The massive die spun slowly in the air, leaving the students watching the Duel slack-jawed.
[Number 85: Crazy Box] Rank 4│DARK│Fiend│3000 ATK
"An Xyz Monster..."
"And a Number? That means there are at least 84 more!?"
"Its Attack is 3000, that's Blue-Eyes level!"
"If they're all that strong, then what's next!?"
Assassin No. 44 panted with a deranged smile.
Using this card drained his body and clouded his mind with the thrill of gambling and the hunger to kill.
Originally, he had planned a sneakier, safer ambush against Amaki Hikaru.
After all, he wasn't confident he could beat him in a fair Duel.
That said, one day, he had awakened to this power, a power beyond human comprehension.
He realized that as long as he "gambled," the outcome always bent to his will. And so he craved victory more than ever.
"Crazy Box's monster effect: once per turn, detach 1 Xyz Material, roll a die, and activate a different effect!"
"I detach one Xyz Material!"
[Crazy Box, Materials: 2 → 1]
The giant black box began to spin wildly. Through its various faces, twisted sights could be seen, wings, eyes, legs, all eerie and dreamlike.
Moments later.
The box slammed to the ground.
Five pips facing up. A massive arm.
"Haha-5!"
"Crazy Box's effect: Roll a 5, destroy 1 card on the field!"
He pointed at the Continuous Spell behind Hikaru.
"I destroy your Scatter Fusion!"
The top of Crazy Box opened, and a demonic claw reached out, seizing the shining gem on Hikaru's field and crushing it with a crack.
"Tsk~ One-in-six chance, huh? Amaki Hikaru, looks like your luck isn't so great," Tierra remarked.
"Oh no!!!"
Celina cried out.
"This is bad! With Scatter Fusion destroyed, Gem-Knight Ruby loses its power source and is sent to the Graveyard too, leaving Hikaru with no monsters to defend him!"
"And that Crazy Box has 3000 Attack! If he takes a direct hit!"
"It's fine," Hikaru replied calmly, unshaken. "Crazy Box can't attack."
"Huh?"
"What?"
All the students froze.
Even the assassin stared blankly for a second before blurting, "How did you know that..."
Then he shut his mouth and glared at Hikaru.
Letting your opponent read you during a Duel was mental suicide. He couldn't let it happen again.
"I set two cards. End turn."
Meanwhile, another flame ignited in the sky.
Final Countdown: Turn 3.
Hikaru rubbed his chin.
A Number, huh?
If it's a Number, that explains it. People in this world usually couldn't Xyz Summon properly. Even Kaiser used bizarre photon gear to do it.
There must be a connection between Kaiser and his family.
So running into a Number didn't surprise him much.
However
Since it's a Number, it probably had that trait.
O-version Numbers didn't. Though in the original series, every Number monster had this effect:
They can't be destroyed by battle except by another Number.
This guy probably remembered that, and figured that pairing Final Countdown with a 3000 ATK Crazy Box that can't be destroyed in battle would be hard to break in this world.
It was a decent plan.
After all, Crazy Box couldn't attack.
Smart, though it would've been better if it were Number 59: Crooked Cook.
That one had immunity to everything, and in this world, likely couldn't be destroyed by battle either. Now that would be an ideal stalling card.
As for Crazy Box...
Still, Hikaru considered.
He'd faced plenty of stall decks before. He knew their weakness well. That's why he fused Ruby instead of his favorite, Gem-Knight Prismaura.
"My turn. Draw."
He glanced at the card.
"I activate the Spell Card: Shaddoll Fusion. Since my opponent controls a monster."
"Not happening!" the assassin snapped, flipping a set card.
"Trap Card: Solemn Judgment!"
"Pay half LP, negate the Spell or Trap activation and destroy it!"
Before Hikaru could resolve the Spell, an old man appeared in midair and simply said, "You shall not."
[Assassin No. 44, LP: 3950 → 1975]
"Smart move," a student muttered. "He might act crazy, but that guy clearly knows Hikaru's recent strategies. If Shaddoll Fusion resolved and Hikaru brought out Construct, Crazy Box's 3000 ATK wouldn't have mattered. It would've been wiped instantly."
