Chapter 55: Parasitic Fusion Worm!

Two days later, the duels between Duel Academy and Shin Garden Academy also came to an end.

Surprisingly, Duel Academy won every single match!

Yes, although the opponents from Shin Garden Academy were all duelists Tiancheng Guang didn't recognize at all—characters he had no memory of, whether Z4 or A5, with utterly ordinary hairstyles—still, they were class representatives, armed with more modern monsters, yet somehow they didn't win a single match.

Excluding Caesar and Tiancheng Guang, even the second-year upperclassmen defeated their opponents.

The second-year students won by completely copying Tiancheng Guang's strategy: they flooded the field with cards like the Book of the Moon, giving Shin Garden's second-years a proper taste of it.

"Didn't expect to lose again," Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren said today after dueling Tiancheng Guang once more—and losing again.

Thinking back to how even the upperclassmen had lost, he couldn't help but sigh: "Looks like our skill really does have a clear gap?"

He scratched his head.

Since that day, Tiancheng Guang had been dueling Guo Chuan every day, and Guo never refused. On one hand, though he lost, he often lost at school too—he wasn't undefeated among his peers. On the other hand, dueling in their world had far more entertainment value than practical application—even though they'd developed many absurd technologies through dueling, they never applied them elsewhere.

Moreover, dueling Tiancheng Guang didn't leave him physically exhausted or painfully prickly like dueling spirits did. With nothing to do in Citianye City, dueling Tiancheng Guang at least taught him something—he was happy to do it.

After three days of exchange duels, he could clearly feel himself becoming "smarter." Once he returned to his own world, he'd surely perform better.

Just as the two finished today's duel in Citianye City's dueling arena, the Flame Swordsman and the Black Flame Knight suddenly leapt out, standing on either side of Tiancheng Guang, startling Guo Chuan Qingren badly.

"Lord, something's wrong!"

"Lord, the atmosphere is off!"

"Whoa—what is this?!" he was utterly startled.

"Guochuan Qingren, come here, to me—"

Tiancheng Guang had barely called out when a dark mass shot out from the shadows. Seeing trouble, he leapt straight up, his body instantly clad in bright white armor, and kicked the shadow with one foot.

"Whoa..." Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren's mouth hung open, feeling as if he were in a movie.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed, excited. "That was so cool—"

But Tiancheng Guang had no time for awe. He yanked Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren over, scanned his body, then suddenly widened his eyes, tore off the card from his neck, and slashed it across Guo's hand like a razor.

"Ah..." Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren felt a sharp sting in his arm. When he looked up again, he realized a disgusting, nightmarish worm had somehow appeared on the ground.

"Captain!"

"Here!" Bai Jing's massive form stepped between Tiancheng Guang and Guo Chuan, emitting a brilliant flash. Meanwhile, the red and black swordsmen swung their greatswords, slashing at the shadows.

A swarm of bizarre worms were cut out and burned alive; both spirits looked pale, clearly nauseated.

The next instant, a loud thud, then another, as a towering monstrous figure slowly emerged from the darkness. Its body was covered in black fur, clad in purple armor, eyes blood-red, crawling with countless tiny worms—dense, writhing, twisted, and repulsive. Add to that the faint black smoke rising from its body, and it was unmistakably malevolent.

"What's going on? Who is this thing?" Guo hadn't figured it out yet.

"I... am... the proud Gladiator Beast, here to... seize... your... life..." Xiong spoke in a human voice.

"Is that Gladiator Beast Monocle?" the Flame Swordsman frowned. "How... did it become like this?"

In the Warrior's Sacred Domain, he had seen Monocle's spirit before. Though a Gladiator Beast, the Chaos Warrior had never minded him learning from the master. Though this might not be the same spirit, it still disturbed him.

After all, they had once been comrades.

"Probably mentally controlled," Tiancheng Guang said, eyeing the disgusting worms on its body, then muttered, "I bet that egghead's bored and wants to retire early."

Tiancheng Guang didn't know that Professor Professor Chi Ma Chima Chima Lingwang was the "right hand" of the Shadow Council Chairman, but this damned parasite—he knew it well.

