"Damn..."
"I set a card and end my turn."
Teacher Rocks gritted his teeth, his usually gentle demeanor now twisted.
The surrounding students were at a loss for words; some were truly frightened by the scene Rocks described, worrying about a scenario where the academy was "ruled" by Tenjo Hikari, while others insisted that Tenjo Hikari was not like that.
Tenjo Hikari dismissed Rocks' descriptions with contempt. He only cared about fusion, only about this duel, but there were bound to be classmates who couldn't understand Tenjo Hikari's true thoughts.
"Should we...?" Asuka looked around listening to the situation unfolding, unable to resist quietly asking her companions.
"Don't spout nonsense! Master only cares about fusion! He wouldn't do the things you're saying!" Compared to Asuka's doubts, Serena was simple and direct. Hearing others pointing fingers at her master, she jumped up, almost stepping on the table, ready to display her full force. Luckily, Asuka knew her well enough to stop her, or chaos might have ensued.
"Hikari..." Judai seemed worried about Tenjo Hikari, as he understood the weight of the word's power.
"No." Manjome softly spoke, shaking his head, "This is right. If one goes to explain, to clarify, to prove there's no issue and never intended to dominate others, they fall into the trap of self-justification. At that point, Teacher Rocks could attack Tenjo's mind freely from any angle.
But, Tenjo bypassed this tedious issue, directly aiming for the core—he only cares about fusion and whether the Integration Department will truly fuse, other matters don't concern him at all.
Even if classmates argue, it doesn't matter. Sooner or later, it will vanish like smoke in the wind."
"Indeed." Tenjouin Fubuki wore a stern expression, "Hikari is rational and pure; he won't make mistakes at this moment. In fact, if he responds to Teacher Rocks or even tries to differentiate himself, he would fall into Teacher Rocks' [rhythm], becoming a [slave] to his intentions."
Mitsuzawa Daichi nodded.
They all had realized—Rocks never wanted an "emperor," but rather... a slave!
He merely wanted a powerful enough student willing to listen to his nonsense.
"My turn, draw!" Tenjo Hikari drew a card, glanced at it, and casually flipped it over, "Activate Normal Spell Card, Shaddoll Fusion!"
"Oh oh oh! Shaddoll!? Are you going to showcase your dark powers again?"
"When the opponent has a monster Special Summoned from the extra deck, Shaddoll Fusion allows me to use monsters from the Deck as Fusion Material!" Tenjo Hikari completely ignored Rocks' words, explaining the effect to himself, "Sending Shaddoll Hedgehog and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from the Deck to the graveyard to fuse!"
"Resonate together with the gemstone of the sky, along with my companions!"
"Now, absorb resentment, hatred, and pain, transform into a new form, appearing before me!"
"Fusion summon!"
"LV 7! Flame El Shaddoll, El Shaddoll Grysta!"
With Tenjo Hikari's call, countless red lines surged from all directions, converging, transforming into adornments, gently floating like the wings of Blazing Angels, as a massive rock knight slowly stood beside Tenjo Hikari, its towering figure making it resemble the ancient giants of myth.
El Shaddoll Grysta, LV 7, Fire Attribute, Rock-Type, ATK 2450.
"Wow—that form!"
"Is that Captain Crystal's new form? Is that monster also a Shaddoll?"
"Is this Tenjo's new alchemical achievement?"
"Activate the monster effect of Shaddoll Hedgehog in the graveyard. When this card is sent to the graveyard by an effect, I can add one Shaddoll Monster from the Deck to the hand card. I add Shaddoll Falco to the hand card from the deck."
Tenjo Hikari displayed the brand-new Shaddoll-dependent subordinate monster in the graveyard—a creation Tierra helped forge for Tenjo Hikari after obtaining the second body component.
"Battle, attack with Grysta!"
"Fallen Heaven of the Primordial Core!"
Captain Crystal lifted his fist high, aiming at the black magic bird.
"Reveal the set card, Trap Card, Defense Tactics!" Seeing this, Rocks showed absolutely no fear, directly revealing his set card, "Can only be activated when a Gladiator Beast monster is face-up on your field! Your monsters won't be destroyed by battle for this turn, and battle damage becomes 0!
Furthermore, after activation, this card won't be sent to the graveyard but goes to the bottom of the deck instead."
Rocks illuminated the Trap Card, displayed it briefly, and then returned it to the deck.
"Additionally, during the battle end phase of Caesar's battle, you can Special Summon two [Gladiator Beast] from the deck, excluding Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"
"At this moment, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus returns to the resting room of the gladiator arena! Summons two slaves! I Special Summon, Gladiator Beast Tygerius and Gladiator Beast Murmillo!"
Caesar casually folded his wings, stretched lazily and departed, followed closely by two Gladiator Beasts eager to clean up for him.
Gladiator Beast Tygerius is a tiger wielding a longsword, equipped with mechanical wings, truly embodying the phrase "to add wings to a tiger," looking quite formidable. On the card image, he is the direct manager among the Gladiator Beasts, roughly akin to a "mid-level manager," usually responsible for training the Gladiator Beast slaves.
As for Fish Battle... it's a fish.
Gladiator Beast Tygerius, LV 4, Earth Attribute, Beast-Type, ATK 1800.