Duel Academy.
"My turn, draw a card!"
"Activate 'New Space Hero: Wave Dolphin's effect, discard a card, choose a monster from your opponent's hand, and if there's a monster with higher Attack Power on your field, destroy the chosen monster and deal 500 damage to your opponent!"
"Wave Dolphin's effect is not limited to once per turn. So I discard another card and destroy one more monster from your hand!"
"I let Wave Dolphin and Elemental HERO Neos contact fusion, form transformation! Elemental HERO Aqua Neos!"
"Aqua Neos's effect, discard a card once per turn to randomly destroy two cards in the opponent's hand."
"...Great! Now Mitsuzawa, you have no cards left!"
Mitsuzawa Earth: "......"
After the joyful daily duel, Mitsuzawa looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.
He's been working tirelessly, spending entire days in the lab, either researching new cards or tactics. He believes he's made significant progress, feeling like a different person compared to last year. With confidence, he thinks his skills are top-notch among students at the academy, not comparable to Yugen's extraordinary level, but certainly amongst the best.
Then, his dreams were ruthlessly shattered by Judai.
And according to observations, Judai doesn't even bother with research or development, nor does he attend lectures.
Yet, Judai's luck is shining bright. Without working or studying, suddenly one day, a group of Cosmic People falls from the sky and says, "Young man, I see you have an extraordinary framework, perfect for... ah, no, you're perfect material for darkness. Why not join us to save the world?"
Thus, Judai obtained a new card deck, with Underworld Wave Dolphins that discard cards as easily as eating or drinking...
Yes, indeed, they fell from the sky.
Umiyo Shizawa looked up at the sky.
Not bitter, not bitter at all...
"Mitsuzawa? Mitsuzawa?"
Judai waved his hand in front of him.
Only then did Mitsuzawa come back to his senses.
"What? Oh... I'm fine," he said, "Anyway, the duel collected great data... But Cosmic People, really."
He looked at Judai's card deck and couldn't help but sigh.
"Truly incredible."
"Is it?"
Judai said smugly, then struck his signature pose.
"I won! What a fun duel!"
Mitsuzawa: "..."
Fun?
Maybe. Brother Dolphin must have found it fun.
"Brother!"
Just then, Marufuji Sho rushed in from outside, panting and holding a flyer.
"What's so urgent, Sho?"
"Brother... it's my brother!"
Marufuji Sho hastily opened the almost crumpled flyer in his hands. It was the promotional poster for the Professional Duel League, with Kaizamaru Fujisuke prominently displayed, alongside his iconic monster Cyber Dragon.
"Oh, Caesar does look quite photogenic."
Judai said with a smile.
"But he's wearing black now, looks quite different."
Marufuji Ryo had graduated from the academy and joined the professional league. In the league, he switched from his previous Blue Dormitory tailcoat-style uniform to a black trench coat, making his demeanor quite different from when he was in the academy.
"Hmm, but it suits him quite well," Mitsuzawa also commented.
"That's not the point, look at his opponent!"
Marufuji Sho pointed to the matchup details on the paper.
"Ed Phoenix... huh? This name sounds familiar?"
Judai tried hard to recall.
"This year's star freshman! He's a first-year student!" Marufuji Sho reminded, "He's been heavily promoted by the academy. A rookie in the professional league, it's said he hasn't lost once yet."
"Oh wow, impressive!"
Judai exclaimed excitedly but then smiled again.
"Well, Caesar shouldn't have lost either, right? He's Caesar after all, shouldn't be worried, right?"
...
...
"Kaiza Ryo, huh?"
Before the competition, Ed Phoenix sat in the competitor waiting room, feeling very conflicted inside.
He couldn't find Saio last night. Calling him resulted in unanswered calls, almost as if he had vanished into thin air.
Ever since he knew Saio, this had never happened before.
What does this mean?
Could it mean that Saio has abandoned him?
Today, he's dueling Kaizamaru Fujisuke, also a league rookie. Ed knows that he's a fresh graduate from Duel Academy, highly regarded in the league.
In fact, the schedule was set a week ago, but Ed felt indifferent. He never doubted his victory and didn't even truly consider Caesar as a competitor.
Because, even before entering the field, Saio had predicted the outcome of this duel.
"The Chariot, absolute victory."
Saio showed the Tarot Card as usual, symbolizing Ed's victory, a card of destiny unwavering since his debut.
Ed believed this wholeheartedly... until yesterday.
He lost.
It was his first defeat since his debut. And that person proved through duels that Saio's predictions aren't absolute. Ultimately, the supposed destiny of victory was false.
"Bound by destiny, merely a prisoner."
"Break free from destiny, carve your own path, that's what it means to be a hero."
The entire night, this sentence lingered in his mind, along with the image of the white-cloaked masked man.
Which path should he choose?
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting, the epic battle is about to begin!"
The voice of the announcer from outside interrupted his thoughts.
Ed took a deep breath, picked up the Duel Disc, and attached it to his arm.
He pulled out a card deck from the card case behind him, examining it for a moment. The bottom card was Destiny Hero: Tenacious Man.
This is his Destiny Hero, truly the deck that feels like his soul. So far, he's never used it in the professional arena.
But after considering, he ultimately decided not to use this deck and instead put it back into the card case, then pulled out another deck from a nearby card case.
He still chose to trust Saio's prophecy.
This duel will also be his complete victory, without any suspense. Marufuji Ryo, who may be called Caesar, is ultimately just the king of the academy's small world, not enough to make Ed give it his all.
Today's deck is this one.
He inserted the other card deck into the Duel Disc and headed toward the arena.
"Today we welcome the rookie with ten wins in the professional league, the Cyber Dragon's Kaiza Ryo!"
"The challenger, also maintaining a one hundred percent victory rate in the league, with a record of thirty wins, Ed Phoenix!"
"The epic battle begins now!"