"Ancient Warriors?"
"A series we've never seen!"
Many students were curious. Even Hikaru couldn't help sitting up straight.
So it was the Ancient Warriors series.
"As long as this card is on the field, once per turn, I can Special Summon an Ancient Warriors monster from my hand. As a cost, I take damage equal to that monster's Level times 100."
"The monster I'm Special Summoning is this card. Level 6: Ancient Warriors - Savage Don Ying."
"Don... Ying?"
"Oh!"
Some students who were sharp with names had already figured out the archetype's theme. And as Professor Strongman played his card, a fierce warrior with a thick beard, wearing ox armor and golden plate, wielding an enormous longsword, appeared on the field.
Ancient Warriors - Savage Don Ying. Level 6, DARK Attribute, Beast-Warrior-Type. ATK 2200.
Strongman LP: 4000 → 3400.
"Wow, it really is Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhongling!"
"Exactly! The same outfit as in the historical dramas!"
Jaden was also incredibly excited. "A Three Kingdoms themed Deck? That's so cool, Professor!"
"Ha ha ha, you think that's cool? There's cooler stuff coming! Don Ying's effect, activate." He laughed. "When Don Ying is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Level 7 or higher Ancient Warriors monster or one Ancient Warriors Continuous Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand."
He casually extended his left hand toward the Deck. A card automatically ejected. "What I'm adding is this."
He flipped the searched card over, cigarette in mouth, grinning. "You should all recognize this one.
Unrivaled in valor, the mightiest warrior of the Three Kingdoms...
Special Summon: Ancient Warriors - Rebellious Lu Feng!"
Golden crown atop his head, hundred-flower war robe draped across his shoulders, Tang Ni armor buckled tight, Lion Barbarian belt at his waist, Sky Piercer halberd in hand.
Red Hare beneath him, the greatest among men: Lu Bu!
A monumentally imposing monster sporting two antennae that somehow only added to its overwhelming presence rode its warhorse onto the field with a thunderous crash.
Ancient Warriors - Rebellious Lu Feng. Level 8, DARK Attribute, Beast-Warrior-Type. ATK 2800.
"Wow, Lu Bu! So cool!"
"The mightiest warrior of the Three Kingdoms!"
"2800 ATK!"
"And he was just Special Summoned directly?"
Jaden blinked, excited but also puzzled. "How did he Special Summon it directly?"
"When I control the Ancient Warriors monster with the highest ATK on my field, Lu Feng can Special Summon itself once per turn." Strongman stroked his chin as he explained.
"A Special Summon that doesn't start a Chain." Chazz muttered.
Hikaru watched from the audience with genuine interest.
Regardless of who these monsters were based on, they genuinely looked fierce and imposing.
So Professor Strongman was Chinese.
"I Set one card. Turn end."
Simple, direct, brutal. Professor Strongman had no fancy plays. Activate a Spell, Special Summon monsters, and end.
"2200 and 2800 ATK, that's pretty high." Jesse, who wasn't familiar with the Three Kingdoms, didn't share the other students' excitement. He analyzed calmly. "Without Crystal Brilliance, my family would struggle to reach that ATK level.
Most of Jaden's lower-level Heroes can't get past those numbers either."
Jaden knew this too. But his current Deck was nothing like before.
Right now, he was super strong!
"My turn, draw! I activate the Spell Card: Evil Mind! By discarding a card from my hand, I can Special Summon from the Deck... gwah!"
Before Jaden could finish, a dark arrow flew from nowhere and pierced his body.
He staggered back half a step, clutching his chest. The arrow's pain caught him off guard.
The pain felt almost physical, momentarily preventing him from continuing.
Jaden Yuki, LP: 4000 → 3600.
"Wh-what just happened?"
Murmurs erupted across the classroom.
The students had no idea what was going on.
On the other side, Strongman took a drag and said casually, "Jaden, that's the price."
"The... price?"
"As long as Don Ying is on the field and I control a Level 7 or higher Ancient Warriors monster, the opponent must pay 400 LP to activate any card effect." Then he pointed at Jaden's Graveyard. "Additionally, when a card is sent to the opponent's Graveyard, Don Ying can target one card in the opponent's Graveyard, banish it, and draw one card."
