"This is bad."
Chazz and Adrian heard the black-clad man's explanation and looked at Hikaru's hand. Their faces froze instantly.
Because they could see Hikaru's hand!
Under Clear World, Hikaru's hand cards glowed, their images projecting into the crystals overhead!
Normal Spell: Fusion Substitute. Aleister the Invoker!
Hikaru's Deck was primarily Fusion Spells and Fusion Materials. So having Spell Cards in hand was highly likely. And he would always keep an Aleister. Although Aleister could search Invocation for once-per-turn Fusion, Invocation was also a Spell.
Spell Cards were useless under Clear World!
"Human individuality, bonds. These unnecessary things restrict humanity's growth." The black-clad man sneered at Hikaru. "Passionate, calm, wise. No matter what kind of human, as long as they have thoughts different from others, humanity's power can never be directed in unison. That's why conflict exists.
All because of humanity's pointless society and emotions!"
"Nonsense." Chazz's expression was dark.
"Incomprehensible." Adrian had zero interest in understanding this philosophy.
"Cough cough cough..." Atticus slowly sat up. Due to the changed environment, he was no longer in bed but standing beside the dueling field with Chazz's support, watching the duel. "Yusuke, you're wrong!"
Yusuke?
The two classmates looked at Atticus in surprise.
"Yusuke?" The black-clad man heard Atticus too. He chuckled. "Such a distant name. Haven't heard it in ages. But that was my name as a human. Now, I am Darkness!"
Anyone who obeyed Darkness could call themselves "Darkness," just as Atticus himself had once been Darkness.
But Yusuke Fujiwara was more focused on something else.
"As expected of Atticus Rhodes. Your compatibility with Darkness really is excellent. You remembered so quickly."
Pain flickered across Atticus's face, then conflict, but soon his gaze hardened.
"Hikaru! Be careful. He has a strange ability. We lost to him because of that power. Don't gamble everything recklessly!"
Hikaru heard Atticus and nodded, acknowledging.
Then Atticus turned to the black-clad man. "Yusuke, after your parents died, I knew you were devastated. I even worried you might do something extreme. But I never imagined this..."
Atticus, Zane Truesdale, and Yusuke Fujiwara had once been close friends. The three always studied and acted together, just like Hikaru, Jaden, and Chazz now.
But one day, Yusuke received news that his parents had died in an accident. The devastating blow was too much. He fell into a long depression.
Atticus and Zane tried many ways to help Yusuke recover, but he never truly bounced back.
Then... without realizing it, Atticus had "forgotten" Yusuke Fujiwara entirely. Only when he and his sister were hunted by Mr. T's and he pushed Darkness's power further to find an escape did he gradually adapt to that power and remember everything.
He recalled that shortly after Yusuke's parents died, Yusuke had seemed ready to recover thanks to encouragement from him and Zane. But one day, Yusuke discovered some enormous secret and slowly faded from the students' lives.
"What happened after that?!" Atticus demanded.
"Heh heh. Just the same old story." Yusuke didn't particularly care and spoke casually. "Not long after, when others talked to me, they seemed perfectly calm and composed. Facing me, they showed no sadness.
Ah, I understand. Perhaps they were 'concerned' about me.
But gradually I noticed my friends and relatives slowly forgetting about it, slowly ceasing to care about my parents' deaths. It seemed that eventually, only I, their son, remembered."
Yusuke smiled. "Humans are like that. Everyone has their own affairs, their own goals, their own private matters. To others, my problems are insignificant.
Only I continued to suffer.
So I realized: the reason those people didn't care was because they truly had no connection to me. And the reason I suffered was simply because I was those two humans' son.
If I weren't their son, perhaps I wouldn't have cared either.
After that, I began studying Darkness, researching Darkness, and slowly merged with the shadows."
"Individuality, self. They're meaningless. In a few hundred years, nobody will care about your personality or memories. So for humanity, emotions and bonds are garbage. Unifying under one voice, advancing toward infinite technological progress. That's what humans should be doing."
"This is my mercy, Atticus. Without my intervention, Darkness would probably just destroy humanity outright."
Hearing Yusuke's words, Atticus stared at him, completely frozen.
