By the time Hikaru worked out the specific coordinates, he could already hear the hurried footsteps and voices of people returning downstairs.
It seemed Jesse was a bit disappointed about not seeing the ending.
Although Jaden wasn't back yet, the result seemed good.
Hmm.
Earlier, before dueling Yubel, Jaden had discussed things with his friends.
It was his first time doing anything like appeasing a girl, so he had no experience and asked his friends for advice.
Normally, he would have just asked Atticus, but Atticus clearly needed rest. So Jaden gathered a few friends and chattered away. Hikaru had overheard some of it and found nothing strange, so he hadn't bothered.
After all, he needed to focus on experiments.
Because of those experiments, Hikaru couldn't even make it to this important duel in person. That was quite regrettable.
After all, in the original story, Jaden and Yubel "Super Polymerizing" into a single body with two souls, their spirits merging, was one of Yu-Gi-Oh! history's iconic scenes. Not seeing a live version was definitely a shame.
Jaden had naturally asked Hikaru for advice too. Hikaru figured he had no business giving advice on such matters and could only say: be sincere.
After all, sincerity was the greatest weapon.
More than anything, Hikaru felt understanding Yubel's Deck was more important.
In this world, dueling was the foundation of everything. When duelists' souls collided, they could understand each other's thoughts. For someone like Jaden who genuinely wanted to understand Yubel, the more sincere he was in the duel, the stronger he would be.
Conveniently, as Hikaru's Super Polymerization power grew, some "special" card types had started appearing. Because of this, Hikaru could hand Jaden an "Eternal Favorite" to boost his confidence: look, I actually have Yubel-series cards. The Yubel intel I gave you is definitely accurate.
Evidence or not, Jaden wouldn't doubt Hikaru. He quickly memorized all Yubel-related card effects. But he didn't take the card, instead silently memorizing the effects and confirming he understood.
It seemed Jaden had won.
Honestly, the result was pretty good.
Although Hikaru didn't have particularly warm feelings toward Yubel, the good news was that Yubel hadn't actually done too many unforgivable things. At least not to the students. She might have originally planned to, but Hikaru had basically prevented everything.
So far, Hikaru had no strong feelings about Yubel. Just as the Syrus he knew was "Student Council Representative" Syrus, not the anime version, he wouldn't rush to judge anyone.
Similarly, because this world's Yubel was far less culpable than in the original, with her worst offenses in this incident being briefly possessing Dimitri and knocking out Syrus and Hassleberry, when Jaden's friends went to watch the duel, they were more driven by bizarre curiosity.
"What? Jaden's past-life knight?" "Bro's romantic entanglement?" "Betting his life? Kids these days..." "How exciting! So this is the Supreme King's story?"
Yubel hadn't actually seriously harmed them. This was also why Jaden so quickly accepted Yubel's guardianship and was willing to "save" her.
She ultimately hadn't committed any irreparable mistake.
Of course.
That said.
Hikaru believed neither he nor Jaden had forgotten that day.
Others might not remember clearly, but those two would definitely remember.
The day when Jaden and Bastion went dimensional traveling and spirits suddenly rioted, attacking them. Bastion protected Jaden and was injured in his place.
Traced to its root, this was undeniably Yubel's fault. Even if the Light of Destruction had made Yubel more volatile, Hikaru wouldn't forget.
After all, that incident was the first alarm bell warning Hikaru about "Yubel."
And it was also another catalyst for Jaden's change in mindset.
After Jaden returned to Duel Academy, things went roughly as Hikaru had expected.
Jaden first apologized to all students, saying Yubel's actions were his responsibility. Yubel had made many mistakes, and he would personally accompany her in making amends.
This really wasn't Jaden's fault. Many students immediately shook their heads, insisting it had nothing to do with him. As for Syrus and Hassleberry... they were too busy watching the drama to blame Jaden.
Yubel maintained her unapproachable demeanor, cold-faced, arms crossed. Unless Jaden spoke first, she wouldn't even appear, hiding in his Deck.
