Screeeech.
With an ear-piercing screech of brakes, the skeleton-styled D-Wheel stopped before the track.
The LDS trio, struggling to push their D-Wheels back to their own base, saw Hikaru's parked vehicle and all stopped what they were doing, watching him warily.
They saw Hikaru dismount with a big stride, carelessly park his D-Wheel beside the track, then walk straight toward the group.
The three suddenly grew very tense.
Losing three against one was already humiliating enough. If Hikaru now said some trash talk or made a move, they might find it hard to fight back.
But unexpectedly, Hikaru dug into the spare card case at his waist, fished out a card, and held it out toward Masumi Kotsu.
"This is—" Masumi Kotsu looked down at the card.
Gem-Knight Fusion...
She naturally knew this card and owned it too. But unlike the common Gem-Knight Fusion, on this card, Master Diamond's bright figure shone as movingly as light itself.
"Gem-Knight Fusion, it's like passing down power. Master Diamond passed his own power to a comrade. As a fellow Gem-Knight user, I admire you. I'll give you this card."
Masumi Kotsu was startled.
She was a bit at a loss, but looking at the hand Hikaru extended, she didn't know how to refuse either. After waving her hands around wildly a couple of times, she carefully accepted that alt-art Gem-Knight Fusion.
Whoa...
She looked at the card and felt as if she'd suddenly gained greater strength.
This wasn't an illusion.
Although the cards Sophia copied were, in Tierra's eyes, all "genuine," and even Crystal could sense the spirituality in these cards during battle, in the end they were only cards Sophia had copied by relying on her own status in the "DT spirit dimension."
Unlike Tierra, who hadn't gained the slightest advantage, Sophia still had some degree of spread in the DT spirit world and was more "orthodox" relative to Tierra. To be precise, Sophia was more the "master" and Tierra relatively the "assistant." Just as the DT spirit world had no Infernoid or Qliphort at all, what had been passed down was more Sophia's "creations." Thus, the more widely the DT spirit world's cards spread and the more users they had, the faster her related power recovered. This was an advantage Tierra could never match.
But in the end they were copied cards, not true spirit power.
The alt-art Gem-Knight Fusion in Hikaru's hand was a genuine Fusion that originated from Crystal and was born under the influence of Super Polymerization.
Although there were many copies, dispersing the power, no matter what, they were still cards with true Gem-Knight power.
Just as Hikaru had told Masumi Kotsu earlier, as long as she completed certain trials and could conduct herself like a knight, there was a chance to obtain "Gem-Knight Dispersion."
It wasn't that Dispersion was so convenient, but rather that Hikaru, this forerunner, had "created" the means to obtain Dispersion.
Just as Hikaru had always known, the spirit world wasn't the world in the cards' illustrated stories, but a kind of strange creature born beneath the legends, after the original source tales and legends.
They might evolve along the path the original source laid out, or they might one day stop at some stage and advance no further, but they also had the chance to become legendary existences. For instance, Hikaru's Captain Crystal could be Gem-Knight Master Diamond, and could also be Gem-Knight Seraphinite.
As long as a spirit could find this viable path and persist and strive, it had the chance to complete this evolution... roughly like Digimon, probably.
By the same logic, once the "first" "Dispersion" was born, all subsequent gem spirits and Gem-Knight users could also complete "Gem-Knight Dispersion," just as Hikaru had obtained Dispersion.
Only, it wasn't so simple.
Never mind accomplishing some "heroic feat." Conducting oneself like a genuine knight wasn't a simple matter either.
Masumi Kotsu swallowed, glanced a couple of times at the card in her hand, then looked up at Hikaru.
If before, Hikaru had been merely a "shining diamond" in her eyes, now, looking more closely, it was already something else entirely.
The reason she'd found him dazzling was simply that she herself had been illuminated by his light.
When the light is great enough, the person within the light has no awareness at all that they are standing amid the light.
Color scattered into her Fusion!
Once Masumi Kotsu accepted the gift, Hikaru began preparing to head back to his own camp. He still had to talk with Yusei and the others about taking off his mask today and about the plans afterward.
But to his surprise, at this point, the other members of the Pendulum team ran out one after another too.
A girl who looked soft and delicate was the first to run to Masumi Kotsu's side, asking whether she was hurt. The girl was a bit embarrassed and said she was fine.
Zuzu Boyle...
Hikaru sized her up a couple of times.
This girl was, in appearance alone, exactly identical to Serena.
He'd finally seen the genuine, original "Zuzu." He'd already met Brainless Zuzu, Literary Zuzu, and Racing Zuzu before. Today was the first time seeing the Original-Type Zuzu. Though, normally speaking, going by the order in which he'd met them, this Zuzu really ought to be called "Sturdy Serena."
And on the other side was someone exactly identical to the "Fusion lackey" Yugo whom Hikaru had once met: the true protagonist of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yuya Sakaki!
Seeing that familiar tomato-shaped hairstyle, Hikaru felt as if he'd returned to that familiar, nostalgic feeling from the first time he met Jaden Yuki.
