Anime Card System

"Darren versus Nancy Whitemore!"

Following Victoria Song's announcement, both students stood up. Darren turned to Nancy, a smug look on his face. "I won't show any mercy just because you're a girl." Although Nancy's fox demon was strong, he was confident that his zombie was superior.

Nancy just gave him a gentle smile, ignoring his posturing.

The two took their positions. Instantly, the [Green Zombie] and the [Three-Tailed Fox] appeared on the field. The fox was the first to act, unleashing a wave of its illusionary power.

But it was useless.

The Green Zombie, a creature of pure, mindless instinct, was completely unaffected. The sudden failure of her primary ability made Nancy's smile falter.

Darren looked at the scene with pride. "At this stage, my zombie has no intelligence to affect," he gloated. "It's all instinct. Your fox isn't capable of creating an illusion powerful enough to fool it."

If Darren is arrogant, then so was I, Nancy thought to herself. Outside of Darren and Russell, none of the other students in the class were a match for her, and she had let a little pride creep in.

Ignoring her inner thoughts, the three-tailed fox attacked, lunging forward on all fours. It was extremely fast, arriving next to the Green Zombie in a blur. Its sharp claws, flashing with cold light, left afterimages in the air.

Darren wasn't panicked at all. The fox's most powerful ability was its illusion. When it came to a pure physical brawl, he was confident that nothing in the key class could match his Green Zombie. Not even Russell's mysterious swordsman.

He was right. Although the fox's claws raked across the zombie's body, they only managed to leave a few shallow marks on its tough hide.

Just as the fox was between attacks, its momentum spent, the Green Zombie's hand shot out. It grabbed the fox by its long tails, lifted it into the air, and began to slam it into the ground repeatedly, like a sandbag.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

The fox let out pitiful, mournful cries with each impact.

Russell, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but twitch his eye. Why does this scene look so familiar? Hulk versus Loki, right? Even their abilities were similar.

Finally, after one last, brutal smash, the three-tailed fox dissipated into the air.

"Too weak!" Darren laughed wantonly from the center of the field. "Nancy, you're no different from the other trash I've beaten!"

Ignoring his taunts, Nancy felt no real frustration. The zombie was a hard counter to her fox in every respect. Her task now, as a cardmaker, was to find a way to overcome that. Whether that meant making a prop card to enhance her fox, or creating an entirely new creature to deal with such situations, they were all just problems to be solved.

She took a deep breath, walked off the court, and came over to Russell, offering him an encouraging smile. "Good luck, Russell."

Russell returned a soft smile of his own. "I think you've made a mistake," he said quietly. "He's the challenger."

Without waiting for her reaction, he slowly walked onto the field.

Looking at his retreating back, Nancy was stunned. Russell... so arrogant. And yet, she couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation.

Unaware of Nancy's thoughts, Russell stood opposite Darren and summoned Yoriichi Tsugikuni. The moment the swordsman appeared and saw the Green Zombie across the field, his expression turned cold. Bad memories.

Before the zombie could even react, Yoriichi had already rushed forward, his blade drawn. As he ran, the steel of his katana began to glow, turning a faint, shimmering red.

"I've never seen that ability before," Nancy whispered from the sidelines, watching intently.

In the blink of an eye, Yoriichi was in front of the Green Zombie. His samurai sword slashed at its neck from right to left, making a sharp whistling sound. "ROAR!" The zombie roared, raising its right hand to block the blade.

SWISH.

Like a hot knife through butter, the flaming blade sliced clean through the zombie's arm. The green, long-haired limb flew high into the air before hitting the ground with a wet thud. In a single exchange, the Green Zombie had been dismembered. It roared in pain, but instead of retreating, it lunged forward, trying to bite Yoriichi.

Yoriichi's eyes focused. He spun, his blade a blur. Under Darren's astonished gaze, the Green Zombie was cleanly beheaded, its body dissipating into the air before it even hit the ground.

"What!?" Darren stared at the empty field in disbelief. "I... I lost?" He had thought Russell might be a tough opponent, but he had never doubted that he would win in the end. He never expected his prized zombie would be annihilated in just two exchanges. From the look of it, Russell's card hadn't even been at its full strength.

At that moment, Darren was simply unable to accept his failure. The arena fell silent. Some of the students had thought Russell would win, others had bet on Darren. But no one had expected it to be so easy. Against Russell, Darren's zombie had performed no better than Liam's minotaur.

Gradually, bursts of discussion began to ripple through the venue. "Russell is so strong..." "It's like... open the champagne, the match is already over." "No wonder he was able to save an entire neighborhood." "Tsk, look at Darren. He's always so arrogant, but he couldn't even last two minutes against Russell. It's hilarious." "Shh, keep your voice down! Darren can't beat Russell, but he can still beat you." "Would he have the nerve? Bullying us instead of getting revenge on Russell?"

Ignoring the voices, Russell walked over to where Darren stood, still in shock. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Just as Darren, who had slumped to the ground, thought Russell was going to comfort him, Russell's voice turned cold and quiet, repeating the same words Darren had said to his own defeated classmate earlier.

"You useless piece of shit. You're too weak. I'm not interested in you at all." "How did someone like you even get into the key class?"

At that moment, Darren's head was bowed, his expression hidden. Seeing him fall silent, Russell almost thought his words had been too harsh, but he had only repeated what Darren himself had said. He had no sympathy for a bully. Shaking his head, Russell turned to leave.

Just then, a resentful voice sounded from behind him. "You just got lucky with a card that countered mine! Do you really think you're that strong!?" "Wait until next time! Next time, I'll make a stronger card, and I'll make you kneel down and beg for mercy!"

Russell paused, but then continued walking toward the sidelines without looking back. Some people, he thought, were just born bad. He had seen it countless times in the news from his previous life. If he hadn't been strong enough, and if Darren had won, the next step would have been a campaign of threats and isolation.

Besides, who didn't know how to make empty threats? He could also say that when he finally finished making [Rabbit Goddess · Kaguya Ōtsutsuki], he'd make the entire Spirit Begging Society kneel down and sing "Conquer".

When he arrived at the sidelines, his classmates immediately surrounded him, their chattering questions giving him a headache. Just as he was dealing with the crowd, Victoria Song appeared and helped him out.

"Okay, okay, classmates, stop bothering Russell for now," she said, clapping her hands. "The class ranking for this week is now determined. If you think you deserve a higher rank, you may challenge your target next week. But you can only challenge once per week." "Also," she added, "I have some good news." She paused, letting the suspense build. Seeing the students all looking at her eagerly, she finally revealed the answer.

"Thanks to the principal's efforts, our key class has been granted an opportunity to enter a secret realm for practical training. I hope you will all cherish it."

(End of this chapter)