But...
When he opened his Deck and saw the "hand" he had drawn, his mood grew even heavier.
On the other side, on the "frontline," John was desperately fending off Professor Paladin.
He also had no idea why Professor Paladin had suddenly changed so much.
He clearly remembered that Professor Paladin's Deck used to be the "Round Table Knight" Noble Knights with Noble Arms, but today it had turned into the Noble Knights of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne.
Not only that, Professor Paladin usually also fought using combos of Noble Arms and Knights, a style exactly the same as his own, which relied on Magic, Traps, and Crystal Beasts working together.
But now—
Professor Paladin was doing Synchro Summons!!!!
Staring at the Infernoble Knight Captain Roland and Infernoble Knight Captain Oliver on the opponent's field, as well as the powerful Infernoble Knight Emperor Charles, John was completely dumbfounded.
Deck changes and such, he could still chalk up to Professor Paladin holding back in the past.
But a Synchro suddenly popping up was way too ridiculous, right!?
And also...
Synchro was actually allowed in the Academy now!?
So it turned out that now in the Academy, not only could Spirits be materialized, they could even manage Synchro Summons?
Thinking about it carefully, that kind of made sense.
The school's current situation felt more like being inside the Spirit World, so being able to Synchro didn't seem that strange...
"John."
Suddenly, a voice rang in his ear.
It was Tenjo Hikari!?
He remembered now.
Previously, Tenjo Hikari seemed to have said that for the sake of the bigger picture, he couldn't take the initiative to attack and had to "wait."
But just sitting around waiting to die wasn't his style.
So he had been constantly preparing and taking precautions: helping classmates while planning a counterattack.
On the "Duel Assist Glasses," that piece of equipment used to observe Spirits, Tenjo Hikari seemed to have been adding other functions the whole time.
A communication feature?
"What is it, Tenjo, did something happen?"
His current field was in a bit of danger; without "Linglong," his ATK was having trouble keeping up. Trap Cards could only solve things for a moment, and those Noble Arms could be retrieved even after being destroyed, which made them extremely hard to deal with.
On top of that, those "Infernoble Knights" in the Graveyard could also be equipped to Warrior-Type Monsters as Equip Cards, which was even more of a headache.
Of course, more importantly, during the Duel he noticed that the Darkness wound around the professor's body was growing crazily; whenever he or the professor lost Life Points, clear wounds would appear.
If he actually defeated the professor, Professor Paladin might faint on the spot because of this Darkness Power.
That absolutely couldn't happen!
He wasn't stopping Professor Paladin just to leave one of them unconscious!
If possible, he actually wanted to focus more and try to persuade the professor to let go of his hatred.
On the other end, Tenjo Hikari was fiddling with a few things while talking on the phone, and said to John, "John, just repeat a few lines after me."
?
"What lines?"
"First line: Professor, you don't have a fiancée."
"Second line: Professor, Angelica is the name of the magazine star on your desk."
"So, Professor, there is absolutely no grudge between you and Professor Moushou."
...
Eh?
"I've sent you the footage and records. You should receive it on your Duel Disk any moment now."
Eh, eh!??
He lowered his head to look at the Duel Disk. Besides the information about their Card matchup, there was now a small video. He opened it and saw Tenjo Hikari and Manjome rummaging through Professor Paladin's room.
That behavior was really inappropriate, sure...
But they had indeed dug out a magazine with a silver-haired girl "Angelica" on it, and not only that, they also displayed the professor's personal info.
Ah—huh?!
Huh??
John felt like he was drifting in the Star Sea, his mind full of question marks.
Wait a second?
Then—
He shook his head.
If this was real, didn't that mean the professor had injured Professor Moushou by mistake?
Did he get too deep into his "Role-playing Technique" and mix everything up!?
Ehh—
He filled in a reasonable explanation in his mind.
But whatever the case.
"Professor, are you in your right mind!!" he shouted, "You don't have a fiancée!!"
Huh!?
Both Professor Paladin himself and the surrounding students and teachers watching were utterly confused by John.
No way, John, what nonsense are you spouting—
The professor literally swung a sword at someone, how could this be nonsense!?
"John, you little brat, are you making fun of me!?"
John didn't hold back either; with zero rhetorical finesse, he blurted right after, "Professor, snap out of it, how could you possibly have a fiancée!?
That Angelica is the star from the magazine you read!!!"
Hearing this, Paladin felt his head go blank. After a long while, he finally snapped back: "You little punk, have I been too gentle with you—"
Just as he said that, a book suddenly fell from the sky and hit the ground. Paladin looked up and saw Manjome tossing a magazine down from above.
It seemed Tenjo Hikari and Manjome had sneaked into his dorm room.
Those two little punks—
He was just about to curse when he suddenly caught sight of the magazine cover on the ground.
Eh!
Angelica—
He froze a little.
Seeing this scene, John couldn't help but purse his lips.
Mmph...
He really, really wanted to laugh—
Looks like it's actually true!
The students watching, upon seeing this, also cried out in surprise: "Eh! I've seen this person, she really is a movie star, right—"
"Seriously, my phone wallpaper is her too..."
Someone even pulled out their phone to check; the lockscreen was indeed a graceful silver-haired woman.