Hikaru didn't watch the following duels much.
Although data still needed collecting, if Yusei wasn't taking the stage, he could serve as logistics and communications, observing data.
Generally speaking, this was the better kind of team.
It wasn't that you could really just grab any three people and go. With over a hundred teams and hundreds of duelists, each duelist had their own specialty. Without relying on data analysis, you couldn't keep up just by watching, unless you were like Hikaru, who basically recognized all the cards the opponent used and could respond normally even to unfamiliar ones. Otherwise, during a duel, you still needed analysts to help.
Not only that, although the WRGP had gifted D-Wheels, once a D-Wheel was in your hands, the WRGP officials no longer looked after it. Except for the three special teams of Xyz, Fusion, and Pendulum, for whom they'd specially dispatch inspectors to check before each duel, all other teams had to take responsibility themselves.
If you didn't prepare and inspect properly, and your vehicle broke down or a screw came loose during a duel while the opponent reached the finish line, that was an immediate loss.
So a team was best off equipping itself with support personnel.
If the support personnel equipped weren't outstanding enough, you simply couldn't reach the final finish line, and you'd lose because your D-Wheel became unusable.
Therefore, over these few days of dueling, many people had actually come to tacitly acknowledge one thing: among the WRGP tournament's eventual champions, the duelists might not be the strongest, but they would absolutely be the finest team.
Because only the most perfect team could obtain final victory!
After a day's duels ended, Hikaru left the competition venue alone and came to Team 5D's base.
Here was the dimensional gate Yusei had prepared beforehand.
Although he himself rarely used this, Luna was very curious about the spirit world and had that kind of talent, so he'd specially prepared the dimensional gate.
Possessing extremely high research talent to begin with, and paired with the Fusion Dimension dimensional-gate technology that Zone had analyzed, replication wasn't difficult for him.
It was precisely because of this that Hikaru could perform dimensional teleportation at extremely close range, without needing to return to his personal base to transfer using the Emerald Tablet.
Hikaru first, naturally, returned to the Grand Cosmos Workshop, deliberated and prepared a letter together with Tierra, then placed it on the Qliphort Monolith and sent the Monolith to the "Selfless Painting School" dimension.
The machine sent it over without getting an immediate response, so Hikaru estimated that Boss A hadn't woken up yet for the time being. He didn't rush to wait for news, but prepared for his next move.
First he'd go to the Gladiator Beast dimension and grind an arena challenge once, then think about whether to go to the DT spirit dimension or the Branded Dimension first.
Just as Hikaru was pondering, Andal came running over with a rumble, half-crouched before Hikaru, rubbed the back of his head, and said: "Ma, Master, you don't need to go to the Gladiator dimension... I, I've already been."
As he spoke, he scratched the back of his head and held out two cards.
Hikaru was startled and looked down.
Gladiator Beast Nerokius and Gladiator Beast Heraklinos?
"You went to challenge the commander-level Gladiator Beasts all by yourself?"
"Ye... yeah." It scratched its head.
"Beautifully done. I knew you could do it!" Hikaru broke into a smile.
"Impressive, little guy." Beside him, Tierra was quite pleasantly surprised too.
As for Andal's earlier state, she, a god who lay around bored and spacing out in the Grand Cosmos Workshop every day, had naturally noticed it long ago. She had no interest in Andal's self-reproach or self-motivation, but she wouldn't stop it either.
During this time, Andal had been exercising its body while preparing to duel. She'd assumed it wanted to go solo, and hadn't expected it to accomplish a real feat.
How much time this saved Hikaru!
Compared to it... Tierra shot a quiet glance at the All-Dissolving Alchemist. Noticing Tierra's look, it got a huge fright and hurriedly hid behind the Golden Cult God.
Terrifying.
"Amazing, Andal!" Hikaru grabbed its bear paw, overjoyed. "Looking at it this way, you're actually much stronger than you think! No need to be so afraid of this and that! And you don't need to worry about anything. This workshop is a workshop we gathered together, and no one will doubt you."
Andal rubbed the back of his head and gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
But what shocked and warmed its heart even more was that both Tierra and Hikaru had actually long known what it had been up to lately. They just hadn't stopped it, but had trusted and quietly supported it.
