This is actually the normal situation. Most Blue Academy students support Ryu simply because they belong to the same academy. They want to maintain the "nobility" of Blue Academy in the school.
But if the duel continues... haha, that's hard to say.
After all, while they are Blue Academy students, they are also members of the Fusion Department. To expand the Fusion Department and earn more "credits" in dimension exploration, they hope for an outstanding member of the Fusion Faction even more!
Realizing this, Ryu quickly shook his head.
If he wins, there's still a chance; if he loses, it's over!
He's not Yuryu; he's used this deck many times and has other cards acquired as a sophomore. Even if the monster summoned through Fusion Summon was interrupted, he still has three cards in hand!
"I activate the Field Spell Card, Geartown!"
"Geartown? It's a specialized field for Ancient Gears, reducing the tribute requirement by one... Does senpai want to summon an Ancient Gear Beast?"
"You—" His thoughts guessed correctly, Ryu trembled, gritting his teeth, revealing a monster from his hand, "Normal Summon, Ancient Gear Beast!"
"Awwoooo~~" A massive hound made entirely of steel and gears leaped out from the card.
Ancient Gear Beast, LV 6, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, Attack Power 2000.
"Batt—"
"Wait!"
Tenjo Hikari directly interrupted him.
"Before you enter the Battle Phase!" Tenjo Hikari directly opened the Set Card, "I activate the Trap Card, Salamandra with Chain!"
"This is a Trap Card that returns Fusion Material from the hand, field, or graveyard to the deck to Special Summon a Fire Attribute Fusion Monster—however, that effect can only be activated in the graveyard.
When this card is activated, it can be equipped to a Fire Attribute monster on the field, increasing that monster's attack power by 700 points. Afterward, it can turn one Effect Monster on the field into Face-down Position!"
"What!"
"Hehe, I don't need to say it, you understand too!" Tenjo Hikari's gaze was icy.
"Damn it! Damn!!" Ryu cursed aloud.
A chain flew out of the flames, binding the Ancient Gear Beast. The Flame Swordsman pulled hard, covering the monster completely, simultaneously increasing its attack power from 1800 to 2500 points!
Helpless.
Ryu felt helpless for the first time.
Even when facing third-year students, he had never felt this afraid. Only that one time, when he accidentally saw the third-year chief Marufuji Ryo's duel, did he feel this way.
Can this guy compare to Caesar?
No, no, impossible!
Caesar is the pride of their Blue Academy!
"Tsk... My turn ends."
Though reluctant to end, with only one card in hand, he had nothing else to do.
But it doesn't matter.
Labyrinth Tank's DEF is 2400, Ancient Gear Beast's DEF is 2000; the two monsters aren't easy to destroy!
Even if the opponent's Flame Swordsman now has an attack power of 2500, it doesn't matter. Next turn, as long as one monster remains, and he draws Ancient Gear Golem, he can Tribute Summon Ancient Gear Golem!
The Ancient Gear Golem, comparable to Blue-Eyes White Dragon, boasts an impressive attack power of 3000, far exceeding most monsters!
"My turn, draw!"
It was Tenjo Hikari's turn. He glanced at the card in hand and chuckled, "Senpai, it seems the cards are quite displeased with you too."
"?"
"Hmm... Though it might not mean much, fulfilling the wishes of the monsters is also necessary. So... I Normal Summon—Ancient Gear Beast!"
"Awwooo!!"
"Ah!" Seeing a giant mechanical dog made of rusty gears and steel appear in front of him, Ryu jumped in shock, subconsciously stepping back.
Geartown's effect reduces the tribute by one for both sides when summoning Ancient Gear monsters. Therefore, even Tenjo Hikari can directly summon an Ancient Gear Beast!
"Wasn't it supposed to be only fusion?"
"No... Even with fusion, aren't there still materials?"
"Yes, not to mention..."
Several Red and Yellow Academy students looked at a Set Card on the field, though they said nothing, the meaning was clear.
This is a world where Card Spirits exist. Someone like Ryu, who gets rejected by cards and even counterattacked by them... It's all too common.
This looks like the Ancient Gear monsters are dissatisfied with Ryu!
"Next, I activate Overload Future Fusion's effect. Reveal Labyrinth Tank, send Giga-Tech Wolf from the deck to the graveyard——immediately, I activate Overload Future Fusion's second effect!
Banishing the monster in the graveyard as Fusion Material, Fusion Summon one Machine-Type, Dark Attribute Fusion Monster!"
