Chapter 334: Answering the Confusion of Juniors Is a Duty (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Over several days, most of the students within the critical point's dimension successfully received the protection they deserved.

It wasn't that the students suddenly became extremely powerful and could immediately launch counterattacks; overall, individual students or even small squads still had no real chance against demons.

But under the operations of Sea Horse Company and various factions, concentrating people into designated stations for protection was relatively easy.

Moreover, it was different from what Tenjo Hikari had guessed.

Aside from the large-scale attack by the Dark World on the first day, for a period afterward, the demons of the Dark World seemed to have developed internal conflicts and did not concentrate their strength to seize any strongholds.

This allowed Sea Horse Company to consolidate its lines and move more students to safer locations.

Of course, there were still some situations worth Tenjo Hikari's attention—namely, the Light Society.

Under the "Light Power" of the Light Society, many students received protection and thus chose to join the Light Society.

To be honest, if students joined the Light Society merely out of gratitude, Tenjo Hikari might have thought it wasn't a big deal.

But when Tenjo Hikari learned that every single student at a certain station had joined the Light Society and become its members, he knew this was definitely abnormal.

Probably, the students who received help from the Light Society, due to their inner gratitude toward it, became less wary of the society, making brainwashing easier.

But even so, Tenjo Hikari actually felt it wasn't that serious.

What truly annoyed Tenjo Hikari were those students who, during this time, still refused to stop their reckless behavior—leaving the security zones to explore on their own.

Tenjo Hikari couldn't possibly rescue all these students; in just a few days, he had already rescued students trapped along several main roads and earned countless cheers and praises. As for these students who had their own ideas, courage, and completely ignored warnings from the academy and Sea Horse Company, he couldn't control them.

Among them, of course, were some truly skilled and bold students, but those who had no real ability yet simply believed Sea Horse Company was lying to them—that there was no danger outside—really made Tenjo Hikari furious.

However, during this time, when Tenjo Hikari returned to the initial station and had a moment to rest, he noticed that over these two days, Serena's condition at the initial point had been quite good.

He had rushed out directly, only temporarily assigning Flame Sword and the others to guard the station without making any additional preparations.

Fortunately, it seemed that Professor Chi Ma Ling Wang had truly entrusted Serena to the Fusion Department and genuinely had no intention of forcibly taking her back to lock her up; otherwise, over these two days, he truly couldn't have guaranteed Serena's safety completely.

And over these two days, Serena hadn't just been waiting idly—she gathered courage, used her status advantages to rally students to guard the station, and even engaged in a duel with a warrior from the Dark World, winning decisively.

Serena had never been a quiet girl, nor someone who only waited for others to protect her; when danger arose, she always wanted to be involved.

If that's the case, then fine.

Tenjo Hikari rested at the station for a day and also contacted Sea Horse Company.

Although there seemed to be no immediate danger, Sea Horse Company had no intention of restarting the GX Tournament in the short term—they would only reconvene the tournament once they confirmed there was no danger.

Something similar had happened in the original story.

In the original GX Tournament, when a counterfeit card of "The Winged Dragon of Ra" appeared in the tournament, the school immediately halted the event and only resumed it after recovering the God Card.

The GX Tournament in this world was larger and better prepared than in the original—after all, this world had experienced numerous conflicts with interdimensional spirits and understood that holding a tournament within the Spirit World could always lead to unexpected incidents, so contingency plans had long been prepared.

And the current situation, at first glance, was far better than what he had originally imagined.

No station had been captured, and no large-scale student abductions for tribute had occurred.

As for those students who had ventured out alone and become trapped in certain corners, Tenjo Hikari could only slowly search for them later using maps.

And just as he was thinking this—

He noticed his surroundings suddenly brightened considerably.

Tenjo Hikari blinked, tore his gaze from his phone, and turned to look around.

A large crowd of students dressed in white uniforms had completely surrounded him, blocking all exits.

Tenjo Hikari frowned.

As these people appeared, some students on the other side, summoning courage, shouted before Tenjo Hikari could speak: "Hey! You guys, what are you doing? Trying to cause trouble for Tenjo?"

