Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【Amunaeru：12900→10500LP】

"Next comes the direct attack from [E·hero Sky Warrior], a triple strike, Wind Stream Magic - Divine Sandstorm!"

【Amunaeru：10500→7900LP】

"It's not over yet. Next up is [E·hero Ionizer]'s direct attack: a four-hit combo, Thunder of the Deer!"

【Amunaeru：7900→4500LP】

After being attacked by four monsters in succession, Jaden clenched his fist and raised it to the sky, saying, "Next up is a direct attack from [E·hero Sunrise Warrior], a five-hit combo, Sunshine!"

Warm yet fiery, gentle yet dazzling, the light of [E·hero Sunrise Warrior], which protects its companions, transforms from the warm sun of early summer into the blazing midday sun when it attacks, wreaking havoc on Amunaeru, whose body has no monsters to block its attacks.

Amunaeru's base score also saw its fifth drop in this round.

【Amunaeru：4500→1200LP】

In the previous round, Jaden raised his base score to a despairing 15600 points, but in just one round, he successfully dragged Amunaeru's base score down to a level lower than his own 2000 points.

The successive attacks caused Amunaeru's cloak to tear, and even a noticeable crack appeared on her mask. However, for now, it was just a crack, and the mask could still be worn for a while longer without breaking.

Despite losing over 14000 points in one turn, Amunaeru remained nonchalant and calmly but somewhat disappointedly told Jaden, "After all the monsters attacked, I still have 1200 points left in my life points."

"That's not enough, Judai. If this is all you've got, you're still way from the limit of your talent, from alchemy."

But upon hearing Amunaeru's words, Judai suddenly smiled and said, "I'll say it again, Sore wa toka na!"

"The puzzle of miracles was already complete long ago, Amunaeru. Just as I used the effect of [E·Hero Sky Warrior] and it was negated by your [Imperial Decree], you delivered that final piece of the puzzle into my hand." Jaden flipped over the last card in his hand, showing it to Amunaeru. "This is the card that will be used to summon the final monster that can defeat you!"

"I will use this card during the battle phase, right now, right here!"

Inserting the cards from his hand into the Duel Disk, Jaden said, "Daitokuji-sensei, and Manjoume, your spirits in heaven, please witness my transformation!"

(Manjoume: I'm still alive!)

Unable to hear the thoughts of Manjou, who was not present, Jaden, under Amunaeru's gaze, called out the card's name, "Quick-Play Spell Card, [Form Change], activate!"

As the card was inserted, the highest-level of the five monsters on Jaden's field, [E-Hero Ionizer], stretched his body, flicked his belt at his waist, and whispered, "Cast-off."

"Cast-off!" A synthesized voice came from the waist equipment that served as the energy center, repeating the lines of [E·hero Ionizer]. Immediately afterwards, the heavy metal armor and gauntlets he was wearing unlocked, and surging currents were concentrated and filled the unlocked parts.

The next moment, the armor on [E·hero Ionizer] exploded and flew apart, revealing another side of him beneath the heavy armor!

"【Form Change】You can activate this effect by targeting a Fusion Monster with 【Hero】on my field. Return it to your Fusion Deck and Special Summon a 【M·hero】Monster with the same Level as the targeted monster but a different Card Name from your Fusion Deck as a 【Mask Change】Special Summon."

As Jaden explained, he also recited the summoning incantation, "Form-Change!"

"When evil appears, knowing its form and surpassing its physical appearance, like a swift wind piercing through the evil warrior. Now, under the baptism of thunder, I gain the power of gold to undergo a super transformation, manifesting in a sublime form!"

"【M·Hero Kamikaze】!"

【M·hero Kamikaze】【8☆/Wind】

[Warrior Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2700/1900]

Jaden only has two monsters on his field that can be transformed by "Form Change": "E-Hero Necromancer" and "E-Hero Ionizer". Although "E-Hero Sunrise" is also a Fusion Monster, the problem is that he does not yet have a Level 7 "M-Hero" monster.

Since card slots are always extremely tight in Jaden's fusion decks, with only two copies each of the 6-star and 8-star [M·hero], after careful consideration, he chose to use the 8-star [E·hero Electrocutioner] to transform into the same 8-star [M·hero], and specifically chose [M·hero Kamikaze], which has a slightly higher attack power than the other [M·hero Light Fang].

