Chapter 19: Not Bound by One's Own Fusion Materials

Although the ban list prohibited the appearance of "Flame Swordsman," as an "evolution" of Flame Swordsman, the Black Flame Knight could appear at will.

Of course, generally speaking, without Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman to fuse, the Black Flame Knight could not appear in this world either.

But Tenjou Hikari's Trap Card slapped Liu hard across the face.

"A Fusion Card that can be activated from the Graveyard? That's amazing, isn't it?"

"No, no, no, 'amazing' doesn't even begin to describe it, does it?"

"Using cards from the Graveyard and one monster on the field to bypass the normal Fusion procedure and Summon a Fusion Monster... that's too strong!"

Judai, who had been somewhat worried, saw that Tenjou Hikari was not only unharmed but had also restrained his opponent; he immediately high-fived Marufuji Sho and cheered.

"Tch... I Set one card and end my turn!"

Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead, gritting his teeth as he glared at Tenjou Hikari.

"My turn, Draw." Tenjou Hikari drew a card, examined his hand, and let out a "Whoa."

Good—

It looked like he was going to Fuse again!

Though Liu's face showed tension, in his heart he had already devised a surefire way to win!

His Set card was—Mirror Force!

Ever since losing to Tenjou Hikari, ever since being expelled from the Fusion Club, ever since being publicly criticized by Professor Cronos, he had day and night pondered how to defeat Tenjou Hikari!

In his view, Obelisk Blue was Obelisk Blue, and Ra Yellow should ride atop Obelisk Blue; even if they were both members of the Fusion Club, it should still be so!

Therefore, he never felt he was wrong; it was Tenjou Hikari, who dared to resist him, that was at fault! It was this guy's inability to appreciate kindness, and Professor Cronos's failure to stand behind him!

And after receiving help from Professor Akama Zero, he finally had a chance for revenge!

Following Akama Zero's teachings, he went to another dimension and searched out several Gem-Knight cards, but these were merely "secondary"; what truly mattered was the boundless power of "Darkness" hidden within that dimension.

Just as Akama Zero taught him, he dyed his deck with "shadows"; as long as he defeated Tenjou Hikari, he could strip Tenjou Hikari of that arrogant confidence, or even directly erode it into his own power!

And this Trap Card was the strategy he had racked his brains over for many days to conceive!

Tenjou Hikari being able to duel with an all-Fusion deck was indeed very impressive, but as everyone knew, these Fusions lacked the effect of destroying cards!

No matter what Fusion Monster it was, as long as it attacked...

"Senior."

?

Tenjou Hikari examined the card in his hand, lightly spinning it between his fingers while gazing at the sky, seemingly lost in thought: "Actually, after that, I thought about it for a long time; sometimes I wondered if what I did back then was wrong."

"Ha, only now do you realize you need to apologize to me..."

"After thinking for half a month, I finally reached a conclusion—" Tenjou Hikari's gaze refocused on his opponent, a smile playing on his lips as he said, "I was not wrong. I was absolutely right."

"You!"

"I pay 2000 Life Points to activate the Spell Card—Solemn Judgment!"

"Th... What is this?"

Tenjou Hikari stroked his chin, thinking briefly: "Hmm, I originally planned to use this when dueling Judai, after all, Heroes are very high-quality Fusion Materials."

"Hey, Hikari, what are you saying? Are you trying to steal my Heroes!" From below, Judai raised his fist to protest at Tenjou Hikari.

"This, this is also called..."

"Alright, stop talking, I know what you're going to say." Tenjou Hikari cut him off, "Is this also called Fusion? How narrow-minded, Senior. In a Duel, it has never been stated that only your own monsters can be Fusion Materials!"

!!

"You stand here today spouting nonsense, talking about revenge, and even brought cards specifically targeting my deck; so, if I'm not mistaken, you must want to throw that phrase back at me, don't you?

That phrase... 【If you do not respect and cherish your cards in daily life, the cards naturally will not respond to you.】

Therefore, you must have brought that card!

I declare, Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Ugh!!" Liu was startled into taking a step back.

Solemn Judgment declares one card name; if the opponent has the declared Monster Card in their Deck, they must choose to either add it to the activator's hand or Special Summon it ignoring its conditions to the field of the player who activated this card.

"It's actually a card of the same type as the ban list?"

"What do you call this, using someone's own methods against them?"

"I think it was done well."

The audience below began chatting lively.

"Hurry up and check, Senior, you must have it, right?"

"Tch." Liu flipped through his deck, found one card, and with great effort threw it, flinging it into Tenjou Hikari's hand; Tenjou Hikari caught it, chuckled softly, and said, "You didn't want me to Special Summon it, which means..."

"It doesn't matter. I activate the Spell Card, Simple Fusion, pay 1000 Life Points, to Special Summon one non-Effect Fusion Monster with 6 Stars or less from my Extra Deck; Special Summon, Brachiosaurus!"

"Next, I tribute the Black Flame Knight and Brachiosaurus on the field to Tribute Summon, Ancient Gear Golem!"

