Alvin then faced Kaiser and was easily defeated by him once again.
I then defeated another opponent and advanced deeper into the tournament.
Currently, only two people remained: me and Kaiser.
"Kaiser and Igor!"
Hearing our names, both of us went up to the stage and stood facing each other.
"I hope you don't disappoint me like the others, Igor," Kaiser said while adjusting his glasses.
"..." I blinked and looked at him.
"...What?"
"I'm surprised you noticed that I remembered your name, while you didn't bother calling the others by theirs?"
Kaiser snorted lightly, not really caring.
"Among everyone, you are the only one who made it this far. You're sometimes better than me in class, you summon monsters faster than me, and you were the one who summoned your starting monster before I did. It would be stupid not to remember you."
Whoa, how touching. Being remembered by someone as stiff and battle-hungry as Kaiser is quite an honor.
"Therefore, I will defeat you, because I refuse to lose to anyone," Kaiser raised his card and pointed it at me.
Ah, right. In return, he sees me as a rival.
Honestly, I don't want a rival. If it was a friendly rival, that's fine, but a competitive rival who wants to settle who's better with completely different ideals is exhausting.
A perfect example is Aelith and Violet. Those two are complete opposites.
"Yeah, well if I lose then you can go compete with someone else," I said, taking out my card.
"Hmph, I'll think about that after this battle is over."
"DUEL!"
I immediately summoned Fluffy in just 6 seconds and ordered an attack on the life core.
"Don't even think about it! White Dragon Hatchling, come out!"
The White Dragon Hatchling appeared right in front of Kaiser's life core and roared loudly.
"Fluffy, fall back and defend."
Fluffy jumped back to my life core and took a defensive stance.
"Hmph, child's play. Activate Passive."
The White Dragon Hatchling roared again, making Fluffy feel scared.
"This..." I narrowed my eyes and checked Fluffy's status.
Fluffy Snowflake (lv 1)
Type: Ice
Atk: 100
Hp: 100
Race: Fairy
Status: [Dragon Fear: Reduce all stats by 25% for 1 turn. Does not affect Fairy type]
Wow, that's a strong passive. He saved it for me?
That means to defeat that white dragon, I need to use Cold Wind since it deals double damage to Dragon types.
But I doubt it will hit, because its owner is Kaiser.
Seeing Fluffy standing there scared, Kaiser immediately seized the opportunity.
"White Dragon Hatchling, use Energy Blast!"
The White Dragon Hatchling gathered energy and fired an energy orb toward Fluffy. The speed of the orb was incredibly fast.
'Not yet...'
The orb got closer and closer to Fluffy. Even though Fluffy was scared and wanted to run, it didn't dare disobey since I hadn't given an order yet.
'Just a little more...'
The orb reached right in front of Fluffy and was about to explode when I widened my eyes and gave the order.
"Fluffy, defend now!"
?!
Everyone was confused when they heard Igor's command.
Why defend at this moment? Isn't it a bit too late?
Kaiser raised an eyebrow. Energy Blast was an extremely powerful move that dealt x3 damage based on his monster's atk stat, meaning it dealt a full 300 damage.
Even if defended successfully, it would still take 150 damage. That was still overkill.
However, while everyone was confused, only PE teacher Riffon nearby looked surprised.
'Don't tell me he's going for that technique?!'
Even though Fluffy didn't understand why its master gave that order, it still obeyed.
Boing!
Energy Blast, which should have been an unstoppable force, was bounced away by Fluffy in another direction.
"?!"
"!!"
"Nani?!!"
The Energy Blast then exploded right next to the White Dragon Hatchling, surprising Kaiser and many others.
'H-How?! What did he just do?! I didn't hear any order from Igor except defend!' Kaiser looked at Fluffy in shock as it easily bounced away the White Dragon Hatchling's attack.
Only Riffon stood there, looking at Igor with a different expression than usual.
'That kid... He knows the Parry technique!'
Parry is a technique where, when the opponent attacks, you must time your defend perfectly. If done right, you block the attack without taking any damage and even have a chance to counterattack afterward.
Of course, this is a technique that requires mastery to use well. Sometimes people only succeed by luck.
But looking at Igor earlier, there was no mistaking it. He had perfectly timed the parry!
