Boom!
A ring of yellowish-brown light erupted in the center of the main arena.
Massive stone pillars rose from the ground and interlocked, forming a towering stone platform.
A hero clad in heavy, dark-brown armor leaped from the top of the platform, driving one knee into the ground as he landed.
Shards of stone flew.
Elemental HERO Terra Firma raised his head.
His pauldrons bore patterns like layers of rock, bands of ocher energy wound around his arms, and the hero emblem on his chest shone with golden light.
[Elemental HERO Terra Firma, ATK 2200]
The electronic screen beside the arena displayed the value.
Twenty-two hundred.
The chatter in the stands immediately quieted considerably.
Clayman had eight hundred attack points.
After fusion, that became twenty-two hundred outright.
So a HERO Deck could be played like this too?
Tachibana Shingo watched Elemental HERO Terra Firma, his fingers resting at the edge of his Duel Disk.
Twenty-two hundred attack points.
Three hundred higher than Swordhorned Dragon.
But three hundred damage was not enough to end the match.
Yūki, however, did not enter his Battle Phase.
He raised his hand and pointed at Swordhorned Dragon.
"I activate Elemental HERO Terra Firma's effect."
Tachibana Shingo's eyelid twitched.
"When this card is successfully Fusion Summoned, I can activate its effect by selecting one face-up monster on my opponent's field."
"Until the end of the turn, that monster's attack points are halved."
"And Elemental HERO Terra Firma gains that amount of attack points."
The venue fell silent.
The male commentator opened his mouth, immediately looking at the value above Swordhorned Dragon's head.
"Half of nineteen hundred is nine hundred and fifty!"
The female commentator followed even faster.
"Elemental HERO Terra Firma will gain nine hundred and fifty attack points!"
Yūki's finger remained pointed at Swordhorned Dragon.
"I choose Swordhorned Dragon!"
The rock beneath Elemental HERO Terra Firma's feet split open with a crash.
Several ocher chains shot out of the cracks, wrapping around Swordhorned Dragon's legs, torso, and horn.
Swordhorned Dragon struggled desperately, but the attack value above his head had already begun to change.
[Swordhorned Dragon, ATK 1900 → 950]
The hero emblem on Elemental HERO Terra Firma's chest burst with golden light.
Rock energy streamed along the ground into his arms, lighting up the patterns on his heavy armor one by one.
[Elemental HERO Terra Firma, ATK 2200 → 3150]
Thirty-one hundred and fifty!
The male contestant from City First Middle School gaped.
"He can boost it like that too?"
"Swordhorned Dragon's attack points ended up becoming material to boost his instead?"
Kurosawa Kōshin watched the value above Elemental HERO Terra Firma's head, taking a long while before speaking.
"Yūki can even make use of his opponent's attack points."
Asakawa Suzune watched Swordhorned Dragon, bound by chains on the field.
"Tachibana Shingo wanted to hold out for a turn with nineteen hundred attack points."
"Yūki just split that nineteen hundred in half and added nine hundred and fifty to his own."
Sato Renshan leaned back in his chair.
He suddenly felt that Yūki using a HERO Deck was not really much different from using Lava Golem.
Lava Golem used the opponent's monsters as tributes.
Elemental HERO Terra Firma used the opponent's attack points as fuel.
The deck's name sounded so sunny.
The play style still had that familiar flavor.
Tachibana Shingo looked at Elemental HERO Terra Firma's thirty-one hundred and fifty attack points, then at his own Life Points.
Eighteen hundred.
He already understood the outcome.
But his hand remained on his Duel Disk.
A disciple of the dinosaur school, a representative of City First Middle School, someone who had fought his way through the repechage back to the Championship Match.
He was not ready to give up yet.
Yūki raised his hand.
"Battle!"
Elemental HERO Terra Firma took a step forward.
The rock across the entire main arena heaved upward with it.
"Elemental HERO Terra Firma, attack!"
Yūki swung his arm forward.
"Continental Shockwave!"
Elemental HERO Terra Firma brought his fists together, ocher light gathering over them into an enormous, heavy stone hammer.
The next instant.
He slammed his fists down.
Rumble!
A straight trail of rocky shock waves tore through the ground, crushing its way toward Swordhorned Dragon.
Swordhorned Dragon raised his head, one final ocher barrier lighting up in front of his horn.
But nine hundred and fifty attack points could not last even half a second against thirty-one hundred and fifty.
The barrier shattered.
Swordhorned Dragon was swallowed by the torrent of stone, his projected body scattering into fragments of light.
The impact swept past the Monster Zone and struck Tachibana Shingo.
[Tachibana Shingo LP: 1800 → 0]
The Duel Disk sounded a crisp confirmation tone.
On the central screen, the Life Point counter froze at zero.
[Winner: Fujiwara Yūki!]
The stands went silent for a beat.
Then the Third Municipal Middle School spectator section erupted.
"We won!"
"Champions!"
