Chapter 347: Wave After Wave (5k, 35, seeking monthly tickets)

Rainbow Dragon!

The "Holy Dragon" hidden in some ancient ruins, possessing ATK comparable to [God]!

"ATK 4000!"

"It exceeds Master Diamond, and is even enough to compare with Obelisk the Tormentor!"

"Wow—it feels like holy light is descending from the sky!"

"And... no tribute needed, just need 7 different Crystal Beasts on the field/Graveyard, and it can be Special Summoned directly! So convenient."

It sounded very convenient at first glance.

In reality, it was still quite troublesome, and... it wasn't that powerful.

"Rainbow Dragon has the effect of sending all Crystal Beasts face-up on your field to the Graveyard, and then increasing its ATK by 1000 points for each Crystal Beast sent to the Graveyard," Tenjou Hikari looked at the giant dragon and recited one of its effects.

"Ah?"

"So powerful?"

"Artorius has 5 Crystal Beasts on his field—"

"Doesn't that mean it has 9000 ATK!?"

Nine thousand ATK!

Normally, trying to defeat it by battle was already a bit unrealistic.

"Not only that—" Johan continued with a smile, "Rainbow Dragon can also banish all Crystal Beast monsters in my Graveyard, and return all cards on the field to their owner’s deck."

If this effect were activated, the clearing ability would be very powerful.

"But...—" Johan shook his head regretfully, "Rainbow Dragon cannot activate its effect the turn it is Special Summoned."

"Ah?"

"What... what a pity."

Some people sighed.

If this effect could be activated now, Tenjou Hikari would have lost the duel directly!

"But, the ATK is still higher on my side—Rainbow Dragon attacks Master Diamond! Go, Rainbow Dragon, prove whose gems are more dazzling!"

"Intercept, Captain!"

Bai Jing nodded, leaped up in the face of the huge dragon, swung his great sword, and fought with the giant dragon.

*Crackle, crackle*, close-quarters combat, dragon breath, dragon roar, countless strange gems shone with color in the battle. Finally, Rainbow Dragon seized the opportunity, spat out another rainbow stream, and completely hit the knight’s chest.

*Bang—*

Tenjou Hikari, LP: 4000 -> 3300.

"Then, Pegasus attacks..."

Pegasus jumped up, rushed to the side of the little..., vibrated its wings, and blew it over.

In this way, only Gem-Knight Prism Aura remained on Tenjou Hikari’s field.

"Oh no, Paladin!! Next turn, if Lancelot retrieves Gem-Knight Fusion again, Prism Aura can activate its effect and destroy your Rainbow Dragon!"

"Oh my, should have attacked Prism Aura—"

"Fool, how could he attack Prism Aura? Master Diamond can copy Prism Aura’s effect, and he can still destroy Rainbow Dragon then!"

Oh, right—

High ATK is high!

Precisely because Rainbow Dragon’s ATK is high, even if it can't activate its effect, it can defeat the Gem-Knight King who possesses "endless abilities." But similarly, precisely because Prism Aura’s ATK is higher than the Crystal Beasts, even if Master Diamond is defeated, next turn, Prism Aura can still activate its effect to avenge its superior form.

"That’s not necessarily true!"

Johan laughed: "I set a card and end my turn."

"It seems that card gave you confidence? Logically speaking, the card you set last turn should have been discarded by you and replaced with something else, right?"

Tenjou Hikari asked.

"That’s only natural. This is the card replaced by a knight’s martial prowess."

Johan clenched his fist: "I believe that my guards... my family, they are the best crystals and will never lose to your Gem-Knights!"

"Is that so..."

Tenjou Hikari raised his eyebrows: "Then, my turn, draw card—Paladin, let’s decide the winner this turn!"

"At this moment!" Johan opened the set card, "Trap card, Crystal Prayer!"

"Send 1 card with 'Crystal Beast' in its name from your Spell/Trap Zone to the Graveyard and activate it. Destroy 1 card on the opponent’s field!" He picked up a turtle and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Emerald."

"It’s okay! I also really want to prove who can represent gems!" The turtle replied to Johan.

"Ha—destroy Lancelot, what I want to destroy... is your Continuous Spell card Scatter Fusion!"

The green emerald appeared on Tenjou Hikari’s field and slammed into the bright diamond on Tenjou Hikari’s field.

