Chapter 86: The Final Gambit in the Dead End

"So it's obedience to Tenjo?" Professor Dadesi couldn't help laughing and shaking his head, "When you first duelled a student from the Fusion Department, you said using your opponent's monster was also fusion—I was actually quite pleased by that."

This is precisely the principle of Alchemy.

"But this card, if I give it to you, won't be of much use, will it?"

Professor Dadesi directly tossed it to Tenjo Hikari, letting him hold it in his hand.

"Yes, there can't be any summoned monsters in Tenjo's Extra Deck," Asuka frowned tightly, voicing her opinion.

"No, this move is brilliant," Wan Wan Zhangmu shook his head directly, cutting her off, "That summoner's power is indeed strong, but no matter how powerful a monster card is, it's still limited."

"No matter how strong the monster card, a deck can hold at most three copies—that's the most basic rule of duelling!"

"That's right. If we can restrict the summoner's appearance, without the summoner, the summoned monsters will struggle to appear… Hu … Hikari did well." Kai Sa exhaled in relief.

"But that's not the most important thing!" Dark Chui Xue beside him also grew excited, "If he has a summoner in hand, Tenjo can use its effect to boost his attack power!"

Tenjo Hikari didn't explain his thoughts to them. If he wanted to win, he had to execute the strategy in his mind—and before that, he couldn't let anyone know his goal.

"Activate the Field Magic effect: discard and substitute fusion, add another Substitute Fusion from your deck to your hand."

"Activate the effect of Substitute Fusion in the graveyard: return the Flame Swordsman from the graveyard to the Extra Deck, draw one card." Tenjo Hikari drew a card and immediately revealed it, "Next, activate the effect of Lei Long in hand: add two more Lei Long from the deck to your hand!"

"Then, send one Lei Long from hand to the graveyard, activate the effect of Flame Sword Field: Special Summon Flame Swordsman!"

Flame Swordsman, Level 5, Fire Attribute, Warrior Type, ATK 1800.

"Wuhu! This time, I won't disappoint my lord!" Flame Swordsman shouted again.

Everyone nearby who could see his actions fell silent for a moment.

"I activate the Spell Card—Lei Long Fusion!" Tenjo Hikari revealed the Spell in his hand, "According to its effect, I can return monsters on the field or in the graveyard in face-up or face-down position as Fusion Materials to the deck to perform a Lightning-Type Fusion Summon."

"Fusion Summon—Two-Headed Lei Long!" Tenjo Hikari clapped his hands, summoning this monster for the second time.

Two-Headed Lei Long, Level 8, Light Attribute, Lightning Type, ATK 2800.

"Good, now at least the Summoning Magic won't devour Tenjo's graveyard monsters!"

"2800… still not enough!"

"But we have Flame Sword Field!"

"Attack!" Tenjo Hikari took a deep breath. His plan was nearly complete—now, it depended on whether Professor Dadesi would cooperate!

"Attack the Water Summoner with Two-Headed Lei Long! Activate Flame Sword Field's effect: reduce its ATK by 1000, and increase the ATK of other monsters by 1000!"

Two-Headed Lei Long ATK: 2800 → 3800; Maze's Magic War Chariot ATK: 2400 → 3400

Professor Dadesi watched Two-Headed Lei Long charge at the Water Summoner, thought for a moment, then shook his head, not using the effect of Alist in his hand.

"Then attack again—use Maze's Magic War Chariot!" Tenjo Hikari pointed at his opponent.

"Discard Alist!" Professor Dadesi discarded a card.

Earth Summoner ATK: 3000 → 4000.

The small cart charged again toward the giant monster—but this time, what met it was no longer a simple shove, but a swift, precise, brutal punch from the Rock Giant!

Tenjo Hikari LP: 1100 → 500

"This is bad—Tenjo's Life Points are being drained continuously, while Professor Dadesi-sensei hasn't lost a single point." Asuka swallowed hard. This situation was truly desperate.

If Tenjo lost, what would happen to them?

Would Professor Dadesi kill them?

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind; fear filled her entire brain.

"Ugh…" Tenjo felt as if his chest had been pierced—each breath felt like molten lava pouring into his body. He gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his brow.

"Main Phase 2…"

"Oh no, it's over—Even Tenjo… even Tenjo-kun!"

"I thought… I thought my strongest brother would win… I thought…"

"Saito, Xiang! Don't be afraid!" At that moment, Judai struggled to his feet, ignoring his battered body, shouting through the pain, "If we don't believe in Hikari now, who else can support him!?"

"Come on, Hikari!"

"Yes, come on, Tenjo-kun!" Professor Kuronos was the first to join in.

Under Judai's call, the students seemed to regain a little spirit, cheering for Tenjo Hikari from the sidelines.

