Many students were completely bewildered as the Bracchio-raidus suddenly appeared on the field.
They were still stuck in the mindset of summoning monsters one by one, waiting to gather the necessary Fusion materials in hand before performing a Fusion Summon.
But this method of Fusion Summoning with a single card like he just did… they had never seen anything like it!
"A monster Special Summoned with Ready Fusion can't attack and will be destroyed at the end of the turn," Hikaru added.
Hearing that, Tatsuya let out a breath of relief. "I thought it was something crazy. If it's just going to be destroyed at the end of the turn, then even with 2200 ATK, it's nothing special!"
That wasn't exactly wrong—without effects and unable to attack, even the strongest monster was just for show.
"Don't be so hasty." Hikaru raised his remaining hand cards. "I still have five cards in my hand."
"Huh?" Tatsuya's face twisted in shock. "Don't tell me—"
"That's right! They're all… Fusion!"
A fanatical grin spread across Hikaru's face. As everyone watched, stunned, he drew another card from his hand.
"I activate the Normal Spell, Metamorphosis!"
"I can Tribute a monster on my field, and from my Extra Deck, I can Special Summon a Fusion Monster of the same Level!"
"I Tribute Bracchio-raidus—and from the Extra Deck, I Special Summon—Golden Mammoth!"
THU-DOOM! BRAAAAANNGH!
A massive golden mammoth, lacking flesh and blood, replaced Bracchio-raidus, appearing on 's field as though evolving from its predecessor.
[Golden Mammoth] Level 6│Dark│Zombie│2200 ATK│Fusion
"This-this-this… Another Fusion Monster summoned without any materials?" Jaden jumped up in excitement. "That's so cool!"
"Mamma Mia! Special Summoning a Fusion Monster of the same Level directly from the Extra Deck?!"
At first, Crowler was just shocked when he saw Ready Fusion. But after seeing Metamorphosis, he was no longer just shocked—he was absolutely horrified.
As a veteran Duelist who had been teaching for years, he immediately recognized that this was a Fusion card far more absurd than he had ever imagined!
Of course, that was only natural—
Hikaru stared at the summoned mammoth, his mind recalling the card Metamorphosis.
In his world, this card was banned! And not just recently—it had been on the ban list for over a decade!
As an old-school player, even he had barely gotten the chance to use this Spell Card a few times.
Now, being able to use it in this real-world Duel Monsters setting with actual solid vision holograms—he had to admit, it felt pretty damn good.
Too bad, though…
If he could, he would've much rather used this card to Special Summon something like Cyber Twin Dragon, Cyber End Dragon, or Chimeratech Overdragon. That'd be way cooler than summoning a 'golden' mammoth.
But unfortunately…
His Extra Deck didn't have those kinds of monsters.
As mentioned before, his previous self's Main Deck had been entirely converted into a "Fusion" deck. Although he had managed to tweak it slightly and add a few monsters, the Deck still had to be 40 cards, which meant it was overwhelmingly filled with Spell Cards.
The good news was that his Fusion cards included some seriously powerful effects. Ready Fusion and Metamorphosis were both legendary cards that had long been infamous on ban lists.
This turn, although he didn't draw Instant Fusion, Ready Fusion could also be considered a "monster" card and a substitute nerfed version of Instant Fusion in his deck.
The bad news was that his Extra Deck was… utterly tragic.
Whether it was Bracchio-raidus or Golden Mammoth, normally Fusion Summoning them would be a massive waste of resources—trading three cards just to summon a 2200 ATK monster? That was worse than just stuffing his deck with Goblin Attack Force.
But there was no helping it. Super Polymerization didn't exactly gift him a better Extra Deck.
Besides, even Fusion Monsters with no effects could have their uses!
"I activate the Equip Spell Card—Spirit Illusion!"
Hikaru wasn't in the mood to stall. He needed to join the Fusion Club quickly, so he pressed forward without hesitation, activating another Spell Card.
"An Equip Spell? Does that count as Fusion too?"
Despite Tatsuya already being shaken by Hikaru's back-to-back Fusion Summons, he still refused to back down. Seeing Hikaru activate an Equip Spell, he immediately shouted, "And you call this 'only Fusion'?! How dare you!"
