Chapter 107: How to Solve Midrash? (Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

"Sealing Special Summons, huh..."

Among the duelist onlookers, many wore expressions of shock.

Yamaguchi struggled to look at his face-down cards that he couldn't open at all, then lowered his gaze to his own body.

Only after Tenjou Hikari explained did he notice that both he and the opposing Tenjou Hikari were entangled by purple puppet strings; especially regarding the cards locked tight on the duel disk, a cold sweat broke out all over his body.

Th-this... what do I do!?

His mind was blank.

"Locking down Special Summons!" Not far away, Daichi Misawa, who was watching the duel, first froze, then suddenly realized, "I see, so this is Hikari's answer to us!"

"What?" This time, even Manjome was a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"Manjome, do you remember? Back when Hikari was in Neos City, dueling that otherworlder named Kunikawa Haruto."

Manjome froze for a moment, recalled the event, then struck his fist into his palm as enlightenment struck: "Ah, I see! He's using this method to lock down other summoning methods!"

The logic was incredibly simple!

Back then, that Kunikawa Haruto used Rescue Rabbit to Special Summon two Level 4 monsters from his deck, then performed an "Xyz Summon" they couldn't comprehend; but throughout the entire process, what was most important—the Xyz Monster itself, or that Rescue Rabbit?

No, neither!

What was most important was gathering "monsters of the same Level"!

And the process of gathering these materials inevitably requires "Special Summoning"; if you seal that, then even Xyz Monsters that can be Special Summoned without Fusion will be hindered.

"Not only that, it seems Synchro Monsters also require sufficient field conditions to be Special Summoned from the Extra Deck..." Daichi Misawa exclaimed in a deep voice, "Hikari, he has once again walked ahead of me!"

"That Falcon is a Spellcaster-type Tuner monster; he probably obtained it within the Village of Spells!"

Hearing their discussion, the other spectators gradually began whispering among themselves, discussing excitedly.

"If it can only Special Summon once, for Fusion, that's actually an easier monster to deal with, after all, it only has 2200 Attack Points."

"That's right! As long as we Fusion Summon a monster with over 2200 Attack Points, we can handle it, but it seems Xyz can't do that!"

"Exactly!"

"As expected of Tenjou Hikari, easily accomplishing what we cannot!"

"Haha, while others are still afraid, Brother Guang has already figured out how to fight!"

"This is our Fusion Club President!"

"The answer to Fusion is Tenjou Hikari!"

The students watching the show shouted excitedly.

Yamaguchi, currently dueling, already had the corners of his mouth twitching.

You guys are only thinking about other summoning methods; have you considered that it's actually not that easy!?

What should I do about my Gladiator Beasts!

He glanced at his hand: "Sigh, anyway, I end my turn."

"Heh... My turn, Draw." Tenjou Hikari drew a card, glanced at it, "Battle! Attack Gladiator Beast Secutor with Midrash!"

Midrash raised the staff in her hand, and the flying dragon beside her immediately began convulsing and twisting violently, before lunging ferociously at Secutor.

Boom—

Secutor shattered upon impact.

Yamaguchi LP: 4000 → 3300.

"Terrible." Yamaguchi felt his head buzzing.

"Heh, I set one card and end my turn." Tenjou Hikari casually set a card face-down, ending his turn.

"M-my turn." Yamaguchi swallowed hard.

For some reason.

Even though that Fusion Monster named Midrash only had 2200 Attack Points, he felt this monster brought him immense pressure!

He scanned the cards in his hand.

Previously, Gladiator Beast's Grit had been used to battle and destroy Dark Eater; at this moment, there was no way to resolve Midrash through Attack Points, so then...

"I Normal Summon, Gladiator Beast Hoplomus!"

Hoplomus was a saber-toothed tiger holding a sword in its right paw and a shield in its left, looking incomparably fierce.

Gladiator Beast Hoplomus, Level 3, EARTH Attribute, Beast Type, 1600 Attack Points.

"A Level 3 with a full 1600 Attack Points."

"Such a strong monster, but in front of that Shaddoll Midrash, it's probably useless!"

Hearing their voices, Yamaguchi wiped his cold sweat, summoned his courage, and shouted: "Don't underestimate Gladiator Beasts! I attack your face-down monster with Gladiator Beast Hoplomus!"

Tenjou Hikari folded his arms, not minding his action in the least; after the Falcon was flipped, it was struck by the saber-toothed tiger's shield, and with only 1400 Defense Points, it couldn't hold on, forced to drink bitter tea and return to the Graveyard once more.

However, the characteristic of the entire Shaddoll series was the recovery and reconstruction of monsters on the field and Spells/Traps in the Graveyard, so going to the Graveyard was practically like going home.

Tenjou Hikari slightly raised a hand to block the wind and didn't dwell on it further.

"End of Battle Phase, activate Hoplomus's effect, return it to the deck, and then..." He hurriedly searched through his monsters, "Got it—I Special Summon, Gladiator Beast Murmillo!"

Murmillo was a fish.

Gladiator Beast Murmillo, Level 3, WATER Attribute, Fish Type, 800 Attack Points.

"Murmillo's effect: When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I can destroy one face-up monster on the field; I destroy Shaddoll Midrash!"

Murmillo suddenly raised a giant conch shell and blew towards Midrash, however, Midrash didn't even move; the flying dragon beside her simply slapped down with a claw, dispersing the water waves.

"What!?" Yamaguchi froze.

"Sorry." Tenjou Hikari shrugged, "Midrash on the field cannot be destroyed by opponent's card effects!"

