Chapter 204: Another Duel

The first turn goes to Tenjo Hikari.

Tenjo Hikari holds his cards, while Tierra watches from the side.

Back in this world, facing duelists whose strength isn't that high, Tierra had the chance to observe—and even "participate."

The opportunity was rare; Tierra sensed no malice from the opponent and began pointing and commenting.

"Tenjo Hikari, use this one, use this one—I love this card."

"... Fine." Tenjo Hikari glanced at the card in his hand, thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

In this world, more often than not, "whether you like it" matters more than "how strong it is."

"I activate the spell card—Fusion." Tenjo Hikari drew a card from his hand and revealed it.

"It's Fusion!"

"It's the original Fusion!"

At this very moment, at the main gate of the academy, in the center of the arena jointly built by the Fusion Department and the Combined Department, the head of the Combined Department, Shen Shui Mao, and the head of the Fusion Department, Tenjo Hikari, were dueling.

Many freshmen were watching, along with some second- and third-year students; upon realizing the Combined and Fusion Departments were dueling again, they called out to friends to come and watch the live match.

The entire arena was soon surrounded; spectators watched the duel, and occasionally even teachers joined the crowd, observing this "re-match between the Combined and Fusion Departments" that had already begun before the new semester even started.

After all, on the isolated Duel Island, this was one of the rare "retained tradition" forms of entertainment for students and teachers alike.

And no one had expected that Tenjo Hikari, who had always used flashy, elaborate Fusions, would use the most primitive spell card—"Fusion"—in his very first duel of the new semester!

But then again—

Of course!

In this brand-new semester, using the most primitive Fusion was far more fitting for "Absolute Fusion Tenjo Hikari."

"Fusion summon: combine the Ancient Mechanical Beast and the Ancient Mechanical Knight—Ancient Mechanical Demon God!"

Hum—

Hum—

Red warning lights flashed, and a massive mechanical statue emerged amid a clattering of gears.

Ancient Mechanical Demon God, Level 8, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Defense 1800.

"It's the Mechanical Demon God!?" Shen Shui Mao clearly recognized the card—his expression instantly changed.

"Ancient Mechanical!"

"I didn't expect he'd start with anything but Flame Swordsmen."

"But Ancient Mechanical is Tenjo Hikari's most commonly used card!"

"Aww, too bad—I wanted to see the legendary Dark Magician..." a student sighed regretfully.

"The effect of Ancient Mechanical Demon God: during the Main Phase, once per turn, inflict 1000 LP damage to your opponent!"

"Gear Strike!"

Tenjo Hikari commanded the Ancient Mechanical Demon God; its multiple barrels aimed at Shen Shui Mao. Gears turned, old-fashioned gear shells loaded into the barrels, then slowly aligned and fired in unison.

Boom—boom—boom—

Shrapnel rained down like a storm; soon, Shen Shui Mao's LP dropped to 3000.

Shen Shui Mao LP: 4000 → 3000.

"End Phase."

Tenjo Hikari glanced at his hand and chose to end his turn outright.

"What a dazzling turn—fused a Fusion Monster and even dealt damage to the opponent!" a freshman exclaimed.

"Yeah, fusing and summoning in the first turn—no wonder he's Senior Tenjo!"

Some second- and third-year students exchanged glances upon hearing them.

Huh—

Is this really that impressive?

Is it?

Many silently asked themselves.

For students of the Duel Academy, assembling a Fusion and immediately summoning a monster with 2000+ ATK at the start of the duel was already quite impressive.

But after watching Tenjo Hikari use countless elaborate Fusions to summon powerful monsters with 2000+ ATK from the start, this simple, straightforward Fusion now felt oddly unfamiliar.

What's this called?

Returning to simplicity?

No wonder he's Tenjo Hikari—he's always pursued higher and higher in the path of Fusion.

In contrast, Shen Shui Mao felt a surge of—excitement!

Because this scene felt familiar!

Isn't this the same tactic he used against Dragon Long Qi?

"The Ancient Mechanical Demon God has a powerful effect: when destroyed in battle, it can Special Summon one Ancient Mechanical monster from the Deck, ignoring summoning conditions," Shen Shui Mao said as he drew a card. "You're planning to use this effect to bypass the restriction that prevents Ancient Mechanical Giant from being Special Summoned, directly summon Ancient Mechanical Giant, then use Ancient Mechanical Fusion, Ancient Mechanical Duel, or even Soul Fusion to summon your strongest Fusion Monster—"

"Ancient Mechanical Ultimate Giant, right?"

Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.

The students of the Combined Department, hearing Shen Shui Mao's analysis, burst into exclamations—they all thought their department head was spot-on.

That's exactly what Tenjo Hikari would do!

"Moreover, while Ancient Mechanical Demon God is on the field, it's unaffected by any other card effects. So as long as it's on the field, I'll find a way to destroy it in battle—because if I don't, 1000 LP damage per turn is enough to win!"

"This is your 'Ancient Mechanical Strategy,' isn't it?"

"Ooooh! Department Head, you're amazing!"

Damn.

Tenjo Hikari muttered under his breath.

Intelligence Combined Department?

Among the watching freshmen, some also began excitedly discussing, convinced Shen Shui Mao was right; those who had seen videos of Tenjo Hikari's duel with Dragon Long Qi even pretended to be experts and started analyzing.

On the other side, Wan Wan Zhangmu and others weren't worried about Tenjo Hikari; only San Ze Sanze Dadi couldn't help muttering: "Thanks to his mastery and understanding of Fusion, Ah Guang excels at dueling other Fusion users by relying on his knowledge of their Decks..."

He stared at Shen Shui Mao in confusion.

This is clearly Tenjo Hikari's own strategy!

And this isn't just a direct copy like Shen Le Ban's—it shows original thought and insight. Clearly, this opponent has studied Tenjo Hikari thoroughly!

Seeing Tenjo Hikari mutter quietly, the "core members" of the Fusion Department—San Ze Sanze Dadi and others—gave him looks of admiration; Shen Shui Mao's lips curled slightly.

Honestly, this feeling was pretty good.

"New students, watch how I break Tenjo Hikari's strategy!"

He drew a card, glanced at it, and grinned: "Perfect!"

"Looks like this human drew a good card," Tierra said nervously.

After all, this duel was her "second duel."

"First—I activate this card!"

"Toy Repair!"

Oh!

Tenjo Hikari's eyes lit up.

It's Toy!

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(End of Chapter)