The duel ended. Leo Akaba collapsed to the ground, motionless.
His soul had been torn to shreds. There was no possibility of recovery.
Countless souls that Red Nova had devoured now returned to where they belonged. In hospitals, in the Commons, countless people who had lost consciousness or their souls because of the Fusion forces began to slowly awaken.
Some spirits that had been controlled by the Fusion forces were liberated. Some didn't even understand what had happened and vanished in a hurry, hiding inside cards somewhere in whatever dimension they regained awareness in. Others sensed something, realizing that an unimaginable "Fusion" had finally set them free.
"Super Polymerization, huh?"
After the duel ended, the Goddess of Despair departed, yet she couldn't stop thinking about what she had witnessed.
Her features were beautiful: silver skin, garments in black, blue, and purple as a base, accented with yellow, orange, and white. From a distance, she resembled an enormous great purple emperor butterfly, appearing both regal and mysterious.
She was the "Darkness" of the Xyz Dimension: the Goddess of Despair, Eira, the shadow within the light, the deity who bestowed despair upon those whose hope had been shattered. Whenever someone's despair and darkness attracted her, she would cross dimensions to appear at their side.
Before encountering Leo Akaba, she had never chosen a host. It wasn't that she lacked options; quite the opposite, she had many. The reason she granted Leo Akaba power was purely because she wanted to spread despair to other dimensions, using Leo Akaba, the "war criminal," to manufacture more panic.
It was then that she learned the Fusion forces had a persistent nemesis: an "absolute Fusion wielder" named Hikaru.
A duel was the projection of a duelist's will. Cards were the manifestation of will and power. A person who pursued Fusion, who pursued Super Polymerization, who chased ever more and greater Fusion, was the purest and most direct kind of duelist.
She had watched the entire duel. Though there were some twists, the tempo had been firmly in Hikaru's grasp throughout.
At first glance, it might have looked like Leo Akaba was slamming down one powerful monster after another to dominate the field. In reality, Leo Akaba had merely been throwing strong card after strong card, brute-forcing his way through the duel.
Powerful cards were certainly powerful. But the duelist himself was simply not up to par.
And his opponent was no weakling either, wielding equally powerful cards.
When everyone's cards were strong, deckbuilding and strategy became paramount.
Leo Akaba was nowhere near Hikaru's level.
Super Polymerization, huh?
She murmured to herself. She would probably never forget that light of Fusion that had enveloped the entire world.
But...
That was precisely what excited her.
Because of the advent of dimensional travel, different "dimensions" had been connected. She, a god of despair who could originally only travel within the Xyz Dimension, now had the opportunity to visit more worlds, to create and spread more mistakes, more despair.
That despair, fed back to her, would make her stronger in her own world, granting her greater dominance.
Just like the Hikaru she had encountered now!
This was true "feedback."
In her world, there existed an ultimate power on par with that Super Polymerization: the pinnacle of "Xyz," the Numeron Force. But powerful as Numeron Force was, it was not something any being could approach or even touch.
She and her companions wanted to unseal the Numeron Force, wanted to destroy the Astral World. Relying solely on the power of their own world was far from stable enough.
And now, a brand-new source of "feedback" had appeared before her.
A card that could change the possibilities of their world!
Not an apostle of a god, but an apostle of Fusion. If she could drive someone like that to despair, how powerful a dark duelist would he become?
At that thought, she glanced back at the Synchro Dimension one more time, swept her gaze over Lulu, and a string of schemes had already formed in her mind.
Just wait. We'll meet again, absolute Fusion wielder.
"Hahahaha, hahahahaha! Super Polymerization? That card seems to be the ultimate power of Fusion?" Meanwhile, on Hikaru's end, Red Nova wasted no time trying to tempt him directly. "I can feel it. That card is on the same level as the Synchro power carried by the Crimson Dragon, isn't it?
Heh heh heh, no wonder you've never been interested in the war of the one true god.
But that card seems to have a side effect of darkening one's heart and pushing them to extremes. So even someone like you, the greatest believer in Fusion, doesn't dare use it every duel, right?
If you support me, if you help me defeat the Crimson Dragon, you'll gain the power to control it absolutely. And then..."
Hikaru looked down at Super Polymerization, placed it back into his pendant, and replied, "Thanks, but no thanks."
"Heh heh... Are you sure you don't need it?" Red Nova, hearing Hikaru's response, shrank into a small flame figure and flew around him. "That Leo Akaba had the power of several different worlds on him, didn't he?
He's dead now, sure. But all the malice that clung to him saw the moment you used Super Polymerization.
You're strong, but you're still only human. Power on the level of Super Polymerization is bound to attract those who covet it.
Look at this world. For the sake of Synchro, everyone with a fist has been bashing each other's heads in, cycle after cycle for thousands of years.
If you and I work together, heh heh heh..."
"I appreciate the concern, but I'll pass." Hikaru replied politely.
"Get lost." Tierra snorted coldly in annoyance. "A half-dead wretch like you should scurry away. With me helping Hikaru, what need is there for extra power?"
Tierra wielded blue purgatorial flames, scorching Red Nova until it shrieked and stumbled backward.
What Red Nova said wasn't entirely false, though.
Super Polymerization did, to some extent, affect a person's mind. But that was likely the "original" Super Polymerization.
Although it appeared very similar to Jaden's Super Polymerization, Hikaru had spent so long with it that he understood his own Super Polymerization intimately.
