"Aleister the Invoker!"
Hikaru stared at the card, sank into a chair, and fell into deep thought.
Despite being a card nearly a decade old, Aleister was famously known. Even before his dimensional travel, this card had shown up in tier-two decks. When the 'Abyss' series artwork began circulation, Aleister combined with Shaddolls and Dogmatikas to dominate the meta once again.
It was a standalone card that could hold its own alongside entire archetypes!
In theory, Aleister and Hikaru's Predaplant Chimerafflesia were from the same era, but their significance was entirely different.
After all, Aleister was once seen as a card that "changed Fusion."
As for the other card that truly changed Fusion, Predaplant Verte Anaconda, it seemed nonexistent in this world.
So when Professor Banner once called Aleister a "fusion beyond its era," it might not have been much of an exaggeration in this world.
Of course, that kind of game-changing deck like Tearlaments was in a category of its own.
Beyond card mechanics, Aleister had a much more personal meaning.
To the "elders" of the Fusion Club, to Professor Crowler, and to Amaki Hikaru himself, indeed, to everyone who had lived through the Shadow Rider incident, this card held extraordinary significance.
As the final opponent of the Shadow Rider arc, as the event's ender, as their final boss, Professor Banner had nearly wiped them all out. In the end, it was due to one tiny misstep on his part that Hikaru turned the tide, and it was Aleister's effect that sealed the win.
Aleister was Professor Banner's ace.
In a way, it was the starting point of all their growth.
It was also because of Aleister that Hikaru fully inherited Banner's alchemy and began studying the Emerald Book.
Since then, Hikaru had traveled to countless dimensions.
He had always wanted to collect Aleister, yet, no matter the world, he couldn't find it.
Even in the Village of Spellcasters, where mages gathered, their wisest members told Hikaru that "Crowley", one of their three founding sages, was unreachable.
So Hikaru came to understand:
Just as Chaos Warrior was a symbol among Warriors, "Aleister" was a title of ultimate prestige among Spellcasters.
Aleister represented a supreme Duel Spirit of the Spellcaster Tribe.
Who would've thought Professor Crowler could actually obtain this card?
Hikaru closed his eyes in thought.
...
Even this card, he was able to acquire...
If Crowler had asked for Ancient Gear Chaos Giant or Ultimate Giant, KaibaCorp would've delivered them in minutes.
Hikaru took a deep breath.
Time to restructure his Deck.
He spent a while reconfiguring it.
Truthfully, his Deck was already quite "normal." Alongside his heavy Fusion lineup, he had a fair number of Gem-Knights and Shaddolls. In duels, he could often lean into one axis alone.
However, with Aleister? Everything changed.
He could now forcibly bridge the two engines using Aleister.
And he didn't even need to worry about Super Polymerization fusing him away;
Because...
Hikaru reached for the Emerald Book beside him, opened it slowly, and flipped through until he pulled out a card used as a protected bookmark.
Invoked Magellanica.
Professor Banner's favorite Invoked, and the card Aleister's spirit had once left behind for Hikaru.
Most Invoked monsters had simple fusion materials: Aleister plus a monster of a specific Attribute.
So there was no need to worry about Super Polymerization.
Only one problem remained, Magellanica was an EARTH Fusion. And Hikaru didn't run any EARTH Shaddolls.
After a full day of tuning, Hikaru test dueled against Celina.
Even if the Attribute match wasn't perfect, Celina quickly understood why both Tierra and Hikaru had been so excited.
One-card starters, zero cost, straight Fusion, recyclable?
Even in a casual spar, Celina could feel its overwhelming power.
It had been a while since Hikaru last used Aleister. It felt nostalgic.
Even after refining the Deck, he didn't put the Emerald Book away.
Previously, Hikaru had stopped unlocking the dimensional coordinates left by Banner because he'd hit the ceiling of his alchemy path.
Yet, he still remembered the letter from the Spellbook Magician.
Back in the Village of Spellcasters, the Spellbook Magician had told him that Banner was safe, and also spoke of the Spellbook Tower's Certification Card.
With it, one could challenge high-ranking mages in the Village.
Though he still hadn't met Dark Magician, that didn't matter much.
What mattered was, Hikaru had recently deciphered the special entry requirement to the Realm of the Spellcasters:
The Three Sages' Emblem.
The "Three Sages" referred to:
Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires, the Great Sage of Codex and leader of the Spellbook Tower Dimension, also known as Aleister the Invoker;
Endymion the Master Magician, king of the Magical City Dimension;
Witchcrafter Madame Verre, leader of the Witchcrafter Workshop.
Together, they created the Village of Spellcasters, a dimension open to all Spellcasters. Each of the three Duel Spirits held unique authority, gathering their Emblems would force open the Realm's dimensional gate.
That meant no need to hunt for coordinates.
In short;
This one card.
Solved nearly every problem Hikaru faced: Deck synergy, alchemical research, personal goals, and his friends' expectations.
Because of that, his original plan to slowly wander around the Critical Nexus changed. He now decided to first hit the 1- and 2-Star regions to help Celina collect four stamps to pass the semester, and to collect eight stamps himself.
He and Celina boarded the train back to the Starting Point. Hikaru planned to use the dimensional gate there to return to the Academy, then head straight for the Grand Universe Workshop to plan out the collection of the Three Sages' Emblems, cutting out a trip to the Knight Zone and saving time.
Yet, as the train rolled along and they sat calmly, Hikaru noticed something in the sky, a looming "black cloud" was approaching.
No… Not a cloud.
But a swarm of demons, each wielding weapons!
...
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