"Alicia!"
"Yuui-san?"
"Lend me your Neos for a bit!"
"Eh!? Oh—alright, Yuui-san!"
After that brief exchange, Yuui smiled inwardly. 'It's been thousands of years since we fought side by side. Do you still remember how it feels, Neos?'
Hearing this, Neos—who had remained within Alicia's soul space since their contract—let a rare smile cross his usually stern face.
"I have been awaiting your call, my master."
"I'm not your master anymore, Neos! Still, we're comrades! So lend me your strength, Neos!!"
"Of course!!"
Yuui opened his eyes as a silver-white heroic phantom appeared behind him. The surrounding students gasped in surprise—they had never seen Alicia (Yuui) summon this silver-white HERO before, nor had they ever seen one with such a majestic form.
Across the field, Ace and Nash tensed as they, too, beheld the unfamiliar HERO.
In the distant academy building, within the dean's office, Aleister watched the manifestation of Neos and sighed softly. "So, it's come to this after all. Good thing I prepared in advance."
Back on the field, Yuui's entire body was enveloped in Neos's radiant energy as he declared, "My turn—Draw!!"
He glanced at the drawn card and immediately played it. "I activate the Spell Card Spy Hero! I send two random cards from my Deck to the Graveyard, then I can choose one Spell Card from my opponent's Graveyard and add it to my hand!"
"A Spell that mills and steals from the Graveyard?" Nash blinked in surprise. "Then which card does she want!?"
Yuui drew two cards from his Deck and discarded them to the Graveyard, then pointed toward Nash. "The card I choose is your Graceful Charity!"
A man in a black suit and sunglasses appeared on Nash's field, running toward Yuui and tossing her a card.
Yuui caught it and revealed it—indeed, it was the Spell Card Graceful Charity.
"Now I activate Graceful Charity! Draw three cards, then discard two!"
She drew three new cards, glanced over them, then discarded two and continued, "Next, I activate the Spell Card Hero's Legacy! When there are two or more Level 4 or higher HERO monsters in my Graveyard, I draw three cards! Right now, my Graveyard contains Elemental HERO Flame Wingman and Elemental HERO Neos, both Level 4 or higher HEROES—so I draw three cards!"
As Yuui replenished her hand with Nash's own Spell, his expression darkened. His eyes darted briefly toward Yuui's Graveyard, recalling the unfamiliar name she had spoken earlier—Elemental HERO Neos.
'Another new HERO, huh?'
That same thought echoed not just in Nash's mind but throughout the entire audience—they were sure none of them had ever heard of this HERO before.
However, they would soon understand its power.
Yuui looked down at her cards and spoke softly. "Alicia, watch carefully what I'm about to do."
Alicia: "Huh?"
Seeing her puzzled look, Yuui smiled. "When Neos dueled you before, he was holding back quite a bit. Now, I'll show you the other powers Neos has been hiding!"
Yuui slapped a card onto her Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon Neo Space Connector!"
A boyish figure with a silver body, blue energy core, and red stripes—an aspiring hero in human form—appeared on the field.
[Neo Space Connector] Level 4│LIGHT│Warrior│800 ATK
"I activate Neo Space Connector's effect! When this card is Normal Summoned, once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Neo-Spacian' monster or one 'Elemental HERO Neos' from my hand or Deck in Defense Position! I Special Summon from my Deck—Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!"
Alicia: "Ehh!? Yuui-san, my Deck doesn't even have that card!"
Yuui: "It does now, Alicia! Once you've earned Neos's recognition, the power of Neo Space itself responds to you! Look—see for yourself!"
Yuui drew a card from the Deck, revealing a monster Alicia knew all too well.
[Neo-Spacian Grand Mole] Level 3│EARTH│Rock│900 ATK│300 DEF
Alicia seized up. She still vividly remembered when that little yellow mole had kicked her precious Shining Flare Wingman right back into the Extra Deck during their Duel—the sheer frustration had sent her blood pressure skyrocketing.
That said, now that the mole was on her side, she couldn't help feeling oddly reassured.
Maybe this was what Yuui once called the "True Aroma Law" after all.
Yuui chuckled softly at Alicia's reaction, reminding her once more of Neos's importance. Then she raised her hand and declared, "I Special Summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole in Defense Position!"
[Neo-Spacian Grand Mole] DEF: 300
"What now? Another strange monster!?" Ace gritted his teeth, his confusion deepening with each new HERO or Neo-Spacian that appeared.
Yuui continued, "Next, I activate Neo Space Connector's second effect! I tribute this card, then target one 'Neo-Spacian' monster or 'Elemental HERO Neos' in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it in Defense Position! I tribute Neo Space Connector to Special Summon from my Graveyard—my friend, the hero of light from the cosmic abyss—Elemental HERO Neos!!"
Light engulfed Neo Space Connector, and from it emerged a silver-white hero—simple in form yet radiating overwhelming nobility.
[Elemental HERO Neos] Level 7│LIGHT│Warrior│2500 ATK│2000 DEF
"A monster that can search another from the Deck, Special Summon it, and then tribute itself to revive one from the Graveyard—all in one turn? That's insane!" Chuck exclaimed from the crowd.