However, because the Earth-attribute [E-Hero Ionizer] was chosen instead of the Dark-attribute [E-Hero Necromancer], although there were still five monsters on the field in Generation Jūdai, only three of them were Wind, Dark, and Light attributes, which reduced the bonus provided by [E-Hero Sunrise].

【E·hero Sunrise Man】【ATK3300→3100】

【E·hero Sky Warrior】【ATK2600→2400】

【E·hero Blaze】【ATK2400→2200】

【E·hero Necromancer】【ATK2700→2500】

However, now that all the other monsters have already attacked, it doesn't matter if the attack power is slightly reduced, because the newly appeared [M·hero Kamikaze] has not yet attacked, and as long as he delivers the final blow to Amunaeru, he can completely wipe out his last 1600 life points!

【M·hero Kamikaze】【ATK2700→3300】

"We're still in the midst of battle. Take this, Amunaeru! This is my final direct attack: a wind barrier with a radius of twenty meters that will completely wipe out your last remaining points!"

The wind converged towards [M·hero Kamikaze], making the cloak on his shoulders rustle. After the invisible wind stirred up the sand, the trajectory of the airflow gradually became tangible. The high-speed rotating airflow transformed into a circular wind barrier that completely enveloped Amunaeru.

Once the gradually shrinking wind barrier hits Amunaeru, the outcome of the duel will be decided!

"Fantasy is all the rage!"

As Jaden shouted out the name of his attack, the Wind Barrier immediately contracted and attacked Amunaeru. At that moment, Amunaeru revealed a joyful laugh: "That's right, Jaden. It's not just about mixing two substances; turning one substance into another is also a manifestation of alchemy. You really are the kind of person with excellent alchemical talent that I've been looking forward to."

"However, as the Jade Record says, 'Things end with one and begin with one,' merely harmonizing matter without allowing it to sublimate towards a more essential direction is far from enough. Let's move our test into the next stage, Tenth Generation!"

Amunaeru said, waving his hand, "'Within the universe, where light resides, darkness departs,' I open the face-down card in the back row, the Continuous Trap Card [Universe]!"

Just as [M·hero Kamikaze]'s attack was about to hit, Amunaeru's backcourt card was flipped open, and from Amunaeru's feet, the earth actually cracked into countless fragments and disappeared, revealing the deep starry sky beneath.

The cracks spread rapidly, even reaching the sky. In just a few breaths, Amunaeru's Continuous Trap Card was like a Field Spell Card, transforming the surrounding environment into the universe!

"The universe... has arrived?" The attack of [M·hero Kamikaze] was temporarily halted due to the sudden change. Jaden looked at the indistinguishable starry sky around him, which was almost making him lose his sense of direction, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"In the past, the [Grand Universe] required banishing my [Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refining] to activate. However, over the past few years, I have continuously improved my alchemy and successfully modified this card, so that its activation no longer depends on [Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refining]." He glanced at the cards on his back field and said, "And with the activation of [Grand Universe], our duel has now transcended the human world and entered the universe."

"And, according to the effect of [Grand Universe] when it is activated, Special Summon [Primordial Sun God Helios] from my hand or Deck, meow~"

It seems that due to the change in environment, Amunaeru's state of mind has also changed. In a relaxed mood, he couldn't help but slip out his verbal tic at the end of the sentence again.

After several times, even Judai had noticed Amunaeru's verbal tic to some extent, but for the time being he was just wondering where he had heard such a verbal tic before, even though it felt very familiar.

Amunaeru took a retrieved card from the Duel Disk and placed it horizontally on the Duel Disk, saying, "I Special Summon [Primordial Sun God Helios] to the field in Defense Position. Then, the ATK and DEF of [Primordial Sun God Helios] will be equal to the number of monsters banished from the field x 100."

"Because I Special Summoned a monster on the field, I triggered the Battle Rewind rule. So, shall we continue our attack, Jaden?"

"It's a Special Summoned Monster card...?" Jaden looked at [Primordial Sun God Helios] blocking Amunaeru's path and hindering his final attack, a regretful expression on his face. He was so close to winning the duel again; what a pity.

[Helios, the Primordial Sun God] [4 stars/Light]

[Flame Clan/Effect]

【？ /？ →1400/1400】

"With only 1400 attack power, we can win!" Looking at [Primordial Sun God Helios], whose defense power hadn't even reached the mysterious dividing line of "1500 points," Jaden said without hesitation, "[M Hero Kamikaze], continue the attack!"