Although ARC-V had brought him quite a few painful memories, this current Yuya Sakaki hadn't stirred up anything strange. When he'd chatted with him last time, his speech had been quite proper too. Considering that there was "Syrus," someone who had once given him a pleasant surprise, Hikaru actually bore Yuya Sakaki no malice.
Now that he met him, Hikaru gave a greeting.
Over there, the Pendulum Dimension's members were also gradually helping the duelists slowly leave.
Yuya Sakaki met Hikaru face to face. Having just been worried about Masumi Kotsu, they now suddenly began worrying about Yuya Sakaki.
"...Um, sorry, Senior Amagi. Although I really wanted to join the duel partway through, Shijima insisted this was their LDS duel, and I thought... I shouldn't disturb them at that point."
Getting to have a random match in the elimination round wasn't a simple thing. And this was Hikaru's last time taking the stage, unless some team later wanted to have a proper relay race against Team 5D's; otherwise he could only take the stage alone once.
Hearing Yuya Sakaki's words, Hikaru smiled and didn't mind at all.
Although he'd very much hoped to run into Yuya Sakaki in the third duel, it being missed was no big deal.
He'd come to take part in the WRGP tournament, in the end, to help Yusei, so of course he'd prioritize serving the tournament first.
And besides, being able to hear this kind of thing from Yuya Sakaki's mouth was actually already beyond expectation.
Whether dueling or not dueling, there was reason to it either way. The key point was the intention behind competing or not competing.
A duelist was equivalent to a kind of seeker in this world, a group of travelers pioneering the road ahead. For a duelist, what mattered wasn't actually good versus not good. After all, ninety-nine percent of the decks Hikaru played looked like villain decks.
Being able to have this kind of awareness under these circumstances was already very good.
At least he wasn't a headless fly.
He was even quite pleased after hearing it.
Maybe this world's Yuya Sakaki wouldn't be like the anime at all, or maybe this world's Yuya Sakaki was actually closer to the Yuya Sakaki in the manga. In that case, as long as he didn't mind what might happen in the future, everything would be fine.
In any case, he wasn't close with Zuzu or Yuya Sakaki, so he didn't have to think about the ethics.
But come to think of it, since there were Zuzu, Serena, Lulu, and Rin, it didn't look like the manga's development at all.
That was actually pretty good too. The ethics angle was the more terrifying thing.
But just as Hikaru was curious, Yuya Sakaki on his end beat him to it and asked a question first.
That was whether Hikaru knew... Yugi Muto.
Hikaru's brow twitched.
"Ah, asking this might be a bit sudden. It's just... he's a game designer from the Fusion Dimension who came to visit our dimension before..."
"You don't need to explain. In our world, there's no one who doesn't know his name."
Hikaru stopped Yuya Sakaki's move to explain.
"He's a household-name celebrity. He's the world-famous King of Games."
Yuya Sakaki and Zuzu Boyle glanced at each other, each seeing the other's shock in their eyes.
Even though they'd already guessed at Yugi Muto's identity, they hadn't expected that Yugi Muto would be such a famous person, and someone everyone in the Fusion Dimension knew.
However, they hadn't imagined the title "King of Games" to be all that grand. Seeing their reaction, Hikaru guessed that Mr. Yugi Muto probably hadn't told them much about himself, so he didn't explain further.
But he'd already roughly guessed the possibilities.
So that was how it was.
Back at the Gravekeeper's clan, Mr. Yugi Muto had said he was going to visit the Pendulum Dimension. Now it seemed that it must have been then that he happened to run into Yuya Sakaki or watched Yuya Sakaki's duel.
Unlike Seto Kaiba, Yugi Muto was famously gentle toward juniors. Back when he'd met Jaden, he'd unhesitatingly gifted a card to Jaden too.
No wonder it was like this...
"Back then, I kept agonizing over whether Pendulum Summoning was a summoning method I alone monopolized, so I was a bit... eh—" He scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed.
Then he told Hikaru the story of what had happened back then.
Hikaru listened and indicated he understood.
Now it all made sense.
Likewise, it made sense that Yuya Sakaki was seeking him out now. Because he'd heard Yugi Muto say that he knew a duelist whose understanding of Fusion Summoning surpassed what ordinary people could imagine, someone Yuya Sakaki could learn from.
If his understanding of Pendulum could become high enough that he became the finest Pendulum summoner, then no one would tangle themselves up over other matters anymore.
It was precisely for this reason that he wanted to ask Hikaru, wanted to seek Hikaru's guidance.
After all, since he was the "absolute Fusion user" that even the Synchro Dimension's staff knew of, he was in all likelihood the person from Yugi Muto's mouth.
"Hikaru, your fixation has already crossed dimensions. Even a dimension that doesn't know you has people who've heard of you." Beside him, Tierra tossed out an offhand quip. "And it's even something that Yugi Muto promoted..."
Just as usual, simply joining in the fun.
