Chazz and Adrian slowly got to their feet. Their conditions weren't actually that bad.
Rather, they had only been confronting the black-clad man for a short time before Hikaru arrived.
The school was small, and Atticus's location was the most critical, with the most equipment and personnel. Only during the early morning shift change did staffing thin out, creating a window of vulnerability. Hence the attack.
In truth, if not for the excessive equipment and most people's bodies being unable to withstand dimensional transport, Hikaru would have loved to build a dimensional gate and forcibly send them to the Great Universe Workshop.
Of course, since dimensional transport to and from the Workshop was also blocked, there was no point.
Normally, with the Earthbound Gods and Flame Swordsman guarding, no spirit could invade. But Hikaru hadn't expected this masked figure who could use mental control powerful enough that even high-level spirit-power duelists like Chazz and Adrian could barely resist.
Fortunately.
He didn't need to worry about mental attacks anymore.
"My turn. Draw."
Hikaru went first. He swiftly drew and examined his hand.
Looking good.
"Field Spell: Magical Meltdown."
Red light blanketed the field. An enormous magic circle appeared beneath everyone's feet.
"When this card is activated: I add one Aleister the Invoker from my Deck to my hand."
Hikaru raised his left hand. Data lit up on his Duel Disk. A card materialized before him and he grabbed it. "Normal Summon: Aleister the Invoker!"
The familiar magician appeared and immediately raised his left hand, as if invoking some power.
However...
"Wait."
?
Hikaru paused. The black-masked man leisurely raised his right hand.
CRACKLE.
Countless currents surged from all directions, shocking Aleister. The magic circle in its hand shattered instantly.
"The principle of all phenomena, the world's truth."
The black-masked man looked toward Atticus Rhodes, card in hand. "Humans who cannot comprehend all of this have their limits.
So trash like you should have your fate decided by me."
"Humanity has no future.
Trap Card: Infinite Impermanence!"
What?
Hikaru was genuinely startled.
What a powerful move.
"A Trap Card?"
"What's going on? Has my memory not recovered? He activated a Trap from his hand?"
Chazz and Adrian had recovered enough to guard Atticus's bedside. Seeing the black-clad man activate a Trap from hand, they couldn't help murmuring.
"When I control no cards, this card can be activated directly from my hand."
"I target one face-up monster my opponent controls. That monster's effects are negated until the end of this turn."
The two exchanged glances.
What a powerful card!
Negating a monster's effects was one thing, but activating directly from hand out of thin air?
Without Aleister's effect, things would be bad, right?
They looked at Hikaru.
After all, without Aleister's search, Hikaru couldn't "Fuse."
But unexpectedly, Hikaru looked at his hand and couldn't help laughing.
"Hm?" The black-clad man didn't understand the laughter.
"Nothing. I just find it amusing."
Before coming to this world, he had frequently encountered similar situations.
Using "hand traps" to interrupt someone, only to...
Completely fail to disrupt anything!
"I activate the effect of Spenta, the Magistus Sealer from my hand! I discard it to add one Magistus monster other than Spenta from my Deck to my hand.
I add Crowley, the Gifted Magistus to my hand.
Crowley's effect!
When this card is added to my hand by a method other than drawing: Special Summon!"
On Hikaru's field, a smaller version of "Aleister" appeared, waving its staff energetically.
"When Crowley is Special Summoned: I Fusion Summon using monsters from my hand and field as Magistus or Invoked Fusion Material!"
"Pioneer a new system of magic. Become the angel that guards the magician!"
"I fuse the two monsters on my field!"
"Fusion Summon! Level 8: Aiwass, the Magistus Spell Spirit!"
A mechanical being with a distinctly Invoked aesthetic absorbed both magicians' power. Like a gale, it appeared fiercely on Hikaru's field, then silently braced both arms forward in a defensive stance.
Aiwass, the Magistus Spell Spirit. Level 8, WIND Attribute, Fiend-Type. DEF 2800.
"Then... Normal Spell: Invocation!"
"Tch... It was in his hand from the start?" Seeing Hikaru play Invocation, the black-clad man felt frustrated.
He had thought Infinite Impermanence would shut Hikaru down. Turns out it wasn't even targeting the main play.
Of course, this happened all the time.
Anyone who dueled regularly encountered this. Impermanence hitting Aleister only for the opponent to have Invocation in hand, pure bait for the hand trap. Or Ash Blossom stopping Magical Meltdown from searching Aleister, only for the opponent to Normal Summon Aleister directly.
This was nothing new. A classic scenario.
This guy had simply made the same choice many players would. Nothing special.
"I banish Aleister from my Graveyard and Spenta from my Graveyard for a LIGHT Invoked Fusion!"
"Come forth! Invoked Mechaba!"
Masses of mechanical debris converged, then piled together into an enormous, towering mechanical warrior and chariot.
Invoked Mechaba. Level 9, LIGHT Attribute, Machine-Type. ATK 2500.
"Oh! Mechaba!" Chazz's face lit up with excitement.
Mechaba possessed a powerful once-per-turn effect: when a monster effect, Spell, or Trap was activated, discard a card of the same type to negate and banish it.
Since it was "negate and banish" rather than "negate and destroy," even powerful death-trigger effects couldn't activate against this card.
Opening with 2800 DEF, 2500 ATK, plus a negation on board was genuinely stable and excellent.
"Invocation's effect: I return this card to the Deck and add the banished Aleister to my hand."
Hikaru casually recovered Aleister, ensuring he could search Invocation again next turn.
"I Set two cards. Turn end."
"A perfect first turn." Adrian relaxed considerably.
Although they hadn't dueled the masked man themselves, their dueling knowledge told them Hikaru's board was quite strong.
