The duel officially begins, Tenjo Hikari's first turn.
He glanced at the cards in his hand.
"Summoning in Defense Position, Ancient Gear Hunting Hound."
"Awoo!" A mechanical hound appeared on the field.
Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, LV 3, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, DEF 1000.
"Eh—"
"Ancient Gear Hunting Hound..."
Quite a few people saw this monster, their expressions slightly uneasy.
After all, they knew that when the Fusion Army invaded the X Dimension, they used Ancient Gear Hunting Hound as the vanguard.
"Oh! Ancient Gear Monster?" Jim saw this monster and was puzzled for a moment, then suddenly understood, "First showcasing the diversity of Fusion, then demonstrating the concentration ability of Fusion.
Now, starting to use Ancient Gear Monsters?"
He lightly flicked his cowboy hat with his fingers.
"I've heard Professor Cronos, our acting principal, is the master of Ancient Gear, and is one of the Legendary Duelists; you're his prized disciple, right? So I see, if it's you, you'd definitely want to use Ancient Gear Cards in a duel watched by the whole world for the finals."
Tenjo Hikari chuckled lightly, not answering, but the meaning was simple.
You're right.
"Oh! So that's how it is, I thought Hikari had more things to showcase!"
"Brother, even Tenjo-san can't possibly display more in such a high-stakes duel, right..."
"Mamma mia... Hikari-san..." Meanwhile, at Duel Academy, Professor Cronos, watching the broadcast with the other teachers, was biting his handkerchief, tears brimming.
Tenjo Hikari did not respond to Jim but continued explaining the effects.
"Ancient Gear Hunting Hound's Monster Effect activates when this card is summoned, inflicting 600 points of damage to the opponent."
The hound howled, sending a sonic wave towards Jim, causing him to step back slightly.
Jim, LP: 4000→3400.
"Next, Ancient Gear Hunting Hound's effect, once per turn, activates during your Main Phase. Using monsters from your hand or on the field as Fusion Material, Fusion Summon one Ancient Gear Monster.
I fuse Ancient Gear Hunting Hound on the field with Ancient Gear Soldier from my hand—
Come forth, Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
With a clattering sound, a mechanical Demon God wielding multiple hand cannons slowly appeared on the field.
Ancient Gear Howitzer, LV 8, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, DEF 1800.
Jim squinted slightly at this monster, seemingly "surprised".
"Ancient Gear Howitzer's effect, once per turn, activates during the Main Phase, inflicting 1000 points of damage to the opponent!"
The cannon barrels slowly rotated, aiming at Jim, several light beams shot out, further reducing Jim's Life Points.
Jim, LP: 3400→2400.
"Wow, dealing a total of 1600 damage in the first turn."
"Not only that, he defended while causing damage!"
"A perfect turn."
Tenjo Hikari faintly heard the audience's chatter.
It's reminiscent of something someone said when Jim dueled The Supreme King.
"Set one card and end my turn."
"Indeed, a perfect first turn, defense, damage, a set card, worthy of the Fusion Duelist highly praised by Judai." Jim wore a smile, "However, since you don't want to showcase new 'possibilities' of Fusion, let me give a demonstration!"
"My turn, draw—" Jim looked at the card he drew.
Isn't it...
"Then, activating the Spell Card, Miracle Rupture!" Jim chuckled as he activated a card with a rather ominous name, "Send one Rock-Type Monster of LV 4 or below from your deck to the Graveyard!
I send Flint Cragger from the deck to the Graveyard!"
A gigantic pick appeared before him, which he swung to strike the rock in front of him fiercely, and then a fossilized dinosaur directly emerged before him.
"Just like how Ancient Gear Monsters were super machines crafted by ancient civilizations, in the distant past, the world was once inhabited by powerful beings, which became 'Fossils' through the erosion of time!
And now, I'm going to use 'Fossils' for Fusion!"
He dramatically revealed a card: "Spell Card, Fossil Fusion!"
"From your own and your opponent's Graveyards, banish the Fusion Material determined by the Fossil Fusion Monster Card and Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck!"
"Wow, both Graveyards?"
"Graveyard Fusion, using both Graveyards?"
Boom boom boom—
On Jim's field, a giant fossil slab slowly rose, while on Tenjo Hikari's field, a rusted mechanical soldier slowly stood up.
"I banish Flint Cragger from my Graveyard and Ancient Gear Soldier from yours for Fusion Summon!"
"Fossil Warrior Skull Bone!"
With a booming sound, a fossil skeleton wielding a long spear appeared on the field vehemently.
