After lasting for half a year, the GX Tournament finally ended, but Tenjo Hikari felt that this period was even more exhausting than the whole of last year.
Under the guidance of Kaiba Company, students returned to their respective schools, and then each academy provided a semester-end evaluation based on their situation.
Criticism where due, praise where deserved.
Notably, Judai never figured out how to handle the remaining Archfiends of the Dark World, so he simply took all of them away.
Yes, all the Archfiends and cards of the Dark World, except the "missing" Divine Soldier of the Dark World, which Judai took away along with the remaining spirits, as he was not one to shy away from trouble.
As for the Lightsworn side, after months of observation, Judai did not find any out-of-line issues; since the situation didn't evolve into "Twilightsworn," the Lightsworn spirits hadn't reached such extremities.
Of course, despite that, two Lightsworn spirits followed Judai to this world—but that wasn't actually much of a concern.
There are numerous Lightsworn spirits that come to the Human World due to interactions with students and their righteous aspirations.
One way that this tournament strengthened the students indeed.
Among all schools, the atmosphere was best, the celebrations most intense, and also the most "sorrowful" at Duel Academy Main School without hesitation.
Placing the best, happiest, and most sorrowful atmospheres together would normally be inappropriate.
However, at present at Duel Academy Main School, this is the only description.
Due to the excellent performance of Tenjo Hikari and others, the Main School was no longer doubted like before; the rumors diminished considerably, and moreover, since the previous doubts arose from the Fusion Army's involvement, when the pressure was entirely removed, those who were suspected freely voiced themselves.
Even Professor Cronos, while reading the report cards, occasionally wiped tears from his eyes with a handkerchief, showing how immense their stress had been.
Tenjo Hikari spent a very peaceful and relaxed gathering at the academy. There were both laughter and tears at the gathering, but in the end, everyone happily ate snacks and talked about what they planned to do during summer vacation.
Judai was still the same, running around, while Fubuki said he wanted to learn Entertainment Duel in his spare time from work, and even planned to drag Asuka along. Manjome's accumulated prestige was undeniable; even though he only got second place this time, with the companies he integrated, he planned to have a good competition with his brothers during the summer.
Mitsuzawa Daichi successfully passed the travel application for the X Dimension and was too excited to sleep all night—moreover, the upcoming exchange was said to be a formal re-engagement movement initiated by Kaiba Company, giving Mitsuzawa Daichi an excellent opportunity.
Even Serena started trying her hand at alchemy in the second-floor laboratory of the Fusion Department.
She just happened to have nothing to do during the summer, making alchemy experiments in the Activity Department not a bad idea.
However, to be on the safe side, Tenjo Hikari still left her a few cards.
They were chosen by Tenjo Hikari from the rescued spirits, willing to help, they gladly protected those "targeted by the Fusion Army," so they got along well with Serena.
Although the school had already started summer vacation, with few students remaining, outside the academy, various companies and clubs came daily, either by boat or airplane, to Academy Island to discuss matters with Professor Cronos.
Due to the excellent performance of the students at the GX Tournament, Duel Academy gained unprecedented fame, with almost constant attempts to connect with Duel Academy, making Professor Cronos very busy with daily affairs.
Even so, there were occasionally people who wanted to meet Tenjo Hikari for a photo.
Fortunately, having more people was not a bad thing for Professor Cronos; he was rather happy to deal with these matters, brimming with endless energy each day, dancing his way to the principal's office.
Afterwards, Tenjo Hikari contacted Fengguang Company, saying he wanted to visit Kaiba Company.
Somehow, Manjome heard about this, then called on Tenjo Hikari to come to the academy airport and pointed his thumb at the helicopter behind him.
With identity verification, there's direct access to Kaiba Company's private airplane.
Forgot about this guy having such "privilege".
Not using it when having a privilege is just wasteful!
Manjome wasn't simply dropping Tenjo Hikari off; he had some business with Kaiba Mokuba too, matters Tenjo Hikari neither understood nor cared about.
However—
As he was about to leave.
"Tenjo."
Tenjo Hikari turned around, and a card swooshed over next moment.
He casually caught it.
Oh?
"B-Buster Drake??" Tenjo Hikari lifted his head and said to Manjome, "Thunder, I was joking before; this is your partner's card, I couldn't really ask you for it."
Indeed, he had joked about similar things, like asking if someone would hand over their ABC-series card if they lost, but it was just jokes, never meant seriously.
After all, this wasn't just an ordinary card; it's imbued with Spirit Power.
"You've got it wrong, that card in your hand is a replica I asked Brother Mokuba to make." Manjome said, hands in pockets and chuckling, "How could I give away my own partner—but, a wager is a wager."
"Ha..." Tenjo Hikari laughed.
"Then, I'll take it."
"Good luck—"
Manjome knew what Tenjo Hikari was heading to do, though he couldn't offer much, he could at least cheer him on.
Moreover, knowing Tenjo Hikari would be traveling to other dimensions during the summer, he came here to meet Kaiba Seto's brother for dealing with some additional matters.
Tenjo Hikari followed the people of Kaiba Company inside and out, passing through the Dimension Gate within Kaiba Company without stopping, moving deeper inside.
After descending underground, several Kaiba Company employees bowed to him, then left.
"The upcoming path will have others leading you, we cannot continue further."
Others leading?
Tenjo Hikari left the elevator and noticed the dark corridor. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly found the elevator behind him disappearing.
"Oh… turns out, that elevator has already passed through the Dimension Gate." Tenjo Hikari, with rich experience in Dimension Travel, knew immediately what was going on without Tierra's reminder.
He proceeded into the corridor, as he moved forward, the corridor gradually shifted from pitch black to a faint glow, then slowly, blue torches on either side automatically ignited.
Without hesitation, Tenjo Hikari kept going, and eventually reached a vast open area.
He arrived at a massive gate, in front of him, stood an immense Mausoleum as white as a star.
Around the Mausoleum were huge statues of dragons, while at its central white cylindrical altar, above was a dragon figure with a pure white body and eyes gleaming with azure light.
Mausoleum of White?
Indeed—
"Who's there!"
Just as Tenjo Hikari was pondering, a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned his head to see a figure wearing White Dragon Mask, and just as he was about to reply…
Something seemed off?
It wasn't Kaiba himself!
This figure resembled "Kaibaman," but didn't give the same impression as the Kaiba Seto seen a while ago.
Realizing this, Tenjo Hikari quickly decided: "I am a Dimension-traveling Duelist, pursuing various Polymerization Duelists across dimensions. I've come here to gather the [Blue-Eyes] fusion. I hope to gain your recognition."
"Oh ho?" The odd Kaiba Seto, upon hearing this, eased his oppressing aura considerably and snickered, "Daring to say such things before me? Seems like your brain's already malfunctioned."
"Alright, let's clear your mind a bit—"
While speaking, this Kaibaman equipped a very classic and old-style Duel Disk onto his wrist.
Tenjo Hikari glanced at it, raised his left hand, and his Duel Disk automatically activated, extending to reveal the Monster Zone.
"Duel!"
[Kaibaman?], LP: 4000.
Tenjo Hikari, LP: 4000.