The duel began. Purple mist rippled through the hall like mist, threaded with occasional arcs of electricity. Several spirits who had not become "warriors" showed clear signs of distress, and other spirits helped them out to rest. The rest watched with grave attention. This duel might decide the fate of their world.
"My turn."
Hikaru had the first move.
He glanced at his hand and thought for a moment.
"I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the Spell Card, Instant Fusion."
Amagi Hikaru LP: 4000 → 3000.
"Instant Fusion on the opening turn?" Iris blinked at the play, at a loss.
A monster brought out by Instant Fusion would be destroyed during the End Phase. Fusing this early looked like throwing the card away.
The High Priest watched in silence and gave nothing away.
"This card lets me Fusion Summon a Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck." Hikaru finished explaining the effect and raised the card in his hand. "From the Extra Deck, I Fusion Summon the Level 5 Fusion Monster, Predaplant Ambulomelides."
A vast plant-shaped beast climbed up out of the ground and took its guarded stance on the field.
"When Ambulomelides is Fusion Summoned, I add one Predaplant monster or one 'Preda' Spell or Trap from my Deck, GY, or face-up Extra Deck Pendulum Zone to my hand.
I add Predaplanning from my Deck to my hand."
"So it's a search play." The High Priest watched the card slide from Hikaru's deck and gave a small nod.
If that was the aim, Instant Fusion on the opening turn stopped being strange.
"I Normal Summon the Level 1 Predaplant Sarraceniant."
"I activate Ambulomelides's other effect. I tribute Sarraceniant on my field and Special Summon 1 Predaplant monster from my Deck."
"I Special Summon the Level 3 Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio."
Two monsters swapped places in a blink. Sarraceniant took two seconds to become the next plant.
"I activate both monsters' effects. When Sarraceniant is sent to the GY by an effect or destroyed by battle, I add one Predaplant monster other than Sarraceniant from my Deck to my hand. When Ophrys Scorpio is Normal or Special Summoned, I send one monster from my hand to the GY to Special Summon a Predaplant other than Ophrys Scorpio from my Deck."
"I discard Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra from my hand and Special Summon Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra from my Deck. Then I add Predaplant Byblisp from my Deck to my hand."
Hikaru held up the monster to show his opponent, then slid it into his hand and pointed at the newcomer beside him. "Darlingtonia Cobra's effect. When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a Predaplant monster, I add one 'Fusion' Spell Card from my Deck to my hand."
"Hm?" The High Priest's brow shifted. "Any Spell with 'Fusion' in the name?"
"Incredible!" Iris nodded again and again beside the High Priest. "You see? This is the strength of the Fusion Duelist I heard about. Searching every Fusion Spell in the deck. He is an absolute Fusion Duelist, through and through."
The play caught the High Priest off guard.
To be exact, though the spirits of this dimension stood a rank or two above spirits of most other dimensions, the wretched state of the world kept them from meaningful contact with the outside. Even Iris, out searching for aid, had no free hours to spare. She had heard Hikaru's name in passing, curious about the report, and half in doubt.
A Fusion Duelist chasing the extreme?
Was the tragedy of their own "extreme" Fusion Dimension not plain enough? And they were meant to seek out such a duelist?
Yet on the strength of that Fusion Spell search alone, Hikaru held something of his own.
Still, with only the material for Fusion in hand, what did that come to?
"I add Fusion Substitute from my Deck to my hand." Hikaru placed a standard Fusion equivalent into his hand.
"Then I activate this Spell, Fusion Substitute." Hikaru slotted the Spell into the tray of his Duel Disk. "This card is always treated as 'Polymerization'. It Fusion Summons using monsters I control as Fusion Material."
"I fuse Ambulomelides and Ophrys Scorpio on my field."
"The Fusion Materials are one Fusion Monster and one DARK monster."
"Fusion Summon! Level 8, Predaplant Dragostapelia!"
Ambulomelides and Ophrys Scorpio drew together and drove into the soil. After a burst of purple light, a great vine stem rose out of the earth. Riding it came a beast covered in green scales, at first glance a Western dragon, in truth a "flytrap" of a dragon. Dragostapelia lashed its tail, swept its wings, and settled in front of Hikaru.
Predaplant Dragostapelia. Level 8. DARK. Plant. ATK 2700.
"Using a second Fusion to reshape the Instant Fusion material into a new form. That way, the search from the Fusion Monster stays in play, and the Fusion climbs another step. Well done."
The High Priest gave his approval of Hikaru's duel.
"Only, why choose Fusion Substitute? Without any Special Summoned monsters on the field, Fusion Substitute is dead weight in the hand, is it not?"
