Chazz won.
Professor Chronos was the first to jump onto the dueling platform impatiently, raising the microphone to announce eagerly, "The victor is, the representative of Duel Academy—Chazz Princeton!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the entire student body erupted into cheers.
Although Professor Chronos hadn't always gotten along well with the students up until now, at least on this matter of belonging to Duel Academy, he firmly stood with the students.
Or rather, Professor Strong Desire, who advocates elite education, could accept even less than others that Duel Academy would fall into the hands of the Chazz Group.
The cheers were deafening, as if they were going to tear the venue apart. All previous doubts about Chazz transformed into praise and thunderous applause.
Someone, unknown, started chanting Chazz's name.
"Chazz! Chazz! Chazz..."
"No, that's wrong!"
Chazz stood in the center of the dueling platform, much like being spotlighted. He raised his right hand high, arrogantly pointing to the sky with his right hand.
"My name is, One!"
"Ten!" someone echoed.
"Hundred!"
"Thousand!"
"Chazz Lightning!"
"Lightning! Lightning! Chazz Lightning..."
The chaotic sounds, under his lead, became synchronized, with the shouts of the whole venue converging together. The boy in black stood amidst the waves of sound, arms raised, exuding a faint kingly aura despite his childish behavior.
Yugen sat in the stands, elbow resting on the armrest, chin in hand, chuckling softly.
That guy, Chazz, in this light does seem to have grown a bit.
However, this childish arrogance has not only not improved compared to the past but seems to have worsened.
For some reason, Yugen suddenly felt that President Kaiba might quite fancy this person...
"Big brother!"
Chazz's second brother, Chazz Shoji, hurried onto the stage to support his embarrassed older brother.
In a low voice, he said, "This matter can't just end like this. Once we get back, we have to reconsider, next time we must..."
But before he could finish, Chazz Nagasaku waved his hand and said.
"No need."
Shoji was taken aback: "Do you mean to just let it go?"
Nagasaku smiled, turning his head to look at the stage. At this moment, their younger brother was accepting the cheers of all the students with his arms raised in victory.
"Haven't you noticed? Shoji... he's already grown."
Shoji seemed to understand suddenly, as if he had just realized what his older brother meant.
If their brother had won this duel, according to the agreement with President Kaiba, Duel Academy would naturally have become a possession of the Chazz Group. But even though they lost, Shoji managed to prove himself in the Academy and establish a reputation...
Was this all calculated from the beginning by his older brother?
Reflecting on this, he couldn't help but regard his brother Nagasaku with admiration.
"Let's go," Nagasaku smiled, "Let's let this matter be, don't mention it again."
"Yes, big brother."
Shoji nodded. The two Chazz brothers took a final deep look at their younger brother before turning and leaving.
Yugen later heard from Keihei that the results and reports of that evening's duel were placed on President Kaiba's desk. But the President didn't even glance at it.
"Boring."
Seto Kaiba said this to the subordinate who came to report.
"It is only natural for my Duel Academy students to win. What's there to report?"
It's unclear if the President had ever heard Chazz's name, but he seemed quite confident in this yet-to-be-met student. That's probably the reason he had no hesitation in agreeing to the Chazz Group's acquisition request.
Or it might be that he thought if they couldn't handle such a situation or, let's say, the students trained by the Academy deliberately lost the duel, then there was no point in investing in such an Academy. The acquisition wouldn't be worth caring about.
However, apparently from the results, Chazz certainly did not disappoint anyone.
"... Well done, Chazz!"
Judai flew forward giving a bear hug.
"I didn't realize you became so strong all of a sudden, hahaha! I can't resist the urge to duel you again..."
"Disgusting, let go of me!"
Chazz made a face of distaste.
"Don't be so distant, aren't we brothers?" Judai said with a joyful laugh.
Chazz pushed him away and, when he turned his head, suddenly noticed Yugen standing behind him. It was then that Chazz remembered how, when constructing his Card Deck earlier, he was single-mindedly focused on defeating his opponent, not considering much about tactical choices.
But now, looking back after the victory, he realized that his chosen tactics probably seemed like he was copying Yugen's homework. The style and approach were remarkably similar, with some parts even having an overlap rate of 90%...
With the duel already won and the crisis averted, he suddenly thought of this face-to-face with the main character, Chazz blushed involuntarily out of instinct.
"You... don't misunderstand."
He crossed his arms and looked away, mumbling in explanation.
"I didn't intentionally mean to mimic you. It's just... I happened to find these cards. Yes, that's it!"
Everyone: "..."
Hearing him say that, even those who hadn't thought much about it couldn't help but fall silent.
Yugen, however, was easygoing and just smiled: "No worries, I understand. To Duelists, it can at most be called reference, expanding ideas."
Being told that, Chazz felt even more embarrassed.
But Yugen went on, "The path of Dueling should be one that all Duelists explore together. Someone has to blaze new trails and explore new strategies.
Every new path created requires generations of Duelists to test and grow it further.
Whether it's Muto Yuugi or Seto Kaiba, every card and every system they used have been developed into countless possibilities. This is progress.
If they saw their descendants building new skyscrapers upon their foundation, they would feel only approval and satisfaction, wouldn't they?"
With these words, everyone nodded in agreement, their admiration for Yugen rising a level in their hearts.
Is this the outlook and capacity of a Duel King?
Truly deserving of being the pinnacle of the Dueling Realm.
Yugen wasn't just saying pretty words without evidence either; these were his genuine thoughts.
Moreover, saying Chazz copied his homework actually made him feel a bit unworthy. After all, when it came to the Ojama theme, Chazz was the pioneer before any worldline shift; many things were originally what he copied from Chazz...
As were most of the Card Decks he used. Although most people thought he had an extraordinary perspective, amazingly gifted, with all these bizarre Card Decks he supposedly invented, he never claimed them as his own. He knew it was simply because he had played cards for a few more years in his past life, surfing the internet longer, and seeing farther standing on the shoulders of giants.
Since he couldn't explain the matter of his time travel to anyone, nobody believed him when he tried to be humble, and instead, people only felt that as expected of a Duel King, possessing such talent and achievements while still being so modest, further awing everyone...
"By the way, did you say the Ojama brothers were found in the well behind the Academy?" Yugen asked.
"Ah, yes. Teacher Dade Temple told me there's a rumor about an Evil Spirit there. Then Ojama Yellow took me there."
Chazz recalled.
Judai muttered, "Speaking of which, Teacher Dade Temple... I haven't seen him for a while. He hasn't returned to the Red Dormitory for days... Did something happen to him?"