Actually, compared to its own confusion and worry, Hikaru felt it had been a bit too "lowly" before, underestimating itself too much.
As one of the earliest spirits to join Hikaru's team, as a spirit present even before the "Grand Cosmos Workshop" was built, Andal's origins were indeed a bit poor. It was only the lowest-tier spirit in the Gladiator Beast dimension. But after following Hikaru for a long time, nurtured by the Philosopher's Stone, it had actually grown quite well.
For one thing, it was present for the fight against the Fusion army, and it contributed to fusing Elemental HERO Shining Phoenix Enforcer. Its appearances weren't many, but each was a crucial team effort. It surely was no longer the "slave" of the past.
It just hadn't recognized itself, nor gone to challenge itself.
Looking at it now, although it couldn't quite catch up to Flame Swordsman, Black Flame, Crystal, and Gaia, it counted as a relatively high-tier spirit too.
Converting the scale, it was already an outstanding warrior among its clan.
"But, this, this still isn't enough..." Andal scratched his head. "If, according to what that person from the Selfless Painting School described, I'd have to master all of the Gladiator Beast cards to have a chance of evolving into 'Emperor'..."
It felt weary. It felt powerless.
Although it had defeated its "commander"-level fellows, it felt that this was already its limit.
In the end, it wasn't like Flame Swordsman and those few, spirits who had fought a hundred battles and led from the front.
"It's all right." Hearing this, Hikaru understood.
Clearly, relying on Andal's individual strength alone simply couldn't do it.
It couldn't become an "Emperor."
Or rather, relying on just it, a single spirit, there was no way to grow into an "Emperor" in a short time, or even within a few years.
That was normal too.
If they could really be born so easily, the Gladiator Beast dimension should have had "Emperors" long ago.
Hikaru looked over Andal's condition.
"Andal, rest for a while first." He made an estimate. "Next time, next time we'll go together.
If one person's strength can't create the ultimate, then we'll strive together. That's how I've always been. You can trust me, right?"
"Of course, Master!" Andal immediately saluted.
"All right, all right, hurry and go rest." Hikaru hurriedly ushered it off.
"Impressive, old Andal!" Once they finished talking, Flame Swordsman ran straight to Andal's side, praising it endlessly, while Black Flame and Gaia marveled to the side.
Ever since coming here to Hikari, it had been a very long time since they'd gone out alone or dueled alone.
The answer was simple.
With Master here, why go up yourself? Could you be more formidable than him? Could you Fuse like him?
Rather, when you truly ran into trouble or worries, trusting Master and cooperating with Master was the best choice. Even if you encountered some difficulty and needed to prove yourself, you could very well ask Master for help.
Because he really was an all-capable Fusion user.
But now, Andal, in order to prove itself and to help Master, had proactively and alone secretly gone to challenge the Gladiator Beast dimension. That was quite a rare thing.
It wasn't that it didn't trust Master. It was precisely because it believed Hikari could absolutely handle it that Andal urgently needed to prove itself before Hikari personally took the stage, and to prove to its own kind that Hikari's judgment hadn't been wrong.
As Hikari's subordinate, it wanted to prove all of this, and to relieve Master's worries and solve his problems!
Off to the side, Fallen of Albaz, who was preparing to go to the Branded Dimension with Hikaru afterward, watched this entire scene through to the end and couldn't help feeling moved.
This Hikari really was a duelist impossible to dislike, one respected from the heart.
After all, when even members who seemed to have little presence respected him this much, there was simply no need to prove his renown and how he "won people's hearts."
"In that case, let's change the itinerary." Hikaru thought about it and said.
For the time being, his main exploration directions really were only the Gladiator Beast and Branded Dimensions. But since he wouldn't go to the Gladiator Beasts for now, perhaps he could later find some time to check out some other challengeable dimension.
Taking the time to make a round of all the dimensions he currently commanded wasn't out of the question either.
But for now, let's go to the Branded Dimension first.
Hikaru called out to the members to prepare.
Hearing that the itinerary had changed to going straight to the Branded Dimension, the three knights hurriedly ran over to get ready, and Gaia urgently stood beside the dimensional gate, prepared to sub in at any moment.
