"Metamorphosis. You must tribute a monster on your field to activate this card, Special Summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck that is the same Level as the tributed monster!"
"I'll Tribute the Blue Sheep on my field. I Fusion Monster, Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
The blue Sheep's body emitted a violent collision, followed by a twisting motion. Its body began to crack apart, gradually sprouting eyes, appearing distorted and disgusting.
[Thousand-Eyes Restrict] Level 1│DARK│Spellcaster│0 ATK│0 DEF
"Oh my god!"
"What... What is that?! What a disgusting monster—"
"That's Thousand-Eyes Restrict, the legendary monster, Mr. Pegasus's card!"
"Wow, can you really use a token as Fusion Material to summon a monster of that level?"
Soon, some members of the Fusion Club recognized the monster and realized their previous worries had been unnecessary.
This was a legendary monster!
"Thousand-Eyes Restrict?" Zane stepped forward. "I remember, this monster's effect is..."
"I'll activate the effect of Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Once per turn, I can equip one monster on your field as an Equip Card and gain that monster's Attack and Defense!"
Thousand-Eye Restrict's eyes glowed with eerie purple light, casting it upon the Wildheart.
A moment later, Wildheart screamed, turned into a shadow, and merged with Thousand-Eyes Restrict's body!
[Thousand-Eyes Restrict's ATK: 0 → 1500]
"Oh no!"
"This way, Jaden's open to a direct attack!"
While everyone around him was panicking, Hikaru noticed that Jaden wasn't worried at all. Instead, he seemed even more fired up.
A face-down card?
Unlike Hikaru, Jaden was known in people's minds as the "Fusion" symbol, but in the original, Heroes were more of a deck that worked back and forth with Spell and Trap cards, and it wasn't until Space HERO Neos arrived that Fusion Deck became what it is today.
So, it wasn't surprising for Jaden to set a card.
After all, he had even used Sakuretsu Armor before!
"I'll attack directly with Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
Hikaru didn't continue playing but directly attacked with Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
"I activate my Trap Card, A Hero Emerges!"
Seeing Hikaru's attack, Jaden immediately flipped over his face-down card. "It can be activated when an opponent's monster declares an attack. The opponent chooses one of my hand cards, and if it's a monster, I can Special Summon it!"
"Oh! So that's what this is, then, you must have a monster in your hand?"
"Haha, guess!"
"Then it's the one in the middle!"
Jaden looked at the card in the middle, grinned, and happily revealed it: "The card in the middle is Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
BZzzzz—!
A flash of intense electricity lit up, and a warrior charged onto the field, crackling with electricity!
[Elemental HERO Sparkman] Level 4│LIGHT│Warrior│1600 ATK
"I see... Well then, I'll retract my attack and end my turn!" Hikaru, seeing that the opponent summoned a higher-attack monster, didn't panic. Rather, he simply set another card.
"Let's end it here."
He appeared remarkably calm.
"That was an exciting clash."
"Although the Attack Points weren't as high as in the previous duel, every move was well-thought-out, and neither Jaden nor Hikaru seemed surprised by their opponent's actions!" Bastion, watching from the stands, took a deep breath and remarked, "Both of them have already planned out various scenarios in advance. No matter what the opponent plays, they'll both have an advantage…"
He realized that, as someone who only targeted specific cards, he probably wasn't as skilled as the two on the field.
"My turn!"
After drawing a card, Jaden was once again guided by the Avian. "Jaden, if you don't solve Thousand-Eyes Restrict this turn, it will swallow another monster next turn! You must figure out a way to deal with it now!"
"Ah, I understand—" Jaden didn't hesitate and immediately activated the card he drew. "I'll start with the Spell Card, Pot of Greed!"
'He activated… the forbidden card!'
Hikaru looked at Jaden playing this card and felt a bit envious.
'You bought so many cards in your past, why the heck didn't you buy a Pot of Greed!?'
Hikaru rebuked his past self inwardly.
"Next, I'll flip over my face-down card, Polymerization!"
"As expected, he set a Spell Card to activate A Hero Emerges' effect!"
"I'll fuse the Sparkman on the field and the Clayman in my hand!"
"I Fusion Summon, Thunder Giant!"
TZZZZZT!
Clay rose from the ground, continuously merging into the thunder, and soon, a towering warrior crackling with electricity appeared.
[Elemental HERO Thunder Giant] Level 6│LIGHT│Warrior│2400 ATK
"Thunder Giant's effect allows me to discard one card from my hand to destroy a monster on the field with lower Attack than it. The monster I destroy is, of course, Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
Lightning struck down, and the Hero defeated the Evil God!
"Huh? Why not have Thunder Giant attack directly?" On the stands, Syrus asked a rather silly question.
"Thousand-Eyes Restrict has the effect of preventing battle destruction when it's equipped with a Monster," Chumley, who was very familiar with this card's effect, explained to Syrus.
"Then you could use two monsters to attack and destroy Thousand-Eyes Restrict, right? That would deal more damage."
"Maybe... but in Jaden's eyes, it might be more dangerous to leave a 'material' on Hikaru's side than to deal damage. Also, I remember that with Thousand-Eyes Restrict on the field, other monsters can't attack. So, this was the best choice."
"Ah… I see now..."
Thunder Giant casually electrocuted a Sheep, but Jaden didn't end his turn just yet. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Mirage of Nightmare! Then, I'll set a card and end my turn!"
Hikaru squinted, watching the Continuous Spell on the field, and sighed.
'Another forbidden drawing Spell...'
'Past me could have gotten powerful cards, instead of buying useless stuff. What a pain…'
"My turn, I draw."
"During your standby phase, the effect of Mirage of Nightmare activates, and I draw up to 4 cards in my hand. Then, I flip over my face-down card, Quick-Play Spell, Emergency Provisions, sending one Spell or Trap card from the field to the Graveyard and restoring Life Points equal to the number of cards sent to the Graveyard multiplied by 1000!"
[Jaden, LP: 4000 → 5000]
"Amazing! You've replenished your hand after Fusion Summoning and even regained Life Points. Jaden is truly amazing!"
In the stands, Banner, holding a cat, stroked it thoughtfully. "Ah, whether it's Jaden or Hikaru, I want to cheer for them both, but it's so hard to choose. Should Jaden win, or Hikaru?"
"Go, Hikaru!"
"Show that Red Dorm kid how great Fusion can be!"
"Don't give up!"
Many students in the audience were cheering for Hikaru.
After all, his Fusion Monster had just been destroyed, but Hikaru was completely unfazed!
In return, he smiled and glanced at the card he had drawn, then looked up at Jaden. "Jaden, through Trap, Spell, and Monster effects, you've destroyed Thousand-Eyes Restrict, but now, all you have left on the field is a single 2400 ATK monster."
Jaden gulped upon hearing this.
Yes, even though 2400 ATK seemed high to others, he knew very well that a single Thunder Giant wouldn't be enough to stop what was coming!
"Then, I activate the Continuous Spell, Flame Swordsrealm!"
'Finally, it's here! Flame Swordsrealm!'
Seeing this card, Avian solemnly turned to Jaden, "The real duel is just beginning, Jaden!"
"Ah, I understand." Jaden said enthusiastically, "This is getting more and more exciting!"