"What are you talking about, Crow!?"
Shinji's earlier smile instantly vanished, replaced by raw fury."We finally have a power that can fight back, why should we give it up!?"
Crow immediately snapped back, his voice sharp and uncompromising.
"Have you even looked outside, Shinji? Do you know what's happened to the others who used that card?! Sure, they defeated Security, but every one of them lost part of their life in the process!"
He slammed a hand against the table, anger flashing in his eyes.
"Even if you win, it doesn't mean you have to become like them!Even Security never went this far, they've never tortured civilians to death!"
That silenced some of the crowd. Crow's words carried weight.He wasn't defending the upper-class enforcers, far from it.He'd been arrested and beaten enough times to know exactly what they were like.
But he also knew: this… this wasn't justice. It was vengeance gone too far.
Shinji's voice trembled, but not from fear, only conviction.
"Crow, we've suffered in silence for too long! Now, finally, the people can release their pain, why do you have to hold them back?!"
Hikaru remembered hearing rumors of a recent incident, one where the Resistance had beaten a Security officer so badly that he almost died.
That was when the first rift between Crow and Shinji had begun.
"That card's power is too dangerous!" Crow pressed on. "Distributing it to everyone is insane!"
"We all know it's dangerous," Shinji shot back, his eyes burning."But who cares?! What's life worth if we can't even have dignity or freedom!?"
Tierra let out a lazy yawn beside Hikaru.
Human arguments like this didn't interest her in the slightest.Hikaru didn't mind.
Truth, especially when it concerned life and death, wasn't something found through shouting. It had to be lived, tested, proven.
And he wasn't here to take sides anyway. All he wanted was information about the Earthbound Gods. The rest was secondary.
The shouting match dragged on until Shinji suddenly turned and demanded:
"Then tell me, Crow, if not this, what do you expect us to do?!"
Crow didn't hesitate.
"Believe in Yusei! He'll find a way for all of us!"
"Yusei? You mean Fudo Yusei?" Shinji scoffed.
"Ha! Ever since he beat Jack, he vanished. For all we know, he's sold out to the Upper City already, trying to be their new King!"
"What did you say?!"
Crow lunged forward, grabbing Shinji by the collar.
"Yusei would never betray us! He'll find the answer, he always does!"
"Then where is he?!" Shinji roared back.
Crow's grip faltered. For a moment, even he didn't know how to respond. Then, someone from the crowd raised a hand.
"A few days ago, I saw Yusei! He rescued someone… an interdimensional traveler! He's here, in the Lower City!"
Crow's eyes widened, his face lighting up with hope.
"Where? Where did you see him?! I have to find him!"
Shinji, however, was stunned.
Yusei, the man who had stood at the top, had returned to the depths?
"But… if he's really here," Shinji muttered, "then why hasn't he joined us? Why hasn't he fought beside us?"
"Because Yusei must have something more important to do!" Crow said firmly.
He turned to the crowd and raised his voice:
"Everyone, listen! That card is too dangerous. Don't throw your lives away! There is another way, we just have to trust him!"
"You're too naive, Crow!"
Their argument reignited, echoing through the room.
In the end, Shinji, unable to convince him, chose to proceed anyway.
He announced that anyone who wished to resist the Upper City could take a copy of the Earthbound Geoglyph Card and fight for their freedom.
Many hesitated. Some, swayed by Crow's warning, quietly slipped away.
When the meeting finally ended, the crowd slowly began to disperse. Soon, only a few people remained inside the room.
"Crow," Shinji's voice was cold now.
"I've always seen you as a friend. But if you try to stand in my way again… even you won't be spared!"
With that, Shinji turned and left. The sound of the door slamming behind him echoed through the silent hall.
Crow stood there for a long time without saying a word.Breaking ties with Shinji hurt him, but not as much as the thought of those people walking straight toward their deaths.
Yes, deaths.
In Crow's eyes, everyone who chose to wield the Earthbound Geoglyph card had already chosen their fate.
Whether they defeated Security or lost to them, in the end, their life force would still be drained away, fed into the massive geoglyph encircling the City itself, their souls reduced to nothing more than ink for the sigil.
Maybe that card really did give them power to resist. But that kind of power never came free.
Even if they succeeded in toppling the upper class, what then?When the geoglyph was finally complete…what kind of world would remain?
Would the people of the Lower City truly be free, or would they become slaves to the Earthbound Gods instead?
No one knew the answer. And Crow refused to ally himself with something born from such darkness.
He exhaled, then slapped his cheeks hard to refocus himself.No matter how Shinji saw him, friend, traitor, or enemy, Crow couldn't just walk away.
He leapt over a table and slipped out of the meeting hall, quietly following Shinji through the maze of alleys.
His stealth was unmatched. After all, Crow Hogan wasn't just a duelist, he was a master at surviving on the edge, stealing cards from the Upper City to give to the kids in the slums. Even as he shadowed Shinji, the other man never noticed.
After weaving through countless backstreets, Crow realized the alleys were growing wider.
"Wait… this road leads toward the Upper City!?"
His heart skipped a beat.
But instead of heading upward, Shinji stopped before a derelict building at the border and slipped inside.
Crow let out a breath of relief and followed, only to hear a mocking voice the moment he approached.
"Heh… didn't expect a tail to follow me. Oh? And look who it is, my good old brother!"
A powerful blast of energy erupted.
Boom
Crow was sent flying backward, crashing through the doorway.
He braced himself for the impact, but instead of hitting the ground, he felt his body caught midair.
A cloaked figure had stepped in behind him, intercepting the blow.
Crow blinked in surprise, shaking his head to clear it. Then, recognizing his rescuer, he steadied himself and muttered, "Thanks..."
From inside the building, Shinji's furious voice roared out:
"Crow!! Why did you follow me!?"
A violent gust of wind surged from the doorway as Shinji stepped forward, fury blazing in his eyes. Light flared along his forearm, forming an eerie sigil.
On the back of his hand, the image of a blue-horned demon began to glow.
Hikaru frowned in confusion.
'Why did Shinji have a Dark Mark?'
Before he could ponder further, another presence stepped out of the shadows inside the building, a man with grayish-white hair, his sclera completely black, red streaks across the right side of his face, and a uniform of black and blue stripes that radiated a chilling aura.
"Yo… Crow."
Crow's eyes widened in shock.
"Kalin!? You...You're supposed to be dead!"
Hikaru's thoughts raced.
So this was him, the so-called Apostle of the Earthbound Gods… the one who led the followers of the damned.
Kalin chuckled darkly.
"Crow… it's been so long. Touching reunion, isn't it?" Then, in a single instant, his grin twisted into rage.
"Tell me, where is Yusei!?"
Crow's breath caught. Kalin's eyes burned with hatred, then, almost as quickly, his face softened again.
"Ah… right. I heard you don't know either. Hmph. I thought this might be entertaining for a while, guess I was wrong."
He sighed, almost disappointed, before turning toward the cloaked figure beside Crow.
His gaze sharpened.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
His lips curled into a predatory smile.
"Another representative of the One God, are you?"
The One God…?
The only… God?
The phrase jolted something inside Hikaru's mind.
Suddenly, Hikaru had a flash of inspiration. That strange feeling from before was instantly connected, and he felt like he had grasped the true "core point" of this Dimension.