"Hikari, are you okay? Do you need me to support you?" Sanze asked.

Tenjo Hikari shook his head, indicating he could still hold on.

"I… will set one more card face-down, and end my turn."

"Is this your limit, Hikari-kun?" Professor Dadesi's expression showed a hint of disappointment, "If so, there's no need to use this card."

His face-down card was the Spell—【Great Beast】: a Trap Card that can Special Summon an excluded Summoner back to the field.

It was originally meant to be a backup for when he had no Fusion Materials and needed to sacrifice his own Fusion Monster to perform Fusion Summon.

But since Tenjo had only achieved this much, the card didn't matter anymore.

"My turn, draw—Spell Card, Resurrection, discard the Wind Spirit Jialou, return Alist from the graveyard to hand!"

He glanced at his hand, then immediately revealed the card, "Normal Summon, Alist, Defense Position."

Seeing Alist appear again, the students' gazes dimmed slightly—but under Judai's constant cheering, they continued to support Tenjo.

"Add Summoning Magic to hand, then activate…"

"At this moment, I activate my Trap Card—Counter Trap: Paradox Fusion!"

Tenjo Hikari coughed and flipped his face-down card: "To activate, exclude one face-up Fusion Monster on the field! At the End Phase of the second turn after activation, that excluded monster returns to the field in face-up Attack Position! I exclude Two-Headed Lei Long!"

"According to its effect, the activation of this Spell or Trap Card is negated and destroyed!"

"It's rare to see you use a Counter Trap. And you waited specifically until I activated Summoning Magic, confirming I had only one Summoning Magic left…" Professor Dadesi smiled, unbothered.

The strength of Alist, summonable in Defense Position, was best demonstrated by the students around him.

He glanced at Flame Swordsman across the field.

Then he glanced at Tenjo Hikari's face-down card.

"That card… is Flame Dragon with Chains, isn't it?" Professor Dadesi murmured, stroking his chin, "Otherwise, you could've easily excluded the lower-ATK Flame Swordsman and kept Two-Headed Lei Long."

!!

Tenjo Hikari was startled.

"Looks like I guessed right."

It was surprising—he'd been correctly read on his face-down card.

"Flame Dragon with Chains boosts a monster's ATK by 700. Alist in hand boosts it by 1000. Charging in recklessly now would be foolish."

"In that case, I exclude the first Water Spirit from the graveyard, Special Summon it in Defense Position: Water Spirit."

His hand contained Spirits of various attributes, meant to complement various Fusion Monster materials. With Summoning Magic failing, he could only use the Spirits themselves.

Water Spirit Akueria, Level 4, Water Attribute, Aqua Type, DEF 1200.

"End turn."

"My turn, draw…"

"At this moment," Professor Dadesi raised his hand, "Water Spirit's effect: forcibly change the battle position of your Flame Swordsman—this turn, it cannot change its battle position."

Flame Swordsman, Attack Position → Defense Position, DEF 1600.

Tenjo Hikari stared at his hand, breathing heavily, listening to the students' cheers, gripping the newly drawn card between his teeth.

"Didn't you draw the key card?" Tierra asked beside him.

"I still have one more draw!" Tenjo Hikari stared at the Substitute Fusion beside him, gritting his teeth.

"Then why not draw?" Tierra tilted her head. "Afraid? Do you need me to give you more power? If you die, I'd have to wait for the next one—might take a long time."

"What about these people here?"

"Of course not the same—you possess unique power." She smiled, raising her staff, "My resurrection ritual requires vast materials. I need your kind of power—or perhaps the one across from you might work too. But he probably wouldn't be willing, would he? Do you need it?"

Tenjo Hikari took several deep breaths.

In this situation, to beg a god for a blessing?

"Come on, Hikari!" Judai shouted with all his strength.

"Come on!" Wan Teng Liang clenched his fists.

"No need!" Tenjo Hikari suddenly stood up, "This turn, we settle this!"

"Oh?" Professor Dadesi-sensei looked at him in surprise, his interest clearly piqued.

"I activate the effect of Fusion Regeneration: discard Substitute Fusion again, add the last Substitute Fusion from my deck to my hand!"

This was the final one!

"Activate Substitute Fusion's effect: exclude it, return Black Flame Knight from the graveyard, draw one card!"

Tenjo Hikari pulled the card with all his strength—the card seemed to tear the air, leaving a dark purple trail like ink in its wake.

"Wow?" Tierra watched Tenjo Hikari draw the card, unable to suppress a surge of delight in her heart—for this human, whom she didn't truly care about.

Impressive…

Is this… the life of the New Era? The power of the New Era?

For the first time, she genuinely became interested in the rituals of the New Era.