"Third Municipal Middle School won the championship!"
Kurosawa Kōshin was the first to jump to his feet, almost flinging the drink out of his hand.
Asakawa Suzune smiled too.
Sato Renshan sat in his chair, unable to suppress the upward tug of his lips.
He tried to maintain the bearing of a vice principal, but finally raised his hands and clapped twice.
Jaden held his thumb high.
"Yūki!"
"Your HERO is awesome!"
Yūki glanced at him and raised his hand to return the thumbs-up.
"Thanks."
Jaden beamed.
He watched Elemental HERO Terra Firma, who had yet to disappear from the field, as though seeing another HERO companion he had known for years.
Tachibana Shingo stood where he was.
Swords of Revealing Light, Elemental HERO Terra Firma, and the lingering motes of light from Swordhorned Dragon vanished from the main arena one after another.
His chest rose and fell a few times before he looked up at Yūki.
Yūki had already removed his Duel Disk and was putting his deck back into its case.
Tachibana Shingo walked over.
"Yūki-kun."
Yūki looked up.
Tachibana Shingo smiled.
This time, his smile was unclouded, without the probing from before the match or the resentment he had carried during the repechage.
"I lost."
"You're stronger than me."
Yūki nodded.
"Yeah."
Tachibana Shingo had prepared quite a few things to say, but that "yeah" nearly made his expression freeze.
This guy really did not bother with pleasantries at all.
Yūki looked at him and added another sentence.
"But your dinosaur deck puts up a pretty good fight too."
Tachibana Shingo laughed aloud.
"I'm going to Duel Academy."
"Once I get stronger and learn more decks and tactics, I'll challenge you again."
He held out his hand.
"Give me another chance then."
Yūki shook his hand.
"Sure."
"See you at Duel Academy."
The official commentator's voice rang out above the main arena.
"Brilliant!"
"Using his Elemental HERO fusion strategy, Fujiwara Yūki has defeated Tachibana Shingo of the dinosaur school and claimed the Eight-School Campus Duel League championship!"
"Tachibana's dinosaur plays were tremendously powerful, while Fujiwara demonstrated an exceptional ability to adapt to multiple decks. Both contestants showed their own distinctive flair!"
Someone pulled up Third Municipal Middle School's banner in the spectator section, and several students carried it to the edge of the arena, shouting even louder than the commentator.
"Third Municipal Middle School are the champions!"
The school that had always been called easy experience fodder in previous years.
Today, they really were taking the championship trophy home.
Yūki stood amid the commotion as a translucent panel visible only to him appeared in his mind.
[Soul Power increase: 37] [Duel Coins obtained: 3260]
These were his gains from all five duels across the entire league.
Yūki glanced at the numbers, feeling quite pleased.
Over thirty points of Soul Power.
Over three thousand Duel Coins.
And an exemption from Duel Academy's written entrance exam.
The championship prize actually ranked behind those.
A rare card from the Kaiba Corporation certainly was enticing.
But Yūki already had a pile of Future HERO cards. Right now, what mattered most was getting into Duel Academy as soon as possible.
There were more strong duelists there, and more high-quality opponents who could unlock Archetype Packs.
To put it plainly.
The experience packages on the new map were already beckoning to him.
The award ceremony was scheduled for the evening.
The contestants, team leaders, and principals from all eight schools returned to the central arena.
The lights fell on the podium, where a golden trophy stood in the first-place spot, with medals for second and third place.
Tachibana Shingo stood in the second-place spot.
He looked at Yūki and tipped his chin toward him.
Yūki nodded back.
Mokuba Kaiba walked onto the stage, holding the trophy.
He was short, wearing a white Kaiba Corporation jacket with a KC badge pinned to his chest.
Standing among a group of middle schoolers, he looked a little shorter than even some of the contestants.
Yet the entire venue was quiet.
Because everyone knew.
This boy who looked like an elementary schooler was one of the top figures in the Kaiba Corporation's technical department.
At the same time, he was also an extremely skilled duelist.
Mokuba Kaiba walked up to Yūki and handed him the trophy.
"Congratulations, Fujiwara Yūki."
Yūki took the trophy.
It was pretty heavy.
Mokuba Kaiba looked up at him.
"Your dueling is very interesting."
Yūki blinked.
Coming from a member of the Kaiba family, those words carried quite a bit of weight.
Mokuba continued, "Come to the Kaiba Corporation headquarters at ten tomorrow morning, right on time, okay?"
"The league's top three finishers can all claim prizes."
"I'll personally take you to pick out your champion's prize."
Yūki smiled.
"Okay, I'll be there on time."
Mokuba Kaiba nodded, then turned and walked toward the next prizewinner.
Holding the trophy, Yūki watched that small figure walk away.
It was hard to imagine.
This young-looking second son of the Kaiba family was both a tech expert and a duelist capable of competing at the highest level.
And tomorrow.
He would be going to the Kaiba Corporation to claim his champion's prize.
Before you continue