Chapter 97: First Direct Confrontation (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

"Who are you!"

The cheer from Shen Leban was far too loud; the masked man across from them immediately turned to look, and then Tenjo Hikari saw Shen Leban too—his expression changed, and he lowered his voice sharply: "What's going on, Tierra? Why didn't you warn me?"

"That wasn't part of our agreement," Tierra said, spreading her hands.

Besides, in Tierra's eyes, he was just an ordinary human, unrelated to the duel—merely an audience member adding atmosphere, a bystander enjoying the spectacle—what's the big deal?

Yet after seeing Shen Leban, the masked man's eyes suddenly lit up. Crimson flames writhed around him, surging toward Shen Leban as if to crush him.

Not long after, Shen Leban was instantly bound by a long, serpentine flame.

"Stop! Tenjo Hikari!" the masked man shouted. "If you want this guy to live, stop right now! You're trying to use the Thousand-Eyed Offering God to seal the attack of the Flame Emperor, aren't you? Not a chance—hurry up and—"

"How dare you!"

Before Tenjo Hikari could speak, Tierra beside him suddenly flared with intense violet light—and in the next instant, both the masked man and Shen Leban could plainly see Tierra's temporary, petite, and adorable form.

Her face cold, she raised her right hand high. Instantly, a complex and beautiful staff materialized in her grasp, followed by countless violet puppet threads emerging from the sky, wrapping around both the flames and Shen Leban.

Boom—

Before the masked man could react, Shen Leban was yanked violently toward them and thrown down beside Tenjo Hikari.

Shen Leban was still dazed, unaware of what had just happened—only relieved to be alive.

Tierra, however, kept her face icy, glaring fiercely at the opponent.

If the duel hadn't still been ongoing, she would've killed him right then.

Since awakening, Tierra had learned the rules of the new-era ritual. Deceitful tricks, in her view, were the kind of thing only treacherous, cunning scoundrels would do—if she were to do it, she figured, she could easily force others to duel her through threats.

Yes, she was the treacherous, cunning god.

But that didn't mean she'd stoop to such tactics within the ritual itself!

Moreover, although Tenjo Hikari was the one dueling, Tierra had been guiding him all along—in a sense, she was also a participant in this duel. To pull such a stunt right before her? He truly had no regard for his life!

"Tenjo Hikari, finish this guy off!" she snapped angrily.

Do you have any idea how devastating it is for a weak, delicate god to be treated this way during her very first duel?!

And besides, she'd been presenting herself as a divine being before Tenjo Hikari—yet never expected this scene, nearly turning a mortal who came to watch into a hostage. Wasn't that humiliating in front of him?!

Tenjo Hikari nodded, his face grim, and asked the opponent: "Then I special summon the Thousand-Eyed Offering God in defense position. What else do you have?"

The masked man took deep, labored breaths.

His body, already weakened by the Phantom Demon, was now constricted by Tierra's power—he felt his neck might snap at any moment, his posture one of imminent death, utterly tense.

The effect of the Thousand-Eyed Offering God: as long as this card is on the field, no other monster may attack or change its battle position.

In other words—he couldn't attack.

Even with 6000 attack points, if he couldn't attack, he couldn't attack.

"Hmph, fine. Then I'll end my turn."

He still thought he had a chance.

Although the Thousand-Eyed Offering God could absorb the Phantom Demon's power, when it absorbs a monster with an attack value of "?", regardless of its current attack, it is treated as 0.

"My turn, draw!"

"Activate the effect of the Thousand-Eyed Offering God: absorb the Phantom Demon!"

A colossal dragon wreathed in flames, bathed in the evil god's radiance, should have suffered agonizing pain—but instead, it seemed to feel release, emitting an indescribable dragon's cry as it merged into the Offering God's body.

Thousand-Eyed Offering God, ATK: 0

"Hmph. Next turn, I'll just destroy the Thousand-Eyed Offering God and revive the Flame Emperor by discarding a card." He still believed in the Phantom Demon's power.

"Indeed, so far I've been unable to break through the Phantom Demon with direct monster attacks—but it doesn't matter. I only need to use the Ultimate Mechanical Giant to attack directly." Tenjo Hikari pointed at the masked man.

