Necro Fusion

"That dinosaur looks really familiar." Tierra crossed her arms and stared intently at the creature. "Mmm—nope, can't remember. Probably some small-fry."

'Seriously?' Hikaru was speechless.

Jurrac Titano was basically the chieftain of the Jurrac forces on the DT Planet.

In the card lore, the Jurracs were native to the DT world and deeply xenophobic. One day, insectoid aliens invaded, and their chaos awakened the Fabled. Those lunatic gods broke free and stirred up havoc across the land.

When the Fabled began provoking the Jurracs and attacking their kin, the Jurracs had had enough.

They gathered power, ascended into space, and hurled themselves down like meteor beasts, wiping out all enemies within their territory, and incidentally, themselves.

So the deck's later support naturally reflected their all-out style.

They'd been extinct before Tierra's resurrection, so it was no surprise she couldn't remember them.

Still, as long as it was just Titano and not Super Conductor Tyranno, it should be fine, not that Hikaru feared even that.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Card Destruction. Both players discard their entire and draw the same number of cards, discard "2" cards, then draw "2"."

"I discard Jurrac Velo and Dark Driceratops."

Hikaru discarded two Thunder Dragons he'd retrieved the previous turn and drew two new cards.

'Oh?' Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"Now I activate Jurrac Titano's effect. Once per turn, I can banish a Jurrac monster with 1700 or less Attack from my Graveyard to boost Titano's ATK by 1000 until the end of the turn!"

"I banish the just-sent Jurrac Velo to boost its Attack!"

[Jurrac Titano, ATK: 3000 → 4000]

"4000 ATK!?"

"My god, that's way beyond Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"Mr. Rex is incredible!"

"What can Hikaru even do now?"

Some began to doubt.

"Isn't that guy a Fusion Duelist? What can he possibly do in this situation?"

Staff members began shouting, "Mr. Rex, please wait! This wasn't the intended match!"

Rex Raptor wasn't who they'd planned.

"Hey, kid, you hear that?"

"What?"

"Those people who don't believe in you. Their doubts, their scorn."

"Doesn't matter. What matters is what you think, senpai."

"Hah! You've got guts, but if Titano attacks directly, you lose!"

"Then bring it, senpai!"

"Fine, Battle Phase! Super Conductor Tyranno, Attack Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"

The mechanical dinosaur surged forward, biting down and draining the lightning dragon's power.

[Amaki Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3500]

"And now, this is the end!"

"Titano, attack directly!!!"

"JURRAC IMPACT!!"

With that roar, Titano leapt skyward, hovering shortly before targeting Hikaru and crashing down.

In that moment.

Everyone watching had different thoughts.

The staff escorting Hikaru? Panicked.

The executives who'd just arrived with future plans? Stunned.

Countless employees and bystanders? Electrified.

A 4000 ATK direct attack?!

If it landed, it would be EPIC.

Everyone thought Hikaru was finished.

Everyone—

Except the duelist himself.

"Senpai, I activate my face-down!"

"Trap Card, Necro Fusion!"

A purple Trap flipped open, revealing its glow.

"What is that card?!"

"A Fusion. Trap Card?"

"Fusion with a Trap? What's it do?" Rex adjusted his cap, curious.

"This card lets me Fusion Summon using monsters in the Graveyard, banished facedown!"

"Graveyard Fusion, huh? Fitting for a 'Necro' card," Rex nodded.

"Fusion again?!"

"Of course it's Hikaru!"

The staff collectively wiped sweat off their brows.

Maybe they could survive the turn.

"I banish Ancient Gear Golem, Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, and Ancient Gear Howitzer facedown to Fusion Summon!"

"The ultimate technological weapon, descend!"

He raised his fists, then slammed them forward.

"Fusion Summon, become my iron fist, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"

A barrage of metal parts assembled into a titanic robot, its crimson eyes locking with Titano above, utterly fearless.

[Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem] Level 10│EARTH│Machine│4400 ATK

"4400 ATK?!"

"Just a bit short of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"My god, clashing 4000+ ATK monsters in one duel?! This is better than getting paid!"

Excitement exploded across the crowd.

"4400 ATK."

Rex stared at the giant robot. "You're a freshman, yet you Fusion Summoned a 4400 ATK monster."

"You're impressive."

"But talent isn't everything. Just being impressive, eventually, someone better will overtake you." He sighed. "Turn end."

"When my turn ends, Titano's ATK returns to 3000."

[Jurrac Titano, ATK: 4000 → 3000]

"Oh no!" someone cried out.

"Now, if that Ultimate Golem attacks, Rex's ace is toast! And losing a monster that could hit 4000 ATK. It's downhill from here!"

Even so, Hikaru wasn't celebrating.

He glanced warily at Rex Raptor's face-down card.

Still unused.

Still Jurrac-themed.

'Self-destruction, maybe?'