Chapter 418: Match Schedule (Final Hours of Monthly Ticket Lottery)

The duel ended, and Tenjo Hikari waved to the audience; cheers erupted from all sides.

"So strong, Masked Hero," said Phantom Chen Lue, walking over and scratching his head, muttering, "If only the Hero's Fusion Monster can transform, that means even admirers can become Masked Heroes, right?"

Although he had just used a form change, Chen Lue had heard the words "Mask Change," so he guessed there must be other transformation methods.

Tenjo Hikari turned back and shook his hand with a smile: "Your Phantom Hero is impressive too—you can summon any Hero. I bet even Ai De and Judai would love it."

"Ai De and Judai? Oh—you mean those two." Chen Lue had been at the Critical Point so long he naturally knew the users of those two Heroes; mentioning them, he grew curious, "Why haven't I seen them?"

As another user of Hero decks, he really wanted to see those two duelists.

After all, Tenjo Hikari wasn't a pure Hero user—he was a purer Fusion user.

"They're busy," Tenjo Hikari said without elaborating.

Chen Lue wasn't close to him; though curious, he knew not to press after such an answer, so he nodded lightly, then pulled out a card and stared at the Lone Man's card.

"Actually, the Phantoms have already arrived in this dimension," he said, gazing at the card, as if receiving some information, then looked up and said, "Not just Phantoms—many interesting Spirits have come here too."

"After all, the Critical Point is a world connected to all Spirit Worlds—a place from which you can reach any Spirit dimension—so many Spirits curious about our human duelists have come here too."

Oh?

So does that mean the number of Spirits in this dimension is actually greater than it appears?

That makes sense.

Tenjo Hikari glanced at the nearby camera.

Earlier, he'd felt as if he were being watched by the camera.

Noticing Tenjo Hikari's movement, Chen Lue smiled: "That's right—just as you felt. It seems other Phantoms are observing you too, and they hold you in high regard."

"That's wonderful—I welcome any presence," said Tenjo Hikari, then waved at the camera. This time, however, the camera offered no response.

Chen Lue chuckled twice.

Phantom Heroes tend to be reclusive; once discovered, they usually relocate to observe elsewhere.

But—that also proves Tenjo Hikari is deeply favored by Phantom Heroes.

He then bid Tenjo Hikari farewell and walked off in another direction; Tenjo Hikari returned to the preparation hall.

When Tenjo Hikari returned, his friends in the room had already begun congratulating him, and the next round of duels had already started.

A total of 37 duelists had collected eight seals; the first round took several days, and excluding the one duelist who received a bye, 18 remained.

The tournament did not immediately proceed to the second round—it began the "Revival Round" instead.

Yes, right after the first round ended, the Revival Round began.

The 18 duelists would compete to determine 9 winners, who would re-enter the tournament; then, after two more rounds, 7 finalists would be decided, and one more duelist would be revived from the dozen who lost, to face the bye recipient among the 7 finalists.

Then, the normal quarterfinals would begin.

Because the number was odd, it was rather complicated.

In short, due to this format, duelists who won the first round had a relatively long rest period to recover or gather intelligence on others.

"All duelists, please note: for the second round, random duels via the gacha machine will no longer be used. A fixed match schedule has been established—please confirm your duel pairings."

As he spoke, a Sea Gate Corp employee pushed forward a machine that automatically projected a 3D image for all duelists in the hall.

This time, besides numbers, each duelist's name was listed; in addition to confirmed names, there were special blank slots labeled "Winner of Revival Round 1."

"Do I fight the winner of number three?" Sanze Sanze Dadi stared at his number, then at the blank slots, pondering the logic.

"It's probably to give the first-round winners an advantage—so they can know their opponents from the losers' group in advance and prepare accordingly."

"I thought the winners' group was just filler to make the numbers work," Chui Xue laughed.

He saw his own name and knew his opponent, but that wasn't the point.

If his calculations were right, if he won, his next opponent would be Ryo!

He didn't believe the current Ryo could lose to any professional duelist.

"What a pity—you and I couldn't face off in the first round," said a girl who had sidled up beside Tenjo Hikari. She had golden hair and wine-red eyes, standing with commanding presence; her black long boots and white gloves lent her a touch of femininity.

It was Gloria Taylor.

Since arriving at the hall, he hadn't spoken to her; her sister hadn't entered the finals, saying she disliked single duels, so only she competed while her sister cheered from the audience.

According to Sanze, the two sisters had spent over a month earning the Empress's approval, gaining a stronger, higher-tier Fusion Monster: "Amazon Empress." Their goal this time was to defeat Tenjo Hikari.

But…

Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow at her name.

Her name and his were exactly at opposite ends—he was on the far right, she on the far left.

"Confidence is good, but your opponent is Wan Wan Zhangmu—he's very strong," Tenjo Hikari said, raising an eyebrow and pointing to Wan Wan Zhangmu, who was also studying the schedule. Noticing his gesture, Wan Wan Zhangmu looked over and waved.

Gloria glanced at Wan Wan Zhangmu, her confident smile unchanged: "Hmph, Wan Wan Zhangmu? Sea Gate's disciple, Fusion Department elder—but last time he duelled you, he was merely a supporting player."

"I will win."

Tenjo Hikari leaned back slightly, surprised by Gloria.

He hesitated a moment, feeling their relationship wasn't so bad—actually rather good—and decided to speak plainly: "Gloria, do you know? Since I started attending Duel Academy, everyone who claimed 'I will win' has lost."

"Huh? What's that, superstition?" Gloria replied, puzzled, then waved her hand, saying she'd surely meet him in the finals and so on…

In short, she walked off.

What could Tenjo Hikari say? He wished her luck.

Besides, he needed to think about how to handle his own opponent.

Because…

His opponent was number 31—Anseir, Skill Drain!

(End of Chapter)