A white giant slowly rose from the ground, its blue-purple mechanical skirt billowing wide. Countless purple puppet strings filled the air above the station.
No, not just the station.
The entire Volcano Zone fell under the shadow of this massive giant.
The strings blanketed the sky, some drifting near the students, emitting an incomprehensible glow.
[El Shaddoll Construct] Level 8 | LIGHT | Fairy | 2800 ATK
Hikaru tilted his head back.
This... was a sight he had never imagined.
He never expected to one day stand on the opposite side of an opponent controlling Shaddolls.
Until now, Gem-Knights, Jurracs, even his own darkened self, he had never met a second Shaddoll user besides himself.
"A Shaddoll?!" Bastion gasped, staring at the giant overhead.
"To think I'd actually see another El Shaddoll appear..."
"Is Hikaru going to be okay?" Celina worried aloud.
After all, seeing your own ace monsters used by your opponent could be mentally destabilizing.
"Shaddoll Falco's effect activates. When sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I Special Summon it face-down in Defense Position." Hikaru moved automatically, still processing the surreal image before him.
"Heh, whatever! Amaki Hikaru, witness my Duel powered by Death and Construct! I activate my Trap Card: Return from the Different Dimension!"
[Haruki, LP: 2800 → 1400]
'Whoa.'
That was dramatic.
So this was his strategy.
But... something about this felt off.
"I pay half my Life Points to Special Summon as many of my banished monsters as possible. They'll get banished again at the end of the turn!"
"I Special Summon Dimensional Alchemist and Barrier Statue of the Heavens!"
The two monsters returned to his field.
"Not done yet!" Haruki grinned coldly, overflowing with confidence. "Your Colossus has that pesky effect that prevents destruction by substituting Thunder monsters from your Graveyard. If I don't get rid of him, I can't continue this Duel! So here's my answer:
Continuous Spell, Different Dimension Gate!"
He grinned wider: "I banish one monster from my field and one from yours. I choose Barrier Statue and your Colossus!"
Both monsters began to fade. Colossus seemed to struggle, but vanished almost instantly.
"Next, I activate Alchemist's effect: Banish the top card of my Deck to gain 500 Attack!"
[Dimensional Alchemist, ATK: 1300 → 1800]
"Battle! Construct attacks Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
Guiding the towering giant, Haruki raised his hand, commanding the attack.
"What? Attacking Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon?"
"Their Attack is the same! Isn't that mutual destruction?"
"That's a high-level monster! Is he really going to crash it?!"
Students gasped.
"Heh heh heh... No Special Summoned monster can stand against Construct!"
A blinding light burst forth. The blue-purple armor on Construct's skirt turned pure white.
"When Construct battles a Special Summoned monster, the opponent's monster is destroyed immediately, without battle calculation!"
Boom!
Before it could react, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon was wrapped in countless puppet strings and exploded into dust.
"What?!"
"Such a powerful effect?!"
"Even Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon couldn't beat that!"
"Tch." Bastion inhaled sharply. "I always imagined the other El Shaddolls would have unique effects, but this... this is overkill."
In this world, most Duelists relied on high-Level, high-Attack monsters, often summoned through various Special Summon methods as their main strategy.
A monster that could destroy any Special Summoned monster... For most Duelists, that was an absolute nightmare.
And even Tribute Summoned monsters would struggle against a 2800 ATK wall.
Practically "invincible."
But to Hikaru... this was actually Construct's weakest effect.
Its other two abilities: first, sending any "Shaddoll" from Deck to Grave when Special Summoned. And third, recovering any Shaddoll Spell or Trap from Grave when sent there.
There was even a song about it: Shaddoll Fusion, Construct, Link Summon Gravity Controller, recycle Shaddoll Schism
Anyone who knew that tune knew how to pilot Shaddolls.
But in this world, lacking other Shaddoll cards, its second effect was still terrifying to most people.
"Battle continues! Dimensional Alchemist attacks your set monster, I know its effect! Flip Summon would revive a Shaddoll from your Grave! I won't let you trigger it! You can only choose one effect per turn for Shaddoll monsters!"