'Phew, success.' I broke into a little sweat and smiled.
Sage of Bacillus also had a Parry mechanic, and because the game was so difficult, I was forced to practice and get used to parrying whether I wanted to or not.
Even when mastered, later bosses could all fire wide-area beams, so parry became less useful.
Damn, I hate those lv 10 monsters that summon on the first turn and immediately use their strongest skill. It made me suffer so many times.
"Fluffy, advance quickly!" I ordered.
Fluffy, still a bit dazed, heard my order, calmed down, and obeyed.
Kaiser still couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Igor's monster charging toward him.
"Damn it! White Dragon Hatchling, dodge— Wait, no! Defend the life core!"
Kaiser hadn't forgotten Igor's first match, so he had to be extremely careful.
"Just keep moving forward, Fluffy!"
Fluffy continued advancing without stopping, seemingly preparing to ram into Kaiser's White Dragon Hatchling.
"White Dragon Hatchling, attack now!" Kaiser ordered the moment Fluffy entered attack range.
"Stop right there and jump back, Fluffy!"
Right as the White Dragon Hatchling was about to attack, Fluffy stopped and jumped backward, causing Kaiser's eyes to widen.
"Use Cold Wind!"
Fluffy took a deep breath and blew hard at the White Dragon Hatchling.
That was more than enough.
Taking a direct hit like that, it would be a miracle if the White Dragon Hatchling survived.
Of course, there was no miracle. The White Dragon Hatchling was instantly frozen and completely defeated.
"..." Kaiser stayed silent, looking at the clear result and accepting reality.
"Igor win!"
When Fluffy saw the battle was over and waited for Igor to recall it, Igor suddenly picked it up and smiled at it.
"You did great!"
"Wu?"
"Why the confused look? You followed every order of mine perfectly. It would be cold if I just recalled you without thanking you, right?"
I hugged Fluffy and looked at Kaiser.
"Well... I won this time. Whether I like it or not, I had to win to challenge the student from Arthur's class."
Kaiser narrowed his eyes, recalled his White Dragon Hatchling, and left. But he stopped and turned his head back.
"Don't make Class Charlemagne become a fools."
After saying that, Kaiser walked down.
As expected, tsundere. These people are all emotionally soft but hide it so well.
There will be even more tsunderes later. It would be funny if they all met each other.
I walked down and everyone looked at me with admiration. Although there were a few jealous glances, they weren't worth paying attention to.
"You really avenged me. As expected of Igor!" Lucas said cheerfully.
"Avenged? You should do that yourself," I told Lucas, making him freeze.
"...You're right. I shouldn't rely on others! A real man must handle his own problems!" Lucas clenched his fist, his eyes burning with fire.
"Congratulations, Igor," Alvin smiled nearby.
"Save that for when I fight Arthur's class. I haven't fully won yet."
"Receiving a little congratulations won't hurt anyone," Alvin patted my back.
"...Well, thanks then."
"Well done!" Alice waved at me.
"Yeah yeah."
After that, I looked toward Arthur's class arena.
The matches were still going, with two important characters facing each other.
Aelith and Violet.
And it wasn't surprising that Violet used a Fairy type monster, which countered Aelith's Dark type, as well as being a future dragon slayer.
But just looking at the situation there was enough to tell who had the advantage.
Demon Bat was continuously dodging the attacks of Violet's little angel monster.
Ah, since there was no Light type here, Fairy was the most suitable type for the angel race because it countered Dark. It also countered Fighting type, symbolizing how Fairy types hate violence (even though their skills are all atomic bombs that can one-hit kill a dragon).
This was quite funny. The Dark type, which represents evil, cunning, and all kinds of wickedness, actually had good defense and a very supportive moveset. Meanwhile, the Fairy type, which represents innocence, kindness, and all things good, had a ton of powerful damage skills, including Moon Blast which was ridiculously strong.
Crit!
Violet's little angel took a critical hit and was completely defeated.
"Aelith win!"
"That was a great match," Aelith recalled her monster and walked over to Violet to offer a handshake.
"..." Violet gritted her teeth. She recalled her monster back into the card and left, completely ignoring Aelith's outstretched hand.
