The call of the Red Dragon was drawing closer. But before answering it, Hikaru still had a few things to take care of.
The first was to check his Deck.
After all, he had just Dueled Kaiba Man, and that kind of encounter often left unseen traces. Whether it was Seto Kaiba from ten years ago or the present one, he remained one of the absolute pinnacles of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world.
Even defeating that Kaiba, his younger self, was a remarkable feat.
Sure enough, as Hikaru expected, his Claw of Hermos had advanced dramatically, far more than when he defeated Weevil Underwood or Rex Raptor.
When he examined it closely, the card was almost completely materialized, missing only the final shimmer of completion.
And beyond that…
"Huh?" Hikaru blinked, noticing a new monster card that hadn't been there before.
The White Stone of Legend.
He rubbed his chin, intrigued.
According to his original plan, he was going to study Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, using Alchemy to reproduce other "Blue-Eyes"-related cards.
But with The White Stone of Legend suddenly appearing, the possibilities opened wide.
Just as the Glow-Up Bulb can evolve step by step, if this White Stone could in time give birth to a White Dragon, then, even if Seto Kaiba himself or that divine tablet appeared, it would be hard for anyone to say Hikaru's path was wrong.
After returning to the Academy, Hikaru first visited the Great Universe Workshop, then stopped by the Magical Guidance Academy to return the spell-research tomes he had borrowed.
He next detoured to Witchcraft Alley, but its leader was away and told him to come again another day.
Hikaru didn't dwell on it.
He turned his steps toward Endymion, the Magical City. To his surprise, he had expected a challenge or test before being granted an audience, but after only a brief investigation, the locals welcomed him openly, granting him permission to meet the Magical King Endymion directly.
From them, Hikaru learned something unexpected:
In Endymion fugitive had escaped their Dimension years ago and fled to the human world.
Though Hikaru hadn't been the one to capture that runaway, the incident tied back to Duel Academy, during the Seven Stars crisis.
Back then, Chazz had been chasing the Black Scorpion Thief Group, when he was ambushed by an Endymion spirit and lost his Key. Later, Jaden recovered it.
That spirit, it turned out, had been the fugitive.
Hikaru couldn't help being surprised.
He'd always assumed that Endymion sorcerer was deliberately summoned by Professor Banner. After all, looking back, Banner and Aleister the Invoker had a good rapport, borrowing help from Endymion would have made perfect sense.
He hadn't expected the truth to be a jailbreak.
Still, because of that past incident, Endymion held a favorable view of the "Seven Stars Duelists."
When Hikaru arrived in their city, they already knew his purpose, to find Aleister.
So they didn't hinder him. In fact, they even entrusted Hikaru with several gifts to deliver to Chazz and Jaden.
Of course, Hikaru received his own share as well: rings, pendants, magical reagents, rare materials in perfect condition.
Perhaps they were specialties of the spirit world.
Chazz would probably appreciate them more than he'd ever admit.
After finishing his errands, Hikaru set off once again, this time, for the DT Dimension.
Originally, Hikaru had planned to visit the Magic-Tribe Village to ask Magical Scientist if there had been any new discoveries. But after some thought, he realized it had only been a little over a month since their last meeting, hardly enough time for fresh breakthroughs.
So instead, he set his sights on the Duel Terminal (DT) Dimension, bringing Tierra along.
Just like before, when they arrived in the DT Dimension, the two of them picked a random direction and set off, taking things casually, befriending whoever they happened to meet along the way.
But unlike their last visit, Tierra's behavior changed partway through.
At first, she was her usual enthusiastic self, but later her expression grew tense, brows furrowed as if she had sensed some grave disturbance.
Hikaru asked what was wrong, but uncharacteristically, Tierra didn't answer. She only frowned, clearly troubled.
Still, their luck held.
Soon after, Tierra encountered a patrol unit belonging to the Genex tribe. Through a short Duel, she earned their trust and was given directions to their camp.
They say the first time is difficult, but the second comes easy.Having already dealt with Shaddoll and Alien Insect spirits, Tierra now had a good grasp of how the DT World's tribes functioned, and how to approach them.
Besides, in her eyes, these Genex Machines weren't enemies to erase, but creations of her own design, environmental regulators and adaptive constructs she once helped engineer.
So her demeanor was far gentler than when facing the Shaddoll.
At the Genex camp, she applied her knowledge of machinery and the Genex archetype to tune their internal systems, even assisting one spirit on the verge of Synchro Evolution.
In return, the Genex welcomed her warmly, she was, after all, the most technically skilled among them. Every prototype of the Next-Gen constructs had once been hand-made by her.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph...see? Isn't this way faster than you trying to earn everyone's approval one by one?" Tierra said smugly, holding an armful of spare parts and data cards before they left.
Hikaru could only laugh.
"So running background programs counts as socializing now?"
Whether it was luck or the Dragon's unseen guidance, their journey between Dimensions had gone surprisingly smoothly this time.
But for Hikaru, these things no longer mattered. Right now, there was only one thing occupying his mind.
"Ding, ding—!"
"Assault Core, Captain, stabilize it!" shouted the Alchemist, giving orders to the two spirits. The two didn't answer, straining against thick ether-ropes that pulled taut in opposite directions.
In the core chamber of the Great Universe Workshop, a massive furnace powered by the Philosopher's Stone blazed with unearthly light, its glow warped with crimson, gold, and sapphire hues, radiating a chaotic, almost malevolent aura.
Three colored energy pillars, red, yellow, and blue, pierced through the ceiling, lancing into the dark expanse of the Workshop's internal cosmos.
Each pillar was bound by dozens of reinforced card-threads, trembling under the tension.
Tierra hovered in midair, spreading her hands.
Violet flames swept outward like wings, scorching the surrounding air until even the walls of the Workshop shimmered under their heat.
Hikaru carefully slid a card into the heart of the fusion furnace.
Around the furnace, six cards floated in a perfect circle, each radiating a different elemental aura.
Earth Attribute — Invoked Mechaba.
Water Attribute — Invoked Cocytus.
Fire Attribute — El Shaddoll Grysta.
Wind Attribute — El Shaddoll Wendigo.
Light Attribute — El Shaddoll Construct.
Dark Attribute — El Shaddoll Winda.
Six lights, brown, blue, crimson, emerald, white, and violet, rose into the air, converging into a single whirl of prismatic brilliance.
Together, they represented the completion of Hikaru's Alchemic Cycle.
The furnace roared. The blue energy pillar overhead began to darken, black smoke coiling like serpents.
The Great Universe Workshop shook under the strain. Tierra's brows drew tight. She snapped her fingers, summoning several gray-white Machine Fiends, each wreathed in ghost-blue flames. They spread out around her, reinforcing the energy field and searing against the unstable light pillar.
BOOM!
A violent explosion tore through the chamber. Every spirit except Tierra was blown back by the shockwave.
Blue flames engulfed the furnace, spearing upward until it seemed they might burn through the whole sky.
Hikaru stood motionless. The azure blaze danced wildly in his eyes, then, slowly, it began to condense. The fire drew together, spiraling into a single point until it solidified once more…into a card.
He reached out and caught it as it fell.
Chaos Phantasm – Armityle the Chaos Phantom.
Purification. Sublimation.
And beside it;
Hikaru's hand trembled as another familiar card materialized from the blue light. His eyes widened, and for the first time in ages, he couldn't suppress his grin.
"It's back… finally, it's back!"
The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion!
Hikaru clenched his fist, excitement surging through him as the two cards gleamed together in his grasp.
...
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