Chapter 208: Trident Dragon Keeps Your Deck Safe

The new semester, a new atmosphere.

On the first day of school, Tenjo Hikari smoothly and formally transitioned from a first-year freshman to a second-year "senior."

Logically, the start of a new semester should be relatively quiet.

But this time, many things happened during the opening.

First and foremost—especially for Tenjo Hikari—the most critical point.

Principal Principal Jiaodao, due to personal reasons and the college's development needs, temporarily left campus to travel abroad on official duties.

Thus, the college's affairs naturally fell to the staff member second only to him in rank and responsibility.

Naturally, it was…

Professor Cronos!

On the first day of school, Professor Cronos ascended to the position of "Acting Principal"!

"Ah, Acting Principal Cronos!" Judai and his newly recruited, notably muscular disciple, Dillano Jianshan, walked past the college corridor and spotted him, immediately greeting him.

"Don't add 'Acting' to my title!!"

Professor Cronos becoming Acting Principal was a tremendous boon—for Tenjo Hikari and for the Fusion Department alike.

After all, everyone knew—Tenjo Hikari was the next student Professor Cronos had taken under his wing after Marufuji Ryo, not only "gifted" cards and nurtured his growth, but also provided all kinds of support, opening green lights for college policies.

Now that Professor Cronos had become the de facto and nominal, true "Supreme Authority of the Dueling Academy," the advantages Tenjo Hikari and the Fusion Department could enjoy were limitless.

The only regret was that, because Professor Cronos became Acting Principal, Ma Ling Wang didn't even attend the opening ceremony—he simply called Cronos to say he was ill and couldn't come to school.

That bald guy is truly devious.

Tenjo Hikari couldn't understand why he was so afraid of Professor Cronos.

The next event, of course, was Serena and others enrolling.

As a student who skipped grades directly, Serena was a year younger than her peers—and perhaps because of that, she was chosen as the freshman representative to deliver the opening speech at the ceremony.

This made the unruly, mischievous Serena feel uneasy, but everyone was highly satisfied with her performance.

For Tenjo Hikari, the only disappointment was that the Acting Principal didn't, as he had last year, announce "a somber message"—no board member had died during the break, so there was no duel to be fought this opening.

Tenjo Hikari had so hoped to hear, "We regret to inform you that our esteemed Professor Ma Ling Wang has passed away."

Of course, he knew such a thing was unlikely to happen so easily.

After these opening-related events concluded, the school truly had no major incidents—after all, a new semester meant mostly settling down and beginning new studies.

Tenjo Hikari took the opportunity during this time to carefully test the "control range" of "Ice Prison Dragon."

Since Ice Prison Dragon's fusion condition required any three cards with different names, Tenjo Hikari tried inserting cards into his deck that were neither fusion materials nor had fusion-related effects, to see if he could bypass the scope of Super Fusion entirely and make his deck appear relatively normal.

After several days of testing, Tenjo Hikari gradually grasped a pattern.

Three.

Just like Ice Prison Dragon's fusion condition.

After attempting to add over a dozen different monsters to his deck and running multiple tests, he was certain: among those dozen monsters, only three remained completely unrelated—every other card had fused into bizarre cards, such as Fusion itself or other fusion monsters.

But three cards remained unchanged.

To verify, after the semester began, Tenjo Hikari tested Ice Prison Dragon's effect repeatedly—in Fusion Department duels and during practical training sessions.

After numerous duels and alchemical measurements, Tenjo Hikari could confirm:

Ice Prison Dragon could protect three cards in his deck that had absolutely no connection to fusion, and these three cards were usually "random." But if he fused those three cards into Ice Prison Dragon, then in future duels, those three monsters would be completely unaffected by Super Fusion's power.

The trident dragon, skilled in destruction and freezing everything, had "frozen" three cards in his deck.

Trident Dragon—excellent!

By analogy, Tenjo Hikari suspected that Netherworld Dragon Long Wang was the same—only he had two undead monsters in his deck, so the difference was imperceptible.

But if that was true, Tenjo Hikari needed to carefully consider which three monsters to place in his deck—ones that were both usable, fusion-compatible, and could alter his deck's current state.

As he tested, in the Grand Cosmos Workshop, Xiao Liu finally awoke. She was shy, always hiding behind Bai Jing's back. Though Bai Jing had changed her appearance and seemed unfamiliar to her, she was still the one person Xiao Liu trusted most.

