Hikaru supported Aster. Aster's eyes were dim and lifeless, as if death was already upon him. Yet he still raised his hand, struggling to pull his Deck from the Duel Disk. His hands trembled as he opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came. His consciousness had completely faded.
In the final moment of his life, what filled his heart was regret at having failed to save his friend. So all he could do was entrust everything to the one who had saved him, the one who understood and trusted him,Amagi Hikaru.
After Aster collapsed, Hikaru saw a clear-faced Sartorius appear beside him. Gently supporting Aster, he caught his hand before he fell, secured the Deck, and finally handed it to Amagi Hikaru.
Hikaru silently accepted the Deck.
Then, before his eyes, that man completely vanished into the light.
Hikaru quietly clenched his fist.
"Aster!?" Down below the tower, Sarina had arrived to guide Celina to the top floor. The moment she came up, she saw Aster, no longer breathing. Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes welling with tears.
"Master!!" Celina, still full of strength, was nonetheless struck dumb by the sight.
How could it be? Aster had only just opened his heart to her, and now,
"Brother, what are you doing!? Why even Aster!?" Sarina broke down completely. She couldn't believe her eyes.
If Sartorius could abandon even one of the people most important to him, then what else was he incapable of doing?
"No," Hikaru gently propped Aster's body against the wall, opened his Deck, and looked through it. As he did, he spoke to Sarina. "That isn't your brother."
"Wh-what...?"
Hikaru narrowed his eyes, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke to the two of them: "Your brother, Sartorius, and Aster,both disappeared into the light...
Disappeared into that card."
Sarina stood frozen.
Hikaru adjusted the Deck, inserting some of the cards into his own, making an already-large Deck even thicker.
Then he stepped up to face "Sartorius."
There was something he'd gotten wrong all along.
Or rather, a false assumption he'd never questioned.
In his impression, Sartorius had split into two personalities: one good, one evil.
Yet, during the last Duel, he finally understood.
He'd been wrong.
That wasn't it at all.
Sartorius hadn't split. The truth was, he had always harbored both good and evil within him. So the one who helped Aster, and the one who fought Aster, were the same soul.
As a dimensional traveler by nature, Sartorius,a born seer,could evolve through dimensional travel, enhancing his innate talents. So he hadn't truly split yet, only shown signs.
He had not completely become two different people.
This allowed Aster to reach him during the Duel,through battle, through the links between cards, through their names and transformations, Sartorius understood him and made a choice.
He chose to take the hit, to feel the weight of defeat, to seek out the future again. And this was all because Aster had awakened the broken Destiny HERO - Plasma, had triggered the effect of Remove Brainwashing, and given him hope.
But...
The Light of Destruction forcibly erased that hope. It seized control of Sartorius against his will!
"Light of Destruction, why would you do this!?"
Hikaru wasn't curious. He just needed to ask.
Or perhaps it was because of what the Light of Destruction had done that he had to ask!
In the original, the Light of Destruction was powerful, but more like a cosmic instinct.
Meanwhile, in this world, the Light of Destruction seemed to have developed a self-aware personality for some reason.
No wonder so many Spirits and people had been corrupted by the light in this world.
In the original, the Light's influence was much more concentrated.
"Why would I do it?" At that moment, Sartorius had completely transformed into a demonic being with a bull's head. His mouth opened, and from it came not just his own voice but that of another presence. Hearing it, Sarina finally realized: her brother hadn't gone mad,his body had been stolen.
"Sartorius, that man possesses the power to see fate. He couldn't not see that he had a chance to turn the Duel around this turn. But he gave it up of his own will," the Light of Destruction said. "What I require is a Duelist with absolute potential."
"He chose to give up! You forced him to start over again!" Hikaru swung his right hand. "Besides, that's not even the real point, and you know it!"
There were two key reasons Sartorius gave up.
First, he had almost no way to win with the cards remaining. Even against just Dangerous, he couldn't reverse the situation.
Second, at that moment in time, Sartorius couldn't create Chaos Ruler with his own power!
There wasn't enough time!
He simply couldn't do it!
That was the real core.
If he couldn't remove The Fool from his field, even surviving another turn meant he would still lose!
"And it's one thing for Duelists to use supernatural powers,that in itself isn't the issue. That said, you rewound time and kept the knowledge of it to yourself!
"If Aster had known time was reset, he could have changed all his monsters to Attack Position before striking,he still would have won!"
He hadn't turned them all to Attack Position because he wasn't sure what Set card Sartorius had.
Despite that, if he had known it was just Beckoning Light, then there was no way he would have lost!
"That was too despicable, Light of Destruction!"
The Light of Destruction gave no response to Hikaru's words.
Hikaru stepped forward, each step heavy, holding the merged Deck infused with Aster's cards, drawing ever closer to the Light.
"You know what I am, yet you still stand before me?"
"If I don't, how will I defeat you!?"
"Heh... As expected of the one this human chose. The one destined to destroy all dimensions." The Light of Destruction glanced at Tierra. "So that's it. You're the same type of being as me."
Tierra frowned.
Yes.
If before she'd only speculated, the moment the Light of Destruction's awareness appeared before her, she felt it.
The being before her was the same kind as her.
Whether god or demon, they were both born from ecosystems, from life itself, from worlds.
The only difference: the Light of Destruction was a god of the cosmos.
She was a goddess of a planet.
Even so, that didn't mean, "The Light is a cosmic god, so the planetary god can never win."
She placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder and nodded.
At the same time, many Spirit phantoms appeared around him.
Captain Crystal. Dark Flare Knight. Spirits once infected by the Light of Destruction. Aster's HEROes.
They now lent their power to Hikaru,so that he could fight the Light of Destruction with all he had!
"Come then, Light of Destruction. This time, I won't give you another chance! For myself, for Sartorius and Aster, for every life you've trampled in this world,"
"Let's settle this!"
"You've always wanted my power, haven't you!?"
"Then take it!"