"My turn! I'll go first. Draw!"
Bastion Misawa swiftly drew a card from his deck, glanced at it, and couldn't help but smile.
"Hikaru, I should thank you."
"Thank me?" Hikaru Amagi blinked. "Don't remember doing you any favors, Daichi. Unless you count all the times I mispronounced your name on purpose."
"Heh. It's not that." Bastion's tone turned firm. "I used to tailor my decks to every opponent—adjusting strategies, changing builds. But after watching your Duels, I realized what I lacked…"
"What I lacked was conviction."
Hikaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I never truly stuck to one belief. But now, Hikaru—I want you to witness my brand-new deck!"
"Whoa, Bastion's got fire in his eyes today!" Jaden Yuki leaned forward excitedly from the sidelines.
"Hey, sit down! You're blocking people," Chazz snapped, though he added, "He was pretty much a background character during the Shadow Riders arc. Probably bothered him."
"All the boys suddenly acting all hot-blooded…" Alexis sighed.
"I summon Mathematician in Attack Position!"
A wizened man with a white beard, sunglasses, and a staff materialized on Bastion's field.
Mathematician – Level 3 / EARTH / Spellcaster / ATK 1500
Hikaru's brow lifted. A Duel Spirit card.
"When this card is Normal Summoned, I can send 1 Level 4 or lower monster from my deck to the GY. I send Carboneddon!"
"A material forged by millennia of pressure—Carboneddon's effect activates! I banish it from my GY to Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Normal Monster from my deck!"
"I Special Summon—Diamond Dragon!"
From the shadows of compressed carbon, a radiant creature emerged—black coal transfigured into dazzling crystal scales.
Diamond Dragon – Level 7 / LIGHT / Dragon / DEF 2800
Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
O-form Carboneddon, huh? He'd never actually dueled Bastion before—so he never knew what kind of cards Bastion ran.
"I set one card and end my turn."
"Hmm… with just one card, he's summoned a 1500 ATK and 2800 DEF monster. That's not bad." A student muttered.
"Not bad?! That's insane!"
"Eh, we've seen crazier in Hikaru's Duels. This just feels normal now."
Still, it was an impressive opening.
Bastion's setup was efficient—low hand cost, high potential. A combined 4300 in stats with minimal investment, plus a set back row? Safe. Smart.
But Hikaru smirked.
"My turn. Draw!"
He glanced at his card, then looked at Bastion. "Daichi, if that's all you've got, I don't really see the conviction you're talking about."
"So I'm guessing your set card—that's where your real intent lies."
Bastion just smiled silently.
"In that case—I won't hold back either."
"I activate the Field Spell—Fusion Recycling Plant!"
Mechanical clanking filled the arena as a full lab setup phased into place. Robots and machines buzzed through the virtual space, preparing for synthesis.
"I discard Invoked Fusion from my hand to activate Fusion Recycling Plant's effect! I add Polymerization from my deck or GY to my hand!"
Bastion's brow twitched.
"He went for regular Polymerization?"
"No Fusion Substitute? No Fusion Recovery play?"
"Wait… does that mean…?"
Jaden and the others looked at each other.
Hikaru was playing "true" Fusion today.
"I activate Polymerization!"
Today's Polymerization was the alternate-art version—flashier, more mystical.
"I fuse together Chaos and Dark Magician!"
He revealed his hand: The Masked Beast – Des Gardius replaced with Fusion Substitute, representing Dark Magician; and the other card—
Black Luster Soldier.
"Black Luster Soldier!!!"
"No way!!"
"That's… that's the ultimate warrior!"
The entire room exploded into chaos.
Even Professor Hoshiyama leaned over for a better look. A freaking Black Luster Soldier. That card wasn't just rare—it was mythic.
"One power guides the light… the other, the dark! When light and shadow intertwine—Chaos descends!"
Hikaru slammed his palms together and declared:
"Fusion Summon!"
"Descend—Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander!"
Magician of Chaos – Supreme Commander
Level 8 / DARK / Spellcaster / ATK 3000
A cloaked warrior descended from the rift, clad in armor darker than night, eyes glowing beneath his visor, his presence commanding the room like a god stepping onto mortal soil.
"M-M-Magician of—!"
"Is this real?!"
They'd seen Hikaru summon Supreme Commander before, but that was using Mutation—not a real Fusion.
This was the genuine article.
And one of the materials… was Black Luster Soldier.
"I activate Supreme Commander's effect! When this card is Fusion Summoned, I can target 1 LIGHT or DARK monster in my GY and Special Summon it!"
"Return—Fusion Substitute – DARK!"
A swirl of energy coalesced into a bizarre blob—his former fusion substitute now reborn.
Level 3 / DARK / Rock / ATK 1000
"Battle! Magician of Chaos attacks Diamond Dragon!"
The sorcerer raised his staff, and in a single motion, cleaved through the shimmering behemoth. Diamond scales shattered like glass.
Bastion LP: 4000 → 3800
"Ugh…" Bastion flinched, the recoil from Diamond Dragon's destruction rippling through him.
A Black Luster Soldier… as fusion material.
Only Hikaru Amagi would do that.
Hikaru looked at his hand.
"I activate Invoked Fusion's GY effect—shuffle it into the Deck and draw 1 card."
He drew, then set a card.
"I end my turn."
"But before that—Fusion Recycling Plant's effect activates!"
"At the end of the turn, I can add 1 monster that was used as Fusion Material this turn from the GY to my hand!"
Hikaru extended his Duel Disk. A hovering drone zipped over and gently delivered a card to his hand.
Black Luster Soldier—retrieved.
"Whoa! That's the real deal!"
"So shiny… so cool…"
The entire student body erupted, completely forgetting this was an exam. Even students from other exam arenas had stopped dueling to stare.
The power of a legend was too overwhelming.
"Didn't know BLS was this popular," Jaden scratched the back of his head.
Chazz gave him a look. "You wouldn't get it. You're a HERO nut. Warrior Duelists practically worship that card."
Jaden leaned back, folding his arms behind his head.
He remembered the first time he saw Black Luster Soldier—it had made his heart race.
But after seeing the Original Chaos Soldier that Hikaru once summoned, today's appearance didn't feel quite as earth-shattering.
Not that he'd ever say that aloud.
Bastion drew.
"Heh… yeah. That's you, Hikaru."
"Even a legendary monster like Black Luster Soldier—just another fusion ingredient to you. You don't worship power—you follow your ideals."
"That's something I never managed to do before…"
He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, eyes sharp.
"But that ends now!"
"Draw! I activate my Set card—Continuous Trap: Ultimate Offering!"
"As long as this card is face-up, I can pay 500 LP to Normal Summon an additional time!"
Hikaru arched an eyebrow.
Whoa… a banned card.
Bastion didn't hesitate. He revealed a card from his hand.
"I Normal Summon—Chemical Beast – Carbon Crab!"