Chapter 88: The Card of the Grim Reaper

"My turn."

It was Haruki’s turn. He placed his right hand on top of his deck but did not draw a card immediately.

Tenjou Hikari was also curious.

This duelist from the Society of Light, who had never appeared in the original story—a classmate in the same year whom he had absolutely no impression of—what kind of deck would he use?

"If I'm dueling you, a normal duel won't cut it." Haruki’s hand remained resting above his duel disk’s deck. "You are a powerful duelist, a genius of Fusion, a duelist who can play smoothly even with a deck full of Fusion cards. To duel you, I must go all out."

Oh?

Tenjou Hikari was intrigued.

As his curiosity grew, a strange black mist appeared in the station. Under everyone’s gaze, a black skull slowly rose on the back of Haruki’s right hand, covering it like a tattoo.

Those tattoos... they weren't actually tattoos?

Before anyone could think further, ominous black smoke erupted from the skull. The smoke swirled around, gradually taking the form of a giant skeleton wearing a cloak. Its appearance was exactly like the Grim Reaper from *Castlevania*—the most classic, archetypal "Grim Reaper."

"What is that!" Misawa Daichi, who had assumed this was just a normal duel, exclaimed.

"W-what’s happening?"

Many students were frightened by the ominous black smoke, and upon seeing the eerie Grim Reaper, they scrambled to run outside.

"...The Card of the Grim Reaper?" Tenjou Hikari hesitated for a moment, recalling the card.

"Ah, yes," Haruki replied.

Hiss...

That’s a bit intense.

Tenjou Hikari raised an eyebrow.

The "Card of the Grim Reaper" was a card sealed away by the North Academy in the original story—just like the Three Phantom Demons sealed by the main academy, the Grim Reaper was the card sealed by the North Academy.

The Card of the Grim Reaper was also a card that devoured life, but unlike the Phantom Demons, it only devoured the life and soul of its wielder.

However, compared to the power of the Three Phantom Demons, the Grim Reaper provided a special ability that every duelist dreamed of.

Draw whatever you want to draw!

In the original story, someone relied on using "One-Shot! Iai Draw" to one-turn-kill almost every duelist they encountered, until they dueled Judai and gave up the Card of the Grim Reaper after realizing what they truly wanted.

The person before him was completely different from the one in Tenjou Hikari’s memory.

Did Saiou get the Grim Reaper card from that person?

"The skull on my right hand cries out in pursuit of victory!

Defeat, defeat, defeat!

Defeat every enemy before me!

Grim Reaper, grant me the power to make my wishes come true!"

"Choose: is it life, or is it victory?" the Grim Reaper spoke simultaneously.

Tierra stood to the side, observing the Grim Reaper with apparent interest.

"Of course—victory!" Haruki drew his card sharply.

Tenjou Hikari frowned.

"My turn. Normal Summon, Dimension Synthesizer!"

A pitch-black sphere appeared before him, followed by a white mage manipulating the black sphere, floating in front of him.

Dimension Synthesizer, Level 4, Light, Fairy, ATK 1300.

"Once per turn, this card can banish the top card of the deck, and then gain 500 ATK until the end of the turn." He took a card from the top of his deck.

Dimension Synthesizer, ATK: 1300 → 1800.

"This... what is the point of that?"

"Activate Spell Card, Dimension Distortion."

"This card can Special Summon one banished monster."

"Huh?" Misawa Daichi couldn't help but be stunned upon seeing this card. "Isn't that a card that can only be activated if there are no cards in the Graveyard? Normally, when you want to activate this card, there are definitely cards in the Graveyard. Even if you can activate it at the start, it's hard to immediately Special Summon a useful monster..."

"And that Synthesizer only banished the top card of the deck... this is too reckless, isn't it?" It wasn't just Misawa Daichi; the nearby students were basically "honor students," and seeing Haruki activate such a card, they couldn't help but discuss it.

How could you be sure the Synthesizer and this card would synergize?

But—

It was guaranteed!

This was the power of the [Grim Reaper].

"Special Summon, Barrier Statue of the Heavens."

Hallelujah~~~

A stone colossus resembling the Virgin Mary descended from the dimension, shining with light as it landed on the ground.

Barrier Statue of the Heavens, Level 4, Light, Fairy, DEF 1000.

"Eh? Barrier Statue of the Heavens." Misawa Daichi was taken aback.

"What's wrong, Brother Misawa?" Serena asked curiously.

"With the Barrier Statue of the Heavens on the field, neither player can Special Summon monsters other than Light attribute... and Hikari’s deck is actually very lacking in Light attribute monsters." Misawa Daichi’s expression was strange. "He actually happened to banish this card?"

"But it only has 1000 DEF." Serena thought about it and didn't feel it would be hard to deal with.

Misawa Daichi nodded as well.

"Activate Continuous Spell, Fountain of the Sky."

A massive floating island appeared in the sky, from which white, glowing water flowed down and sprinkled onto the ground.

The style was identical to the consistent aesthetic of the Society of Light.

"As long as this card is on the field, when a Light attribute monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can banish that card and recover Life Points equal to that monster's ATK."

"I set one card and end my turn."

Haruki’s first turn ended in a way that looked strange at first glance, but bizarrely, it was a "cycle."

Tenjou Hikari watched the scene, thought for a moment, and speculated on his opponent’s tactics.

His Extra Deck indeed had few Light attribute Fusion monsters, so he was truly restricted by this "Light Barrier Statue."

If he wanted to duel smoothly, he would definitely have to prioritize destroying the Light Barrier Statue.

But if he did that, because of the Fountain of the Sky, the Light Barrier Statue would be banished, and Haruki would recover 1000 Life Points.

Then, the Synthesizer had a special effect to recover banished monsters after being destroyed.

Simply put, it was a small "resource cycle."

The problem was that this was only under "ideal conditions."

Tenjou Hikari could actually just destroy the Synthesizer and leave the Light Barrier Statue, focusing on a Light attribute play for one turn.

Although few, it didn't mean Tenjou Hikari’s Fusion monsters didn't include Light attributes.

To say nothing else.

The Cyber Dragon series were basically all Light attribute.

"My turn, draw—"

Tenjou Hikari drew a card.

Just as he was thinking about it, he could use it.

"Activate Spell Card, Fusion Deployment."

A card that Special Summons Fusion Materials from the deck by revealing a Fusion monster.

"Ah, that’s so nice, being able to draw the card you want at a moment of crisis," Haruki whispered with envy.