Half of Tiancheng Guang's malice toward Yu Gi Oh A5 stemmed from this "Parasitic Fusion Worm."

It could alter the thoughts of its host, brainwash them, turning them into obedient servants.

The reason Tiancheng Guang had zero fondness for Professor Professor Chi Ma Chima Chima Lingwang was that, in the original story, that egghead claimed to be a doting father—but he used this thing to brainwash his own daughter.

Is that a normal person? Isn't that a complete lunatic?

He hadn't heard of Serena in this world and was wondering why that egghead was causing trouble—especially since he had no daughter anymore, so why even need this thing? But now he'd repurposed the technique on spirits?

Not only that...

He stared at the faint black mist still rising from Monocle's body—identical to what had once clung to Bai Jing!

That egghead really used everything—this must be "Shadow," right?

"Come, human. Duel!" Monocle, prodded by the parasite, spoke slowly.

"Hmm... fine." Tiancheng Guang shook his left hand, and his Duel Disk unfolded instantly. "Gladiator Beast—I've always liked these."

Fusion deck without fusion cards—Gladiator Beast!

He'd long wanted to reach the next level of fusion!

"Flame Sword, Black Flame—guard our surroundings. Don't let a single worm get near."

"Yes!" "Understood!"

"Duel!" ×2

"I go first—" Monocle drew a card, glanced at his hand, "I set one monster in defense position: Gladiator Beast Heavy."

A massive armored rhino warrior appeared on the field in defense stance.

Gladiator Beast Heavy, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Rock Type, DEF 2100.

"I cover two cards. End turn."

"A pretty ordinary turn," Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren had been about to touch the Flame Swordsman and Black Flame's swords, but seeing the duel had begun, he focused entirely on it.

Having dueled Tiancheng Guang several times, he knew his level—this opening felt almost defenseless.

"My turn—" Tiancheng Guang scanned his hand, "Spell Card: Simple Fusion. Pay 1000 LP to Special Summon Thousand-Eyed Offering God!"

Tiancheng Guang LP: 4000 → 3000

The Thousand-Eyed Demon God made a long-awaited return.

"I activate my face-down: Aggressive Gladiator Beast. You can target up to as many face-up monsters on the field as the number of Gladiator Beast types you control. Destroy them." Monocle lifted his paw slightly, gesturing "one." "Destroy—Thousand-Eyed Offering God."

"Whoom!" The rhino's eyes flared red, then it charged violently, smashing straight into the demon god.

"Damn—" Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren finally snapped back to reality. It wasn't him on the other side—how could there be no counter?

"A fusion monster summoned at the cost of 1000 LP just got destroyed instantly, Tiancheng—be careful! That thing gives me a bad feeling."

Tiancheng Guang understood this far better than Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren, but he didn't speak—only nodded, continuing: "Then I activate the effect of Lei Long in my hand: discard it to add up to two Lei Long cards from my deck to my hand."

"I add the second Lei Long to my hand, then activate its effect: discard it to add the third Lei Long from my deck to my hand."

Since obtaining the Gem Knight, Tiancheng Guang had stuffed Lei Long into his deck. After dueling the Vampire Princess, he'd acquired new cards but never had the chance to use them.

"What's the point of this move?" Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren asked, puzzled.

Why not just draw two directly? Now you've discarded one extra.

"Of course there's a point, Guochuan Qingren—I activate Fusion Magic: Lei Long Fusion!" Tiancheng Guang shouted, pointing at the ground. "Lei Long Fusion is a Lightning-type exclusive fusion spell: return Lightning-type monsters from the field, graveyard, or banished zone to the deck to Fusion Summon one Lightning-type Fusion Monster!"

Guo Chuan Guochuan Qingren's mouth dropped open. You can recycle fusion?!

Exactly—this was deck-recycling fusion!

"Witness my brand-new power—" He clapped his hands.

"Fusion Summon: Twin-Headed Lei Long!"

Twin-Headed Lei Long, Level 7, Light Attribute, Lightning Type, ATK 2800.

That ATK was already impressive!

Requesting recommendations, requesting monthly tickets

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(End of Chapter)