"What is this guy rambling about? I can't understand a word." Chazz muttered to Adrian. He understood perfectly fine. He just thought Yusuke was completely deranged and had no desire to engage.
"Self-comfort from an antisocial personality. It's normal that we don't get it." Adrian hadn't been close with Chazz, but protecting Atticus together and enduring mental attacks side by side had brought them together.
He had admittedly gone off the deep end himself once, but he considered himself nothing like this person. He had no interest in hearing this twisted logic.
"Hmph. It doesn't matter. Once you watch Hikaru fall in this duel and realize human emotions and social connections are worthless, you'll understand how wrong and foolish you are."
He pointed at Mechaba on Hikaru's field. "Clear Vicious Knight's Attribute can be treated as 'none,' bypassing Clear World's effects. Therefore I can declare an attack."
"Battle Phase!
Clear Vicious Knight attacks Invoked Mechaba."
The knight's body extended from the gleaming crystal, swinging its arm blade through Mechaba, instantly cleaving it in two.
"Due to Dark Ruler No More's effect, you take no damage this turn. I end my turn."
Clear Vicious Knight, ATK: 4800 → 4300.
"This is tough..."
Although they completely rejected Yusuke's philosophy, all three spectators wore grave expressions.
Spells sealed. Attacks sealed. Forced to destroy your own cards. LP loss on top of everything...
The vast majority of Hikaru's Deck was Spell Cards. If his next draw was also a Spell, things would be terrible.
Even solving that problem and drawing something useful, Fusion would be extremely difficult. Any Fusion Monster summoned would have its effects sealed by Clear Vicious Knight.
Even summoning an effectless Fusion Monster was pointless. Clear Vicious Knight would gain ATK equal to the highest-ATK monster on Hikaru's field, making it impossible to surpass in raw numbers.
What could he do?
As if hearing their thoughts, Yusuke smiled again.
"Heh heh heh. This is the flaw of individuality. Even the most gifted duelist will be limited by their unique traits. A person who pursues Fusion, if unable to Fuse, is worthless.
Hikaru, your turn."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Individuality..."
Yusuke met Hikaru's gaze. He saw contempt in those eyes.
"I don't know your experiences, your thoughts, your philosophy, your research. Perhaps some individual traits shouldn't exist. But...
Don't think this is enough to seal my Fusion!"
!!?
Yusuke flinched at Hikaru's words.
"Personality, experiences, family. None of that matters. These things are all just part of Fusion. What I pursue is the ultimate Fusion, the broadest Fusion that can encompass everything in this world.
Don't think this is enough to stop me."
Hikaru's turn. He flicked his right hand. A card flew from his Deck, becoming a large data card floating before him.
Lower-level monster: Predaplant Sundew Kingii.
"A Predaplant? Hmph, you drew a monster-based Fusion? But it's useless." Yusuke held up a finger. "Although Sundew Kingii can perform Fusion as a monster effect, the Fusion Summoned Predaplant Chimerafflesia can't activate its effects. Whether banishing my monster or boosting ATK through battle, neither is possible.
Looks like a bad draw, Hikaru."
The spectating classmates heard Yusuke's analysis and wore grave expressions.
Because Yusuke was right.
"Oh, and don't forget... During the Standby Phase, Clear World's effect: you must destroy one of your own monsters!"
As Hikaru's draw ended, countless crystals in the pristine world targeted Aiwass. Under a burst of light, Aiwass exploded.
Although this dropped Clear Vicious Knight's ATK to 2300, the moment Hikaru performed any Fusion, it would skyrocket again.
"In this state, how will you defeat this pure world?" Yusuke crossed his arms confidently.
Hikaru tapped his forehead lightly with his right hand, couldn't help shaking his head, then narrowed his eyes and stared at Yusuke. "You're underestimating my Fusion.
Let me show you the individuality that lets me dare to claim I pursue Fusion's ultimate!"
All three spectating classmates couldn't help but smile. Even Adrian, who had known Hikaru the shortest, had already witnessed several of his duels.
Hikaru was the ultimate duelist, the absolute Fusion master who pursued Fusion's pinnacle. No matter how severe the lockdown, they knew Hikaru would never abandon "self," never abandon "individuality," never abandon "color."
"Flip Trap Card: Predapractice!"
