"Ha, leaving already? Tenjo Hikari."
Noticing that Tenjo Hikari left without waiting, Gin Ryuusei flexed his right hand, calming his previously anxious mood.
He looked at Serena.
If his opponent is a peer like Serena, then there's nothing to fear.
Not to mention his own immense confidence in dueling, he had always looked down on Serena.
Though she was the freshman representative, he felt she benefitted too much from her "background identity."
"Since Tenjo Hikari left so arrogantly, let me deal with you, then continue with Lord Saiou's task." Gin Ryuusei twisted his wrist.
He was the second-in-command of the Light Society in this dimension, a mid-tier member, while Serena was the disciple of Tenjo Hikari, whom Lord Saiou wanted to recruit, making their "status" equal. If he defeats Serena, he can prove his worth to Lord Saiou.
Serena didn't respond, just stood there waiting.
"Duel!" X2!
As the Duel Disks automatically opened, they both shouted simultaneously.
Gin Ryuusei, LP: 4000.
Serena, LP: 4000.
"My turn, draw!" Gin Ryuusei placed his hand on top of his Deck, pulling a card with force.
He glanced down briefly: "Drew it right at the start, that's the power of [Destiny]!
As expected, starting with the BOSS battle is the most interesting!"
"Activate Field Spell Card, B.E.F. Zelos!" He opened the field area, holding the card high and shouting.
With his shout, the surroundings gradually grew ethereal, dazzling stars appeared around Serena and him, as if they were standing in the Cosmos.
Above Gin Ryuusei, a giant mechanical fortress opened its hatch slowly.
"Zelos's effect activates, allowing me to add 1 [BOSS Rush] from my Deck to my hand!" His Deck automatically ejected a card, which he displayed to Serena.
"Then, I immediately activate the Continuous Spell Card I just added to my hand, BOSS Rush!" A Continuous Spell Card of BOSS Rush slowly appeared before him.
"This card can only be activated during a turn without a Normal Summon! As long as this card exists in my Spell & Trap Zone, I can't Normal Summon!"
"Huh? Such a big restriction?" Serena tilted her head in surprise, regretting that Tenjo Hikari had already left, as she would've asked Tenjo Hikari about this Deck.
But—
The words of Tenjo Hikari and the teachers were never to be dismissed.
Given such a big "restriction," there should be something powerful about it, right?
"Activate Zelos's effect, once per turn, I can Special Summon a [B.E.S.] monster from my hand!"
"Come forth, B.E.S. Covered Core!"
A hatch in the colossal fortress in the sky slowly opened, and a battleship drifted out, its massive core exposed, appearing large yet with an easily broken weak spot.
B.E.S. Covered Core, LV 7, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, ATK 2500.
"Zelos's effect, when a B.E.S. monster is summoned·Special Summon, give it a counter for its self-effect."
Covered Core, Counter: 0→1.
As the counter appeared, an explosive sound resonated, and a protective shield was installed over Covered Core's energy core.
"Oh, right, as long as Zelos is on the field, my B.E.S. monsters' ATK·Defense Power increases by 500 points, and you can't target it with effects, nor will it be destroyed by effects of the opponent!"
Covered Core, ATK: 2500→3000.
"Haha, how about that, that's the power Lord Saiou gave me, easily reaching the might of Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Gin Ryuusei smiled confidently.
"End of turn!"
"Impressive, Gin Ryuusei!"
"Easily summoned a monster with the attack power equivalent to Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Even though duelists in this world had evolved rapidly, for the majority of duelists, 3000 remained a difficult threshold to cross.
Thus, summoning a monster with an attack power of 3000 on the field was still quite oppressive for first-year freshmen.
However, if it's just about ATK, Serena wouldn't be deterred!
"My turn, draw!" Serena cheerfully drew a card, quickly glancing down.
Nice—
A great combination was drawn!
"Normal Summon, Lunalight Emerald Bird!"
The blue warrior with wings on its arms flew from the card, soaring through the starry sky before landing among the stars.
Lunalight Emerald Bird, LV 4, Dark Attribute, Beast Warrior-Type, ATK 1200.
"Lunalight?" Gin Ryuusei observed Serena's monster on the field, nodding slightly.
"I see—Lord Saiou mentioned that Tenjo Hikari is a man with the [Sun] attribute, and as his disciple, you're like the moon reflecting sunlight?"
"But in the Cosmos, not to mention mere satellites, even stars like the sun are but tiny specks!"
This meant that under the cosmic power of light from which Lord Saiou came, both Tenjo Hikari, symbolizing the sun, and Serena, possessing moonlight, were insignificant, essentially taunting.
However...
"What are you talking about, I don't understand." Serena said in confusion.
Serena wasn't lying.
"If you're dueling, then duel properly, stop saying weird things." Serena drew a card from her right hand, containing a few cards, and spoke.
"Hmm..." This made the digital-savvy boy feel completely uncomfortable.
Right then, he wished to pull out his handheld console to play a game and hide his embarrassment.
"Lunalight Emerald Bird's effect activates upon the Summon·Special Summon success. Discard 1 [Lunalight] card in hand to draw 1 card."
"I send Lunalight Yellow Marten to the Graveyard and draw one card."
"Then—" Serena mimicked Tierra by snapping her fingers with her right hand extended, "Lunalight Yellow Marten's effect activates when sent to the Graveyard by effect. Add 1 [Lunalight] Spell·Trap Card from Deck to hand.
I add Lunalight Fusion to my hand."
"Fusion, huh?" Gin Ryuusei wasn't surprised at seeing the specialized Fusion Spell Card, "Being the daughter of the Fusion Army instructor and a disciple of the Absolute Fusion Master, your use of Fusion isn't surprising at all."
Although because of Tenjo Hikari's performance, few students continued to oppose Fusion, Serena as the "daughter of the Fusion Army's top brass" using Fusion still evoked discomfort.
The nearby members of the Light Society instinctively frowned.
For Gin Ryuusei, however, this wasn't an issue.
He merely sighed.
"How enviable, your destiny. Truly blessed."
"Huh?" Serena, who was contemplating her impressive operation, pleased with her start, was suddenly infuriated by Gin Ryuusei's comment.
What's supposed to be so great about my destiny?