Falco was sucked into Alchemist's orb and vanished without a sound.
End of turn. Alchemist was banished.
Laughing, Haruki declared, "See, Amaki Hikaru? This is the power Master Sartorius granted me! The power of Destiny!"
Hikaru lowered his head, rubbing his neck.
A strange, overwhelming urge was creeping in...
He almost felt like kneeling before the giant.
Nearby students with weaker mental fortitude had already done exactly that, bowing to Construct.
"Mmm... Looks like even if we win and take that card, it'll need a serious cleansing," Tierra remarked, surveying the scene.
Construct was originally a central control unit, and Sartorius had likely added other powers to it. Even Hikaru, mid-duel, was feeling the effect.
At Tierra's snap of the fingers, the mental pressure instantly lifted.
Ridiculous.
Hikaru clenched his fists.
The Shaddoll series... truly special monsters. Even Winda had unique qualities. And this Construct, even without Tierra's power, could do this much.
If Hikaru lost here, he might end up like Chazz in the original series, a lapdog for Sartorius.
"My turn. Draw."
Hikaru glanced at his card.
"So... your Death Card lets you draw whatever you want, right?"
"Yeah?" Haruki blinked, surprised.
"Then why are you using Polymerization?"
"Huh?" Haruki looked even more confused. "You're the absolute Fusionist and you're questioning why someone uses Fusion?!"
"No, I mean... there are better cards for your strategy." Hikaru rubbed his chin and raised a finger.
"Why not use Fusion Gate?"
Haruki froze.
Hikaru continued, "Your Deck focuses on banishing. You already incorporated Sartorius' cards to boost it. With the Death Card, you can pull off combos you couldn't before.
"So why not replace Polymerization with three copies of Fusion Gate?
"You could search it with Terraforming, retrieve Fusion with Fusion Sage, and with Fusion Gate active, you could banish St. Joan and Falco directly.
"That way, you could also Return from the Different Dimension to revive St. Joan and prevent my Falco from reviving for defense, right?"
Hikaru still had set cards; an OTK was out of the question.
"Eh..." Haruki was speechless.
No...
More like... his actual consciousness was starting to think.
The surrounding students nodded vigorously.
"Yeah, if it's a banish-based strategy, Fusion Gate is way better."
"As expected from Hikaru. The second it involves Fusion, he spots new lines instantly."
"Forget draw luck, that guy's build has fundamental issues!"
"Tch... Hikaru's too nice. The guy collecting badges at the station, and he still points out deck-building flaws..."
The whole area buzzed with discussion.
Everyone here, all honor students when it came to Dueling, realized Hikaru was absolutely right.
Had Haruki done that, he might've beaten Hikaru last turn.
Yet he hadn't.
"N-No! Shut up! My Deck is fine! Damn it, I don't even use Fusion that often! Why would I think about that!" The discussions clearly rattled Haruki.
The two reasons Sartorius had chosen him for the Death Card:
One, his luck was above average.
Two, he absolutely hated it when others criticized his Deck-building.
He always believed his Deck had no issues, just like Hikaru, the absolute Fusionist, insisted on full Fusion builds.
But by adding Construct, enhancing his natural spirit strength, and layering Sartorius' brainwashing... Haruki's Duels now carried huge psychological pressure.
If Hikaru took direct damage, he might even suffer mental collapse.
Even without a direct hit, Hikaru was already feeling mild vertigo.
Normally, through sheer mental aggression, Haruki could leave lasting "Light" or "Destiny" imprints on any opponent.
But now... with that flawed build, Hikaru had found the perfect counter: psychological warfare right back at him.
"Ghhh..." Haruki clutched his head in pain.
Whether from confusion or weakness, the puppet strings around the area started to snap, and the light emanating from the giant Construct dimmed significantly.
Hikaru glanced at his hand.
"Time to end this."
"?" Haruki barely processed that. "End it? You've lost everything! How can you beat my Construct, which can destroy any monster?!"
"Every monster has a weakness. And besides... Construct's invincibility only applies during battle."