The question lifted Hikaru's mood. "The reason is simple, High Priest. Fusion Substitute is like the state this dimension finds itself in. I want to prove, through Fusion Substitute, that Fusion is not mere union."
The High Priest offered no answer either way.
"I Set two cards and end my turn."
"One Fusion Monster and two Set cards. As a warrior chosen for the duel, that is fair enough. But this world is not one you can pass through with such ease."
As the High Priest spoke, it raised its right hand. The purple markings across it darkened.
"High Priest..." From further off, the Saintess wore a shadow of worry.
The High Priest looked more worn than before.
"My turn. Draw." The High Priest drew from its deck, glanced at the card, and flicked it out with the back of its hand. "I activate the Spell, Nadir Servant. I send one monster from my Extra Deck to the GY. After that, I add to my hand from my Deck or GY one Dogmatika monster or Fallen of Albaz whose ATK is less than or equal to the ATK of the monster sent to the GY. After this card resolves, until the end of the turn, I cannot Special Summon monsters from my Extra Deck.
I send Garura, Wings of Resonant Life from my Extra Deck to the GY, and I add Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my Deck to my hand."
Dogmatika, then.
That did not fall outside Hikaru's expectations.
The purple light on the High Priest's right hand grew stranger and sharper. Behind it, a vast black rhomboid space opened, its edges twisted, and a two-headed bird flew straight into the graveyard.
"Garura?" Hikaru showed a flicker of surprise. "That card exists here too?"
"As a rule, a single clan of spirits can only use one type of card. But you should know by now, in this dimension, anything can happen."
Hikaru took the answer and gave a small nod.
"Garura's effect. When this card is sent to the GY, I draw one card."
"Then, while my opponent has a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck on the field, this card can activate its effect from the hand. I Special Summon it."
Special Summon, Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous."
The Saintess patted her cheeks with both hands, took a deep breath, lifted the hammer in her grip, and hopped onto the field. Her gaze landed on Albaz at Hikaru's side, and she gave him a small wave in greeting.
Albaz rubbed the back of his head, looking a touch embarrassed.
They knew each other.
Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous. Level 4. LIGHT. Spellcaster. DEF 1500.
"When Ecclesia is Normal or Special Summoned, I add one Dogmatika card from my Deck to my hand other than Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous."
"I activate Dragostapelia's effect. Once per turn, I target one face-up monster on my opponent's field and place a Predator Counter on it. Any monster of Level 2 or higher with a Predator Counter becomes Level 1. This effect can be activated during my opponent's turn."
"Level 1? What good does that do?"
"Dragostapelia's second effect. While this card is in the Monster Zone, effects activated by monsters your opponent controls that have a Predator Counter on them are negated."
"I see. So that is the aim."
The High Priest gave a nod of understanding.
"But that will not come so easily."
"Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted, effect!"
In a shift of bearing, the High Priest flipped another card out of hand. "During either player's Main Phase, while a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck is on the field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. If I control another Dogmatika monster, I can target one face-up monster on the field and negate that monster's effects until the end of the turn.
Special Summon, Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted!"
Iris drew a long breath, raised the sword at her hip, and launched herself onto the field. She swung the blade toward Dragostapelia, and the vines climbing up from the earth shattered under a burst of gold lightning.
Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted. Level 8. LIGHT. Spellcaster. ATK 2500.
"I'm sorry, Lord Hikaru." Iris slid the blade back into its scabbard. "I would like to help you, but in a duel I cannot hold back."
"That is fine, Lady Iris. This is better, in truth." Hikaru returned the courtesy with a smile. "Without a real match, at full strength, even you would feel the pull of regret afterward."
Iris let out a slow breath.
He was Hikaru through and through.
Still, with her Special Summon in play, the strategy Hikaru had prepared was already undone.
Her gaze went to her younger sister. Ecclesia had already raised her hammer and was calling out the name of the next card.
"With Ecclesia's effect, I add Dogmatikamatrix from my Deck to my hand."
"Then, the Continuous Spell, Dogmatikamatrix!"
The High Priest turned over the Continuous Spell. As the card came into play, the whole hall rumbled and cracked.
The altar behind the High Priest split apart, and blood-slick arms pushed out through the gaps. The sanctuary itself dimmed into shadow.
Hikaru looked around at the scene, the classic image straight out of the card art, then at the spirits still standing there, and let out a quiet sigh.
If this were the original storyline, both saintesses would have been running for the exit by now. Albaz might have taken dragon form to carry Ecclesia to safety.