*Click... crack.*

*Bang!*

Accompanied by the disappearance of the diamond, Prism Aura’s figure also began to slowly dissipate.

"Beautiful!" In the stands, Judai praised suddenly.

Manjoume nodded repeatedly: "Indeed! Compared to destroying Prism Aura, Scatter Fusion is more important!"

He continued: "For that guy Ten... Lancelot, monsters are actually secondary. As long as Fusion is there, everything is uncertain.

That guy believes in Fusion more than gems. So even if Prism Aura is destroyed, that guy can use Scatter Fusion to fuse other fusion monsters. At that time, it will be Artorius who is in danger."

Scatter Fusion can activate its effect once per turn!

Tenjou Hikari looked at the card he drew in his hand.

Then, he looked at the projection next to him, and so, he said with a smile, "Amazing, Paladin."

The growth suddenly stalled.

"Speaking of [Gems] alone, it seems you have mastered them better than I have."

On the projection, the number of supporters for the fallen knight started to decrease instead of increase.

This was normal, because saying this sounded like he was about to admit defeat.

"Haha, exactly!" Amethyst Cat appeared beside Johan, looking up and saying, "Our Johan is the best Gem duelist!"

"Amethyst—" Johan was a bit embarrassed, but being able to get this kind of praise from Tenjou Hikari, he was still quite happy.

But amidst the happiness, a problem arose.

Why would Tenjou Hikari say such things in this kind of duel?

Didn't this reduce the support on his side for no reason?

"But!"

The decline paused!

"I am the [Strongest] Knight. Gems are just one aspect of me—next, witness my reality, my strength, my... [Fusion]!

Paladin!"

*Eh!*

The Crystal Beast spirits surrounding Johan leaned back in unison, and even Rainbow Dragon couldn't help but lower its head slightly to look at Tenjou Hikari.

And accompanied by this [Fusion], finally, everyone realized, everyone remembered—

The key point had arrived!

"Normal Summon... Ancient Gear Commander!"

"Eh?" Johan exclaimed in a low voice.

"Huh?"

"That monster—"

I saw a heroic ancient robot pointing forward, slowly rising from the machine factory.

In front of him, a command device like a knife looked exactly like something everyone was very familiar with.

Duel Disk!

The special Duel Disk that only professors would have!

The special Duel Disk on Professor Chronos!

"That monster looks just like Professor Chronos!"

"Re... really! Could it be that Mr. Pegasus didn't just design cards based on Hikari, but even designed cards for the professor?"

"Wow! Is the professor that respected?"

Some professors were also extremely shocked to see this monster. After all, everyone wasn't blind; everyone could see what Ancient Gear Commander looked like.

"It just happens to look like me, Commander is also very surprised." Professor Chronos enjoyed the curiosity projected by the professors beside him and couldn't help but straighten his waist.

After all, this was a genuine spirit recognition he had obtained on his own, and he accepted it with peace of mind.

Several professors looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other’s hearts.

Even though they had already overestimated Chronos, they never expected that this person could even influence the spirit world, making the spirit world create a card of him!

"When the opponent has more monsters than I do, this card can be Special Summoned." Tenjou Hikari *slapped* and summoned a monster to the field.

"Ancient Gear Statue!"

A small mechanical giant statue stood quietly on Tenjou Hikari’s field.

Johan felt a little uneasy and said, "Rainbow Dragon can activate its effect during the opponent’s turn to increase its ATK!"

"Can increase during the opponent’s turn?"

"Eight thousand ATK, almost impossible to cross!"

Tenjou Hikari chuckled. He waved his left hand, the armor on his body rustled, and the heavy armor hit his body, making a crisp *clatter* sound, but he didn't care at all:

"Is that so? But, it doesn't matter!"

"Activate, Ancient Gear Commander’s effect! Once per turn, send 1 [Ancient Gear Golem] from your hand/field/deck to the Graveyard and activate it.

Perform an [Ancient Gear monster] summon!"

*Eh?*

Cost send to Graveyard?!

This was an effect that could be activated even if the effect was negated!

Tenjou Hikari lit up the card in his hand: "Normal Summon, Ancient Gear Wyvern."

A small green mechanical dragon appeared on Tenjou Hikari’s field, circling him.

"Ancient Gear Wyvern’s effect: activate when this card is summoned/Special Summoned. Add an Ancient Gear card other than Wyvern from the deck to the hand. After this effect is activated, I cannot set cards until the end of the turn."

