"Ha, leaving already, Amaki Hikaru?"
Noticing that Hikaru didn't linger but left straight away, Silver Meteor flexed his right hand. What tension remained in him eased immediately.
He looked at Celina.
If his opponent was this same-year Celina, then there was nothing to fear.
Never mind his own high confidence in his Dueling skills, he had always looked down on Celina as a person. Though she was the first-year representative, in his view, it was mostly thanks to her "background."
"Since Amaki Hikaru arrogantly walked away, let me take care of you and continue Sartorius-sama's mission." Silver Meteor rolled his wrist.
He was the second-in-command of the Society of Light in this dimension, a middle-tier officer, while Celina was the disciple of Amaki Hikaru, whom Sartorius had long been eyeing. Their "status" was equivalent. If he defeated Celina, he could prove his worth to Sartorius.
Celina didn't respond. She just stood there waiting.
"Duel!" x2
As the Duel Disks activated automatically, both of them shouted at once.
[Silver Meteor, LP: 4000]
[Celina, LP: 4000]
"My turn. Draw!" Silver Meteor placed his hand on his Deck and forcefully drew a card.
He glanced down, "Got it right away. This is the power of Fate!
As expected, it's best to start off with a boss battle!"
"I activate the Field Spell, B.E.F. Zelos!" He inserted the card into the field zone and raised it high.
As he shouted, the scenery around them began to blur. Brilliant stars surrounded Celina and Silver Meteor, as if they stood within the cosmos.
Above Silver Meteor, a colossal mechanical B.E.S. slowly opened its hatch.
"When B.E.F. Zelos is activated, I can add 1 [Boss Rush] from my Deck to my hand!" His Deck automatically ejected a card, which he showed Celina.
"Then, I immediately activate the Continuous Spell I just added to my hand: Boss Rush!" The Continuous Spell [Boss Rush] floated before him.
"This card can only be activated during turns in which I did not perform a Normal Summon! While it remains in my Spell & Trap Zone, I cannot Normal Summon!"
"That's a huge restriction. Hm?" Celina tilted her head in surprise. It was a shame Hikaru had already left. Otherwise, she would've asked him what this Deck was all about.
Still, Hikaru and her teachers' words weren't things she took lightly.
With such a limitation, this card must have great power.
"I activate B.E.F. Zelos's effect. Once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 'B.E.S.' monster from my hand!"
"Come, B.E.S. Covered Core!"
From the massive space fortress. above, a hatch opened slowly. A warship floated out, its enormous core exposed. It looked bulky, but the core appeared vulnerable.
[B.E.S. Covered Core] Level 7│EARTH│Machine│2500 ATK
"When a Covered Core monster is Summoned or Special Summoned, Zellos places 1 counter on it."
[B.E.S. Covered Core, Counter: 0 → 1]
With the counter added, a protective shield roared into place around B.E.S. Covered Core's energy core.
"Also, as long as Zellos is on the field, all my Covered Core monsters gain 500 Attack and Defense, can't be targeted by effects, and can't be destroyed by effects!"
[B.E.S. Covered Core, ATK: 2500 → 3000]
"Haha, how about that? This is the power Sartorius-sama granted me. I can easily reach the might of Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Silver Meteor smiled confidently.
"Turn end!"
"That's Silver Meteor for you!"
"He summoned a monster with Blue-Eyes-level Attack so easily!"
Though Duelists in this world had evolved rapidly, for most of them, 3000 ATK was still a major threshold; So summoning a monster with 3000 ATK to hold the field was still an intimidating move for a first-year student.
Despite that, if it was just about Attack power, Celina wouldn't be fazed!
"My turn. Draw!" Celina drew a card with a smooth motion and glanced at it.
'Noice.'
She had drawn a great combo!
"Normal Summon, Lunalight Emerald Bird!"
A blue warrior with wings on its arms flew out of the card, circled through the stars, and landed between the constellations.
[Lunalight Emerald Bird] Level 4│DARK│Beast-Warrior│1200 ATK
"Lunalight, huh?" Silver Meteor looked at her monster and nodded slightly.
"I see… Sartorius-sama once said Amaki Hikaru possesses the qualities of the [Sun], and you, as his disciple, reflect his light as the Moon?"
"But in the vast cosmos, even stars like the Sun are but mere specks, let alone a satellite."
His implication: under the cosmic light Sartorius wielded, both the Sun-symbolizing Hikaru and the Moonlit Celina were insignificant. It was essentially a taunt.
However;
"What are you saying? I don't get it." Celina said, genuinely puzzled.
She wasn't lying.
"Just Duel properly. Why say weird things?" Celina said as she drew a card from her right hand.
"Ugh…" That made the tech-head flinch with discomfort.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to whip out his handheld console and play a game on the spot to cover his embarrassment.
"Lunalight Emerald Bird's effect: when this card is Summoned or Special Summoned, I send 1 'Lunalight' card from my hand to the Graveyard to draw 1 card."
"I send Lunalight Yellow Marten to the Graveyard, then draw 1 card."
"Then," Celina imitated Tierra, snapping her fingers with a flick of her right hand. "Yellow Marten's effect: when it's sent to the Graveyard by an effect, I add 1 'Lunalight' Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand.
"I add Lunalight Fusion."
"Fusion, huh?" Seeing a dedicated Fusion Spell, Silver Meteor wasn't surprised. "Daughter of the Fusion Army's professor. Disciple of the Absolute Fusionist. It's no shock you'd use Fusion."
Though, thanks to Hikaru's presence at this base, most students no longer viewed Fusion with hostility, Celina, as the "daughter of the Fusion Army's top brass" still made some people uneasy.
A few Society members nearby instinctively frowned.
But for Silver Meteor, it wasn't a problem.
He only felt a twinge of envy.
"Truly envious, your destiny. You're so lucky."
"Huh?" Celina, still proud of her clean opening, scowled immediately at Silver Meteor's words.
'What do you mean my destiny is lucky?'