Yuui, Ace, and Nash each moved to their positions after everyone in the class dispersed.
While inserting his Deck into his Duel Disk, Ace said, "Since this is a 'Battle Royale Rule', that means none of us can attack during our first turns, and everyone starts with 4000 Life Points, right!?"
"No problem!" Yuui smiled as he inserted his Deck into his Duel Disk. Nash did the same, replying, "Fine by me!"
The three of them stood ready, and then shouted together, "Duel!!"
[Yuui, LP: 4000]
[Ace, LP: 4000]
[Nash, LP: 4000]
The three Duel Disks lit up simultaneously. Ace's Duel Disk activated first, followed by Nash's, and finally Yuui's.
Seeing this, Alicia—floating beside Yuui—said anxiously, "This is bad, Yuui-san! We're going last! That means once our turn ends, the two of them will definitely attack us first!"
Her concern wasn't without reason. Even though this was a free-for-all, both Ace and Nash clearly still harbored irritation toward Yuui because of his earlier words. It was highly likely they'd target him first.
However, Yuui gave a confident smile and thought, "Don't worry. I wouldn't have said I'd take on both of them if I wasn't sure. Besides, this is the perfect chance to test how far I've come!"
Seeing Yuui's confidence, Alicia suddenly felt a spark of courage herself.
She clenched her fists and shouted, "Go for it, Yuui-san!!"
"Yeah. Watch closely!"
On the other side, seeing that he had the first turn, Ace cast a cold glance at the calm, golden-haired girl standing diagonally across from him, and said in a low voice, "Class Representative Alicia, I'll show you the power of Starlink Academy—the true strength of Synchro Summoning! I'll make you realize just how big of a mistake it was to choose a one-versus-two fight!
"My first turn—Draw!!"
He drew his card, and a surge of overwhelming magical power burst from his body—the power of a top-tier Magician.
Sensing Ace's level of magic, Nash turned a little, while the observing students from Class E also looked surprised.
Truth be told, possessing the magical level of a Great Magician in just the first year was already proof of Ace's exceptional talent.
Ace glanced over his cards, and a decisive, one-turn-kill strategy immediately came to mind.
"First, I activate the Spell Card Resonator Call!" Ace revealed a card. "This card lets me add one 'Resonator' monster from my Deck to my hand! I choose to add the Tuner monster Red Resonator!"
Hearing the name "Resonator," Yuui wasn't surprised.
After all, throughout countless duels, the 'Resonator' monsters had always been linked to the Red Dragon Archfiend. That Ace would use them wasn't unexpected.
Drawing a card from his Deck, Ace continued, "Next, I Normal Summon Red Resonator!"
Ding!!
"Hehehe!!"
With the sound of a tuning fork and a sinister laugh, a demon composed entirely of flames appeared on the field.
[Red Resonator] Level 2│FIRE│Fiend│600 ATK
"Red Resonator's effect activates! When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!" Ace revealed another card. "I Special Summon my Level 4 Fiend, Mad Archfiend!"
[Mad Archfiend] Level 4│FIRE│Fiend│1800 ATK
"Next, I tune my Level 2 Tuner monster Red Resonator to my Level 4 Mad Archfiend!" Ace declared sharply, waving his hand. "The Synchro Summon conditions—one Fiend Tuner plus one or more non-Tuner monsters!!"
As he spoke, Red Resonator transformed into two green rings that rose into the air, while Mad Archfiend followed, becoming four shining stars that aligned within them.
"Crimson dragon, illuminate the path that summons the Fiend of Flame!"
Scarlet fire engulfed the column of starlight, forming into a ferocious dragon shape.
"Synchro Summon! Roar—Red Rising Dragon!!"
"ROAR!!"
The flames surged, taking shape as a savage dragon—though not yet fully manifested, as if still incubating.
[Red Rising Dragon] Level 6│FIRE│Dragon│2100 ATK
"He actually summoned a monster with over 2000 Attack in one turn… so that's a Synchro Monster!"
"A white card… that must be a Synchro Monster!"
"By tuning a 'Tuner Monster' with a 'non-Tuner Monster', their Levels are added together to summon a stronger monster. That's Synchro Summoning!"