On Strongman's field, Don Ying opened its mouth in a savage grin, crimson eyes fixed on Jaden.
"Wh... what?" Jaden froze.
"400 LP per card effect..." Someone counted on their fingers. "That's only 4000 LP total!"
"Meaning after just 10 cards, his LP hits zero?"
"That's way too strong!"
Jaden slowly straightened up, looked at his activated card, gritted his teeth, and continued. "Through Evil Mind's effect, I Special Summon Evil HERO Adusted Gold from my Deck."
Blood-red fragments rained from the sky. A prism-like demon slowly materialized from within.
Evil HERO Adusted Gold. Level 4, LIGHT Attribute, Rock-Type. ATK 1700.
"Evil HEROes?" Aster perked up slightly.
He had assumed Jaden was still the same idiot. He hadn't expected him to be using the new "Evil" HERO series.
Then he shook his head.
No, wait.
This idiot had already accepted that "as long as justice is served, evil power doesn't matter." Yet he was still agonizing over the invading spirits.
Still a total idiot.
But...
Even now, he still couldn't bring himself to like Jaden Yuki.
Jaden looked at the card in his Graveyard, feeling conflicted.
How was he supposed to duel like this?
After a moment, he gritted his teeth. Not activating effects would be even worse. He absolutely couldn't waste resources.
"The effect of Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in the Graveyard. When this card is sent to the Graveyard: add one HERO monster other than Shadow Mist from the Deck to my hand."
A dull thud.
Jaden's body was pierced again. At the same time, Strongman banished Shadow Mist and drew a card.
Jaden Yuki, LP: 3600 → 3200.
He searched through his Deck and took Elemental HERO Sparkman into his hand. He looked at the Monster Reborn in his hand and bit his lip. He could have used Mask Change...
"Jaden looks tense." Jesse remarked.
"After all, every card effect costs 400 LP." Chazz rubbed his forehead. "And this is completely different from what Hikaru faced before. Even if Hikaru Fusion Summoned D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga, it couldn't stop this effect.
Because this effect is a LP payment, meaning it's a cost. It's completely unstoppable."
Everyone nodded silently.
This effect was impossible to counter. Every play had to be precisely calculated, or things could get dangerous fast.
Jaden added Sparkman to his hand, then looked at the monsters on the field, brow furrowed.
Losing 400 LP every time he used an effect felt incredibly restrictive.
He had to eliminate Don Ying quickly, or his LP would only keep dropping.
"I activate Adusted Gold's effect. Once per turn, I send one HERO monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. This turn, when a HERO Fusion Monster is Fusion Summoned, this face-up card can be used as a substitute for one of that Fusion Monster's named Fusion Materials.
I send Elemental HERO Neos from my Deck to the Graveyard."
Whoosh.
Thud.
Jaden was hit by another arrow.
Jaden Yuki, LP: 3200 → 2800.
"Spell Card: Dark Fusion! I fuse Adusted Gold on the field with Sparkman from my hand!"
Jaden Yuki, LP: 2800 → 2400.
"Fusion Summon!
Evil HERO Lightning Golem!"
Crackling lightning. Thunder Giant in a new skin descended from the sky.
Evil HERO Lightning Golem. Level 6, LIGHT Attribute, Fiend-Type. ATK 2400.
"Lightning Golem can, once per turn, target one monster on the field and destroy it!" Jaden pointed at Don Ying. "I choose Don Ying."
The evil demon raised both hands. A black sphere of lightning coalesced in the air, then crashed down.
BOOM!
But along with the thunder's roar, one final dark arrow pierced Jaden's throat.
"Guh..."
Jaden Yuki, LP: 2400 → 2000.
"Down to two thousand..." Several Fusion Division members, watching Jaden get struck by arrow after arrow, covered their faces, unable to bear it.
"But this means Don Ying is destroyed!"
"Yeah, now Jaden can make plays freely."
"But is this really the right call?" Jim couldn't help raising a question. "Wouldn't it have been better to use Lightning Golem's effect to destroy Lu Feng, then attack Don Ying with Lightning Golem?"
Using the effect to destroy the higher-ATK Lu Bu, then battle-destroying Dong Zhuo. That approach was clearly more "efficient."