But this was the spirit world. A sight like this counted as nothing strange to the spirits here.
The sanctuary turned into a hellscape. What of it.
"Dogmatikamatrix, resolution effect.
I add one Dogmatika Ritual Monster or one Dogmatika Ritual Spell from my Deck to my hand. If my opponent controls a monster, I can add one further Dogmatika card from my Deck to my hand."
One-to-two search.
The archetype's search engine.
"I add Dogmatikalamity from my Deck, and Dogmatika Alba Zoa from my Deck as well, to my hand."
Alba Zoa.
Hikaru's heart tightened at the name.
"Dogmatika Alba Zoa?" Both saintesses turned as one at their teacher's words. "High Priest, what is that."
"That is the ultimate power of our Dogmatika."
The High Priest lifted a card in a slow motion. Purple light streamed off it, no longer possible to hide, and at the same instant the energy within the High Priest began to spiral out of control.
"Ah." Albaz's eyes went wide. He turned to Hikaru at once. "Lord Hikaru, he, he carries the corrupted power too."
Hikaru was taken aback.
He had seen it. He could tell.
Yet before this moment, the High Priest had held steady, with none of the signs of another monster's power fused into him.
"Teacher?" Ecclesia, the smaller saintess, called out to her master in a strained voice.
"Do not worry, Ecclesia. I have long since made my preparations." The High Priest's body crackled and hissed. Now and then, patches of flesh split apart.
"Then, High Priest, all this time you stayed here, not out of fear of the outside, but to hold back that intruding power?" Adin's mouth fell open. He could not stop the shout that broke out of him.
Iris watched, and sorrow crossed her face.
I see.
Of course.
Was she not walking now as "two monsters at once"? The pressure the High Priest carried, guarding this last stronghold of resistance, must run higher than her own.
"Hikaru. Time is not on our side." The High Priest, torn open at the seams with thick purple arms pushing out through the rents, raised the card in his grip. "Spell Card.
Activate the Ritual Spell, Dogmatikalamity.
This card sends one monster from my Extra Deck to the GY, then Ritual Summons a Dogmatika Ritual Monster whose Level equals the sent monster's. After this card resolves, until the end of the turn, I cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck."
"In this broken world, we can trust in nothing beyond ourselves any longer.
I send Five-Headed Dragon from my Extra Deck to the GY, and Ritual Summon, the me of the future.
Level 12, Dogmatika Alba Zoa!"
A wet crack.
A great golden spike drove through the High Priest's chest. The already vast body began to swell, and behind him a pair of wings of raw flesh unfurled and grew, cast like an angel's. The red markings on both his hands ran down into a red slime and slicked across his palms.
He opened his mouth to the sky and let out a last howl. Then his arms swept out, tearing apart everything the hall still held.
"Guh. Aaahhh!"
Dogmatika Alba Zoa. Level 12. LIGHT. Spellcaster. ATK 4000.
"Whoa!"
"H, High Priest?"
"The High Priest has gone berserk!"
"Teacher. Teacher, what."
"No. Do not worry." Past the first surge of madness, the powerful spirit pressed a hand against his right eye, sank into a crouch, and forced the words out through the pain. "It is fine. I have only fused with one of my own cards. Not with another spirit."
"But if I cannot bear even this, there is no point in speaking of what comes after."
He was still himself, and yet a power not his own pressed on him with weight enough to match his own. His speech skipped and jumped like a jammed tape, and the sound of it made the spirits and humans nearby ache to listen.
"While I remain on the field, Dogmatika monsters I control are unaffected by the activated effects of Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link Monsters my opponent controls."
"W, what?"
Neither saintess could make out the words.
"There is that strange glitching sound again." Tierra creased her brow. "You see, Hikaru. I have had my suspicions, but he seemed steady enough that I let it be. Now, with that broken speech coming out of him, it is plain. He is one of the spirits touched by this world itself.
Even so, it is not as far along as with the earlier Visitor to the Sacred Tomb."
Hikaru raised a brow and gave a small nod.
So no one else could hear the interference.
"Set card, open. Trap Card, Predaplanning!" Hikaru flipped the Set card without hesitation. "I send one Predaplant monster from my Deck to the GY. Place one Predator Counter on each face-up monster on the field. Any monster of Level 2 or higher with a Predator Counter becomes Level 1."
"Predaplanning. Reducing monster Levels to 1." Alba Zoa lowered his head, thinking, reaching back into memory, as if the trail led a long way off. "I see. Paired with Dragostapelia's effect, it locks down effects across a wide field. A sound tactic.