During this time, everyone could see Tenjo Hikari's efforts; doubts and suspicions about him needed no response—they had already collapsed on their own. Under these circumstances, Tenjo Hikari, already the academy's top student, had rescued hundreds of classmates; even when outnumbered, even if Tenjo Hikari said nothing, even if these shouting students didn't know who was right or wrong, they would instinctively support Tenjo Hikari.

Serena looked at them, her eyes sparkling.

She too wanted to gain the same kind of prestige as her Master.

Over these two days, Serena's reputation had improved somewhat, but she was still far from matching Tenjo Hikari's level.

The members of the Light Society paid no attention to the surrounding students' words, but as these students voiced their support, more students noticed the situation and hurried over.

On one hand, to support Tenjo Hikari; on the other hand…

After being confined to a tiny train station for nearly a week, they were all a bit bored.

"What do you want?" Tenjo Hikari asked curiously.

"A duel," the leader, Silver Yin Liuxing, said directly.

Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.

Now?

Silver Yin Liuxing… not impossible…

Was Lord Lord Zhai Wang trying to lure him into a duel again with some interesting dimensional information or something else, hoping to trick him into joining their society?

Persistent, indeed.

He hadn't been gaining "Duel Energy" these past few days; having a stronger opponent to replenish his energy wouldn't hurt.

But to Tenjo Hikari's surprise, after Silver Yin Liuxing spoke, the members of the Light Society slowly parted down the middle, like Moses dividing the sea, forming two lines, and a man in a silver-white suit appeared silently at the very end of their ranks, standing quietly opposite Tenjo Hikari.

Tenjo Hikari was utterly taken aback.

Aide?

Why?

That makes no sense.

Why would he come to challenge me instead of bothering Judai?

Besides…

The Light Society couldn't possibly command Aide Phoenix, could they?

As he thought this, Tierra appeared beside him and gently nudged him with his elbow. The next second, Tenjo Hikari saw that Aide Phoenix's body was flickering and floating with the abnormal phenomenon unique to "Light Fluctuation."

Tenjo Hikari's pupils contracted sharply.

How is this possible!?

In the original story, "Light Fluctuation" could never have been implanted into Aide Phoenix!

In the original, he was the absolute embodiment of Lord Lord Zhai Wang's good side, the good aspect of light!

"Lord Lord Zhai Wang has gained the support of one-third of the students in this dimension," Silver Yin Liuxing suddenly spoke beside him. "If Lord Lord Zhai Wang wishes, he can have the students open the dimensional gate at any moment—or even become demons."

Tenjo Hikari glanced at him, then ignored him, continuing to stare at Aide.

Aide looked at his right hand; even though he had always been unable to see his own "chains," he now clearly sensed how dire his condition was—and perhaps because of this, he felt somewhat relieved: "Director Tenjo, Lord Lord Zhai Wang wishes for me to duel you."

"He says that only by dueling you can I find the answer." He didn't sound hopeful—merely stating something fate had decided.

"If you accept, after the duel ends…"

He still seemed rational.

Tenjo Hikari keenly sensed this.

Unlike normal hosts of "Light Fluctuation!"

"No, no need to say more," Tenjo Hikari cut him off directly. "As a superior, answering the confusion of subordinates and juniors is the duty of a leader—come on! Bring it!"

Tenjo Hikari wasted no words; he raised his left hand, and his Duel Disk automatically opened, shuffling his deck.

Aide, meanwhile, pulled out his deck, stared at it, aligned it with the Duel Disk's slot, and inserted the cards.

At the same time—

Silver Yin Liuxing spoke again: "Tenjo Hikari, as before, if you lose, you will join our Light Society and become our vice-president."

Rose Princess added the next condition: "Conversely, if you win, we will assist you free of charge in rescuing ordinary students, and additionally, we will…"

"Let's deal with those things after the duel!" Tenjo Hikari shouted.

"Duel!"

"... Duel."

Tenjo Hikari, LP: 4000.

Aide, LP: 4000.

(End of Chapter)