Chapter 215: Slave and Emperor

Loxx gently pushed the center of his glasses with one hand, his smile now appearing slightly deranged.

"I began observing you long before anyone else—earlier than your nominal teacher, Cronos, and even earlier than your true teacher, Professor Dadesi."

Tiancheng Guang raised an eyebrow.

Just those words made Tiancheng Guang realize the man was telling the absolute truth.

After all, most students believed Tiancheng Guang's only "mentor" was Cronos.

But Loxx was clearly not one of them.

"Before anyone even knew you, I had already observed you," he said, holding a hand card in one hand while lightly tapping the temple of his glasses with the other, recalling as he spoke. "You are a special student.

Most students who joined the Fusion Department back then either came from poor families with no strong cards and joined solely to obtain them, or feared other summoning methods and clustered together for safety; some sought the more 'prestigious' status granted by the Fusion Department to intimidate ordinary students; others were utterly worthless, joining only because Blue Academy students could bully students from other academies without punishment…

And yet, you joined the Fusion Department."

Loxx snapped his fingers with a sharp crack and pointed at Tiancheng Guang: "Your duel upon joining the Fusion Department declared, 'Fusion only needs fusion.' Within the department's activities, you showed no interest in anything else, spending your free time endlessly checking your deck as if it might change shape.

In all other times, you sought out classmates in the club and simply duelled them."

"With no agenda, utterly indifferent to the suspicious glares from Blue Academy students in the club, never once bullying students from Red Academy."

He glanced sideways at the audience: "Many of those cheering for you were students who once harassed you, weren't they? Yet now, they've seemingly forgotten all the harm they once caused you, cheering for you with genuine sincerity."

His words caused many to lower their heads—yes, though Tiancheng Guang now enjoyed immense popularity at the academy, he had once been closely monitored by the Fusion Army.

The pressure he endured was never light.

"So that actually happened!?" Serena clenched her fists in front of her. "Damn it, I wasn't there then—if I had been, I would've taught those bastards a lesson—"

Asuka offered a polite but awkward smile.

"Hmm, interesting. So that guy appeared under such circumstances?" Gloria Taylor kept nodding.

"That's what makes duelling fun, sister." "Exactly."

Loxx removed his glasses, pulled out a cloth, gently wiped them, then put them back on, fixing Tiancheng Guang with a gaze: "But I saw through you—you weren't sincere."

"From the moment you joined the Fusion Department, your goal was to crush—and eventually seize control of—the Fusion Department!"

Tiancheng Guang raised an eyebrow.

He had never hidden that fact—if this teacher had truly noticed him from the start, he should have seen Tiancheng Guang's intentions clearly.

"Sure enough, not long after, you left the Fusion Department and founded your own entirely new one, then constantly opposed Professor Chi Ma's Fusion Department. Later, you even seized the name 'Fusion,' forcing them to rename themselves the 'Integration Department.'"

He grinned widely: "How fascinating!"

"Those fools actually thought you were like Kaiser Ryo. Wrong—you are nothing like Kaiser!

Kaiser respects his opponents, treats everyone kindly, cares for all juniors—while you, from the very beginning, decided to oppose the Integration Department, from the very beginning, plotted to seize power.

Yes! If you have such talent, why suppress yourself!?"

"I know—you are the kind of person who possesses that power! Your 【Shadow Bind】 affinity clearly signals your capacity to control others through dark force!"

He laughed with fanaticism: "Those mortals understand nothing! Dueling doesn't need respect! Because Kaiser lost a duel, he's been listless ever since—how can such a man call himself a duelist!

Victory—and domination!

Turn everyone beneath you into slaves!"

As he spoke, the slave monkey beside him shrank back in fear, trembling.

He sneered: "This… is what true duelling means."

Literal duelling.

"If you win, you can become the 【Representative】 who governs this school, because everyone—including the acting principal—depends on you to fulfill the school's goals! And that alone is enough to make you the school's—Emperor!"

He extended his hand slowly toward Tiancheng Guang and said: "Come now, as long as you simply…"

"Enough of your self-righteous, rambling nonsense," Tiancheng Guang interrupted before he finished. "You're spouting utter nonsense."