"Fine," Hikaru said without flinching.
"Then I play this. Normal Spell Card: Instant Fusion!"
"Pay 1000 LP to Fusion Summon a Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck."
"Damn, that's so like Hikaru!" a student shouted, standing on their seat.
"Huh?" another outsider looked puzzled.
"ATK 3000? Doesn't matter. No need for effects. Hikaru just needs to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict and use its effect to absorb Crazy Box!"
"OHHHHH! Thousand-Eyes Restrict! Hikaru has that card!?"
A wave of excitement erupted.
"Then he's got this!"
"Heh... naive," the assassin crossed his arms, sneering.
He looked extremely confident.
"I pay 1000 LP to Fusion Summon: Thousand-Eyes Restrict."
[Thousand-Eyes Restrict] Level 1│DARK│Spellcaster│0 ATK
[Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3000]
"At this moment, I also activate a card." The assassin flipped his second set.
"Quick-Play Spell: Forbidden Chalice."
"Target 1 face-up monster on the field. It gains 400 ATK and has its effects negated until the end of this turn."
A floating chalice appeared and tilted gently, letting a single drop of holy water land on the wicked god.
[Thousand-Eyes Restrict, ATK: 0 → 400]
However, in exchange, it lost its powerful effect!
Clever.
"End turn." Hikaru calmly picked up Thousand-Eyes Restrict from his Duel Disk and sent it to the Graveyard. "At the end of the turn, due to Instant Fusion's effect, Thousand-Eyes Restrict is destroyed."
Above, the grinning Final Countdown grew darker. The fourth flame blazed.
"He stopped everything! Even the perfect opening Hikaru created."
"How!? How is this even happening, come on, Hikaru! Fight back!"
Panic spread among the students. If Hikaru lost, they might all go down with him.
They'd become victims of that lunatic!
And yet all of Hikaru's solutions were shut down by that guy!
What now!?
"Master..." Celina clenched her fists, then suddenly stood up.
The puppet strings only kept her from leaving the car, not from moving.
"Everyone! Don't give up! Master would never lose!"
"Believe in him, believe in Fusion!"
"Master, you can do it!!!"
She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted toward the top of the train.
Some students, who had been writing farewells or thinking of jumping, were shaken.
Celina, daughter of the Fusion Army's leader, Amaki Hikaru's student, and the nexus of everything, was still fighting.
How could they give up?
"Damn." One student slapped himself. "I actually doubted Hikaru was with the Fusion Army."
His friends nodded.
They had all once suspected Hikaru after the Fusion Army incidents. It was hard to trust someone who constantly preached about Fusion being the noblest method.
Regardless, everything was clear now.
When demons appeared, Hikaru had jumped off the train to protect them. When threatened, he hadn't run, he stayed to Duel.
Amaki Hikaru would never side with the Fusion Army!
"You got this, Hikaru!!"
All the students crowded around the monitors in every car, shouting with everything they had.
"Heh..." Assassin No. 44 chuckled at their noise. "Even now, they still trust you? Just imagine their faces when you fail. That's gonna be priceless!"
Hikaru looked down toward the train.
He couldn't see the students.
Yet, the rage and gloom brought on by the Dark World and Fusion Army faded.
Maybe it was because he felt... lighter. Enough to make small talk.
"Fail?
What are you talking about? I'd never let my classmates die because of me."
"Hah, still bluffing…"
Hikaru raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Tierra laughed, amused by his impression of her.
Even so, she didn't mind. With a snap of her own, she raised a mass of puppet strings.
The train rumbled.
Behind the strings, a mass of metallic objects wrapped in thread flew into the sky, partially disassembled.
Assassin No. 44's eyes went wide.
Those were...
Bombs!
The bombs he had painstakingly planted on the train over an entire day using the power of a Number!
All now airborne, dismantled!
"Foolish," Hikaru said.
...
Bonus @400
If we can reach top 70 this week, i'll release 10 bonus chapters