Hikaru grinned wide. "Haruki, I bet you're the kind of student who gets scolded by classmates and teachers for your Deck-building, but stubbornly refuses to change because you love your Deck too much, right?"
"So what if I am?!"
"Nothing bad about that." Hikaru smiled. "Maybe just swap out a few pieces for better synergy. Beyond that, a Fusion-only guy like me has no right to lecture you."
Haruki instinctively nodded.
He'd seen Hikaru get docked points before by Professor Sartyr for "unreasonable deck composition."
So Haruki knew Hikaru understood him. Knew Hikaru's words weren't wrong.
As the Society of Light students watched, they saw a dazzling radiance gather around Hikaru, making the once-ordinary student seem radiant and overwhelming.
"Since you're giving me such a Duel, I have to respond in kind.
With my Fusion, with my Shaddolls!"
"I activate the Spell Card, Brilliant Fusion! By sending monsters from my Deck as Fusion Materials, I Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster with 0 Attack and Defense!"
"I fuse Gem-Knight Crystal and Thunder Dragonmatrix from my Deck!"
"Come forth, shining, refracted Knight... Gem-Knight Prismaura!"
Flash!
Captain Crystal had arrived!
Upon appearing, he froze, staring up at the giant.
[Gem-Knight Prismaura] Level 7 | EARTH | Thunder | 2450 ATK]
[Prismaura, ATK: 2450 → 0]
"Next, I activate Thunder Dragon Fusion from my Graveyard. By banishing it, I add a Thunder monster from my Deck to my hand.
I add Gem-Knight Tourmaline."
Prismaura now had its "ammo."
Your friendly field-clearer, Prismaura!
"Even so... it still has 0 Attack!" Though it was clear Hikaru had a way to destroy Construct.
Yet, with 0 Attack, it shouldn't matter!
Haruki could simply draw whatever he needed to win instantly!
After all, Hikaru had nothing left to stop him.
Hikaru wagged a finger.
Tierra casually reached over, plucked a card from Hikaru's hand, and placed it into the Duel Disk.
"Not happening. This card alone ensures victory, Spell Card, Shaddoll Fusion!"
"Since you control a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can use monsters directly from my Deck as Fusion Materials!"
Hikaru grinned, flipping through his Deck and selecting two cards: "I send Shaddoll Hedgehog and Vampire Fraulein to the Graveyard for Fusion Summon!
Widening his eyes, Hikaru shouted:
"Oh heavens!"
"All existence!"
"My fellow Duelists!"
"Surely, you've heard this name!"
"Listen well!
"Divine voice, divine command, heed and obey!
"Fusion Summon!
"Level 5, El Shaddoll Winda!!"
Slash
All the puppet strings surged upward. A magic staff fell from the sky, followed by a green-haired figure with a long ponytail descending slowly before Hikaru.
Extending her hand, staff in grasp, she pulled every puppet string into her control.
Compared to the lively Tierra nearby, this figure lacked spirit... but this mechanical stillness was the true "Winda."
[El Shaddoll Winda] Level 5 | DARK | Spellcaster | 2200 ATK
Haruki gawked, "Impossible! A low-Level Shaddoll... dominating a higher-Level one?!"
"Level?"
"Naive, The Shaddoll ruler is one and only one:
"Winda!"
"I discard Gem-Knight Tourmaline from my hand, Prismaura destroys your Construct!"
"Daring to reach for the commander warrants punishment!"
Prismaura's spear targeted Construct. At Tierra's snap, Winda flicked her staff. Construct collapsed with a roar.
Smoke and light filled the sky.
But this time;
The scene was entirely different.
To Haruki's eyes, the small, cute sorceress before him... wasn't some innocent girl. She was a sovereign commanding countless armies.
"Light... lost to Darkness?"
"Dueling doesn't care about Light or Dark, my friend." Hikaru calmly pointed forward:
"And now, of course."
"Winda, direct attack!"
Thousands of purple strings shot toward Haruki, tearing through his white aura. Even as the Reaper swung its scythe to claim him, Winda's threads grabbed it too, turning even Death into another puppet.
[Haruki, LP: 1400 → 0]