"But what if the professor's Set card protects his monster during the Battle Phase?" Jesse couldn't help exploring the issue. "If it's a Trap that negates the battle attack, then Jaden would be stuck facing Don Ying still on the field."
"Don Ying needs a Level 7 or higher Ancient Warriors monster on the field to activate its effect, right?" Chazz raised another point.
"Then what if it's a Trap that revives Lu Bu? What then?"
"Hmm..." Several upperclassmen debated nearby. Serena, listening from the side, was a bit lost.
Just destroy the troublesome Don Ying and be done with it, right? Why was there further discussion?
Lulu, on the other hand, listened to the discussion with keen interest.
"The real question is what the professor's Set card is." Hikaru chimed in. "Jaden simply made his choice."
Everyone nodded.
Hearing the front-row honor students' discussion, Professor Strongman couldn't help laughing. "Good analysis, kids."
He continued, cigarette pinched between two fingers, waving it in the air as he spoke to Jaden. "Jaden, I've actually always liked you. While the other professors all want to teach Hikaru, that celebrity, since it would look great on their semester evaluations...
In my eyes, you're a more worthwhile student to teach than Hikaru."
Really??
Students buzzed with chatter.
He was saying Jaden was more worth teaching than Hikaru?
Was the professor's judgment off?
"Ha ha ha, I'm not talking about strength. I mean in terms of what I can teach. That Hikaru kid is too shrewd, too meticulous. Where would he need me?" Strongman laughed. "Jaden, the reason you stopped me that day, even tried to prevent me, and challenged me, is because... you remembered, didn't you? Reign-Beaux, the Dark World demon lord who died in front of you."
Jaden's body jolted.
"How did you know?"
"I told you, that Hikaru kid is too shrewd and too meticulous." Strongman replied casually. "Since you challenged me and I wanted a classroom duel, isn't it only natural?
Hikaru gave me your footage from the Nexus incident yesterday."
Jim, Axel Brodie, Syrus, and Hassleberry, all of whom had been there at the time, instantly turned to look at Hikaru.
Hikaru coughed once and said nothing.
"That kid's mentality is even crazier than Leo Akaba's bald head. He's a genuine Fusion absolutist, completely unaffected by outside information. But you're obviously not like that." Strongman waved his hand dismissively. "After watching your footage, I realized I hadn't been looking after you enough."
"Professor?"
"PTSD... post-traumatic stress disorder. When I was a soldier, I heard about colleagues who suffered from it." Strongman smoked as he spoke. "Ha, maybe I have it too... I just never showed it."
"I heard that those demons originally wanted to make you their master. But during the duel, one of them died protecting you."
"You had no fondness for them whatsoever. But because of what happened, you felt compassion. And since then, you've kept those Dark World demons with you, right?"
Jaden nodded silently.
"And that's precisely why you're willing to trust spirits, willing to protect them. But what we're facing this time are enemies who came to invade, disguised themselves as humans, and tried to kill your friends!
Enemies like that must never be tolerated!"
"I understand you, because kindness is the most radiant warmth in the world. What our peacekeeping force fought for was also peace, for the sake of kindness."
He spoke while reminiscing. "I spent my days on the world's most terrifying battlefields. I've watched young soldiers die horribly in combat. I've seen how one moment of mercy led to an entire platoon's annihilation.
My comrade saw a child and couldn't bring himself to act. But that child had already been strapped with explosives by a terrorist organization. A human bomb. It detonated on the spot, killing my comrade. And I could only watch as his limbs scattered in every direction, splattering my helmet crimson..."
!!
Jaden stared at him. A moment of silence.
"But... I don't actually dislike you, or dislike kindness." He spoke up. "I once asked a dying comrade if he had any regrets. He said he did. His regret wasn't the choice he made. It was that he hadn't done a proper check."
"That is the price." The professor stuck the cigarette back in his mouth.
"Jaden, the professor can understand whatever you choose to do. But can you accept and understand the price?
In this world... nothing is free."
The price...
Jaden looked at his hand cards in silence.
What level of price... can I accept?
Flashing through his mind were fragments of the Supreme King's memories he had glimpsed by chance, and the history of the "Supreme King" that Professor Viper had taught in class...
Could he accept that kind of price?
No.
Absolutely not!
Because that was forcing the price onto other lives.
So... I also cannot force my own ideals onto others!
The realization struck him.