Yamaguchi gasped sharply.

Not even effect destruction works!

The audience below also looked at each other in dismay, unable to help but exclaim in shock.

"S-so strong, I thought such a cute monster would have rather average effects..."

"It can already restrict Special Summons, yet it also possesses the special ability of being indestructible by card effects?"

Daichi Misawa frowned tightly; being able to draw inferences from one instance, he had already thought of deeper possibilities and couldn't help but exclaim: "Don't forget, Shaddoll Core and that Shaddoll Falcon both have effects to recover things sent to the Graveyard."

"This... should be Alchemy's pulverization and reconstruction..."

"That Midrash probably has a similar effect!"

Manjome showed a difficult expression: "If I have to face this monster, none of my VWXYZ series cards can be used; I can only gamble on Armed Dragon leveling up or Light and Darkness... No, even gathering Tributes will be difficult!"

This monster, which looked petite and cute, was actually far more vicious and terrifying than her appearance suggested!

"Hikari is Professor Professor Dadesi's most appreciated student, and even now he is studying the Alchemy left behind by Professor Professor Dadesi; this card was probably obtained through his understanding of Alchemy!" Judai thought of Professor Dadesi, feeling somewhat melancholy yet also excited for Tenjou Hikari, "So strong, Hikari, this monster is so cool!"

Probably only he would use the word "cool" to praise a female monster.

However, Tierra beside Tenjou Hikari kept nodding repeatedly: "Mm-hmm-hmm, this human has good taste!"

As a puppet she had personally resurrected, personally modified, and personally controlled, Tierra was very fond of this "vessel" called Midrash.

Of course, if possible, she certainly hoped to use her own body, but since that wasn't an option, temporarily residing in this body was something she could fully accept.

"Alright, do you have any more moves?"

Tenjou Hikari asked.

Yamaguchi didn't reply; he merely had cold sweat hanging on his forehead, focusing intently on his hand while quickly recalling his deck.

Did he still have any way to resolve Midrash?

The simplest method, of course, was to draw "Grit" again, but that wasn't so easy to draw, and during this process, his monsters would become fewer and fewer.

The next best method would be to use Gladiator Beast monsters to Special Summon a monster with over 2200 Attack Points directly from the deck.

But that face-down Falcon had already fallen; his chance for a risk-free attack was gone! Moreover, although he had applied for this deck from the Professor, the Professor had only given him more convenient lower-level monsters.

Ah, right, Book of Moon, there's still Book of Moon; if I could draw Book of Moon; or De-Fusion? Yes, yes, De-Fusion should be able to send her directly back to Tenjou Hikari's Extra Deck.

Wait, no, I didn't put De-Fusion in my deck; this Gladiator Beast deck doesn't need that kind of card...

Though the weather was nearly cold, his forehead kept breaking out in sweat.

The matter of how to resolve Midrash made his brain spin rapidly and his body heat up, awakening after a long time the "passion" for dueling that hadn't burned in three years!

Most importantly, would Tenjou Hikari give him this time, would he give him time to cobble together another solution!

"Ha..." Seeing him constantly thinking there, Tenjou Hikari couldn't help but laugh.

Hearing Tenjou Hikari's voice, Yamaguchi lifted his head and looked at him: "What's wrong! Do you want to mock me!"

"No, I wanted to say, Senior, aren't you thinking very hard right now?"

!!

Yamaguchi's eyes widened.

"Facing something brand new, completely fresh, and unknown; experimenting, learning, trying, challenging—this is what we Duelists are! Otherwise, why did we take the exam to enter this Duel Academy?" Tenjou Hikari looked at a card in his hand, "If you can strive and try against Fusion Monsters, then why can't you do the same against other types of summoning methods!?"

"Fusion has never been the most unique; in this world, there also exist Tribute Summons, Ritual Summons, and Double Summons; if you insist on the belief that Fusion is the noblest, how can you exclude other summoning methods!"

"Fusion is the noblest summoning method!"

"Its nobility lies in inclusivity; whether Synchro, Xyz, or Ritual Monsters, we should accept them all!"

"They could always potentially become materials for Fusion! Become part of Fusion!"

"Senior, it seems it's time to end this; Trap Card, Fusion Preparation!"

"Reveal Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, add one Thunder Dragon to my hand, then immediately activate its effect to add the remaining two Thunder Dragons from my deck to my hand."

"And then..."

Tenjou Hikari slowly flipped over the card on the far left, the one he had drawn initially: "Normal Spell, Fusion!"

"It's actually... Fusion..."

The initial, the purest Fusion!

Shankou closed his eyes.

He had lost, lost utterly and completely.

From cards to understanding, from dueling to conviction, to character...

There was not a single aspect where he could compare!

In his eyes, it was as if the various actions of his past three years flashed by; as a senior student, as a student of Blue Academy, he knew clearly just how many beastly things he had done over those three years. He could absolutely never turn back, because he did not possess that qualification.

He opened his eyes, and what they beheld was the user of Fusion Summon who called upon Lei Long and feared no challenge.

This was true Fusion!

For a single instant, such a thought suddenly flashed through Shankou's mind.

He was startled by this "grossly disrespectful" idea of his own.

Yet...

Upon careful reflection, he, the representative of the Snake and Turtle Academy, had to admit it.

Tenjou Hikari was more fused than those so-called "Fusion Army" of theirs!

Third update, seeking monthly tickets, seeking monthly tickets~

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(End of Chapter)