Infinite power gathered in this world. Living beings, tangible and intangible, past, present, and future, from the human world and spirit realm alike, silently cast their gazes into this "space."
"Hikaru..." A female "giant" saw Hikaru's figure. She observed the duel, her body slowly radiating an aura of terror and despair. Watching this duel, her lips slowly curled into a savage grin.
A blue single eye observed this dimension.
After Darkness's power had isolated Duel Academy, nearly all humans had forgotten the island's existence. Only he would never, absolutely never forget anything about humanity. He watched this scene with cold, emotionless eyes.
In his enormous laboratory, countless mechanical arms worked in unison, collaboratively attempting to create a special card.
At the duel's center.
The Supreme King raised his left hand. The Duel Disk spun wildly with a roar. He flicked his left wrist, sparks flying. His right hand touched the Deck and drew a card with a sharp sound.
He glanced down.
"Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer's effect!"
Hikaru spoke at that moment. "I Special Summon itself!"
The flames burning beside Hikaru cried out again, transforming into a proud hero!
Hikaru didn't activate Drawhand's effect. Although Drawhand was a decent draw supplement, its Special Summon also let the opponent draw a card.
Previously, Hikaru would have considered using Drawhand because he genuinely lacked draw power. But this opponent was completely different.
He couldn't give the Supreme King a free card!
The Supreme King didn't react.
There was nothing he could do right now.
He wanted to use Form Change on Neos Lord to transform it into another Fusion Monster, but unfortunately, Neos Lord was Level 10 with no Masked HERO at that Level. The Form Change search had been intended for his other Fusion Monsters, but he hadn't anticipated Kraken's multi-attack clearing his entire board.
Even if he summoned a higher-ATK hero, with DPE on Hikaru's field, his monsters would lose 400 ATK. Winda at 2200 needed 2600 ATK to break through, which was quite troublesome.
And even if he could reach 2600, DPE's effect meant Hikaru could destroy his own DPE to stop the attack.
An unbreakable Winda, a monster that could stall at least one turn. He wouldn't face that. At minimum, he needed to deal with Winda in battle!
So...
He calmly entered his Main Phase.
"Pot of Greed. Draw two cards." He casually drew two.
"I activate the Continuous Trap: Shaddoll Schism! And immediately use its effect." Unlike the Supreme King's patience, Hikaru acted decisively the instant he could. "Once per turn during either player's Main Phase: I banish Shaddoll Fusion materials from my field and Graveyard to Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster. Then, I can send one opponent's monster with the same Attribute as the Fusion Summoned monster to the Graveyard."
For the Supreme King, the unacceptable outcome was eating Winda's Special Summon restriction.
But for Hikaru, the even more unacceptable outcome was Neos Lord activating a second time!
Hikaru couldn't guarantee what was in the Supreme King's hand. If he had cards that sent Hikaru's cards to the Graveyard, Neos Lord could target DPE and seize control of it.
Even if Hikaru chained DPE's effect to dodge, he'd waste a destruction for nothing. That was unacceptable.
Seeing Hikaru activate the Trap, the Supreme King wasn't surprised and didn't care.
He had anticipated this the moment Hikaru recovered Shaddoll Schism from the Graveyard.
Near the towering evil overlord, countless puppet strings materialized from thin air, binding Neos Lord and dragging it into the abyss.
"I banish Aleister on my field and Shaddoll Squamata from my Graveyard. Fusion Summon! Voice of the divine!
El Shaddoll Winda!"
Green hair flowed in the wind. The god-controlled puppet appeared with a smile.
El Shaddoll Winda. Level 5, DARK Attribute, Spellcaster-Type. ATK 2200.
"Tactical retreat, Neos Lord." The Supreme King's right hand glowed purple as he called to his overlord. Neos Lord seemed reluctant but ultimately vanished from the field.
The Supreme King nodded slightly and looked at his drawn cards.
Graceful Charity and... Heavy Storm?
Too bad. If he had drawn a Quick-Play wind Spell, he could have destroyed Schism directly and prevented Hikaru's Fusion.
But Hikaru still had a Set card. Although he knew Hikaru's cards were mostly Fusion-related, if it was an attack-restricting card, that would also be problematic.
So drawing Heavy Storm at this point was actually decent.