"Let's do it again, let fantasy take over!"

Despite being in outer space, [M·hero Kamikaze] managed to barely control the air brought from Earth, creating a whirlwind that surrounded the well-built [Primordial Sun God Helios], tearing off all the bandages to reveal his transparent body. After the simulated sun above his head went out, [Primordial Sun God Helios] could no longer maintain his form and was destroyed.

At the same time, Daitokuji said, "The effect of [Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refining] is to banish all the cards I send to the graveyard, and [Great Universe] has a similar effect, which is to banish all the cards sent to the graveyard by both sides. Regardless of which of the two is on the field, my destroyed [Primordial Sun God Helios] will be banished."

"However, since it's in defense mode, I won't take any battle damage, meow."

After the extinguishing of the [Primordial Sun God Helios], sparks drifted away. Just then, Jaden suddenly noticed a fat orange cat walking into the area from outside the universe. It seemed to have been woken up from its nap by the noise of the duel and attracted by the sparks floating in the air from the outside.

Which other cat could it be? It's none other than the only designated mascot of the Red Dorm—the orange tabby "Pharaoh"! As the pet of the dormitory head, teacher Daitokuji—or rather, his master?—Pharaoh is loved by everyone in the Red Dorm, and Judai has a very good relationship with it. At least if you feed it a few dried fish, it will be willing to lie down and let Judai pet it for a while.

Seeing the Pharaoh walk into the arena as if no one was there, and after jumping around a few times and realizing he couldn't grab the firelight in the air or the stars under his feet, he actually strolled casually towards Amunaeru, Judai immediately showed an anxious expression: "Wait a minute, Pharaoh—!!"

However, Pharaoh seemed not to hear Jaden's words. He walked to Amunaeru's feet, yawned in a relaxed manner, and then rubbed against Amunaeru's body affectionately, scratching himself and sticking his own shed fur onto Amunaeru's tattered sorcerer's robe.

Seeing this, Jaden was also stunned, muttering to himself, "The Pharaoh... is actually so close to a stranger?"

Although it was very relaxed in front of familiar people like Judai, Pharaoh was actually quite shy. Even when Manjoume and Asuka, who often came to the Red dormitory to play with Judai, were around, it always kept its distance from them with an arrogant attitude and wouldn't let them touch it even once. Only Misawa could occasionally touch it a few times without even having to feed it dried fish when Pharaoh didn't even notice its presence.

But what about Amunaeru...?

Looking at the cracks in Amunaeru's mask, Jaden hadn't figured out the answer yet, but all the signs, even though they weren't fully connected, made him realize that something was wrong: Amunaeru's identity was definitely crucial.

"You bastard, who are you—"

"As you can see, Jaden, I am a member of the 'Seven Stars,' an alchemist who has long disregarded the ethical bottom line of humanity, and also a duelist..." Reaching out to touch the mask on her face, Amunaeru's calm voice carried a slight hint of gentle laughter. Just before Amunaeru removed the mask, the familiar voice that had been ringing out repeatedly finally reminded Jaden where she had heard it before.

All the clues connected in that instant. Judai's eyes widened as he stared at Amunaeru, who had removed her mask: "You really are—"

Casting the shattered mask into the cosmos, Amunaeru adjusted his small glasses and smiled at Jaden, saying, "...In the very end, my identity is, Hugo Daitokuji, the alchemy instructor at Duel Academy."

Chapter 1192 I can't be like you, just a duelist!

"Judai, you only just guessed who I am! I've been waiting for you, meow—"

"Why...why is it you, Daitokuji-sensei?" Judai was stunned as he looked at Daitokuji's face revealed after 'Amunaeru' removed her mask. "Why would you..."

"No, are you really Daitokuji-sensei, or do you think you can deceive me with that face, Amunaeru!"

After a brief moment of surprise, Jaden began to question Daitokuji's identity, mainly because he didn't believe that Daitokuji and Amunaeru were the same person. Amunaeru had previously said that Daitokuji had been defeated before Manjoume, so perhaps Amunaeru had knocked Daitokuji to the ground and then transformed his face to resemble Daitokuji!

In other words, Daitokuji doesn't have any mind-reading abilities; otherwise, he would probably say something like, "Jūdai, you're such a foul-mouthed academic, what's the point of having such a vivid imagination?"