Even Professor White, standing beside him, thought that Neo Space Connector's effect was a bit overpowered.
And just as everyone was processing that thought, Alicia (Yuui) spoke another term that left them stunned.
"Now, I return Elemental HERO Neos and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole from the field to the Deck to perform a Contact Fusion!"
"Neo!"
"Mole!"
The two cosmic-born heroes leapt into the air, crossing paths beneath a dark vortex, merging into a single beam of light that shot skyward.
"Drill through the darkness with cosmic power—appear, the invincible hero, Elemental HERO Grand Neos!!"
Light burst forth, revealing the silver-white hero now clad in heavy steel armor, a massive drill nearly as tall as himself attached to his right arm.
Elemental HERO Grand Neos—descend!
[Elemental HERO Grand Neos] Level 7│EARTH│Warrior│2500 ATK│2000 DEF
Fusion Materials: Elemental HERO Neos + Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
Must first be Special Summoned by returning the above cards you control to the Deck (you do not use Polymerization). Once per turn: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; return that target to the hand. During the End Phase: Shuffle this card into the Extra Deck.
"Another new monster!?"
"Contact Fusion—it's like the Gladiator Beasts the grade supervisor uses!"
"Right, a Fusion that doesn't even need Polymerization… what a convenient summoning method!"
"And it looks so cool!"
As the new HERO took the field, the students once again erupted in excitement. When someone commented on how cool Grand Neos looked, Yuui smiled.
He raised his hand and declared, "Elemental HERO Grand Neos—this is your debut, so let's make it count! I activate Grand Neos's effect! Once per turn, I can target one monster on my opponent's field and return it to the owner's hand! I target your Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss, Nash! Of course, since it's an Xyz Monster, it returns to the Extra Deck instead! Spiral Breakthrough!!"
Grand Neos's drill began spinning rapidly, spiraling energy gathering around it. He lunged forward, thrusting the drill toward Shark Drake Veiss.
Veiss opened its jaws to counterattack—but the drill never pierced its body. Instead, it tore open space itself, forming a basketball-sized black hole in front of the creature.
Grand Neos leapt back as the vortex erupted, its gravitational pull locking onto Shark Drake Veiss. Nash could only watch helplessly as his mighty fortress was sucked into the void, vanishing into the Extra Deck.
In this Duel, Shark Drake Veiss had truly drawn the short straw. Despite being one of the strongest monsters on the field, its base form hadn't even managed to activate its effect before Grand Tornado cut its Attack and Defense in half. Then, as its Chaos form, Nash's Life Points never dropped low enough to trigger its ability. All it could do was rely on its high Attack and immunity to destruction.
Now, that burden was gone—Grand Neos's drill had sent it peacefully back to the Extra Deck, sparing it further frustration.
Nash stared at his vanished ace, his face darkening as though it could drip water.
Yuui said calmly, "A monster with 3800 Attack and immunity to battle and effect destruction—you built your ace well. But as long as it isn't completely immune to everything, there's always a way to deal with it. Even if it were, there'd still be a way."
He then looked directly at Nash. "Nash Austine, I don't know how you mastered Chaos Xyz Evolution, but it seems you still haven't fully grasped Shark Drake's original power. As your classmate—and as the representative of Class 1-E—I look forward to seeing your growth in the next three months."
Nash said nothing, his cold gaze fixed on Alicia (Yuui), while the surrounding students exchanged puzzled looks.
Alicia's spirit glanced around at her classmates' odd expressions, then looked at Yuui's smiling face—and suddenly, she remembered one of his old lessons: Shrimp heart and pig's mind—cold-blooded however cunning.
She shivered. 'Yuui-san's ruthless… He beats them down from start to finish, then ends it by "encouraging" them like a mentor. It's so evil… but I kinda love it!'
Yuui noticed Alicia giggling to herself, looking oddly pleased, and tilted his head, confused.
Regardless, he brushed it off; he'd said what needed saying.
He raised his arm again. "Battle Phase! Elemental HERO Great Tornado and Grand Neos—attack Nash together! Typhoon Dragon Bite! Earth Shattering Drill!!"
A storm shaped like a dragon's head and a spiraling drill crashed into Nash, blasting him off his feet as his Life Points plummeted to zero. Professor White, having anticipated it, caught him before he hit the ground.
[Nash, LP: 4000 → 1400 → 0]
Pain shot through Nash's entire body, while he clenched his teeth and bore it, even biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.
He glared at Alicia (Yuui). When the pain subsided, he wiped his bloody mouth and said coldly, "I'll challenge you again. Next time—I will win."
Yuui, unimpressed, replied simply, "I'll be waiting."
Seeing Yuui's indifferent expression, Nash scoffed and pushed himself from Professor White's arms, limping away from the field.
In Class A, Christine Kayla sneakily slipped out of the crowd to follow him.
On the field, Yuui turned toward his remaining opponent—the still-burning Ace.
Seeing Ace's fighting spirit undiminished, Yuui nodded a little. After all, a wielder of Red Dragon Archfiend shouldn't falter so easily.
He chuckled softly. "You're next, Ace. I hope you're ready to lose."
Alicia turned her head toward Yuui again. 'Why does that sound exactly like something a villain would say…?'
...
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