Gradually, a crowd gathered in the open area ahead of the activity room.
Some were ordinary students passing by, while others were members of the Fusion Club who had heard about the situation. They divided into different factions, standing on either side.
"Is Kaname going to duel Hikaru?" Zane crossed his arms and stood with Jaden, joining in on the fun.
They had just returned from the coliseum.
Although the solo duel against that bizarre female spirit was intense, for Jaden, that level of physical combat was still somewhat child's play, so they had quickly secured victory.
Meanwhile, Bastion, after realizing his "beloved", Tania, had turned into a "muscle monster," had slowly recovered.
"Spirits are truly fascinating." Bastion mused.
Even now, he couldn't forget the sight of that muscle-bound woman spirit. She had reverted to her original form after losing in a Shadow Game, but he still had trouble accepting it.
He shook his head. "A third-year dueling Hikaru? Why would he accept?"
"Eh? What's the problem?" Jaden scratched his head. "I duel Kaiser all the time."
"It's different," Bastion shook his head.
At Duel Academy, students were allowed to duel each other freely, even to wager duels, but some actions were strictly prohibited.
First, wagering cards in duels.
Second, duels between upperclassmen and underclassmen.
The first was to prevent bullying, while the second required strict approval to proceed as a friendly match.
Though upperclassmen weren't necessarily stronger, the Academy still preferred first-years dueling first-years, second-years dueling second-years, and so on. Even other branches and schools like Shinson Duel Academy and Spade Academy in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARCV followed the same rule.
Getting harshly beaten during growth could easily shatter a student's mentality. By rights, even duels between clubs should occur among same-year students.
But the Fusion Army exploited a loophole.
Duels between club "presidents," symbols of the club's status, were hard for even the principal to intervene in.
What's more, seeing Hikaru's determined expression, Professor Crowler couldn't reject him.
"Then, with that," Crowler said, "I will act as the judge. The duel process and result will be witnessed by all students.
The winner retains the name [Fusion Club], while the loser must change their club's name."
"Then, duel begins—"
"Duel!" x2
[Kaname, LP: 4000]
[Hikaru, LP: 4000]
"I go first!" Kaname, having trained his reflexes for three years and honed them through other-dimensional experience, seized the first move far faster than the relatively new Hikaru.
"So shameless."
"A third-year stealing first move against a first-year."
Some Fusion Club members who already wanted to jump ship to Hikaru's side began whispering openly.
"Ridiculous. In a duel, going all out is the right way!" Kaname retorted, drawing a card and immediately moving into action!
"Kaname's deck, If I remember correctly, before he joined the Fusion Club, it was a Ritual Deck," Zane recalled. "But since he's now the Fusion Club president, he must have changed decks.
Could it be Ancient Gears?"
"My turn, draw!" Kaname drew a card and immediately played it. "Heh, I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed, to draw two cards."
'Uh…'
Hikaru watched him casually use a super-banned card, feeling a bit helpless.
He had bought Pot of Greed for a while, yet he had never used it so far.
Either it had been mysteriously absorbed by Super Polymerization, or it simply never made it to his opening hand
"Next, I Normal Summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound."
[Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] Level 3│EARTH│Machine│1000 ATK
"Eh… what's that?" Professor Crowler blurted out instinctively.
An Ancient Gear card, even he didn't recognize?
Impossible!
He was supposed to be the Ancient Gear expert!
"Wait, a card even Professor Crowler doesn't recognize? Maybe staying with the original Fusion Club isn't so bad?"
"If you wanna keep getting looked down on, be my guest!"
"Ancient Gear Hunting Hound." Bastion shook his head. "I don't recognize it either. Probably a new Ancient Gear monster found by the upperclassmen during dimensional exploration."
Zane nodded. "In my three years here, I haven't seen it either."
Unlike the others, Hikaru was quite familiar with the card.
'So it's the Hound, huh? Looks like this Fusion Army really is turning into the "Armor Canine Gang" from Arc-V?'
"When the Ancient Gear Hunting Hound is summoned, its effect activates! Inflict 600 points of damage to the opponent!"
The Hound barked loudly, leapt at Hikaru, and bit his arm. Hikaru reflexively flung his arm, tossing the Hound away.
He glanced at his arm.
There was an actual bite mark!
Looking up at the red-eyed Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, Hikaru had a clear grasp of the situation.
Definitely, like the Armor Canine Gang.
[Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3400]
"It deals damage on summon?"
"But its ATK is only 1000..."
Some students hesitated, still uncertain.
"Hmph, I activate Ancient Gear Hunting Hound's effect. Once per turn, it can use monsters from the field or hand as Fusion Materials to Fusion Summon one Ancient Gear monster."
"I fuse my on-field Ancient Gear Hunting Hound with another in my hand! Fierce Hounds, combine your power and become a twin-headed guardian beast!
Fusion Summon, Double Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!"
Another Hound card flew from his hand, and the two merged and reassembled into a two-headed mechanical hound!
[Double Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] Level 5│EARTH│Machine│1400 ATK
"Mamma mia, another card I've never seen!"
"It can fuse itself!?"
"Still… the ATK is pretty low."
Some students even began cheering for Hikaru, "Nice, Hikaru! Just summon a monster with 1500 ATK or higher, and you can beat it!"
"Feels like a weak first turn."
"Yeah, not hard at all."
"Naive," Kaname smirked, setting a card face-down and ending his turn.
"My turn, draw!" Hikaru drew a card.
Instead of rushing to attack, he calmly observed the Double-Headed Hound.
"Double Ancient Gear Hunting Hound... heh, once per turn, if the opponent Summons a monster, it can place a Gear Counter on it. During the start of the damage step, when that monster battles, it can be destroyed."
"Am I right?"
"!!!?"
Kaname's smile instantly froze.
'No way. How could Hikaru possibly know that effect!?'
"Whoa, judging by his reaction, Hikaru guessed right!"
"No, no, that's not a guess, Hikaru obviously knows this card!"
"Weird, why doesn't Professor Crowler know it then?"
"Maybe he was just fooling us?"
The students turned to look at Crowler, who wore an awkward, very unnatural smile, trying to maintain his composure.
'Mamma mia, how does Hikaru know it!? And why don't I know it!?'
"Phew… That was close! Good thing Hikaru knew the effect, or he'd have fallen for it!"
"Of course, Hikaru knew, he's the ultimate fusion duelist! No way he'd fall for a trick like that."
Even the reps behind Kaname instinctively nodded, only to be glared at by Kaname, quickly straightening up.
"Then... heh, heh—I Special Summon, Cyber Dragon!"
"Next, Fusion Summon!"
"I fuse your Double Ancient Gear Hunting Hound with my Cyber Dragon!" Hikaru laughed boldly.
"Double Hunting Hound? Cyber Dragon?! Fusion Summon!?" Kaname was dumbfounded.
"Fusion!?" Countless students gasped in astonishment.