Fine. Not exactly what Hikaru had imagined, but resolved was resolved.
Then Jaden sought out Hikaru for a chat. That was when Hikaru learned that Yubel hadn't been idle in the spirit world either.
Compared to her attempts against humans, which were shut down before they started, Yubel had done plenty of "killing" in the spirit world. She had even absorbed the Dark World's Army God.
"Huh..."
Hikaru had an epiphany.
No wonder he'd never encountered the Dark World Army God's spirit. It had been absorbed?
Solving a lingering question was at least something.
In any case, Jaden said he planned to travel and adventure through dimensions with Yubel afterward. Partly to create new shared history together, and partly to search for traces and help those in need.
Practicing heroism through action.
Hikaru was fully supportive.
As time passed, because Echo's ship had crashed into Duel Academy island's "seal," the outside world's memory and awareness of the academy began readjusting. The seal over the island slowly dissipated.
The transparent walls gradually dissolved into air. Students awoke one by one. Under Jaden's and the professors' leadership, the spirits were gradually repelled, defeated, and even eliminated.
Some chose to duel students during the "crossfire" and joined certain students' Decks. The remaining spirits were contained by the school and would likely be sent to KaibaCorp. What happened after that was no longer the school's concern.
Students gradually regained consciousness. Teachers returned to their posts. Over five or six days, Tierra iterated repeatedly and completed the devices that could remotely block Darkness's influence.
Once mounted on a Duel Disk, they could essentially shield against memory modification and similar effects. They wouldn't make you completely immune to everything. If Darkness truly went all-out with a focused mental attack on one person, you'd still collapse. But at least the large-scale "entrance special effects" were no longer a worry.
And as everything seemed to end, warm sunlight once again bathed the island, and students could attend classes normally, everyone seemed to forget the previous dangers, more concerned with their own performance during the "incident."
Some boasted about how many spirits they had defeated. Others laughed at so-and-so's poor showing.
Among all the discussions, beyond Aster and Jaden who fought on the front lines, only Serena and Lulu received significant acclaim.
Because Hikaru had mostly investigated and gathered intelligence in the shadows this time, he hadn't made a visible splash. Instead, the two girls stood out. One with the attitude of "fights don't come to you for nothing," and the other worried about Serena running off and causing Hikaru concern, so they always stayed together.
Perhaps because of these opportunities to duel spirits, Lulu quickly learned spirit power through real combat. With spirit compatibility talent that defied normal comprehension and a mind far sharper than Serena's, she quickly distinguished herself, saving many classmates and stealing the spotlight.
Serena didn't mind. Having always craved fatherly love yet being treated as a pawn by akaba, she had few friends beyond Hikaru and some Fusion Division seniors. Having an identical-looking, "delicate" sister made her happy beyond words.
Moreover, she and Lulu had genuine life-and-death bonds. They'd been wanted together in the Synchro Dimension, and now they'd adventured as a team during this incident. As comrades, their relationship only deepened. Jealousy was impossible.
These days, Serena often bragged about Lulu's exploits to classmates she was somewhat acquainted with, which actually embarrassed Lulu.
After awakening, Professor Paladin had been cleared of "wrongdoing" but remained deeply embarrassed, practically a shut-in. Professor Crowler understood. If it happened to him, he'd have no heart for teaching and would want to crawl into a hole.
However, considering this was a sacrifice for the school, Crowler didn't plan to dock his scores. Not just him. After this incident, Crowler could judge that every remaining professor genuinely cared about the academy and its students. Regardless of teaching ability, their character was absolutely trustworthy.
Meaning after this semester ended, the professors could return to their respective branches to continue development.
Professor Strongman had been injured worst and unconscious longest, having been slashed by a sword. But compared to the reclusive Paladin, he was far more easygoing. Despite being the victim of an undeserved disaster, he didn't care at all. Instead, he laughed heartily while banging on Paladin's door, throwing his arm around Paladin's shoulders and calling him brother.
In a way, they were life-and-death brothers now.