"I activate the Spell Card: Heavy Storm!"
A gale erupted from the Supreme King, raging outward.
Black shockwaves swept everything, lifting all of Hikaru's Spell and Trap Cards.
"Sigh..." Jaden watched with disappointment. "His Set cards were destroyed without even being used."
Tierra thought the same.
"I see. You anticipated this and Set that card precisely for this reason."
?
The Supreme King was slightly puzzled.
"The destroyed cards, besides Shaddoll Schism, include this one." Hikaru opened his Graveyard, lips curling. "Waking the Dragon!"
"Oh. I see." The Supreme King nodded lightly. "A backup plan."
Oh!!
Jaden understood.
So that was it. A "detonator" planted next to Shaddoll Schism.
"Exactly! Waking the Dragon's effect: I Special Summon one monster from my Extra Deck!"
Hikaru opened his Extra Deck, browsed through it, and smiled.
"Your time to shine, my beloved flower!
Special Summon!
Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
Predaplant Chimerafflesia. Level 7, DARK Attribute, Plant-Type. DEF 2000.
"Defense Position?" The Supreme King glanced. "How cautious."
Hikaru shrugged without bravado.
Times had changed. Even though Chimerafflesia could overcome 4500 ATK monsters, it might also be reduced to 0. Attack Position was less reassuring than Defense.
As for Winda, there was no choice. Hikaru would never summon her in Defense. With 800 DEF, Defense Position Winda was a waste of a summon.
However, because of his own Special Summon, Hikaru's Duel Disk was instantly wrapped in countless purple puppet strings, losing Special Summon privileges.
Of course, he wasn't planning any other summons this turn anyway.
Winda's effective ATK was about 2600 now. Under normal conditions, breaking through head-on would be extremely difficult.
After all, he still had Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer on his field. At minimum, he had one destruction to stop the Supreme King's attack.
With only one Special Summon allowed, the Supreme King had to deal with the DPE and Winda combo in a single Special Summon...
Hikaru watched the Supreme King, anticipating his play.
"Normal Summon: Elemental HERO Bubbleman."
Here it was!
There he was!
The most confident hero in the universe: Bubbleman!
"When this card is Normal or Special Summoned and I control no other cards: I draw two cards from my Deck."
Hikaru wasn't surprised.
The Supreme King casually drew two, then activated Graceful Charity, drew three more, and discarded Form Change and another monster.
"What are you doing?!" Jaden, who had been an enthusiastic spectator, wouldn't normally care about draw filtering. But the Supreme King's actions went beyond that. The discarded cards let out terrible screams, as if in agony.
"Monsters that failed my expectations deserve no glory. Disappear."
BOOM!
The monsters exploded in anguish, becoming the Supreme King's power, flowing into his palm.
Only then did the Supreme King carefully examine his hand.
After reviewing, he frowned slightly. Still not easy to cleanly handle this board. He spoke: "Evil Mind's effect in the Graveyard activates. I banish this card from the Graveyard, provided it wasn't sent there this turn. I add one Dark Fusion from my Graveyard to my hand."
A card was pulled from the Graveyard.
"Then, Dark Supremacy's Graveyard effect. I banish this card, provided it wasn't sent there this turn. I target up to five HERO monsters in my Graveyard and banished zone. Those cards return to the Deck."
"Adusted Gold, Inferno Wing - Backfire, Dead-End Prison, Liquid Soldier, and Neos Lord!"
"Then, Dark Fusion."
He casually slotted the Fusion into his Duel Disk.
BOOM!
The lightning surrounding the space intensified.
Tierra's expression grew tense. "Hikaru, be careful. If he's willing to Fuse, he's confident. And if he has Neos in hand..."
"Mm!" Hikaru nodded silently.
Neos Lord's conditions were a field monster plus Neos. The Supreme King had recycled Neos Lord back to the Deck, and "Bubbleman" was on his field again. If he Dark Fusion'd Neos Lord now, he could immediately seize control of one of their monsters!
For Tierra, this was absolutely unacceptable.
Their goal was to eliminate Neos Lord. If it returned and stole another monster, things would be terrible. If the Supreme King chose Winda, without DPE's "escort," he might use some strange card to send Winda to the Graveyard. Then he could Fuse freely before the Battle Phase, putting Hikaru at a severe disadvantage!
