"My turn."
Syrus crawled up from the ground, drew a card from his Deck, and with effort, slowly stood, step by step, moving back to face Kaiser.
"Hmph—" Hell Kaiser's already twisted grin stretched even wider.
"Syrus!!" Jaden shouted.
"I've always admired and respected my big brother, who respected all his opponents." Syrus stood firm on the Duel Field. "But... lately, you've changed. Not only has your dueling style shifted, but for the sake of victory, you even abandoned our world's summoning methods and started using Xyz Summons..."
"Respect?" Hell Kaiser sneered. "That was the thinking of the foolish old me. The current me respects nothing. No... If I respect anything at all, it's victory!
Victory is everything!"
As he spoke, it was like a black storm surged from his body.
"Ugh..."
"Err..."
The surrounding duelists instinctively frowned.
In this world, "respecting opponents" and "respecting the Duel" were absolute consensuses among Duelists. This wasn't something built up over a year or two, but a belief forged over time.
After all, they truly knew Duel Spirits existed and had experienced countless supernatural incidents—like the "Orichalcos" disaster. They had learned to respect the Duel... and most genuinely did.
Because Duel energy and bonds were real things—if you connected with your cards, you might really draw that one key card you needed during a Duel.
So when Zane abruptly changed his style and even started using summoning methods from other dimensions... it shook people deeply.
And lines like "Disappear, loser"... even convicts in prison would be stunned hearing something like that.
Yet after those words, Atticus, who had been worried at first, now fell into deep thought.
As Kaiser's true close friend, he faintly sensed something within Zane... truly felt something.
"Is this really the right way?" Syrus was still struggling with doubt.
"Ha—foolish." Hell Kaiser held a card in one hand, pinched between his ring finger, pinky, and palm, pointing at his opponent with index and middle finger. "You're wearing that uniform, so you must've been through screening, right? By that logic, Hikaru should've been screened too.
'...What happened?'
'Did he… give up Fusion?'
'Just because of some dimensional invasion?'
Syrus froze.
In the "interrogation room," he'd naturally seen Hikaru... and seen Hikaru's Duels.
No change.
Not the slightest change. Amagi Hikaru was still Amagi Hikaru.
No matter when. No matter where. No matter what happened... he would always do only one thing—Fusion!
Even if war made people reject Fusion…
It would never stop that man!
"I see... So... Brother, you really are still you." Realization finally brightened Syrus's expression.
"Then—my turn!"
"That kid's fired up again?"
"But so what? Five-Headed Dragon can't be destroyed by non-LIGHT monsters."
"Not to mention, it's sitting at 5000 Attack!"
"Roid Fusions are all EARTH monsters, right?"
"Heard there's a FIRE one too—"
In other words, impossible—"No! I can do it!" Syrus cut off their debate. "My Deck... can do this!"
Decisively, Syrus slammed the card he'd just drawn into his Duel Disk. "I activate Spell Card—Power Bond!"
'Power Bond!'
"By Fusion Summoning a Machine, its Attack will double!"
"Tch... A Fusion Army dog, just as I thought."
"Shut up!" Jaden jumped out. "Syrus only joined the Polymerization Club to hang out with friends! He's got nothing to do with the Fusion Army!"
"Thank you, Jaden—" Syrus's eyes welled with tears. Quickly wiping them away, he took a deep breath and raised his voice. "That's right! I'm a proud member of the Polymerization Club!
"I am—
"The Duel Academy's Polymerization Club Representative, Syrus Truesdale!"
'Representative!?'
'No wonder he's dressed so fancy!'
More duelists were shocked at Syrus's declaration.
"Still... what's wrong with joining a club just because it aligns with your interests!?" Syrus pulled out two cards from his hand.
The Fusion Army's attack on the dimension had huge fallout.
Because of it, many Polymerization Club students had been pressured by their families to quit. Those left behind were "spies" like him... and the real Fusion Army reserves.
"Roids have a Fusion Monster—one I used to Fusion Summon with my brother—UFOroid Fighter!"
