Fusion is the noblest form of summoning!.

Chapter 789 Preliminary Selection Stage (4k)

“Duel.”

"The clash of souls of all duelists, the most passionate battle believed in by all duelists!"

In the Duel Academy plaza, a giant 3D projection shows Seto Kaiba with one fist clenched, wearing a monocle, his white coat billowing rapidly in the wind, looking like a god.

Behind him were other people, their expressions ranging from solemn to excited to serious.

Jaeger of the Synchronous Dimension, Mr. Heart Garden of the Hyperdimension Dimension, and Mrs. Red Horse of the Pendulum Dimension.

Regardless of their expressions, they all agreed with the words of the seahorse-riding man.

duel!

This is the true, most fundamental concept in this world!

Seto Kaiba raised his left hand, and the newest Duel Disk in his hand spun wildly like a roulette wheel.

At this moment.

This video is playing across all dimensions.

Not just at Duel Academy.

At Pendulum Dimension, students hold their phones and watch as a stranger passionately declares.

The Duelist, piloting the D-Wheel, passed through the Synchro Dimension, while a 3D image of Seto Kaiba was playing on the D-Wheel.

In this superdimensional world, even the elderly couldn't resist putting on their D-view glasses to watch the virtual images.

But outside the human world.

In the Elf Dimension, countless elves gathered together, craning their necks to watch the messages coming from the human world.

"I ask you! Why do people fight!"

Again.

A declaration once again!

Haima Lairen has questioned viewers about this issue countless times.

but.

This time, Seto Kaiba has laid this question squarely before all life!

"From the moment a person is born into this world, the soul resides within the ease of the physical body."

"In other words, the body is the prison of the soul, a prison from which one cannot escape until death!"

The classic hippocampal theory.

but……

Now, Hikaru Amagi has actually acknowledged and even accepted this theory.

"So, the body took up arms to protect the soul!"

Seto Kaiba slowly withdrew his hand and held it up in front of him.

"Is your soul your family? Are your enemies other than others?!"

"Is your enemy a foreign country?!"

"No----"

"We fight for those we should protect, and we fight against those who hold different ideologies!!"

"The history of battles repeats itself endlessly through the foolish mutual slaughter of war."

Ironically, even the victors cannot escape from prison.

"But, gentlemen!"

Seto Kaiba's Duel Disk emitted a clear white light.

With a flash of light, a huge "spaceship" roared past behind him.

One by one, figures, some familiar and some unfamiliar, gradually emerged.

Some of them came from the Fusion Dimension, some from the Hyperion Dimension; some were towering dragons, while others were tiny creatures as small as beans.

"Wow!!!" Yugo didn't know how he arrived in this dimension, but feeling the fighting spirit of the people around him and listening to Seto Kaiba's declaration, he felt extremely excited!

"Through the duel, our souls were liberated! We escaped from prison and faced the most intense and direct clash of souls!"

“Duel!!!!”

As Seto Kaiba spoke, a pillar suddenly rose from beneath his feet, lifting him upwards. Then, countless silver dragons flew out from the sky, circling around him and illuminating all dimensions with their boundless light!

"The connection between dimensions transcends all boundaries, propelling us toward the future!"

"Entrust your dueling spirit into the Duel Disk! Your Duel Disk is your hilt, and your cards are the blade!"

"Break through boundaries, transcend the future, connect everything, and ultimately surpass the past to completely liberate your soul and become—the strongest!"

"Duelists!!"

"Now!"

"I hereby declare the Dimensional Duelist Tournament officially open!"

"Oh!!!!!" Among the crowd, Yugo was the one who shouted the most excitedly.

"Wow, that really livens up the atmosphere instantly," Misawa Daichi couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

At the Duel Academy, most of the students and teachers have already left the academy. Only a few students whose strength is simply not up to par are now watching the live stream with sighs.

No matter how excited you are, it's still a bit of a regret for a duelist if you can't participate.

The good news is that because the vast majority of teachers are participating in the competition, this semester has basically become "self-study period".

As a result, during a perfectly good entrance exam, third-year students like Hikaru Amagi had barely seen their teachers, and a large portion of the first-year students hadn't even met a teacher at all, ultimately having to rely on senior students from the third and second years to provide temporary guidance.

"Where are the rules?" a student couldn't help but ask.

"Just search the live stream rooms; the rules are there," a second-year student who had stayed behind told the first-year students in the huge conference room. "You can narrow down your search, for example, search for Duel Academy, then search for branch campus or main campus, then search for teachers, then search for grade, and you can find our teachers directly."