So before that, they had to destroy Bubbleman!
This was the Supreme King's "open strategy."
Worthy of a king and general. After being restricted by Hikaru, he immediately found a solution. Hikaru would never gamble, so...
"I activate DPE's effect. I destroy my Predaplant Chimerafflesia and your Bubbleman."
Flames surged. Bubbleman was scorched and vanished.
The Supreme King frowned slightly. Unable to directly summon Neos Lord, he settled for the next best thing. "Fusion conditions: one Level 5 or higher monster plus one Evil HERO monster."
Hearing these conditions, Hikaru frowned.
"I fuse Evil HERO Sinister Necrom and Neos from my hand."
"Dark Fusion! Evil HERO Malicious Bane!"
A demon resembling Vicious Claws but larger and more muscular swung a dragon tail, laughing as it appeared.
Evil HERO Malicious Bane. Level 8, DARK Attribute, Fiend-Type. ATK: 3000 → 2600.
With this monster's arrival, countless purple puppet strings instantly bound the Supreme King's wrist, preventing further Special Summons.
"Malicious Bane can't be destroyed by battle or effects..." Hikaru's brow furrowed.
If it were any other Dark Fusion monster, Hikaru wouldn't be worried. He could destroy his own monster, then use Vicious Claws for secondary defense!
Because although Dark Fusion granted "the Fusion Summoned monster can't be targeted by effects this turn," DPE and Vicious Claws's destruction effects didn't target. Similarly, although the Supreme King's Dark Fusion likely prevented the Fusion Monster from being destroyed by Spell/Trap effects this turn, DPE and Vicious Claws were monster effects, which Dark Fusion couldn't protect against.
So a standard Dark Fusion couldn't perfectly handle Hikaru's current board. Even eliminating Winda would leave gaps.
But Malicious Bane was precisely the card that could handle almost everything!
"Malicious Bane's effect: once per turn during my Main Phase, I destroy all my opponent's monsters with ATK less than or equal to this card's. This card gains 200 ATK for each monster destroyed."
"Tch..."
Hikaru's already Special Summon-locked field was wiped clean.
Both monsters' power surged into Malicious Bane.
"Sorry, Kraken..."
Hmm...
Kraken didn't mind. As the Earthbound spirits had said, for "Earthbound Servants" like them, just getting out to stretch and breathe some fresh air was precious enough.
Malicious Bane swung its right claw blade, launching it across Hikaru's field like an eraser, effortlessly wiping away his cards.
In an instant, Frightfur Kraken and DPE were destroyed.
But...
"Winda cannot be destroyed by opponent's effects."
Yes!
Even so, Winda still stood!
Evil HERO Malicious Bane, ATK: 2600 → 3000 → 3400.
"Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer's effect: when this card is destroyed by battle or effect, during the next Standby Phase, I Special Summon one Destiny HERO from the Graveyard."
"Incredible..." Jaden was slack-jawed.
With just one Special Summon, the Supreme King had effortlessly destroyed every card Hikaru used to protect "Winda" and gained the ability to destroy Winda in battle!
But...
In the Supreme King's view, this turn was already a "failure."
Because of Winda, he couldn't Special Summon again before dealing with her in the Battle Phase. He had other plays available, but was forced to prioritize destroying Winda before attacking or dealing damage. That didn't align with his plan.
"Battle!" The Supreme King waved dismissively. "Malicious Bane attacks Winda."
Malicious Bane aimed at Winda and swung its enormous blade. Although the dragon guarding Winda instantly rushed forward, amid the sound of tearing destruction, it was instantly shattered. Winda followed, crumbling to pieces.
Hikaru, LP: 3000 → 1800.
Hikaru braced with his left hand. Just as he was about to act, a blade pierced through the lightning-filled dueling field and instantly struck his chest.
Gah!
Hikaru felt like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer. All color drained from his vision in an instant. Everything turned black and white.
"Hack..." Hikaru coughed up blood.
"Hikaru?!"
"Hikaru?"
Hikaru swayed, coughed twice more, spat out traces of dark blood, then quickly wiped his mouth and shouted: "Monster effect activate! Winda's effect: I recover Shaddoll Fusion from my Graveyard... Then, Vicious Claws's Graveyard effect: Defense Position Special Summon!"
