That's the famous "Hikari" after all!
And among the lurking spirits, a cold Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra silently slithered up near the Dueling Arena, eyes open, watching the field.
Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra is a Spirit you can pretty much see everywhere on this Predaplanet, so having one more or one less of it around doesn't strike the nearby Predaplants as anything strange.
But…
This Cobra is not an ordinary Cobra. It is…
Yuri's Cobra.
Its plant eyes narrowed several times as it watched the Duel, recording information, and at the same time letting its master see what things looked like over here.
It could already imagine how excited its master would be when he saw this Duel—Whoa, it's a Duel with senior Hikari, how interesting, show me more Polymerization!
"Duel!"
Predaplant, Northern leader, Three-Pronged Hellflower God, LP: 4000.
Absolute Fusion Master, Tenjo Hikari, LP: 4000.
"My turn."
Several roots lashed out from the body of Three-Pronged Hellflower God, dragging a Card up from the ground.
"Hikari, do you know what a true 'Predaplant' is like?"
"Uh, you mean, actual carnivorous plants?"
"Exactly."
Tenjo Hikari didn't quite understand why Three-Pronged Hellflower God suddenly brought this up.
But Three-Pronged Hellflower God quickly began its explanation.
"In nature, insectivorous plants are those that can capture and digest insects to obtain nutrients. These plants usually grow in nutrient-poor soils, lacking sufficient minerals—such as swamps or wetlands—so they must rely on preying on insects in order to absorb enough nitrogen and other minerals."
"You should also know that most Spirits actually have an Original Scripture, an archetype, and we Predaplants are precisely the Spirits and reflections of those plants."
The words coming out of that blood-filled maw were, however, rational and tinged with concern.
"We are users of Polymerization Summons, yet our Polymerization requires assistance from other beings, even devouring other beings to make our Polymerization easier… For example, like this."
From among the many Cards, it used a root to bind one Card and placed it on the field: "I pay 1000 Life Points and activate the Spell Card, Instant Fusion."
Three-Pronged Hellflower God, LP: 4000→3000.
"You should be very familiar with this Card." It spoke. "Pay 1000 Life Points to activate. Treat 1 LV 5 or lower Fusion Monster as having been Fusion Summoned and Fusion Summon it from the Extra Deck. The Monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack and is destroyed during the End Phase.
I pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon LV 3 Zombie Warrior."
A trembling skeletal Warrior crawled up out of a burial pit, its body looking extremely tattered, its bones all cracked and broken.
Zombie Warrior, LV 3, Dark Attribute, Zombie-Type, ATK 1200.
A Fusion Monster with no effect.
"Normal Summon, Predaplant Chlamydosundew."
Classic.
Off to the side, Tierra nodded lightly.
The true "soul" of Predaplants—Predaplant Chlamydosundew.
She had already seen Tenjo Hikari use Predaplant Chlamydosundew to Polymerization Summon Predaplant Chimerafflesia countless times.
However…
This time, it seemed something different was going to happen?
By now, after watching so many Duels and learning so much, Tierra had even participated in several Duels herself, and would occasionally play against Serena to test what she'd learned.
So Tierra was no longer that God who used to be completely clueless, eyes blank and knowing nothing.
After all, she'd been watching Tenjo Hikari Duel for so long; she had gained quite a bit of awareness.
If the goal was simply to perform a Polymerization Summon for Predaplant Chimerafflesia, there was no need to start by paying 1000 Life Points to Summon a Monster that was guaranteed to explode at the end of the turn.
In other words, the reason Three-Pronged Hellflower God fused out this Monster had to be for some specific purpose—either for Zombie Warrior's Type, or for its Attribute.
Considering that a Predaplant Deck is packed with Dark Attribute Monsters, it hardly lacks Dark Attribute Fusion Material, so it's highly likely that Three-Pronged Hellflower God used Instant Fusion to Fusion Summon this Monster not for anything else, but for…
The Fusion Monster itself!
"I activate the effect of Predaplant Chlamydosundew, once per turn, during my own Main Phase. I select Fusion Materials specified by a Dark Attribute Fusion Monster that include this Card on the field, from my Hand Cards, my field, and Monsters on the opponent's field that have Predaplant counters placed on them, send them to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck.
The Fusion Conditions are: that Fusion Monster plus 1 Dark Attribute Monster."
It lightly flicked its right claw, and from the barren basin of the Dueling Arena, a mass of vegetation suddenly surged upward. Then, a dragon-shaped plant with wings burst forth from within.
"LV 8, Predaplant Dragostapelia."
Predaplant Dragostapelia, LV 8, Dark Attribute, Plant-Type, Attack Power 2700.
There it was.
Dragostapelia!
Seeing this familiar Monster manifested as a Spirit projection before him, Tenjo Hikari grinned.
Predaplant Dragostapelia could be called a staple tech and common effect tool in Dark Attribute Fusion Decks.
Of course, if that were all, Tenjo Hikari wouldn't have such a strong reaction to Dragostapelia.
As a Card, its most famous aspect might not even be its power level, but that as a Predaplant Card, it's like another Verte Anaconda, turning into a splashable tech that slipped into another Deck… namely the recently released "Tearlaments" Deck.
As an old Card with not-so-high rarity, its price skyrocketed thanks to Tearlaments—an odd sort of fate.
In short, it's a classic Card in "Dark Attribute Fusion" Decks; even before Tenjo Hikari came to this world, it was a very decent generic Fusion Monster.
Of course, Yu Gi Oh is a constantly evolving competitive game; Card effects and systems keep progressing. With examples like Spellbook of Judgment, Tenjo Hikari knows there can never be an Invincible Deck, only invincible new Cards, so he doesn't feel any particular fear toward Dragostapelia.
The same logic applies.
At least at this stage, "Dragostapelia" is extremely useful for his Deck.
However, after Tenjo Hikari finished looking at Dragostapelia, he returned to pondering what Three-Pronged Hellflower God had said earlier.
"You need to prey on other living beings to perform Polymerization; could it be… that your Spirit bodies also have some kind of defect?" Tenjo Hikari asked curiously.
Three-Pronged Hellflower God shook its three heads.
Not quite that serious.
"We Predaplants survive by 'preying' on other Spirits to gain Duel Energy. Our Polymerization is also a process of devouring the opponent's energy during a Duel to carry out Fusion.
Under this powerful Polymerization, our Planet grew ever more prosperous, but now… the Spirit Dimension has split apart, and the Spirits in Dimensions adjacent to ours have grown stronger and stronger under their own cultivation. Relying solely on Duels to devour the opponent's energy has become increasingly difficult.
Our Polymerization has already reached its 'extreme limit'."
So that's it.
So that's why it asked that before the Duel?
"Lord Hikari, faced with the predicament of our Planet, with our path of Polymerization having reached a dead end, as the leader of the Northern Continent, I am very curious—in such circumstances, how would you perform Polymerization? How could you gain my recognition?
If you can answer my questions, resolve my doubts, and point out a brand-new path… then you may attempt to invite all Spirits of the Northern Continent, including myself!"
"I set two Cards and end my turn!"
"I see, so that's what this is about?" Tenjo Hikari, after listening, did not grow discouraged or nervous; instead, he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Then my luck, and your lordship's luck, are pretty good."
Tenjo Hikari drew a Card from his Deck and looked at it. "As it happens, I've just obtained a bit of brand-new power myself."