Tenjo Hikari glanced at his hand, exhaled, and met the gaze of Professor Kuronos beside him.

"Huh?"

"Professor Dadesi-sensei, look at my answer!" He revealed a card from his hand, "Quick-Play Spell: Scrap Fusion!"

"Beautiful!" Wan Teng Liang, who owned this card, immediately grew excited, "Scrap Fusion is a Fusion Spell that uses cards from your opponent's graveyard as materials!"

"Use… mine?" Professor Dadesi murmured the words, gently tapping his book.

"But," Wan Wan Zhangmu frowned in concern, "to use that card, you'd need to know what's in your opponent's Extra Deck, right?"

Yes...

Hikari, do you know?

"I choose the Summoner Alister from the graveyard and... the Water Summoning Beast!"

Professor Dadesi widened his eyes.

"Could it be!"

"The process of alchemy is crushing and recreating, purifying and deepening! Professor Professor Dadesi, your extra deck must contain this card—the Summoning Beast Light Body!"

As Tenjo Hikari shouted these words, his heart pounded violently. If Professor Dadesi's extra deck did not contain this card, he would lose for sure.

Fortunately, the legendary alchemist Professor Dadesi was no fraud. Upon hearing Hikari's words, he burst into loud laughter. "You even want to use my alchemical materials and my alchemical products?"

"These cards were purchased for me by Professor Cronos, and using this card was to fulfill your assignment—there's no problem, right?"

"Fascinating! Extremely fascinating! Hikari, you truly are my most outstanding student!" Professor Dadesi revealed his extra deck. "Alright, go, Light Body!"

Click. Click.

A summoner appeared on Tenjo Hikari's field, then countless mechanical metals formed around its body, ultimately assembling into a massive, robot-like summoning beast.

Summoning Beast Light Body, Level 8, Angel Type, ATK 2000.

"Light Body?"

"Student Tenjo... you actually knew..."

"He knows everything about fusion!" Judai excitedly pounded the barrier layer, shouting loudly, "Go, Hikari!!"

"Light Body's effect: When this card is special summoned, you can target one monster on your opponent's field and destroy it."

Boom—the Earth Summoning Beast was instantly torn apart.

"Heh, no problem," Professor Dadesi crossed his arms. "But these alone won't let you win this turn."

"Moreover, I activate my face-down card: Spell—Great Beast!"

"According to this card's effect, I can special summon a monster from my banished zone. Too bad, Hikari! I special summon the Water Summoning Beast, in defense position!"

Summoning Beast Cuchulain, DEF 2900.

"Light Body can banish fusion monsters from the graveyard to increase that monster's ATK, but even if it banishes the Labyrinth's Battle Wagon, Light Body with 4400 ATK still cannot attack directly."

"It seems this is your end."

Tenjo Hikari closed his eyes and took two deep breaths: "Activate the effect of Lei Long from the graveyard: When this card is not sent to the graveyard by its own effect, I can banish it to add one Thunder-Type monster from my deck to my hand. I add the Gem Knight Huang Bi to my hand."

"Hmm?"

"Next, normal summon: Summoner Alister!"

"What?!"

"Wait—"

"Could it be!"

"I'm sorry, Professor, but until just now, I was lying to you."

Professor Dadesi was momentarily stunned, then suddenly snapped back, shaking his head and laughing. He said nothing more, only one word: "Good."

So that's how it was—I lost in this game of strategy! Hikari, I was wrong. I am not the one who should be disappointed. You've already surpassed my expectations long ago—you've already exceeded the very goal I once set for you!

"Summoner Alister's effect: Add 【Summoning Magic】 from your deck to your hand!"

"Spell card, Summoning Magic: Fusion the Thunder Dragon and Gem Knight Huang Bi from your hand!"

"Fusion condition: A Gem Knight monster and a Thunder-Type monster!"

"Shine before me, Gem Knight Light Prism!"

Gem Knight Light Prism, Earth Attribute, Thunder Type, ATK 2450.

"Next, Light Prism's effect: Discard Gem Knight Jadeite to destroy one face-up monster on your field... This is the end, Professor Professor Dadesi!"

"Destroy Water Spirit. Battle: Alister attacks Alister. Effect of Flame Sword Domain: Reduce Flame Sword's ATK by 1000, increase all other monsters' ATK by 1000!"

Light Prism attacks the Water Summoning Beast.

And finally—

Light Body, direct attack!

Brilliant light began to blaze, like the sun, illuminating the vast universe. When the light faded, stars lined up and slowly fell.

Tenjo Hikari wins.

I wrote a normal duel all at once and actually enjoyed it. Today I showed off my strength big time—15,000 words daily!

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(End of Chapter)