"What's going on, what's going on?"
"What effect?"
"Kagura doesn't seem to be in a good spot, huh?"
Kagurazaka's forehead had a slight sweat, he wiped his forehead, looked at his hand cards, coughed to gather his momentum, and masked his embarrassment: "I will offer Thousand-Eyes Restrict as a sacrifice for a Tribute Summon! Ancient Gear Beast!"
"Huh? Why is that? Why sacrifice a monster that was so hard to swallow?"
"It's because of that, right? The negative effect of Instant Fusion, the summoned monster can't attack and will be destroyed at the end phase. If it stays on the field, Kagura won't be able to attack at all because of Thousand-Eyes Restrict's effect preventing other monsters' attacks."
"Then... why does Kagura look so tense?"
"Monster effect activate!" Right when they were discussing, Tenjo Hikari countered with a shout, "The monster effect of Sapphire Beast!
When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, it targets one card on the opponent's field. That card returns to the owner's hand!
I choose Labyrinth Tank! According to the rules of the Duel, this card can't return to the hand, it will directly return to the Extra Deck!"
In the Graveyard, the blue Gem-Knight slowly appeared, with a sharp gaze, and its shield slammed on the tank, sending it back to Kagurazaka's deck.
"Oh no..." Kagura's face stiffened.
"Kagura-san!" Immediately after, Tenjo Hikari raised his fist and yelled at Kagurazaka, "It is an honor to be someone you mimic, but your understanding is still too superficial!"
"If it's just to activate a trap, Instant Fusion other monsters and then Tribute Summon Ancient Gear Beast is the right choice! Because Ancient Gear Beast has a special effect that negates monster effects destroyed by battle!"
Kagurazaka was a bit embarrassed.
His thought process was directly exposed by Tenjo Hikari.
"Eh? Ancient Gear Beast has such an effect?"
"That's odd, if it has that effect, there's no need to worry, right? Then why prioritize fusing Thousand-Eyes Restrict?"
"Perhaps Kagura wanted to inflict a bit more damage."
In the stands, Judai and others shook their heads.
"Hikari would never do something like trying to deal a little more damage."
"Yeah, Hikari has always ended Duels quickly by creating an opportunity for a one-hit kill through interaction and strategy. He aims for a one-turn win."
In summary, it wasn't mimicry enough, not "fused" enough.
"Even if that's the case, it doesn't matter!" Kagurazaka, overwhelmed by Tenjo Hikari's momentum, was a little nervous but quickly regained his composure and shouted, "Battle, attack with Ancient Gear Beast!
During the battle, you can't activate Magic or Trap Cards!"
Tenjo Hikari shrugged, showing understanding.
The Prism Crystal flipped up, and in front of him, a gigantic mechanical hound came charging. With just 1400 DEF, he didn't even have a chance to struggle before being shredded to pieces.
"...End turn."
"Then, I will also activate in this turn." Tenjo Hikari pressed a card face-down, "Trap Card, Fusion Reserve."
"This card can show an opponent a Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck, then add one Fusion Material Monster listed on that monster's card name from the deck to the hand.
I reveal... Cyber Twin Dragon."
"Cyber...? Ah!" Kagurazaka's face changed.
"Cyber Dragon, huh?" Judai saw the card added to Tenjo Hikari's hand and immediately concluded, "I see, Hikari won."
"What? Big brother, you're speaking too absolutely, aren't you? Although Cyber Dragon is strong, you can't say it's won yet, right?" Shou had a lot of trust in Cyber Dragon but couldn't immediately link it to victory.
"Judai is correct." Next to him, Manjome shook his head, "Just look at Kagurazaka's face; even he knows he's lost."
Marufuji Shou curiously looked over, and indeed saw Kagurazaka's defeated expression, immediately exclaiming, "This... it's really like that, strange, why?"
"The reason's simple, Hikari understands himself better than Kagurazaka does." Mitsuzawa Daichi lightly tapped the railing, "When he saw Labyrinth Tank and used Junk Fusion, Hikari was already prepared.
