The students' laughter roared like thunder.
And honestly…
Who could blame them?
What logic could possibly convince anyone to turn their back on Hikaru Amagi, the purest Fusion Duelist in the entire academy?
A freshman who defeated the head of the Integration Club.
A symbol of the new generation.
A duelist who declared—during a battle against interdimensional invaders no less—that "Fusion is the noblest form of summoning."
To any normal student, it wasn't even a question.
If you really wanted to study Fusion Summoning, if you truly wanted to become a dedicated Fusion Duelist, then Hikaru's Fusion Club was the real Fusion Club.
As for the Integration Club?
They could keep playing make-believe behind closed doors.
Sure, Serena was Professor Reiji Akaba's daughter—but clearly, she wasn't buying into his Fusion ideals at all!
"Th-that's not right, Miss Serena!" One student blurted out, trying to salvage the situation. "You're the professor's daughter! You should be with the Integration Club! We've got way better teachers than that Fusion Club filled with misfits!"
"Yeah! Besides, the Fusion Club is our enemy! If you join them, you're basically strengthening the opposition! You should at least think of your father's reputation!"
"I just want to learn stronger dueling techniques," Serena replied bluntly, rubbing her arm. "And I saw his duel—he's really good."
Straight to the point. Just like always.
As if we don't know how strong he is already…
The Fusion Army members exchanged helpless looks.
"Hey!" It was Chazz who caught the slip. "What did you just say? That the Integration Club teachers would instruct her? But she's junior division! She's not supposed to be on the island in the first place!"
"…Wait, no way. Don't tell me…"
His voice trailed off as the realization hit him. His eyes widened in disbelief.
Thanks to that, Hikaru remembered something too—
In the original story, wasn't Serena held in the Fusion Dimension for three years under Akaba's supervision?
More than "supervised"—it was imprisonment.
She had been locked away for three whole years.
Granted, that Akaba never saw her as his daughter.
But this world's Akaba… had actually gone and publicly announced Serena as his child?
That was way more twisted.
The air around their group changed. The students' eyes sharpened.
Say what you will about Chazz's flair for dramatics, the guy had incredible instincts.
He noticed things others missed, and once he started connecting the dots, he was rarely wrong.
If he said something… there was a good chance it was true.
"Miss Serena, please reconsider. Hikaru Amagi—"
"What's there to reconsider?" Serena interrupted, massaging her arm. "We'll settle it with a duel."
"Duelists decide things with duels. That's common sense."
Common sense, huh…
The Fusion Army students glanced nervously at one another.
"You go?" "No no, you go—" "Wait, I'm a second year! I can't pick on a first year!"
None of them were stepping forward.
They hemmed and hawed, pushed and deflected—no one wanted to face Hikaru Amagi.
Cowards before the fight had even begun.
Even the bystanders were shaking their heads.
Seriously?
All that bluster before—and the second they saw Hikaru, they folded?
No surprise. These half-baked "Fusion" fanatics were nothing compared to the real deal.
Suddenly, the leader of the Integration Club turned and pointed across the way.
There, still basking in cheers, was Dark Magician Girl.
"How about her, then? Hikaru Amagi!" he shouted.
"She just defeated Miss Serena. If you can beat her, we'll back off."
Dark Magician Girl blinked. "Me?"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Syrius grabbed the mic and shouted to the crowd. "Everyone wants to see another duel from Dark Magician Girl, right!?"
"YEAH!!"
"DO IT!"
Cheers erupted once again.
Dark Magician Girl grinned and giggled. "Well… if everyone's so excited~ I guess I can play along."
Hikaru, meanwhile, was trying to untangle the logic of what was happening.
In reality, the Integration kids were just scrambling to save face, throwing someone else under the bus.
But then Serena nodded seriously and said, "I get it now. If he defeats the one who defeated me, then by duelist standards, he's stronger. So it would make sense to apprentice under him!"
Hikaru's brain just about short-circuited.
"Hikaru," a voice whispered beside him.
It was Zane Truesdale.
"Be careful. That Dark Magician Girl—she's the real deal."
"That's right, Hikaru," Jaden added, face unusually serious. "If she's one of the Shadow Riders, you need to be ready!"
Even Alexis nodded grimly. "If it turns into a Shadow Duel, the students might be caught in the crossfire…"
…They were way too worried.
Since when did Dark Magician Girl become a villain?
Still, seeing them that tense, Hikaru raised his voice and shouted:
"Are you one of the Shadow Riders!?"
"Shadow Riders? I'm a Six-Star~" she replied sweetly. "My master is a Shadow Rider."
"Knew it!" Jaden instantly pulled on his duel disk, ready to leap in.
"Waitwaitwait—" Hikaru held him back, then looked at her again. "Wait, do you mean star as in… rank?"
"What else would I mean?" she tilted her head, blinking innocently.
"SO CUTE!!" Syrius screamed, joined by a chorus of swooning students.
"Well, this works out perfectly," Bastion Misawa mused, nodding enthusiastically in his tiger mascot costume. "There can't be two Fusion leaders. Hikaru may have claimed the name of Fusion Club, but if he wins over the daughter of the Integration Club's head… even if she goes back to middle school, the story will spread and hurt the Integration Club's reputation."
Hikaru agreed.
From the moment he formed his own club, he'd made no secret of his disdain for the Integration faction.
This was just another opportunity to beat them at their own game.
Syrius quickly cleared the stage, letting Dark Magician Girl step up once more.
"Go for it, Master!" Serena called. "Teach me how to use Fusion properly!"
Master…?
Hikaru sighed and loaded his deck into his duel disk.
"DUEL!"
Dark Magician Girl LP: 4000
Hikaru Amagi LP: 4000
Across the field, Dark Magician Girl took a long look at Hikaru. Then she peeked at Jaden too.
Suddenly, she tapped her temple with her right hand. "Ah, it's you."
"…Huh?" Hikaru blinked. "You… know me?"
"Of course. My friend from Chaos mentioned you before."
She bounced lightly in place, shadow-boxing to loosen up. "Whew! I almost forgot that part~"
…Chaos?
She had to mean Black Luster Soldier, right?
Hikaru groaned inwardly.
So she really was that Dark Magician Girl—the same one who had come to the human world at the request of BLS from the Warrior Realm.
And then completely forgot her mission and started playing casual duels with fans.
"In that case, this is a good opportunity," she winked, her eye sparkling with golden starlight.
"If you beat me, I'll give you a very special card!"
She spun her wand with a flourish.
"Of course… I'll be going all out!"
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For this week I will do more release depending on the power stones !
100 Power Stones = 1 chapter (in addition to the daily update)
So give stones if you want mooooar !