The headmaster personally brought Tenjo Hikari and Professor Cronos, following the students of the Fusion Department, to the top level of the Fusion Department. Upon seeing Akaba Leo, they warmly greeted him.
Faced with the appearance of his direct superior, Akaba Leo remained expressionless, though his inner feelings were far from calm.
Cronos?
This old thing...
Akaba Leo's face showed no emotion, but inside, he was filled with turmoil.
As someone with a "grand plan," after accepting the Duel Academy chairman's invitation, he became a professor at this academy and proceeded with his plans as he intended.
To him, this seemed like a very simple and easy task.
After all, students in Duel Academy are easily deceived, and it seems the professors each have their understanding and ideas about dueling to pass on to the students. Moreover, Headmaster Samejima is famously kind-hearted and gullible, easily influenced by the words of teachers.
In such a place, completing his grand plan was a piece of cake!
But—
Who would have thought!
He slightly squinted, looking at the nervous, occasionally wiping cold sweat, absurd, and stupid-looking old man.
Cronos de Medici...
Stingy, picky, petty, vain, cowardly, concerned with face, such a person Akaba Leo had never taken seriously before.
What kind of legendary duelist has only this level of skill?
I heard that at the freshman entrance exam, he lost with his own deck to a freshman from the Red Academy. How could such a person be compared to him?
But it turns out, all of this was just superficial disguise!
Not only did he arrange for his "disciple" to cause trouble in the Fusion Department, but when he realized I was going to deal with his disciple, he decisively came here to confront me, hum...
A legendary duelist indeed.
However...
It's not that simple!
After thinking for a moment, he had a new idea.
Originally, his plan was to directly throw Tenjo Hikari into that chaotic dimension and leave him there for two or three days, then send someone to "rescue" him. That way, Tenjo Hikari would be unconscious for half a year, and by then, his influence in the Fusion Department would be almost gone.
But Cronos unexpectedly called in the headmaster and came personally—
He's probably trying to take the opportunity to investigate the secrets of the Fusion Department, right?
No way he'll succeed!
He slowly turned his head to look at Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari, unknown identity, and parents, used a mishmash Fusion Deck during the entrance exam with average results, yet suddenly became the academy's first-year representative... It's impossible without someone teaching him from behind.
He scrutinized Tenjo Hikari up and down, speaking insincerely, "Tenjo-san, congratulations on winning this exchange match, the Fusion Department is proud of you."
His height is roughly around 175 cm, not very tall, but he is considered tall among the first years; his looks are handsome, completely different from Cronos's dimension, perhaps this is also part of Cronos's strategy, finding a handsome and charming disciple that people wouldn't immediately associate them together; his attire isn't particularly thought out, quite ordinary, the only eye-catching item is the accessory hanging around his neck.
It seems to be an opaque card brick? About half a centimeter thick, seemingly containing a card inside.
He couldn't see what card was inside.
In short, he seemed like an average boy at first glance, yet the more one looked, the more peculiar he appeared.
Almost fell for your tricks!
Having made up his mind, he looked over at a teacher from the Fusion Department, who nodded and said to Tenjo Hikari and Cronos, "Tenjo-san, Professor Cronos, please come this way, we're about to commence transport."
"Alright, okay..." Cronos was a bit nervous, being timid and fearing trouble. Though he had authority second only to the headmaster, he had never really used the Dimension Gate before, and now that it was actually happening, his legs trembled, making it hard to walk steadily.
This alarmed Akaba Leo even more—how deep is his cunning! In front of so many students, just for disguise, he would even go so far!
Tenjo Hikari was much calmer.
He was prepared for the worst-case scenario.
After all, Akaba Leo, that shameless Old Deng, might shamelessly throw him into the Other Dimension, and who knows how many years it would take him to return to this world.
So, he asked the headmaster if he could call the professor—he understood from the headmaster that professors had "Furnace Stones" capable of immediately transporting back to this dimension, so no matter what scheme Akaba Leo had, they could return.
But now here, he found out that there was actually nothing much. Although Akaba Leo was against him, he didn't seem ready to strike in front of the headmaster, appearing to handle things appropriately.
He even commended him.
Anyone not aware might think he's just a taciturn good teacher.
The Dimension Gate from the Fusion Department was much newer compared to the one in the Red Academy, more like a machine from a different generation.
As a genius scientist with exceptional research capabilities, Akaba Leo had also improved the Dimension Gate for the Kaiba Company, earning a special gift from them. This machine was naturally far superior to the older model in the Red Academy.
Not only could it precisely teleport to a designated space, but it also had stronger protective capabilities, maintaining the portal for a longer, more stable period, making the generated energy from duels less likely to dissipate, allowing for easier negotiations with spirits from Other Dimensions.
The teacher in charge took the card given by the Northern Academy from Tenjo Hikari and inserted it into the machine's control panel. The Dimension Gate whirled rapidly, and a scene gradually appeared in the purple vortex.
On the machine, a roughly black shadow could be seen, presumably the outline of a spirit living in that dimension, already surpassing the functionality of the old machine in the Red Academy.
From the appearance, it seemed to be a monster wearing a wizard hat, holding a magic staff, clad in wide robes, surrounded by flames—perhaps a Spellcaster-Type monster—
"Yes, yes, just as the Northern Academy described," the headmaster gazed at the shadow, nodding.
"Then, you two, please—" the responsible teacher gestured, palm open, and Tenjo Hikari took a deep breath and stepped forward. Seeing this, Professor Cronos, gathering courage, moved to the Teleportation Gate, directly facing it. The two then slowly became transparent under the purple light, gradually departing this dimension for another.
Akaba Leo's lips slightly curled upwards.
Tricked you, Cronos!
You surely didn't expect I'd already placed a "card" in the Dimension Gate, did you?
Even if I can't change the teleportation coordinates as initially planned, as long as I throw "Darkness" obtained from that dimension into this dimension, I can still hinder Tenjo Hikari!