Chapter 587: The Perfect Path (95k, seeking monthly tickets)

All along, Jūdai had thought that if there really had to be any "sacrifice," he could choose to sacrifice himself.

However, did this kind of "sacrifice" really have no "price"?

Would his friends, his classmates, really not suffer because of his own "sacrifice"?

Although he had previously thought it didn't matter as long as everyone was safe, in reality, the "price" would still remain with those classmates and friends who suffered pain because of his injury, or even disappearance.

This was also a "price."

Powerful cards were always accompanied by risks.

As a duelist, he had to be prepared to pay the "cost"; that was the right way.

"I understand, Professor!" Jūdai shouted excitedly, "Then, I'm going!"

Jūdai looked at the cards in his hand.

Instant Contact, Monster Reborn, and Poisoner—

Instant Contact could pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon a Neos Fusion Monster, ignoring its summoning conditions.

Originally, Jūdai's plan was to use Lightning Golem to test the monster's effect and the professor's set card. If it wasn't destroyed successfully, he would, as a last resort, Special Summon "Shining Neos Wingman" to destroy Dong Zhuo directly. That way, even at the end, there should still be 200 Life Points available.

But it seemed the professor had no means to stop it.

That way, he could rest assured.

"Pay 1000 Life Points, activate Spell Card, Instant Contact."

"Special Summon 1 Level 7 or lower Neos or Neo-Spacian monster from the Extra Deck, ignoring its summoning conditions!"

"Monsters Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack if there is no Neos in my field or graveyard, their effects are negated, and they return to the Extra Deck during the End Phase."

"Special Summon!"

"Elemental HERO Air Neos!"

Neos jumped out of the grave, a sturdy red bird-man phantom covered its body, and then it transformed into a crimson, winged warrior.

Wow—

Hikari Tenjou exclaimed from below.

It was a super rare hero that was almost never seen in his previous life!

Elemental HERO Air Neos, Level 7, Wind Attribute, Warrior Type, ATK 2500.

"When my Life Points are lower than the opponent's Life Points, Air Neos's ATK increases by that amount."

"Wow!?"

"Then, isn't that 3000 points!?"

"No, the professor also lost 600 points himself!"

"So... Air Neos's ATK increases by 2400 points!?"

Air Neos, ATK: 2500 -> 4900.

Jūdai Yuki, LP: 2000 -> 1000.

"It surpassed... Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"What a holy fusion monster."

Jūdai looked at his field.

The current situation seemed pretty good.

Lightning Golem's ATK was 2400, Air Neos's ATK was 4900, Lü Feng's ATK was 2800. If the attack succeeded, it would total far more than 4000 points of damage...

But what if the professor's set card was a trap that increased ATK or reduced damage?

He looked at the Monster Reborn in his hand.

Originally, he wanted to use a specific routine, utilizing this card in combination with other cards to get Mask Change into his hand, but it was directly blocked by Dong Ying's effect.

Since that was the case, he wouldn't use it for now.

"Enter Battle Phase, use Air Neos to attack..."

Some students were looking forward to Jūdai winning against another professor.

But others weren't so optimistic.

"Too naive, Jūdai! Activate Lü Feng's effect, can be activated once per turn during either player's Main Phase. Destroy 1 monster with the highest ATK on the opponent's field!"

What—

Jūdai widened his eyes.

It was an effect targeting the monster with the highest ATK!

Lü Bu brandished his huge Fangtian Huaji, swung the long halberd toward Air Neos, which was preparing to attack. With a bang, the monster shattered.

Jūdai was stunned, watching this scene.

"It seems, Jūdai, you still haven't grasped the 【Scale】. The monster that cost 1000 Life Points was destroyed instantly." The professor laughed.

"Oh no." Wan Zhangmu's expression changed, "Lü Bu's effect actually destroys the monster with the highest ATK directly... The professor could have clearly used its effect to destroy Lightning Golem earlier, but at that time, he didn't destroy it, letting Jūdai make his move. The fundamental reason was to paralyze Jūdai, making Jūdai ignore its ability! Thinking that Dong Ying was more troublesome!"

"In this case, what should Jūdai do?"

"So amazing, Professor! If you had activated this card's effect earlier, my Lightning Golem wouldn't have been able to destroy Dong Ying, right!?"

