Chapter 21: The Representative War Begins

The next day.

Tenjou Hikari felt slightly groggy.

He had stayed up too late last night researching; to prepare for this duel, he had revised his deck construction several times.

To be honest, even losing to Judai Yuki wouldn't be anything shameful, after all, he was the protagonist of the original story!

But—if you don't play cards to win, you might as well not play at all!

Even if his opponent possessed psychic abilities, the Power of the Supreme King, the Power of Darkness, or all sorts of chaotic supernatural forces, Tenjou Hikari had no intention of yielding!

I play cards to win!

"Uwaa~~" Opposite him, Judai Yuki also looked somewhat sleepy and let out a yawn.

Last night, not only had Sho and Hayato dragged him into studying decks, but even Winged Kuriboh and the Yu Yi Ren had pestered him, constantly pointing at cards within the deck.

They all knew that Tenjou Hikari was not an easy opponent to deal with; especially since both of them had been to another dimension and dueled together there, they understood each other's thoughts to some extent, making the duel even more difficult.

Targeting, understanding, guessing, and calculating—these were crucial aspects of a duel.

When dueling a stranger, without knowing their habits, one could only rely on instinct and intelligence to predict the opponent's next move.

But when dueling an acquaintance or a friend, even without knowing the cards in their hand, one could roughly guess the opponent's tactics.

For example, if Tenjou Hikari were dueling Seto Kaiba, he would know with his eyes closed that the opponent definitely held three Blue-Eyes and one Polymerization in hand...

And this would cause the difficulty of the duel to rise like water lifting a boat!

"Be careful, Judai! The one called Hikari hides incomprehensible, immense power within him; he is not an opponent to be dismissed lightly. You must go all out!" As Judai Yuki finished greeting Tenjou Hikari and the two school medics used machines to test whether their decks contained anything suspicious, the phantom of the Yu Yi Ren appeared beside Judai.

"Kurikuri!" At the same time, the phantom of a winged Kuriboh also floated before Judai's face, cheering him on.

Judai was long accustomed to dealing with spirits; hearing his two partners' words, he laughed passionately and said to them, "Yes, that's exactly what makes it even more interesting!"

At the same time, Tenjou Hikari also checked his deck.

Only after examining it carefully twice did Tenjou Hikari finally feel at ease.

"Who is that person?" While the two underwent inspection and checked their own decks, on the second floor of the duel arena, a tall, handsome man asked in a low voice.

He was the pride of Duel Academy, the uncrowned king of Obelisk, the top-ranked third-year student, the strongest duelist in the entire academy, known as "Kaiser"—Ryo Marufuji!

Beside him, a blonde girl heard his question, placed her hand on the armrest, and frowned slightly.

"He is Tenjou Hikari from the first-year Ra Yellow dormitory. I heard he is Judai's friend; when Judai went to another dimension last time, he was the one Judai called..." Her words carried a hint of resentment and melancholy, as if she were very unhappy about not being invited.

Her name was Asuka Tenjoin; because her brother and Ryo Marufuji were good friends, she often searched for her missing brother alongside Ryo, making the two of them acquaintances.

Whether in terms of appearance or figure, she was a genuine beauty; her long, fair legs often drew the gazes of surrounding boys, and previously, even the captain of the tennis club had publicly confessed his love to her...

But for some reason, the boys who were relatively close to her, such as Judai and Kaiser, showed absolutely no interest in her appearance or figure, caring far more about what her duels were like.

"A partner who went to another dimension with Judai?" Ryo Marufuji's expression suddenly darkened considerably. "Back then... Fubuki and I were also partners who explored another dimension together..."

He recalled the past.

"Brother..." Upon hearing her brother's name, Asuka looked despondent.

"It's alright. One day, we will find him." Ryo Marufuji shook his head. "For now, let's just watch the duel. A partner chosen by Judai? Surely, he will bring us a splendid duel."

"Both sides are ready!" On the field, Professor Cronos raised his hand and shouted loudly, "I declare the final match of the Representative War, begin!"

"Duel!" ×2.

Judai Yuki LP: 4000

Tenjou Hikari LP: 4000

"Ooooooh!!!" The surrounding spectators immediately erupted in cheers.

"Go for it, Judai! Watch out for Tenjou's fusions!"

