Late at night.
Hikaru Amagi was making his way back to the dorms. Behind him, a figure in a yellow uniform lurked in the trees, secretly tailing him.
Kagurazaka—having lost to Hikaru just a few days ago—was now obsessing over mimicking him again. His previous attempt hadn't been satisfying, so he'd decided to follow Hikaru directly, studying the details of his every move.
Tiella gave him a side glance but didn't even bother alerting Hikaru.
Such a mortal didn't interest her.
Her attention was focused on someone else entirely.
"You've been following me for long enough," Hikaru suddenly turned around.
Kagurazaka nearly jumped out of his skin, almost scrambling out of the bushes to apologize.
But before he could move, a shape began to emerge—slowly forming from the air itself. A figure appeared, shrouded in blood-red light and black fog, rising like a phantom from a grave.
Only then did Kagurazaka realize—Hikaru hadn't been talking to him.
Terror gripped him.
What the hell was that!?
He felt like he was seeing the world for the first time—wrong, twisted.
"Hikaru Amagi," the figure growled, voice thick with dark smoke, more suffocating than the White Crystals Hikaru had faced before. "You've long been a threat to the Fusion Army.
Tonight, I wonder—do you have the guts to face my Duel?"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "So you were gunning for me. Didn't expect you to be so direct, though."
"What's wrong? Aren't you one of those Duelists who believes in fair and proper Dueling?" The masked student sneered. "Then come face my most straightforward challenge. If you dare."
Hikaru didn't waste time. He flicked open his Duel Disk.
"If I win, you're telling me what the hell you guys are up to lately."
"Heh… of course."
Coming to a remote place like this—it was always going to end in a Duel.
No need for investigation or back-alley tactics. In this world, a Duel was always the clearest truth. And even if the guy tried to lie afterward, Hikaru had plenty of ways to force the truth.
"DUEL!!" ×2
Hikaru LP: 4000
Masked Duelist LP: 4000
As they shouted, the Fusion Army student released waves of smoldering crimson-black energy. The whole forest around them darkened under its pressure. A hazy fog rose, and it felt like the world itself shifted—colors muted, air thick, like a dying post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Hikaru narrowed his eyes. The atmosphere was... familiar.
"Hikaru," Tiella said, watching the scene. "Seems like a barrier field—isolating the area from real space. Even if it's a Shadow Duel, innocent bystanders won't get hurt."
Hikaru nodded.
So the masked guy did care about discretion, at least.
"My turn!" The masked student drew and barked a laugh. "I set three cards. Turn end."
Three sets?
Hikaru's mind buzzed. He drew. "Draw. Hm…"
"At this moment—I activate Continuous Trap—Anti-Spell Fragrance!"
A massive iron cauldron shimmered into view, hissing a ghostly scent into the air.
"As long as this card remains on the field, neither player can activate Spell Cards unless they've been set first. And until the player's next turn after setting it, they still can't activate them!"
Kagurazaka, watching from the treeline, went pale.
This was bad—most Fusion cards were Spells! If Hikaru couldn't play Spells, or had to wait an entire turn, that was a huge lockdown!
"Interesting," Tiella said, glancing at Hikaru's hand. "So you can't use that card, huh?"
Hikaru nodded calmly.
"But I chain to your Trap activation—Quick-Play Spell—Scapegoat!" Hikaru revealed his card. "I Special Summon four Sheep Tokens in Defense Position."
Thanks to the Duel rules, chain resolution allowed the later card to go off first. So even under Anti-Spell Fragrance, the Quick-Play went through.
"Then I set one card. Turn end."
"Hmph! Just as I thought—you're powerless against this card!" the Fusion soldier sneered. "All you can do is cower behind sheep!"
"Shut it!" Hikaru snapped—his voice sharp as a whip. "You claim to be a believer in Fusion, preaching that it's the noblest form of summoning, yet the first thing you do in a Duel is lock down your opponent's Fusion!? You call yourself a Fusionist? Pathetic.
Spare me your nonsense and bring out whatever coward's tricks you've got left!"
The mask twitched.
Furious, the duelist yanked a card from his hand. "Fine! I'll rip that smug mouth off your face!"
Then he stopped.
Started to laugh.
Wild, cracked, maniacal.
"Hahahahahaha! Hikaru Amagi—let me show you the power I've obtained!
I flip—Continuous Trap—Mist of Weakness!
And—Imperial Iron Wall! Now—watch!"
Ah. So it was that.
Hikaru immediately understood the setup.
Even still… something about this didn't add up.
"I tribute my three Continuous Traps—Special Summon!!"
The traps erupted into searing red flames. Fire spiraled into the sky like a furnace from hell, painting the entire battlefield in bloodlight.
The masked man screamed, twisting in agony as the fire consumed him. In seconds, his body withered, his limbs drooping like a puppet with its strings cut.
Then—with a roar—the sky cracked.
A winged, crimson-scaled dragon descended into the mist-drenched field.
Its maw gaped with serrated teeth. Its eyes flashed golden, murder in every gleam. Kagurazaka screamed and scrambled backward, rolling through bushes in sheer panic.
The world's temperature skyrocketed.
Hikaru squinted against the heat.
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!"
Uria – Level 10, FIRE, Pyro, ATK ?
"Uria's ATK is 1000 for every Trap Card in the Graveyard!" the masked man groaned, bones creaking like rotted wood as he moved.
Uria – ATK: 3000
"Mmm… interesting," Tiella murmured, tilting her head. "Not bad, Hikaru. That one's ranked quite high."
"But look at it…" she smirked. "It's in worse shape than me. Split apart… incomplete."
Figures.
Hikaru stared at one of the Three Sacred Beasts—Uria.
This confirmed it.
Yin Shadow… was definitely killed by Reiji Akaba.
He looked at the masked man again. His body had been burned to a husk—half the size it had been, now a skeletal stick figure.
Would he even survive this Duel?
"Then—I activate Trap Card—Blazing Sword Dance! I Special Summon Flame Swordsman in Defense Position from my Extra Deck and overlay it on Uria!"
"Pointless! Uria is unaffected by Trap Cards."
"Trap. Destroyed."
The masked man's voice glitched, breaking syllables.
Uria opened its jaws—unleashing a banshee screech. The flame slash that should have cut through it… did nothing.
So that's how it is.
The OCG version of Uria, Special Summoned via Continuous Traps, doesn't have the immunity seen in the anime. That's why Hikaru tried Blazing Sword Dance—a good test.
But this one… had resistances. That was rare.
"Now—Uria attacks Flame Swordsman! Pyro Surge!"
Flame Swordsman tried to speak—but the heat storm crashing toward him forced him into a guard stance, sword braced, trying to deflect the blaze before he dissolved into ash.
"Hahahahaha! See it, Hikaru Amagi!? This is the new power of our Fusion Army!"
The masked man wheezed, dead-eyed, barely upright. "Today… I'll make you feel the pain I felt."
"New power, huh…"
"Tch. I knew it. You people don't fuse. You don't Duel with pride. You don't even care about Duelists anymore, do you!?"
"Then let me be the one to shatter this deluded fantasy of yours!"