And as Hikaru's itinerary was confirmed, the White Knight of Dogmatika, who had been playing dummy beside the dimensional gate all this while, walked over to the gate too amid a series of clicking and clacking sounds.
"Remember to be careful, Hikaru." Tierra instructed from the side. "That dimension is too disordered. For a while after your teleportation succeeds, I have no way to be on the scene right away."
Hikaru nodded.
He'd experienced it once before and suffered an attack, so he'd prepared himself mentally.
Then, Hikaru pressed the dimensional teleportation button. The dimensional gate flickered with a bright gold, and Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
Unlike last time...
Hikaru's figure slowly dissipated, and then his body twisted within an infinite void. When he came to again, he was already standing on solid ground.
He rubbed his forehead and looked toward the horizon. On the horizon, the tower from before had now become a golden high-rise.
Had he come to the wrong place?
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a rush of wind. His eyes narrowed, and he raised his left hand. Cards he'd already prepared were pulled up out of thin air.
The card set symbolizing alchemy, "Earth, Water, Fire," blocked in front of him, also blocking several attacking spirits.
Those spirits looked like a clump of polymer, each oddly and bizarrely shaped. But that was right; exactly like the last time he'd come!
The next instant, countless purple puppet strings sprang up out of nowhere, cutting off the space between those spirits and Hikaru.
Tierra had arrived.
Hikaru nodded lightly.
Just as he thought there were no other unexpected circumstances and he could continue exploring this Branded Dimension...
"He's here!"
"It's that, that legendary human, he's really here!"
"Cover him, quick!"
A chaotic clatter of noise rang out, and several spirits holding weapons suddenly leapt out from not far away, firing at the spirits around Hikaru, driving them back and hurting them while also calling out to Hikaru.
"Come over here, quick!"
Hikaru frowned slightly for a moment, then advanced toward their direction without hesitation.
At this point, Flame Swordsman, Black Flame, and Crystal, the three knights, had also already taken position, covering Hikaru's flight.
After joining up with those spirits, Hikaru recognized them at a glance.
Dogmatika Theo, the Iron Punch, and Dogmatika Adin, the Enlightened.
Seeing Hikaru arrive, the two spirits cheered excitedly, then hurriedly pulled Hikaru along, fleeing toward another direction.
As they ran farther and farther, the frenzied spirits chasing them grew fewer and fewer, and by the time they reached a massive city gate, hardly any spirits remained.
Before the last of the spirits, several spirits serving as gatekeepers held weapons, drove them off, then, after covering Hikaru and the other two spirits through the gate, hurriedly shut it.
"Huff, huff."
Theo gasped for breath in great gulps, exchanged a smile with Adin, and the two laughed heartily.
"You are...?"
Hikaru noticed the gatekeeping spirits were actually Springans Pedor and Tri-Brigade Kerass.
"Quick, notify the leader." Theo cheered excitedly. "That human who appeared in our dimension before and then left, he's appeared again!"
Then, as if remembering something, it turned back to explain to Hikaru.
They were ordinary spirits holding firm nearby, resisting the "frenzied spirits." The vast majority of them weren't even card spirits at all, but compared to that manic state, they believed striving to become "warriors" themselves was what a true warrior was.
Only, facing the frenzied spirits' combat strength, which surpassed ordinary spirits and even surpassed high-tier spirits by a wide margin, they had no ability to resist at all, until...
Last time, Hikaru had appeared in their dimension, and had even defeated that Despia actor, Despian Quaeritis!
As it spoke, it led Hikaru further inside. Along the way, Hikaru saw quite a few spirits that looked familiar.
Honestly, seeing the characters on these cards turned into physical entities really did give the feeling of adventuring alongside Albaz.
As for why the sky outside had changed, it explained.
Their dimension was mixed with and coexisted alongside multiple dimensions, which meant that at the same time and place, different scenes could appear, whether chaos, thunder, or divine light; all of it was normal.
Hikaru waited a short while outside the leader's hall, then walked in.
Inside the hall were some presences Hikaru was more familiar with.
For instance, Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous, Dogmatika Ashiyan, and...
"Eh? Hikari?"
"Iris?"
Hikaru paused for a moment.
The Iris Swordsoul!
That spirit who'd once crossed paths with Hikaru in the Magician's domain, whom Hikaru had specially sought out to talk with afterward!