But your Dragostapelia is already negated by Fleurdelis. The card does you no good now."
"That does not matter. What matters is the activation. I send Predaplant Cordyceps to the GY, and every monster on the field takes a Predator Counter."
Dogmatika Ecclesia, Predator Counter 1. Dogmatika Fleurdelis, Predator Counter 1. Dogmatika Alba Zoa, Predator Counter 1.
By the shared effect of the counters, every one of their Levels dropped to 1.
"Resolution done. I open the other Set card, the Quick-Play Spell, Predaprime Fusion." Hikaru swept his hand up. "Predaprime Fusion's effect. While there is a Predaplant monster on the field, I send Fusion Materials for a DARK Fusion Monster from either player's field to the GY, including at least two monsters from my field, then Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck.
I fuse the two DARK monsters on my field."
"Fusion Summon! Wings of Fusion!"
"Level 8, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"
"Rraaaah!"
Purple wings of light spread wide, and the Fusion Dragon roared into view.
Most times he showed up, he was the one taking the beating. Yet loss after loss, he came back, and he never yielded.
"In this instant, I activate Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's effect and Predaplanning's effect from the GY.
First, Predaplanning. If a DARK Fusion Monster is Special Summoned to my field while this card is in my GY, I target one card on my opponent's field and destroy it. Second, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. When this card is Fusion Summoned, until the end of the turn, this card gains ATK equal to the ATK of one Special Summoned monster on my opponent's field.
I destroy Dogmatika Alba Zoa. Starving Venom Fusion Dragon takes Alba Zoa as its target as well."
"Oh." Albaz saw it and could not hold in the cheer. "Beautiful. A 6800-ATK monster on the board and the 4000-ATK threat cleared, in one stroke."
"Then everything the High Priest set up this turn was for nothing." A few of the braver onlookers among the spirits, ones with less regard for their own skins, could not help murmuring.
"I see. Dragostapelia's effect to lock down monster effects, then Predaplanning's second effect to run the disruption. Had I not drawn Fleurdelis into my hand, this would have set me back a great deal.
But things are different now.
Because everything has already been set in motion.
Quick-Play Spell, Forbidden Dress."
Hikaru's brow drew tight.
"I target one face-up monster on the field. Until the end of the turn, that monster's ATK drops by 600, it is not destroyed by card effects, and neither player can target it with card effects."
"It is over. Every play Lord Hikaru laid down comes undone here." A trace of pain crossed Albaz's face.
"No, that is not so." Iris shook her head. "Forbidden Dress resolves first. Once it resolves, neither player can target the monster with card effects. But the effects earlier on the chain have already been activated. Those cannot be undone.
Even so, Alba Zoa is safe from destruction now."
Effects processed in reverse chain order.
Dogmatika Alba Zoa. ATK: 4000 → 3400.
Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. ATK: 2800 → 6200.
From the graveyard, a great vine shot up out of the earth, drove into Alba Zoa's chest, and left not a mark.
"I activate Dogmatikamatrix's effect. Once per turn, while I control a Dogmatika Ritual Monster, I look at either Extra Deck and send one monster from it to the GY.
I send Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck to the GY."
Hikaru raised a brow.
"Herald of the Arc Light's effect. When this card is sent to the GY, I add one Ritual Monster or one Ritual Spell Card from my Deck to my hand.
I add the Ritual Monster White Exalted of Dogmatika from my Deck to my hand."
"Then, I activate my own effect."
Maximus (High Priest) raised his thick, bloodied arm with slow force and pointed at Hikaru. "Hikaru. You say you are a duelist who pursues Fusion. That is well, but the calamity of this world, of this dimension, is not so simple a thing.
Do you truly believe your strength alone is enough to change this tragic dimension?
Better a step back than a slow death here.
My own effect. During my Main Phase, my opponent chooses and applies one of the following.
One. For every 2 cards in your Extra Deck, send 1 card from your hand or Extra Deck to the GY.
Two. Return all Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link Monsters you control to the Extra Deck."
"What?"
"A, a terrifying effect."
A few of the closer spirits cried out.
Both options, at a glance, looked so much like...
Cruelty at its rawest.
Hikaru was a Fusion duelist. Either line, applied to him, was as good as an execution.
The first was giving up on the future. Hikaru's Extra Deck held only 13 cards now. That meant discarding a full 6. Would what remained still carry a duel through? And to avoid dumping the Extra Deck, he would have to throw away cards from his hand, which meant throwing away hope by another name.
But if not the first...
The second was giving up on the present.
If the Fusion Dragon went back to the Extra Deck now, what future was there left to speak of? Maximus would swing straight for the direct attack.
