Two days later, the duels between Duel Academy and Shinson Academy came to an end.
Surprisingly, Duel Academy had won every single match!
Yes, even though all the duelists from Shinson Academy were people Hikaru didn't recognize at all, with totally forgettable hair and zero presence from either ZEXAL or ARC-V, they were still grade leaders with modern monsters.
And yet, they didn't win a single round.
Not counting Zane and Hikaru, even the second-year upperclassmen beat his opponent.
The second-year copied Hikaru's entire strategy, but packed his deck with cards like Book of Moon, and let the Shinson sophomore thoroughly experience the pain.
"Another loss, huh." Haruto Kunigawa had just finished another duel with Hikaru that day, and lost again.
Thinking back on how even the upperclassmen lost, he sighed. "Looks like our skills really do lag behind, huh?"
He scratched his head.
Since that day, Hikaru had challenged him to a duel every day, and Haruto never refused.
On one hand, he was used to losing at the Academy and wasn't undefeated or anything. On the other hand, in his world, dueling was more entertainment than a practical application, even though their dueling had spawned absurdly advanced tech, they hadn't applied it to much else.
Also, dueling Hikaru didn't cause the same physical fatigue or pain as dueling a Spirit. With nothing else to do in Neo Domino City, dueling Hikaru was fun and even educational.
And, of course, he was down.
After three days of duels, he could clearly feel himself getting "smarter", and every time he returned home, he was sure he'd perform way better. Only to lose again the next day.
Just as the two were wrapping up their duel in Neo Domino City's arena, Flame Swordsman and Dark Flare Knight suddenly jumped out and flanked Hikaru, startling Haruto.
"My liege, something's up!"
"My liege, the air's gone bad!"
"WAAAH. What the heck are those?!" Haruto nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Haruto, over here."
Before Hikaru could finish, a mass of shadow leapt from the darkness. Reacting instantly, Hikaru jumped high, his body flashing with white armor, and kicked the shadow in mid-air.
"Whoa..." Haruto's jaw dropped. He felt like he was in a movie.
"What was that just now!?" he asked, thrilled. "That was awesome!"
Hikaru wasn't as amused. He grabbed Haruto, scanned him quickly, and then suddenly widened his eyes. With a slash like a razor, he cut Haruto's arm using the card on his necklace.
"Ow..." Haruto felt a sharp sting on his arm. When he looked again, he saw a disgusting worm on the ground that hadn't been there before!
"Captain!"
"Here!" A massive Crystal Monster blocked their front, emitting a bright light. Flame and Dark Flare both charged the shadows, swinging their blades.
A swarm of creepy worms burst out, slashed and burned by the sword spirits. Their faces twisted in disgust, clearly nauseated.
Then came a loud, ominous thump, thump, and a towering figure emerged from the darkness.
It was covered in black fur, clad in purple armor, with blood-red eyes and countless tiny worms wriggling all over its body. Dark mist seeped off of it, a creature of unmistakable malice.
"What's going on? Who is that?" Haruto still hadn't caught up.
"I... am... the proud Gladiator Beast... come to... claim... your life..." the bear growled in human speech.
"Is that... Gladiator Beast Andal?" Flame Swordsman frowned. "How did he... end up like this?"
In the sacred warrior domain, he'd once met Andal's spirit. Though a Gladiator Beast, Chaos Soldier-sama had no qualms about letting him train together. This might not be the same spirit, but it still hurt to see.
They'd once been comrades, after all.
"Looks like he's been mind-controlled," Hikaru muttered, eyeing the disgusting parasites. He lowered his voice. "That damned bald freak must be itching to retire early."
Hikaru didn't know that Leo Akaba was Principal Kagemaru's "right-hand man", but he did recognize those cursed parasites.
Half of Hikaru's hatred for ARC-V came from these "Fusion Parasites."
They could brainwash hosts, overwrite their minds, and turn them into obedient slaves.
His complete lack of goodwill toward Leo Akaba stemmed from this very reason, in the original, that chrome-dome lunatic, under the guise of being a doting father, used this on his own daughter.
How could that even be called a normal person? That's a full-blown lunatic.
In this world, Hikaru hadn't heard of Celina and was still wondering what Akaba was plotting. Since he had no daughter here, surely he wouldn't need the tech? But now he was using it... on spirits!?
And not only that, the black mist rising from Andal was just like what Hikaru had seen on Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle before!
That bald bastard was pulling all the tricks. This had to be part of the "Shadow" system, right?
"Come, human. Duel!" Andal growled after a parasite jabbed into him.
"Heh... fine by me." Hikaru snapped his arm forward, Duel Disk activating. "Gladiator Beasts, huh? I like those."
A Fusion deck that didn't need Polymerization- Gladiator Beasts!
He'd been wanting to try out this higher-level fusion path!
"Flame, Dark Flare, guard the perimeter. Don't let a single worm through."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
"Duel!" ×2
[Hikaru, LP: 4000]
[Gladiator Beast Andal, 4000]
"I'll go first." Andal drew a card and looked at his hand. "Defense Position Summon- Gladiator Beast Hoplomus."
A massive, armored rhino warrior appeared in defense.
[Gladiator Beast Hoplomus] Level 4│EARTH│Rock│2100 DEF
"Set two cards. End turn."
"What a plain turn," Haruto said, about to poke the swordsmen's blades before redirecting his focus.
After dueling Hikaru a few times, he knew how strong the guy was. That opening didn't look too solid.
"My turn." Hikaru glanced at his hand. "Spell Card, Instant Fusion. I pay 1000 LP to Special Summon Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
[Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3000]
The eerie-eyed god returned after a long time.
"Trap Gladiator Beast Charge. Activate when you control face-up Gladiator Beasts. Destroy cards up to the number of different names. Target: Thousand-Eyes Restrict."
Andal calmly raised his bear paw and pointed. "Destroy it."
"RAAARGH!" The rhino's eyes turned red as it charged forward, obliterating the fusion monster in a brutal slam.
"Crap!" Haruto finally realized. This wasn't him dueling Hikaru. Of course, there'd be traps!
"A monster summoned with 1000 LP is gone in a flash... Hikaru, be careful! That thing gives me bad vibes."
Hikaru understood that far better, but instead of talking, he nodded and continued.
"Then I activate Thunder Dragon's effect in my hand and discard to add up to two Thunder Dragons from my Deck to hand.
I add the second one to hand, then discard it to add the third."
Since getting Gem-Knights, Hikaru had added Thunder Dragons to his Deck. After his duel with Vampire Fraulein, he'd received new cards, but hadn't used them until now.
"What's the point of that?" Haruto asked curiously. "Why not just grab two at once? You threw one away instead."
"There's a reason, Haruto. I activate the Fusion Spell, Thunder Dragon Fusion!" Hikaru shouted, slamming a card down. "It's a Thunder-Type exclusive Fusion Spell! I return Thunder monsters from the field, Graveyard, or banished zone to the Deck to Fusion Summon 1 Thunder Fusion Monster!"
Haruto's jaw dropped. You can Fusion Summon by returning cards to the Deck!?
That's right, Deck Recovery Fusion!
"Behold my new power!" Hikaru clapped his hands.
"I Fusion Summon! Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
[Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon] Level 7│LIGHT│Thunder│2800 ATK
Now that was a good attack stat!