"Key cards must be used at key moments." Professor Mengjiang laughed and raised his hand, "How about it? With this, Jūdai, you have absolutely no means to break Lü Feng, right?"

"Normally, that's the case, but—Professor, you left me a possibility!"

"Possibility?" Mengjiang was stunned.

Jūdai said excitedly: "As a duelist, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, you cannot give up on possibilities, just like Hikari's fusion, just like your guidance to me, right! Because you also believed I could do it, you were willing to duel me!"

"Now, because you activated this effect, I won't enter the Battle Phase; I'll continue my Main Phase!"

Oh?

"Spell Card, Pot of Greed—"

"Huh?"

"Why?"

Many students couldn't understand.

A card like Pot of Greed—shouldn't it be used right away—

No!

Everyone slowly came to their senses!

Jūdai used a search right away, compressing his deck to prevent key monsters from being drawn, but he took a dark arrow in that instant, so he was naturally vigilant and didn't dare to activate effects easily, only daring to destroy Dong Ying first before dueling.

And now!

This was the key hope.

"Can two cards change the situation?"

Many people craned their necks, very curious.

A mere two cards, what could they change?

Jūdai drew the cards, looked down, and laughed: "This card can be Special Summoned directly. As a cost, this turn, I cannot Special Summon unless it's a 【HERO】."

Such a heavy cost.

"Can you bear such a cost?"

"Of course, Professor—this cost is precisely the reason for its power!" Jūdai responded with a smile.

The invincible Bubbleman raised his pistol with his left hand, put on a black skin, and took the stage with a serious expression.

Evil HERO Infernal Bubbleman, Level 4, Water Attribute, Fiend Type, DEF 1200.

"When Infernal Bubbleman is Special Summoned, if I have a Fusion Monster on my field that can only be Special Summoned by the effect of Dark Fusion, activate. Draw two cards."

Professor Mengjiang frowned.

Tsk, looking at it this way, destroying Lightning Golem at that time might have been the best choice.

But... not necessarily.

If this kid drew "Bubbleman," he could still draw two cards.

What a lucky guy.

Jūdai drew two more cards from his deck, looked at them for a moment, and held up two cards: "Spell Card, Graceful Charity, draw three cards."

"Discard two cards... discard Aqua Dolphin and this... and then continue to use..." He operated while drawing and filtering...

"Oh! Pot of Avarice—"

No?

Mengjiang was a bit dazed for a moment.

Is that how you draw?

Below the stage, Wan Zhangmu couldn't help but complain: "Why is Jūdai's luck so good..."

"Draw 2, draw 2, and then draw 3, draw 2..." Jim also couldn't help but adjust his hat, speechless.

"Is that so? I think it's okay?" Johan replied casually from the side.

The surrounding students showed awkward expressions.

In short, Jūdai performed a few more draws, then opened his graveyard, rummaged through it, returned Infernal Gainer, Sparkman, Air Neos, Aqua Dolphin, and Flame Wingman—five cards—to the deck, and drew two more cards.

Mengjiang was dumbfounded.

"Ha, with this, I can counterattack again."

Jūdai looked at the cards in his hand and held up one: "Field Spell Card, Neo Space! As long as this card is on the field, Neos and Fusion Monsters using Neos as material gain 500 ATK, and they don't have to return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn."

"However, your Fusion Monster has already been destroyed."

"That's true, but, Professor, in my hand, there is still a card I didn't use from the very beginning because of Dong Ying's effect—Monster Reborn!"

"I want to revive Neos!"

"Go, Neos!"

The pure white warrior rose from the graveyard, landed like a giant, and kicked up huge dust.

Elemental HERO Neos, Level 7, Light Attribute, Warrior Type, ATK: 2500 -> 3000.

"ATK 3000!"

"With this, if the attack succeeds, there's a chance!"

"Battle! Neos, attack Lü Feng—"

Mengjiang pinched his brows, not expecting Jūdai to still be able to counterattack in this situation, feeling deeply moved by Jūdai's luck and control of the duel.

"However, it's not that simple. Open set card, Continuous Trap Card, Starlight Barrier!"

Huh?

"When an opponent's monster attacks a monster on my field, I can change that attack to a direct attack on myself."

It was actually a defensive card?

And it was a card that took damage for the monster!

Jūdai never expected that Professor Mengjiang would use such a card to protect his monster.

"Wow... am I seeing someone protect Lü Bu for the first time?"

"This, protecting Lü Bu, it feels like it's going to be a loss."

While they were discussing heatedly, Neos had already arrived beside Professor Mengjiang, waved his palm, and slashed down.

Mengjiang LP: 3400 -> 400.

"Protected his ace monster? So cool, Professor!" Johan didn't know the Three Kingdoms, but seeing this scene, he had already jumped up excitedly.

And those who knew a little about the Three Kingdoms found this scene truly bizarre.

Lü Bu... can also be a "soul card"?

But in Mengjiang's view, this was necessary.

He also had cards he liked; what was wrong with liking the "strongest general"?

Jūdai looked at this scene in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and then looked at his hand cards.

He inserted two hand cards into the Spell/Trap zone, then held up another card and said: "Set two cards, activate Continuous Spell Card, Nightmare Mirage. This card allows me to draw until I have four cards in my hand during the opponent's next Standby Phase."

Those familiar with Jūdai knew what the cards he set were.

"Turn end—"

Just as he shouted that, he suddenly saw Lü Bu on the opponent's field suddenly pull the reins tight. His heart tightened, and he became a bit nervous. Many students also instinctively swallowed their saliva.

Just when they thought Lü Bu had some earth-shattering end-of-turn effect, they saw Lü Bu riding the Red Hare and jumping onto Jūdai's field.

"Eh?"

"Eh——————"

All the teachers and students in the school let out a cry of surprise at the same time.

Jūdai stared blankly at Lü Feng on his field, as if some classic lines flashed past his ears.

"Drifting for half a life, never meeting a wise master; clearing the clouds to see the sun, suddenly enlightened. If you do not abandon me, I shall serve you as my foster father, serve you as my foster father, serve you as my foster father..."

Jūdai shuddered.

"Hahaha," not far away, seeing all the students startled, Professor Mengjiang finally couldn't help but laugh heartily, "Surprised, right... but, this is Lü Feng."

"Lü Feng's monster effect is: Activate during the End Phase if the monster with the highest ATK on the field is on the opponent's side. Give control of this card to the opponent."

"Eh—"

"Gah?"

"Sent, sent over?"

"This, is there actually a voluntary surrender?"

"This, this might just be Lü Bu..."

Many people showed expressions of surprise but understanding.

How to put it, Lü Bu rebelling was too reasonable.

"But with this, isn't there nothing left on the professor's field? And there's a rebellious Lü Bu? And he only has 400 Life Points left!?"

On the other side, Jūdai was the one most severely affected.

"What? What are you doing! Lü Feng, the professor paid his own Life Points to protect you! You actually didn't show any mercy and directly rebelled!???"

Lü Feng glanced at Jūdai sideways and snorted coldly.

It only submitted to "strength"!

Professor Mengjiang shook his head, took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled the last puff, then casually extinguished the cigarette butt, and was just about to throw it away when he noticed the "deep malice" behind him and hurriedly tucked it into his pocket.

Smoking in class was already a provocation to Professor Chronos; if he threw it away casually, let alone next semester, whether he could get his salary this month was questionable.

"Jūdai, this is the second question I wanted to ask."

Second?

"Can you confirm that the people or spirits you rescue, or the spirits you spare, will not 【betray】 you again?"

"How could this be a betrayal—"

Jūdai didn't understand this question.

Spirits were creatures of contract; as long as it was the result of a duel, no matter what, they would not violate it.

"Of course they will. The most straightforward reason would be those Lightsworn spirits, right? Legend has it that those spirits come from the dimension of the world of justice and will follow righteous duelists, but if the duelist's heart deteriorates, they will decisively abandon the duelist, or even turn against them."

Jūdai thought about it.

It really was.

"In the recording Hikari Tenjou showed me, those demons were originally your subordinates, right?"

"Uh... no, I don't know them..."

"That doesn't matter; anyway, they treat you as the boss. But, even among these spirits who honor you as their boss, didn't that spirit called the Dragon God, who wanted to take away all your hidden power, emerge?"

Indeed.

"Jūdai... think carefully, could that guy be the 【only】 one?"

!!

Jūdai was startled.

"Jūdai... you must be prepared!"

"What's wrong, Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe?" While Jūdai was dazed, Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe leaned forward suddenly. Beside him, Professor Paladin, seeing him looking like he had a stomachache, asked curiously.

