When Tenjo Hikari returned to the Manjome Group's Teleportation Gate, the duel had reached an intensely heated stage.
No, rather, Manjome was already at the "end of the rope".
Manjome's Life Points were down to just 300.
On the other side, X-Head Cannon's Life Points were still at 3500, almost untouched.
Moreover, in addition to that, X-Head Cannon had VW-Tiger Catapult and B-Buster Drake on the field.
Fortunately, on X-Head Cannon's field, there were three bizarre-looking "Ojama Tokens".
It seemed that Manjome had somehow used an Ojama Trap Card to Special Summon three Ojama Tokens to X-Head Cannon's field, and since there wasn't enough room, X-Head Cannon was forced into such a situation.
However, even so, on Manjome's field, there were only two monsters left in Defense Position, Ojama Green and Ojama Black.
Both were monsters with an ATK of only 0 and a DEF of only 1000.
"Beep..." X-Head Cannon's eyes flashed a Red Light, "VW Monster Effect, discard 1 Hand Card, change the battle position of 1 monster on your opponent's field."
"Discard Z-Metal Tank, activate Monster Effect, switch Ojama Green to Attack Position!"
"Oh no!!" The one-eyed monster with its long tongue had been crouching on the ground, tongue out, but when VW aimed its cannon at it, it was startled and timidly clenched its fist, trying to muster some courage.
"Hahaha, Jun, looks like it's over!" Beside him, Chosaku laughed heartily.
Manjome had held on with a series of monsters with only 0 ATK for over a dozen turns. Even though he couldn't attack, he had endured up until now, making this duel a source of anxiety for this rookie who didn't understand it at all.
Although Manjome's counterattack only managed to shave off 500 Life Points from X-Head Cannon using Monster Effects, he continued to persist, which was truly annoying.
"Battle, use VW-Tiger Catapult, attack Ojama Green."
"Ahhh!!"
The Ojama Green spirit frantically ran around the field, looking completely lost. Manjome Chosaku also excitedly pumped his fist, but at that moment, Thunder lifted his head and shouted, "Don't be afraid!"
"I activate the Trap Card, Waboku!!"
"This turn, the monsters on my field won't be destroyed by battle, and the battle damage I take becomes zero!"
"Boom—"
The cannon fire blasted in front of Ojama Green, which shut its eyes, expecting death, only to find that the barrage hadn't hit it. Turning back, it saw a beautiful woman appearing in front of it, shielding it from the attack.
X-Head Cannon's attack stalled; it paused briefly and retracted its hand: "Magnificent offense and defense. Even with monsters of ATK 0, a human warrior can repel nearly all attacks, holding on for over a dozen turns. In this dimension, there's likely no stronger warrior than you."
It saw Tenjo Hikari enter the crowd of spectators, and as a string of information flashed in its eyes, it realized he was the Duelist who rescued the allied residents. Yet it didn't alter its approach, keeping its focus on Manjome.
"But mere defense ultimately exhausts one's strength." It clenched its fist abruptly, making a cracking sound, "If you can't take the offensive until the end, I will never recognize you as a Duelist."
What X-Head Cannon favored was only one thing—the strong offense!
"Hmph, a frontal assault, huh? Just right. I, too, love strong offense!" Manjome shouted loudly.
"Zz... Turn, end."
Unlike Tenjo Hikari, who had just returned to the scene, the livestream audience had been watching from the start. Now, seeing Manjome shouting such slogans, those hoping the Academy wouldn't be taken over all looked worried.
"Taking the offensive? This, how is this possible?" One student was freaking out, yelling repeatedly, "Up until now, that Manjome guy has been taking hits passively. He barely scrapes by to this point, with only 300 Life Points left. It's like a candle in the wind!"
"With so few Life Points, even if he manages to endure, VW's effect will activate again next turn!"
"As expected, those grades of his were achieved by the company, right?" a despairing student babbled nonsensically.
"Don't talk nonsense, Manjome's skill is absolutely genuine!" Judai shouted.
"Are we out of options? Starting today, are we no longer students of Blue Academy, but students of Chosaku Academy; will Red Academy be called Pre-Academy?!"
"What!?" Hearing this student's words, Judai belatedly cried out, "No, that can't be, Manjome! Hang in there! Manjome, you must not lose!"