"Relax," Hikaru shook his head, raising the Equip Spell Card in his hand before explaining,
"Spirit Illusion is an Equip Spell that can only be equipped to Level 5 or higher Fiend- or Zombie-type monsters.
Once equipped, I can activate its first effect—once per turn, I can use a monster from my hand or field as Fusion Material to perform a Fusion Summon!"
"An Equip Spell that lets you Fusion Summon?!"
Jaden was so excited he nearly jumped down from the stands to take a closer look at the card.
"Bro, that's a Spell that only works on Fiends and Zombies, your HERO monsters are all Warriors," his friend Syrus Truesdale, a small, timid-looking boy with glasses, reminded him.
"That doesn't matter—it's still awesome!"
"Also," Hikaru continued, "there's a second effect. Instead of Fusion Summoning, I can choose to Special Summon a Doppelganger Token with the same Type, Attribute, and ATK as the equipped monster!"
"Come forth—Doppelganger Token!"
A dark shadow emerged from Golden Mammoth, enveloping it like a mist. The shadow then peeled away, slowly drifting to the side before twisting and morphing into a pitch-black giant elephant.
[Doppelganger Token] Level 5│Dark│Zombie│2200 ATK│Token
"Again?!"
Tatsuya was at a loss for words. At this point, he had only one thought left his mind—
"Damn it! Even so, it doesn't matter! As long as I survive until my next turn, I can gather my Fusion Materials and Summon the Labyrinth Heavy Tank with 2400 ATK!"
"There won't be a next turn!"
Hikaru's eyes flashed, his right hand slashing through the air as he shouted—
"Battle Phase!
Golden Mammoth, attack Ancient Gear Knight!
And at the same time, I activate the effect of Spirit Illusion!
When the equipped monster declares an attack, I can activate this effect—the opponent's monster loses ATK equal to the equipped monster's ATK!"
Dark mist coiled around the robot, and in an instant, its body was covered in rust and corrosion.
[Ancient Gear Knight, ATK 1800 → 0]
He was doomed—
Tatsuya stared at his knight, now reduced to zero attack points, his heart sinking into despair.
'It's over!'
He had been defeated…
By someone who only had Fusion Spells!
'Could it be… Could it be that…'
The skeletal mammoth crashed through, sending the robot flying—and, as if adding insult to injury, slammed straight into Tatsuya as well.
'Could it be that Fusion… is really meant to be played this way!?'
Another round of thundering hooves—
THUD!
Just like he had truly been trampled by a massive elephant, Tatsuya was sent flying, landing flat on the ground. He stared blankly at the sky as if questioning his entire reality.
"You played well. I look forward to our next duel," Hikaru said instinctively.
For some reason, the moment he won, he felt a strange surge of energy flow into his body—making him feel just a little bit stronger than before.
"He… lost?"
"Even though we gave him a solid deck…"
"Is it actually possible for a duelist to win using nothing but Fusion?"
"Does this… even make sense?"
The surrounding students exchanged bewildered glances.
Even some of the Fusion Club members were scratching their heads.
They believed that "Fusion is the most noble way to summon," but wasn't this a bit too extreme?
"That was a beautiful win! What an exciting duel!" On the other side, Jaden had already stood up, clapping excitedly and cheering for Hikaru.
He felt that, after today, he had learned so much.
Sudden Mutation… He wanted to try it out himself!
"Hmm... not bad. Although he's from the Yellow dorm, if he wants to use the Ancient Gear deck, that's fine," Professor Crowler couldn't help but nod in approval.
Moreover, Hikaru had said, "Fusion is the most noble way to summon," and "Any means other than fusion is unnecessary." Looking at it this way, he could see that, in wanting to use the Ancient Gear deck, was truly on the same level.
'My goodness, what insight!'
Professor Crowler had always been very tolerant toward those who were not "failures."
The duel had been quick. Hikaru had always followed the mindset that if he could finish the duel, he would do it immediately—never wasting a single unnecessary move.
While he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt the card box hanging on his waist becoming warm. He quickly pulled out a backup card and was stunned to find that it contained a purple-glowing card.
"...Huh?!"
Super Fusion was about to print a card for him!
***
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