Obelisk Blue, now the White Dorm.
Sartorius slowly shuffled his tarot deck, drawing a card.
Death. Again.
He grinned.
So that was it. A mere mortal 'death' wasn't enough to touch the height of the Sun. What was needed... was the true Death.
Purple light flickered in his eyes.
In the future, a sealed Spirit Card from Duel Academy's Northern Branch would be released. It held the essence of Death itself, a card granting a duelist the godlike power to draw whatever they desired.
'Ah.'
"Master Sartorius! Since that man failed, allow me, Silver Meteor, to challenge Amagi Hikaru!"
"No! My Frog Princes are eager to serve you, Master Sartorius!" Princess Rose added.
"Hehe..." Sartorius turned, smiling. "You misunderstand. You're not serving me. You're serving Destiny. Destiny guides you, not me."
"Yes, sir!" All students saluted.
"Destiny decrees that the one to duel Hikaru... shall be the legendary Spirit Card."
"For now," Sartorius turned to the brainwashed students. "Complete Vice-Principal Napoleon's contract. Duel Jaden Yuki from Slifer Red."
"Yes!" The Society members chorused.
Challenge the Hero. Uphold Destiny.
Meanwhile;
The duel ended. X staggered to his feet, rubbing his head.
The cutting-edge holograms from Funglow Corp made battles look and feel more real. Damage stung.
But X didn't trash-talk or make empty threats. He was just a mercenary, lose, hand over what Sartorius gave him. Simple.
Hikaru took the card, staring at the flashing coordinate data on it, hesitating.
Was Sartorius seriously giving him a real location?
...Didn't matter. He could test it.
Hikaru had already dismantled several of Leo Akaba's interdimensional labs. However, each time, the Fusion Army evacuated the core cards before he arrived.
Clearly, Akaba realized someone was targeting his operations and shifted tactics.
Hikaru still rescued many Spirits, but never found the core: Raviel, Lord of Phantasms.
Even though Raviel wasn't as practical as the other two Sacred Beasts, it was the leader of the trio, the strongest in raw power.
Wherever Raviel was, it had to be a critical stronghold.
Sartorius probably wasn't giving him this intel out of kindness. Hikaru had heard of scuffles between Sartorius's and Akaba's forces. Most likely, Sartorius wanted to use him for revenge.
Didn't matter.
Raviel was the target, Hikaru needed it, even though he'd already Fusion Summoned Armityle the Chaos Phantasm. Another body was always useful.
Less materials required.
Pocketing the coordinates, Hikaru exchanged a few words with X before sending him off.
Honestly, the guy picked the wrong opponent.
In the original story, X forced Jaden to summon Elemental HERO Chaos Neos, pushing him to his limits.
Even so, Hikaru? Different beast.
Unless someone could banish his Graveyard, deck destruction didn't scare him.
...Except.
In this world, "Macro Cosmos" was exclusive to Professor Banner.
The only Macro Cosmos now... was the Grand Universe Workshop.
No one else had it.
"Amazing, Hikaru! You had like, what, five cards left? And still pulled that off!" Jaden cheered.
"Heh. The guy brought the wrong strategy. That doesn't work on me."
'True.'
Aster nodded.
Looking at Hikaru's deck now, it was obvious, most of his cards were better in the Graveyard.
X had, ironically, hard-countered himself.
"Say, Hikaru..." Bastion leaned forward. "Why've we never seen you use Elder Entity N'tss before?"
"Yeah! First time I've seen that," Jaden added, stroking his chin.
"It's not that I didn't want to," Hikaru grinned, pulling a card from his deck. "It's just that..."
Then;
"Ah. So... that's what you meant," Chazz's eyes widened.
It clicked.
Back during the duel, when Hikaru said, "Everyone's tense because of Kaiser. This is the perfect chance to show something." Now it made sense.
"Fusion materials... are Synchro and Xyz monsters?!" Even Aster gasped at the card.
Hikaru chuckled, slotting the card into his Duel Disk and syncing it with the club's projector. The image lit up the screen.
"Wait, what?!"
"These fusion materials?!"
"A Fusion Monster... that doesn't even need Polymerization...?!"
"Wow. No wonder he's the president..."
Finally, everyone understood why Hikaru had made that comment mid-duel.
Synchros.
Xyz.
All were part of Fusion.
"Incredible..." Aster murmured, genuinely impressed.
While others panicked, disillusioned by the arrival of Xyz Summoning in their world, Hikaru stood as unshaken as ever.
Nothing mattered.
He just... wanted to fuse.
Aster clenched his fists, glancing at his deck box.
The fire Hikaru lit in his soul last time? Burning hotter than ever.
But no. He had to hold back. Not until he found his father's killer.
Meanwhile, ordinary students who had feared this new world, with Synchros and Xyz suddenly invading their traditional Duel Monsters, finally felt their anxiety lift.
For years, Duel Monsters had been simple. Tribute Summon, Ritual Summon, Fusion Summon. That was it.
But ever since the dimensions linked, with Synchros and Xyz creeping in... many feared the game's future.
A world-changing shift. Terrifying.
Some welcomed change.
Others feared it.
But now, Hikaru showed them that there was nothing to fear.
"Synchros can be Fusion Materials. Fusion Monsters have Levels; they can be Synchro or Xyz materials too." Hikaru returned the card to his deck. "So stop stressing. Focus on the process.
Whether you fuse, Synchro, or Xyz... as long as you don't stray down the wrong path, you'll always be my friends. None of this changes that.
Fusion is never exclusion."
Stretching, Hikaru sighed.
He had just come back from the Critical Nexus... then dueled immediately.
Time to go extract some Duel Energy.
...
Bonus @200
Read 30 chapters ahead @patreon.com/Keepsmiling818