Professor Professor Yanjingshe took a slight deep breath, picked his ear, and said: "Nothing."

Just now, Yubel's crazy screaming flashed through his mind.

Although Yubel was currently hiding in a sub-dimension that others couldn't discover, her soul was still sharing vision and hearing with Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe. Hearing Professor Mengjiang say this, she was screaming as if she had gone berserk, making Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe quite uncomfortable.

"Have you thought about dealing with this? Have you thought about the situation where the hero you trust appears on the enemy's field, or is even snatched away by the enemy?" "Eh—no, I haven't." Jūdai said with a guilty conscience.

"I have!"

Professor Mengjiang whipped out a card: "Jūdai, if you want to become a true hero, you can't learn from one mistake, learn from one mistake, learn from two mistakes, and be scolded twice!"

Jūdai blinked ignorantly. Based on the effect of "Nightmare Mirage," he also drew 4 cards from his deck.

The professor finished drawing and looked at the cards he drew.

Zhang Yuan, huh.

He frowned.

He looked at the other cards in his hand.

Don't know why, dueling Jūdai, his hand was particularly bad. Not only were there no low-level monsters, but even Three Visits to the Cottage were missing.

This "Zhanhua" deck was a card set from a dimension discovered by his country during dimensional exploration. In that dimension, spirits of different factions held "Great War" competitions, swallowing each other's "territories" just like the Three Kingdoms in history. It was very interesting, and he had wanted to go to that dimension to take a look for a while.

But unfortunately, that dimension held competitions every day, and he had no adventures to go on even if he wanted to.

Before coming to the main Duel Academy, his "Zhanhua" actually only had a few cards. To cope with the sudden professor qualification assessment, he had to quickly readjust the deck. After all, according to his expectations, the qualification assessment exam would definitely require a duel.

It was precisely because of this that his deck changed from the "warlord faction" cards at the beginning to what it was now, with some extra auxiliary Continuous Spell cards.

Originally in that dimension, these cards were not allowed to be mixed together...

"Let me show you my preparation, Jūdai—activate the effect of Zhanhua History - Rebellion of False Edicts on the field. Send this card from the Spell/Trap zone to the graveyard, and target 1 【Zhanhua】 monster on the field. Change that monster's attribute to any attribute."

"I choose Lü Feng on your field, and for the attribute... Fire."

Beside Jūdai, Lü Feng suddenly burned with flames. Jūdai was startled, a bit confused.

"When activating this effect targeting the opponent's field, I can also gain control of that card."

Just like that, Lü Bu, who had just said "serve you as my foster father," pulled the reins, jumped, turned his head, and jumped back onto Professor Mengjiang's field.

"This guy really doesn't mind running around at all."

"Eh, after all, it's Lü Bu... it really is a monster that is completely within expectations..."

A group of students showed expressions of complete lack of surprise.

"So that's it, you were prepared to be betrayed long ago?"

"Yeah—in the world, on the battlefield, even friendly forces might suddenly fire a cold shot at you. This kind of vigilance is absolutely essential." Professor Mengjiang said while taking out a monster card, "Normal Summon, Zhanhua of Trickery - Jia Wen."

Zhanhua of Trickery - Jia Wen, Level 4, Fire Attribute, Beast-Warrior Type, DEF: 1800.

"Activate the effect of Zhanhua of Rebellion - Lü Feng on the field."

Jūdai's face showed difficulty.

"Once per turn, destroy the monster with the highest ATK on the opponent's field!"

Lü Bu brandished the huge Fangtian Huaji again. After the Fangtian Huaji spun in the air, it swung onto the Light Giant. Even though its ATK was higher than Lü Bu's, under its effect, it still vanished into smoke.

"Jia Wen's effect: When a card on the opponent's field is destroyed by battle/effect, target 1 【Zhanhua】 card in my graveyard other than Zhanhua of Trickery - Jia Wen. Add that card to my hand."

"I add Zhanhua History - Rebellion of False Edicts from the graveyard to my hand."

He silently took Rebellion of False Edicts back into his hand, and then pointed at Jūdai's field: "Then, Zhanhua of Trickery - Jia Wen's effect, target 1 Continuous Spell/Trap card on my field. Send that card to the graveyard, and choose two face-up monsters; their ATK becomes halved until the end of the turn."

"I send Starlight Barrier to the graveyard and halve the ATK of your Lightning Golem."

