Beyond Expectations!

"Huh." Max looked at his hand and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll admit, bypassing Non-Fusion Area and Special Summoning a Fusion Monster directly is impressive. Still, how many times can you actually pull that off? Besides, even without Non-Fusion Area, you think you can beat me?"

"And that's not all. I also leave this on the field—Continuous Spell Card: Code A Ancient Ruins." He slotted a Continuous Spell into his Duel Disk. Behind him, a massive gate appeared, inscribed with strange, unreadable symbols leading to a glowing path.

"Hmph. Turn end!"

Aster Phoenix blinked.

Max?

That name sounded impressive, but in the pro circuits, he'd never encountered this person. Or rather, this guy had too few win streaks to ever cross Aster's path.

Though that was to be expected. The pro-dueling scene was full of counterplay; one misstep and you'd be swarmed by a mob of pros out for blood.

Aster constantly changed decks to hide his true one, so few ever succeeded in countering him, and that alone allowed him to maintain his undefeated streak in the pro circle.

Even so, he knew how cutthroat pro dueling was.

Every pro Duelist wasn't in it for "victory" or "belief." They played for sponsors and for money. So they had only two options: either ensure they didn't lose, or make sure the opposing company's representative lost hard.

Between those two, the latter was far easier; That's why building a deck entirely to counter a single opponent became the pro's unspoken rule.

According to Leo Akaba, Amaki Hikaru was a Duelist who specialized in Fusion and sought its ultimate form; Thus, a pro stuffing their deck full of Fusion hate cards against him? Entirely expected.

And yet—

Aster looked at Dark Flare Knight.

Despite Fusion being locked down, he still summoned a Fusion Monster.

'Impressive.' Aster had to admit it, at least to himself.

And only a student, just an ordinary kid, Hikaru's pursuit and mastery of Fusion was far purer than the so-called pro from the Fusion Army.

'Wait. No!'

'Why was I so distracted thinking about this?'

He shook his head.

'Sartorius, why didn't you divine this encounter for me? Who needs fortune-telling in duels, anyway?!'

"Non-Fusion Area I get, but what's with that Ruin-whatever?" Chazz looked at Bastion.

"Uhh... even if you ask me..." Bastion looked a bit awkward. "I've heard that pros often use niche decks that aren't easy to counter. Maybe it's one of those."

Bastion knew practically nothing about them.

Reptile decks were rare, none of them had ever seen one in action. Plus, the school never actually covered such cards, and regardless, someone as studious as Bastion had limits; he couldn't study every obscure archetype.

In fact, Hikaru figured this out in his time; most veteran players wouldn't immediately recall how the Alien archetype worked.

Remembering "Alien City" alone was already impressive.

That's one advantage of obscure decks against meta ones: intel superiority.

Hikaru shrugged, then looked at his hand. "That card is a support Spell for the Alien archetype."

"Wait, Alien is an actual archetype?"

"What? I thought it was just a Reptile one-off."

Hikaru figured they'd say that and kept placing cards on his Duel Disk. "Code A Ancient Ruins has this effect: every time a face-up Alien monster is destroyed, place an A-Counter on it. Then, once per turn, you can remove two A-Counters from anywhere on the field to revive an Alien monster from the Graveyard."

"Whoa, Hikaru knows even that?" Syrus exclaimed.

The Tyler Sisters turned to a Fusion Army soldier. The soldier clenched his fists, a bit deflated. "I hate to admit it, but Hikaru's always like this. He says to master Fusion, he has to understand all the cards. That's the only way to reach the end of Fusion."

"How interesting, sister."

"Hah, guess things won't be boring at the main campus."

"I activate the Spell Card, Fusion Conscription." Hikaru casually placed another card. "This allows me to Reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, then add one of its listed Fusion Materials from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand. Afterward, I can't Normal or Special Summon that monster or monsters with the same name for the rest of the turn, nor activate their effects."

"I reveal Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and add Gladiator Beast Darius to my hand."

"Gladiator Beasts?" Max laughed. "Forget that we Fusion Army folks discovered those in the first place. But with that restriction, Darius is deadweight if you can't Normal Summon him!"

"Plus, Non-Fusion Area is still on the field!"

Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, this guy didn't understand Fusion at all.

"Battle, Dark Flare Knight, Attack Alien Warrior!"

Dark Flare Knight swung his sword down on the bizarre alien creature.

[Max, LP: 4000 → 3600]

"When Alien Warrior is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, place two A-Counters on the monster that destroyed it! And don't forget, Ancient Ruins also gets one A-Counter!"

Drip.

A glowing rune lit up on the Ruins, while Dark Flare Knight suddenly became encircled by two black spheres.

"My lord." The Knight winced as he tried burning them off. "This feels... sinister."

"Two A-Counters?" Bastion spotted the issue. "I see. That means every turn, the opponent can use Ruins' effect to revive an Alien from the Graveyard! And still get an extra Counter in the process!"

"Heh heh, that's right! This is the power of alien invaders, immortal warriors from beyond the stars!" Max burst into laughter.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"I activate the Spell Card, Metamorphosis."

No wasted words.

"I Tribute one monster on the field to Special Summon a Fusion Monster of the same Level from my Extra Deck.

Take a break, Flare."

"As you command, my lord." Dark Flare Knight hurled off the sticky spheres before vanishing. In his place, a blazing phoenix soared onto the field.

"Special Summon, Crimson Sunbird."

[Crimson Sunbird] Level 6│FIRE│Winged Beast│2300 ATK

"Whoa!" "Awesome!"

"He dodged the Counter effect and summoned another Fusion Monster?" The Tyler Sisters exchanged surprised glances.

"Tch," Max growled.

"Again with these. Fusion Monsters that don't need actual Fusion."

He was starting to sweat. This was not how he imagined things would go at all!