Fusion is the noblest form of summoning!

“Interesting, very interesting, Fubuki.”

Suddenly, Kaiser burst into laughter. He slowly stood up, his body gradually transitioning from swaying to upright: “You say you won’t let me? Interesting, Fubuki, then I’ll see how you stop me——

My turn, draw!”

Kaiser didn't care about the surrounding audience's opinions, drawing a card from his deck.

He glanced down at it, chuckling to himself: “Opponent controls a monster, and I control no monsters, Special Summon this card——Cyber Dragon!”

Zzzzz——

The most standard Cyber Dragon, slowly appeared on his field.

Cyber Dragon, Level 5, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Attack Power 2100.

Cyber Dragon, huh?

Many people recognized this card.

“It's not over yet!” Kaiser then played another card, “If your opponent controls a monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand!”

Huh?

Many people were stunned upon hearing this.

What's that?

“Cyber World Serpent, Special Summon!”

Under the surprised gazes of the crowd, a serpentine mechanical dragon circled the field, appearing on the field.

Cyber World Serpent, Level 5, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Defense Power 2100.

“Cyber World Serpent?”

In the audience, people looked at each other, having never heard of this card.

“Cyber World Serpent's effect: After being Special Summoned, Special Summon one Cyber Dragon from the deck or use it as an Equip Magic Card. This turn, you cannot Special Summon monsters that are not Machine-Type.”

“Come on, second Cyber Dragon!”

Buzz——

Before long, Kaiser's field was filled with three Cyber Dragon monsters.

And more importantly, their levels were… 5!

“Behold, Fubuki, the new power I learned from the interdimensional beings——”

Fubuki watched the opponent's actions in silence.

“Photon Mode, activate.” As Kaiser spoke, his coat slowly began to glow, the black coat slowly being replaced by white, eventually transforming into a pure white uniform.

“Wow!”

“Xyz, is it finally coming——”

Many viewers shouted excitedly.

Unlike Synchro, after a few days of dueling, everyone had discovered that as long as you were in this dimension and recognized by a spirit, it was possible to perform Synchro Summons in this dimension.

But Xyz was different. Even if you were recognized by an Xyz Spirit, you basically couldn't use Xyz Summons. Only the legendary “Number” seemed to be able to do this.

And Kaiser was the only one who could normally use Xyz Monsters!

“Using the two Cyber Dragons on the field to construct the Xyz Network!”

The two Cyber Dragons slowly turned into golden orbs, then flew into a suddenly appearing vortex. From the black vortex, a metal dragon with black armor slowly rose.

“Xyz Summon!”

“Rank 5, Cyber Dragon Nova!”

“Roar!!!”

Cyber Dragon Nova, Rank 5, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Attack Power 2100, Xyz Material 2.

“Here it comes?” Fubuki looked at the monster in front of him, not feeling nervous.

And with the appearance of Cyber Dragon Nova, the audience cheered.

After all, this was a rare Xyz Summon!

Unique to Ryo Marufuji’s Xyz Summon!

“Cyber Dragon Nova's monster effect: Once per turn, detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 Cyber Dragon in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target!”

A golden orb flew from its side, merging into its body.

“I detach a material, then Special Summon Cyber Dragon Core from the Graveyard!”

“Then, Cyber World Serpent's effect: Once per turn, return 1 Cyber Dragon you control to your hand; add 1 Fusion from your Deck or GY to your hand.”

“I return Cyber Dragon Core to my hand, then add Fusion to my hand.”

Hikari Amagi watched from the side, thinking about the card's information.

Seems alright?

Special Summons Cyber Dragon and recovers/searches for Fusion.

Strange, why doesn't he have much of an impression of this card? It's not very strong either. Could it be an original card from Arc-V?

“This turn, I haven't performed a Normal Summon yet. I Normal Summon Cyber Dragon Core in Defense Position, then activate Cyber Dragon Core’s effect: add Cyber Emergency to my hand——and activate it immediately.”

“Add 1 "Cyber Dragon" or Machine-Type LIGHT monster that cannot be Normal Summoned from your Deck to your hand! I add Cyber Dragon to my hand!”

“Then, Magic Card, Fusion!” A crazy, excited smile appeared on his face.

“Fuse the Cyber Dragon in my hand with the Cyber Dragon Core on the field, Fusion Summon, Cyber Twin Dragon!”

Two mechanical dragons mixed together, then slowly rotated, eventually transforming into a two-headed mechanical dragon.

Cyber Twin Dragon, Level 8, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Attack Power 2800.

“Activate the Magic Card Pot of Avarice, return two Cyber Dragons, Cyber Dragon Core, Cyber Dark Cannon, and Cyber End Dragon from the Graveyard to the Deck, and draw two cards.”

He slowly shuffled the cards back into the deck, then silently drew cards. After drawing, he looked at the monsters in his hand and couldn't help but reveal a crazy smile.

