"So... so big!"
Rosemary stared at the massive man-eating flower in front of her, swallowing nervously.
'So scary!'
[Predaplant Chimerafflesia] Level 7│DARK│Plant│2500 ATK
"Beautiful!" Nearby, Tierra excitedly pumped her fists.
"I activate the effect of Shaddoll Dragon in the Graveyard," Hikaru revealed a card from his Graveyard. "When Shaddoll Dragon is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, its effect activates: I target one Spell or Trap Card on the field and destroy it."
"I'll destroy your set card."
Even though he didn't know what it was,
It wasn't really important.
Just destroy it and see.
Shaddoll Dragon's body rose from the darkness, morphing into a shadow that crashed into Marjoram's field, flipping her face-down card.
It was the Trap Card, Draining Shield.
A Trap that restores Life Points equal to the Attack of the attacking monster when activated in response to an opponent's attack declaration.
Combined with Aromage Rosemary's ability to switch monsters' battle positions, it was quite useful in this world.
"Now I activate the monster effect of Predaplant Chimerafflesia. Once per turn, I can banish one monster on your field with a Level lower than its own."
"What!?"
"It removes things that easily?"
Bastion exclaimed as he watched the enormous man-eating flower.
"I banish Aromage Jasmine."
The giant flower rolled its vines forward. Several thick tendrils rolled up to Jasmine, nudging her body and pushing her off the battlefield.
"Next, I enter the Battle Phase! Chimerafflesia attacks Aromage Rosemary!"
Rosemary froze in fear, her legs trembling. Clutching her staff tightly, she fired a laser beam with her eyes shut tight.
But that kind of attack had no effect on Chimerafflesia.
"Chimerafflesia's effect!"
"When this card declares an attack on an opponent's monster, it activates! Until the end of the turn, your monster loses 1000 Attack, and this card gains 1000 Attack!"
[Aromage Rosemary, ATK: 2300 → 1300]
[Predaplant Chimerafflesia, ATK: 2500 → 3500]
"That's insane."
"That Fusion Monster is way too strong!"
Already lacking confidence, Rosemary felt her plant powers draining away under the overwhelming force, leaving her limp, as if about to be devoured.
But after a long while, she felt no damage, just a gentle force pushing her back.
Coming to her senses, she opened her eyes with effort and found herself outside the field.
Wow, I'm still alive!
[Aromage Marjoram, LP: 4500 → 2300]
"When a Plant-Type monster on my field is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon myself," Marjoram revealed her card.
Then, taking a light step forward, she walked a few paces, stepping onto the vegetation: "At that moment, I also recover 500 Life Points."
[Aromage Marjoram] Level 5│DARK│Plant│2000 → 2500 ATK
[Aromage Marjoram, LP: 2300 → 2800]
"Also, because of Aroma Garden's effect, when an Aroma monster is sent to the Graveyard by battle, I gain another 1000 Life Points."
[Marjoram, LP: 2800 → 3800]
All in all, she'd barely lost anything.
"Amazing, Miss Marjoram!"
"Hmph, the damage that the Fusion user caused was wiped out just like that!"
"Finally, when I recover Life Points, my own effect activates! Once per turn, I can banish cards from your Graveyard up to the number of "Aroma" monsters I control! I banish your Shaddoll Dragon!"
Shaddoll Dragon was pulled from the Graveyard by plant roots and placed on a small table, staring blankly at the Aroma tea snacks on it.
"Battle Phase over," Hikaru said routinely.
Then he glanced at his hand.
"I set one card."
"End turn."
After setting the card, Hikaru ended his turn. Meanwhile, Tierra kept nodding as she stared at Chimerafflesia, clearly quite pleased with its appearance.
However, Hikaru's turn left the surrounding spectators disgruntled.
Not just the students from the main school, but even those from branch campuses and Pro Duelists started yelling at him.
"Amaki Hikaru, what the hell are you doing!?"
"We just got over that Fusion Army incident not long ago! How dare you still use Fusion!?"
"Yeah! Our hard-earned cooperation with the X-Dimension might end because of the Fusion Army scandal! How do you plan to make up for that!?"
The clamor grew intense.
Not just because Hikaru attacked their beloved Marjoram,
However, also because Chimerafflesia's massive form partially obscured Marjoram from their view, preventing them from seeing her clearly again. That brief taste of "wisdom" came back to them, and so did their hostility toward Hikaru.
"What's going on?" Rosemary asked, confused.
"Miss Rosemary, you don't know... In our world, terrorists attacked other worlds, killing thousands. Their slogan was 'Fusion is the noblest summoning method.'"
"Just like this guy!"
"!" Rosemary jumped in fright.
But when she looked at Hikaru, she felt puzzled.
Would this human warrior who merely pushed her aside really do something like that?
"Now you get it, Miss Rosemary! Stay far away from this guy, he's dangerous!"
"Even now, he's still using Fusion... what is he thinking?"
"Miss Marjoram, you too! Be extra careful when facing Fusion users!"
Hikaru lightly tapped his forehead.
Marjoram's expression looked a bit grim.
"Heh." Before she could speak, Hikaru did.
"How foolish."
"?"
"Listen up. The Fusion Army's slogan was: 'Fusion is the noblest summoning method'; my slogan is: 'Fusion IS the noblest summoning method.'"
"Ha! Playing word games now, Amaki Hikaru?"
"No, just reminding you not to get it twisted." Hikaru looked at them. "I don't care if it's Tribute Summon, Ritual Summon, Synchro Summon, or Xyz Summon.
"What matters is the heart of the Duelist.
"Look at you all, useless slackers hanging around here for days just because the Aromages look pretty.
"Do any of you even have a mark on your badges?
"It's been ten days, right?"
That stung. Many people's faces flushed red in shame.
No matter how you looked at it, showing up early in this dimension and still not earning even a single Star after ten days, while loitering here, was disgraceful.
"Dueling isn't about appearances. Duel Monsters aren't about beauty or ugliness, just like or dislike!
"Spewing this nonsense, do you really think Duel Spirits would like Duelists who only care about looks?
"Don't push it. If you're Duelists, leave now. Stop clinging to Marjoram."
"The Duel I love, the Fusion I love, are absolute. No matter what happens in the outside world,
"I will always believe in Fusion!"
"Nobody can stop me," Hikaru said with perfect composure.
"And as for changing others' minds, I won't make grand speeches, nor do I need to."
Hikaru glanced at his Duel Disk.
"Because it's inevitable."
"You..."
"Miss Marjoram, all his cards are Fusion-related. Nothing to fear in his Traps either, they're probably Fusion stuff too. Just Duel him with all you've got!"
Yet, this time, Marjoram didn't feel annoyed like before. She didn't even hear the surrounding noise anymore.
"What a pure warrior... Humans really do have true warriors among them."
Appearance, public opinion, none of it mattered. Only Fusion mattered.
'Such a pure Duelist!'
Even the two Spirits watching, Rosemary and Jasmine, couldn't help nodding in agreement.
"I see now," Marjoram said, looking at her hand.
Since her opponent was a true warrior, there was no need to stick to KaibaCorp's regulations anymore.