Chapter 363: The Price of Battle (4k, seeking monthly votes)

"War Legacy?"

"A series I've never seen before—"

Many classmates became curious, and even Hikari Tenjou couldn't help but sit up straight.

It was actually the War Legacy series.

"As long as this card exists on the field, once per turn, I can Special Summon a War Legacy monster from my hand. As a cost, I must pay damage equal to that monster's level x 100."

"What I want to Special Summon is this card—Level 6, War Legacy of Violence - Dong Ying."

"Dong... Ying?"

"Eh!"

Some students sensitive to names had already realized the type of this series, and with the Warrior Professor's movements, a fierce warrior with a thick beard, wearing ox armor and golden armor, holding a huge long sword, had appeared on the field.

War Legacy of Violence - Dong Ying, Level 6, Dark Attribute, Beast-Warrior Type, ATK 2200.

Warrior LP: 4000 -> 3400.

"Wow—it's really Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhongying!"

"It's exactly him, the same outfit as in the historical drama!"

Judai was also unusually excited: "Is it a 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' themed deck? That's so cool, Professor!"

"Hahaha, is this cool—there's even cooler stuff! Activate Dong Ying's effect." He laughed, "When Dong Ying is successfully Summoned/Special Summoned, I can directly add 1 Level 7 or higher [War Legacy] monster or 1 [War Legacy] Continuous Spell/Trap Card from my deck to my hand."

He casually raised his left hand to the deck on the Duel Disk, and a card automatically jumped out of the deck: "What I want to add to my hand is this—"

He flipped over the searched card, bit his cigarette, and laughed: "You should all know it—

Brave enough to face three armies, the number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms...

Special Summon, War Legacy of Rebellion - Lu Feng!"

Wearing a golden crown with pheasant feathers, a hundred-flower battle robe, Tang Ni armor, a lion-patterned belt, and holding a Halberd.

Riding a Red Hare horse, known as Lu Bu among men!

A monster that was incomparably fierce, even with two cockroach-like antennae that looked domineering, rode a warhorse and stepped onto the field with a bang.

War Legacy of Rebellion - Lu Feng, Level 8, Dark Attribute, Beast-Warrior Type, ATK 2800.

"Wow, Lu Bu! So cool!"

"The number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms!"

"ATK is 2800!"

"And it was Special Summoned directly?"

Judai blinked, excited and surprised: "Why was it Special Summoned directly?"

"When the monster with the highest ATK among the [War Legacy] monsters on the field exists on my field, Lu Feng can be Special Summoned once per turn." The Warrior rubbed his chin and said casually.

"A Special Summon that doesn't start a chain," Chazz muttered.

Hikari Tenjou also felt it was quite something while watching from below.

Regardless of what the prototypes of these two monsters are like, these two monsters do look fierce and domineering.

So this Warrior Professor is a countryman.

"Set one card, turn end."

Simple, direct, and rough; the Warrior Professor didn't have any fancy operations, just activated the spell, Special Summoned the monster, and then ended.

"ATK 2200 and 2800, that's quite high." Johan didn't know much about the Three Kingdoms, so seeing these monsters, he wasn't as excited as the other students, analyzing calmly, "If I don't use Linglong, it's hard for my family members to reach this level of ATK directly.

Most of Judai's lower-level heroes also cannot surpass this ATK."

Judai certainly knew this, but Judai's current deck is not what it used to be—

He is super strong now!

"My turn, draw—activate the Spell Card, Evil HERO Assault, discard one card from my hand, I can directly from the deck..." Guwa—

Before Judai could finish speaking, a cold arrow flew out from nowhere and pierced his body directly.

He took a half-step back violently, clutching his chest; the pain of the cold arrow made him unable to adapt.

This pain, which felt like reality, made him unable to continue his battle for a moment.

Judai Yuki, LP: 4000 -> 3600.

"This, what is going on?"

Voices of discussion arose in the classroom.

The students didn't understand at all what was happening now.

On the other side, the Warrior Professor took a puff of his cigarette and said casually to Judai: "Judai, this is the [Price]."

"Pri... Price?"

"As long as Dong Ying is on the field and I have a Level 7 or higher War Legacy monster on my field, the opponent cannot activate card effects without paying 400 Life Points." Then, he pointed to Judai's graveyard, "In addition, when the opponent has a monster sent to the graveyard, Dong Zhuo can target one card in the opponent's graveyard, banish that card, and draw 1 card."

