Despite how it sounds, this man in purple doesn't seem so despicable, but Manjome hasn't forgotten that the man in front of him is the one who defeated "Yuki Judai", someone he must beat.
So, after focusing his attention on the duel and not being influenced by external factors, he continued to set two cards in his Spell and Trap zone: "Set two cards, end turn."
"Then, my turn—" Tenjo Hikari quickly drew a card and directly revealed a Magic card from his hand, "Activate Normal Spell, Instant Fusion!"
Fusion already!? So fast?
Manjome was startled.
"Pay one thousand Life Points. I can Special Summon a Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck that's LV 5 or below as if it were a Fusion Summon. The monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack and will be destroyed at the end phase."
Tenjo Hikari LP: 4000→3000
"Fusion Summon— Come forth, Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
The Evil God covered with eyeballs flew out from the card, making one feel uneasy and nauseous just by glancing at it.
"Thousand-Eyes Restrict?" Manjome paused for a moment upon seeing this card, then without hesitation, decisively flipped his Set card, "Wait, I'll activate the Trap Card during your Special Summon—
Burst Breath!"
Under the gaze of all the examinees and teachers, the Wind Attribute armored dragon began to take a deep breath and then spewed out intense flames wildly.
"The effect of this card is to use a Dragon-Type monster on the field as a sacrifice. Destroy all monsters on the field with Defense Power less than that monster's ATK!"
"Armed Dragon's ATK is 1900 points, and Thousand-Eyes Restrict's DEF is naturally 0, so—destroy it!"
The emerald dragon breath pierced through ferociously, blasting the Evil God into powder, and at the same time, it seemed exhausted, slowly turning into light spots and disappearing from the field.
"Eh? Why did Manjome use this Trap Card?" Observing the duel, Marufuji Shou, ranked very low and thus having a lot of free time, couldn't help asking, "Thousand-Eyes Restrict can't attack anyway, just let it devour..."
"No, that's not how it works." Someone interrupted his thoughts.
"Eh!? Mitsuzawa, you're here?"
"I've been here all along!" Mitsuzawa Daichi's forehead bulged with veins, "Hikari claimed he wants to compete with me for first place in the grade, I naturally want to watch."
"So why did you say that just now? Wouldn't it save a card not to use Burst Breath?"
"No, you're thinking too simplistically," Mitsuzawa Daichi shook his head, "Hikari naturally knows this too. Instant Fusion is a powerful card with side effects. He, as a Fusion Duelist, understands it better than you and I."
"Then he'll naturally find a way to avoid it."
"Haha, like Flame Swordsrealm!" Judai interjected, blurting it out prematurely, "I've seen him use this chain before."
"Oh—" Shou finally understood in a flash of realization.
"However, Manjome doesn't even know who Tenjo is..." Mitsuzawa Daichi folded his arms and pondered, saying, "Does he know what cards are in Hikari's Deck to make such a decision at this moment? Truly a disciple of that President Kaiba."
"It's instinct, pure instinct!" Judai laughed heartily on the side, "The Duelist's instinctual reaction! Truly Manjome!"
Indeed.
The operation Manjome just performed was entirely out of "instinct". He recognized Thousand-Eyes Restrict and knew its effect, but from an ideal perspective, there was no need to do so, but he chose to clear the field because he instinctually felt that if he didn't, it would become more dangerous!
Tenjo glanced at his hand cards and shook his head helplessly.
"Then, I'll activate Continuous Spell Card, Future Fusion." Tenjo Hikari touched his chin and Set another card "I'll Set another card and end my turn like this."
"Then, during your end phase, I'll flip my Set card! Quick-Play Spell, Armed Dragon's Thunderbolt, Special Summon an [Armed Dragon LV3] from the Deck!"
"Go, Armed Dragon!"
"Gah!" With Manjome's call, a petite flying dragon flew out from the depths of his Deck.
"Next, my turn, draw—at this moment, I'll activate Armed Dragon LV3's effect. During my Standby Phase, I can send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon an Armed Dragon LV5 from my hand or Deck!"
"Evolve, my dragon!"
"Roar!!!" The cute little dragon raised its fists to the sky, its voice transitioning from youthful to robust, as its body grew more massive.
Armed Dragon LV5, LV 5, Wind Attribute, Dragon-Type, ATK 2400.
"Normal Summon, Masked Dragon!"
Masked Dragon, LV 3, Fire Attribute, Dragon-Type, ATK 1400.
"This ends now, attack directly with Armed Dragon—"
Tenjo Hikari LP: 3000→600.
"Next, direct attack with Masked Dragon!" Manjome was slightly excited, if this attack were successful, he would have won—
"Too naive, I'll activate my Set card, Quick-Play Spell, Scapegoat!"
"!!"
The classic four lonely sheep in red, blue, yellow, and pink rocked back and forth; seeing these Sheep Tokens, the excitement of "victory" and "defeating Judai" that filled Manjome's mind instantly restored his senses, as if doused with cold water, calming him down entirely.
Each sheep equated to a shield with 0 ATK and DEF!
"It turned out to be Scapegoat..." When seeing the four Sheep Tokens stand quietly on the field, Manjome grew more tense, "You could've used Scapegoat at the start to reduce the damage taken, but you didn't.
You knew about Armed Dragon's effect and didn't want Armed Dragon to evolve, right?"
Tenjo Hikari nodded, looked up, and casually said, "Previously, a Northern Academy student used Armed Dragons, although his performance wasn't great, I took a look at Armed Dragon's effects after that. So I know, after Armed Dragon LV5 destroys a monster in battle, it can evolve into LV7, right?"
"Ugh..."
"Not bad, Hikari," Mitsuzawa Daichi couldn't help but marvel, "Even I didn't know about Armed Dragon LV5 before..."
"Understanding oneself is also part of Fusion!"
"Big Brother, that line sounded cool," Marufuji Shou was somewhat amazed, turning back to admire Judai; he didn't expect Judai to say something so cool and seemingly logical.
"Hahaha~" Judai scratched his head and laughed, "Hikari said it previously in the Other Dimension!"
"...Ah, I see." Marufuji Shou turned back awkwardly to look at the duel.
In any case, seeing that he couldn't one-shot Tenjo Hikari, Manjome could only have Masked Dragon destroy a pink sheep.
"To be safe...I'll Set a card and end the turn!"
He's indeed a Duelist who can defeat Judai, can't be underestimated for sure.
Understanding oneself, isn't it?
He did indeed hear the conversation between Judai and the others, but he had no interest in chatting with others during a duel, nor did he want to receive reminders from anyone during it.
Just...
He recalled his previous "training", feeling a bit sweaty.
He had trained for a month with the company's AI, but that AI only used Hero Decks—
"It's my turn." Tenjo Hikari drew a card, "I'll also activate an effect during my Standby Phase. According to Future Fusion's effect, during the first of my Standby Phases after this card is activated, I'll reveal a Fusion Monster for both sides to confirm, and send the Fusion Materials designated by that monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."
Tenjo Hikari revealed an "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman."
The next moment, Manjome was instantly energized!
Eh eh eh, yeah, this feels right!