"Tenjou, bring glory to our Fusion Club!"

On both sides of the spectator stands, audiences of different colors sat clearly separated; some were students in red, yellow, and blue, while others were students in pure purple. Although the number of students in purple uniforms was much smaller than that of regular students, their voices were just as loud!

They were all members who had conversed with Tenjou Hikari to varying degrees; perhaps not closest friends, but certainly on good terms. Today, they had set aside their respective dormitory identities to sit together, holding only one identity—that of members of the Fusion Club—and enthusiastically cheered for Tenjou Hikari, their "Fusion Club Representative."

Among the many students in purple, only Daichi Misawa, braving the pressure, sat on this side, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he cheered for Tenjou Hikari.

"So strange, why does the way they look at me seem to say I'm a traitor?" He felt somewhat bewildered, thought for a long while, then snapped back to reality. "Forget it, whatever! Go for it! Tenjou, win it back for us!"

"Wow... such enthusiasm." Judai was slightly startled by the students directly opposite him. "Hikari, your popularity is really high."

"Haha, of course! I am the purest fusion duelist!" Tenjou Hikari laughed heartily, feeling that his strenuous efforts in playing cards for the Fusion Club during this period had not been in vain.

Just ask anyone in the entire Fusion Club: who is more fused than him!?

"In that case, let me take the first turn—" Tenjou Hikari didn't stand on ceremony with Judai.

Since he could seize the first turn, who would bother flipping a coin!

"My turn, draw!" He glanced at his hand.

Extremely unluckily, he had drawn neither Instant Fusion nor Simple Fusion, and hadn't even drawn Blade Edge!

However, there were other usable cards in his hand, and they were very useful.

"Set one card, end turn!" Tenjou Hikari set a card and immediately ended his turn.

"Only setting one card?"

"What an ordinary turn."

"Feels like he's going to suffer a loss for nothing."

"And that opponent is Judai Yuki; he's going to get OTK'd in one turn, right!"

The students of the Fusion Club felt somewhat worried.

Meanwhile, the students on the other side did not become happy because of this either.

"Be careful, Judai! Watch out for his set card; it's definitely a trap!"

"Yes, Judai, it could be Blade Dance!" Hayato also shouted.

Judai drew a card, scanned the field, and showed no hurry.

"Then, I Normal Summon in Attack Position, Elemental Hero Wildheart!"

Elemental Hero Wildheart, Level 4, EARTH Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 1500.

"Ah, Wildheart is unaffected by Trap Cards!" Hayato Maeda, whose goal was to become a card designer, immediately recognized it. "That's it, Judai, use this card to test the waters!"

"Mm!" Judai nodded decisively. "Use Wildheart to attack directly!"

"Wait!" Tenjou Hikari decisively activated his set card. "Quick-Play Magic Card, Scapegoat!"

"According to this card's effect, I can Special Summon four Sheep Tokens with 0 ATK and DEF, Level 1, onto my field!"

The next instant, holographic images of four lonely rocking sheep in yellow, blue, pink, and orange appeared before Tenjou Hikari.

"... Battle continues, destroy one Sheep Token!" Wildheart spun around and casually slashed a pink sheep to death.

"Eh? Why was it Scapegoat?"

"No way, could Tenjou have had a hand accident?"

"Are those four sheep just meant to stall?"

The Fusion Club hadn't seen a fusion; instead, they saw Scapegoat, and grew somewhat tense.

"Great, Judai! It seems classmate Tenjou had a hand accident!"

"Big brother, press the advantage!"

Judai's group of friends cheered.

"Strange, that Tenjou Hikari's demeanor doesn't look like someone who had a hand accident?" Ryo Marufuji frowned in confusion. "Moreover... Judai looks very nervous?"

"Judai! Be careful!" While no one else knew, the Yu Yi Ren floated beside Judai and shouted anxiously at him, "It's a Level 1 monster!"

"Ah, I know!" Judai's face also turned serious, showing not a shred of secret joy. "Then... I set two cards and end my turn!"

"Heh... My turn, draw!" Tenjou Hikari drew a card, placed it in his hand, then took a card from the far left of his hand. "Then, I activate Sudden Mutation!"

"Oh no! As expected!" the Yu Yi Ren cried out in alarm.

It was Relinquished!

Asking for votes~~

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(End of Chapter)