“Cyber Dragon Nova's effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can banish 1 "Cyber Dragon" from your hand or face-up on your field; this card gains 2100 ATK until the end of this turn! Banish Cyber Dragon from my hand!”

Cyber Dragon Nova, ATK: 2100→4200.

“Wow, that way, the attack power exceeds Shooting Star Dragon!”

“Moreover, Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice!”

After Kaiser's series of searches, fusions, and recoveries, everyone could see that Kaiser was preparing for an OTK!

“Battle! Cyber Dragon Nova attacks Meteor Black Dragon!”

The huge mechanical dragon opened its wings, the electricity on its body turning into terrifying electric light, spreading throughout its body. The magma-forged dragon didn't back down an inch, colliding with the mechanical dragon, then crackling sounds burst out.

After a moment, with a bang, the magma dragon dissipated instantly.

Fubuki, LP: 4000→3900.

“Beautiful, that way, Kaiser can directly attack twice with Cyber Twin Dragon!”

“Wow, is Fubuki going to lose?”

In the waiting hall, everyone was guessing.

“No.” Hikari Amagi interrupted their thoughts, “Cyber Twin Dragon can't attack directly.”

“Huh?”

“Why?”

“Could it be…” Manjoume immediately began to think upon hearing Hikari Amagi's words.

“Too naive, Ryo!” Fubuki waved his hand, stopping Ryo Marufuji's movements.

“What?”

“Activate the card's effect!” Fubuki revealed the card from the graveyard, “The effect of Dragon Dark Claw: When the equipped monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, and this card is also destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon that monster to the field and equip it with this card! If this card equipped by this effect leaves the field, banish it!”

“Ugh!”

“Then——the effect of Meteor Dragon Meteor Black Dragon: If this card is sent from the Monster Zone to the Graveyard: You can target 1 Normal Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target!”

“!!” Kaiser’s eyes widened.

Boom!!

Two huge pillars of fire burned on the field, the Light Brigade spirits stepped up the construction of shields, but were still slowly forced back by the flames.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Level 7, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Defense Power 2000.

Meteor Dragon Meteor Black Dragon, Level 8, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Attack Power 3500→4100.

“Unexpectedly… he blocked the attack without even using a trap?”

Kaiser's expression became increasingly serious.

The flames rose around him, even making him feel hot.

“Then, Cyber Twin Dragon attacks Red-Eyes Black Dragon.”

Although he couldn't continue to attack directly, he couldn't let monsters remain on Fubuki's field.

An offensive was instantly resolved, and it only caused a mere 100 points of damage, making Ryo Marufuji feel a sense of pressure.

But at the same time, his heart felt like it was beating wildly.

How long has it been?

How long has it been since he last dueled Fubuki to this extent!?

Everyone experienced their own lives, gained inspiration from different people, and then stood together in the same place.

He looked at the card.

He wanted to win, just like Hikari Amagi had advised him back then.

Some people don't need to be respected, just like Hikari Amagi never respected the Fusion Army soldiers.

Fubuki, why did you end up like this?

Kaiser had no means to counterattack, but didn't feel any urgency because of it, simply calmly setting a card, “Set one card, end turn.”

“Are you ending your turn like that? This is the opportunity you finally got.”

“?”

“That's not enough, Ryo!” Fubuki's eyes suddenly lit up with scarlet light, startling Kaiser, who was dueling him.

“My turn, draw——”

Bang——

Along with his draw, even more terrifying black flames rose behind him.

The scorching and dark flames even made some Light Brigade spirits tremble in fear.

“Woah… Fubuki-senpai looks so scary today.” Misawa Daichi couldn't help but mutter.

“Brother…” Asuka was a little worried about Fubuki.

She didn't know why her brother, who was usually funny but actually very gentle, was so manic today.

“Cyber Dragon Nova has the ability to banish Cyber Dragons during the opponent's turn to increase its attack power, right?”

The audience looked at each other, only then realizing.

Cyber Dragon Nova's effect is “Once per turn, during either player’s turn”!

In other words, if Fubuki carelessly attacked directly with a monster, his ace would be destroyed instantly!

Unexpectedly, Fubuki had even thought of this.

“But even so, you need a Cyber Dragon in your hand.” Manjoume said, “Although he recovered Cyber Dragon, Kaiser's hand doesn't actually support him doing that.

After all, activating Cyber Dragon Nova’s effect requires a specific “Cyber Dragon”, and other Cyber Dragon models cannot be treated as Cyber Dragon unless they are on the field.

But… that possibility cannot be ruled out.

If Pot of Avarice happened to draw two Cyber Dragons, then attacking rashly would be inappropriate.”

Misawa Daichi also nodded lightly: “That's right, although Xyz Monsters are indeed very powerful, no matter what, a monster card is just a monster card. Now that everyone knows the effect, Fubuki-senpai will naturally be prepared, right?

