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Chapter 73 - A Duelist in Pursuit of Fusion

Truthfully, before seeing this girl, Hikaru Amagi had never expected she might appear.

Serena—one of the counterparts of Yuya's female lead, Yuzu, from Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V—was the heroine of the Fusion Dimension, and symbolic of the moon among the four counterparts.

In the original anime, she was headstrong, blunt, and incredibly bold—a fiery female duelist.Of course, that wasn't all innate. A large part of her attitude came from having been imprisoned for three years by Reiji Akaba.

What stuck with Hikaru the most, though, was that in Duel Links, Serena had unique voiced lines for almost every card with "Fusion" in its name. Practically every single one. She absolutely embodied the "Fusion Dimension heroine."

Now, on the duel stage, Serena stared at her hand, unable to draw a solution. She gritted her teeth and reluctantly ended her turn.

"Hi~~ Then it's my turn~!" Dark Magician Girl waved cheerfully to the crowd, playfully spinning her wand as she began her move.

Her board state was overwhelmingly strong. And no matter how hard Serena tried to resist, she just didn't have Jaden's absurd plot armor draw power. She couldn't pull the perfect card at will.

A direct attack from Dark Magician Girl. Defeat.

"Damn it!" Serena shouted, pounding the floor in frustration.

"Ah, I'm so jealous—getting attacked directly by Dark Magician Girl~!" said a pervy student nearby.

"Ohhh!! And that's game! Dark Magician Girl lands the final blow! Victory goes to the one and only magical idol!!" Syrius Truesdale shouted into the mic, voice cracking with glee. "Let's hear it for Dark Magician Girl!"

"YEEEEAAAAAH!!!"

Boys and girls alike erupted into frenzied cheering.

Hikaru felt a chill.

Her popularity was terrifying.

"Sweetie, are you hurt?" After flashing her fans a radiant smile, Dark Magician Girl slung her wand behind her back and started walking toward Serena.

But before she could reach her, a crowd of purple-uniformed Integration Club students suddenly stormed the platform and encircled Serena. They blocked the audience's view and reached for her arms as if to drag her offstage.

"Miss Serena, you shouldn't be here!"

"Come with us, the professor's been looking everywhere for you!"

"Let me go!!" Serena shouted, struggling as she twisted her body.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Before anyone else—before Hikaru or even Professor Crowler could react—a lone figure suddenly rushed forward, pointing furiously at the purple-uniformed students.

"You don't manhandle a defenseless young girl like that!"

"…Atticus?" "Brother?"

Both Zane Truesdale and Alexis looked dumbfounded as Atticus Rhodes—Alexis's eccentric older brother—burst onto the scene like a guitar-slinging vigilante.

"Wait, this is Atticus-senpai's actual setting?" Bastion Misawa blinked in confusion.

Last time, Atticus had approached Bastion after he'd been beaten by an Amazoness spirit and tried to convince him to steal keys from other students. At the time, Bastion agreed in a moment of weakness, then later realized how shameless it was.

And now here was Atticus… standing tall for justice?

"You thugs—can't you see the young lady clearly doesn't want to go with you?"

He strummed his guitar, plucking a few gentle notes, and sang:"You've gotta be gentle with girls, y'know?"

"Cough… Also, uh, she doesn't even look like she's in high school?" Alexis elbowed her brother in the ribs, dragging him back to reality. "She's probably from the junior division. Shouldn't the teachers escort her back properly?"

Yeah.

Even Hikaru squinted and tried to gauge her age.

Serena looked small. Like second-year middle school at best.

"Totally agree! You shouldn't force her like that!" Dark Magician Girl joined in gleefully, raising her wand in support.

And once she spoke up, the crowd—usually too intimidated by Integration Club bullies—found their courage. Or maybe it was just the idol effect pumping adrenaline into their veins.

"Yeah, don't bully a kid!"

"Especially not a girl!"

"Tch…" The Integration Club students glanced at each other, visibly annoyed.

But even so, they refused to let go.

"That's ENOUGH!" Hikaru Amagi strode forward from the crowd, his voice booming like thunder.

"I thought you lot might have learned something after everything that's happened, but now you're kidnapping girls!? Seriously!?"

"How much more disgrace are you planning to heap on Fusion… on this school… on all duelists!? LET. HER. GO!"

"Hi-Hikaru Amagi…" The lead Integration student had been arguing with a few hotheaded freshmen, but the moment Hikaru stomped forward, he shrank into himself like a popped balloon.

"Pfft… That guy shrank three inches just from seeing Hikaru." Chazz shook his head with a chuckle. "His aura alone crushes them. These guys will never beat him—not in this life."

The leader's face flushed with shame, and though he heard Chazz's jab, he couldn't muster the courage to talk back.

Every single recorded encounter between Integration Club and Hikaru Amagi had ended the same way.

Not a single win.

Hell, even escaping without humiliation was considered lucky.

Even their former Club President wasn't a match for Hikaru. What chance did they have?

"Hmph! Just because you won doesn't mean you'll always win! This has nothing to do with you anymore—you left the Fusion—uh, I mean, Integration Club!"

"What kind of nonsense is that? Seeing so-called Fusion Duelists bullying a little girl—of course it's my business!"

"Ugh—!" Another verbal gut punch. The leader was left speechless again.

Every step, every word from Hikaru was a blade, slicing his confidence to ribbons.

Then another purple-uniformed student wearing a mask sighed and stepped forward.

"Hikaru-senpai, this girl—Serena—is the daughter of Professor Reiji Akaba. This has nothing to do with you."

They moved aside, revealing Serena to the crowd.

Everyone gasped.

"…Wait, that bald shiny-head…"

"Professor Akaba was married?!"

"He has such a cute daughter!?" Atticus's jaw dropped.

Even Hikaru's brain short-circuited for a second.

Wait—Reiji Akaba publicly claimed Serena was his daughter!?

What kind of timeline is this!?

Still, his words and tone didn't waver.

"So what? Even if she's Professor Akaba's daughter—does that give you the right to manhandle her?"

He pointed to Serena, voice firm.

"Look at her arm! You left red marks dragging her around! Who do you think you're convincing like this? At the very least—let her decide for herself!"

"Hmph. That's obvious. Of course sh—"

"Ah! You're that Ultimate Fusion Duelist!" The moment the crowd parted, Serena locked eyes with Hikaru and lit up. She instantly remembered the duel footage she'd seen in the lab.

Ignoring the stunned faces of her so-called "handlers," she blurted, delighted:

"Can I learn Fusion from you!?"

...

Silence.

The kind so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Or a suppressed snicker.

"Pff—ahahahahaha!" Chazz was the first to crack. "So even the professor's daughter doesn't buy his Fusion 'philosophy'!"

Then came the explosion.

"HYAHAHAHAHAHA!!" The crowd roared with laughter.

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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 ! 

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