Tenjo Hikari was curious to hear what insightful ideas Akaba Leo would have.
"But, what's the real difference between you and them?" Akaba Leo turned to the soldiers of the Fusion Army and said, "Whether you're using Synchro Monsters or Fusion Monsters, in the end, it all returns to fusion."
Akaba Leo continued, "I've warned you many times before.
The power you wield, the so-called god Tierra you trust, isn't that an evil force as well? Just like this artificial monster beside you, isn't it a monster born from human experimentation and psychic experimentation?"
"Ha, can you even fool yourself with such grandiose words?"
"What is this madman talking about? Tenjo Hikari, give me the Duel Disk, I want to kill him!" Tierra, upset again by Akaba Leo, was furious.
Last time, after an entire duel, Tierra got angry only at the end when Akaba Leo said she couldn't match the Three Phantasm, but this time, Akaba Leo managed to anger Tierra in mere seconds, making her wish to stop Tenjo Hikari from dueling and instead engage in her most adept full-force attack.
"Heh." Tenjo Hikari chuckled, "Trying to use such nonsense to cover up your crimes?
Am I like you?
No, my duels, my experiments, my studies, are always done together with my companions, never forcing someone to cooperate or be used as a subject."
Akaba Leo, stop with this rubbish, you abduct spirits for experimentation, you turn crystals into something neither human nor ghost, you transform the One-Eyed Battle into a madman, you invade the Frightfur World entirely, you even capture your own daughter and use her as an experimental subject, your crimes are innumerable. Yet you dare to shamelessly say I'm not much different from you?
Stop talking nonsense!!"
"Someone like you who would use modification techniques on your own daughter, even brainwash her, can never change my views, nor make me doubt myself.
Don't delude yourself into thinking your words will influence my dueling state."
"Hmph..."
In the laboratory, Ruri and Rin looked at Serena, their eyes seemingly filled with doubt about the world.
"You were—"
Serena nodded.
Looking back now, if the experimental base hadn't been destroyed by the mentor, perhaps the Fusion Parasite experiment would have still been ongoing, and maybe she and Ruri would have been brainwashed long ago.
"Brainwashing, is it?" Akaba Leo listened to this term and couldn't help but shake his head slightly, "Impossible, after all, they are my daughters."
Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow slightly.
Serena, watching the live broadcast, sat up straight.
"Just for the father's wish, as daughters, shouldn't they help a bit?"
Serena stared blankly at this scene.
"Truly disgusting." Tenjo Hikari replied calmly.
"Ha—no matter what, your means of stopping me are already gone, and my turn continues!
Normal Summon, Chaos Summoning Beast!"
A small skeletal archfiend appeared roaring, Tenjo Hikari squinted slightly upon seeing this monster.
"Chaos Summoning Beast's effect is to release it on the field, allowing us to bypass summoning conditions and special summon one of the Three Phantasm from the hand card!"
"I release the Chaos Summoning Beast on the field, come forth!
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!!"
Spark, boom!
Thunder crashed from outside the Elder Council, and countless ice blocks formed at the point of the strike. Within these ice blocks, a golden archfiend opened its eyes.
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, LV 10, Light Attribute, Thunder-Type, Attack Power 4000.
"It came, the card of the Phantasm." Tenjo Hikari observed this monster without much emotional fluctuation, after all, this was already the second time seeing this monster.
"Activate the effect of Chaos Summoning Beast in the graveyard!" Akaba Leo waved his hand grandly, and the archfiend in the graveyard began to shine, "Remove this card from the graveyard, and add a 'Fallen Paradise' from the Deck to the hand card!"
A card from his Deck automatically popped out and flew into his hand.
Akaba Leo examined the drawn card and casually placed it in the field area: "If it wasn't for Cronos's obstruction, I would have acquired this card long ago and used scientific means to replicate more.
If earlier, I'm afraid now my Deck would be completely finished, and Ling'Er would become the world's true 'first' woman, a being akin to Eve.
But you obstructed my experiment."
?
That didn't align with Tenjo Hikari's impression.
But, it sounded even more monstrous than Tenjo Hikari's impression.
While Akaba Leo spoke, behind him a large, vigorous ancient tree manifested. As the tree grew, its leaves began to fall, eventually culminating in a rotten apple falling and hitting the ground with a peculiar thumping sound.
"Field Spell Card, Fallen Paradise's effect activates when any Phantasm exists on the field. Draw two cards!"
Tenjo Hikari looked around, surveying the situation.
It seemed this was Akaba Leo's scientifically replicated Fallen Paradise.
He remembered that the original Fallen Paradise's effect was "Once per turn, if any one or more of the Three Phantasm monsters exist on the field, the controller of this card may select two cards from the Deck and add them to the hand card."
This was even more terrifying than drawing two cards.
Of course, even so, it was already extremely exaggerated.
"Battle, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder attacks Myutant Synthesis, Thunder of Fallen!"
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder roared toward the sky in anger, wholeheartedly unwilling but unable to change anything, calling down thunder to strike the monster on Tenjo Hikari's field.
Boom!
Its tentacles were intensely struck by lightning, gradually blackening, blurring, and finally turned to ash.
"After Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder destroys a monster in battle, inflict 1000 points of damage to the opponent!"
Tenjo Hikari was prepared, raising his hands in front to brace against the incoming icy threat.
"Penance in Hell!" Hamon roared again, countless ice pillars came from afar, thudding repeatedly on Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari, LP: 4000→3000.
"Master!"
"Brother Tenjo—"
The few watching the broadcast exclaimed because they could see, as Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder's attack landed, Tenjo Hikari's body actually got pierced by ice pillars, creating numerous bloody holes. If not for the direct freezing of the wounds, blood might not have stopped pouring.
But Tenjo Hikari didn't care about these wounds, he only spoke after his monster was destroyed: "Myutant Synthesis's effect from Fusion Summon. When this Fusion Summoned card is destroyed by the opponent, activate. Add one of your 'Myutant' cards from the removal pile to the hand card. I add the removed Myutant ST-46 to the hand card."
Akaba Leo saw Tenjo Hikari replenishing his hand card and wasn't worried because he remembered the effects of the other Myutant cards.
"Set one card, and end turn like this."
He appeared completely unfazed.
Leisurely surviving a blow and a blast indeed showed skill, however, not letting the more troublesome "DDD" rotate, Tenjo Hikari wasn't overly tense.
Currently, Akaba Leo hadn't used any exaggerated cards, but from his card play attitude and choices, Tenjo Hikari could roughly understand his strategy.
Undoubtedly, while Akaba Leo may not be mentally stable, perhaps a monster in human skin, he is extremely wise in knowing where his advantage lies.
In the original, he relied on understanding Akaba Reiji more, effectively suppressing Akaba Reiji, a T0-tier duelist in the original.
And if Akaba Leo draws two cards each turn, plays a big monster, it's pretty disadvantageous for Tenjo Hikari.
"My turn, draw."
Tenjo Hikari glanced at his hand cards.
Since that's the case, let's use this first—
It wasn't used last turn but was meant for now.
"Field Spell Card, Dreamland!"
"Tsk." Akaba Leo suddenly showed a look as if he had eaten a fly.
In this world's rules, only one field can exist for both parties at all times!