A wall of water surged up. "When a direct attack is declared, return all your attack position monsters to the Deck."
"Nani?!?!"
Cyber Dinosaur slammed into the barrier and was swallowed by the current. It turned into light and flew back into Longya's Deck.
His face went pale. A moment ago he was about to win, and now his field and hand were empty.
Grinding his teeth, he ended his turn.
"My Turn! Draw. During the Standby Phase, Sinister Serpent returns from the Graveyard to my hand."
Yugen retrieved it calmly. "Normal Summon my second Abyss Soldier."
Then he activated the newly set cards. Legendary City Atlantis lowered Abyss Soldier's Level, and Continuous Spell forced all Level 4 or higher monsters into Defense Position. Atlantis also boosted Abyss Soldier's ATK to 2000.
"Abyss Soldier, direct attack."
The trident struck cleanly.
Longya LP 4000 to 2000.
"I set one card and end my turn. Your move, teacher."
He drew.
"I activate Trap Card Drop Off," Yugen said politely. "During your Draw Phase, the drawn card is discarded."
The freshly drawn card slid straight into the Graveyard. The field fell into a strange silence.
"Oh? Not making a move, teacher? You're too kind. Then it's My Turn! again. Draw."
He gestured forward. "Abyss Soldier, direct attack."
Longya's Life Points dropped from 2000 to 0.
Longya, LP 0.
After his Life Points Zero dropped to zero, Longya let out a long breath. It took him several seconds to realize that at some point his fists had clenched tight. Part of him wanted to beat up the guy in front of him who looked so proper and calm.
Another part of him wanted to drag Professor Chronos de Medici out and beat him up too. That smiling professor had said he believed in him, then arranged a Duel like this. Since when were first year students at Duel Academy this strong?
And what was that Duel style supposed to be? Had he been away from his alma mater so long that the teaching policy had changed? Who taught him to play like that?
The more he thought about it, the more Longya felt that Professor Chronos de Medici's smiling face had hidden bad intentions from the start. Back then, when the professor mentioned the student arranged for him, there had been a strange smile on his face. At the time Longya had been lost in dreams of dominating Duel Academy and reaching the peak of life, so he had not paid attention.
Now that he thought about it, something felt wrong. He believed he had hidden his ambition well, always polite and respectful in front of Professor Chronos de Medici. There had been no obvious slip.
So what grudge did the professor have to send out such a weapon against him?
In the stands, Asuka Tenjoin fell silent for a moment. Her eyes remained on the field as she spoke in a low voice.
"Another WATER focused Deck built around lockdown control."
Her expression turned a little strange. It fit Yugen's usual defensive image, the kind of Deck that broke your will before it broke your Life Points, yet it was a new variation she had never seen.
She found herself more and more curious about how his mind worked. He kept coming up with irritating strategies that looked strange at first glance, yet their actual combat strength was not low at all.
She glanced at Daichi Misawa beside her. "You two are the same type of Duelist, aren't you? I remember you also have many different themed Deck builds."
Daichi Misawa shook his head with a gloomy face. "Don't remind me."
Ever since losing last time, he had been troubled by the endless counters and shifting tactics from Yugen. He had not even figured those out yet, and now there were even more strange strategies on display.
It felt like solving three difficult math problems all night and barely finishing one, only for the teacher to assign three new ones the next day. And this was only the tip of the iceberg of what Yugen had shown today.
When the Duel ended, Yugen happily received the promised reward. Professor Chronos de Medici looked at the cards and seemed about to comment, but in the end he only nodded slightly in approval.
As for senior Longya, he would probably have to say goodbye to his teaching career plans. Not only did he lose, he also generously handed over an entire Deck.
Yugen wanted to decline out of courtesy, but refusing might show disrespect to the Duel and his opponent. So he accepted with a smile.
To be honest, the so called trump Rare Card "Cyber Dinosaur" that Longya valued so much seemed mediocre to Yugen. He was already thinking about selling it for money. However, "Harpie's Feather Duster" used in the Duel was truly valuable, a powerful Back Row clearing card that still saw play even now.
With another wave of fresh credits, Yugen returned and immediately exchanged some for DP points used for shopping inside Duel Academy. As usual, he browsed the new products in the Academy Department.
He casually picked up a few single cards of interest. When he scrolled to the structure section, he noticed a new build that caught his eye.
Ojama Level Series.
One of the signature Level Series of Manjoume before he fully turned into comic relief. He once called it a Deck where even trash had its use, and in truth it did have some unique traits.
Compared to other builds in Academy Department, it was very cheap. That was not surprising. In the GX era, Ojamas were common and unpopular, and even Manjoume's Ojama Black and Ojama Green had been discarded as useless before he picked them up.
There were also many support cards in the GX anime that had never been printed in real life. Alone, their combat power was limited, but there were indeed interesting strategies to explore.
Since it was cheap, Yugen bought a copy.
Ojamas might not be strong, but they were excellent at irritating opponents. Especially the three ugly brothers. In a Duel environment with solid projection Summon, their mere appearance could provoke maximum mockery.
In the anime, whenever Manjoume beat someone with the Ojama trio, the opponent often felt humiliated and furious. Still, the structure itself was too weak in pure combat power. To make it viable, he would have to use his imagination.
The moment Yugen saw it, several ideas from past competitive builds came to mind. Ojamas had appeared in early tournament scenes before, and based on their traits, any build involving them was usually tied to lockdown and mental pressure.
He was only missing a few key pieces to complete a mature version.
Speaking of Manjoume, the first round of the Duel Department competition seemed to be coming up in a couple of days. If nothing unexpected happened, Yugen would face him again.
He wondered how much Manjoume had improved since the start of the semester.
Before that, however, the Academy Administration Office had finally taken action regarding the break in at the old dorm.
Early the next morning, a truck that looked like a military transport stopped aggressively in front of the dorm building. A group of men in black suits and sunglasses marched straight to the door of Osiris Red and began pounding, startling the sleepy Daidouji-sensei.
"Academy Administration Office, the people who deal with serious incidents," he said with a frightened face. "Why would such terrifying people come to our dorm?"
Even if no one was watching, Daidouji-sensei stayed in character with full dedication.
"Open the door."
Someone hammered heavily.
Half asleep, Judai Yuki slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes as he climbed down from the bed.
"What's going on?"
Judai Yuki yawned.
"If you don't open the door, we will proceed with demolition."
Judai Yuki was still rubbing his eyes. Then he suddenly jolted awake.
"Demolition!?"
He hurried down and opened the door.
Standing there was a stern female teacher with long white legs, surrounded by a crowd of large men.
"You are the ringleader, Judai Yuki, right?" the female teacher asked coldly.
Judai Yuki blinked. "Huh? Ringleader?"
"You need to come with us to the Academy Administration Office," she said in a tone that allowed no refusal. "Immediately."