Chapter 57: Provocation from the Galaxy
"What are you doing here?"
When Amano stepped onto the exam duel field and discovered the upperclassman responsible for his Synchro Academy test was a certain familiar shorty, he couldn't help asking.
"Doing you in!"
Kaiba Chiha ground her teeth, her tone suppressing a month's accumulated fury.
Who exactly was this new student?
Even Kaiba Chiha, ranked tenth in the academy, recognized him.
Though Kaiba Chiha wasn't tall, her features carried the Kaiba Family's excellent genes. Her petite build was unexpectedly popular among certain groups too.
"But isn't Kaiba Chiha-senpai from Xyz Academy? Why's she handling Synchro Academy's exam?"
"Could it be to give that guy special treatment? To boost his ranking points?"
"My god, if you defeat a top-ten ranker during the entrance exam, how many points would you earn all at once?!"
"So you can exploit loopholes like this? Academy City's system has finally shown its dark side!"
"Wait, the atmosphere seems off. Let's watch first!"
Could only say she truly was an academy celebrity—just standing there brought automatic attention.
Before the duel even started, conspiracy theories were already flying everywhere.
This caused what had initially been a duel watched only by people eating Amano's lemon to instantly attract everyone at the exam venue's attention.
"Isn't that my bro Amano? He's so popular?"
Having just passed Fusion Academy's exam, Mizuki also noticed the commotion.
"Let me see, Amano-bro's opponent... Holy crap, it's Kaiba Chiha? This is huge!"
As a professional BiliBili content creator, though Mizuki's popularity was low, her nose for hot topics wasn't dull.
She instantly activated her Eva terminal's livestream function, broadcasting the duel field's current scene to her account's stream.
"Guys, this is crazy! Academy top-ten Kaiba Chiha is personally administering my bro's exam! A cross-academy duel examination—probably the first time in history! Come witness history with your streamer!"
[Eva: Duel Recognized]
[Duelist - Amano Rei]
[Duelist - Kaiba Chiha]
[Data Network Connected, Duel Field Generated]
[Duel Content - Entrance Exam: Synchro]
[Restriction - Extra Deck: Synchro]
[Proud duelists, let the outcome of this duel serve as the scale measuring your souls!]
[Duel—!]
Expanding his Eva terminal into a Duel Disk, Amano's deck glowed first—winning the first turn.
"I Set one monster in Defense Position and Set one card. Turn end."
"Still such a useless opening, Amano. My turn, draw!"
Turn switching to Kaiba Chiha, she scanned her hand, a wicked smile gradually forming at the corners of her mouth.
Amano instantly got an ominous feeling.
"Chiha, let me ask—are you using the test deck?"
"Do I look like I'm running a charity?"
As welfare the academy prepared for new students, even in exam duels, you could normally gain ranking points.
So the students responsible for exams generally had relatively low rankings. Even losing wouldn't cost many points, and the academy provided certain economic compensation.
But having a super-strong top-ten total ranking powerhouse handle entrance exams—this really was unprecedented.
Eyes gleaming viciously, Kaiba Chiha slapped a Magic card onto her Duel Disk.
"Ritual Spell activated: [Photon Sanctuary]!"
Alright, the moment this card appeared, Amano knew.
Kaiba Chiha definitely wasn't using a test deck for this duel.
What Synchro Academy test used Photon Dragons?
This was obviously an Xyz deck!
Using your own deck for a test duel? Looked like Academy City's system really had shown its dark side after all!
[Photon Sanctuary] [Ritual Spell: Required for the Ritual Summon of "Paladin of Photon Dragon." Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal 4 or more.]
Synchro Academy's test only restricted Synchro Summons.
But that restriction targeted Extra Deck summoning methods—Main Deck summons had no limits.
Ritual Summons were one unrestricted type.
"I Tribute the Level 4 [Photon Thrasher] from my hand as the Ritual's offering!"
This was also Amano's first time seeing someone use Ritual Summon in this world.
The monster card's four stars embedded themselves one by one onto the shining Ritual card face.
"Brave one dwelling within photons, answer the light's guidance!"
"Ritual Summon: [Paladin of Photon Dragon]!"
[Paladin of Photon Dragon] [4★ LIGHT]
[Dragon/Ritual] [ATK: 1900] [DEF: 800]
Bursting from the Ritual's radiance, the photon dragon knight wielding a long spear materialized floating above Kaiba Chiha's field.
"When I control a 'Photon' monster, the Level 8 [Galaxy Knight] in my hand can be Normal Summoned without Tributes!"
[Galaxy Knight] [8★ LIGHT]
[Warrior/Effect] [ATK: 2800] [DEF: 2600]
Swirling starlight in black galaxy effects shattered. From within emerged a knight in silver armor wielding a silver sword.
"Directly Normal Summoning a Level 8 monster?" Even Finesse belatedly realized: "This definitely isn't an entrance exam deck!"
If even Finesse could tell, then throughout the entire exam venue, it was basically an open secret.
Kaiba Chiha hadn't come to give Amano special treatment—she'd come to utterly destroy him.
That was the academy's tenth-ranked duelist. Her own deck's strength, even without Xyz Summoning, was enough to crush most students.
"Actually treating streamer's good bro like this—Kaiba Chiha, you're too despicable! Fellow stream viewers, let's condemn this behavior together!"
Facing Kaiba Corporation's second-in-command, it wasn't that Mizuki feared authority.
Mizuki just knew—nobody ever clicked into her livestream anyway.
[Stream Viewers: 340]
"Huh?" Having just finished leading the anti-Chiha momentum, Mizuki Mu glanced at the screen and instantly froze.
Her livestream had broken historical records, reaching an astounding three digits.
[Barrage: This person is Kaiba Corporation's vice president, right? Streamer, where are you broadcasting from?]
[Barrage: This is a duel happening right now at the Duel Academy exam grounds—I'm here on-site.]
[Barrage: Streamer, streamer, aren't you afraid Kaiba Corporation will come after you for stirring up controversy like this?]
"Not afraid!" Though Mizuki had somewhat backed herself into a corner, she still decided to steel her heart and seize this opportunity. "Amano-bro saved me yesterday—of course I've got to support him!"
"[Paladin of Photon Dragon]'s effect activates!"
Completely unconcerned with outside discussion, Kaiba Chiha pointed skyward with one hand. Galaxy radiance exploded at the horizon.
[Tribute this card to activate. Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from your hand or Deck.]
"Galaxy shining in darkness, become light of hope dwelling within me! Avatar of light, descend here!"
"Appear! Special Summon—Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"