"My turn, draw!"
Akira stood on the stage, his right hand sweeping sharply across the top of his Deck. The motion stirred a somewhat clumsy gust of air.
He stared at the card he had just drawn, his eyes shining with an almost blind intensity. That urgency to prove himself in front of someone strong made his entire body tense, like a string pulled so tight it was about to snap.
"Alright! I Normal Summon—[Alexandrite Dragon]!"
As the Duel Disk's projection activated, a massive dragon covered in gleaming violet crystal scales roared as it descended. When its wings spread, the afterimage it cast carried a certain oppressive presence.
"Level 4, 2000 Attack! Don't underestimate me, Teacher Thorne!"
Standing below the stage, Thorne looked at this Normal Monster, one rarely seen in professional play, and his previously tense posture finally relaxed.
A composed, instructive smile even appeared at the corner of his lips.
"It's indeed a fine monster. So, what will you do next, student?"
"Next, I activate this Spell Card—[Dark Hole]!"
Akira chuckled, slapping down a card radiating a dim, ominous glow. His expression was filled with the pride of someone showing off an expensive move. "I paid a hefty price for this. Its effect destroys all monsters on the field!"
Raku was sitting in the back row, his hands still tucked in his coat pockets. Seeing this, he nearly choked on his own saliva.
This kind of play, summoning your own monster just to take a look at it before personally sending it away, was truly a masterclass in maximizing losses.
A black vortex burst open at the center of the field, and its terrifying gravitational pull instantly dragged in the freshly summoned [Alexandrite Dragon], which hadn't even had time to catch its breath.
Accompanied by a shrill dragon's cry, its crystalline scales shattered in the darkness.
However, the small creatures wearing green cloaks on the other side of the vortex merely tugged at their hoods calmly, remaining unmoved in the face of that destructive force.
"What… what's going on?"
Akira stared at the two unharmed little creatures, a cat and a raccoon, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
"This is my 'Majespecter.'"
Thorne gently brushed the golden feather pen in his hand, his tone returning to its lofty composure. "All Majespecter monsters possess absolute resistance: they cannot be targeted by your card effects, nor can they be destroyed by them. To them, your 'Dark Hole' is nothing more than a chilly breeze."
"If that's the case, then I'll settle this with raw power!"
Akira's eyes turned somewhat crazed, a hysterical edge brought on by being crushed by reality. "I activate the effect of [Dark Hole Dragon] in my hand!"
[Dark Hole Dragon] Level 8│DARK│Dragon│3000 ATK
"First effect: If this card is in your hand or Graveyard, and a monster on the field is destroyed by a card effect that does not target it, you can activate this effect. Special Summon this card!"
As he declared it, the black hole that had already begun to shrink was suddenly torn open again, as if by some immense force.
A thick, chilling black aura surged wildly out from the rift, followed by a massive dragon claw covered in grotesque barbs, slamming onto the floor with the force of dragging the entire lecture hall into the abyss.
"Ugh-AAAH!!!"
Akira suddenly let out a miserable scream. His entire body collapsed to his knees on the Duel stage, both hands clutching his chest desperately, his face turning deathly pale within seconds.
"This is bad!"
The instructor leading the group shot to his feet, his voice trembling. "Akira's Soul Power isn't enough! How could a dragon of this level possibly acknowledge him?!"
Thorne's expression finally changed as well. It was no longer that feigned elegance. Looking at the dark dragon that was nearly draining Akira's mental strength dry, he yanked off his overly tight tie.
"Tch! Where did he even get such a dangerous card from?"
He rapidly tapped at the interface, his tone sharp with urgency and irritation. "Don't mess up my lecture here! I activate a Trap Card—[Majespecter Tornado]!"
The small raccoon on the field was instantly Tributed, transforming into a cyan chain that tightly bound the Dark Hole Dragon, which had not yet fully emerged.
"Tribute the raccoon on my field, and banish your [Dark Hole Dragon]! Stay away from this student!"
As a golden vortex opened in the Banished Zone, the terrifying dragon finally dissipated unwillingly into the air.
Though the situation had calmed down, Akira collapsed forward like a puppet with its strings cut, falling onto his Duel Disk and slipping into a deep unconsciousness.
For a moment, the entire lecture hall descended into chaos; screams and hurried footsteps overlapping one another.
"Big brother…"
Rikka instinctively grabbed the sleeve of Raku's coat, her palm drenched in cold sweat.
"Don't panic. He won't die."
Raku reassured her softly.
In that moment, his gaze became exceptionally sharp, like a precision scanner sweeping rapidly across the surroundings.
Something was very wrong.
How could a broken, overpowered card of that level end up in the hands of an ordinary high school student? And that nauseating fluctuation when the dragon appeared just now…
Wuu! Wuu! Wuu!
