"Beautiful."
With the Duel over, Bastion Misawa was the first to start applauding.
Prompted by him, other students soon followed, clapping for Hikaru.
It wasn't just because Hikaru had won.
After all, they'd seen Hikaru defeat opponent after opponent many times before.
But even so, this Duel still managed to surprise them.
Because in this match, Hikaru had pointed out his opponent's shortcomings during the Duel itself—even suggesting what cards to swap in to strengthen their Deck build.
For Hikaru, anything Fusion-related was always worth engaging with.
"Hmph, that kid..."
In the crowd, wearing a hat and trench coat, Rex Raptor let out a low chuckle and turned away.
He wasn't blind.
That towering giant...
Those sprawling purple strings blanketing the sky...
Anyone with a pulse would know something big had happened here. Naturally, he came out to check.
And what he saw was Amaki Hikaru winning through Dueling once again.
Hikaru didn't waste time talking with the Society of Light members. With a slight tilt of his head, they immediately grabbed the badges, loudly calling out names. Amid cheers, many students reclaimed their badges.
One student, holding his badge tightly, felt a rush of complicated emotions.
After the Fusion Army incident, he'd doubted Hikaru and even the Fusion Club.
After all, their ideology seemed eerily similar to the Fusion Army's. Hikaru's slogans, too, were almost identical.
However, today...
Today's Duel gave him an answer.
It was never an act.
Never had been.
Hikaru was simply Hikaru. His passion for Fusion, his willingness to help classmates, none of it was fake.
He was a Duelist who genuinely fought against the Polymerization Club.
"Hikaru... really is something else," a nearby friend said, echoing the sentiment.
Just earlier, when Construct had towered above the land, he'd instinctively fallen to his knees, worshiping that giant, seemingly controlled by some transcendent power. It only made him realize how incredible Hikaru's mental fortitude was to resist that pressure and win through sheer willpower.
How could someone like that ever side with the Fusion Army?
Naturally, honor students like these had their own opinions and their own little social circles.
And their views would surely influence each Academy's assessment going forward.
Anyhow, all that was for later discussions.
The Society of Light members graciously stepped aside, letting the students move on to other station points.
As promised, they also handed over the agreed-upon card.
Haruki had already collapsed into unconsciousness. Not just from the Death Card's drain, to exert that much power and affect an entire area, he'd drawn on multiple energy sources. Even if Death hadn't taken his soul, Sartorius' power alone would have left him comatose.
A student in a white uniform stepped forward, holding out a Duel Disk with a blank expression. Hikaru raised an eyebrow and reached for the El Shaddoll Construct card.
"Whoa." Celina gasped quietly. "It has... more effects?"
"Yeah, and pretty useful ones at that," Bastion noted after a closer look. "They synergize perfectly with other Shaddoll card effects. Haha, Hikaru, talk about good luck! Haruki couldn't even utilize these properly, but you can!"
Hikaru nodded.
Inspecting Construct, he suddenly noticed black smoke rising from the card. The next instant, a terrifying light burst from it, shining directly onto Hikaru's face.
Zzzt
Hikaru flinched at the shock-like pain, his grip loosening. The card slipped from his hand.
Tierra, standing nearby, casually reached out and caught it midair.
"Master?" Celina asked, surprised.
"Hikaru? What's wrong?" Bastion was puzzled too. "Too drained from the Duel?"
"Nngh..." Hikaru massaged his temple.
"In that case, maybe we shouldn't head back to the Forest Station just yet. Let's rest here for a couple more days."
"Good idea." Hikaru rubbed his head and agreed.
As for the Construct card, Tierra kept it in her hands, studying it curiously.
Back at their dorms, after applying to KaibaCorp for three more apartments, Hikaru half-reclined in a chair, still nursing his headache. "So... what just happened? My head feels all foggy."
"It's the card," Tierra said, waving the Construct card lightly.
"The card?" Hikaru took a beat to process that, then looked up. "Wait, did Sartorius leave some trap in it? Tried to ambush me through the card?"
"Haha, hardly," Tierra laughed softly. "As my Chosen of Order, there's no way I'd let you fall victim to something like that.
Besides, even if such a thing existed, as the Duel's victor, with [that card]'s protection, there's no way you could be harmed. Right?"
Hikaru poured himself a glass of water, thought it over, and nodded.
True enough.
No matter what...
As the winner, even with Sartorius bending reality, there was no way he could hurt Hikaru like this. In the original series, Sartorius could only brainwash those who lost to him. Even Duelists with "Dinosaur DNA" like Hassleberry were immune.
With Super Polymerization and Tierra's protection, plus being the victor, Hikaru was untouchable by underhanded means.
Meaning... it was the card itself.
"This card... if I had to guess, it's one of those cards the Fusion Army tried to create back in that dimension we restored," Tierra mused, turning the card over and holding it up to her forehead, thinking. "They used Gem-Knight Spirits to craft Shaddoll power into something new.
"Despite that ... the card never received Spirit approval, just like when you first tried to use Winda."
"Without that recognition, normally this card would be unusable.
"Yet, that guy must've found a workaround, using that strange Light power to forcibly control the card."
"Lowering the card, Tierra came to a final conclusion: "So if you hold onto this card now, you'd probably get a boost from that weird Light energy too."
"So that's it..." Hikaru nodded. "It wasn't an attack, it was the Light of Destruction trying to empower me... but clashing with my own beliefs, which is why I got that headache?"
"Most likely," Tierra admitted. Even she couldn't be entirely sure.
"So... how do I fix it?" Hikaru rubbed his forehead again.
Forcing through it wouldn't be a problem.
In fact, this card might even boost his Spirit Compatibility.
Regardless, the headache... that was unavoidable.
Maybe he should brew some painkillers?
Hearing his question, Tierra smiled gently, snapped her fingers, and floated over, settling herself lightly on the armrest of Hikaru's chair.
"Haha, Hikaru, you know the rules~"
She said this while pulling out the Death Card she'd snatched earlier, fanning herself with it, her meaning unmistakable.
She wanted more components.