You'll see that everything he used after was Gem-Knight, completely disregarding the remaining cards."
"Because he feared Kagurazaka's Deck truly mimicked his own, even if only half the same, he couldn't act rashly."
"Until he was sure that Kagura hadn't summoned a Cyber Dragon-related Fusion Monster."
"Then the rest was simple."
Among the bewildered students eavesdropping, Tenjo Hikari drew from his hand.
"When the opponent has a monster on the field, and you do not, Special Summon, Cyber Dragon. Then, Normal Summon, Ancient Gear Knight."
Tenjo Hikari revealed the two monsters.
"Ah!"
Seeing these two monsters appear, Kagurazaka closed his eyes, cursing his bad luck. Clearly, he also knew what was about to happen.
"Send your Ancient Gear Beast and my two monsters to the Graveyard, Fusion!"
"Come forth, Special Summon, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!"
Rumbling, numerous wheels rose from the ground, and the machines on the field got absorbed by these tires, gradually forming a multi-headed giant Mechanical Dragon.
"Wow! This design is not bad!" Tierra nearby cheered upon seeing the physical image.
"Chimeratech Fortress Dragon's ATK is 1000 per material, which means 3000."
Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, LV 8, Dark Attribute, Machine-Type, ATK 3000.
It's done.
Kagurazaka thought to himself.
"Battle, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, direct attack!"
"Aaaah——" Kagurazaka flew backward.
Kagurazaka LP: 3000→0
"It feels... not as good as dueling my own AI at the Kaiba Company." On stage, Manjome couldn't help but comment seeing this scene.
"Well done! Hikari, that was quite a duel!" Judai shouted from the stage.
"Ah... lost again..." Kagurazaka knelt on the ground, hands supporting him with a dejected face.
His Deck did indeed contain "Cyber Dragon", and he had also obtained "Chimeratech Fortress Dragon". Although it differed from Tenjo Hikari's Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, he clearly remembered the effects of Hikari's monster.
He just hadn't expected Tenjo Hikari would directly take Cyber Dragon using "Fusion Reserve".
Not having experienced the Muto Yugi Deck incident, he'd spent the summer researching "Rank 1" Tenjo Hikari's Deck, had favorable outcomes in Duels with others, and though not exceptionally gifted, his specialty was getting any Deck he used to work comparably seamlessly without bricking.
Yet to face the real deal today, not even causing a single damage.
During his crestfallen moment, Tenjo Hikari approached him and extended a hand for a handshake; he stood up in a daze and quickly reached out.
Being from the same Yellow Academy and representing the grade, having embarked on major events such as Dueling in another Dimension, Kagurazaka had great respect for Tenjo Hikari: "T-Tenjo-san, hello."
"Haha, Kagura-san, dueling with you was quite interesting." Tenjo Hikari smiled, shaking his hand, "I never thought I'd encounter a Deck similar to mine today, looking forward to our next Duel."
Though having used Bottomless Trap Hole and Book of Moon, Hikari knew this mimicked effects like Flame Swordsdance. In fact, among Hikari's Deck's three Flame Swordsdances, it seemed one was fused out of Book of Moon.
"R-Really!" Kagura, trembling with excitement, struggled to form words.
"But. I hope next time you can bring in some of your own ideas. It always feels weird when dueling with you."
Tenjo Hikari cheerfully shook hands with Kagurazaka. Removed from the Duel, Kagurazaka lacked the "hostility" from the Integration Department, seeming far more normal.
On one hand, in the original work, Kagurazaka was just a minor character, not very present, nor an antagonist laden with malice. In this world, he didn't become a member of the Fusion Army, so Tenjo Hikari naturally didn't view him as an enemy.
On the other hand, Tenjo Hikari was also curious about what kind of cards he'd gain from dueling with someone using "his own" Deck.
Meanwhile, helped to his feet, Kagurazaka thought the opposite—what a pride of our Ra Yellow Academy!
This face-to-face exchange, next time he'll definitely mimic more comprehensively!