He hadn't expected to meet her again here.
But thinking about it this way, it actually seemed quite normal.
After all, back then, Hikaru had learned from her own mouth that she wanted to save her own dimension, but had never been able to find a way.
"Whew... My Lord Commander, you see, just as I told you." Iris said to the spirit beside her. "As expected, this dimension still has a chance to be saved! Not only can a human come to our dimension, but it's even Hikari, the one I once mentioned to you!"
Relief spread across her face, and she let out a deep, heavy breath.
"You're right... Fleurdelis..." Seated dead center, Dogmatika Maximus slowly nodded.
"But... can this human really bring us brand-new hope?"
The Grand Priest crossed both hands, and a pitch-black cube of energy surfaced above them, displaying the multitude of beings in this dimension.
"Rather than say this dimension is beset by crises, it would be more accurate to say this dimension is now a giant bomb. This dimension could descend into disorder at any moment. An ordinary spirit might be walking down the road when its body suddenly mutates, and it can never again recall its own identity.
A spirit might touch a flower simply because it looked pretty, and then merge with the flower, never able to move again, transformed into a pure plant.
And even more, this dimension might suddenly explode at any time, with no one in the entire dimension able to survive.
It's true that outside life exists. But rather than continue clinging to a fading existence here, I believe it would be better to evacuate this dimension."
Before her words had even finished, the faces of the spirits nearby, who had been quite happy a moment ago, gradually took on expressions of regret, sorrow, and pain.
Because what she'd said was all true.
This world was too dangerous now.
"But abandoning our own dimension is equivalent to abandoning our people, our future, our... everything!" Iris did her utmost to argue and persuade her. "Once we completely give up, then everything of our dimension will gradually dissipate under the weight of time. By then, we too will become lonely spirits, becoming coffins of memory and history...
At the very least, you should believe that our dimension isn't a solitary boat adrift. Hope isn't nonexistent."
Regarding the future of these remnant spirits, she had argued with the Grand Priest for countless days and nights. As the dimension grew more dangerous, they'd had to make a choice.
And it was at this very moment that Iris heard a human had appeared outside, and had successfully separated a frenzied spirit.
This was brand-new hope, a single point of starlight in the darkness!
"..."
Dogmatika Maximus looked at Hikaru.
"Compared to that, Iris, you haven't even asked whether this human is willing."
She paused for a moment, then turned and gave Hikaru a knight's salute. "My apologies, Lord Hikari, for presumptuously assuming your consent into my camp without thinking it through. Our dimension's crisis is truly imminent, which left me unable to deliberate carefully. I apologize."
"It's fine. I actually... support your view even more." Hikaru extended a hand toward Fallen of Albaz beside him. "My friend believes that kind of chaotic combination, that disordered fusion, isn't true Fusion, so it wants to resolve this dimension's disorder. As a Fusion duelist, I share its philosophy, and naturally... I support you all the more!"
"!!! I am deeply honored, thank you so much, Lord Albaz, Lord Hikari!" Iris bowed to Hikaru several times in succession.
Hikaru waved both hands, hurriedly saying it wasn't necessary. Albaz, for his part, scratched his cheek with a finger, quite embarrassed.
Dogmatika Maximus slowly spread both hands open.
"In that case, then prove it. Prove to me whether this human who has suddenly arrived is the last glimmer of light after despair, or the final straw that crushes the road ahead of us."
The sigils on both his hands drew light in from all directions toward the center. Amid that light, besides the bright radiance, a great deal of purple electric light mixed in and poured into his sigils. Before long, the sigil on his left hand transformed into a Duel Disk, and the light on his right hand's sigil turned into a deck of cards, which he loaded into the Duel Disk.
"Human, standing before you is this dimension's highest-ranked spirit still remaining with its reason intact! Do you dare accept my trial!?"
"Lord Grand Priest, standing before you is a duelist who dares to cross dimensions, pursuing Fusion in the most dangerous dimension of all! Of course I accept!"
"Good! What fine spirit!"
Hikaru flicked his left hand, and the Duel Disk activated automatically, shuffling rapidly.
"Duel!" ×2.
Hikaru, LP: 4000. Dogmatika Maximus, LP: 4000.