Even though he initially didn't think Manjome would lose, he was now even more fervently cheering for Manjome. Upon hearing his shout, his classmates realized the "severity" of the situation and joined in shouting encouragement.
Meanwhile, though Manjome couldn't hear his classmates' cheers, he wiped his sweat and stood up straight.
Since he was a child, he had won various "beginner and intermediate" competitions, receiving countless praises and applause, yet few truly acknowledged him.
His peers thought he simply relied on the company background, and his brothers just felt he was doing what was expected, never considering his personal efforts and sweat.
Everyone assumed it was natural or thought he took shortcuts.
He wanted to prove himself to others, which made him more extreme.
He came to Duel Academy wanting to prove he could become the best Duelist even without using family power, but in his first class match, he lost to Yuki Judai, leading him to doubt his life.
As he naively dueled AI at Kaiba Company for months, he returned to the Academy to duel Yuki Judai again and prove his excellence, only to find Yuki Judai not only lost to someone else, becoming "second-best Duelist", but also laughing and chatting with that student.
The relationship between duelists, is this how it is?
Even if you lose, can you maintain the relationship?
Even if he lost, he never felt that Judai was weak; he wanted to challenge Tenjo Hikari, but ended up losing to Tenjo Hikari.
And the phrase "I'm looking at the end of Polymerization, but right now your eyes are only on Judai." completely awakened him.
His pride should not just stay on the surface! It shouldn't be simply about victory!
"A duelist has no limits! Even a group of small fry with ATK of 0 can win!"
"It's my turn, draw a card!"
He glanced at the card he drew.
"I Normal Summon in Attack Position, Ojama Yellow!"
Ojama Yellow, LV 2, Light Attribute, Beast, ATK 0.
"At this point, choosing Attack Position? Jun, looks like you've given up." Chosaku laughed at his operation, "Perhaps you should try wearing this monster's outfit and become an Entertainment Duelist, maybe you'll hit it big."
"Brother Chosaku, watch carefully!" Thunder's eyes seemed to blaze with fire, "A duelist has no impossibility!"
"When Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black gather on the field, miraculous things will happen!" He suddenly revealed a card from his hand, "I activate Spell Card, Ojama Delta Hurricane!
Only when these three small fry are on the field can it be activated. Destroy all of your opponent's cards on the field!"
"What!?" Chosaku's eyes widened, "Those small fry actually have such hidden power?!"
"Go ahead, Ojamas!"
"Yes, big bro!" The three Ojama Monsters jumped up, gathered together, transformed into a storm, and swept away, destroying all cards on X-Head Cannon's field.
"The Ojama Tokens on your field were Special Summoned by my Trap—Ojama Trio, and when these tokens are destroyed, for each one, you receive 300 points of Life Points damage! That is—900 points!"
X-Head Cannon LP: 3500→2600.
"However, even so, it probably won't work, right?" A student voiced their doubts.
"After all, Ojama's ATK is only 0..."
As if knowing what they were thinking, Manjome shouted, "Naive! I switch Ojama Black on the field to Attack Position, then activate Spell Card, Shield & Sword!
This card, when activated, swaps the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters on the field!"
Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, Ojama Black, all with DEF 1000, which means their ATK will now be—1000 points!
The three monsters simultaneously gathered their strength, and suddenly muscles half the size of their bodies burst forth from their short bodies!
"Ah!?" Manjome Chosaku was dumbfounded.
"That's it! Genius, Manjome, as long as it's ATK, it doesn't matter DEF! Just swap them, it's fine!"
"Amazing, this guy, this Manjome, truly isn't just boasting!"
As if guessing what they were saying again, Manjome shouted out.
"It's—a!!"
"Ten!"
"Hundred!"
"Thousand—"
"Manjome Thunder!!" All the students watching the duel couldn't help but shout out his slogan in unison.
Manjome raised his hand, pointing forward: "Ojamas, attack X-Head Cannon!"
Wonderful!
Tenjo Hikari was the first to applaud on the side.
This duel, compared to the original duel he had with Chosaku, was probably a lot harder!
"Hoo..." After the duel ended, joyful music sounded from X-Head Cannon, evidently, it was very satisfied with the final battle.
Destroying all cards and direct attacks, this is the allure of a strong assault!
Manjome also breathed a sigh of relief.
He won!
He didn't let down the expectations of his master and classmates at last.