Jack and Carly watched the duel below.
For them, both sides of the duel were unknown.
However, Jack had an additional piece of information.
And that was the "Dark Sign."
He could see the Dark Sign on Tenjo Hikari's left hand.
But in his heart, it was Divine, Tenjo Hikari's opponent, who was more despicable.
Divine took the first turn.
"Draw card." He drew a card from the Deck, and behind him, the massive, ghostly Thought Ruler Archfiend breathed heavily.
Despite being a Thought Ruler Archfiend, in this abyss of pipes, screams, and groans, this Thought Ruler Archfiend seemed extraordinarily "real."
"Master Divine, go for it!"
"Show us your brilliance!"
A few Psychic Users started cheering for Divine.
With his usual smile, Divine softly responded, "Rest assured, everyone, this is humanity's future."
"To erase children, the true 'future,' and still claim to be a future?"
"It's just a necessary sacrifice." Divine opened his arms, resembling Jesus's coming, smiling as he spoke, "You're a Dark Signer, so you must know that every few millennia, wars between Gods erupt, and their Agents continually ravage the world until it's completely destroyed, bringing forth a new cycle."
He raised his hands high, "No matter which side wins, ultimately, the ones living in the world will be 'others'—if a cycle ends with a crazed victor, it might even lead to a perpetual hell!
But now, we have a completely new possibility! Humanity's own possibility, without relying on the Gods!
Spiritual World!"
With hands raised high, the cries of children intertwined with his words, forming an eerie song, "If we create our own deity, no matter who wins, we can all enter the Spiritual World and achieve eternal life there!
By that time, there will no longer be any disparities between wealth, and in the Spiritual World, there will be infinite 'materials' for everyone to use!
Isn't this an 'Arcadia,' a 'salvation'?"
Applause rang out, accompanied by cheers and praises from a group of Arcadia Movement members, celebrating his success and 'greatness.'
Even Carly almost instinctively clapped, only to snap back upon Jack grabbing her hand.
But—
Wouldn't it be good if that were true?
By then, people in the Upper City Area and Lower City Area wouldn't be different anymore…
Tenjo Hikari calmly raised his hand before him, saying, "Sounds nice. But by that time, the difference between people might be judged by their level of Psychic powers, right?
Ordinary people reduced to the lowest class, and Psychic Users become the noble 'Nobles.'"
Yes—
Yes!
Carly suddenly snapped back to reality.
Almost got fooled!!
Upon hearing Tenjo Hikari's retort, the Psychic Users immediately hurled abuses, cursing Tenjo Hikari as a "villain," "short-sighted," and "defaming Mr. Divine!"
With gentle gestures, Divine motioned with his hands to quiet his followers, and then spoke, "It's okay, everyone, it's normal for an Other Dimension person, a Dark Signer, not to understand our noble ideals."
"My turn, Normal Summon, Psi-Beast."
Divine placed a Monster Card from his hand onto the battlefield.
"Awooo!"
A green-haired beast with a snake tail howled as it appeared.
Psi-Beast, LV 2, Earth Attribute, Beast-Type, ATK 700.
"When Psi-Beast is summoned, you can banish 1 Psychic monster from your Deck. Then this card's level becomes the same as that card's level."
He raised his left hand, and the Deck on the Duel Disk began to move, floating into the air.
"I'll banish the LV 3 Mental Seeker from the Deck to raise Psi-Beast's level to 3!"
A green-haired Psychic User with sunglasses vanished from Divine's hands, and as it did, more agonizing screams filled the air.
Psi-Beast, LV: 2→3.
"Then, if there's an LV 3 monster on your side of the field, you can Special Summon this card."
"Come forth, Tuner Monster, Psychic Wheeleder."
Bzzzz—
A robot with spinning wheels appeared, rotating.
Psychic Wheeleder, LV 3, Earth Attribute, Psychic-Type, ATK 600.
"Tune LV 3 Psychic Wheeleder with LV 3 Psi-Beast!"
