Chapter 591: The Final Opponent

Students and teachers: "."

An almost awkward silence.

As the freshman representative, challenging the Duel King—the academy's symbol and the object of everyone's yearning—was more of an exhibition than a contest of victory or defeat.

After all, no one could possibly think Rei could win the duel. Even if she were a genius girl, and even if she had skipped grades to enter Duel Academy, it was impossible.

A newcomer who just enrolled takes down the Duel King? Even a power fantasy novel wouldn't dare write that.

Of course, even if the outcome was predetermined, the process and the way the match was decided still opened the eyes of the newbies.

That wasn't necessarily a compliment.

Because as the first battle the newcomers observed after enrolling, it would likely leave some psychological trauma on the children's fragile minds.

By comparison, the upperclassmen were still quite calm.

Stay calm, it's a small scene. They'd seen plenty over the last two years; there were even worse ones than this.

Many of the people who had suffered even worse were currently sitting in the stands, watching happily, delighted to see the clueless newbies suffering under the Lord of the Yellow Robe, just as they had learned the hard way two years prior.

At most, they would just sigh, "As expected of the Lord of the Yellow Robe, so cruel even to such a cute little girl."

But this girl, too. Of all things to play, why did she have to play "NTR" in front of the Lord of the Yellow Robe?

To provoke him with such amateurish tactics, only to have the opponent "NTR" her back until she couldn't even take care of herself, seemed like a natural consequence.

On their very first day of school, the newcomers deeply realized the darkness of the Duel Realm.

To be fair, in their eyes, Rei was already quite impressive.

If nothing else, just look at her final lineup. Three "Love Girls" that couldn't be moved acting as shields, plus the damage negation of "Soul Barrier" in the back row—nine out of ten freshmen would find such a turtle formation extremely troublesome.

Not to mention the back row had the powerful counter to monster effects, "Effect Veiler," plus the strategy for dealing with Spells and Traps, "Dust Tornado."

Such a formation wasn't exactly impregnable, but breaking through and completing a kill in one turn was undoubtedly harder than climbing to heaven.

Yet, the Duel King's solution to this puzzle was—

—"Hand it over!"

One turn, two instances of "Relinquished" jumping back and forth, and the opponent's copper-walled, iron-clad formation was "NTR'd" clean.

Putting aside the King's terrifying strength, the psychological pressure this tactic exerted was maxed out. Poor little girl, her maiden heart was likely smashed to bits by now; the figure of "Relinquished" would probably haunt her nightmares for the next week.

"Thank you very much, Lord Fujiki You Xuan!"

Saotome Rei suddenly performed a standard ninety-degree bow, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall.

The onlookers: "?"

Huh?

Is this girl a masochist or just stupid? After being treated like that, she's actually saying thank you?

Then they heard Rei say earnestly, "I understand. What Lord Fujiki You Xuan wanted to tell me through this method... it's true."

"When I came to this academy, subconsciously, I still felt that because I was younger than everyone else and a girl, sometimes I was a bit... a bit unconfident."

"But not anymore!"

She patted her flat chest firmly and said proudly.

"It has nothing to do with age or gender. Now that I've come to Duel Academy, I am a proud duelist! Even if I lose, I will stand on the field with my head held high as a duelist!"

A moment of silence across the arena.

Then, Principal Jiaodao was the first to stand up, his mirror-like head reflecting the dazzling light from the arena lamps.

The principal slowly extended his hands.

Clap, clap, clap, clap—

Intense applause.

With the principal taking the lead, more and more students stood up from their seats, raising their hands to applaud. The applause gathered like a vast ocean, soon mixed with cheers.

There were passionate fans shouting Fujiki You Xuan's name, as well as praise affirming Rei's performance.

Principal Jiaodao squinted and nodded slightly. "Hmm, what a wonderful enrollment atmosphere."

Although Student Fujiki You Xuan's demonstration duel had led the new first-years down a crooked path, one could imagine this batch of newcomers would soon be walking further and further down the path of the "Underworld."

But who cares?

Actually, at the very beginning, the principal and the professors had struggled.

When the students' style began to be skewed by Fujiki You Xuan, a group of old-school professors found it particularly hard to accept. The students' deck construction and tactical styles were drifting further and further from traditional textbook approaches; whenever the professors brought it up, they couldn't help but shake their heads.

However, as time went on, when the professors realized that as the Lord of the Yellow Robe's radiance grew brighter and his record more dazzling, his influence was unstoppable, they finally gave up the struggle.

Even some old-school professors began to have thoughts of violating ancestral teachings—

—"How about... we try it too?"

Just try it, try the new possibilities of dueling.

And so, after tasting the forbidden fruit of the "Underworld," the professors also gave up.

Forget it, let it be.

Anyway, the students' practical combat ability was rising, and they had left professional duelists in the GX tournament in a state of utter frustration. That period even made it into many duel magazines, earning the academy a huge amount of face.

!. Read

So now, Principal Jiaodao didn't say anything, just smiled, feeling excited about the bright future of Duel Academy.

Or should it be said, a dark future?

It didn't matter.

After shaking hands and saying goodbye to Rei, Fujiki You Xuan walked slowly off the stage amidst the cheers of his juniors, leaving behind only a waving back.

As he left the arena, Fujiki You Xuan looked around.

Professor Kebula should be watching, right?

But it didn't matter. Kebula needed students to wear his specially made energy-absorbing watches while dueling to successfully absorb energy and awaken Yubel.

Without the watch, energy couldn't be absorbed.

Kebula was indeed watching from the hideout he had temporarily found, his expression somewhat solemn.

"The Duel King is indeed unfathomable."

He said to himself.

"Is it that even an opponent of the freshman elite level can't even serve the purpose of a probe...?"

For the King, it should have just been a casual level, perhaps taking the opportunity to give the freshman juniors some education along the way.

Nothing could be seen from such a duel.

"As expected, more professional people are needed to make a move."

Kebula paused and glanced at the darkness behind him.

"Your past record is brilliant, but you haven't been on the professional circuit for many years. Is there a problem?"

"No problem... *cough, cough*."

A coughing sound rang out.

A man wearing a wide blue uniform walked out of the shadows and adjusted his glasses.

"Thank you very much, Professor Kebula, for giving me this opportunity."

He adjusted his glasses and said softly.

"It wouldn't be bad if the final opponent of my life is the Duel King."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 592 =====