"Wow!!"
"Tenjo Hikari, this guy actually thought this far ahead!"
"Yes, yes, oh, I'm such a fool. When they're dueling, we should have set up bombs!"
Some classmates watching the duel finally realized after seeing Tenjo Hikari reveal these things.
Indeed, physical duels should be settled by physical means.
44 had a gloomy face, his plan defeated, ranting like a clown in front of Tenjo Hikari. Now, his anger was at its peak, but when a person gets extremely angry, they stop shouting and focus intensely on their operations.
"My turn, draw card... Tenjo Hikari, I will make you pay." He looked at his hand card, "Activate the effect of Crazy Box again, roll the dice!"
Crazy Box spun wildly, and then...
It's still 5.
This Number Card resides within his body, naturally unleashing the power it should have as a Number Card.
Simply put, when using this Number Card, he can pretty much get whatever number he wants.
"Destroy your set card!"
Crazy Box, Xyz Material: 1→0.
The set card was grabbed by a hand inside Crazy Box, revealing what's inside.
Trap Card, Pyroxene Fusion.
"And it's not over yet, I Normal Summon, Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!"
"Arf arf, arf!"
The Mechanical Hound appeared on his field.
Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, LV 3, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, ATK 1000.
"When Mechanical Hound is summoned, give the opponent 600 points of damage!"
The Mechanical Hound lunged towards Tenjo Hikari. He tried to support with his left hand but was bitten directly, dark forces emerging from his wrist.
This is the influence of the Numbers.
The hound's attack turned into actual damage, making his wrist feel some pain.
Tenjo Hikari LP: 3000→2400.
"It's not over yet, Tenjo Hikari, I will directly attack you! Ancient Gear Hunting Hound attacks the opponent directly!"
The hound took steps towards Tenjo Hikari again, attempting to knock him off the train directly.
Tenjo Hikari frowned slightly, reversing the Mechanical Hound with a single move.
Are we really doing Action Duels now?
Tenjo Hikari LP: 2400→1400.
"End of the battle phase, hmph, activate Ancient Gear Hunting Hound's effect. This card can fuse with monsters from hand and field. Fusion Summon Ancient Gear Fusion Monster."
"I fuse the Ancient Gear Hunting Hound on the field with the one in my hand—"
"Fusion Summon, LV 5, Ancient Gear Two-headed Hound!"
"Defense Position!"
Ancient Gear Two-headed Hound, LV 5, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, DEF 1000.
After finishing all of this, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Ancient Gear Two-headed Hound can place counters in monster summon or special summon, causing destruction during attacks.
A decent way to protect himself.
Moreover, if luck is on his side, he might not even need the countdown of demise and could achieve victory with Ancient Gear Hunting Hound in the next round.
"End the turn."
The flames in the sky had already slowly ignited six blooms.
"Ha, Tenjo Hikari, you better not be defeated by my fusion—how laughable would that be." The red digits on his head shine more brightly.
Tenjo Hikari, however, ignored him completely, looking out: "It's about time too."
"?"
"We should be arriving at the station soon." Tenjo Hikari pondered.
"What are you talking about?"
"By that, I mean... being tempted by mere power, then using other summon methods, half-understanding, without a shred of principle or belief, using fusion and Ancient Gear in front of me—
You're unworthy to speak of [Fusion]!"
He looked at the assassin, snorting coldly: "Even though you already know my intelligence during this period, you fusion army guys still treat others with the same old routine! Despite having suffered such a huge defeat, you continue to judge by your own imagination. You guys are like headless flies, only knowing how to feed on decay!
Whereas I, even when the cards don't change, I continue to fuse, I continue to sublimate!"
"Watch closely. The final turn."
"Draw card."
Tenjo Hikari drew a card, glanced at it, then immediately slapped it onto the field: "Normal Summon, Aleister the Invoker!"
He stretched his hand forward, his right palm glowing with a luminous green rune. As it flickered, a motionless male mage's image appeared slowly on the field.
Aleister the Invoker, LV 4, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster-Type, ATK 1000
"Aleister's monster effect, once per turn, when this card is successfully summoned or flipped, add 1 [Invocation] from the deck to the hand."
"Come on, Invocation!"
In the deck, a card moved automatically, flew into the air, landed in his right hand, glowing.
"Never seen such a card before."
"But if it's used by Tenjo!"
"Then it must be Fusion!"
"Invocation, activate!"
Above the speeding train, a giant magic array glowed. The image of Aleister on the field gradually became ethereal: "When Invocation Fusion Summons [Invoked] Fusion Monster, you can banish monsters from your field, as well as your graveyard or opponent's, as Fusion Material!"
"What?"
"So powerful!?"
"I banish Aleister the Invoker on the field and Crystal in my graveyard."
Tenjo Hikari didn't even use Big Mouse as fusion material.
"Fusion Summon—Invoked Magellanica!"
The sky suddenly became hot, and in the distance, among the mountains, a giant slowly stood up, his right hand connected to an array, announcing his presence.
Invoked Magellanica, LV 8, Earth Attribute, Rock-Type, Attack Power 3000.
"Attack Power 3000!?"
"But it doesn't matter—" 44 sneered, "Number Monsters cannot be destroyed by battle unless it's against another Numbers. Even with 3000 Attack Power, it's useless—"
"Ha, I've known that for a long time."
