"As expected of the GX Champion!"
"Incredible, I feel like I've gained a whole new understanding of Fusion."
"Miss Blacksmith, could you retool my blade toward a Fusion focus? It seems way more interesting over there."
As the duel ended, the spirits watching from around the workshop snapped back to attention, each reacting in their own way.
Some placed orders, some praised the Witchcrafter artisanship, and others marveled at Hikaru's skill.
Hikaru looked up at the sky.
It had only been a moment, but in that brief instant, the Light of Destruction had unmistakably appeared.
The Light of Destruction had never granted Hikaru the power of a "Herald," but it had used its own power to repair his body, provided him with a vast number of cards, and constructed a physical form for Tierra.
Before the GX Tournament, Hikaru had taken samples of that power and given them to Magical Scientist for research. That endlessly Fusion-curious spirit of the science faction had labored through countless days and nights, and finally succeeded in creating the card "Magnum the Reliever."
However, a card conjured from nothing required the approval of either the spirit or the original owner of that power.
Just as when Hikaru had first tried to use El Shaddoll Winda.
Only this time, the "original owner" was somewhat... large in stature.
Evidently, after all this time, the Light of Destruction was still pondering the meaning of "life," so when it suddenly detected an unfamiliar force drawing on its power, it was quite surprised and came to take a look.
However.
Upon seeing it was Hikaru, it simply left.
In other words..
Magical Scientist could research to its heart's content!
"Oh, right, Hikaru. That cosmic god didn't want to interfere with your duel, so it left a couple of messages before going." Tierra spoke up once the duel was over.
Oh...
It finally clicked for Hikaru.
He'd thought it was unlike the Light of Destruction to just glance and walk away. Sure enough, it had left words behind.
The Light of Destruction had examined Magnum's effects, one that returned a Fusion card and drew, and another that banished a Fusion card to destroy, and found them both surprising and deeply satisfying.
They represented that, even after that fateful day, Hikaru still held firm to the philosophy he had declared. Destruction and rebirth.
This gave the Light of Destruction entirely new inspiration, so it granted Hikaru carte blanche to experiment however he pleased.
Now Hikaru could relax.
With that settled, he turned to face the other side.
Amid the spirits' lively discussion, Cendrillon had already raised her staff and was tracing a magic circle in the air. She produced a card imprinted with Hikaru's likeness, and it flew into his hands.
Hikaru caught the card and touched the two other seals tucked against his chest.
One for "Endymion," one for "Spellbook Academy," and now this one for "Witchcrafter Bystreet", all three Proofs of the Three Sages were finally assembled!
Hikaru took a deep breath.
He needed to hurry to Domino City next and wouldn't have time to visit the Magician's Domain, but at the very least, the opportunity was now secured.
Meanwhile, on the Witchcrafter side, two spirits had started bickering.
"Haine, you brat, why did you rush over to the other side so fast last turn? I could have chained my effect!"
"What are you going on about? I stayed on our side for ages! The whole Fusion thing caught me off guard too, and by the time I came to my senses, you'd already missed your activation window!"
Unlike the world Hikaru came from, this world didn't let you wait forever to decide whether to chain an effect. Miss the window, and it was gone.
That was precisely why Duel Academy trained students in reaction time and physical conditioning.
Haine pressed her advantage. "Besides, a loss is a loss. What excuses are you making?"
"Hah? I lost, sure, but I wasn't even going all out! If I'd been serious from the first turn, there's no way that human could have come through so smoothly!" She waved her arms in front of Haine, trying to assert her authority as the "Master."
"If I'd wanted to, I could've assembled the normal forms of both you and me on Turn 1. Hikaru wouldn't have been able to win like that!"
"Your confidence is admirable, but Master, Hikaru wasn't serious on Turn 1 either. If instead of experimenting with Magnum, he'd gone straight into fusing Hook Squid, sent you to the Graveyard, casually summoned another monster, and attacked directly, what would you have done?
It's precisely because you weren't serious that Hikaru could only test new things and wait for you to get serious!" Haine rebutted Cendrillon's words as if she were a detached observer. "Most importantly!
