikari revealed a Magic Card depicting Flame Swordsman.

"Show one Extra Deck Monster to your opponent; if that monster lists one of the mentioned Fusion Materials by name, Special Summon that material from your Extra Deck or Graveyard. I show Black Flame Knight, and Special Summon Flame Swordsman from my Extra Deck!"

"Here it comes, one of Tenjou Hikari's ten thousand ways to summon Flame Swordsman!" someone exclaimed happily.

"However, monsters summoned by this effect cannot battle!" Shankou, having naturally done his homework, knew this Magic Card's effect clearly.

"Then, how about adding this?" Tenjou Hikari flipped his hand, revealing a card he hadn't used in a long time, "Normal Magic Card, Sudden Mutation!"

"I send Flame Swordsman on the field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon from my Extra Deck, Dark Magician of Chaos!" Tenjou Hikari revealed a new monster from his Extra Deck.

Flame Swordsman was used to this by now; he didn't mind being sent to the Graveyard in the least, instead waving to those around him like a hero.

Although his ATK was only 1800, because Tenjou Hikari had used him so many times, and with various strange ways of summoning him, he had gained immense popularity among the first-year students, especially those wanting to study Fusion; seeing the virtual image start waving, some students couldn't help but shout out.

"Quite popular, aren't you?" Black Flame's voice sounded in Tenjou Hikari's ear.

"Rest assured, one day you too will become a big star," Tenjou Hikari teased with a smile.

"It is enough for me to be loyal to my Lord!"

"Hey, Black Flame, are you hinting at something!"

Meanwhile, Flame Swordsman on the field had vanished; the powerful flames slowly turned pitch black, and immediately after, a twisted-looking, horned demon draped in a large green robe appeared on the field.

Dark Magician of Chaos, Level 5, DARK Attribute, Fiend Type, ATK 2000.

"Battle, attack the face-down monster with Dark Magician of Chaos!"

It waved its hands, charging forward, gathering black energy in its palms. Just before reaching the card, it hurled the black energy from its hands, destroying the face-down monster on the field.

"The monster I set was Gladiator Beast Bestiari! According to its monster effect, when it is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one monster with 'Gladiator Beast' in its name from my Deck to my field! I Special Sum..."

"That won't work." Tenjou Hikari extended his hand, gesturing lightly in the air.

"What!?" Shankou looked at his Graveyard in shock, only to see the cards within emitting a clicking sound; clearly, the activation had failed!

"Monster Card, Dark Magician of Chaos's monster effect," a student in the crowd shouted at the top of their lungs, "This monster negates the effects of Effect Monsters it destroys by battle!"

"Really, isn't that card incredibly old?"

"What's going on? As a senior specializing in Fusion, surely you wouldn't fail to recognize even this?"

Hearing the surrounding discussions, Shankou's face turned somewhat red with embarrassment.

He had been too rigid earlier, focusing solely on activating Bestiari's effect, and had truly forgotten to recall the opponent's monster effect; looking closely, Dark Magician of Chaos should be a card released several years ago, possibly even from the exact year he enrolled...

Tenjou Hikari looked at his opponent, calculating in his mind as well.

Gladiator Beasts, huh?

I see.

So he switched from an Ancient Gear deck to a Gladiator Beast deck?

Come to think of it, since the Bald Head had started researching the power of the Phantom Demons, there was no need to hide the "Gladiator Beast" classification anymore; bringing them out to "reward" the students and stabilize their "loyalty" was indeed a good move.

"If that's the case..." Tenjou Hikari glanced at the cards in his hand, chuckled softly, "I set two cards and end my turn."

Shankou frowned and drew a card from his deck.

The card he set was the Trap Card "Obstacle Race"; this was a Trap Card that could be activated when he Special Summoned a Gladiator Beast monster, allowing him to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Gladiator Beast from his Deck.

Once this combination was completed, he could instantly gather the Fusion Materials for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, destroy Tenjou Hikari's cards, and gain a temporary advantage.

Honestly, facing Tenjou Hikari, he was a bit nervous.