Evil HERO Lightning Golem, ATK: 2400 -> 1200.

"Battle, use Zhanhua of Rebellion - Lü Feng to attack your Lightning Golem!"

"If this attack passes, Jūdai loses." Johan leaned back.

"Wait—activate Quick-Play Spell Card, Very Hungry!" Jūdai opened the set card; it was indeed the classic Very Hungry, "Send any number of other Spell/Trap cards on my field to the graveyard to activate. Recover Life Points equal to the number of cards sent to the graveyard by this effect x 1000! I send Neo Space and Nightmare Mirage to the graveyard!"

Jūdai, LP: 1000 -> 3000.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief.

With this, he should be able to hold on.

"Ha, that's not enough, Jūdai!" Professor Mengjiang held up a card in his hand, "Activate Zhang Yuan's effect."

Zhang Yuan?

Zhang Wenyuan?

Zhang Liao!!

Zhanhua of Arrival - Zhang Yuan, Level 6, Fire Attribute, Beast-Warrior Type, ATK 2300.

"When my Zhanhua monster and the opponent's face-up monster battle, at the start of the Damage Step, I can activate this. Special Summon this card from my hand, and that opponent's monster's ATK decreases by 1000!"

Jūdai looked at Lightning Golem. The Lightning Golem, whose ATK had already shrunk due to the poison scheme, was startled by Zhang Liao who suddenly appeared on the field, and its ATK instantly dropped by another 1000 points, leaving almost no combat power!

Lightning Golem, ATK: 1200 -> 200.

Lü Bu brandished his spear and went up, sneering as he split Lightning Golem in two, accompanied by the power of "Fangtian Huaji specializes in beheading foster fathers."

Jūdai Yuki, LP: 3000 -> 400.

"Good... finally held on. Fortunately, Bubbleman is in Defense Position, otherwise he would have been beheaded by Zhang Liao!"

Some students celebrated.

On the other side, Mengjiang shook his finger and said: "That's not necessarily true—Zhang Yuan's effect. When a card on the opponent's field is destroyed by battle/effect, target 1 card on the opponent's field to activate. Destroy that card!"

He pointed slowly at Bubbleman.

Oh no!

"Big Brother!" Sho Marufuji and Misawa screamed at the same time.

It's over!

The last card Jūdai set in the previous turn was likely a card he set because it wasn't needed for the time being. In this situation, the probability of winning by direct attack was very high!

"Jūdai, you performed well. I will definitely give you extra points on your report card later." Professor Mengjiang laughed heartily, feeling very refreshed.

Being able to express himself, show his thoughts more clearly, and win—this was too happy.

"Zhang Yuan, direct attack on the opponent—"

"Wait!" At this moment!

"Activate Trap Card, Hero's Visit!"

Huh?

"I remember that card; it's a card that can only be activated when the opponent's monster declares an attack." Professor Mengjiang rubbed his chin, pondering, "After activating that card, you have to let me randomly select from the four cards in your hand. If it's a monster, it can be Special Summoned; if not, it's sent to the graveyard. Jūdai, how can you believe that there must be a monster among the 4 cards you drew, and how can you be sure that I will definitely pick the monster in your hand?"

"I've already figured it out, Professor!" Jūdai responded excitedly, "Professor, you're right. I indeed never cared about the price, so from now on, I will definitely have real, open conversations with my friends. But—I absolutely will not believe that my cards, my friends, will betray me!"

He whipped his hand cards and held them up in front of the professor: "So, I believe in my cards, I believe in the bond with them, I believe—I will definitely draw a monster!"

"If you say, Professor, you started with 【being prepared to be betrayed】, then... I think, I should be prepared 【to never be betrayed by friends, and to never betray friends】!"

He held the cards excitedly, waiting for Professor Mengjiang to pick.

Mengjiang couldn't help but blink.

Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe couldn't help but cover his ears.

Damn idiot, why is the screaming getting louder.

In the Fusion Department, several students couldn't help but call out Jūdai's name, and Sho and Misawa couldn't help but loudly support Jūdai from below the stage, saying things like they would never betray their Big Brother.

At least in this world, Hikari Tenjou still trusted Sho Marufuji very much.

"In other words... you've thought about your future plans?"

"Yes! I understand the professor's worries, but I also want to try my method... so, I want to take the initiative to find those spirits who have come to this world and try to... gain their trust!"

