"I'm going first? Draw."
Hikaru drew a card.
It felt like ages since he had the first turn. Recently, he'd always been going second.
Looking at his hand...ah, today he could play that.
He chuckled.
"Pay 1000 LP to activate the Spell, Ready Fusion."
[Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3000]
"Ready Fusion?" Borg barked out a laugh. "What are you doing?"
"Hah! Has the pressure from Raviel made Hikaru finally snap?"
"Monsters summoned with Ready Fusion get destroyed at the end phase. What a waste!"
The Fusion Army soldiers laughed.
By now, Hikaru's fusion strategies were known worldwide, especially to the Fusion Army targeting him. Everyone knew what Ready Fusion did.
"Heh. Ready Fusion lets me summon a Level 6 or lower non-Effect Fusion Monster." Hikaru ignored their jeers.
"I Fusion Summon—"
Clank—Clank—WHIRR—
A figure descended. Twin flamethrower swords in hand, mechanical parts all over, with boosters blazing behind it.
"Metalfoes Adamante."
[Metalfoes Adamante] Level 5│FIRE│Psychic│2500 ATK
Hikaru grinned.
After "refining himself," Alkahest finally achieved a breakthrough recently—he created "gold."
Though it used Professor Banner's Alchemy instead of his own... irrelevant. Progress was progress.
Now, he was just one step away from true transmutation—creating real gold.
"Metalfoes..." The Fusion soldiers blinked.
"Metalfoes." Borg scowled. He recognized the series. If that card was here... then that was coming.
"Normal Summon—Ancient Gear Knight."
A battered mech with a lance and shield clanked into view.
[Ancient Gear Knight] Level 4│EARTH│Machine│1800 ATK
"As a Gemini monster, Ancient Gear Knight is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up."
"Tch..." Borg gritted his teeth. He saw where this was going.
"Activate, Fusion Substitute from my hand. It counts as 'Polymerization,' but only fuses monsters on the field.
Material requirements, [Metalfoes] + a Normal Monster."
"Fusion Summon, Level 1, Fullmetalfoes Alkahest!"
Both monsters spiraled into a vortex. A mage with a mechanical staff, wizard's hat, and confident smirk floated down.
[Fullmetalfoes Alkahest] Level 1│FIRE│Psychic│0 DEF
Finally, he could summon it properly.
"That guy..." Borg winced. Despite its 0 ATK and DEF, he knew what this thing could do.
"Activate Fusion Substitute's Graveyard effect. Banish it to return one Fusion Monster from my Graveyard to the Extra Deck and draw 1 card. I return Alkahest. Draw."
"Set one card. Turn end."
"That's it?!"
"Hah! A monster with zero attack? The instructor can crush it easily!"
The soldiers chuckled. Clueless idiots.
Borg's eyes narrowed.
The Professor deliberately kept soldiers ignorant—brainwashed military pawns. If they ran into threats like Hikaru, it didn't matter. Just spam Ancient Gear Hounds.
They didn't know this Alkahest could, on the opponent's turn, absorb an opponent's effect monster as an equip card. It was basically a Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
Though not quite as broken.
"My turn! Draw! Heh heh... seems luck isn't on your side, Hikaru!"
"If I control no monsters, I Special Summon—Level 1, Steelswarm Cell!"
[Steelswarm Cell] Level 1│DARK│Fiend│0 ATK
A cockroach-like demon skittered onto Borg's field.
Tierra blinked. "Oh, this thing..." Nostalgia.
Malice and Gem-Knights... her two most nostalgic archetypes.
"I activate Alkahest's effect! Absorb your Steelswarm Cell!"
Without hesitation, Hikaru pointed. The mage twirled its staff, and the bug demon melted into energy, sucked into the staff.
Borg chuckled, glancing at his hand. "Smart move. You must've heard of this card from the Xyz Dimension, huh?"
"Still... that stops me from OTK-ing, but it's fine.
Normal Summon—Dark Summoning Beast."
A frail demon with 0 ATK/DEF appeared.
Hikaru flinched. "Whoa. This thing?"
Level 2. 0 ATK. 0 DEF. Fiend.
A broken support card.
From Raijin to Yubel, this thing had seen success everywhere. Scarily strong.
"When this is Normal Summoned, I add a Sacred Beast to hand. I choose Raviel, Lord of Phantasms."
Not Gate of the Seven Stars? Hikaru relaxed slightly.
"Don't underestimate it, Hikaru. While it's face-up, I can Normal Summon a Fiend with 0 ATK and DEF in addition to my regular summon."
Hikaru frowned. Chaos Summoning Beast... or Raviel's true summoner?
"Normal Summon—Chaos Summoning Beast!"
There it was.
Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
"Hikaru, I'm not like those fools who underestimated you. You've fought the Fusion Army long enough—you clearly have skill.
So I'll give this everything I've got. I will erase you here!
Only then will the Fusion Army's grand mission continue unimpeded!"
"I tribute Chaos Summoning Beast! Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, come forth!!"
...
Bonus @200
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