You're all new students, so you must be curious about the teachers' abilities, right? Just search for the first-grade teachers you're interested in to see their performance.

"Of course, if you are interested in the famous seniors of our school, you can search using the same steps. For example, third-year students, Huang Academy, Chief Representative Misawa Daichi... Misawa-nii is also a very powerful duelist."

It's rare to have a Misawa fan.

"Where's that Senpai that day?! I want to see his duel!"

"Guang-ge is a specially invited duelist, so he won't be participating at this stage."

"Eh----"

The second-year student operated the device for a while and locked onto Daichi Misawa's live stream. Then, he projected the image from the Duel Disk onto the big screen and taught the first-year students.

"Since I have nothing to do anyway, I might as well take a look—oh, I found it, the rules are in the upper right corner."

He opened the rules.

"Just like before, it's still the Swiss system matching rules..."

Similarly, advancement is based on wins, while elimination is based on losses.

However, additional rules were added to this framework.

Depending on the dimension in which they take place, there will be different duel scenarios.

For example, the dimension that all the KC Cup qualifiers went to for the first round of duels was the Fusion Dimension.

Based on the style of the fusion dimension, the organizers will randomly match duelists with different dueling arenas.

Airships, ships, train rooftops, airplanes... "What are all these?" The student looked at the duel arena list with a blank expression.

But those familiar with Haima Automobile would not raise any questions.

Because this is perfectly normal.

Everyone knows that Kaiba's favorite thing is to take the duels to the sky.

"The first round of preliminary duels will be held in the Fusion Dimension, which is our dimension. In addition to the basic duels, there are some specific duel locations, such as cliffs and mountains, which duelists need to set off on their own and arrive before the time runs out."

A battle of physiques.

All duelists are initially teleported to different starting points, or even to high-altitude dueling arenas.

If a duelist is unable to reach the duel due to physical factors, or is unable to leave the duel altogether, then he/she is considered the loser of the duel.

This is the most classic "dark duel" in the simulation of fusion dimensions.

"The second round of auditions will take place in the Synchro Dimension. In addition to the basic duels, the duels follow time rules. Each duelist has only 600 seconds. If either duelist runs out of time, the duel is considered lost."

"Ah, I understand. This must be a high-speed duel simulating the Synchro Dimension, right? I've seen Amagi-senpai's video; it's lightning fast and exciting."

It seems this is how they simulate the fun of high-speed duels!

"Yes. But it's not just that factor," the second-year student added. "For duelists, in addition to normal dueling, judgment is also a very important talent."

Therefore, making the most accurate judgment in the shortest amount of time and then winning is precisely what demonstrates a duelist's talent.

"Clearly, the organizers are paying more attention to the duelists' skills than to simulating high-speed duels."

"For example..."

"Look, everyone, the location of the third round of the duel is the Hyperion."

The student then went on to explain the rules of the duel.

“In the Hyperion dimension, duels will have entirely new and special rules.” He flipped through the rulebook, slowly scanning down. “Sure enough—the third duel will directly throw the two duelists into the dueling arena.”

Moreover, in the Hyperion, the dueling arena is a very standard dojo dueling arena.

However, upon arrival, duelists do not immediately engage in combat; instead, both duelists are given 10 minutes to modify their decks.

"Modify your deck!?"

Some students exclaimed in surprise.

"This tests the duelist's ability to gather information!" The second-year student looked at the rules of the duel and became excited.

"As everyone knows, duels are not just about card interactions; information is also a very important part. It is very unreasonable to judge an opponent's cards based solely on their appearance before a duel."

The number of players participating in the KC Cup pre-tournament campaign far exceeds hundreds of thousands! And the number of duels these participants will engage in is well over a million!?

"Adapting your deck to different opponents and situations is a fundamental skill for a duelist. The challenge this round is to gather information, anticipate your opponent's strategy, and modify your deck accordingly within just ten minutes—adding counter cards or preventing counter-strategies!"

"Wow...this is truly a comprehensive test."

Physical strength, the ability to assess situations, the ability to gather intelligence... these are all essential skills for duelists.

"What about the fourth round?" A first-year student couldn't help but raise his hand and ask.

The second-grade student nodded and continued scrolling down.

He glanced at the rules for the fourth round and was initially confused.

"This is……"

Additional rules for the fourth round!