"But that requires a Warrior monster... and your Deck's all Machines—"
"I've got one!" Syrus not only pulled out his Warrior, but even dug behind his back under his cape, producing his reserve card box. He shuffled it in front of everyone, showing off all the cards inside.
"That's..." For the first time, Atticus looked at Syrus in genuine surprise.
"That many!?" Jaden also cried out.
Purple-bordered monsters—Tons of Fusion Monsters!
"These... these are the Fusions my clubmates had to abandon in the interrogation room because of fear over the Fusion Army! Their beloved Fusion Monsters!
"Respecting Duels or not—whatever!
"However, throwing away your beloved cards... no one would like that! So I'm going to use them for them! Keep them safe until the day the Polymerization Club rebuilds—until my rebuild!"
Even if it had started with riding his brother's fame and collection notebook to make friends...
Watching his friends toss their beloved cards away had stabbed Syrus's heart like a knife.
They did nothing wrong!
They didn't know anything!
So—until it's all over—he would be their "Gravekeeper."
The one who protected these cards!
"Fusion!
'Using the Warrior-Type monster, Warrior Dai Grepher, and UFOroid from my hand!"
"Fusion Summon—UFOroid Fighter!"
On a round little UFO, Warrior Dai Grepher stood gripping the saucer, glaring forward.
[UFOroid Fighter] Level 10│LIGHT│Machine│? ATK
"UFOroid Fighter's Attack becomes the combined total of its Fusion Materials—" Jaden already knew its effect, smiling. "Nicely done, Syrus!"
[UFOroid Fighter, ATK: 2900]
"And thanks to Power Bond, its Attack doubles!"
[UFOroid Fighter, ATK: 2900 → 5800]
"Fifty-eight hundred!?"
"No way—he surpassed Five-Headed Dragon that easily!?"
"And it's a LIGHT Attribute too!" Syrus turned to Jaden, nodding gratefully in his heart.
"Thanks, big bro—"Not done yet!"
"I activate Mixeroid's Graveyard effect!
"By banishing this card and any number of Machine monsters from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon 1 "roid" Fusion Monster with the same Level as the number of banished monsters. It gets destroyed at the End Phase!"
"I banish six Machines from my Graveyard!"
"Come forth!
"Steam Gyroid!"
A steam-powered locomotive embedded with rotor blades appeared on his field.
[Steam Gyroid] Level 6│EARTH│Machine│2200 ATK
Just 100 more Attack than Cyber Dragon.
"Battle! UFOroid Fighter attacks Five-Headed Dragon!"
Grepher tightened his grip on his sword and charged, riding the UFO straight at Five-Headed Dragon.
That poor dragon... cursed with always being taken down by some LIGHT Attribute big bro monster every time it appears.
"I flip my face-down! Wall of Power! For each card I send from my Deck to the Graveyard, I reduce the damage by 100 points!"
BOOM—
Five-Headed Dragon was cleaved in half by Grepher, exploding into shards, while Kaiser stayed unharmed.
Hell Kaiser discarded eight cards from his Deck, creating a wall to block the damage.
One Life Force, one Wall of Power.
The brothers sure shared defensive instincts.
"Then, Steam Gyroid attacks Cyber Dragon!" Syrus didn't care about holding back anymore. Leo Akaba's appearance had smashed any lingering concerns about duel respect or opponent respect.
"I activate Trap Card again! Malevolent Catastrophe! I activate it when an opponent's monster declares an attack! All Spell and Trap Cards on the field are destroyed!"
[Hell Kaiser, LP: 3200 → 3100]
And with that, the Continuous Trap "Life Force" was swept away by the sudden storm.
At End Phase, Steam Gyroid self-destructed—his little steam train cracked apart with a boom, turning to pieces.
"Also, I take damage from Power Bond equal to the original Attack of the Fusion Monster—so 2900 points..."
He gritted his teeth and endured.
[Syrus Truesdale, LP: 3600 → 700]
"Lost that much LP in one go?"
"But... as long as he destroyed Five-Headed Dragon... that's enough, right?"