Even though he couldn't read minds, Daitokuji said with a hint of helplessness when he heard that Judai didn't believe he was himself: "Judai, your favorite fried shrimp, even when Maeda-san gave you the fried shrimp because he was on a diet, it was often not enough, you often stole Sho-san's fried shrimp, and last week during the picnic you secretly stole a bag from the freezer..."

Seeing that Jaden's expression had only changed from doubt to skepticism, Daitokuji continued, "Also, your favorite TV shows are *Kamen Rider Dancouga*, *Story Sentai Saberranger*, and *Kyokuyama Gyokubo*. And last time, when Marufuji Sho took out his *Dark Magician Girl* body pillow to air it out, it was Jaden, who imitated a flying kick and jumped down from the second floor, who kicked him—"

"Quack! That's enough. Only Master Daitokuji and I really know about that kind of thing!"

Jaden had no idea how many times he had been drenched in sweat during this duel. Even though he had only paid out one life point in the duel and hadn't been hurt yet, he felt even more tired than when he dueled "Darkness"—that is, Asuka's brother.

“It is indeed Master Daitokuji, but I don’t understand.” Judai looked at Daitokuji and said, “If you are Amunaeru, Master Daitokuji, why did you lie to me before and say that you killed yourself? And why did you stand on the side of that Chairman Kagemaru!”

"Don't follow one question after another, otherwise I won't know which one to answer first." After picking up the orange cat "Pharaoh" at his feet and removing the grass roots and dead leaves stuck to its body in the jungle, Daitokuji skillfully scratched "Pharaoh's" chin. "Let's take it one step at a time, starting with why I said 'Daitokuji is dead'."

"Jūdai, you must have noticed that my body looks very different from before, right?"

As he spoke, Daitokuji tapped his cheek. Although he had repaired the crack that Pharaoh had accidentally left earlier, it wasn't just the mask that was damaged during the duel against Jaden's relentless attacks. The crack had not only reappeared but had also spread considerably.

Even Daitokuji's hair, hidden under his hood, had turned from black to white. No wonder Jaden couldn't connect Daitokuji's voice with the teacher he knew who looked to be only in his twenties or thirties at the beginning.

"The alchemists' initial goal was to explore the rules of the world. After a long period of research, they still retained a spirit of exploration even after summarizing countless experiences. In the alchemists' imagination, the end of the road ahead was the complete understanding and mastery of the rules of the world, which was ultimately summarized into two ultimate topics: the mastery of the soul—'human transmutation' and the mastery of matter—'the Philosopher's Stone'."

Instead of directly answering Judai's question, Daitokuji started talking about the origins of alchemy, almost making Judai think he was still in an alchemy class, with the teacher speaking and the student listening. If Judai had attended the class, he would have noticed that Daitokuji was talking about the content of the textbook he had written.

"Whether it's the two, they perfectly align with the desires of those in power throughout history. As a result, alchemists were funded by the wealthy to seek ways to go further on the path of alchemy. I am also an alchemist, seeking the 'Philosopher's Stone' with the support of Chairman Kagemaru."

"Then, just like Pegasus, the father of Duel Monsters, found the ancient Egyptian stone tablets that were the prototypes of modern Duel Monsters in Egypt, I also found stone tablets with special powers in ancient Egypt—'The Three Phantoms', and I made a half-finished 'The Three Phantoms' card based on the stone tablets."

"After realizing the evil nature of the 'Three Phantom Demons' power, I gave up on completing them, but a little too late, because the cards that made them infected my body with a curse, like rust on the gears in a machine. I could no longer live with my old body and could only enter a flawed 'human transmutation' body that was accidentally created."

He paused, then held a wisp of dust that had fallen from his face in his hands. "So, I wasn't lying about the fact that the real Daitokuji is dead. Because from the very beginning, long before you, the Tenth Generation, entered the academy, or even before the academy was established, I had already used alchemy to revive myself and entered this body. But as you can see, this body will soon reach its limit."

"As for the reason for helping Kagemaru, I don't need to say more, do I? Even an alchemist like me, who disregards human ethics and has no bottom line and has lost all humanity, would have the idea of ​​repaying a debt of gratitude."

"Master Daitokuji, you are not some inhuman alchemist!" Judai retorted, looking at Daitokuji. "The Daitokuji I know is a dormitory head who cares about his students, a knowledgeable teacher, and an excellent duelist. Besides, Chairman Kagemaru has already been defeated by Principal Hayato, so I have no reason to be your enemy—"

"Ten generations!"