In other words, before Mengjiang came knocking, he would try to see if he could turn them.

Jūdai's eyes flashed with the scene he had seen in "Fluffal Sanctuary."

Thinking that Hikari Tenjou had even specially recorded his duel at the Threshold yesterday, he couldn't help but feel both embarrassed and happy—his friends, his partners, were genuine 【treasures】, never "prices," and could never become his "price"!

As he felt the professor's guidance, his thoughts became clearer and clearer.

Not only that, he would treat those who had been harmed by Lord Ba Wang, or those remnants of Lord Ba Wang who wanted to defect to him, with the same mentality.

For those who were too excessive and unforgivable, he would give them corresponding punishment; for those who could truly change, he would find a way to change them!

This was the right path!

Mengjiang couldn't help but take a breath, then sighed with emotion.

"Good, ambitious, I like it—" He reached out and pointed at the cards in Jūdai's hand, not being picky, and just picked one: "The second one from the left."

Jūdai's eyes lit up.

In his hand...

Of the four cards, only two were monster cards!

"Beautiful—Professor, you picked... Elemental HERO Bubbleman!"

The most confident hero in this universe! Bubbleman!

Damn—

Mengjiang couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Is Jūdai's luck this heaven-defying?

Even Edo below the stage couldn't help but mutter: "This guy's luck... is it even better than before?"

"Is, is it?" Even Wan Zhangmu couldn't be sure. Compared to Jūdai's performance in this duel, even if he dug deep into the most outrageous scenes in his memory, there was nothing as heaven-defying as this.

"Jūdai has finally let himself go." Hikari Tenjou saw it clearly, "He has started to enjoy dueling from the bottom of his heart again."

Although during the summer vacation, Jūdai decided to give up his prejudice against Lord Ba Wang and started using Evil HEROes, because of his experiences over the past two years, he really didn't dare to relax. Having seen Professor Dadesi, although he successfully defeated Professor Dadesi, he was said by Professor Dadesi to be the worst in terms of "heart."

Compared to Wan Zhangmu, who didn't need to change anything anymore, and Hikari Tenjou, who at least thought very reasonably and normally, he was hesitant and had a terrible mentality.

But now, he might be about the same as the Jūdai at the end of the original work, right?

Thinking of this, Hikari even felt a sense of honor.

Brother, unknowingly, helped Jūdai avoid so many detours!

Although he really hadn't actively helped Jūdai many times, just by interacting and providing more or less support, Jūdai had been moving forward all along!

Of course... it might also be that the people in the original work were too abstract, and the world here had "dimensional chaos" to adapt to in advance, so they progressed faster than the original work.

"Bubbleman's effect: When this card is Summoned/Special Summoned, if it's the only card on my field, I draw two cards."

Drawing two more.

Mengjiang's mouth twitched.

He looked at Jia Wen on his field.

It was a pity that Jia Wen wasn't in Attack Position, otherwise, he should have been able to attack directly after Zhang Yuan destroyed it by battle.

But it was hard to say.

Drawing two more cards, who could guarantee what Jūdai would draw—

Jūdai looked at the cards he drew and couldn't help but grin.

Because he really drew a trap card that could be activated on an empty field...

Neo-Spacian Expansion!

Mengjiang looked at the card in his hand.

Fortunately, Dong Zhuo's effect drew an extra card last turn, so he still had defensive means.

"Zhang Yuan, destroy Bubbleman!"

Zhang Yuan brandished the battle axe in his hand and slashed down at Bubbleman. With a boom, this confident hero vanished into smoke.

He picked up a card: "Set one card, end turn."

Damn it—

If I had Kongming, Lu Su, Zhou Yu, would I be like this?

I'll go to that dimension to compete as soon as I turn back; I won't come back until I've plucked all the cards clean!

Of course, this was just thinking about it. After all, he was the responsible professor of the central branch, busy all day long, so where would he have the time to participate in the "Hegemony Competition" that lasted for more than ten days each time.

However, his Sakuretsu Armor wasn't just for show!

And, Lü Feng could destroy one monster with the highest ATK on the opponent's field once per turn.

It was still quite advantageous.

"My turn, draw!"

Jūdai looked at the card he drew and let out a soft "Wow."

"How? Did you draw a key card?"