"Come, Hikaru. Choose. Show me whether you can hold your ground against the worst that stands in your way."
Every spirit in the hall turned to look at him.
The two saintesses stood one before the other, swallowing hard, holding their breath for his answer.
Sweat beaded on Albaz's forehead. He shifted like an ant on a hot pan, and he half wished he were the one dueling instead, so that even a loss would not have mattered.
"..."
Hikaru let the pause hang, then broke into a smile. "Number 1, of course.
I discard 6 cards."
Alba Zoa split into a wide, blood-stained grin and laughed out loud. Both saintesses felt the strength go out of them.
"So the future is what you choose to give up? Very good. Without a present, what future is there to speak of."
"No. What I choose is not to give up the future." Hikaru cut in without missing a beat. "Maximus. Look at your own duel. You gave up the use of the Extra Deck, and yet in the end you still drew on the power of an Extra Deck monster, did you not?
The same holds for me. Hand, field, or Extra Deck, so long as they are my Fusion, they know no line between past, present, and future. Every one of them is part of my Fusion.
I accept effect 1."
He lifted the Extra Deck. "I send Elder Entity N'tss, Predaplant Chimerafflesia, Garura, Wings of Resonant Life, and Titaniklad the Ash Dragon from my Extra Deck, and Predaplant Byblisp and Electromagnetic Turtle from my hand, to the GY."
Four from the Extra Deck, two from the hand. Hikaru did not so much as blink as he let the hand cards go.
At the same instant, watching the cards fall into the graveyard, Iris, the elder saintess, could not hold back a small cry.
"Those cards, they are..."
"Garura, Wings of Resonant Life..."
Ecclesia, the younger saintess, looked at the monster and felt something stir at the sight.
Not moments ago, the Extra Deck monster Maximus had sent to the GY to call up his own play had been that same Garura.
Two decks with different aims. And yet the same Extra Deck monster in both.
Just like Maximus and her elder sister. Their reasoning and their goals had run in different directions, and yet.
They, the remaining spirits, were themselves the wings of resonant life. The last survivors of this dimension. What they owed each other was cooperation, and room to hold each other's difference.
"Your deck..." Watching Hikaru send Garura to the graveyard, Alba Zoa could not help a low murmur. "What are you trying to say?"
"I am not trying to say anything. I only want to prove my Fusion."
"..."
Alba Zoa did not speak again.
"Then, if there are no objections, I activate the effects of the cards.
Garura's effect: I draw one card. Predaplant Byblisp's effect: I add one Predaplant card from my Deck to my hand. Elder Entity N'tss's effect: when this card is sent to the GY, I target one card on the field and destroy it. I choose Dogmatikamatrix."
The Elder Entity raised the spear in its hand and drove it into the warped altar behind Alba Zoa, and the scene of the place began to return to its old grandeur.
Hikaru then added Predaplant Triantis from his Deck to his hand and drew one more card.
"To think you could even manage that. Truly the Fusion Duelist whose name reached the spirit world." Alba Zoa's right hand rose with a card that swelled larger in his grip. "Ritual Spell, Dogmatikamacabre. This card banishes a Fusion or Synchro Monster from the GY, then Ritual Summons a Dogmatika Ritual Monster from my hand or GY. I banish Herald of the Arc Light from my GY. Ritual Summon.
Level 4, White Exalted of Dogmatika."
Dim red starlight fell from the sky, and a slender maiden lifted a staff with slow, steady grace, and settled to the ground drop by drop.
White Exalted of Dogmatika. Level 4. LIGHT. Spellcaster. DEF 2500.
"When this card is Ritual Summoned, I target two face-up monsters on the field. One of them gains ATK equal to the other's.
I cannot choose myself, but Fleurdelis is a valid target.
Fleurdelis, raise your Fusion Dragon's attack."
Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted. ATK: 2500 → 8700.
"A, ATK 8700!" Albaz felt lightheaded.
How could a monster reach that number of ATK?
"8700! Astonishing. Truly Lady Fleurdelis at her finest."
"Save the praise. If Lady Iris attacks..."
Alba Zoa raised a claw and pointed at Hikaru.
"While Fleurdelis is on the field, when a Dogmatika monster attacks, every Dogmatika monster on my field gains 500 ATK.
Your Life Points sit at a mere 3000. If you cannot even evade a strike from Fleurdelis, how can you carry the weight of this dimension's crisis?"
"Lord Hikaru! Think of something!" Iris drew her sword. A knight worth the name did not go easy.
"At ease. As I said, my duel will not end so soon. And none of what I have played is giving up the future.