It wouldn't affect Hikaru's mind. It would only do one thing: "compel" Hikaru to use Fusion.
It would, as always, forcibly alter Hikaru's deck, filling it with almost nothing but Fusion-related cards. Even now that Hikaru could barely keep Super Polymerization under control, any support cards he added to his deck would transform into Fusion cards after a duel or two.
But this wasn't actually malicious. It was a spontaneous, unconscious transformation.
It wasn't affecting Hikaru's mind, making him extreme, making him more "Fusion-brained." Rather, the more Hikaru focused on using Fusion, the more he believed in Fusion, the easier his duels became, the more he could turn thought into action.
It was symbiotic. Neither side overwhelmed the other. Instead, they understood and fused with each other.
Under these circumstances, Hikaru wasn't worried about Super Polymerization changing his mind.
Seeing that Hikaru was unmoved, and with Tierra, the Sacred Beasts, and the Earthbound Immortals all glaring from the sidelines, Red Nova lowered its hands and huffed a couple of times.
No matter. It had its own duelist in mind. This Leo Akaba had been nothing more than a tool to restore its life.
The duelist it had its eye on was one who had pushed through suffering and torment, marching toward becoming the ultimate "King."
Super Polymerization, huh...
It trembled with excitement.
What a breathtaking, exhilarating power.
Hikaru ignored it. He walked over to Leo Akaba's body, checked first to confirm that Leo Akaba was truly dead, then turned his attention to Leo Akaba's machines.
Tierra memorized the construction of these machines in an instant. Hikaru nodded, then reached for Leo Akaba's Duel Disk, only to find it had already crumbled to dust. The cards inside had naturally vanished as well.
Hmm...
With Leo Akaba's defeat and Red Nova's fall, the devoured souls returned to their rightful bodies. The nobles and Fusion forces elites who had collapsed began to regain consciousness one by one.
Some were still adjusting to their bodies. Others, once they came to their senses, stared at Hikaru in terror.
Since the vast majority had already fled the Council of Nobles, most didn't revive inside the building. Those who did were few, but without exception, every one of them had witnessed Hikaru use Super Polymerization from the closest possible vantage point: inside Red Nova itself.
In that instant, the terrifying power of Super Polymerization, warping heaven and earth, tearing at the fabric of the world, as if it meant to merge all of existence into one, left them unable to feel even jealousy or greed. All that remained in their hearts was fear.
Then, from outside the Council of Nobles, a barrage of gunshots suddenly rang out.
"Aghh..."
"Guwah!"
The nobles and Fusion soldiers who had just been revived, before they could even grasp what was happening, fell like wheat before a scythe. Gunfire poured down like rain outside. Some who had only just regained consciousness, their memories still stuck on fleeing for their lives, instinctively ran back inside.
But...
No mercy was shown outside.
Hikaru watched as the last person collapsed in the doorway.
Just as Hikaru was about to leave, he heard the soft thud of someone landing behind him. He turned slowly and saw a familiar face wearing an unfamiliar smile.
Yugo...?
No. Judging by the outfit, it was Yuri.
He wore a Fusion forces uniform, draped in a vivid red cape, with a friendly smile on his face. He waved gently at Hikaru. "Ah, Hikaru-senpai, hello there. I'm Yuri, of the Fusion forces. I've always been a fan of yours~"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow and regarded Yuri. He didn't sense overwhelming hostility, and simply asked, "Fusion forces. Are you here to duel me?"
"No no no." Yuri held both hands up in front of him, waving them lightly, projecting harmlessness. "Even if we were going to duel, you always save the main course for last."
Hikaru stared at Yuri with furrowed brows.
Yuri chuckled softly, then casually produced a USB drive in his right hand and showed it to Hikaru. "It's just that, Hikaru-senpai, while you may have destroyed the Professor's soul, that doesn't mean the Professor has truly disappeared. He was a genius scientist, after all. He backed up his consciousness long ago, just in case."
With that, he squeezed his right hand. With a crack, the USB drive shattered.
Hikaru showed no reaction. Tierra, however, was somewhat surprised.
Wasn't that the Fusion forces' secret weapon? Why did he destroy it? Was he defecting?
Hikaru simply reflected for a moment.
In the original story, Leo Akaba had raised Yuri as his "right-hand man." But at some point during that upbringing, Yuri declared that he wanted to "turn everyone in the world except me into cards," which gave Leo Akaba quite a shock. Leo Akaba had reacted with a "how did you turn out like this?" and later, during Yuri's duel with Yuya, even said things like "Zarc's fragment is truly evil."
With the way he'd raised Yuri, shouldn't he have asked himself why Yuri turned out that way?
Yuri was doing some reflecting of his own. "I was planning to make the Professor my personal prey, but it seems senpai beat me to it.
Still, I've heard something far more interesting and seen an even more fascinating duelist. So it's not all bad."
He pulled out a card, loaded it into his Duel Disk, and aimed it at Leo Akaba. Moments later, Leo Akaba's body dissolved into a card, which Yuri held in his hand.
And with that, body, soul, and consciousness were all gone.
"Well then, see you next time! Oh, and do me a favor, say hello to my brothers and sisters for me~" With that, he pulled out a Violet Flash, which emitted a dazzling purple light, and vanished from the room.
"What was that guy here for?" Tierra asked offhandedly.
Hikaru didn't respond.
Yuri was a pure dueling maniac. All he thought about was dueling, and all he cared about was dueling.
...
STONES >^_^^_^<
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