A Trap?
"I send one Predaplant monster from my Deck to the Graveyard to activate this. I place one Predator Counter on every face-up monster on the field. Monsters with Predator Counters that are Level 2 or higher become Level 1!"
Hikaru raised his left hand. "I send Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra from my Deck to the Graveyard! I place one Predator Counter on Clear Vicious Knight!"
From the pristine earth, a tiny sprout emerged and coiled around the knight's crystal shell.
Clear Vicious Knight: Predator Counter x1; Level 7 → 1.
"Nice! He lowered its Level! Now Hikaru can use Spell Cards!"
Clear Wall's effect required a Level 7 or higher monster mentioning "Clear World" to maintain its effect. Now, with Clear Vicious Knight's Level reduced to 1, Clear Wall could no longer sustain Clear World's penalties.
Meaning Hikaru could use Spell Cards again!
"But even so... it's still not enough." Chazz still wasn't smiling. "Because Special Summoned monsters always have lower ATK than Clear Vicious Knight. Even if Hikaru fuses Chimerafflesia, its ATK would still be lower, so it can't banish the knight."
Everyone nodded.
"Drosophyllum Hydra's effect: when this card is sent to the Graveyard, I add one Predaplant monster other than Drosophyllum Hydra from my Deck to my hand."
Hikaru casually pulled out his Deck, searched through it, and found the card. "Predaplant Banksiogre."
"Normal Summon: Predaplant Sundew Kingii."
Hikaru placed the monster on the field. "Sundew Kingii is a Normal Summoned monster, so even with ATK lower than Clear Vicious Knight, it can activate its effect.
Furthermore, as long as Sundew Kingii is on the field, its effect applies.
While Sundew Kingii is face-up, monsters with Predator Counters that would be used as my Fusion Materials are treated as DARK!
And Sundew Kingii's effect: I can activate this during my Main Phase. Using a DARK Fusion Monster Card's listed materials, I choose materials from my hand, field, and opponent's monsters with Predator Counters, send them to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon!"
Hikaru pointed at Clear Vicious Knight. "You don't want to be a DARK monster? But born as darkness, you can't just run from it!
I fuse Predaplant Sundew Kingii on my field with your Clear Vicious Knight!
Fusion Summon!"
"Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
Sundew Kingii leapt up, charging at Clear Vicious Knight and coiling around its pristine crystal shell. With its motion, a rumbling erupted from the earth.
CRASH!!!
An enormous man-eating flower burst from the ground and swallowed Clear Vicious Knight whole!
"Damn..." Yusuke cursed under his breath.
"But even so, with a DARK monster on the field, Hikaru still can't declare attacks, right?!"
"No." Hikaru grinned. "Predapractice's Graveyard effect! While this card is in the Graveyard, when I successfully Fusion Summon a DARK monster: I banish this card from the Graveyard, then target one card on the field.
That card is destroyed!"
This is bad...
"What I'm destroying is, of course... Clear World!
Say goodbye to your so-called pristine world!"
An enormous black sphere fell from the sky. It slowly detonated, then exploded with a boom. Every crystal, every inch of pristine earth shattered almost instantly. Everything began breaking apart.
Hikaru looked calmly at Yusuke, as though he had done something perfectly ordinary.
But...
At the moment of collapse, everything began "flowing backward." All things reverted to their original state. Everything seemed to restart. The crumbling white world soon began restoring itself, as though everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.
"My turn. Draw."
Hikaru drew a card.
His hand: Aleister the Invoker, Invocation, Fusion Substitute, and the drawn Predaplant Sundew Kingii.
On Yusuke's field: Clear World, Clear Wall, Clear Vicious Knight, plus one Set card beside Clear Wall.
As Hikaru drew and entered the Standby Phase, Aiwass on his field exploded due to Clear World's effect.
"You cannot defeat this pure world!" Yusuke declared victory. "Your so-called ultimate Fusion, your absolute color, will lose to my pure world. I'll prove it to you!"
Hikaru frowned slightly. "My Fusion doesn't care about any other factors. Let me show you the ultimate Fusion I pursue!
Drosophyllum Hydra's effect: I search Banksiogre."