After all, the opponent only had four cards in hand. Even drawing one made five. Even activating Pot of Greed would be negated by Mechaba. Very reassuring.
Moreover, since the Magistus Fusion Monster was summoned using two Aleisters, it surely wasn't ordinary and likely had a powerful effect.
Chazz also felt reassured. Hikaru's board looked rock-solid from every angle.
However, hearing Atticus's faint struggling, he rushed over to help the coughing, struggling Atticus sit up.
Atticus quietly thanked them, sat upright, and looked at the field. His expression was grim.
Although he hadn't opened his eyes, he had been listening to the duel's content. Unlike the other two, his expression showed considerable worry. He even spoke directly: "Be careful, Hikaru. That guy..."
"Heh heh heh heh."
"Hmph hmph hmph hmph."
The two Mr. T's standing in the infirmary heard Atticus's words and sneered. "That's right."
"Hikaru."
They looked at Chazz and Adrian. "The most ordinary of turns."
"Everything was anticipated."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow and looked at his opponent without speaking.
Adrian frowned, not understanding what the Mr. T's meant.
In his view, unless the opponent opened with all five Exodia pieces, Hikaru's board would be difficult for anyone to break. Even Fog King needed a Field Spell, and Hikaru had Mechaba...
How could this be "an ordinary turn"?
"My turn. Draw!"
The black-clad man drew a card, then spoke leisurely. "Spell Card: Dark Ruler No More."
!!!!
Holy...
Hikaru's eyes widened.
An enormous skeletal hand appeared in the void. Then it fired a blue-white energy wave that swept across everything on Hikaru's field.
"Wh-what is that?"
"What's happening?!"
Chazz and Adrian cried out simultaneously.
They didn't understand why this was happening. They could only watch as Hikaru offered no resistance, letting the shockwave engulf his entire field.
"Friendship, bonds... these things are nothing but stumbling blocks that prevent the human species from evolving." The black-clad man spoke with satisfaction. "Hikaru, you possess powerful Fusion cards, even the ultimate Super Polymerization.
But your friendships have burdened you, forcing you to duel a specter of the past.
I've seen it all.
Just like Super Polymerization, monster effects cannot be activated in response to Dark Ruler No More's activation. So your Mechaba's effect cannot activate."
"Ah, is that so..." Chazz's expression immediately soured.
"Furthermore, this card's effect negates all face-up monster effects my opponent controls until the end of the turn.
Of course, powerful cards always carry risks. After this card is activated, all damage my opponent receives becomes 0 until the end of the turn."
A silver lining in the misfortune.
At least Hikaru should survive this turn.
Unfortunately, all his disruption had been neutralized.
"Let's clean up this eyesore of a Field too." The black-clad man raised his right hand and flipped a card. "I activate the Field Spell: Clear World."
TING TING TING TING TING!
Six enormous crystals appeared in the sky.
With the room as the center, a ring expanded outward. Everything around gradually transformed into a pure white, endless wasteland. Finally, the entire room, even the entire world, became a pristine space.
Clear World.
So it was Yusuke Fujiwara after all.
Hikaru scanned the surroundings but said nothing.
"Clear World is the purest, cleanest world. A world untainted by human filth. And as long as this card is on the field, I can activate Clear Wall's effect.
Continuous Spell: Clear Wall. Once per turn, while I control Clear World: I add one monster that mentions Clear World from my Deck to my hand.
I add Clear Vicious Knight to my hand. Then, Normal Summon: Clear Cube."
A pristine white cube materialized on the field, concealing a small red robot inside. "This card's Attribute can be treated as non-DARK. While it's on the field, once beyond my Normal Summon, I can Summon one monster that mentions Clear World.
And Clear Vicious Knight can use a monster that mentions Clear World as a single Tribute for its Tribute Summon."
"I Tribute Clear Cube! Tribute Summon!"
"Clear Vicious Knight!"
An enormous transparent cube appeared on the black-clad man's field. Then a black knight wielding arm blades, cape billowing, appeared within the massive crystal.
Clear Vicious Knight. Level 7, DARK Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK: 2300 → 4800.
"4800?"
"Why..."
"Clear Vicious Knight's ATK increases by the original ATK of the highest-ATK monster on the opponent's field."
Hikaru's highest ATK was Mechaba, so its ATK directly gained 2500!
The spectators' expressions grew grave.
Didn't that mean it would always have higher ATK than the opponent?!
"That's not all." The black-clad man's lips curled beneath his mask, making it ripple. "While the Tribute Summoned Clear Vicious Knight is on the field, my opponent cannot activate the effects of Special Summoned monsters with lower ATK than this card."
!!
Chazz and Adrian's faces went pale.
Didn't that mean all Special Summoned monsters' effects were completely sealed?!
"That's not all..."
The black-clad man slowly raised his hand. "Clear World imposes different penalties on players based on their monsters' Attributes. For example, a player with DARK monsters cannot attack.
Of course, Clear Vicious Knight can be treated as having no Attribute rather than DARK, so I don't bear that risk. But as long as Clear Wall is on my field and I control a Level 7 or higher monster that mentions Clear World, Clear World's penalties apply to my opponent regardless of Attribute!"
He pointed at Hikaru. "LIGHT: reveal your entire hand."
"DARK: cannot declare attacks."
"EARTH: destroy one of your own monsters during the Standby Phase."
"WATER: discard one card during the End Phase."
"FIRE: take 1000 damage during the End Phase."
"And... WIND: cannot activate Spell Cards!"
As he listed each effect, as each penalty appeared before the three spectators, their expressions grew worse and worse.
Especially when Chazz heard "WIND," he swore out loud.
"Super Polymerization is certainly a powerful card. But even Super Polymerization is still... a Spell."
"This is the flaw of human individuality!"