Only Strongman could drag Paladin outside at a time like this. Anyone else, and Paladin couldn't have handled it. But with Strongman at the door, Paladin had to open up.
And once he was out, well, he was out.
After all, jokes aside, everyone knew the real situation. Nobody truly blamed Paladin.
Under this atmosphere, smiles gradually returned to the students. Paladin had almost single-handedly restored the student body's vitality and smiles after the crisis.
Within days, laughter and cheer slowly returned to the school, as though nothing had happened.
Only the school's upper administration remained busy, constantly communicating with KaibaCorp and filing reports.
While everyone gradually forgot the difficulties, worries, and pain, slowly returning to their former routines, Hikaru quietly prepared everything.
Hikaru checked the coordinates on the dimensional gate.
"Coordinates, OK."
Next, energy.
With the dimensional blockade collapsed, Hikaru could use the school's energy for this dimensional transfer.
After confirming energy was also fine, Hikaru reviewed the situation once more.
Where he was heading was the "Reverse World" that appeared in various urban legends. But more precisely, it wasn't the Reverse World. It was a "Post-Apocalyptic World."
Simply put, it was...
"If humanity in this world went extinct, what would this world look like?"
That was where Darkness truly resided!
So Darkness probably hadn't traveled through time. Instead, it had advanced its own world to this era, which was why the "Reverse World" and "Post-Apocalyptic Dimension" existed.
When Tierra reached this conclusion, she was quite surprised.
Having a world entirely your own sounded impressive at first, but it wasn't actually a big deal. At most, it was an Earth-sized world. The Light of Destruction had territory spanning half the universe.
But being able to reverse one's world back to this era? That was genuinely remarkable.
"No wonder that thing can use absurd abilities like time reversal."
That was literally the power it used!
Hikaru pressed several buttons, preparing to visit the Reverse World.
Just as he was thinking, his ears twitched.
The door handle rattled.
"What, planning to go alone again?" Chazz smirked, pointing his thumb at himself. "Don't tell me you thought you could hide from the great Chazz Princeton's eyes!"
Hikaru grinned.
Ha...
This Chazz kid, turning his deduction skills on his own allies.
Since the Reverse World was layered over the human world, Hikaru couldn't access it through the Great Universe Workshop. He needed to transmit from the human world directly.
Because of that, his recent activities had clearly caught Chazz's attention.
"Ha ha, Hikaru! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around. Turns out you were planning something big on the sly."
"Chief, a hero might shoulder responsibility alone, but with companions around, there's no need to face the enemy in silence."
"Yeah, Master! Every hero who goes in solo to grab the villain ends up going down!"
Jaden, Aster, Serena...
Hikaru looked at them and couldn't help laughing. "You guys make it sound like I'm some lone wolf hero..."
"Hikaru, you're looking for the mastermind, right? Going alone is too dangerous! We're coming with you!"
"Yeah, that's what bro thinks too, right?"
"Hikaru, I need to settle the score with that mastermind too. Can't let you go alone. What happened to Professor Paladin can't just be forgotten."
Syrus, Hassleberry, Jesse. Three of Jaden's closest friends, all limbering up, clearly either seeking redemption or wanting revenge for the professor they respected.
Hikaru looked at them, then turned to the other side: Atticus Rhodes, Alexis Rhodes, Jim, Adrian, Axel Brodie...
So many friends and acquaintances had gathered here. Some had come of their own accord. Others had been brought along by friends.
"Atticus and Alexis, sure. But the rest of you aren't even in the Fusion Division, are you?" Hikaru said with a smile.
"Ha ha ha, don't say that, Hikaru~" Atticus patted his shoulder. "You've silently borne too much during this whole ordeal. You can't... face the enemy alone anymore."
At times like these, he was the one least likely to joke around.
Hikaru slowly looked around at everyone present. Some smiled when he looked their way. Others nodded firmly. Some appeared resolute. Others were cracking their knuckles, raring to go.
Hmm...
Right. After all the bonds he had built, he was no longer alone in this unfamiliar world.
"Alright!" Hikaru broke into a smile.