Beneath Yusuke's mask, his expression grew tense. Cold sweat even formed on his forehead.
"Normal Summon: Predaplant Sundew Kingii. Through its effect, during my Main Phase..."
"Naive! I activate the Trap Card: Infinite Impermanence!"
Hm?
The two spectating duelists were puzzled. "Hey, this card feels strangely familiar."
"Yeah... like I've seen it somewhere."
Impermanence?
Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"This card negates one face-up monster's effects on the field." Yusuke coldly negated Sundew Kingii's effect.
This was the Infinite Impermanence he should have used on the first turn. He had just rewound time, preventing its use then, saving it for now.
Of course, as a consequence, Hikaru had searched Invocation during his first turn. But it didn't matter, since Yusuke already had one in hand at that time.
"Negated Sundew Kingii's effect?" Hikaru glanced at his hand. "Hmph... no problem."
He flipped the searched card face-up. "This card can Tribute one opponent's monster with a Predator Counter to Special Summon itself from my hand!"
What?!
Yusuke's eyes widened.
"I Tribute Clear Vicious Knight! Special Summon: Predaplant Banksiogre!"
A bizarre plant shaped like a sharp sword rose from the ground, devouring the knight in a single stroke.
"But Hikaru still has a DARK monster on the field... so he can't attack, right?"
Yes.
He shouldn't be able to attack.
No successful Fusion this time...
Yusuke thought.
No, wait.
He suddenly recalled a card.
"Spell Card: Fusion Substitute! I fuse the two monsters on my field! Fusion Summon! My beloved flower: Predaplant Chimerafflesia!!"
A massive pink rafflesia burst from the ground, unleashing its power.
"Predapractice's Graveyard effect! When I successfully Fusion Summon a DARK Fusion Monster: I destroy one card on the opponent's field! I destroy Clear World!"
BOOM!
Yusuke gritted his teeth until they ground together.
He had rewound time, yet it hadn't prevented any of this!
Hikaru had once again fused Chimerafflesia!
"I discard Aleister from my hand to increase Chimerafflesia's ATK by 1000."
Hearing this effect, Yusuke froze.
Then his eyes slowly widened.
In this crumbling pristine world, he realized the problem.
Things hadn't returned to how they were. They were...
Worse!
"Spell Card: Invocation! I banish Aleister and Aiwass from my Graveyard. Fusion Summon: Invoked Augoeides!"
ATK 2000!
Yusuke cursed.
Before his world was fully destroyed, everything began flowing backward again.
Tick, tick, tick...
The turn returned to his turn once more.
He abandoned rewriting the first timeline and again chose to use Infinite Impermanence.
"Spell Card: Card of Demise. I draw until my hand has five cards. During my fifth Standby Phase after activation, I discard my entire hand."
Yusuke coldly drew five cards and scanned them.
"Continuous Spell: Field Barrier. While this card is face-up, neither player can destroy Field Spells or activate new Field Spells. Only one Field Barrier can exist face-up on the field."
"Then, I Set two more cards."
Yusuke glared venomously at Hikaru. "...Turn end."
"Is it over?" Hikaru asked again.
"It's over. Your turn."
"Really over?"
??
Yusuke stared at Hikaru, somewhat irritated. "I said..."
"Meaning you won't regret this?"
!!!!
His eyes widened. "Don't tell me, you..."
Had Hikaru known all along?!
Hikaru stood with arms crossed, looking coldly at Yusuke.
The spectators exchanged puzzled glances, yet all felt a strange familiarity, as though they had witnessed "turn end" more than once.
Yusuke stared at Hikaru in disbelief.
Mental resistance could be trained. But "time reversal"? How could anyone possibly resist that?!
Impossible. Unless, like mental attacks, they had experienced it before. But how could that be?
Yet...
The facts were undeniable!
Hikaru not only knew about time reversal, he had even... experienced it!
"Yusuke Fujiwara, while you cowered from color and difference, Atticus and Zane had already surpassed you, stepping into an entirely new realm.
And now, I'll show you my Fusion, my ultimate!
No matter how many times you rewind, the result won't change.
No!
It will only get worse each time!
No matter how many do-overs you take, your final goal will crumble to nothing!"
"Because running away is useless!"
"My turn! Draw!"