A famous name casts a long shadow, and moreover, Tenjou Hikari not only had a reputation but had truly defeated the Fusion Department multiple times, single-handedly transforming the Fusion Department from "Fusion" into "Combination" as a genius freshman; for him, a student about to graduate, there was absolutely no need to fight to the death.

But the Professor's orders were extremely firm; they must carry this out, even anticipating that someone would try to stop them.

This was only natural.

In the recent past, due to the emergence of Tenjou Hikari's Fusion Department, their own Fusion Department had faced a shortage of new members, leaving the entire first-year activity room eerily empty. After all, if everyone just wanted temporary decks of Ancient Gear cards, why wouldn't they choose the better-reputed Tenjou Hikari over them?

Thus... these representatives had come up with a plan.

Use new decks to attract freshmen.

By rights, only "excellent graduates of the Fusion Department" should have the chance to obtain Gladiator Beast decks!

That was a deck only the Akama Professor's "Special Forces" were qualified to use; he had always been extremely envious of it. When he had told Akama Reo this back then, he felt some fear in his heart, after all, he hadn't accomplished much good this year, and the club's situation was worsening; now asking for a new deck, he expected to be scolded.

Unexpectedly, Akama Reo not only did not scold him but actually threw this deck at him.

He took a deep breath.

Tenjou Hikari also possessed Gladiator Beasts, and he claimed to "know everything about Fusion"; he couldn't assume that possessing a new deck meant he could win!

He had to find a way from another angle!

"Hey, Tenjou!" Looking at his hand, he tried to appeal to emotion and reason, "Don't you feel fear?"

"Fear? Fear of what?" Tenjou Hikari was baffled.

"Xyz, Synchro, don't you think it's all too absurd?"

"Will I, really?" This even made Tenjou Hikari lose confidence.

"I've studied dueling since childhood; I participated in many duel tournaments, always aiming to become a professional duelist; I've learned various abilities to gather Fusion Monster materials since I was young, but suddenly one day, someone tells me there's no need to practice anymore, that there are new things...

Are you really not afraid?"

Tenjou Hikari raised his eyebrows.

This seemed to be the mindset of many "ordinary people" who still hesitated to leave the Fusion Department even now.

After all, this world was not the world Tenjou Hikari had transmigrated from; cards were released rapidly, and even enthusiasts who only watched the anime, even if they didn't like Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link, wouldn't mind just watching the hype.

In this world, having over a decade of cognition shattered all at once, it was only natural for some to fear change; this was perfectly normal.

"How can a duelist fear new things!" Tenjou Hikari thought for a moment, then retorted, "President Kaiba just announced such exciting news; everyone rushed here to obtain brand new monsters, how could they possibly be afraid!"

"Exactly. Duelists should constantly climb new peaks!" Manjome nodded repeatedly beside him.

This was what Kaiba Seto had always taught him, and he dared not forget it.

"But don't you think Tuners, Synchro Summons, and all that are too absurd?" He held out both hands, waving them upward continuously, "It's simply something from a completely different dimension."

"Fusion is the noblest summoning method in the world; isn't it enough to just Fusion?" He hoped to use this slogan to gain some favor from Tenjou Hikari.

Because he knew clearly that Tenjou Hikari was an even more extreme extreme-Fusion duelist than himself!

"Is that so? I happen to think otherwise." Tenjou Hikari shrugged, "Moreover, Senior, that is not your justification for forcibly buying up all the card packs.

Your fear of other summoning methods should not restrict students from pursuing brand new, novel cards; you do not have that authority.

Furthermore—

Fusion is the noblest summoning method in the world!

It has nothing to do with any other method!"

Tenjou Hikari crossed his arms, holding his cards, looking at him with interest as he waited for his turn, and said, "I will prove it to you, Senior. So, by then, stop making excuses and justifications for yourself!"

The new Fusion big sister from Thistle looks so cool, and she has an effect that completely bypasses Fusion to Special Summon Fusion Monsters from the Extra Deck; that Eye Snake Fusion is also quite interesting, allowing you to use monsters in your Spell & Trap Zone as Fusion Materials for a Fusion Summon; although it's not a particularly novel way to appear, it's truly very interesting. This is our Fusion Summon; the variety is truly endless.

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(End of Chapter)