"Cannot set cards." Manjoume crossed his arms, staring at the field, "In other words, the winner will be decided at this moment!"

This was a very simple truth; this was a desperate charge!

Tenjou Hikari opened his deck, searched through it, and took out Ancient Gear Hunting Hound.

There were no more.

Because Tenjou Hikari had already removed the Knight, Beast, Chimera, and Dragon, only the Golem and a few other Ancient Gear cards remained in the deck.

In addition, there were actually Aleister and a few other Earth-attribute-related fusion series in this deck, which was a mixed-axis Earth-attribute fusion.

Regardless, putting Aleister in would never be wrong.

"Next... witness the brand-new method taught to me by my mentor!"

Tenjou Hikari pointed at the Ancient Gear Statue on the field: "Ancient Gear Statue’s effect: release itself, Special Summon 1 Ancient Gear Golem or a monster with that card name from your hand/deck, ignoring summoning conditions!"

!!

Ignoring summoning conditions!

Many people who were familiar with Tenjou Hikari and Ancient Gear cards stood up.

This card could actually Special Summon Golem directly?

This was even more convenient than Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem!

*Boom, boom, boom...*

Dust flew.

The mechanical Golem slowly replaced the mechanical statue and appeared on Tenjou Hikari’s field.

"It’s not over yet, Ancient Gear Commander’s effect!"

Tenjou Hikari clenched his fist, his momentum majestic, as if there were countless mechanical factories behind him, rushing to manufacture new equipment for him: "Activate when you summon/Special Summon [Ancient Gear Golem]. Special Summon 1 [Ancient Gear Golem] from your hand/Graveyard, ignoring summoning conditions!"

Again!!

"Resurrect—my [Knight], my [Golem], my [Need], my [Power]!"

Many people might have forgotten.

Tenjou Hikari first joined Reiji Akaba’s Fusion Department for the sake of this Ancient Gear deck.

At that time, Tenjou Hikari didn't even have a spirit, and the "beginning" of everything for Tenjou Hikari, the path he took to gain Bai Jing’s recognition and embark on the Gem-Knight path...

Was precisely the Ancient Gear Golem!

Ancient Gear Golem, Level 8, Earth Attribute, Machine-type, ATK 3000.

"Two Ancient Gear Golems..."

"Shocking, even the professor hasn't had the experience of Special Summoning two Golems, right?"

"No, no, no, the professor has done such things... but it has indeed been a long time since I saw the professor duel in person."

A group of students looked at Tenjou Hikari in surprise.

Or rather, looked at those Ancient Gear cards in surprise.

In their impression, let alone the professor, even Tenjou Hikari hadn't used Ancient Gear cards for a long time.

But now—

"I will not betray, will not forget, and have not betrayed, have not forgotten. What I am loyal to is the fusion I believe in, the fusion I persist in!

So—

Johan, you might be the strongest Gem user, but...

I am a [Fusion] duelist!!"

Tenjou Hikari held up the last card in his left hand: "Spell card, Power Bond!"

Power Bond, a fusion spell card exclusive to Machine-type monsters.

"Using that card, you will receive damage equal to the fusion monster’s ATK in the End Phase, right!"

"So, so desperate!"

"It’s actually Power Bond?" Sho Marufuji also poked his head out, watching this scene.

He was naturally not surprised that Tenjou Hikari could have this secret technique of their Marufuji family. After all, there were many cards in the world, and he had seen Tenjou Hikari use it before. He just didn't expect Tenjou Hikari to be so desperate and use it directly.

"I am a fallen magic knight. Using such forbidden power is naturally nothing!" Tenjou Hikari grinned, "Rather, for the sake of the duel, for the sake of fusion, using such power is even more correct!"

"The fusion condition is—Ancient Gear monsters, 4!"

*Eh?*

"Four?"

"No, isn't it Ancient Gear Golem and two other Ancient Gear monsters?"

"Wait, wait—could it be!"

A brand-new Ancient Gear fusion monster!

"I fuse Ancient Gear Golem, Ancient Gear Wyvern, Ancient Gear Commander on the field, and Ancient Gear Hunting Hound in my hand!"

Tenjou Hikari took a deep breath, then opened his hands: "Ancient Gear Golem that has embraced chaos, cross over disaster and hostility, and wash away your grievances under the identity of a villain!

