"You asked about Defense Position twice, deliberately detached the material, trying to bait me into destroying Strangereal Falcon—weren't you!?"
Kurosaki Shun stared at his opponent in shock.
Damn—
"I'm not going to make that kind of stupid mistake."
As his words fell, the Berserker swung his giant axe again, two resounding chops, blasting the raptor in the sky down.
Under the flames and violet glow, Tenjo Hikari at this moment in Kurosaki Shun's eyes became terrifying, exceptionally—dangerous!
Kurosaki Shun swallowed, cold sweat unconsciously sliding down his forehead.
This guy is way too strong!!
He actually gave him the same feeling as standing face to face with Kaito—
He bit his lip, forcing himself to stay more clear-headed.
No, so what if he's just as strong as Kaito!
They, the Resistance, have faced not just one Fusion Army Duelist who could use Supernatural Power and was far stronger than them, haven't they?!
"In that case… then, Battle Phase, Strangereal Falcon attacks directly!"
The small falcon's body was once again wreathed in blazing fire; it screamed as it flew in from the edge of the sky and crashed into Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari casually blocked the flames, his expression not changing in the slightest.
Tenjo Hikari, LP: 2750→750.
After the attack resolved, Kurosaki Shun instinctively wiped the sweat from his forehead, then looked at his hand cards.
Rank-Up-Magic Doom Double Force…
Even though the other side had seen through his idea, he'd still set up his defenses. Next turn, Tenjo Hikari would have to battle to break through his board; at that time, combat would be unavoidable. With Doom Double Force, he would be able to Special Summon a Monster of double Rank…
"Cough, cough—"
He suddenly coughed twice, his body swaying slightly.
Even though his will was as steadfast as steel, letting him stand and Duel, his physical condition itself… could only be described as a complete wreck.
Forcing himself to use a Rank-Up-Magic on the level of Soul Shave made him recall what his teacher had told him during experiments—that he was just an ordinary person, unable to withstand too much power, and should remember to act within his limits.
But—
Faced with a powerful enemy, how could you possibly "act within your limits"!?
Only by staking everything, staking your soul, can you be worthy of your own world! Worthy of your own soul!
"Set one card, end my turn."
"That human looks like he's got potential." Tierra said with amused interest.
The Raidraptor Monsters matched her tastes extremely well, and by extension her evaluation of Kurosaki Shun was quite good.
But what impressed her even more—
"Wan Rong's card is actually pretty strong. It's just a shame there's only one Mountain Copper Berserker." Tierra commented idly on the side, pointing here and there. "If there were two copies, you could combine them with Teleport Fusion and pull off all kinds of tactics, right?"
That much was true. If there were two Mountain Copper Berserkers, when Shun used Revolution to destroy the Mountain Copper, he could then bring back the first banished Mountain Copper in Defense, and next turn he could blow up Shun's Set Card.
"My turn, draw."
Tenjo Hikari glanced at his hand cards.
Kurosaki Shun watched Tenjo Hikari's hand cards nervously, sweat unknowingly dripping from his jaw.
What did he draw, how is he going to play this turn?
"Pendulum Summon."
!!
He's going straight into a Pendulum Summon!?
"Come forth, my Alchemy Materials!"
"Pendulum Summon Tungsten Fire and Mercury Witch from the Extra Deck!"
Two masses of flame shot out from Tenjo Hikari's Extra Deck and fell to the ground, becoming two Alchemists ready for battle.
"Activate the Pendulum Effect of Gold Gallop, destroy Mercury Witch, and Set Metalfoes Fusion from the Deck; Mercury Witch's effect—this effect can only be activated when this card is destroyed by battle or card effect. Add a Metalfoes Pendulum Monster with a different card name from this card from the Extra Deck to the hand. This turn, you cannot place the card added to the hand by this effect or any card with the same name in the Pendulum Zone and activate them.
Recycling Bismuth Witch."
Tenjo Hikari quietly took the card out and displayed it to his opponent.
"Steelman's effect, destroy Gold Gallop, and Set Metalfoes Fusion from the Deck."
He destroyed his own Pendulum components?
Kurosaki Shun was puzzled in his heart.
Did he draw a brand-new Rank 1? Why not use Steelman's effect first, then use Gold Gallop's effect to destroy Steelman? All these Metalfoes Monsters have the same Pendulum Effects anyway; that way he'd still have 1 to 8 next turn, right?
"With that, it's OK."
Tenjo Hikari looked at his opponent.
W-what's OK…?
