When Tenjo Hikari followed Teacher Kabayama to the principal's office, he saw other groups of people.
Professor Cronos and Marufuji Ryo, Teacher Daitokuji brought Judai, Mitsuzawa, Asuka, and Manjome.
"Hmm, Tenjo-san, you came too?" Professor Cronos lightly nodded, "All elites are here~"
Then, he bent slightly forward to look at Yuki Judai, chuckled amusingly, and said, "Who is this? Did you get the wrong person? Shouldn't someone not be here?"
Even though he didn't target Judai anymore, the relationship between Professor Cronos and Judai was still not good.
"Don't mind him, Thunder." Judai said with a smile to Manjome.
"He's talking about you!" Manjome glared.
"Oh, are you talking about Mitsuzawa-san?" Teacher Daitokuji, petting a cat, explained, "Originally, the principal wanted me to call Tenjo-san, but I couldn't find Tenjo-san, so I called Mitsuzawa-san from Yellow Academy."
"Huh? Am I the extra one?" Mitsuzawa Daichi almost stumbled.
Tenjo Hikari pondered to himself on the side.
It seems my existence has affected Mitsuzawa Daichi's experiences from the original story.
But it's fine—since in the original story, Mitsuzawa Daichi becomes more of a background character as it progresses.
He was just worried it might affect Mitsuzawa Daichi's romantic prospects.
Everyone walked into the principal's office and heard about why the principal called them.
"The Three Phantasms cards?" Judai read in surprise.
"Yes, sealed on this island, three ancient cards,"
"Huh? Does this school have such a long history?" Judai said, looking up in disbelief.
Principal Samejima laughed and explained, "Originally, this school was built on the site of those three cards."
"Huh!?"
Tenjo Hikari snapped his fingers: "Ah, just like when people used to say that my school was built on a cemetery when I was a kid!"
"Huh huh huh!?"
After listening to Tenjo's words, the principal laughed again and quickly continued to explain, "According to the legend on the island, when those cards resurface, the world will be surrounded by demons, and chaos will cover everything. The darkness that erodes people will be unleashed, and soon the world will be destroyed."
The legend describes cards that hide such power.
All the students gulped.
It sounded so intimidating.
However, Tenjo Hikari knew—this wasn't just intimidation.
Although the subsequent development was different from what the students thought, and the reason for the unsealing of the Phantasms differed from their understanding, the power of the Phantasms was definitely not lacking.
Here, one must mention a critical point—the strength between card effects and Card Spirits cannot be compared as one and the same.
For example, the Tearlaments deck, considered invincible and having forbidden cards in an unrestricted deck, could severely be weakened when facing the Phantasms—because Tearlaments, by design, are only slaves to one of Visas' negative emotional incarnations, incomparable even to Visas' emotional incarnations, let alone the invincible Visas.
However, in terms of actual card effects, Visas couldn't even keep up with a little mermaid.
The Phantasms cards, though not ideal in real card effects, possess supernatural capabilities that are arguably the strongest in GX: rejuvenating youth, absorbing all Card Spirits worldwide, and forcing them into blanks.
Against such monsters, regular cards simply don't stand a chance.
Moreover, even Principal Samejima's spoken "legend" happened in reality in the future, indicating that the power of the Three Phantasms far exceeds any ordinary card, and even most spirits.
"So?"
"A challenger has arisen, seeking to unseal those cards."
"Who exactly?" Marufuji Ryo asked, puzzled.
"The Seven-Star King, called the seven duelists of the Seven Stars." Principal Samejima continued, "They are seven mysterious individuals, and one of them has already arrived on this island."
As he spoke, he took out a box, revealing what was inside, which were seven things resembling keys: "The seven massive stone gates, known as the Seven Stars Gate protect the card, and the only way to open those gates is with these seven keys."
"Therefore, I hope you can protect these seven keys."
"Even if you say that, how do we protect them?" Manjome asked.
"Of course, with a duel!"
"Ah!?" Everyone present was startled by the idea.
Well, what else?
Tenjo Hikari really wanted to ask that.
In this world, besides duels, what else can you do?
Did you think of guns or something?
"The duel to seize the Seven-Star Key must be won, only then can the Seven Stars Gate be opened. Therefore, I entrust this to the few outstanding duelists in the academy." He glanced at Cronos and Daitokuji, "Though there are those just to make up the numbers."
"Then, Principal, in that case, can I give the opportunity to Mitsuzawa-san, meow?" Daitokuji, petting a cat, responded with a smile.
"Well, then, Mitsuzawa-san?"
"Of course, I'm willing to accept."
"In any case——" Professor Cronos stepped forward first, taking a key, "It's like those who come to kick the school's doorway and take the school's nameplate, so don't worry, right? Principal?"
"Ah, you could see it that way."
The order wasn't quite the same as Tenjo Hikari remembered.
Tenjo Hikari took an edge key and hung it on his hand.
Though there might be some issues in detail, they were unimportant. What mattered was that so long as he held this Seven-Star Key, one of the Seven-Star Duelists would come to find him, and then duel him in darkness.
In other words, waiting for energy to come to him.
However——
Tenjo Hikari looked at the key in his hand, contemplating future developments.
Because this world has things like "Other Dimensions," he couldn't guarantee if the Seven Stars were the same as in the original, but regardless of which seven the Seven Stars were, their ultimate purpose was clear—unsealing the Three Phantasms Card.
Maybe it sounds counterintuitive, but in fact, Principal Samejima was deceived by Chairman Kagemaru. The Three Phantasms cards were entrusted to the principal by Kagemaru, but the Three Phantasms weren't yet time to be unsealed, and only when all seven keys of the Seven Stars received sufficient "duelist's passionate fighting spirit" could they be activated, then unsealing the Three Phantasms, allowing him to rejuvenate and more.
So, whether the Seven Stars won or not, they would eventually open the gate.
But that's no issue; ultimately, Judai beating Kagemaru will solve it, right?
He just needed to seize the chance to gain energy.
On that night, while Tenjo Hikari was studying the cards, he suddenly noticed the world lost its colors, his surroundings enveloped by a strange blue, and the next moment, the environment suddenly got hotter and brighter.
Volcano!?
He looked in surprise beneath him, somehow he had come to the volcano's inside, right beneath was the crater!
"Where is this place!?" Not far away, another person arrived here, screaming in shock.
Tenjouin Asuka?
Tenjo Hikari glanced at her, then looked back down at the ground.
Under their feet was a massive transparent "floor," seemingly a strange kind of energy that looked like it might vanish at any moment.
As they were thinking, a massive Fire Dragon rose from the magma, spun around, then landed heavily on the ground. Gradually, it transformed into a masked man.
"Who are you!?" Asuka shouted instinctively.
"My name is DarkNess, one of the Seven Stars."
"According to my investigation, Tenjo Hikari, you're the duelist representative of this school. As my debut, it suits me perfectly, you being my first opponent."
"First?" Tenjo Hikari didn't hesitate, revealing his Duel Disk, automatically deploying and shuffling, "More like your last opponent!"