The next day.
Tenjo Hikari was a bit unclear-headed.
He studied too late last night to prepare for this duel, changing his deck several times to ensure readiness.
Honestly, even losing to Yuki Judai wouldn't be that shameful, after all, he is the main character of the original!
But—playing cards without thinking of winning is just pointless!
No matter if it's superpowers, The Supreme King Power, Dark Power, or any other extraordinary power, Tenjo Hikari doesn't want to concede!
I play cards to win!
"Woah~~" Opposite him, Yuki Judai seemed a bit tired too, letting out a yawn.
Last night, not only were Shou and Hayato engrossed with him in deck study, even Winged Kuriboh and the Spirits were clinging to his deck, pointing here and there all night.
They all knew that Tenjo Hikari wasn't easy to deal with, especially since both had been to Other Dimension together, having dueled in Other Dimension, there was some understanding of each other's thoughts, making the duel even harder.
Targeting, understanding, guessing, calculating are key elements of a duel.
Dueling a stranger without knowing their habits means relying on instinct and intelligence to predict the opponent's next move.
But dueling a familiar friend, even without knowing what's in the opponent's Hand Card, can largely guess their strategy.
Take Tenjo Hikari dueling Kaiba Seto, he could predict with eyes closed that there'd definitely be three Blue-Eyes and one Fusion in Kaiba's hand...
This makes the duel's difficulty rise drastically!
"Be careful, Judai, this Hikari harbors immense power that defies understanding and isn't an opponent to take lightly, give it your all!" After Yuki Judai and Tenjo Hikari finished greeting, as the medics tested both decks for irregularities, Winged Kuriboh's phantom appeared beside Judai.
"Kuri-kuri!" Simultaneously, a phantom of a winged Kuriboh also appeared on Judai's face, cheering him on.
Judai was long accustomed to interacting with spirits, hearing his partners' words, he grinned excitedly, saying to them, "Yeah, that's why it's even more fun!"
Meanwhile, Tenjo Hikari checked his deck.
After a careful look through twice, Tenjo Hikari finally felt at ease.
"Who's that?" As the two were getting checked, checking their decks, on the second floor of the dueling arena, a tall, handsome male asked softly.
It was Duel Academy's pride, Obelisk's uncrowned king, the third-year top student, the academy's strongest duelist, nicknamed "Caesar"—Marufuji Ryo!
Beside him, a blonde girl heard his question, placed her hand on the railing, and lightly frowned.
"He's a first-year from Ra Yellow Academy named Tenjo Hikari, I heard he's Judai's friend, Judai called him when he went to Other Dimension last time..." Her tone carried a hint of complaint and resentment, seemingly upset that she wasn't called.
Her name was Tenjouin Asuka, because her brother and Marufuji Ryo were friends, she often joined Marufuji Ryo in searching for her missing brother, they were familiar acquaintances.
Whether in terms of looks or figure, she was genuinely beautiful, her long white legs frequently drew male attention, there was even a Tennis Club head publicly confessing love to her...
But for some reason, the boys close to her like Judai and Caesar weren't interested in her looks or figure, more curious about her dueling style.
"A partner who went to Other Dimension with Judai?" Marufuji Ryo's expression darkened considerably, "Back then... Fubuki and I were also partners exploring Other Dimension..."
He remembered the past.
"Brother..." Hearing her brother's name, Asuka felt downcast.
"It's okay. We'll find him one day." Marufuji Ryo shook his head, "Next, let's watch the duel. Judai's chosen partner? Surely, it'll be an exciting duel for us to see."
"Both parties are ready!" On the field, Professor Cronos raised his hand and shouted, "I announce, the representative battle final match, start!"
"Duel!" ×2.
Yuki Judai LP: 4000
Tenjo Hikari LP: 4000
"Whoooaaa!!!" The audience erupted in cheers.
"Go Judai! Watch out for Tenjo's Fusion!"
"Tenjo, show glory for the Fusion Department!"
In the stands, spectators sat in distinctly colored groups, with some in red, yellow, blue, and others in pure purple uniforms. Despite having fewer students compared to the regular ones, the purple-uniformed students weren't shouting any less!
They had more or less interacted with Tenjo Hikari, weren't close friends but had good relations, tossing aside academy identities and cheering only for Tenjo Hikari as the "Fusion Department representative."
Among the many purple-clothed students, Mitsuzawa Daichi alone braved the pressure, wiping the sweat off his forehead, cheering for Tenjo Hikari.
"Weird, why do their looks seem to call me a traitor?" He mused confused, taking a moment to come to realization, "Oh well, whatever! Go Tenjo! Win it for us!"
"Wow... They're really passionate." Even Judai was startled by the students directly opposite, "Hikari, you're really popular."
"Haha, of course, I'm the purest Fusion Duelist!" Tenjo Hikari laughed heartily, feeling it's well worth the effort he put into the Fusion Department games.
Who in the whole Fusion Department could out-fuse him!?
"Then I'll take the first move—" Tenjo Hikari wasn't holding back with Judai.
If you can seize the first move, who needs to flip a coin!
"My turn, draw!" He took a glance at his Hand Card.
Really unlucky, not a single Instant Fusion or Ready Fusion, or Flame Swordsrealm drawn!
But there were other usable cards in his hand and quite useful ones.
"Set a card, end turn!" Tenjo Hikari set a card and immediately ended his turn.
"Only set one card?"
"Such an ordinary turn."
"Felt like a wasted play."
"And the opponent is Yuki Judai, wouldn't he be one-turn killed!"
Fusion Department's students were a bit worried.
On the other side, the students weren't pleased either.
"Careful Judai, watch out for his Set Card, there's definitely a Trap!"
"Yeah Judai, it could be Flame Swordsdance!" Shou shouted.
Judai drew a card, glanced at the field, not in a hurry.
"Then I'll Normal Summon, Elemental Hero Wildheart!"
Elemental Hero Wildheart, LV 4, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 1500.
"Oh, Wildheart isn't affected by Trap Cards!" Aspiring card designer Maeda Hayato immediately recognized it, "Just use this card to test it out!"
"Mm!" Judai nodded decisively, "Attack directly with Wildheart!"
"Hold on!" Tenjo Hikari promptly opened his Set Card, "Quick-Play Spell Card, Scapegoat!"
"With this card's effect, I can Special Summon 4 Tokens with ATK/Defense Power of 0 and LV 1 on my field!"
In an instant, holograms of yellow, blue, pink, and orange fluffy sheep appeared before Tenjo Hikari.
"... Continue the battle, destroy one Token!" Wildheart turned and easily cut down a pink sheep.
"Huh? Scapegoat?"
"No way, did Tenjo have a Hand Card accident?"
"The four Tokens must be just for stalling?"
The Fusion Department felt nervous seeing Scapegoat instead of Fusion.
"Great, Judai, seems like Tenjo-san had a Hand Card accident!"
"Brother, press the advantage!"
Judai's friends cheered.
"Strange, that Tenjo Hikari doesn't look like there's a Hand Card accident?" Marufuji Ryo frowned puzzled, "Also... Judai seems tense?"
"Judai! Be careful!" Unbeknownst to anyone, Winged Kuriboh appeared beside Judai, shouting anxiously, "It's an LV 1 Monster!"
"Ah, I know!" Judai showed a serious expression, without a hint of joy, "Then... I'll set two cards and end turn!"
"Heh... My turn, draw!" Tenjo Hikari drew a card, placed it in his hand, and took out a card from his hand's far left, "Then, I'll activate Metamorphosis!"
"Oh no! As expected!" Winged Kuriboh exclaimed.
It's Thousand-Eyes Restrict!