Chapter 92: Does He Seriously Not Know the Underworld Meta Gets Updated?

"I will now, as Duel Academy's Chief of Practical Dueling, Professor Vellian Crowler, introduce the representatives for today's match between Duel Academy and North Academy."

Crowler delivered the line with the stiffness of a man whose face had fused shut from camera anxiety.

"Representing Duel Academy, our... underachieving stud... no, that is to say, Rowan!"

A roar went up from the Duel Academy stands. Fists raised across the entire section. Jaden and Bastion among the loudest.

Rowan nodded with quiet satisfaction.

Now that was an atmosphere.

"And representing North Academy..."

Crowler turned to introduce Chazz, and was immediately cut off.

"I'll introduce myself. And while I'm at it, I have a few things I want to say to Rowan directly."

Chazz stepped forward and looked straight across the field.

"Listen up, Rowan. Don't think for a second that this is going to end the same way it did before."

"I accepted that loss. I withdrew on my own terms. I fought my way back through North Academy from the bottom up. And now I'm standing in front of you again, as the Black Lightning of Vengeance."

"Hear me clearly. I am the man who clawed his way back from the depths alone."

He raised one finger. Then another.

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten-thousand. Chazz Princeton... Thunder!"

The North Academy students behind him picked it up instantly.

"Thunder!"

...

A collective vein throbbed across the foreheads of Rowan and most of the Duel Academy side.

Rowan genuinely had not anticipated having to witness this in person. He could feel something stirring behind his eyes, some internal mechanism straining at its restraints.

"Good to know you're back in your... dark clown... sorry, Black Lightning form, Chazz the Third."

He waved a hand with the exhausted resignation of a man who had already given up.

He just wanted to get to the part where he spread warmth and joy to Chazz Princeton. Immediately.

"It's Chazz Princeton THUNDER!" Chazz's composure shattered on contact. He nearly went over sideways.

A vein bulged visibly on his forehead. He snapped upright, fist clenched.

"Right, right. Chazz the Third."

Rowan nodded along in a way that communicated absolutely nothing and loaded his deck into his duel disk.

The psychological damage had begun thirty seconds before the duel.

"..."

Chazz felt his knuckles go tight.

This guy. This absolute menace. Not a single thing about him had improved.

"The duel will now begin!" Crowler announced, seizing the moment, then immediately stepped back off the field and out of the way.

Just Rowan and Chazz on the platform.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

Both duel disks lit up red and snapped open simultaneously. Five opening cards each. Life Points materialized on both sides.

4000 LP.

"I go first. Draw!"

Chazz seized his card from the top of the deck with a full dramatic sweep of the arm.

He looked at it.

And smiled.

There it was. The card he'd added specifically to counter Rowan, slipped into the deck at the last moment before the match. If he got this buried on the field this turn, victory was practically guaranteed.

He tucked it into his hand for now and played a different card first.

"Defense position. Armed Dragon LV3!"

A shimmer of light, and the creature materialized: small by dragon standards, orange-yellow scales over a compact frame, stubby wings spread to either side, patches of silver metal armor across its body. It dropped into a crouch over the card silhouette on the field, both claws drawn inward, guard stance.

Armed Dragon LV3.

Level 3.

Wind attribute.

ATK: 1200. DEF: 900.

"Armed Dragon LV3?!"

Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley stared with matching expressions of complete bewilderment from the stands. That card existed?

"It's a Level monster," Bastion said from nearby, already putting it together. "They evolve into new forms once specific conditions are met."

"But those are supposed to be extraordinarily rare," Alexis said, frowning. "Even with the Princeton family's resources, something like that shouldn't be easy to get. You can't just buy rarity."

In the front row, Chancellor Sheppard had gone still, something clicking into place behind his eyes. He turned sharply to Principal Ichinose beside him.

"Ichinose. Is that one of the secret cards entrusted to North Academy's keeping?"

"I did tell you." Ichinose chuckled with obvious satisfaction. "I'm serious about this one. This year's prize is coming home with me."

"Blast it all!"

Sheppard shot to his feet, battle-spirit ignited, and cupped his hands toward the field.

"Rowan! Don't you dare lose! Win this and I'll cover what North Academy's construction crew charged for that cabin of yours!"

Rowan's eyes lit up immediately.

Now there was an unexpected bonus.

He found himself with yet another reason to deliver comprehensive warmth to Chazz Princeton. If he pushed the right buttons, maybe he could get Principal Ichinose needling Sheppard further. Add Aunt Tome's daily deluxe bento to the tab while he was at it.

"The only person paying that construction bill is you!" Chazz said from across the field, entirely confident, the smirk already in place.

He placed two cards face-down from his hand.

"Two cards set. Turn end."

"Hmph. Your move. Go ahead and show me that Lava Golem lockdown deck of yours."

The two face-downs materialized on the field with a pair of solid thuds. Chazz watched Rowan across the gap with visible satisfaction.

What he didn't notice was the expression spreading across the faces in the spectator section. Alexis. Bastion. Several others. Something between unease and quiet sympathy.

Chazz's understanding of Rowan's deck appeared to be frozen at a point several versions out of date.

Did nobody tell him the meta had shifted?

…