"My turn." Aromage Marjoram took the first move.
"I activate the Field Spell Card, Aroma Garden."
She placed the card into the Duel Disk that had transformed from her staff. Immediately, the vine curtain behind her automatically parted, revealing a winding but relatively short path. At the end of it stood a classical residence surrounded by countless flowers and birds. At a glance, it felt like one's soul was being healed.
"I Normal Summon Jasmine in Defense Position."
A white-haired magician with a waist pouch appeared on her field with a pop, as if teleporting.
[Aromage Jasmine] Level 2│LIGHT│Plant│1900 DEF
She had Normal Summoned Jasmine from the Aromage series in Defense Position.
Hikaru thought for a moment.
Now that he looked at it this way, since this world allowed face-up Defense Position Normal Summons, cards like Aromage were, in a sense, buffed.
"I activate the effect of Aroma Garden. Once per turn, if I control an "Aroma" monster, I gain 500 Life Points."
Golden light particles rose from the nearby flowers. Marjoram opened her arms and closed her eyes, embracing the light. Her gesture drew another round of cheers from the surrounding crowd.
[Marjoram, LP: 4000 → 4500]
"Jasmine's effect, once per turn, triggers when I gain Life Points. I draw one card."
Marjoram drew a card from her Deck.
"Also, after Aroma Garden's effect resolves, until the end of your turn, all monsters on my field gain 500 Attack and Defense."
[Jasmine, DEF: 1900 → 2400]
"And I'm not done yet. As long as Jasmine is on the field and my Life Points are higher than yours, I can Normal Summon an additional monster. I Normal Summon Rosemary."
"Here I come~" Rosemary, hearing her sister's call, came running over cheerfully.
[Aromage Rosemary] Level 4│WATER│Plant│1800 → 2300 ATK
"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Not bad.
Hikaru watched the scene unfold, pondering to himself.
After all, without Links, Aromage couldn't fully unleash their plant-type combo potential, so it looked like she was sticking to a standard Beatdown strategy.
"I see. By gaining Life Points, she increases her hand size and boosts her monsters' battle power, accumulating resources to overwhelm her opponent." Bastion analyzed the strategy seriously as he observed Marjoram's plays.
"They're just two monsters with a bit over 2000 Attack. Master can easily beat them!" Celina was still confident in Hikaru's strength, tilting her head proudly.
"No, this is actually a really bad matchup for Hikaru," Bastion shook his head. "Celina, Hikaru's Fusion is indeed powerful, but there's one reality he can't change: his Duel resources drop every turn.
"Even if he manages to Fusion Summon every turn, the opponent keeps drawing and gaining Life Points. In the end, we'll likely see a situation where Hikaru has only one card left in hand, while Marjoram still has a full hand."
Hearing this, Celina froze for a moment.
'...Wait, what?'
"Ha, didn't think you'd be this sharp." On the other side, the Mathematician nodded approvingly at Bastion's words. "Dueling is all about math and probability. Miss Marjoram's Deck is the epitome of mathematical charm!"
Meanwhile, the surrounding boys weren't thinking that deeply. They just knew that Miss Marjoram seemed to have the upper hand, so they started cheering for her, some even shouting outright:
"Miss Marjoram! Hikaru's Deck is full of Fusion cards, watch out!"
"Please don't say things that could influence the Duel!" Even Marjoram's good temper had its limits, and she got a little angry.
After all, she was a Duel Spirit.
Hearing things like that, of course, she wouldn't feel good.
She looked at her opponent, who, from the start of the Duel until now, hadn't shown any emotional change. The only difference was that after the Duel began, an "El Shaddoll Winda" Spirit appeared beside him,
Watching his hand with great interest.
According to KaibaCorp, this "Twelve-Star Duelist" was supposed to play at different levels against students of varying grades. But with the crowd being this annoying, she'd unconsciously gone full power from the start.
Wonder how this kid across from her would Duel...
"My turn, Draw!"
Hikaru swiftly drew a card.
"Woohoo, here it comes!" Tierra's eyes lit up seeing the card Hikaru drew. "Such a beautifully designed creature. I love it."
For Tierra, who hated carbon-based lifeforms, to say something like that meant she really liked this card.
Seeing this, Hikaru didn't hesitate.
"I Normal Summon Predaplant Chlamydosundew!"
"Eek!"
A green lizard with a leafy crest and countless red node-like spots appeared on Hikaru's field.
[Predaplant Chlamydosundew] Level 2│DARK│Plant│600 ATK
"Predaplant?"
"What's that card?"
"Never heard of that monster."
"It looks so gross."
Marjoram blinked.
Though unfamiliar with it, she had heard of Predaplants before, "So it's a fellow Plant-Type monster..."
"Huh? A Plant-Type Monster?"
"Totally different from Miss Marjoram!"
"Miss Marjoram, you're still the most beautiful!"
"A naturally evil little Fusion kid, and even his monsters are this ugly."
"Shut up!" Unable to bear it, Marjoram shouted at the surrounding crowd. Realizing her outburst, she coughed and added, "Everyone, please be quiet. During a Duel, don't distract the warriors on both sides."
She turned back to Hikaru: "Sorry, because of me..."
"It's fine."
"Eh?"
"Appearance doesn't matter!" Hikaru held up the monster in his hand. "What matters is whether it Fuses!"
"Uh…" Marjoram was at a loss for words.
"I activate my monster's effect! Once per turn, during the Main Phase, I can use this card and monsters from my hand, field, and even the opponent's field with Predation Counters as Fusion Material to Fusion Summon a DARK Fusion Monster!"
"Opponent's field!?" Marjoram was stunned.
Though she had no Predation Counters on her field;
"I fuse the Shaddoll Dragon in my hand with the Predaplant Chlamydosundew on my field!"
"Fusion Summon!"
Boom
A giant pink flower crown rose from the earth, followed by two thick vines filling the entire field.
Then, they split open, transforming into two enormous, blood-red jaws.
"Come forth!"
"Level 7, Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
...
Bonus Chapter