"Fusion Summon——Labyrinth Tank!"
Rumble.
The Labyrinth Tank arrives on the battlefield immediately!
"Da... damn it..."
"Wow, I see, Overload Future Fusion has such a use—Doesn't this mean you can Fusion Summon a Dark Attribute Machine-Type monster every two turns? Amazing!"
"Obviously the same High-Level Monsters and Fusion Monsters, but why does it feel like this student uses them more effectively?"
"Cough cough, don't say things like that, those Blue guys are looking over here!"
The underlings of Ryu glared viciously at those people, but even they had to admit—perhaps their boss really wasn't a match for Tenjo Hikari.
"Let's battle," Tenjo Hikari shrugged, "Use Flame Swordsman to attack Labyrinth Tank, use Labyrinth Tank to attack Ancient Gear Beast, then direct attack with Ancient Gear Beast—I regret that my deck doesn't have Limiter Removal, otherwise this strike would have finished it."
"Well then... your turn now!" Tenjo Hikari's face showed a smile that seemed friendly, "Senpai!"
Ryu shakily reached for his deck.
His hand only had one Ancient Gear Soldier left, completely incapable of holding out in this situation.
Though there's a Geartown on the field, Tenjo Hikari clearly isn't a fool who would destroy Geartown just to trigger its second effect.
Does my deck even have something to win against this situation?
There is...
Is there? There should be!
He shakily drew a card and then felt his entire body lose strength all at once, collapsing to the ground.
...
Ancient Gear Golem!
It's over!
He could already envision his future reputation and situation at the academy!
The cards scattered all over, and the Duel Disk automatically declared defeat, Tenjo Hikari glanced from afar and chuckled.
"Senpai, weren't you looking for a Golem? Here it is."
"Not respecting and taking care of your cards, naturally they won't respond to you."
Tenjo Hikari continued, "People like you, are you even worthy of noble Polymerization? Though your clothes are purple, in your heart, there is no sense of collectivity, no sense of everyone, and no fusion!"
He felt a warm flow surging within him, although he didn't know where it was flowing, it was absolutely much more than Yuryu's before, at least three to four times more!
The Flame Swordsman took three or four days to pull off, with this amount, it feels like there should be another Fusion Monster today!
On the other side, Professor Cronos had already come over, he approached Tenjo Hikari, took a deep breath, and said, "Tenjo-san, your duel was quite pure, truly surprising."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Take this card," Professor Cronos pulled out an Ancient Gear Golem, "It's not a temporary card gifted by the Fusion Department, but a card gifted to you by me, Professor Cronos, the user of the Ancient Gear Deck."
"Ah!"
"Professor?"
A group of students from the Fusion Department, especially those from Blue Academy, immediately showed expressions of envy and jealousy.
Their Ancient Gears were actually cards borrowed from the academy, which they'd have to return after graduation.
But a card gifted by Professor Cronos would surely be one they could use for life!
That was a monster comparable to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
"Thank you, Professor," Tenjo Hikari accepted the card without hesitation.
"I should be the one thanking you."
?
A question mark appeared above Tenjo Hikari's head.
What?
"Thank you for today's duel, it reminded me that framing and false accusation tactics should not be used." Professor Cronos wiped a tear with his handkerchief, feeling sentimental.
?
Is he associating today's events with Judai?
I only approached you because, in my memories, you're the highest-ranking professor, nothing more.
But he didn't say this out loud, as it was a rather favorable misunderstanding.
"Let me take this student away; there will be a report and punishment later. You all continue with your club activities." Cronos, with his thoughts elsewhere, left.
Professor Cronos is actually a good teacher, willing to sacrifice himself to protect students in the original story, so Tenjo Hikari was quite willing to maintain a good relationship with him.
Meanwhile, the other students went off to do their own things. Some peers who initially wanted to challenge Tenjo Hikari backed off seeing the upperclassmen's loss. Some students from Red and Yellow Academy rushed to cheer for Tenjo Hikari.
After handling the social interactions, Tenjo Hikari found a quiet place to sit down to rest.
From the beginning, he had a sense of unease.
He just couldn't figure out its source.
He opened his deck to look for the newly acquired Ancient Gear Golem.
This card, in this era, is still very—
Whoa!
His eyes widened.
"No way!"
In his deck, the Ancient Gear Beast and Ancient Gear Golem were already stuck together, not due to moisture or glue, but slowly merging, slowly turning purple, slowly—
Transforming into a Fusion Monster!
Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!
The two cards... fused!