On the Warrior Professor's field, Dong Ying opened his mouth, revealing a cruel smile, his eyes staring at Judai with a scarlet gaze.

"Wha... what?" Judai was stunned on the spot.

"Losing 400 points for activating one card effect..." Someone raised their finger to calculate, "There are only 4000 Life Points in total!"

"In other words, at most 10 cards, and the Life Points will return to zero?"

"This, this is too strong, right?"

Judai slowly stood up, looked at the activated card, gritted his teeth, and continued: "Based on the effect of Evil HERO Assault, I Special Summon Evil HERO Infernal Gainer from my deck."

Rubble like blood flowed down from the sky, and a prism like a demon slowly emerged from it.

Evil HERO Infernal Gainer, Level 4, Light Attribute, Rock Type, ATK 1700.

"Evil HERO?" Edo next to him was slightly interested.

He thought Judai was still that idiot; he didn't expect him to use the brand-new "Evil" series of heroes.

Then, he shook his head again.

No—

This idiot, clearly he had already accepted that "as long as justice can be accomplished, evil power doesn't matter," yet he was still struggling with the matter of invading spirits.

Still a big idiot.

However...

Sure enough, until now, he still couldn't like Judai Yuki at all.

Judai looked at the cards in the graveyard and couldn't help but feel conflicted.

How should he duel like this?

A moment later, he gritted his teeth; it would be even more of a loss not to activate it, he absolutely couldn't waste it—

"The effect of Shadow Mist in the graveyard. Activate when this card is sent to the graveyard. Add 1 HERO monster other than Shadow Mist from the deck to the hand."

A muffled sound.

Judai's body was pierced again. At the same time, the Warrior Professor banished Judai's Shadow Mist and drew a card.

Judai Yuki, LP: 3600 -> 3200.

He searched through the deck and took a Sparkman into his hand. He looked at the Monster Reborn in his hand and gritted his teeth. He could have used Mask Change...

"Judai is very nervous." Johan said from the side.

"After all, one card costs 400 Life Points." Chazz rubbed his forehead, "And this is completely different from the situation Hikari encountered before. Even if Hikari Fusion Summoned D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc, there was no way to resist this effect.

Because this effect is [paying] Life Points, which is a cost... this is an effect that cannot be resisted at all." Everyone nodded silently.

This kind of effect is completely impossible to contend with; one must calculate precisely to continue the duel. A slight mistake could be dangerous.

Judai added Sparkman to his hand and looked at the monsters on the field, unable to help but frown.

Every time he used an effect, he would lose 400 Life Points, which really made him feel tied up.

He must solve Dong Ying quickly, otherwise, his Life Points would only get lower and lower.

"Activate the effect of Infernal Gainer, once per turn, send 1 HERO monster from the deck to the graveyard. This turn, when a HERO Fusion Monster is Fusion Summoned, this face-up card can be used as a substitute for one of the Fusion Materials with the same name as that Fusion Monster.

I send Elemental HERO Neos from the deck to the graveyard."

Shoo—

Pfft.

Judai was hit by an arrow again.

Judai Yuki, LP: 3200 -> 2800.

"Spell Card, Dark Fusion, fuse Infernal Gainer on the field and Sparkman in my hand!"

Judai Yuki, LP: 2800 -> 2400.

"Fusion Summon!

Evil HERO Lightning Golem!"

Zzzzt—

Thunder Giant changed his skin and fell from the sky.

Evil HERO Lightning Golem, Level 6, Light Attribute, Fiend Type, ATK 2400.

"Lightning Golem can target 1 monster on the field once per turn. Destroy that monster!" Judai pointed at Dong Ying, "I choose Dong Ying."

The demon raised his hands, and a black thunder ball gathered in the air, then fell with a bang.

Boom!

However, along with the roar of thunder, the last cold arrow also took the opportunity to pierce Judai's throat.

"Gu..."

Judai Yuki, LP: 2400 -> 2000.

"It's 2000..." A few students from the Fusion Department watched Judai being pierced by cold arrows one after another and covered their faces, unable to bear it.

"But, in this way, Dong Ying is also destroyed!"

"Yeah, in this way, Judai can make his move."

"But is this really good?" Jim couldn't help but raise a question, "Wouldn't it be better to use Lightning Golem's effect to destroy Lu Feng, and then use Lightning Golem to attack Dong Ying?"

Using an effect to destroy Lu Bu, who has higher ATK, and using an attack to destroy Dong Zhuo in battle—this line of thinking is obviously more "profitable."