'...Good thing I don't have a rival like this. It's super toxic and I don't want any of it,' I thought while watching.
"Both final winners from the two classes! Please come here!"
Both arenas sank back into the ground. This time, a different arena rose up from below.
"Igor Snowy from Class Charlemagne will face Aelith Cris from Class Arthur! You two, please step onto the stage!"
"..."
I took a deep breath and looked at Aelith.
She also noticed my gaze, waved, and smiled.
Well, at least she was friendly.
Both of us stepped onto the stage and looked at each other.
"Hello, as teacher Riffon just said, my name is Aelith. I hope you will fight with all your strength," Aelith took out her card.
"Igor. I also hope you go all out," I said, taking out my card.
"DUEL!"
"Come out, Fluffy Snowflake!"
"Come out, Demon Bat."
'She shortened the summoning from 8 seconds to 7? As expected of the protagonist, she improves so fast,' I narrowed my eyes at the flying demon bat.
Its weakness was very obvious because the bat had the Flying type, but the problem was Aelith's excellent command ability.
And look at her. She's analyzing my weaknesses and every action very carefully. This is going to be tough.
In that case, I should play defensively.
Aelith looked at Igor and his monster, which weren't moving or giving any orders, and narrowed her eyes.
He... knows I'm analyzing him? It seems he observed my previous matches against my classmates. I need to be careful.
His cute monster is Ice type, so it definitely has an Ice skill that can finish off my Demon Bat. I need to keep distance and stay away.
But the fact that he isn't giving any orders and letting his monster stand still is clearly inviting my monster to attack first...
Should I attack or not? Attacking up close definitely won't work. Maybe I should use a skill?
'Are you worried?' a voice rang inside her.
'A little, but I'm definitely not afraid.'
'Then don't hesitate. We can stall for 20 seconds to go to the next turn and recover skills. No need to rush.'
'Thank you.'
After thinking, she decided to order Demon Bat to target the weak point she had observed carefully.
"Demon Bat, use Hidden Dart on the antenna on its head!"
Demon Bat obeyed and fired Hidden Darts toward Fluffy.
However, right before they hit, Igor immediately gave an order.
"Defend then dodge to the left!"
Clang!
Fluffy successfully parried one and rolled to the left to dodge the other two darts.
'What?' the voice inside Aelith was surprised.
'...How did he do that?'
'...Parry. He even seems familiar with that technique. Looks like the previous one wasn't just luck.'
Aelith narrowed her eyes. She now confirmed that Igor was a much more difficult opponent than the others.
"Fluffy, quickly roll toward it!"
Fluffy then rolled in a cute way, making the girls from both classes go "aww" at how adorable it was.
'He wants to attack directly? But why order it to roll?'
'Don't attack yet. Just order Demon Bat to stay far away from it.'
"Demon Bat, stay far away from it, don't let—"
"COLD WIND!"
Fluffy immediately blew hard while face-down on the floor, launching itself forward at high speed, catching Aelith off guard.
And it was about to ram into Demon Bat!
"Defend!"
Demon Bat panicked and took a defensive stance, receiving Fluffy's ram. Its HP dropped by 50.
Since it was a normal attack, it didn't take the 75% weakness damage.
But now Demon Bat only had 50 HP left, meaning one more hit would defeat it whether it defended or not.
After taking the hit, Demon Bat flew unsteadily while Fluffy fell down, slowly landing using its floating ability though it couldn't fly.
'That worked,' I thought and ordered Fluffy to return.
If things continued like this, my chance of winning would be quite high.
Looking at Aelith who was still silent, I suddenly felt something was wrong.
Her aura suddenly became completely different, and her golden eyes had changed to gray.
"!!"
Oh hell nah... I know that state!
"You fight quite well. Let me play with you," a cold voice came from her as she stared at me.
Damn it! She let the other half of her take over!!!
Right after that, an ancient magic circle appeared under the descending Demon Bat.
Everyone frowned, startled as they realized what Aelith's side had done.
Demon Bat moved down into the magic circle like a PNG image, and then another monster appeared.
"I summon Mau, The Gravekeeper."
An ancient Egyptian black cat appeared, looking very majestic.
Oh great, you just printed a card right in front of me?! As expected of the protagonist in a card battle world with many legal cheats!