"Activate Metamorphosis."
This card is used to transform a Monster on the field into a Fusion Monster of the same level! Assassin was flabbergasted.
"Haven't you seen my Extra Deck? Do you not know what I'm planning to do?"
"Is it... Master of Chaos?!"
"That's right!"
"Send Invoked Magellanica to the Graveyard, and from the Extra Deck Special Summon a Monster of the same level—what I am summoning is Master of Chaos!"
The Mage in the shape of Black Luster Soldier roared softly, appearing in front of Tenjo Hikari.
Master of Chaos, LV 8, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster-Type, Attack Power 3000.
"A Monster that requires Black Luster Soldier and Dark Magician to be fused, appearing so easily..." 44 swallowed, "But, Master of Chaos's banishing effect requires both Light and Dark Monsters to be present..."
Tenjo Hikari slowly took a card from his hand card: "Spell Card, Fusion Deployment."
"Ah—"
"You watched the opponent's Extra Deck, yet you couldn't guess what the opponent was planning." Tenjo Hikari said calmly, "I knew you would fuse Ancient Gear Two-headed Hound, but what about you?"
"Relying purely on the strength of Numbers?"
"Foolish. With that, you think you can assassinate me!? Don't be so arrogant, Fusion Army!" Tenjo Hikari's presence suddenly rose, "If this is all your capability, then come find me, come find me, I'll crush every single one of you one by one!"
Fusion Deployment's effect, show the opponent one Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck, and Special Summon one Fusion Material Monster cited in that monster's name from your Hand Card or Deck!"
"Reveal Cyber Twin Dragon, Special Summon Cyber Dragon!"
Woom—weee—
Cyber Dragon circled above the train.
Cyber Dragon, LV 5, Light Attribute, Machine-Type, Attack Power 2100.
"Already knew Number Monsters cannot be destroyed by battle, have you forgotten? The effect of Triple Threat allows both sides to confirm each other's Extra Deck—" Even if Tenjo Hikari didn't possess knowledge from a previous life, he would carefully review the effect of Shatter-box, avoiding mistakes.
The Assassin, realizing the truth later, turned pale. He only compared the number of cards but failed to pay attention to Tenjo Hikari's Extra Deck configuration this time!
"Activate Master of Chaos's effect, send one Light Attribute and one Dark Attribute Monster on the field to the Graveyard, and banish all Monsters on the opponent's field!"
"Chaos Instant Shadow Slash!"
Master of Chaos lightly drew a crack in front of him, and then, everything on the field was wildly drawn into that crack. In no time, the field was clean; nothing remained.
"Da... damn."
Tenjo Hikari slipped one hand into his pocket, observing the furious 44, yet he didn't appear particularly happy, instead continuing to stare at 44; moments later, he abruptly spoke: "Are you watching me?"
Everyone became puzzled.
Many students uttered "huh?" questions.
Without explaining to them, Tenjo Hikari continued to address the Assassin: "You must be watching me, Akaba Leo!"
Buzz, bzzzap—
44 noticed, there was an irritating sound coming from somewhere on his body.
"What?" He looked at his clothes with alarm.
After a while, he felt dizzy, half-kneeling down, finally realizing in a daze.
From the moment he was sent to confront Tenjo Hikari, Akaba Leo had already declared his "death."
He was merely a "discarded pawn" used to monitor Tenjo Hikari's current situation. Sadly, he realized this too late!
Using Numbers is not without cost!
"Are they gone?"
After multiple duels with Fusion Army "Assassins," and Cronos having just encountered Akaba Leo from a Fusion Army Duelist, Tenjo Hikari was no longer surprised by the opponent's appearance.
What he regretted was not tricking Akaba Leo into engaging in this duel; Tenjo Hikari would even reveal "Super Polymerization" to deliver a heavy blow to the opponent.
"Then, let's finish it properly." Tenjo Hikari looked at the final card.
No need to let anyone know all Ah Lai's effects, so he didn't retrieve Ah Lai.
"Pay 800 Life Points, activate Equip Spell Card, then fuse, resurrect one Fusion Monster from the Graveyard."
Tenjo Hikari LP: 1400→600.
"Special Summon, Gem-Knight Ruby."
The Gem-Knight wielding a large scythe was resurrected once more, swinging the war scythe in hand.
Gem-Knight Ruby, LV 6, Earth Attribute, Pyro-Type, Attack Power 2500.
"Ruby, direct attack."
Ruby swung the war scythe, charging at the Assassin, then swung it down decisively at his heart!
With its swing, countless puppet strings also penetrated the Assassin, seemingly extracting the most essential thing from his body.
Fusion Army Assassin 44, LP: 1975→0
"Wow! We won!"
"Hooray!"
"Hikari! Hikari!"
"The true fusion, Tenjo Hikari!"
Students shouted excitedly.
Amidst the cheers, the train also slowly entered the station, attracting the attention of students waiting for the train due to the sound.
They saw Tenjo Hikari standing atop the train, holding a Duel Disk, seemingly just finished a duel.
They could hear that inside the train were deafening cheers.
But they could tell—
These cheers came from the heart!
They also knew, that the Tenjo Hikari admired by all classmates was still the same Tenjo Hikari!
From those cheers, they could tell!