"No need for Polymerization or specific Fusion Materials… just a Tuner and a non-Tuner to bring out stronger monsters. Synchro Summon seems even stronger than Fusion Summon!"
The surrounding students from Saint Fusion Academy were astonished by the simplicity of the Synchro Summon process.
After all, not needing a Fusion Spell Card already made Synchro Summoning much faster and more efficient in conserving hand cards.
Typically, Fusion Summons required at least three cards: one Polymerization and two Fusion Materials. In contrast, Synchro Summons only needed two.
Of course, Synchro Summons had their drawbacks too—unlike Fusion Summons, they couldn't be performed using materials from the hand. The monsters had to be on the field.
Fusion Summons, on the other hand, could be done with monsters from the hand, field, Graveyard, or even the Deck.
From that perspective, Fusion Summons still held the advantage.
Even so, this single demonstration of a Synchro Summon had already sparked a lively debate among Saint Fusion Academy students about which method was better.
Meanwhile, while others were caught up in discussion, Yuui's attention was fixed on the monster itself.
"Oh, even Red Rising Dragon, huh? Now that's surprising!" Yuui said in mild amazement as he watched the fiery dragon take form.
"Yuui-san, is that monster strong?" Alicia asked quickly, intrigued by his rare expression of surprise.
Yuui nodded, thinking, "Its Attack and Defense aren't that impressive, but the card itself is an excellent stepping stone within the Red Dragon Archfiend line. You could say, for every Red Rising Dragon a duelist has in their Extra Deck, their strength effectively doubles!"
"Ehh!? Really!? That's insane!" Alicia stared wide-eyed at the blazing dragon.
Then she soon learned its true power as Ace shouted, "Red Rising Dragon's effect activates! When this card is Synchro Summoned, I can target one 'Resonator' monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it! I choose to revive Red Resonator!"
Flames erupted again, and Red Resonator reappeared on the field.
[Red Resonator] Level 2│FIRE│Fiend│200 DEF
"Red Resonator's other effect activates! When this card is Special Summoned, I can target one face-up monster on the field and gain Life Points equal to its Attack!" Ace pointed to Red Rising Dragon. "I target Red Rising Dragon and gain 2100 Life Points!!"
"Hehehe!!"
Red Resonator let out a wicked giggle as it struck its tuning fork, releasing a crimson wave of energy that flowed from Red Rising Dragon into Ace's body.
[Ace, LP: 4000 → 6100]
"This monster's quite something! Not only can it Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from the hand, but it also restores a huge chunk of Life Points, and it's a Tuner monster essential for Synchro Summons!" Chuck exclaimed as he watched the fiery demon on the field.
At that moment, Ace once again waved his hand and shouted, "Then I'll tune the Level 2 Red Resonator with the Level 6 Red Rising Dragon!!"
"Another tuning? And he's using a Synchro Monster as material this time!"
"This guy must be incredibly skilled at Synchro Summoning!"
"Back-to-back Synchros right from the start? That's intense!"
Ace's consecutive Synchro Summon left the students, who had just witnessed the process for the first time, utterly astonished.
Nevertheless, in Ace's blazing eyes, there was only the fire of victory burning—a fire mirrored by the enormous phantom of a demonic dragon roaring behind him.
"Now, behold the awe of the King! Witness the power that makes heaven and earth tremble! Synchro Summon—Awaken, Red Dragon Archfiend!!"
Starlight shone once more, then ignited into crimson flames, dyeing the world in red. From those flames spread the wings of a mighty infernal dragon that roared to make all creation bow before it.
"ROAR!!"
One of the Five Duel Dragons of the Axel Republic—the demon dragon symbolizing absolute power—Red Dragon Archfiend, descends!!
[Red Dragon Archfiend] Level 8│DARK│Dragon│3000 ATK│2000 DEF
On the field, Ace then inserted three cards into his Duel Disk.
"I Set three cards and end my turn!"
With Ace's turn ending, it was now Nash's move.
"My turn—Draw!!"
After glancing at the card he drew, Nash immediately declared, "I Normal Summon Right-Hand Shark!"
Water surged as a shark-like creature appeared, its upper body encased in metal and five blades forming a mechanical right hand.