Master, you even resorted to Crystallization Magic! That's not a card that belongs in a trial, if you're going to claim that, you might as well go all the way and use the Grand Sage form. Forget our Witchcrafter artistry entirely. Then you'd truly be going 'all out'!"
Cendrillon's head gradually drooped, feeling she couldn't quite out-argue her own apprentice. "Who's the faction leader here, exactly..."
"If you took your responsibilities more seriously, I'd certainly show you proper respect." Haine let out a sigh.
Cendrillon brushed off her rear somewhat helplessly, cleared away the dust, rose into the air, and settled onto a crystal-glass platform that materialized out of nowhere, floating over to Hikaru.
"Hey there, little Hikaru~" she greeted with a wave. "I've heard all about you from Crowley, but this is the first time we've met in person."
Hikaru returned the greeting.
Then, curiosity getting the better of him, he asked whether she knew anything about Professor Banner.
At the mention of Banner, she nodded, indicating she was well aware.
Banner's reincarnation was, in fact, connected to all three of the Sages.
"Since you've gathered all three Proofs of the Three Sages, it's about time." Cendrillon reconsidered, decided the moment was right, and began to explain.
As one of the founders of Secret Village of the Spellcasters, and one of the most ancient Spellcaster spirits, she, alongside Crowley and Endymion, had inherited the title of "Archetype Legends" and were known among spirits as the "Three Sages", among the closest beings to the original archetypes themselves.
The three had always collaborated, sharing their understanding of magic within the Secret Village and jointly managing the Spellcasters' home base.
But then...
On that day.
A sinister red light had suddenly pierced through the entire Spirit World.
In the instant invisible to ordinary spirits and humans, every top-tier spirit had simultaneously witnessed that beam of light.
Immediately afterward, the entire Spirit World began to crumble and fragment. The Three Sages each used their own power to maintain a single dimension, their respective magic factions. To protect those factions, they reduced how often they met, visited the Secret Village less frequently, and instead convened in the more stable and more powerful "Magician's Domain" to discuss matters.
In short, the moment they realized that ordinary spirits hadn't even noticed the catastrophe, hadn't been aware of it at all, the being behind that light had already torn the world apart. They instantly grasped the terror of that unknown enemy.
So from that point on, they began their exploration and research.
After all, though that light had flashed only once, no one could guarantee it wouldn't appear again, nor could anyone promise that next time, it wouldn't be directed at living beings.
To that end, the Three Sages had actually been working tirelessly for decades, seeking every possible countermeasure.
During one of his journeys, Crowley had discovered Banner, an "alchemist of a generation", and was immediately awestruck. He introduced Banner to the others, and it was then that Endymion revealed something the other two hadn't noticed.
The mastermind behind the scenes possessed the power to control souls. It had converted some fallen, powerful spirits into other forms of life. No one knew how this happened, nor what consequences the transformation carried, but should an alchemist of Banner's caliber die, there was no telling what might occur.
It was precisely for this reason that Banner, already aware at the time that he didn't have long to live, had begun planning his reincarnation as a spirit.
"The fracturing of the Spirit World is something nearly every spirit knows about. But the number of spirits who truly understand how terrifying it was, who realize that our future will inevitably pit us against an existence beyond imagination, is vanishingly small."
Inside the workshop, Cendrillon explained these secrets and research to Hikaru.
Over these years, they had been steadily uncovering traces of the mastermind, gradually coming into contact with certain "forces" under that being's command.
It was precisely because this task was so incredibly difficult and dangerous that "supreme-tier" spirits like Verre were perpetually overworked, only the truly apex-level spirits, like the Dragon God of the Dark World who couldn't care less about the world's survival, were completely indifferent to it all.
"Now, since you've already earned the recognition of the Three Sages and may step into the Spellcaster's Domain, you'll inevitably have to deal with this matter going forward, and even track down that Shatterer's whereabouts.
Hah, if that's the case, maybe I can finally take it easy! Sleep in at the workshop every day!"