Chapter 223

"Amazon Archer, normal summon."

Gloria directly drew the card and summoned the monster she had just drawn.

Then, a female archer appeared on the field—unlike the other muscular Amazon warriors, she had pale skin and a slender, light frame.

Amazon Archer, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, ATK 1400.

Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.

Wow…

Forbidden card.

Gloria crossed her arms and smirked at Tenjo Hikari: "This isn't an ordinary Amazon Archer."

She raised her hand straight ahead, extending her index and middle fingers in a "V" sign, and said: "The Amazon Archer can tribute two monsters on the field to deal 1200 damage to your opponent!"

"What!?" Wan Wan Zhangmu exclaimed.

If they still had their starting 8000 life points, taking two hits wouldn't matter much.

But they only have 4100 life points left now!

"Hehe, thank you for providing us with tributes—" she glanced at Wan Wan Zhangmu, "Go, Archer, turn those disgusting pests into arrows and shoot them down!"

Trouble!

Wan Wan Zhangmu cursed under his breath.

Disruptor tokens cannot be used as tributes for advanced summons.

But—

Effect liberation is perfectly fine!

The Disruptor Black, who had been sipping tea, and the Disruptor Green, who had been reading a manga, were snatched up by the Amazon Archer, strung onto an arrow, and shot out directly.

The two Disruptor creatures were flung at Wan Wan Zhangmu's face like vengeance, while the arrow itself veered mid-flight toward Tenjo Hikari—Tenjo Hikari raised his right hand, caught it effortlessly, and the arrowhead halted just before his face, then slowly dissolved.

Boys' team, LP: 4100 → 2900

"Oh, what a graceful move," Grace clapped lightly beside her.

"Heh, if we didn't have this skill, Professor wouldn't have sent us here specifically," Gloria said, "But—what about the second arrow!"

"Activate the Amazon Archer's effect again: tribute itself and a Disruptor token to deal 1200 damage to you!"

Red light flared around the Amazon Archer; she grabbed Disruptor Yellow and fired another arrow at the opponent—before sacrificing herself on the field, reducing Tenjo Hikari's team's life points.

Boys' team, LP: 2900 → 1700.

"Avoided battle entirely and went straight for effect damage?" Sanze Daichi frowned and nodded. "It's not the optimal choice, but given you can't destroy the Thousand-Eyed Offering God, this tactic is already quite good."

"Besides, those two still have over ten thousand life points," Asuka also rubbed her temples. "15,600 life points—if you only use the Thousand-Eyed Offering God to attack, it would take five full turns. And with Amazon Secret Hot Spring active, if they manage to summon an Amazon during battle, they won't even need to take battle damage."

"With the ace monster controlled, so they opted for direct damage instead?"

"Leaving the field empty also means no need to worry…"

"How come these transfer students from the branch campus are so strong?"

Gloria paid no attention to the murmurs around her.

For her, dueling stronger, more skilled duelists was the most fascinating thing in the world—everything else was utterly boring.

She glanced at her hand.

Grace's face-down card was a trap: Queen's Choice, which activates after an Amazon monster destroys an opponent's monster in battle, allowing you to special summon one Level 4 or lower Amazon directly from your deck.

But since all monsters on the field had been destroyed, it couldn't be used.

Normally, keeping the Amazon Archer and protecting it to let Grace deal more damage next turn would be ideal—but the Thousand-Eyed Offering God on the opponent's field couldn't be ignored.

If the Amazon Archer got devoured, it would be catastrophic.

But…

Now, she could let go.

With only 2800 ATK, it didn't matter how long it took.

Because…

She pulled out "Warrior's Survival" from her hand and placed it face-down in the spell/trap zone, then nodded to Grace—Grace understood immediately and nodded back.

"End phase!"

"Your turn! Just attack and finish it already!" Gloria told Wan Wan Zhangmu.

"We've been seriously underestimated," Wan Wan Zhangmu shook his head.

He drew a card from his deck, glanced at it, then looked up at his opponent: "You're duelists who use fusion, right? Or specifically, fusion duelists from the American branch campus?"

"Everyone should already know that."

"You came here not just because Professor Chi Ma assigned you, but because you wanted to see a higher, deeper form of 【Fusion】," Wan Wan Zhangmu placed the card into his hand and shook his head. "After all, from the very start of your duel, you kept talking about witnessing fusion, witnessing fusion—as if I didn't even exist."

"Oh? Are you feeling embarrassed, Wan Wan Zhangmu?" Grace smiled lightly. "Sorry, but we have more interesting things to focus on—not because you're unattractive or anything."

"No—I mean your 【Fusion】 is far too narrow!"

!?

The two sisters were stunned by Wan Wan Zhangmu's words and turned to him, truly examining him for the first time.

What was this boy—who only got to duel by rock-paper-scissors—saying?