"O flames of loathing within me, transform into a black torrent, ravaging this world!"
"Synchro Summon!"
"Emerge, Hyper Psychic Riser!"
The giant wheel controlled by Psychic Wheeleder began to grow larger, soon joined by another pitch-black wheel from afar, spinning together. A more robust mechanical entity descended from the sky, balancing these two mechanical wheels with stability.
Hyper Psychic Riser, LV 6, Earth Attribute, Psychic-Type, ATK 2000.
"Attack Power 2000?" Jack frowned.
With just two thousand, it's hardly useful, right?
"Wow, Attack Power 2000, that's so high…" Carly couldn't help but mutter softly.
He'd also seen Carly's cards.
All lowly Normal Monsters with Attack Power 0; compared to those monsters, 2000 was indeed high.
But… summoning just one Synchro Monster, there must be some conspiracy.
Or is that guy confident that 2000 Attack Power isn't a big deal?
"Set three cards, end turn."
Divine casually set cards on the field and then gestured for Tenjo Hikari to continue.
"Draw card." Tenjo Hikari began his turn.
"With only 2000 Attack Power, Tenjo Hikari, it does look quite manageable." Tierra pondered aloud beside her, "However, with him setting three cards, there might be plenty of Traps and ambushes.
But if those cards are for support, sustenance, or bluffing, you could potentially win in one turn, right?"
"It's not that simple." Tenjo Hikari looked at his opponent's field and said, "While Hyper Psychic Riser is on the field, monsters with lower Attack Power than it cannot attack, and monsters with higher Attack Power cannot activate their effects."
With a gentle smile, Divine didn't appear to mind his Monster's effect being revealed.
"Eh—well that's pretty impressive, right?" Carly was a bit surprised.
2000 Attack Power, capable of locking down attacks and effects, seemed powerful from all angles.
Adding the three Set Cards, with a pinch of Traps, couldn't it ensure protection?
"Not losing is just a fool's notion." Jack snorted coldly.
Since it's a duel, one should naturally aim for victory!
"Although it seems like a strong effect at first, it's ultimately too cheap. It only restricts the field, and only effects high-attack monsters.
I Normal Summon, Predaplant Chlamydosundew."
With a casual wave, Tenjo Hikari summoned a card that flew out under the control of the Duel Disk, projecting its virtual image.
A formidable green plant hopped into appearance.
Predaplant Chlamydosundew, LV 2, Dark Attribute, Plant-Type, ATK 600.
"Activate during your Main Phase. For a Dark Attribute Fusion Monster Card, choose Fusion Material from this card on the field, and monsters with Predator Counters on the opponent's field to send to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster."
"Oh… Fusion without Polymerization, directly using monsters for Fusion, huh? Indeed, it's an excellent Fusion strategy, even allowing fusion with monsters from the hand, even quicker than Synchro Summon. No wonder you dare to challenge our Synchro.
But—"
Divine raised his hands beside his torso, wagging them with a shake of his head, "But Synchro is a more futuristic, mightier power.
Let me show you why our world abandoned Fusion."
His eyes suddenly widened, turning ferocious, grinning as he slammed down a card, "Monster effect from the hand!"
"Monster effect from the hand? Wait, isn't this Tenjo Hikari's turn?" Tierra was a bit puzzled.
Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.
This stance…
"When a monster effect on the field activates, or an already face-up Spell·Trap Card effect activates, discard this card from your hand·field to the Graveyard!
Destroy that card on the field!
This is—the Psychic Tuner Monster, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit!"
A slightly disheveled Japanese girl with white hair descended from the Spiritual World, throwing a talisman on the plant lizard.
The lizard didn't manage to perform Fusion before burning away in blue flames.
Since its effect lost the Fusion Material, it ultimately failed to activate.
"Rabbit…" Tenjo Hikari's expression was indescribably complex, tinged with helplessness and a hint of reminiscence.
True enough…
Now in this Dimension, it seems destined to suffer a Hand Pit at least once.