New Generation Fossil Warrior Skull Bone, LV 4, Earth Attribute, Rock-Type, Attack Power 2000.
"The fusion of fossils—"
"Fusion is indeed colorful."
Tenjo Hikari looked at this monster without much emotional fluctuation.
After all, he already knew Jim's deck was an "evolved" new deck.
"Activate Spell Card, Time Stream!"
Jim raised a card, displaying its power: "This card allows a new generation monster to regress into a middle generation one!"
"Huh?" "What does that mean?"
"Ha—" Tenjo Hikari explained with a smile, "Simply put, it allows a Fusion Monster to evolve into a higher-level Fusion Monster!"
"That's right!" Jim smiled, "As expected of you, Tenjo, you know. So, the effect of Time Stream, targeting 1 Fossil Fusion Monster on your field for activation. That monster is released, and 1 Fossil Fusion Monster with an original level 2 stars higher than that monster is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck as Fossil Fusion!"
"Come forth, Middle Generation Fossil Machine Skull Wagon!"
The armor on Skull Knight slowly aged, and as the bones on it shattered, its skeleton assembled into a strange-looking train.
Middle Generation Fossil Machine Skull Wagon, LV 6, Earth Attribute, Rock-Type, Attack Power 1700.
"It's not over yet, the effect of Skull Bone in the graveyard, banish it to add 1 Time Stream from the deck to the hand!" Jim confidently opened the graveyard, took out the monster, and displayed its effect.
"Wow—"
"Doesn't that mean?"
A group of people exclaimed.
Regression again!
Allowing a middle-generation Fossil Monster to evolve into a more ancient past!
"That's right! Activate Spell Card, Time Stream! Let the middle-generation Fossil Machine return to the Paleozoic, and regress!"
"Fossil Fusion Summon!"
"Ancient invention of the Paleozoic!"
"Fossil Machine Skull Convoy!!"
Bang—
The small wagon slowly aged and expanded, and in a moment, a strange large truck resembling a dinosaur bone assembly replaced it.
Paleozoic Fossil Machine Skull Convoy, LV 8, Earth Attribute, Rock-Type, Attack Power 2100.
Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow slightly.
Not to mention, this monster is indeed formidable in this environment.
But what intrigued him more was the card Time Stream—he personally had that card, but he recalled the original story.
In the original, Jim's Time Stream required paying half the Life Points to activate, and it was only after K Society optimized it that it became what it is now.
"The effect of Skull Wagon in the graveyard, banish it to target 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field. Destroy that card!"
A fossil wagon blared its horn, rose from the graveyard, and drove past Tenjo Hikari, taking his Set Card with it.
"Metalfoes Fusion? Never seen you use that before." Jim looked at the card, though he saw the name, he didn't see the full effect of the card.
"Now, enter the Battle Phase. Skull Convoy attacks you, Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
The Skull Convoy drove to the front of Ancient Gear Howitzer, opened its large truck, loaded the howitzer, and then crushed it into powder with a loud bang.
"When Skull Convoy destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict 1000 points of damage!"
Subsequently, the Skull Convoy turned and lightly swept past Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari LP: 4000→3000.
"The effect of Ancient Gear Howitzer, when this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, activate. From the deck, Special Summon 1 Ancient Gear monster, ignoring summoning conditions."
"I Special Summon Ancient Gear Golem in Defense Position!"
Rumble—
The howitzer's powder turned into a signal, and in the distance, a mechanical giant extended its mechanical arm, grabbing the convoy and arriving on the field.
Ancient Gear Golem, LV 8, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, DEF 3000.
"Hmm, why is it in Defense Position?"
"Yeah, doesn't the Mechanical Giant's attack power rival Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
Seeming to anticipate the thoughts of his friends and the audience, Tenjo Hikari said, "Jim, your Skull Convoy should have the effect of lowering the attack power of opposing monsters, right?"
"The defense of Ancient Gear Golem is 3000; if you lower the attack power, the 3000 attack power would become 0."
"Ha, that's right." Jim nodded, "As expected of the one pursuing extreme fusion, Tenjo Hikari—by the way, the convoy can attack monsters 3 times per turn, if you were in attack position, you'd have lost."
Saying this, Jim couldn't help but admit in his heart.
Tenjo Hikari is indeed an all-around Fusion Master, not only having an understanding of his own fusion usage and dueling, but also understanding the opponent's duel and fusion.
It's no wonder Judai considers him a close friend.
However, since he came to this arena, his goal is to be the champion, and he won't fear the strong opponent.
Rather, it is exactly why he is more excited.
"Set one card, end turn."