Electromagnetic Turtle's effect.
This card's effect can only be used once per Duel.
During my opponent's Battle Phase, I banish this card from my GY. That Battle Phase ends."
Iris had barely drawn her sword when she found her motion frozen mid-swing.
Battle Phase, ended.
A clean answer.
"You turned every one of my disruptions into your own tactic?" Alba Zoa's eyes widened at the scene.
Then he shook his head.
"What of it? Your Extra Deck holds only a handful of cards left, and I can shield every Dogmatika soldier from your Fusion Monsters' effects."
"How will you know if you do not try?"
"...What did you say?"
"I said, how will you know if you do not try?" Hikaru still wore the same smile he had brought with him when he arrived. "It may be that this dimension is beyond saving. Almost past all hope of rescue.
But before then, why not try? What if it worked? And if it did not, you could still step back. All it takes is being ready to leave in time. That is all."
Try.
A simple word.
And a word no one who longed to save their own dimension had ever dared to speak.
"Then show me. Show me your Fusion."
"End Phase."
"Then it is my turn to unfold my hand." Hikaru raised his arm. "During the End Phase, I activate Titaniklad the Ash Dragon's effect."
Huh?
The spirits were hearing this card's effect for the first time.
"That is Albaz's..." Ecclesia knew this card well enough.
Albaz scratched the back of his head. Before the dimensional merge, he had been famously weak in his own homeland, hardly ever winning. After the merge, he had the good fortune to meet spirits from the Dogmatika Dimension, but before he could learn much of anything from Ecclesia, a passing spirit had devoured him.
Only now, in this moment, did he stand before Ecclesia for the second time.
But.
More than any of that, what surprised him was that Lord Hikaru would choose to search for him at a moment like this.
He was, plainly, weak.
"During the End Phase of the turn Titaniklad the Ash Dragon was sent to the GY, I add or Special Summon one Dogmatika monster or Fallen of Albaz from my Deck."
"Oh?" Maximus (High Priest) raised a brow. "Searching Fleurdelis with that effect would work well."
Close to a negate on a monster Special Summoned during your opponent's turn.
"What I am searching for is Albaz himself."
Hikaru's deck shuffled and a card sprang out into his hand.
"Then, my turn. Draw. In this instant, I activate the effect of Predaplant Chimerafflesia in the GY. When this card is sent to the GY, during my next Standby Phase, I add one 'Fusion' Spell Card from my Deck to my hand."
"Another search-Fusion effect?"
The spirits watched Hikaru's duel with fresh amazement.
"This..." Albaz took in the scene in awe.
The strategy of searching any Fusion Spell.
"Impressive, is he not? This is our lord. From starting out with Instant Fusion in hand, our lord can now reach for any Fusion he wants." Flame Sword tilted his head up with pride, glowing with the honor of it.
Reaching for any Fusion he wanted.
"What I am searching for is this card again. Fusion Substitute." Hikaru gave a small smile and drew a second Fusion Substitute from his deck.
The spirits present traded glances.
"Fusion Substitute?" Ecclesia could not hold back her question. "Fusion Substitute shares a card name with Polymerization. Under the rules, Fusion Substitute and Polymerization combined can total no more than three copies in a Deck, and you have run three Fusion Substitutes? Does that mean..."
"That is right." Hikaru let a soft laugh out. "In this deck of mine, there is only Fusion Substitute. No ordinary Polymerization."
Only Fusion Substitute?
Or put another way, Hikaru's Fusion in this moment was Substitution itself.
"But Fusion Substitute can only fuse monsters on the field. Where are all those monsters going to come from?"
"They will come. And I may not need it in the way you think."
?
"It does not matter what monster you fuse. It changes nothing." Alba Zoa held to the same line. "Have I not said it already? While I am on the field, our Dogmatika members are unaffected by your Fusion Monsters.
That is true, yes. But only unaffected by monsters from the Extra Deck, is that not so?"
"What are you saying?"
"I activate the effect of Fusion Substitute in the GY. I banish it, return one Fusion Monster from my GY to the Extra Deck, and draw one card. I return Titaniklad the Ash Dragon. Draw one card."
Hikaru placed the Ash Dragon back into the Extra Deck and drew a card off the top.
"Then, Normal Summon. Level 4, Fallen of Albaz."
Albaz had been watching, caught up in the duel, when he heard his own name and, on reflex, pointed at himself. Then delight broke across his face and he darted forward at a small run onto the field.