The duelists will be sent to the Pendulum Dimension, where all duelists will enter a specific "Action Arena." At the moment this arena is formed, a dozen or so specific cards will be created. These cards will randomly appear in different locations within the arena. Similar to the first round, duelists must reach the designated location and then duel. However, the difference is that before the actual duel, both duelists can search for different cards, and they have more time.

These dozen or so specific cards can only be exchanged with cards in the duelist's deck. The total number of cards in the deck cannot be different from the number of cards reported in the duel. In other words, if you want to put the "Black Hole" you picked up into your deck, you must take out one card from your deck, and once the duel begins, you cannot add it back.

After the duel ends, the "cards" generated in these arenas will disappear along with the images.

This is precisely the "action duel" of the Pendulum Dimension.

The second-grade student was a little confused.

What is this for?

"This tests the ability to construct."

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the conference room, and a group of students turned to look at the room. They saw a student wearing a blue and white executive uniform, who was smiling and greeting them.

"Heavens, heavens—"

"Wow!! Hikaru Amagi!!"

The first-year students shouted joyfully in unison, their voices so loud that they seemed to shake the entire conference room.

"Hikaru-nii!" The second-year students excitedly stepped aside when they saw Hikaru Amagi. "Please guide them!"

He was actually a little unsure how to put it—if he could really see everything, he would have gone to compete long ago; how could he have stayed?

Hikaru Amagi chuckled lightly: "There's not much guidance... it's actually quite straightforward."

The first-year students stared at him intently and excitedly. If it weren't for "class time," Tiera was sure that a whole bunch of freshmen, both boys and girls, would have come over and surrounded Amagi Hikaru.

"Besides physique, judgment, and intelligence, a duelist's ability to build a deck is also a very important factor."

"For example, how many monsters, spells, and traps should be included in a deck? What kind of cards should be prepared for different environments?"

This is all part of the construction.

“Similarly, not all powerful cards can be included in a deck. This round of duels in the Pendulum Dimension is testing that.” Hikaru Amagi flicked his left hand, and the Duel Disk on his left arm, identical to the one Seto Kaiba had, automatically opened. Then, at his will, it projected a physical image of the rules into the classroom.

"According to the published rules, the cards scattered in the duel are all general cards such as Black Hole, Wind, Ghost Rabbit, and Skeleton King. However, how many of these cards can you put in your deck? Is your deck suitable for these cards? Can your opponent be affected by these cards?"

These are the problems and difficulties.

The total number of cards in a deck cannot be changed, which is a crucial test of deck-building skills. If someone simply draws a particularly powerful deck but doesn't know how to modify it, or carelessly replaces seemingly weak but extremely important key cards with powerful ones, then their deck-building ability is inadequate.

Hikaru Amagi smiled and said, "Clearly, the duels in the preliminary rounds test a duelist's all-around abilities!"

To ensure fairness, all the "Action Duel Arena" matches in this Pendulum Dimension are from the first round, which are the same arenas that have appeared in the Fusion Duel Arena. This will prevent the participants from encountering unfamiliar situations and make it easier for them to showcase their "construction" skills.

Obviously, as long as one can successfully pass the four rounds of duels in the preliminary rounds, then as a duelist, regardless of whether the duelist is strong or weak, he is definitely "qualified".

To be honest, any serious "duelist" will have all four of these abilities.

Some duelists don't care about these "basic skills" at all.

For example, there's Amagi Hikaru—forget about deck building, go talk to me about Fusion Spells that are in the same deck as mine!!

I've already fused so many decks, why are you still persisting?!

We're all fighting with all our might!
Hikaru Amagi came to the school today partly to watch the audition ceremony and partly to keep an eye on the first-year students.

He's the top student in the school, after all. Although he has a book on "Dimensional Travel Career Change Cases" to study on his own, as a relatively relaxed student, he should still lend a hand. Besides, watching the duel livestream with more people is more fun.

"Hey—that uniform!?" the second-year student suddenly exclaimed, "Hikaru-san, it's, it's the Fusion Army!?"

Fusion Army?
Hikaru Amagi turned to look at the content projected on his screen.

After searching for a while, Daichi Misawa has encountered his opponent.

A Black student in a purple uniform, about the same grade as Misawa Daichi, but with a completely different demeanor from the previous Fusion Army members.

Hikaru Amagi immediately frowned.

Could it be... those Fusion Army soldiers from the game?
"Hikaru-nii, Misawa-senpai wouldn't..."

Amagi Hikaru's brows instantly relaxed.

"Heh, perfect, everyone, let's see how the earth fights."

　4K4K
　　
　
(End of this chapter)