"You're not underestimating me! You're underestimating Tenjo and our Fusion Club!" Wan Wan Zhangmu lifted his chin. "Do you have any idea who you're facing?"

Don't think I only got here because I won by rock-paper-scissors—that our decks have no connection!

Tenjo's fusion is far ahead of yours!"

He narrowed his eyes: "Fusion has never been limited to just 【Fusion】 spell cards. Tenjo has said it a thousand times over the past year: helping friends is fusion, cooperating with teammates is fusion, understanding each other's decks is fusion too!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Gloria frowned.

"Hmm…" Grace, being smarter, was pondering Wan Wan Zhangmu's words.

"My turn." Wan Wan Zhangmu flipped open his face-down card. "Look closely—see a form of 【Fusion】 you've never seen at the branch campus!"

"Reveal the face-down card!"

"Continuous Spell Card: X·Y·Z Fusion!"

"What? What?" Everyone gasped upon seeing Wan Wan Zhangmu's continuous spell card.

Because it was simple—

This was Tenjo Hikari's face-down card!

He hadn't placed a defensive card—he'd left Wan Wan Zhangmu a continuous spell card!

"If it's a continuous spell, why didn't you just activate it during your own turn?"

"Wait—XYZ… isn't that Wan Wan Zhangmu's card?"

Many began whispering.

Wan Wan Zhangmu smirked: "Who told you… Tenjo's deck doesn't contain 【Light·Machine】 fusion monsters?"

!?

Of course—

Tenjo Hikari just never used them; that doesn't mean he doesn't have them!

"But why face-down a continuous spell card?" Gloria still didn't understand.

"You'll find out soon—activate X·Y·Z Fusion's effect: return one fusion monster on your field to the extra deck, then special summon up to two monsters from your banished zone: 【X-Leader Cannon】, 【Y-Draco Head】, 【Z-Metal Tracks】!"

!

Another form of "Fusion Release"!

XYZ cards, though called "fusion," are actually a method of banishing monsters to special summon fusion monsters from the extra deck.

"Ah—" Grace realized.

"Return the Thousand-Eyed Offering God to the extra deck! Special summon 【X-Leader Cannon】 and 【Z-Metal Tracks】 from the banished zone!"

The Thousand-Eyed Demon God closed its eyes and left the field; the Amazon Empress was finally freed from control and entered the Taylor sisters' graveyard.

And two robots now appeared on Wan Wan Zhangmu's field!

X-Leader Cannon, Level 4, Light Attribute, Machine Type, ATK 1800.

Z-Metal Tracks, Level 4, Light Attribute, Machine Type, ATK 1500.

"Tenjo predicted your strategy all along!" Wan Wan Zhangmu waved his hand as if a gale had blown—causing the two sisters to instinctively step back. "Since you couldn't battle, you chose effect damage—so you'd preserve the Thousand-Eyed Offering God and let us attack slowly… Heh, how naive!

To Tenjo Hikari, who understands all forms of fusion, this was as obvious as day, with zero secrets!"

Grace instinctively covered her body.

Gloria, belatedly, gasped in astonishment: "So… you didn't activate the continuous spell directly just to trick us into leaving the field empty… There are duelists like this!?"

"Not done yet! I'll fuse Leader Cannon and Metal Tracks together!"

The two monsters automatically fused on the field into a new monster: "Special Summon: XZ Tank Cannon!"

XZ-Tank Cannon, Level 6, Light Attribute, Machine Type, ATK 2400.

Wan Wan Zhangmu smirked: "The unique trait of the VTOZ series is that they can fuse with each other!"

"And similarly, XZ has an effect nearly as strong as XYZ—discard one card from hand to destroy one face-down spell or trap card on the field!"

"I discard two cards to destroy both of your face-down cards!"

Instantly, both face-down cards were obliterated by XZ's cannon fire.

"Next, activate the effect of Gem-Knight Fusion in the graveyard: banish one Gem-Knight card from the graveyard to add it to your hand. I banish Gem-Knight Huang Bi and add it to my hand. Then, activate Bright Fusion—discard one spell card to restore the ATK and DEF of the Gem-Knight monster on the field to its original values until your opponent's end phase!"

Next is the effect of the Gem Knight Fusion: by banishing one Gem Knight card from the graveyard, you may add it to your hand. I banish Gem Knight Huang Bi, then add it to my hand. Immediately after, comes the effect of Bright Fusion—discard one Magic Card, and the Gem Knight monster on the field regains its original ATK and DEF until the end of your opponent's turn!

Gem-Knight Light Prism, ATK: 0 → 2450.

Gem Knight·Light Prism Crystal, atk: 0→2450.

"Battle! Attack your opponent with two monsters!"

Taylor Sisters LP: 15600 → 10750.

Chapter Two, today it will be finished, it will be finished.

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(End of Chapter)