Kevin's defeat caused a deeper sense of powerlessness to spread among all the first-year students.
Before Aisha's counterattack, Kevin, the grade's super elite who maintained a 100% win rate, was the recognized ceiling combat power for the first-year students.
Yet precisely this powerhouse, recognized by everyone, had absolutely no ability to resist before Kyma Set.
Like a passerby crushed casually, even though Kevin Special Summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon in the first turn, the result was still a merciless, crushing defeat.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere surrounding the two girls, Irena put on her signature professional smile.
"Relax, this is very normal."
"Very normal?" Even the twirling ahoge atop Aisha's head looked listless at this moment.
Irena explained: "The grade challenge match is originally used to establish dominance over the first years. So even if it's the strongest of the grade, being hung up and beaten is perfectly normal."
"The strongest of the grade being hung up is perfectly normal, could it be!"
Yilin's eyes suddenly lit up with curiosity, asking: "Senpai Irena, were you also beaten up last year? After all, last year, you represented the first year."
For the current first-year new students, it was hard to imagine the Ashen Witch Irena, known as one of the Academy Twin Walls, a super powerhouse on par with Kyma Set, being hung up and beaten in a duel.
"Ah, this..."
As if hitting a sore spot, Irena, who usually appeared full of confidence, showed a rarely seen subtle expression, accompanied by a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"I really don't want to bring up last year's matter again. Well, anyway, you just need to know this is Fusion Academy's routine."
"Senpai, tell us, I really want to know!"
Yilin, whose curiosity was piqued, seemed unwilling to let Irena off easily.
"Don't, don't do this, student Lin. I really don't want to recall it."
"Hmph, last year's Irena wasn't any better off than Kevin."
The magnetic female voice, just heard in the duel, suddenly came from behind the three.
"This voice is!"
Very recognizable, Aisha and Yilin turned their heads back in astonishment at the same time.
"Kyma Set?"
As if dreaming, Kyma, who was mercilessly beating Kevin in the duel field just minutes ago, had now suddenly appeared behind them.
But thinking carefully, everyone was a student of the same academy; even if the grades were different, there was no substantial difference in their student status.
Not to mention Irena, who had long since become familiar with Aisha; in terms of dueling strength and status, she was actually the same as Kyma.
And getting close, one could feel even more Kyma's appearance, possessing both coolness and beauty, a charm that could make even girls' hearts flutter.
"Senpai Kyma, you really know, about Senpai Irena's grade challenge match incident?"
Yilin decisively shifted the spearhead of curiosity towards Kyma.
Aisha couldn't help but sigh; Yilin truly deserved to be called the social butterfly, actually going straight for it.
Although her appearance was very charming, after watching that duel, Aisha was still a bit afraid of Kyma.
Mainly because she substituted her own older sister.
If Aisha's sister were as cold and strict as Kyma, the weak Aisha might not have survived to her current sixteen years.
"Of course, I know. Rather, besides you first-years, every other student in the academy knows about this."
Kyma rubbed her smooth chin, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly, looking at the hesitant Irena beside her.
"It's just that under someone's reign of terror, most students don't dare mention this matter. Of course, among these students, I am certainly not included."
"Shut up already, Kyma!"
Wanting to reach out and cover Kyma's mouth, but due to the height difference between the two, Irena's efforts were largely ineffective.
"You should accept reality already, Irena. Losing to that person isn't something shameful."
Somehow feeling different from Aisha's impression of her being cold, in front of Irena, Kyma completely lacked the extremely strict 'older brother' posture she had during the duel.
"That person, refers to a senior currently in the third year?" Yilin's curiosity grew even stronger.
Kyma nodded: "Mm, that man hailed as Fusion Academy's once-in-a-century genius."
Irena shook her head frantically, "Genius? Clearly a madman, okay! So scary, I still tremble a bit just thinking about him now."
Now even Aisha's curiosity was piqued, eagerly wanting to know.
"Just what kind of person could leave such a huge psychological scar on Senpai Irena?"
"The third-year, Senpai Alester." When mentioning this name, even Kyma's eyes changed slightly, gaining a bit more seriousness.
You Ling : "Alester... such a familiar name. Why do I seem to remember, among the meta decks, there was a set, the Summoner Alester system."
Although he died violently before officially getting into Yu-Gi-Oh!, based on the preparations made when getting into it, You Ling still researched the popular meta decks in competitions for a period.
Among them, the Summoner Alester Fusion system, because it could be splashed into various waifu decks for attribute-based Fusion Summoning, was also called the 「Scumbag」.
But after simple thought, You Ling quickly denied this idea.
"It should just be the same name, right? It's impossible for someone to print themselves into a card. That's simply the act of a madman... Wait, madman?"
Just now Irena seemed to have said that this Senpai Alester was a madman.
"Couldn't be." You Ling suddenly started doubting this world's system.
Perhaps things like Duel Spirits didn't just exist within the cards of this world.
Kyma continued explaining: "Back then, the confident, even arrogant Irena was thoroughly taught a lesson by Senpai Alester. But this is also a good thing, otherwise what you'd see now would be an extremely narcissistic, arrogant and domineering Irena."
Irena retorted: "How am I extremely narcissistic? I'm a cute beautiful girl with substance, isn't that a fact?"
"Beating Senpai Irena, a once-in-a-century genius senior! So cool!" Yilin's curiosity turned into excitement, "Then where can I meet such a strong senior?"
"Oh right, somehow feels like after half a semester, the presence of third-year seniors in the academy is really low." Aisha suddenly realized something, "Rather, besides the first few months of school, it seems like I haven't seen any third-year seniors."
"Of course, you wouldn't see them. The third-year seniors only stayed in the academy for three months. After that, they left school for graduation internships."
You Ling: "Graduation internship? So even playing cards has graduation internships?"
Aisha: "This is the first time I've heard of it too."
Looking at Aisha's stupidly cute, confused eyes, Irena couldn't resist rubbing those soft cheeks, helping to explain.
"Elf Sacred Land , the very center of the Elf Continent, the convergence point of the three major nations. That's where the third-year seniors go for their graduation internships."
"At that time, not only Fusion Academy, but also the third-years from Synchro Academy and Xyz Academy will go there. Through an annual dueling tournament, they decide who has the strongest summoning method on the continent."
This is a war representing Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz.