"First move—"
"Roar—"
Tenjo Hikari was preparing to use his technique, honed over these days, to seize the first move with "The first move is mine!" Yet, unexpectedly, the Gem-Knight across from him broke convention, drew a card directly from his deck, and roared.
...
It can be done this way?
Tenjo Hikari had to admit, he learned something new again.
Seeing the opponent's crazy appearance, Tenjo Hikari knew that this was certainly not the opponent's "intent," but since their duel disk didn't report an error, it meant that one could certainly seize the first move this way.
"Roar!" Crystal revealed a card from his hand, showing it to Tenjo Hikari. Then, a grand card scene appeared before everyone.
Summoner's skill?
Tenjo Hikari remembered this card; its effect was to add a LV 5 or above Normal Monster from the deck to the hand.
Crystal's deck lit up, followed by a gigantic, black smoke-emitting white crystal condensing in the sky, and with a "crack," the card shattered, revealing its true form.
Gem-Knight Crystal.
He added himself to the hand?
"Roar—" Crystal then set two cards from his hand, and then pulled another Spell Card from his hand.
Spell Card, Card Destruction, both players discard all cards in their hands, then draw the same number of cards discarded.
Tenjo Hikari glanced at his hand cards, instinctively shuffled them, gathered them up, put them in the duel disk's graveyard, and then drew 5 new cards once the duel disk automatically spit them out.
And this finally allowed the Alchemist, who could only watch the duel from the side, to take a look at Tenjo Hikari's deck.
"What what? Instant Fusion, Future Fusion, Quick-Play Fusion, De-Fusion... and there's Metalfoes Fusion??? Isn't your deck full of these cards?" At this time, he didn't even worry about why Tenjo Hikari had [Metalfoes] in his hand, instead he quickly covered his head and screamed, "Done for, it's over, I'm going to die! How did I run into this kind of duel at this time?"
"Hey, kid, show some respect; our lord is a warrior pursuing Extreme Fusion!" Flame Swordsman couldn't tolerate others questioning Tenjo Hikari and immediately retorted.
"It's true! Don't underestimate me; I'm an Alchemist! I know more about fusion than you all!" The Alchemist countered, "To achieve Alchemy, materials and processes are needed. It's all Spell Cards; without materials, how could Alchemy Products be made?"
"Heh... then witness it properly, Other Dimension bumpkin Alchemist." Black Flame seemed colder and less talkative than Flame Swordsman but when he became sarcastic, he could leave the Alchemist speechless.
Tenjo Hikari thought about saying something.
But at this moment, he needed to focus on observing the opponent's actions. If the opponent suddenly "cheats" without saying anything and he doesn't see it, then he'd be screwed.
After using Card Destruction, Crystal activated the Spell Card he'd previously set.
Normal Spell, Monster Reborn.
Generally speaking, apart from Quick-Play Spells, all set Spell Cards can be activated during the turn they're set, so Tenjo Hikari had no objections to this combo. Then following the radiance of Monster Reborn, a zombie-like Crystal Warrior, identical to the Duelist, with black aura, slowly rose from the shattered gem.
Gem-Knight Crystal, LV 7, Earth Attribute, Rock-Type, ATK 2450. Normal Monster.
With an ATK of 2450, just 50 points lower than the protagonist's "Ace Monsters," in this world, easily overcoming it seemed quite difficult.
Moreover…
Crystal set another card on top of the previously set card and then ended his turn with a roar.
Front of a 2450 monster, back of two unknown set cards, this opening can easily end the Northern Academy representative and second-year senior, even Judai would need Great Tornado to solve a LV 7 monster that was just 50 points higher than "Thunder Giant," let alone with Spell and Trap support.
No wonder that roundhead tried to trick me with this.
"My turn, draw—" Tenjo Hikari looked at his hand, feeling pretty good, "I activate the Spell Card, Overload Future Fusion—"
"Roar!"
Just as Tenjo Hikari was about to activate his spell, Crystal suddenly uncovered a set card, roaring. Behind the roar was a Counter Trap called "Champion's Vigilance!"
"Uh oh, that's a Counter Trap that can negate and destroy Spell and Trap activations when there's a LV 7 or above Normal Monster on the field!" The Alchemist grabbed his head, speaking in panic as he uttered words of despair, "It's over, it's over, we're finished—fusion for material purposes is gone. And the powerful Instant Fusion that can directly Fusion Summon is discarded... we're really doomed! If I had known, I wouldn't have defied my master, I would've obediently stayed in the base for lessons..."
"Now it's worse, without returning to my world, meeting something like invisible zombies, even humans seeking help is futile, it's really over!"
It seemed that this poor Alchemist had secretly slipped out alone, falling into this Broken Dimension, continuously conducting experiments in search of a way back, leading to this situation.
Snap—
Seeing his Continuous Spell destroyed, Tenjo Hikari shook his head helplessly.
"Alloy Alchemist."
"Huh, huh?" The Alchemist responded instinctively when Tenjo Hikari called out, then replied blankly, "Eh, how do you know my name?"
"It's just a card being negated, don't be so tense."
Seeing Tenjo Hikari still confident, both Flame Swordsman and Dark Flare Knight exchanged glances and smiled.
This is the master they chose to follow; this is their holder!
"Fusion is the most noble summoning method in the world, do not be constrained by your understanding, limit your imagination!"
"It's just one Fusion that's negated!"
"There are plenty of ways to create materials! Besides, materials might not even be necessary!"
"Let me show you, and willingly leave this Dimension with me! I activate the effect of Metalfoes Fusion in the graveyard. When this card is present in the graveyard, return it to the deck and shuffle, then draw a card!"
The moment this most familiar fusion spell's effect activated, the Alloy Alchemist seemed slightly dazed.
No wonder those two Spirits beside are so loyal to this human; it's truly not without reason.
However, no matter how good the words sound... if not feasible, everything ends.
"Next, I activate the Normal Spell Fusion Armament!" Tenjo Hikari revealed a Spell Card illustrated with Flame Swordsman, and began activating its effect, "This card can only be activated once per turn. Display a Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck to the opponent, a Fusion Material Monster listed in the card name of that monster from your Extra Deck or graveyard, Special Summon!
Monsters summoned by this effect cannot attack until the opponent's turn ends, and their effects are negated—
I display Dark Flare Knight from the Extra Deck, then... Flame Swordsman, it's your time to shine."
"Oh! Master, I'm already fired up!" Flame Swordsman cried excitedly, jumping from the audience to the field, raising his sword to face the tall Knight opposite him.
He didn't mind at all being a stepping stone and "hard-working death" role, joyfully waving his sword.
"Using... using such form, Fusion without material?" Alloy Alchemist couldn't resist taking off his hat that blocked his vision, gazing toward the field.
"Heh, see now, right?" Black Flame smiled, "Our master will surpass your imagination!"