Tenjo Hikari didn't mind—he rescued her not for card advantages, but out of hostility toward the Fusion Army's atrocities. Still, though shy, Xiao Liu understood gratitude and often helped out in the workshop.

And more importantly, she had given Tenjo Hikari another Bai Jing.

That was truly double fortune.

After a simple, peaceful start to the semester, news reached the school—and Tenjo Hikari suddenly realized—

The world was about to grow turbulent.

This academy… would finally no longer be calm!

Just a few days after the semester began, news reached the school.

During the break, Marufuji Ryo—the Dueling Academy's undefeated, invincible graduate—was finally set to face the undefeated genius professional duelist, Ed Phoenix!

It was said Ed Phoenix would use his own "true deck" this time.

Although last semester Ed visited the Dueling Academy and even enrolled, he had signed other agreements with the school—after all, he was not just a student, but a genuine professional duelist, and could not possibly attend school before the professional league ended.

But.

Sharp-eyed reporters had obtained word from students—Ed had thoroughly enjoyed his experience in the Fusion Department and had confirmed his intent to join it.

And Marufuji Ryo? He was the Dueling Academy's officially recognized "Fusion Department Elder."

This duel would be between the academy's top graduate and its future, between the Fusion Department's elder and its rising star!

Huge publicity!

More importantly, two undefeated individuals must produce a loser in this duel!

This was major news in the professional dueling circuit!

"Relax, Hikari." Tenjo Hikari, hearing the school would livestream Marufuji Ryo's duel, took time to call him. After voicing his concerns and repeatedly urging him not to be careless, he heard Marufuji Ryo's confident voice.

"I will win."

Thwack—

Tenjo Hikari slapped his forehead.

What an ill-omened reply.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet, Hikari," the voice continued from the other end of the line. "I couldn't be there in person to cheer for you during your S-Dimensional Friendship Cup duel—what a pity. But I watched the entire livestream. You were still as dazzling, as reassuring as ever."

He had been slightly worried about Judai, but after watching the duel, he felt much calmer.

Whoever it was—including Asuka—they had all learned much in the Fusion Department.

No—

Perhaps even he himself had learned much during his year in the Fusion Department.

Tenjo Hikari's absolute pursuit of fusion had stirred his emotions; perhaps, subtly, he had been influenced too.

"If that's the case," Tenjo Hikari hesitated, then spoke, "then I can only hope you hold fast to your true thoughts."

He had never thought the original story's "Hell Kaiser" was wrong in his duels.

In the original story, Hell Kaiser was no longer the gentle, older-brother figure Marufuji Ryo—he was the cold, victory-obsessed duelist Kaiser Ryo.

But fundamentally, he hadn't changed—he had simply fully realized what he truly wanted to pursue.

That was—

Victory!

Marufuji Ryo wanted only victory!

Previously, he had suppressed himself out of respect for his opponents and for dueling itself.

Frankly, in a world that pursued true self and true dueling, that was actually wrong.

So Tenjo Hikari never believed it was correct when Principal Jiaodao, Tenjo Kiyomi, or Marufuji Sho claimed Hell Kaiser's duels were wrong.

Hell Kaiser Ryo hadn't done anything evil.

Tenjo Hikari worried about something else.

He feared Kaiser would follow the original path again—entering underground duels, damaging his body, and suffering another heart attack.

Even after Kaiser graduated, Tenjo Hikari occasionally contacted him—but he could only offer a few reminders.

Marufuji Ryo was a man with strong will and self-awareness; all Tenjo Hikari could do was warn him early and try to prevent accidents.

Of course, if things went badly, he could always use the alchemical potion he had prepared long ago.

On the other side, after hanging up, Marufuji Ryo responded to his agent's call and put the phone away.

He pulled out his deck, flipped it over, and stared at his old friend—Digital End Dragon—falling silent for a moment.

"My true thoughts…?"

He took a deep breath.

No wonder Hikari noticed my uncertainty.

That guy obsessed with absolute fusion—he's never dueled me, yet he seems to have already moved ahead of me…

Chapter Two: Today, to promote a brother's novel, I've adjusted the schedule slightly, so it's a bit late.

Promoting, promoting

《Who Let You Play a Girl's Raising Game?! 》





(End of Chapter)