"But, what if the card the professor set is an effect that can protect monsters during the Battle Phase?" Johan couldn't help but think about this question, "Assuming it's a trap that can negate battle attacks, then Judai would have to face Dong Ying, who remains on the field—"

"Dong Ying must have a Level 7 or higher War Legacy monster on the field to activate its effect, right?" Chazz mentioned another thing.

"Then, what if it's a trap that revives Lu Bu? What should we do then?"

"Eh—" Several senior students were discussing on the side, while Serena was confused.

Wouldn't it be better to just destroy the troublesome Dong Ying? Why is there a follow-up discussion?

While Ruri listened to the discussion of the few with great interest.

"The key question should be what the professor's set card is." Hikari Tenjou also said, "Judai just made his own choice."

Everyone nodded.

Listening to the discussion of the few top students in the front row, the Warrior Professor couldn't help but laugh: "Well said, little ones."

He then held the cigarette with one hand, waved it in the air, and said to Judai: "Judai, actually I have always liked you. Although other professors all want to teach Hikari Tenjou, this famous person, so that the evaluation score at the end of the semester should look much better.

But in my eyes, you are a student more worth teaching than Hikari Tenjou."

Really??

In Duel Academy, the students were discussing.

He actually said Judai is more worth teaching than Brother Hikari?

Could it be that the professor's vision is not good?

"Hehehehe, it's not about strength, it's about what can be taught. That kid Hikari Tenjou is too shrewd and too careful; where does he need me to teach him." The Warrior laughed, "Judai, the reason why you stopped me that day, and even wanted to stop me, to the point of challenging me, is because... you remembered the Dark World's Demon God, Reign-Beaux, who died in front of you, right?"

Judai's body jolted.

"How did you know?"

"I said, that kid Hikari Tenjou is too shrewd and too careful." The Warrior responded casually, "Since you challenged me, and I want to duel in class, then, isn't this a matter of course...

That kid Hikari Tenjou gave me the recording of you at the critical point yesterday."

Jim, O'Brien, Syrus, and Bastion, the few who were at the scene at the time, turned to look at Hikari Tenjou instantly.

Hikari Tenjou coughed and didn't say much.

"That kid's mentality is crazier than that bald guy Leo Akaba; he is a genuine Fusion Absolutist, unaffected by any outside information. But you are obviously not like that." The Warrior Professor waved his hand and said casually, "After watching your recording, I found that my care for you was actually still lacking."

"Professor?"

"PTSD... Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When I was a soldier, I also heard that my colleagues had this disease." The Warrior said while smoking, "Ha, maybe, actually I have it too... it's just that it hasn't been shown."

"I heard that the demon originally wanted to honor you as their master, but in the duel, it died to protect you."

"Originally, you had no affection for them at all, but because of this, you developed pity, and after that, you always kept those Dark World demons, right?"

Judai nodded silently.

"It is also because of this reason that you are willing to believe in spirits and are willing to protect spirits—however, what we are facing this time is someone who disguised themselves as a human for the sake of invasion and tried to kill your friends!

Such an enemy must never be tolerated!"

"I can understand you, because kindness is the most shining warmth in the world... what our peacekeeping force is for is precisely peace, for the sake of kindness."

He recalled and said: "I once lived in the most terrifying battlefield in the world, and I have also seen young soldiers die tragically on the battlefield, and seen the entire platoon sacrifice because of a moment of kindness...

My comrade saw a child and, unable to bear it, let him go, but that child had long been wrapped in bombs by the terrorist organization and became a human bomb, then blew up my comrade on the spot... and I could only watch his limbs scatter and fall in front of my face, splashing my helmet scarlet..."

!!

Judai looked at him blankly. For a moment, he was silent.

"But... I actually don't hate you, and I don't hate kindness." He said, "I once asked a dying comrade if he regretted it, and he said he regretted it—he didn't regret the choice at the time, but regretted not doing a good job of screening at the time."

"This is the [Price]." The professor put the cigarette back in his mouth.

"Judai, whatever you want to do, the professor can understand, but can you accept and understand the [Price]?

In the world... there is no such thing as a free lunch."

Price...

Judai looked at the cards in his hand with a heavy voice.

What degree of... price can I accept?

In his mind flashed the memories of the [Supreme King] he had accidentally seen, as well as the history of the "Supreme King" that Professor Viper had told in class before...

Can I accept that kind of [Price]?

No—

Absolutely not!

Because that is imposing the [Price] on other lives.

So... I also cannot impose my own thoughts on others!

He suddenly realized.