Fusion Summon!"

Tenjou Hikari *slapped* his palms together.

Countless students felt their hearts tremble.

Only when Ancient Gear was fusing would Tenjou Hikari be so meticulous, never missing a single operation.

"Level 10!"

"Ancient Gear Chaos Giant!"

*Hum—hum—hum.*

*Boom, boom, boom.*

A huge mechanical giant hung in the sky. Even to be able to be displayed in this classroom, it had shrunk its figure like Rainbow Dragon, but its size was still incomparably huge, covering the entire ceiling.

"Ah—" Ruri covered her mouth with both hands in fear, her face panicked.

This monster...

This monster!

That day, the day she was attacked, the sky over Heartland was full of these monsters...

Beside her, Serena noticed this scene and instinctively said in a low voice, "Don't worry, Master is absolutely fine!

Master is the true [Ancient Gear], the true [Fusion]."

The true Ancient Gear, and the true Fusion.

Ruri was lost for a moment, and at this time, Tenjou Hikari’s support rate had already skyrocketed!

Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, Level 10, Dark Attribute, Machine-type, ATK 4500 -> 9000.

"Chaos Giant?"

"Beyond Ultimate Golem, there is an even further Golem?"

"ATK 4500, same as the legendary Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"So, so big!!!"

Tenjou Hikari shook his hand, which was a bit numb.

Tierra beside him couldn't help but laugh: "Serves you right, you idiot, clapping your hands while wearing such heavy costumes and such heavy iron gauntlets."

Having watched a duel, because she was really not interested in "acting," Tierra hadn't spoken, but seeing Tenjou Hikari numb his hands from clapping, she finally couldn't help but laugh.

Tenjou Hikari coughed twice.

"Enter the Battle Phase."

Tenjou Hikari said.

At this time, those familiar with the Ancient Gear deck should realize a problem—*Oh my god, my opponent is a Chaos Giant, be careful, don't let the other party sneak into the Battle Phase.*

Letting Ancient Gear monsters enter the Battle Phase was a very dangerous thing!

Especially... Chaos Giant!

"Ancient Gear Chaos Giant attacks Rainbow Dragon!"

ATK 9000!

Even if Rainbow Dragon tried its best now, it couldn't win—

After all, Johan’s field only had [4] Crystal Beasts.

He, perhaps, had only reached the level of [4] now.

But regardless, the momentum couldn't be lost!

"So amazing, Tenjou!" At this time, neither of them cared about what they were acting anymore, "Fusion, huh—sure enough, should I try to learn it too—but, regardless, Tenjou, I won't admit defeat here!

Activate Rainbow Dragon’s effect, send the other Crystal Beasts on my field to the Graveyard, each one increases its ATK by 1000 points!"

Hearing this, Tenjou Hikari couldn't help but *ha* slightly, then said: "Johan, although I am also looking forward to going head-to-head with Rainbow Dragon... but—

Impossible!"

!?

"As long as Ancient Gear Chaos Giant exists in the Monster Zone, it is unaffected by Spell/Trap card effects—in addition, the opponent cannot activate monster effects during the Battle Phase!"

It was actually—

Monster effect lockdown!?

Johan’s eyes widened suddenly.

A group of onlookers didn't understand at first, but after thinking about it carefully later.

That’s not right, when Ancient Gear monsters attack, the opponent cannot use Spell/Trap cards!

That wasn't—completely unable to activate cards anymore!

"That’s right, Johan—" Tenjou Hikari chuckled, "Originally, if it were a normal duel, I would have told you the effect before attacking. After all, we are all friends. But I’m sorry, I am a [Villain] this time!"

"Hahaha, I lost to you—it’s really interesting—it doesn't matter, Rainbow Dragon! Go!"

On Rainbow Dragon, the seven-colored gems began to shine with color, erupting with its divine power.

And Tenjou Hikari commanded Chaos Giant, shouting: "Chaos Giant, we go too!"

Initially, it was Ancient Gear that defeated Gem-Knights, which led to Tenjou Hikari’s path of collecting Gem-Knights.

And now—

Under the thorns and thistles of Gem-Knights, Ancient Gear finally completed its finale!

"Ancient Gear Chaos Burst!"

The giant raised his right hand, aimed at the giant dragon, and *slapped* down with a *boom*—

Johan, LP: 2500 -> 0.