The Black Flame Knight shrugged, his body dissolving into golden light. He was happy enough just to be able to appear while Flame Swordsman could not, so yielding to Ancient Gear Golem was fine.

Rumbling, a mechanical giant composed of steel and gears slowly rose; he twisted his head to look at Liu, his eyes emitting a scarlet glow.

Ancient Gear Golem, Level 8, EARTH Attribute, Machine Type, ATK 3000!

"Uh, why does it look a bit strange?" Tenjou Hikari glanced at the slightly blackened Ancient Gear Golem beside him and subconsciously asked.

"It is Ancient Gear Golem!"

"It's actually a Tribute Summon? Didn't Tenjou say he was going all-Fusion?"

"Don't rush; Tenjou Hikari's Fusion has long surpassed my imagination; maybe there's a big move coming soon!"

"Y-Yes, Tenjou Hikari, with this, you haven't Fused at all, have you?" Liu was still struggling in his death throes.

"Naive, too naive." Tenjou Hikari shook his head, "It is precisely because of your misunderstanding of Fusion, your foolish ideas about Fusion, and your blind hatred toward me that you turned into this ghostly state, isn't it?

I don't know what you've been through these past few days, but it doesn't matter.

What does that have to do with me?"

"You!"

"Fusion is not that simple, Senior; don't think that just because you obtained one Fusion card and Fused out one monster, you can compete on the same stage as me!

You have no mutual understanding with your monsters, your understanding of Fusion is rigid, you don't know how to repent after failing, and neither your offense nor defense is presentable; how dare you discuss Fusion with me!?

Now, let me show you the power of Fusion!"

"Activate Spell Card, Ancient Gear Fusion!"

"Ancient Gear Fusion!?"

"What is that thing!"

"I've never heard of such a card!"

"Mamma mia!" Even Professor Cronos couldn't help but run to the edge of the Duel platform, grabbing the edge and leaning out to look.

He didn't recognize anything called Ancient Gear Fusion!

"Just as the name suggests, Ancient Gear Fusion is a dedicated Fusion Card for Ancient Gears!" Tenjou Hikari began to explain, "It allows you to use monsters from the field or hand as Fusion Materials to perform a Fusion Summon of an 【Ancient Gear】 Fusion Monster—

However, when using 【Ancient Gear Golem】 existing on the field as a Fusion Material, this card can use Monster Cards from the Deck as Fusion Materials!"

"From the Deck!?"

"Use monsters!?"

"Fusion!!!???"

All the onlookers were exclaiming in shock.

We know you like Fusion, but isn't this too strong!?

"Here we go!" Tenjou Hikari raised his right hand, pointing at the sky, "I will use the Ancient Gear Golem on the field, along with Ancient Gear Chimera and Ancient Gear Knight from my Deck as Fusion Materials to perform a Fusion Summon!"

Countless pieces of steel and gears surged out from the Deck, flying into the sky and onto the Ancient Gear Golem, assembling more body parts for it!

He slapped his hands together in front of him and shouted: "Fierce hound, knight of steel, now, become the body, merge with the ancient giant, and transform into the ultimate machine!

Fusion Summon, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"

A colossal giant with four legs and hands that became immensely huge and incredibly hard enveloped the entire Duel field; countless students looked up, unable to see the full extent of this giant!

Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, Level 10, EARTH Attribute, Machine Type, ATK 4400!

"Mamma mia, it's actually the Ultimate Golem—" Professor Cronos naturally recognized this card, but... how could an ordinary student obtain such a card?

"So, so big..." Marufuji Sho cried out in terror looking at the monster.

"Such high attack power!" Maeda Hayato swallowed hard, "Judai, be careful of this monster!"

Meanwhile, Yukai Judai was cheering: "So cool, Fusion!"

"This monster is the Fusion form of Ancient Gear Golem and inherits its effects; when it attacks, the opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step."

"Ultimate Golem attacks Gem-Knight Topaz—"

"W-Wait, wait—" Liu looked at that massive robot and retreated in fear.

He noticed that this huge robot was also entwined with a strange black aura.

It was probably because its Fusion Materials were his own cards!

He, he still remembered what Akama Zero had told him: the higher the attack power, the greater the "impact" caused!

"Ultimate Heavy Strike!" Tenjou Hikari shouted.

With 4400 attack points, when the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem struck down like this, his body—

"No, don't, don't————"

Boom, one punch landed; Tenjou Hikari was about to make another move when he suddenly tilted his head, becoming confused.

Why did the solid vision disappear?

Professor Cronos quickly pushed himself up with both hands, jumped onto the Duel platform, ran to Liu's side, checked his breathing, performed two simple chest compressions with his hands, shook his head, then turned around and shouted: "Liu has lost consciousness; the winner is Tenjou Hikari!"

"Quickly notify the school doctor!"

Tenjou Hikari listened, completely dumbfounded.

Playing cards until someone faints?

Asking for votes~

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(End of Chapter)