[Right-Hand Shark] Level 4│WATER│Fish│1500 ATK
"Right-Hand Shark's effect activates! When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one Left-Hand Shark from my Deck to my hand!" Nash drew another card and continued, "Then I activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity—draw three cards, discard two!"
"Next, I activate the effect of the Left-Hand Shark that was just sent to the Graveyard! If I control Right-Hand Shark, I can Special Summon this card from my hand or Graveyard! And when Special Summoned from the Graveyard, its Level becomes 4!"
In the next instant, a mirrorlike steel shark appeared on the field beside its twin.
[Left-Hand Shark] Level 4│WATER│Fish│1500 DEF
Seeing the two Level 4 monsters, Alicia swallowed nervously and whispered, "He's got two Level 4 monsters… here it comes, an Xyz Summon!"
Ever since she learned about the transfer students, Alicia had been told by Yuui about both Synchro Summoning and Xyz Summoning.
Synchro Summons required combining a Tuner with non-Tuner monsters whose total Levels matched, while Xyz Summons required multiple monsters of the same Level.
Now that Nash had two Level 4 monsters, the conditions for an Xyz Summon were complete.
However, Nash wasn't finished yet. He revealed another card and declared, "I activate the effect of Silent Sea Nettle in my hand! If I control a WATER monster, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!"
[Silent Sea Nettle] Level 4│WATER│Aqua│1300 DEF
With three Level 4 monsters assembled, Nash finally raised his hand high. "I overlay my three Level 4 monsters to construct the Overlay Network! The Summoning condition—three Level 4 monsters! I Xyz Summon!"
A golden vortex of shimmering starlight appeared before him, and the two steel sharks, along with the strange glowing jellyfish, turned into three blue streams of energy, spiraling into it.
A blinding explosion of light erupted like a cosmic blast as Nash drew out a black card from his Extra Deck, shouting, "Arise, No.32! King of the Deep, ruler of absolute might—use your jaws to tear apart everything! Shark Drake!"
The creature unfurled its dark red fins and wings, standing upon the air as ripples like ocean waves spread beneath its feet. Its golden eyes gleamed with predatory dominance as a low roar echoed through the arena.
The strongest predator of the deep sea—No.32 Shark Drake—descends!
[No.32 Shark Drake] Rank 4│WATER│Sea Serpent│2800 ATK│2100 DEF
"ROAR!!!"
"So that's an Xyz Summon!"
"That monster looks amazing!"
"By stacking monsters of the same Level to form an Overlay Network, and then Summoning an Xyz Monster—that's Xyz Summoning!"
"And not just any Xyz Monster—he said 'No.32'! That must be one of the 'Number' monsters exclusive to the Chaos Empire! I've heard their spirit power far surpasses normal monsters!"
"Yeah, and all Number monsters share a special ability—they can't be destroyed by battle with non-Number monsters!"
"Wait, that's a universal effect? That's totally broken!"
"How many of those Number cards even exist!?"
"Not sure, but legend says there are 107 of them. The seven beyond Number 100 were said to be bestowed by the Emperor of the Chaos Empire upon his seven knight guardians—known as the Imperial Knights of Chaos."
"So that's how the Chaos Empire's knights came to be!"
As Nash performed his Xyz Summon, the spectators erupted into conversation again.
However, unlike before—when the topic was which was superior, Synchro or Fusion Summoning—this time they were mostly gossiping about the Chaos Empire.
Back on the field, Nash wasn't done yet after bringing out No.32 Shark Drake.
After all, he still had five cards left in his hand!
Nash drew another card and declared, "I activate the effect of Xyz Slidolphin in my hand! If an Xyz Monster was Special Summoned to my field this turn, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!"
[Xyz Slidolphin] Level 4│WATER│Fish│1800 DEF
"Next, the effect of Shark Stickers from my hand! When a Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua monster is Normal or Special Summoned to my field, I can also Special Summon this card from my hand!"
[Shark Stickers] Level 4│WATER│Fish│1000 DEF
As two more monsters appeared on Nash's field, the spectators began to exchange uneasy looks.
'Seriously, how many Special Summons is this guy gonna pull off… and all straight from his hand!?'
...
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