"!?" Loxx froze for a moment.

"People didn't come here to listen to your twisted doctrines," Tiancheng Guang flicked his wrist, and his dueling disk swung like a scythe reaping lives.

"The only reason I despised those people is this one thing!

That is—

They don't fuse at all!!"

"Just like you—you don't fuse either!"

"I don't care about your worldview or philosophy, and I have no interest in your bizarre lectures. You're not my teacher, and you're not my elder!"

"Listen carefully—I'm here on this dueling stage not to become the academy's top student, but because it was the request of Professor Cronos, the one professor I respect most! So I must complete it, no matter what!

After this duel ends, whether I become Obelisk Blue's top student or not doesn't matter!

As for the academy's future direction, there is only one possibility—the future decided by Professor Cronos… no, by Acting Principal Cronos!

And now…"

Tiancheng Guang's expression turned cold as he faced his opponent: "Fight seriously. Only by defeating a serious opponent can this duel be truly convincing, and only then can it support Acting Principal Cronos's decision!

Only a serious duel won't waste the students' time, and won't make those who came here specifically to watch leave disappointed!"

In a hidden dimension, Chi Ma Professor Chi Ma Ling Wang, despite his busy schedule, couldn't help but nod slightly as he watched this duel.

Loxx's thinking was far too naive.

As Cronos's prized student, how could Tiancheng Guang's intentions be so easily read by Loxx?

"..." Loxx gritted his teeth, glaring furiously at Tiancheng Guang.

"Such a disobedient child..." Loxx muttered. "... Then let's take another path. Hehehe… Do you really think you can defeat your 【teacher】 without holding back?"

"If so, then I'll defeat you and seize Napoleon's leadership position! In the end, it's all the same!"

"What a liar," Tiancheng Guang snorted coldly.

"Tch… Activate Quick-Play Spell Card: Gladiator Beast Training!" Loxx's face darkened as he drew a spell card from his hand; the artwork showed a Gladiator Beast Tiger whipping a One-Eyed Duelist. "When you have a Gladiator Beast on your field, you can activate this: choose one monster on your opponent's field, change its battle position, and force it to attack with its sword—Legendary Swordsman!"

Snap.

A whip cracked against the Flame Swordsman, forcing him into attack position.

Flame Swordsman, DEF→ATK, ATK: 1800.

"Slave Monkey, attack! Slave, die properly!"

The frail lackey couldn't resist his master's command; it shrieked and leapt toward the Flame Swordsman, desperate to survive—but was instantly cleaved in two by the Swordsman's counterattack, shattering into fragments.

Loxx LP: 4000 → 2900.

"When the Slave Monkey is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon one 【Gladiator Beast】 of level 4 or lower from your deck! Come forth—Gladiator Beast Spear!"

Classic Spear.

"Then end the Battle Phase, return the Spear and Net on the field to the deck, and use these low-tier warriors to summon a higher-tier Gladiator Beast!"

"The summoning condition is one 【Spear】 and one Gladiator Beast—I special summon from the Extra Deck!"

"Gladiator Beast Caesar!"

A black, armored demonic bird flapped its metallic wings and landed again.

Gladiator Beast Caesar, Level 6, Dark Attribute, Bird-Type, ATK 2400.

"Gladiator Beast Caesar's effect: when this card is successfully special summoned, destroy up to two cards on the field! Caesar—crush that meddling swordsman!"

Gladiator Beast leapt high, flapped its wings, and rained feathers like blades, piercing the Flame Swordsman into a sieve.

"Hmph… How's that? This is my true strength. Don't think becoming famous means you're stronger than your teacher," Loxx observed Tiancheng Guang with a sneer. "If you're willing to abandon your previous ideas now, perhaps…"

On the other side, Tiancheng Guang brushed the dust off his clothes and said casually: "Alright, I'll treat this turn as my first turn."

Loxx clenched his fist so tightly his entire body trembled!

Second update, second update, more to come

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(End of Chapter)