Before Raku could sort out his thoughts, a piercing, shrill alarm suddenly exploded across the sky above the city.
That wasn't the school's fire alarm. It was the kind that could bring all of Star City to a standstill; a top-tier city alert.
Thorne, who had been saving people on stage, suddenly raised his head. For the first time, an emotion called fear appeared in his eyes.
"This is… the highest alert?"
The tense atmosphere in the grand hall was torn apart by the wailing city alarm.
It was a sequence of long and short tones, and in Star City's defense system, it signified the highest level of disaster warning.
The clear sky outside seemed to be swallowed within seconds by heavy, leaden clouds. A deep, deafening rumble—like it could shatter eardrums—erupted one after another, shaking even the massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the hall.
The shadows it cast flickered chaotically among the panicked crowd.
"Was that… thunder just now?"
"The alarm's going off! Run!"
The anxiety the students had suppressed for an entire week manifested in that instant into pure survival instinct. Several girls in the front rows had already screamed and jumped to their feet, while those in the back shoved forward, trying to squeeze into the narrow aisles.
The school doctors and teachers who had been tending to the injured on stage were caught off guard by the sudden chaos. Some of the elderly school administrators were even pushed and staggered amid the shouting.
Thorne stood by the Duel stage, his meticulously styled dark green hair now disheveled. He clutched the golden feather pen in his hand, his monocle-covered eye filled with shock.
This unexpected turn of events made all his clichés about "adventure" seem utterly ridiculous.
He mechanically tugged at a tie that had never been crooked to begin with, his throat bobbing.
Just as the first wave of chaos was about to turn into a trampling disaster, a steady and highly penetrating voice cut through all the noise.
"Everyone shut up and listen!"
Raku stood up. His dark gray coat appeared exceptionally steady under the dim lighting, and the lifeless eyes that usually looked half-asleep now carried a chilling calm. He didn't shout, but every word struck like a hammer against everyone's ears.
"All class teachers, organize your students and evacuate in an orderly manner immediately! Don't just stand there!"
It was the kind of grounded authority built from long-term emotional control, immensely convincing amid chaos. The students who had been about to rush blindly forward instinctively shrank back under that presence and stopped in their tracks.
"School doctors, take the injured and the administrators out first on stretchers. Move!"
Raku swept his gaze across the front, his fingers rhythmically pointing toward both exits.
"Classes 1 through 5, exit through the front under your teachers' guidance.
"Classes 6 through 10, exit through the back. Move at once!
"Don't linger in the corridors. The air-raid shelter is in the underground parking garage, head that way!"
These nearly authoritarian, decisive commands became a more effective sedative than any reassurance. The homeroom teachers who had been hesitating finally seemed to find their backbone and began clapping their hands to direct their students.
"Did you hear that? Class 1, follow me! Form two lines!"
"Leave your bags! Evacuate empty-handed!"
The chaotic torrent was forcibly sorted into several streams. Though frightened sobs still lingered, at the very least, the kind of disorder that could lead to fatal trampling had been contained.
Rikka followed closely behind her brother, her small face tightly drawn. Her left hand gripped the corner of Raku's coat, while her right hand instinctively rested on the card case at her waist.
Even wrapped in the oversized coat, her back was straight, and the silver ahoge on her head stood perfectly still, showing she was in a state of heightened alert.
"Big brother, that person…"
She spoke softly, glancing toward Akira, who was still lying on the stage.
"The school doctors will take him. We'll leave last."
Raku felt the vibrations in his palm. It wasn't from a Duel Disk; rather, the entire floor of the grand hall was trembling along with the thunder outside.
The frequency of the tremors felt unnatural. It didn't resemble natural lightning… it was more like some immense force was striking against the city's defensive barrier.
Protecting Rikka, he moved against the flow of people surging toward the exits, calmly observing the movement speed at each doorway.
Only then did Thorne seem to snap out of it. Looking at the utterly unremarkable boy who was directing the evacuation with precise order, a trace of complicated emotion flashed in his eyes. He yanked his tie loose and took deep breaths as he hurried toward the stretcher carrying Akira, trying to regain some semblance of dignity as a "senior."
"Hurry! Move faster!"
Thorne urged the school doctors, but the slight trembling of his fingers betrayed the panic in his heart.
The moment they stepped out of the grand hall, a cold wind carrying a damp, fishy scent hit them head-on.
There was no lightning in the sky outside the school gates; Just thick, ink-dark clouds swirling wildly, with an eerie dark purple glow seeping out from their center.
A young teacher standing at the back entrance, maintaining order, stared at the sky. The duty flag slipped from his hand with a soft snap, and he muttered to himself:
"What… is that thing…"
...
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