The Vicious Claws that Jaden had traded to Hikaru cheerfully leapt from the Graveyard onto the field, hands on hips, looking invincible.
Evil HERO Vicious Claws. Level 7, DARK Attribute, Fiend-Type. DEF 2500.
Hikaru caught his breath and gradually regained focus.
Tierra extended her hand. Blue flames gently ignited on Hikaru's body. Since she had already slightly modified his life form, she could "heal" him using methods she was more proficient with.
She had clearly noticed something. Her expression was ice-cold.
"What's happening?" Jaden, in the mental world, pounded on the "heart's window" and demanded answers from the Supreme King.
"When a decisive duel begins, when conflict erupts, everything moves forward with the rolling wheel." The Supreme King unusually spoke with some literary flair, but quickly reverted to his usual self, calmly stating the situation: "Bottom line, this duel has attracted too many impurities. Under Fusion's influence, this duel will naturally grow increasingly dangerous."
So that was it...
Hikaru had realized it too.
Although the Supreme King had said "you'll die," at first, neither paying LP nor dealing damage to the Supreme King had any real consequences.
But he had stated it with absolute certainty. He never spoke frivolously.
As if echoing the Supreme King's words, the surroundings grew increasingly terrifying. The beings observing from other worlds and dimensions became more and more visible.
But simultaneously.
A boundless, demonic sphere of light and a wheel-like mechanical silhouette began slowly fading.
Clearly, they too understood the "changes" here. Realizing their "observation" was too dangerous for the duelists, they chose to leave.
But...
Suddenly, Hikaru's pupils contracted. He watched a bizarre "light" descend from the sky.
No.
Not light.
Could it even be called "light"?
Red radiance descended from above. Every observing entity, whether demon, god, or dragon, was stained by this eerie crimson. Not just them. The building, Hikaru, the Supreme King, everything was bathed in red.
The Supreme King looked up at the "sky."
Red light illuminated all things.
Dyeing everything in its color.
Before long, the entire world had turned "red." Red black, red white, red lines, red life...
"Wh-what is this?!" Tierra watched her purgatorial fire shift from blue to crimson red and panicked, thinking she'd burned Hikaru. But then she realized even she herself had turned red!
"This..." Hikaru looked at his hands, dumbstruck.
In the mental world, Jaden stared dumbly at the mirrors turning red, jaw hanging open.
Why was even his mental world affected?
"It seems the culprit you mentioned who destroyed the spirit world has also arrived." The Supreme King had seen much, but this was new even for him. Though since he was already dead, he didn't care about the current spirit world.
The Red Light.
Hikaru felt none of the "mental derangement" Professor Banner had described. On the contrary, he had never felt better.
And precisely because of that, he was shocked.
Not even Tierra, possibly not even the Light of Destruction, could alter the situation mid-duel or heal dueling injuries!
This so-called Red Light was absolutely none of the possibilities he had previously theorized!
But...
Where was its consciousness?
Its intent?
Completely undetectable. As though it hadn't been watching at all, but had simply appeared by "coincidence."
"Battle Phase ends."
The Supreme King, meanwhile, didn't care about such details.
Seeing the Supreme King continue, Hikaru quickly refocused.
Regardless, the duel against the Supreme King was truly the most important thing right now.
Compared to this duel, the surrounding entities and the Red Light's mystery could all wait!
"Since Winda is gone, the Special Summon restriction binding us both has dissipated." The Supreme King swept his hand and declared, "I now regain the ability to Special Summon.
I activate Sinister Necrom's effect in the Graveyard. I banish it, then Special Summon one Evil HERO from my hand or Deck!"
"Special Summon: Toxic Bubble!"
Everyone's favorite draw-two buddy took the stage once more.
"Toxic Bubble's effect: I draw."
He drew two cards, glanced down, narrowed his eyes, then unusually cracked a smile.
Interesting.
Cards he'd never seen before!
He leisurely picked one up. "I activate the effect of Masked HERO Dusk Crow from my hand."
What?
Masked?
From the hand?
Tierra, Jaden, and Hikaru all froze simultaneously. Their reasons differed, but the core was the same: what did it mean to use a Masked HERO's effect from the hand?
