"Tenjo-san, seeing you back in class again, the teacher is really very happy, nya."
On a new day, Teacher Daitokuji saw Tenjo Hikari returning to class and warmly greeted her with a smile: "Is your body feeling better?"
"Ah, no problem at all, teacher!" Tenjo Hikari cooperatively replied.
"Then, without further ado, come on, Tenjo-san." Daitokuji pointed to the stage, "Today we're conducting a crushing experiment, nya. You come and try your hand at it."
In front of the whole class, Daitokuji directly changed the original plan, inviting Tenjo Hikari to the stage, guiding her as she operated, giving her special attention.
One of the core tenets of alchemy is destruction and regeneration—completely pulverizing materials, then through processes like distillation or grinding, creating them into something else. This is the goal of alchemy.
The other students were already accustomed to this scene, except for Mitsuzawa Daichi, who was still diligently memorizing. Many students had completely given up on learning alchemy.
Rather than mastering alchemy, it seemed more interesting to see what peculiar chemistry experiment Teacher Daitokuji and Tenjo-san were up to again.
School life appeared to remain unchanged. The worries of Judai, who feared losing classmates and friends due to the Darkness Duel, had not unfolded.
Or rather, it hadn't happened so quickly.
After all, even in the original work, the gradual appearance of the Seven Stars took quite some time, with unspecified intervals between each one's appearance.
During class, Tenjo Hikari found Professor Cronos, intending to request another Ancient Gear Golem, with the reason being the previously conceived one: "My Golem somehow turned into an Ultimate Golem."
Previously, Professor Cronos would absolutely not believe in any unscientific or supernatural occurrences. Yet after being attacked by the Gem-Knight in the Other Dimension and learning about the Three Phantasm Cards from the principal, and hearing about the previous Darkness Duel from Asuka,
Now, hearing Tenjo Hikari, he was willing to barely believe it.
Besides, he was receiving quite a bit of support from the principal because of Tenjo Hikari's "status," so of course, he was on board.
After discovering the Other Dimension of the Ancient Gears, the school had an increasing number of Ancient Gear Cards. It was even acceptable to offer a student as an "Outstanding Student Award" through normal channels.
Of course, Tenjo Hikari wasn't just about the card acquisition. With Professor Cronos granting him such significant privileges, he planned to make Professor Cronos the director professor of the "New Fusion Department" in return, exchanging an Antique Gear Fusion with him.
This might be the most normal development in card games—exchange, collection.
On this day.
"Have you heard, have you heard?" Some students eagerly discussed the latest news, "There's suddenly a mansion on the lake to the west of the island!"
"What, what? A mansion?"
"Yes, no one knows when, maybe overnight, a Western-style mansion suddenly appeared. It's said some students are planning an adventure there!"
"Maybe there's a vampire noble, you know!"
"Don't say that, I've heard many students have recently fallen unconscious..."
Perhaps due to the current trend of dramas in the academy, a group of girls were chatting happily.
"Wait a minute—" hearing their conversation, Judai, who happened to be passing by, immediately realized something, "you can't do that!"
Ever since Tenjo Hikari was hospitalized earlier, he had developed a strong caution against Darkness Duels. Realizing that this might be a new enemy, he swiftly took his two friends to the principal's office.
In the principal's office, the principal and the key guardians discussed the relevant topic, becoming aware of it.
The new enemy has arrived!
They hurried to the lake's edge, and unknowingly, a thick fog had settled over the lake, with a colossal mansion, its features obscured, standing alone in the lake's center.
As they approached, a long red carpet unrolled from inside the mansion in a manner that defied science, stretching from the center of the lake to the shore, spreading out on the water's surface.
"Is this an invitation for us?" The students stood before the red carpet, their expressions serious as they gazed at it.
Tenjo Hikari instinctively moved toward the red carpet, but in the next moment, Judai pulled her back, saying, "Wait, Hikari! Your body has just recovered; you can't participate in such a duel!"
"Yes, Tenjo-san," Asuka agreed, "just let me..."
As they spoke, there was an abrupt sound, and somehow, Professor Cronos had already walked onto the red carpet.
The students were shocked, looking at Professor Cronos.
As the only teacher present, he stood up straight and cleared his throat: "Ahem, as the only teacher, let me take this duel!"
"Professor!" Mitsuzawa Daichi and Manjome looked at him in surprise.
Even Marufuji Ryo seemed a bit surprised.
Is Professor Cronos really like this?
Isn't he usually cowardly and timid?
"How commendable of Professor Cronos, " "Truly setting an example," "A model teacher!"
"Well, of course!" Cronos turned, cleared his throat again, stood straight, and solemnly said, "The red carpet is the path for a gentleman, that is, the path for the descendant of a proud noble like myself!"
"Besides, I absolutely won't allow a bunch of unknown characters to freely harm my students at our school!"
On the side, Tenjo Hikari couldn't help but applaud.
It seemed reasonable for a teacher to say something like that, especially since the school had recently seen a number of students fall into comas due to vampire attacks, and being the first to step up made sense.
Speaking of which.
The building looked quite similar to what she remembered.
Which meant, this enemy, was "Vampire Camilla," one of the Seven Stars. In the original work, Camilla easily defeated Professor Cronos by peeking at the opponent's deck and hand cards in advance.
In addition, Camilla had a "Door Leaf of Unreal Devil" card, capable of directly controlling other people's souls and destroying all opposing Monsters. However, upon using this card, the soul of the person who loses the duel must be sacrificed to the Phantasm.
In the original story, Camilla used her vampire powers to control Marufuji Shou, making him her "Scapegoat," forcing Marufuji Ryo to lose the duel and be turned into a doll.
Thinking of this, Tenjo Hikari felt a little excited.
Playing dirty is fine; when the time comes, using Super Polymerization to press over it forcibly absorbs the energy without causing discomfort, while also acquiring a Fusion Card.
As she contemplated, silhouettes emerged from the red carpet, with similar faces, pale skin, batwing-like wings, dressed either as butlers or maids, respectfully bowing to Tenjo Hikari and her companions.
Following them, a green-haired beauty walked elegantly up to them.
"Are you the guardians of the keys?"
"Ah, yes!" Professor Cronos sternly replied, "Are you the one responsible for recent incidents at the school!?"
"Are you the one who intends to duel?" The green-haired beauty frowned, not answering his question, looked towards Marufuji Ryo and Tenjo Hikari, "At least make it more appealing, right?"
"Huh?"
"No way, I absolutely can't let someone like you taint the young lady's eyes—"
'Young lady'??
"I am Vampire Camilla," she suddenly snarled, her face grotesquely enlarging as her tongue lashed out like a snake, "Come on, humans, if you wish to disturb the young lady's slumber, defeat me first!"
"If you lose, willingly let a handsome guy onto the island; if I lose, I'll awaken those bitten and comatose humans!"
"Hmph, consider it done!"
Without further ado, the two set up the Duel Disks in front of all the students and quickly began their duel.
On the side, Tenjo Hikari was full of question marks.
That Camilla, she's not one of the Seven Stars!?