Chapter 249: Black Sun

The Society of Light.

A group under the command of Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhuomo, aiming to make Lord Lord Zhai Wang the one who guides the fate of this world.

Members include Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhuomo himself, his sister Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhai Meishou, the Four Emperors of Earth, Water, Fire, and Thunder, and several professional duelists.

Beyond that, the core pillars of the Society of Light are...

Wan Wan Zhangmu White Lightning and Tian Tian Shangyuan Mingxiang.

That's right.

It's these two.

In the original story, Wan Wan Zhangmu was exposed by Lord Lord Zhai Wang for his inner fear of Judai, and through a duel, Lord Lord Zhai Wang brainwashed him, took control of him, and made him his main pillar within the academy.

Mingxiang, meanwhile, was defeated by Wan Wan Zhangmu's "precognition" while trying to stop him from turning the Blue Academy into a White Academy, and was similarly influenced and brainwashed by Lord Lord Zhai Wang's power, becoming a member of the Society of Light.

These two, as the Society's primary members within the academy, dispatched various Blue Academy "elites" to ambush Judai, but all were repelled by Judai's "divine draw" power.

This was also the lengthy arc in the original story where Judai's divine draws were endlessly repeated and emphasized.

Judai, the original protagonist, drew so often that even duelists in the original world, where divine draws were commonplace, considered his luck absurdly excessive.

But Tenjo Hikari's focus was not on this.

Rather...

In this world, Wan Wan Zhangmu is not only Seishin Raiser's disciple, but he has never once feared Judai—he fears only himself, worrying he might fail.

Under these circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for Lord Lord Zhai Wang to brainwash him, given his possession of a Duel Spirit.

After all, although Wan Wan Zhangmu has never used the Light and Dark Dragons, his Spirit's strength—evidenced by his Panda Dragon's battle against the robot and its effortless resistance to artillery fire—suggests Lord Lord Zhai Wang's attempt to brainwash him is pure overreach.

Secondly...

In the original story, Lord Lord Zhai Wang sought to brainwash Wan Wan Zhangmu not merely because he was strong, but more importantly because Lord Lord Zhai Wang himself could not see Duel Spirits, so he needed someone who could see them to duel Judai and determine the direction of fate's wheel.

But in this world, it's different.

Due to the rapid advancement of interdimensional exploration, Duel Spirits are no longer myths or fairy tales.

Thus, with Lord Lord Zhai Wang's original supernatural level, enhancing his perception through interdimensional science to see Spirits is no issue at all.

After all, San Ze Sanze Dadi, a genuine ordinary human, can already see them.

Therefore, Lord Lord Zhai Wang's original goals and purposes at this point no longer exist in this world.

Thus, Tenjo Hikari was genuinely curious: why had Lord Lord Zhai Wang come to the Duel Academy now?

After all, the principal hadn't returned, and Prince Aujin, who possessed a space laser satellite capable of destroying Earth, wouldn't be coming to the academy at this time—what was the point of Lord Lord Zhai Wang's visit?

The point was significant.

Lord Lord Zhai Wang smiled and nodded politely to General Napoleon, exchanged brief pleasantries, humbly claimed his role as Aide Phoenix's manager was merely due to childhood friendship—otherwise he could never have signed Aide—and then explained his purpose for visiting the school.

First, naturally, he was transferring schools—he was, after all, a high school student, and since Aide had come here, as a friend, he would transfer out of either friendship or duty.

Second, he wished to discover more outstanding seeds to become professional duelists, having witnessed Aide's duel with Marufuji Ryo—a duel in which Aide had smiled for the first time in a long while, bringing great joy to his friend, and thus he wished to visit Marufuji Ryo's alma mater to see what kind of academy could produce such a duelist.

Hearing this, not only did General Napoleon smile in agreement, but even Professor Cronos hurriedly smiled, delighted at the new possibilities for the students.

At this moment, he would not quarrel with General Napoleon over the latter's unilateral decision to invite Aide Phoenix's manager to the academy without consulting him.

When asked about Aide Phoenix's academics, Lord Lord Zhai Wang replied: "Apologies, both teachers, Aide's schedule is booked until three years from now—only time outside his duel schedule might allow him to attend classes here."

"I see... ah." General Napoleon looked disappointed.

Though he had lost once to Judai, he had also won once—he believed Aide Phoenix was the perfect weapon to counter the Red Academy.

"Hmm, and those students over there?" Suddenly, Lord Lord Zhai Wang shifted tone, smiling faintly as he tilted his chin toward the direction of the academy's teaching building.

There, students in red, yellow, blue, black, and purple uniforms streamed out of the building, laughing and chatting together.

"Ah," Professor Cronos, glancing from afar, straightened his chest and puffed out his chest proudly, "those are the members of our Duel Academy's pride—the Glorious Duel Academy Club, the Fusion Department, founded by my disciple Tenjo Hikari—ah, speaking of Tenjo, Lord Lord Zhai Wang, would you be interested in inviting him to a professional duel arena..."