"Yeah. With 5800 Attack, it won't go down easily."
"My turn, draw." Hell Kaiser paid no mind to the chatter.
He looked at the card he drew, a grin curling at the edge of his lips.
He glanced at his opponent.
'Syrus…. Looks like you've grown.'
'But not enough.'
'Far from enough—'
He shot a glance at Jaden and the still-stunned Atticus.
Of course, he'd heard all about the Fusion Army... yet he didn't care about that stuff—All he wanted was victory. Victory—that was all.
Just like Amagi Hikaru, he only cared about Fusion.
Realizing that was a bit late now, and everyone else was lost in their own confusion.
Syrus... was only "barely back on track." Though really, it was everyone else's regrets pushing him forward.
'Still not enough... Not nearly enough!'
"Hahahahaha—Don't blink, Syrus! This will be the last monster you see!"
"I activate Spell Card...
"Cyberdark Impact!!"
'Here it comes!'
Syrus tensed.
"This lets me return Cyberdark Horn from my hand, and Cyberdark Edge and Cyberdark Keel from my Graveyard to the Deck to Fusion Summon 1 Cyberdark Dragon!"
'Wait... did he even have those cards?'
"I return Cyberdark Edge from my hand and Cyberdark Keel and Cyberdark Horn from my Graveyard!"
Oh... "Wall of Power" did it—"Fusion Summon! Cyberdark Dragon!"
A twisted, bladed, black mechanical dragon roared as it appeared on the field.
[Cyberdark Dragon] Level 8│DARK│Machine│1000 ATK
At the same time, Zane felt a surge of electric stimulation, quickly adapting to the shock. "Cyberdark Dragon equips 1 Dragon monster from my Graveyard and gains its Attack!"
From the Graveyard, Five-Headed Dragon was dragged up—its massive body coiled, wires wrapping around it as it let out a pained roar.
[Cyberdark Dragon, ATK: 1000 → 6000]
"Not done! For each card in my Graveyard, Cyberdark Dragon gains 100 more Attack!"
[Cyberdark Dragon, ATK: 6000 → 7200]
"Seventy-two hundred!?"
"What the—That's insane!"
"That's Hell Kaiser for you..."
Even duelists who'd wanted to pick a fight with Hell Kaiser earlier now ducked behind the crowd.
"Battle! Syrus!"
Syrus clenched his fists, facing his brother head-on.
He wanted to duel his brother—because he had doubts, hesitations.
Now... he had found his resolve in this Duel. He would not waver.
"Cyberdark Dragon attacks UFOroid Fighter!"
"Full Dark Impact!"
Cyberdark Dragon opened its jaws, unleashing a sonic blast of darkness. The endless blackness engulfed the warrior on the UFO—Grepher braced, looking for a way to fight back, but before he could, he screamed as he exploded into fragments.
"Aaaaaaahhhh!!"
At the same time—
Black lightning crackled over Syrus, making him scream, convulsing in pain, feeling his Life Points drain away.
[Syrus Truesdale, LP: 700 → 0]
The violent shock nearly dropped him to the ground, but just as he was about to collapse, someone appeared beside him, catching him before he fell. When he turned to look—Dennis McField from the Polymerization Club was there.
"Don't you dare collapse, Representative!" Dennis grinned.
"Hah..." Syrus couldn't help but smile.
With Dennis's help, Syrus struggled back to his feet, ready to say something to his brother—regardless, Hell Kaiser didn't care. He turned away, heading toward the station while tossing out: "Disappear, loser."
"Syrus!"
Jaden and Tyranno rushed over, checking on him.
"Did I improve... Brother?"
"You're amazing, Syrus. I bet... even Hikaru would be proud of you." Jaden gave him a thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, Atticus, who'd planned to head to the Ritual Zone with his sister, instead ran after Kaiser, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Haha, Zane! Your Pro League performances lately have been awesome!"
Way to bring up the worst topic possible.
"Wait up, bro!" A thoroughly exasperated Alexis followed after them.
And just like that, this group's lineup was decided.
...
Next Bonus @600
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