Ragged clothes. A body streaked with wounds. A soul stained by the red light. This Albaz might have carried more suffering than the Albaz of the original story. In the original, at least, he had had Ecclesia falling into his life to stand beside him.
But wherever he was, he was always the one who did not give up.
Fallen of Albaz. Level 4. DARK. Dragon. ATK 1800.
Ecclesia gave him a small, glad wave.
Neither of them had thought they would face each other across the same duel.
"Albaz has only 1800 ATK. What is he to me?"
"Lord Alba Zoa, he is a great deal. He is the hope of this world, of this dimension. He longs to save this dimension. He wants to draw apart the spirits tangled by the chaos. He wants to prove that Fusion is not what it has become.
True Fusion is understanding between all sides, not devouring by force."
"Interesting. So how will you show me?"
"Fallen of Albaz's effect. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I discard one card from my hand and Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, using monsters on either field as Fusion Material, including this card. I cannot use other monsters I control as Fusion Material.
I discard the second Fusion Substitute."
"What?"
"Eh?"
"So this is nothing but forced fusion."
The spirits looking on murmured among themselves.
But.
Was that what it truly was?
No.
Alba Zoa stood still.
Fusion Monsters were not born from nothing. If Albaz could fuse with a monster of theirs, that meant Albaz himself could understand it, could see the world the way it did.
"The Fusion Materials are Fallen of Albaz and a monster with 2500 ATK or more."
"Go, Albaz. Tell him what you want to do." Hikaru gave him the push he needed.
Albaz froze for a beat, then looked back at Hikaru with the shock plain on his face.
I. Me?
I.
I.
Yes.
At a moment like this, only he, one of this dimension's own spirits, had the standing to speak.
Lord Hikaru, even in a moment like this, still believed in him, still stood behind him. That was Lord Hikaru's Fusion.
Albaz drew in a deep breath. "Maximus. I am the Fallen of Albaz of the Branded Dimension. Only a weaker Albaz, yes, but I have held on to the belief that the path of Fusion should be one of understanding between all sides, not forced union. Titaniklad the Ash Dragon is the power that woke in me only after I met Lady Ecclesia.
I believe this dimension still has a future of its own to reach. Please. Do not give up on it."
"Boy." Alba Zoa lowered his head until it hung right before Albaz. "Are you prepared to say a thing like that? Do you have the strength for it? At the state you are in, you fall short of some of the ones here who have not even become warriors. How can you speak for any of this? Can you truly bear the weight?"
"This..." He had no ready answer.
"Then prove it." Hikaru's voice rose with a smile. "Fuse Fallen of Albaz with Dogmatika Alba Zoa."
What?
"What are you doing, Lord Hikaru? This boy cannot bear that kind of power."
"Lord Hikaru, I..."
"It is fine. If you feel yourself slipping, call my name." Hikaru closed his hand into a fist in front of Albaz. "I believe in you. Now believe in me, the one who believes in you."
Albaz's mouth fell open, his eyes wide.
"You can do it, Albaz!" Ecclesia cheered him on.
He looked at Ecclesia, then at Hikaru, then at the "three knights" beside Hikaru. Watching the three knights give slow nods, he drew a deep breath.
Yes.
He was not alone. Beside him stood the strongest Fusion Duelist in the world.
The absolute Fusion Duelist.
Hikaru.
He spread his arms wide. The mark on his body began to flicker, and the power of Alba Zoa began to draw out of Alba Zoa himself.
Purple lightning. Crimson whispers of madness. The vast strength of a spirit shaped by the future. All of it drew out of Alba Zoa, and he settled back into the shape of Maximus (High Priest).
Yet how was Albaz to bear that great a burden of power?
Endless force poured into Albaz's body. Sharp cracks broke from him with the strain, and his frame began to fracture. No, to swell.
The mark on his forehead glowed a deep red, and gold armor rose across his body.
But.
Halfway through the intake, he began to moan in pain.
Too much.
For a low-rank spirit like himself, this power was too much.
His body began to break apart. Gold blood ran from the seams. Every part of him ached to a degree that made the moaning impossible to stop. Even so, he did not call the name.
Hikaru.
At last, under one more surging roar, he turned in full into a dragon.
Titaniklad the Ash Dragon. Level 8. DARK. Dragon. ATK 2500.
"Ah, aah..." He breathed fire out and nearly fell.
To the side, Tierra had a look of surprise on her face.
The little one had actually held?
Even with "Hikaru's divine backing" slipped in from behind, a low-tier spirit of his class was not supposed to bear this.
Had he not said he lost every battle in his own clan, that he had never won a match?
Was his gift really so bright?
That was Tierra's habit of misjudging what she had not seen for herself.