"Hmph, the Thousand-Eyed Offering God isn't fusion material for any monster, and I've already destroyed your Flame Sword Domain—what method do you have to send it to the graveyard?"

"Isn't it simple?" Tenjo Hikari slowly revealed a card from his hand. "Quick-Play Spell, Fusion Release."

"!!"

"You can only activate this by targeting one Fusion Monster on the field. That Fusion Monster returns to its owner's Extra Deck." Tenjo Hikari looked down coldly at the opponent. "You know this one, right?"

"This… damn it…"

"Return the Thousand-Eyed Offering God to the deck! Send the equipped Phantom Demon to your graveyard—and then—take this punch!"

"Ultimate Mechanical Giant, direct attack! Ultimate Impact!!"

As Tenjo Hikari roared, Tierra extended her hand—countless violet puppet threads wrapped around the Ultimate Mechanical Giant, which, empowered by this immense force, slammed its fist into the masked man's body with blinding speed.

When the dust settled, the masked man lay sprawled on the field, unable to rise.

After a moment, to everyone's surprise, the masked man rose stiffly like a puppet, emitting a series of clicking sounds.

"So this is your duel? Designing traps step by step, luring your opponent in. Purely the style of Cronos."

"Who are you?" Tenjo Hikari instantly realized—the man before him was no longer the same masked figure.

"Who I am is unimportant."

Unimportant?

Tenjo Hikari sneered.

That tone, that attitude, that scene—it was the Fusion Army.

Who else could it be?

Chi Ma Ling Wang

The masked man turned to Tierra: "Evil, chilling power… I see. So, Tenjo Hikari, you're not as righteous as you appear."

One's nature reflects in how one perceives others; upon seeing "Midrash," he immediately assumed Tenjo Hikari was the same kind.

"You dare oppose our Fusion Army alongside Cronos because you rely on that spirit, don't you?"

"Hmph, powerful and evil as it is, it's nowhere near the true Three Phantom Demons!"

He was confident.

Although he hadn't drawn the Three Phantom Demon cards, through experiments and research on Duel Spirits, he'd mastered the technique of stealing power and creating replica cards—the Ancient Mechanical Hound was mass-produced using this method, and during his vacation, he successfully replicated one Ulia.

Even if he only had one, and even if it required a human sacrifice and shattered after use, it didn't matter.

This power thrilled him!

Greater than all the other dimensions he'd explored combined!

"How audacious—" Tierra nearly exploded with rage.

Phantom Demons?

Do they even compare to me?!

Is this body giving you that illusion?

"This time, I was just testing the waters. Next time, if you still don't know when to stop," the masked man's body slowly collapsed, his final words spilling out, "it won't be just a lowly soldier."

Pure threats—he'd only replicated one Flame Emperor, and today was just an experiment on a suitable subject. Since he'd lost, he had to throw out some threats.

With that, his body collapsed completely, unconscious, falling into a deep faint.

He had no intention of retrieving the Phantom Demon replica card—it was just a one-use disposable trash anyway. Since the living experiment was already near death, there was no need to recover it.

Tenjo Hikari rushed over, bent down, checked his breath—only a faint, barely-there breath remained. He looked at the deck: the entire deck had been reduced to ash by flames, and he could still see the lingering fire of the Phantom Demon—clear evidence of the Flame Emperor's fury.

Finally, one card remained, cracked and broken.

Flame Emperor Ulia.

Unlike the starless, nameless Ulia from this world, this card had been filled with content—but even so, it was severely shattered.

He quickly snatched it up.

"Tenjo Hikari, secure the card," Tierra said, her face icy. "What a conceited, ignorant mortal."

"Does he think Phantom Demons can be copied at will, controlled casually, and discarded like trash? How foolish."

"I know perfectly well—this card once held the consciousness of a Phantom Demon. That's priceless!"

Tenjo Hikari nodded, carefully storing the Flame Emperor Ulia.

Don't be fooled by how close to breaking it is—over time, who ends up shattered and who remains "real" is far from certain.

He never expected this.

He'd accidentally obtained a card of the Three Phantom Demons!

What had been a serious matter now made him want to laugh.

Fourth update—requesting recommendations and monthly tickets~

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(End of Chapter)