What Tenjo Hikari had shown this turn was basically identical to the last turn—but precisely because it was identical, it made Kurosaki Shun feel even more vaguely uneasy.
"Normal Summon, Raremetalfoes Warrior · Bismuth Witch."
"I activate my Set Card, Mixed Metalfoes Fusion!"
"This card lets me send to the Graveyard the Fusion Materials specified by a Metalfoes Fusion Monster Card from my hand, my field, and face-up Pendulum Monsters in my Extra Deck, then Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck. At that time, from hand, field, and Extra Deck, I can use at most 1 monster from each as Fusion Material!"
Fusion from the Extra Deck!
It's actually the same type of fusion as that day's Disperse?
"My Fusion Materials are a Metalfoes Monster and a Pendulum Monster."
"I fuse the Goldriver in my Extra Deck and the Bismuth Witch on my field as Fusion Materials!"
"Polymerization!"
"Now, begin Alchemy prep——"
"Crush, Re-Creation, Purification, further sublimation, the process of Alchemy is the process of fusion!"
"Fusion sublimation, the star of Pendulum——
LV 6, Metalfoes Mithrilium!"
The purple-haired Princess donned her silver-white Armor; that mechanical Armor slowly unfolded like the wings of an Angel.
Metalfoes Mithrilium, LV 6, Fire Attribute, Psychic-Type, Attack Power 2600.
"Mithrilium's effect——I target 2 Metalfoes cards in my Graveyard and 1 card on the field. The targeted cards in the Graveyard return to the Deck, and the targeted card on the field returns to its owner's hand!"
What!?
Damn——
"I recycle the Copper Berserker and Adamant Superman in my Graveyard, and return your Stranger Falcon on the field!"
Kurosaki Shun watched, eyes wide, as Mithrilium's Dual Pistol aimed at the Falcon and the Graveyard—biubiubiu, three shots—and sent the Fusion Monsters in the Graveyard and Falcon all back the way they came.
Since Extra Monsters can't return to the hand, they go back to the Extra Deck, so all three Monsters returned to their respective Extra Zones.
But with that——
Kurosaki Shun's vision went dark.
It wasn't destruction!
Nothing was destroyed!
In the end, Tenjo Hikari actually chose——to send the battling Monsters back!
And not only that.
Tenjo Hikari still had two Fusion Materials on his field, and his Set Card was a Metalfoes Fusion he'd Set from the Deck!
Which means he can still fuse!
Even if he doesn't fuse, he already has more than my current 2000 LP!
I… lost!
Lost to a Fusion Dimension Duelist!
He closed his eyes and sighed in his heart.
Lacking in strength, he accepted his loss without complaint.
He hadn't thought he'd die in a foreign land; it was just a pity that even now he still hadn't found Ruri.
As he was thinking that, a flurry of hurried footsteps sounded. He was already too numb to care, but the voice that followed forced his eyes wide open.
"Slow down, Ruri, don't rush!"
"Watch your step, Ruri!"
Ruri!!!
He stared, and saw the sister he'd dreamed of day and night—and his sister, and… his sister?
He was a bit stunned.
Don't tell him none of them were Ruri!?
"Big Brother!!"
It really was Ruri!
He almost burst into tears of joy——
But in the next second...
"Big Brother! Why are you here having a Duel with Brother Hikari!!" She swept a glance over the surrounding physical damage—the scattered rubble—then continued, "Stop causing trouble for Brother Hikari!!"
Kurosaki Shun's pupils shrank, his heart jolted violently, his brain went blank; he almost opened his mouth, but his eyes rolled back, and with a thud——
He collapsed onto the ground.
"Big Brother!?"
Kurosaki Ruri turned pale with fright and ran even harder toward him.
Tenjo Hikari quickly scooped up his Deck and ran over to check on him——mainly having Tierra scan him.
"Mm… looks like he hasn't been eating much lately, he's malnourished; those heavy dark circles, serious lack of sleep; plus he used a powerful Rank-Up-Magic, so his mind's a bit overdrawn. Then at the end, going from despair to joy back to despair, his emotions fluctuated violently, so he probably just couldn't handle reality for a moment and his brain crashed… I guess?" Tenjo Hikari said, speculating.
Judging from all that, you could say that in order to find Ruri, Kurosaki Shun had stopped caring about food or rest, his body badly worn down. As a big brother, he'd really tried incredibly hard and done everything he could. If his physical condition had been better, his Duel might have been stronger too. It was just a shame he'd pushed himself too far.
Kurosaki Ruri was both worried and helpless, but warmth rose in her heart as she muttered softly, "Idiot…"