Tierra had met her share of spirits, yet she did not know the Story of White.
For a spirit like Fallen of Albaz, few wins and many losses stood closer to the original tale than anything else.
"That, that is remarkable." Maximus stood with his mouth open, watching the scene in shock.
"He did it? He actually did it?" Iris felt her own eyes were about to bulge out of her head.
"Yes! Albaz, amazing!"
"Kah, hah, kah..." Albaz could not force out a word.
"Titaniklad the Ash Dragon gains ATK equal to the combined original Levels of its Fusion Material monsters times 100. That is 16 Levels, for a total of 1600."
Titaniklad the Ash Dragon. ATK: 2500 → 4100.
"ATK 4100. Yes, past my own now." Maximus shook his head. "But Fleurdelis stands at 8700 ATK.
That is still a wall you cannot cross."
"There is more. White Exalted of Dogmatika's effect. When a monster is Special Summoned from my opponent's Extra Deck, I look at my opponent's Extra Deck and send one monster from it to the GY."
Hikaru's Extra Deck lifted itself up on its own and spread open before Maximus. He glanced across the cards and pointed at one of them. "Send Despian Quaeritis to the GY."
"To think you had a Fusion Monster that turns every other monster's ATK to 0. That was a close call. Far too close.
That takes care of it. Now nothing slips through."
"That may not be so." Hikaru let his arms spread and smiled. "Do you remember? My tactic this time was for Substitution. To prove Fusion. To bring you around to seeing the possibility."
"What are you saying?"
"I am saying it does not matter what you sent to the GY. Because the monster I plan to use is the one your effect sent there first. I will use it to prove that no matter where they are, my Fusion still stands.
Effect of the second Fusion Substitute in the GY. I banish it, return Predaplant Chimerafflesia to the Extra Deck, and draw one card."
Fusion Substitute, like Polymerization, carried no once-per-turn on its card name.
Only, at this second activation, Maximus began to suspect one possibility.
Not only him.
Every spirit in the hall began to see the same possibility.
"Then, Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra's effect in the GY. I tribute one monster with a Predator Counter on my field or my opponent's, and Special Summon this card from my hand or GY.
I tribute Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous."
A great vine rose out of the ground, took the smaller saintess by the collar, and set her down at the side, in the seats reserved for the watchers.
"With that, there are enough monsters on the field once again."
"Do you mean." Maximus stared.
Hikaru's mouth turned up at the corner. He drew a card from his hand and held it out for every spirit to see.
The third.
Fusion Substitute.
The third copy.
"The Fusion Materials are one Predaplant monster and one DARK monster.
I fuse Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra on my field with Starving Venom Fusion Dragon."
"What I fuse is the future you sent to the GY last turn, and the Fusion I brought back this turn. One of the monsters I trust the most."
"Now, witness the legendary monster."
The two monsters spun in the air, and a stream of purple light lit the room from every side. The bare walls of the hall pushed out flowers of their own accord.
The spirits reached to touch the blossoms. Some laughed in surprise. Some could not hold back tears of joy.
In this dimension of chaos, a trace of the pure had come through at last.
"Fusion Summon!"
"Level 7!"
"Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
The great king flower stepped into the light.
Chimerafflesia. Level 7. DARK. Plant. ATK 2500.
"Chimerafflesia's effect. Once per turn, I target one monster on the field whose Level is less than or equal to this card's Level, and banish it. I banish the one whose Level dropped from the Predator Counter, Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted."
The soil churned, and countless vines rose from every side, forming themselves into "hoists" ready to escort the undefeated knight off the stage. But the woman knight only raised a hand to wave them off, then rose in her own good time and floated to the seats.
"With that, this is over."
"Excellent. No. Brilliant beyond compare." Maximus began to clap without meaning to. "You defeated me in a duel where I used forbidden power, and you did it while using Fusion Substitute in sequence to prove your will to change this dimension. It seems I made too little of the name 'the Absolute Fusion Duelist.'"
"A title is only a word others use for you. What matters is whether you are willing to work with us."
"With things as they are now, then. I will try."
"Good. Chimerafflesia, attack White Exalted of Dogmatika.
Then, Albaz, go."
Hikaru pointed at Maximus.
"Direct attack."
"Rroaah, aah."
The silver dragon raised a claw with effort, still unable to bring his body under his own control. In the end, he opened his mouth and let out a great roar, releasing the pure power inside him, and a moment later the dragon breath, made of lightning, poured down onto Maximus.
Maximus. LP: 4000 → 0.
"Whoa!"
"That was incredible!"