But her abrupt speaking startled Yuya Sakaki and Zuzu Boyle.
Earlier, separated by an electronic screen, the two of them couldn't see the "illusory figure" floating beside Hikaru. Now, seeing this green-haired girl who'd suddenly popped out, they were instantly startled.
Hikaru noticed the two of them looking shocked and immediately understood.
Normal. Back then, both Serena and Lulu had displayed spirit-adaptation talent beyond that of ordinary people. For these two, as the "core" of the story, being able to see spirits was normal too.
"I see." Hikaru thought about it and shook his head. "Mr. Muto really exaggerated a bit too much. I'm still far from enough."
This still isn't enough?
Yuya Sakaki was shocked.
He did dare to perform Entertainment Dueling in front of everyone, but he'd absolutely never dare to call himself some Fusion user pursuing Fusion in front of a whole world's people, because it looked too chuunibyou and too manic.
To be able to say something like that calmly, even proudly, shouldn't that require absolute confidence in Fusion?
But soon, Hikaru's next words rang out.
"I do count as a fairly advanced Fusion duelist in our world, but the path of Fusion has no end. Just as I said, Fusion is inclusive. Everything in the world can be a part of Fusion. I'm no more than a student who hasn't graduated yet, so how could I dare claim to have mastered all of Fusion?
Step by step, striving toward Fusion's very summit, toward the end of Fusion, and along the way making good friends, performing Fusion, letting my own dueling and soul recombine and even sublimate. This is the Fusion I've always held to."
Hearing this, Yuya Sakaki was immediately filled with solemn respect.
This was...
Even though he was already called the "strongest Fusion user," he still held the mindset that he was merely an ordinary apprentice and continued to study Fusion?
No wonder Mr. Yugi Muto had praised Hikaru so highly!
Then how could he himself further...
Seeing him lower his head in deep thought, Hikaru couldn't help giving a laugh.
He opened his Deck and carefully searched through it. Watching his movements, Masumi Kotsu, eavesdropping from a distance, grew curious.
"What are you looking for?"
"I'm a Fusion duelist who pursues the ultimate. In fact, if not for the disguise, my Deck would have nothing but Fusion in it."
"Uh?"
Yuya Sakaki was a bit dazed at first.
"Only by using it do you grow proficient. Only by using it often do you grow familiar. If you don't know the road ahead... take this card."
Hikaru fished out a Spell Card.
Yuya Sakaki took the card and was startled.
Pendulum Fusion!?
Zuzu Boyle instinctively went wide-eyed too.
After Yuya created Pendulum, this person called Hikaru actually already possessed Pendulum Fusion?
Hikaru scratched the back of his head.
He thought for a moment, then added: "This card will feed Fusion's creative power back to me."
"Wh, what do you mean?"
Hikaru shrugged. He didn't explain in detail, just gave a simple explanation.
Just like how Hikaru had once used "Super Polymerization" to gather the power of spirits and Aster's power to create Elemental HERO Shining Phoenix Enforcer, and then he and Aster each obtained one Phoenix Enforcer. This card was one Hikaru had made specifically, a Fusion Spell Card meant specifically for researching and attempting to create Pendulum Fusion Monsters. Unlike Gem-Knight Fusion, which was a derivative of Super Polymerization, this was Hikaru's own attempt.
Giving it away at this point was actually a bit of a loss. But correspondingly, just as he'd said, if Yuya Sakaki used this card to Fusion, then Hikaru's side could actually collect similar energy.
In other words, Yuya Sakaki using this was roughly equivalent to working for Hikaru for free.
Of course, the power remaining on it wouldn't be retained for very long either.
"I... understand!" Although it hadn't been explained too clearly, Yuya Sakaki could roughly follow.
"Just as I said, my Fusion is inclusion, is the possibility of the future. So I quite look forward to and admire your determination to explore Pendulum. This card, currently the only one in the world, if you're willing to accept it, is yours."
"It's no trouble at all. Thank you so much, Senior Amagi!"
Yuya Sakaki didn't mind in the least. He took the card directly, and even thanked Hikaru for giving him such a precious card. There was none of that discomfort of being made to do someone else's dirty work. On the contrary, he was a little delighted.
Pendulum Fusion, this was a card he didn't have! And just as Hikaru said, it was another possibility. As expected, a person Mr. Muto had spoken of really was admirable! And indeed, he wasn't the kind of duelist who merely used Fusion, as he'd imagined!
Hikaru smiled, waved to Yuya Sakaki, and prepared to say goodbye, when the announcement for the next round of duels rang in his ears.
"The next duel on this track, Team Moonwind Bird versus Team Marvelous Lightning—"
Hikaru's brow twitched wildly. He took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, and once again revealed a smile as he turned back and said: "This duel... you'd better take a look at it."
"Eh?" The two of them were a bit puzzled.
"Maybe you'll gain some unexpected harvest... for instance, the road or direction you can advance along next?" Hikaru then left behind some ambiguous words, and without waiting for the two of them to respond, he mounted his D-Wheel again and left this place.