Chapter 39: The Seven Stars, Appear!

When following Professor Huashan to the principal's office, Tenjo Hikari saw several other groups.

Professor Cronos and Marufuji Ryo, along with Master Professor Dadesi's group: Judai, Misawa, Asuka, and Wan Wan Zhangmu.

"Hmm, Student Tenjo, you're here too?" Professor Cronos gave a slight nod. "Everyone here is elite~"

Then, half-bending to look down at Yu Cheng Judai, he smirked mockingly: "Who's this? Did you get the wrong person? Someone should not be here, right?"

Although he no longer targeted Judai directly, Professor Cronos's relationship with Judai remained poor.

"Don't mind him, Thunder," Judai laughed at Wan Wan Zhangmu.

"I'm talking to you!" Wan Wan Zhangmu glared angrily.

"Ah, you mean Student Misawa?" Master Professor Dadesi stroked his cat and explained, "The principal originally asked me to fetch Student Tenjo, but I couldn't find him, so I brought Student Misawa from Huang Academy instead."

"Huh? So I'm the extra one?" Misawa Sanze Dadi nearly stumbled over.

Tenjo Hikari thought to himself.

It seems my presence has altered Misawa Sanze Dadi's original storyline.

But it doesn't really matter—after all, in the original story, Misawa Sanze Dadi became increasingly irrelevant as time went on.

He only worried it might affect Misawa Sanze Dadi's romantic fate.

Everyone entered the principal's office and heard why they were called.

"The Three Phantom Monsters' cards?" Judai exclaimed.

"Yes, three cards sealed on this island, passed down from ancient times."

"Huh? Has this school really existed that long?" Judai tilted his head up.

Principal Principal Jiaodao smiled and explained: "This school was built directly atop the location where those three cards were buried."

"Huh!?"

Tenjo Hikari snapped his fingers: "Ah, just like when I was a kid, people always said the school was built on a graveyard!"

"Eh? Eh? Eh!?"

After hearing Tenjo's remark, the principal laughed heartily and quickly added: "According to island legends, when those cards reappear on the surface, the world will be surrounded by demons, chaos will engulf everything, the darkness that corrupts humanity will be unleashed, and soon the world will be reduced to nothing."

"The legend says these cards hold that kind of power."

The students swallowed hard.

It sounded too outrageous.

But Tenjo Hikari knew—it wasn't just an exaggeration.

Although the subsequent events differed from what the students imagined, and the reason for the Phantom Monsters' release was not as understood, their power was absolutely real.

Here, one thing must be emphasized—the strength of a card's effect and the power of its card spirit cannot be compared directly.

For example, the invincible "Tears of the Pearl" deck, the only forbidden deck among non-forbidden decks, would likely be severely weakened against the Phantom Monsters—because, in lore, Tears of the Pearl is merely a slave to one negative emotion fragment of Vexis, unable to match even Vexis's emotion fragments, let alone the supreme Vexis himself.

Yet in actual card effects, Vexis can't even come close to a single little mermaid.

The Phantom Monsters' cards, though weak in actual card effects, possess unparalleled "supernatural" power in GX: reversing aging, absorbing all card spirits in the world, and forcibly turning them into blank cards.

Against monsters of this level, ordinary cards can't even land a hit.

Moreover, even the "legend" mentioned by Principal Principal Jiaodao later came true—so the power of the Three Phantom Monsters is unquestionably far beyond any ordinary card, and even most spirits.

"So?"

"Someone has appeared to challenge the sealing of those cards."

"Who exactly?" Marufuji Ryo asked, puzzled.

"The Seven Star Kings—the seven duelists known as the Seven Stars," Principal Principal Jiaodao continued. "Seven complete mysteries. One of them has already arrived on this island."

As he spoke, he pulled out a box and revealed seven objects resembling keys: "Seven massive stone gates, called the Seven Star Gates, guard the cards. Only these seven keys can open those gates."

"Therefore, I need you to protect these seven keys."

"Even so, how do we protect them?" Wan Wan Zhangmu asked.

"By dueling, of course!"

"Ah!?" Everyone present was startled.

Well, what else?

Tenjo Hikari really wanted to ask that.

In this world, what else is there besides dueling?

Did you guys actually think of guns or cannons?

"To open the Seven Star Gates, you must win the duel to seize the Seven Star Keys. That's why I entrust this task to you—the few elite duelists of this academy." He glanced at Cronos and Professor Dadesi. "Though some are just fillers."

"Then, Principal, since that's the case, may I pass this opportunity to Student Misawa?" Master Professor Dadesi stroked his cat and smiled.

"Ah, then, Student Misawa?"

"Of course, I accept."

"In any case—" Professor Cronos stepped forward first, picking up a key. "Think of it as someone breaking into the school and stealing its signboard—so no need to be afraid, right, Principal?"

"Ah, you can see it that way."

The order differed from Tenjo Hikari's memory.

Tenjo Hikari took a key from the edge and hung it on his wrist.

Though details might differ, it didn't matter—what mattered was that holding this Seven Star Key would inevitably draw one of the Seven Star Duelists to his door for a Dark Duel.

In other words, he was just waiting for energy to come to him.

But—

Tenjo Hikari stared at the key in his hand, thinking ahead.

Because this world had "another dimension," he couldn't guarantee the Seven Stars were the same seven from the original story—but no matter who they were, their ultimate goal was clear: to unseal the Three Phantom Monsters' cards.

It might sound counterintuitive, but in truth, Principal Principal Jiaodao had been deceived by Director Shadowball. Originally, Shadowball had entrusted the Three Phantom Monsters' cards to the principal, but at that time, the cards weren't ready to be unsealed. Only when all seven Seven Star Keys had absorbed sufficient "duelist's fiery determination" could they activate and unseal the Phantom Monsters, allowing Shadowball to regain youth and so on.

So, regardless of whether the Seven Stars won or lost, they would eventually open the gates.

But that didn't matter—eventually, Judai would defeat Shadowball anyway.

He just needed to seize the chance to gather energy.

That night, while Tenjo Hikari was studying cards, he suddenly realized the world lost all color—his surroundings were enveloped in strange blue light, and the next moment, the environment grew hot and bright.

A volcano!?

He looked down in shock—somehow, he had arrived inside a volcano, directly above its crater.

"Where is this!?" Another person appeared nearby, screaming in surprise.

Tenjo Hikari? No—Tenshō Asuka?

Tenjo Hikari glanced at her, then looked back down at the ground.

Beneath their feet was a massive transparent "floor"—not a floor, but some strange energy, as if it might vanish at any moment.

As he thought this, a colossal fire dragon rose from the lava, spun once, then crashed onto the ground, slowly transforming into a masked man.

"Who are you!?" Asuka instinctively shouted.

"I am Darkness, one of the Seven Stars."

"According to my investigation, Tenjo Hikari, you are this school's representative duelist. Perfect for my debut—you'll be my first opponent."

"First?" Tenjo Hikari didn't waste words—he immediately revealed his Duel Disk, which auto-deployed and shuffled. "You'll be my last opponent!"

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(End of Chapter)