Then, before their astonished eyes, a card slowly lit up in the Supreme King's hand.
Hikaru was the most shocked.
In his memory, the GX manga did have lower-level Masked HEROes, but those cards had all become "Elemental HEROes" in their real-card versions.
And in this world, Shadow Mist was also an Elemental HERO. So Hikaru had never considered whether this world had Masked HERO lower-level monsters.
Now it seemed there were!
"I banish one HERO from my Graveyard to activate its effect and Special Summon it. I banish Evil HERO Adusted Gold. Special Summon: Masked HERO Dusk Crow."
Masked HERO Dusk Crow. Level 4, DARK Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 1200.
"Dusk Crow's effect: when this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I add one Masked HERO other than Dusk Crow from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand.
I add Furnace to my hand."
Another unfamiliar Masked HERO.
Hikaru blinked.
And this card looked nothing like the Masked HEROes he remembered!
"I activate Furnace's effect. I reveal this card to my opponent. This turn, I cannot Special Summon non-HERO monsters from the Extra Deck. I add one Mask Change or Polymerization from my Deck to my hand. Then I discard one card from my hand."
He flashed Furnace, then took Mask Change from his Deck.
Hikaru's brow twitched violently.
Revealing as cost?
Directly grabbing Mask Change?
Then Shadow Mist doesn't need to choose between the two anymore?!
The Supreme King casually discarded Furnace.
For some reason, under this red light, he felt his already formidable but stagnant "power" had begun growing again. Cards he'd never possessed were appearing in his hand.
But he didn't care about such trivia.
For the deceased, a rare, exciting duel was all that mattered. Just duel with everything.
"Quick-Play Spell: Mask Change. I send the DARK Dusk Crow on my field to the Graveyard. Special Summon: Masked HERO Dark Law."
Dusk Crow flicked its cape, donned a mask, and its body began transforming. Countless armor plates assembled on it, becoming an entirely new hero.
Masked HERO Dark Law. Level 6, DARK Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 2400.
"Dark Law..." Hikaru's expression grew grave.
"Not done yet. Furnace's effect: when I Special Summon a non-FIRE HERO Fusion Monster, I can activate this. I Special Summon this card from my hand or Graveyard. If this card Special Summoned by this effect leaves the field, banish it."
An Iron Man-like hero waved and appeared dashingly on the Supreme King's field.
"Revealing as cost, searching while discarding, AND reviving from the Graveyard?" Seeing Furnace's effects, Tierra's face went pale.
This card had everything. Just give him the win already!
The Supreme King looked at his other cards. "Spell Card: Sacred Sword of Seven Stars. I banish one Level 7 monster on the field. Draw two cards. I banish Furnace... Then."
"Spell Card: O - Oversoul. I revive a Normal Elemental HERO from the Graveyard."
"HYAH!!"
The pure white hero, accented by crimson, glared with glowing green eyes as it made its shining entrance.
Then threw a punch forward.
Classic O - Oversoul.
Confirmed. Definitely Jaden's style.
"This is the last play... Hikaru Amagi."
?
Nobody called him that.
"Normal Spell: Evil Mind."
"This card activates different effects based on the number of monsters in my opponent's Graveyard."
"Right now, your Graveyard contains two El Shaddolls, two Shaddolls, one Thunder Dragon Colossus, three Thunder Dragons, one Predaplant, two Destiny HEROes... The total has long surpassed ten. So Evil Mind activates its ultimate effect."
"Add one Fusion Spell Card to my hand."
Fusion...?
Everyone watching this duel understood the implications behind that card!
CRACKLE!
The Supreme King's Duel Disk began sparking. He didn't care. He raised it before him, the Disk shrieking with electrical noise.
He placed his hand on the Deck. A card automatically ejected, silently arriving in his hand.
"Super Polymerization."
He held the card and gazed at it for a long time.
"I Set three cards!"
"Turn end!!"
It wasn't over! Not yet!
The Supreme King felt passion he hadn't experienced in ages.
Despite rebuilding his board and even preparing Super Polymerization...
He had still been forced by Hikaru to attack only once during the Battle Phase!
Because of his past life, he had long since lost the ability to feel passion.
But now, Hikaru had reignited his anticipation!
Dueling should be even more exhilarating!