But, what means will Fubuki-senpai prepare at this time to break through?”

Fubuki chuckled, glanced at his hand, and calmly activated: “Magic Card, Red-Eyes Insight, You can only activate 1 "Red-Eyes Insight" per turn. Send 1 Level 7 "Red-Eyes" monster from your hand to the GY; draw 2 cards. After that, you can send 1 Level 7 "Red-Eyes" monster from your Deck to the GY.

I send the third Red-Eyes Black Dragon to the Graveyard, draw two cards. Then, I send Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from the deck to the Graveyard!”

“Then——Magic Card, Pot of Avarice!”

“What?”

It's the same card!

Everyone exclaimed in their hearts.

“Ryo, just like you crave victory in your heart, my heart is also madly coveting all the good things in this world!”

He wore an inexplicable and eerie sneer on his face, but the words he spoke were completely different from his expression: “I hope to have a perfect sibling relationship, I hope to have a wonderful friendship, I hope to have cute juniors, I hope to have countless cute girls treat me as an idol, I hope the spirits can live in harmony, I hope my life is perfect, I hope no one else needs to endure the pain I experienced!”

Kaiser looked at him in confusion: “I am happy enough now! I don’t need you to say these things.”

“No——not enough, not enough, not enough!”

“I return the three Red-Eyes Black Dragons, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, and Meteor Dragon from the Graveyard to the Deck, and draw two cards!”

He glanced at the cards he drew, revealing one of them: “Red-Eyes Insight, Send 1 Red-Eyes monster from your hand or Deck to the GY; add 1 Red-Eyes Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand, except Red-Eyes Insight. I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon from the deck to the Graveyard, and add Red-Eyes Armor to my hand!”

“That’s about it——”

Fubuki looked at the cards in his hand, then looked up at Ryo Marufuji: “Ryo, I’ve already heard from Hikari that using "Underground Cyber" will electrocute you with the spirits of Underground Cyber during the duel, right!?”

“What!?” In the hall, all the acquaintances looked at Hikari Amagi.

“Ryo?!” Asuka subconsciously covered her mouth with her hand.

“Brother!!!” Sho was so frightened that he jumped up and ran outside. The resilience he had developed over the past few months disappeared almost instantly. It was Kenzan and Jaden who stopped him and pulled him back.

“…Tsk, I told him to keep it a secret for me.” Kaiser said in a low voice.

“How could he hide it from me!” Fubuki waved his hand and said directly, “He is your best friend, am I not? And could you really think I couldn’t see through it!”

Indeed——

"Just this kind of thing?" Kaiser shook his head, not caring.

"Just this kind of thing?" Fubuki shook his head. "I've already drunk the [Electricity Resistance Potion]. So, you can feel free to use the Ura-Electronics monsters to your heart's content."

"?" Kaiser looked at him, puzzled.

After a moment, he continued, "I just need to win, that's all. No matter what, I only respect victory!

I'm tired of judging my opponents' good and evil one by one, and I'm too lazy to respect those who aren't worth respecting at all. So, I just need to respect victory!"

He didn't care, clenching his fist and looking at the sky, "As long as there's a moment, as long as I can obtain the ultimate victory in that moment, obtain the most gorgeous victory, obtain the strongest victory, then even death, as a duelist, life would be worth getting excited about, right?"

Transcending life and death, not taking his own life to heart, the only thing a duelist needs to care about is the duel. That's what Kaiser thought.

His duel only needs to respect one thing.

That is—respect the duel!

"Brother?" Sho, who was watching the live broadcast, was dumbfounded.

"That's why I said, this is not enough—"

"Hmm?"

"You haven't even controlled the spirits, haven't even surpassed the spirits, and you're still enduring the attacks of the Ura-Electronics spirits. Are you satisfied with this level?" The black aura on Fubuki's body grew stronger and stronger. Gradually, the Light Brigade spirits that built the defense could no longer protect the barrier—at this moment, countless birds flew in with cries, working together to hold up the barrier.

"Don't forget, even spirits with [evil] natures exist in the Lightsworn deck."

"You—" The expression on Kaiser's face finally changed completely.

He looked at this brother he had been with day and night in surprise, realizing it for the first time.

Fubuki—seemed to have gone further than himself on the path of dueling!

"You want to win, right! Then, surpass the current you for me, otherwise, you will definitely not win against me!" A cracking sound came from his body, as if sparks were shooting out.

"I Normal Summon—Summoner Monk!"

Summoner Monk!?

Not Red-Eyes!?

Kaiser's pupils constricted.

"Summoner Monk!!!??"

Countless people exclaimed in surprise.

No one has ever seen you use these cards before!

Only Tenjoin Mitsuhiro raised an eyebrow, without speaking.

After all...

This was originally the spirit card that Fubuki obtained when he and Mitsuhiro visited the [Mountain].