"Yes, Professor, the fusion of my strongest card, my favorite card, and also the fusion of our friendship—"

Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe couldn't take it anymore; the voice in his mind sounded like it was rolling on the ground in place.

"Activate Spell Card, Polymerization, fuse Avian in my hand and Burstinatrix in my hand!"

"Fusion Summon, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"

"And then... Spell Card, Miracle Fusion!"

"My friends, my heroes, I believe in them forever! Miracle Fusion's effect, banish the fusion materials on the field/graveyard, and Fusion Summon an Elemental HERO!"

"The fusion condition is, Elemental HERO Neos and 【Wingman】's Fusion Monster!"

"Ah, it's coming!" Wan Zhangmu said with great interest.

This card was truly a "symbol of friendship," the proof of friendship between him, Jūdai, and Hikari Tenjou! It was the key card that appeared in his family competition.

"Fusion Summon! Level 8, Elemental HERO Shining Neos Wingman!"

Neos flew out from the graveyard again, Flame Wingman's flames became golden and shining, glorious armor kept covering its body, and finally, it transformed into a warrior shining with golden light.

Elemental HERO Shining Neos Wingman, Level 8, Light Attribute, Warrior Type, ATK: 3100.

Jūdai said excitedly: "This card is the most shining proof of me and my friends! The fusion of my beloved monsters!"

"Shining Neos Wingman?" Beside him, Edo heard the name and couldn't help but mutter, "This corresponds to... Phoenix Enforcer, right?"

"Shining Neos Wingman's effect: Can be activated when this card is successfully Special Summoned. Destroy cards on the opponent's field up to the number of attributes of monsters on the field."

"There are two attributes, Light and Fire, on the field, so I destroy your set card and Zhang Yuan."

"Then, I activate Lü Feng's effect, destroy the monster with the highest ATK on your field!"

"Sorry, Professor, Shining Neos Wingman's ATK increases by 300 for each monster in the graveyard, and it cannot be destroyed by effects!"

Huh...

Edo listened and thought with his arms crossed.

It really was... an effect completely corresponding to Phoenix Enforcer.

Perhaps he could learn—no, that wouldn't do. How could he ask Jūdai that guy for advice? Absolutely impossible!

Golden feathers flew across the sky, stuck into Zhang Yuan and the set card. Sakuretsu Armor flipped open silently, and then shattered with a bang.

Professor Mengjiang scratched the back of his head.

Looking at Shining Neos Wingman, whose ATK was slowly increasing, Mengjiang kept muttering.

He actually lost to a student?

Really?

Are the students of the main school this powerful?

However...

Being able to directly clear hidden ambushes, gather the power of all monsters in the graveyard, and not be destroyed... not bad.

Requirements met.

Under Shining Neos Wingman's attack, Lü Bu, the traitor, stood firm in front of Mengjiang, not giving an inch.

Mengjiang wanted to take a drag of his cigarette, but found it was too late.

Spirits were spirits after all, not humans. If it were "Lü Bu," he would never do such a thing.

This was also the most fundamental reason why he was willing to understand Jūdai.

Boom!

Golden flames fell.

Mengjiang, LP: 400 -> 0.

The image gradually dissipated, and Jūdai Yuki smiled and said to Professor Mengjiang: "Professor, this duel was really interesting!"

"Ha, you kid..." Mengjiang couldn't help but shake his head, walked to his side, grabbed his hand and raised it, "Winner, Jūdai Yuki—well done!"

"Wow!"

"Congratulations!"

"Clap clap clap clap—"

"Senior Jūdai, so strong!!!"

"Long live the Fusion Department!!!"

Led by the professors, applause came like a tide.

Excellent and wise professors, kind and loving classmates, cute and kind juniors, kind and gentle seniors, hero spirits who would never betray him, and friends who were excellent and powerful, had intersections with him in all aspects, occasionally acted together, and occasionally grew separately—

He felt that at this moment, he was walking on the most perfect path! There was no moment when he would be happier than now!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 588 =====

An excellent and wise professor, kind and loving classmates, cute and kind-hearted juniors, cordial and gentle seniors, hero spirits who would never abandon him, and friends who are excellent and powerful, all of whom have intersections with him in every aspect, occasionally acting together, and occasionally growing apart—

He feels that, at this very moment, he is walking on the most perfect path! There is no moment when he could be happier than he is now!

(End of chapter)