"Ohhh..." Lord Lord Zhai Wang followed Cronos's gaze toward the figure in the crowd.

At the same time, Tenjo Hikari, as if sensing something, lifted his head and turned—his eyes met Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhuomo's from afar.

"That's the Absolute Fusionist, the new symbol of the Duel Academy—Tenjo Hikari? Indeed, he carries himself with great dignity." Lord Lord Zhai Wang smiled in response, his eyes emitting a faint violet glow.

Tenjo Hikari narrowed his eyes slightly.

Suddenly—

Swish...

Swish...

On the tranquil seaside of the Duel Academy, a sudden gust of wind surged, then grew stronger, fiercer.

"Huh? Huh?!" General Napoleon felt his body sway unsteadily.

"Oh my goodness, what, what's happening? Why did the wind suddenly pick up? Lord Lord Zhai Wang, shouldn't we hurry inside the teaching building to tour?"

For an instant, Lord Lord Zhai Wang's face flashed a frenzied, almost insane grin—then, as General Napoleon instinctively rubbed his eyes, the expression softened back into gentle kindness, and the swirling wind gradually subsided.

"Ah, no need—I'll just stroll around the island alone. Thank you both for your time." Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhuomo bowed slightly to the two teachers, then turned and walked off in another direction, smiling.

"Huh?" "Wait, wait—Lord Lord Zhai Wang... he's gone."

The two teachers were utterly baffled.

On the other side, because Tenjo Hikari had suddenly stopped, Judai and Wan Wan Zhangmu both asked him what was wrong; Tenjo Hikari frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head.

When he had locked eyes with Lord Lord Zhai Wang, his power had briefly collided with Lord Lord Zhai Wang's fate—resulting in a momentary contact, then mutual neutrality.

But why would Lord Lord Zhai Wang, with nothing better to do, come bothering him? Why not harass Judai or Aide instead?

Could it be that Lord Lord Zhai Wang of this world wanted to turn him, the Fusion Department Head, into the academy's proxy for the Society of Light?

"What a strange human," Tierra added her opinion. "It's like there's a me and a Sophia fighting for control of his body system."

Come to think of it—that was exactly it.

On the other side, Lord Lord Zhai Wang walked alone into the woods, struck a tree with one hand, leaving a terrifying crater, then leaned against it, hunched over, whispering a low, furious roar.

If someone could see, they would notice his "face" at this moment.

His left face was compassionate, streaming with sorrowful tears; his right face was cold and merciless, twisted in mad laughter.

"The one who represents the 【Sun】 Tarot card."

"Light, hope, illumination—whether positive or negative, these are all beneficial cards for humanity."

"But you've seen it."

"His 【Sun】 is not warm, not white, not the kind of light it should be."

"It is profound, like a black hole, a terrifying black hole capable of swallowing everything—transformed into a black sun."

"He does not radiate light—he merely absorbs everything around him."

"Such a sun only destroys others."

"No, I believe—even a black sun is still a sun, still a nurturer of all things."

"And the destructive wave, filled with the desire to annihilate everything, can never be our hope!"

He spoke to himself, denying and affirming himself for a long while, before slowly falling silent.

He probably, possibly, truly suffered from dissociative identity disorder.

Especially after the "battle" between the Society of Light and the Fusion Army ended, and the portion of "light" belonging to him was stripped away, his symptoms intensified.

But—

The destructive light wave had grown far more wildly than he could have imagined, far exceeding the possibility he foresaw in childhood!

Initially, he understood this light wave as merely a force capable of destroying planets in the universe.

But now, amid war and countless other world conflicts, this light force had grown increasingly swollen.

Therefore...

Though diminished, his total quantity was now greater than before!

"Fusing all Absolute Fusionists. So that's it—even the Sun, to us, is too pure, too blinding, becoming a black hole we cannot look at, cannot perceive."

Lord Lord Zhai Wang Zhuomo regained his refined, scholarly demeanor, recalled recent events, narrowed his eyes slightly, and smiled—thinking of an opportunity.

His smile became grotesque, exaggerated, unnervingly "healthy."

He knew Tenjo Hikari's relationship with Chi Ma Professor Chi Ma Ling Wang was extremely poor.

Fate had already given him the answer!

He raised his hand lightly—on the side of his hand, a table had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He reached out casually and drew a card from the deck on it.

It was a coordinate card marking a Fusion Army outpost dimension—the very node where the Society of Light had previously failed in its assault.

That place seemed to hide many interesting cards.

Moreover, through precognition, he knew it concealed a bloody secret.

But simultaneously, its 【guardians】 were the strongest.

Let me see—

Sun!

Chapter Two

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(End of Chapter)