Hikaru had absolutely no expertise in this area, nor any knowledge of the relevant subject matter.
But Tierra was different.
As the "Star-Creating God," she had at least some understanding of these things.
Of course, although Tierra was the "Star-Creating God," she wasn't truly a god who created the world in the literal sense. She was the "God who creates life and death," the deity governing the cycle of all things.
However, while their jurisdictions differed, that didn't mean Tierra's divine authority had no involvement in this area.
It was quite simple, really. The "DT" world wasn't actually just a simple "planet."
Although the DT planet's story began with the famous cosmic invaders, the Worms, launching their assault, that didn't mean this little "DT planet" was truly that ordinary.
Setting aside the various factions that had bashed each other's brains in, the original inhabitants alone included many capable of going toe-to-toe with "cosmic-level forces." And hidden within this planet was actually an "alternate dimension."
Namely...
The "Fabled World."
The Fabled were primordial gods sealed away by the beings of the DT planet in ancient times. They were genuine "divine beings." Although they couldn't compare to the Star-Creating Gods in scale, quality, or magnitude, their status still far exceeded that of ordinary life.
Within the Fabled World, there even existed three layers of reality. Despite being called a "seal," these Fabled, Fabled Beasts, and imps actually lived normal lives inside, not much different from the real world.
There was civilization, education, training facilities, research institutions. It was simply a special space distinct from the planet.
And this was clearly the handiwork of true "Gods."
Whether it was the world Tierra created or the similar methods Sophia used to seal Tierra, the vast majority of things on the DT planet were connected to the two of them.
Even if this so-called "Fabled World" wasn't Tierra's creation, she possessed the relevant knowledge and partial abilities.
Tierra thought this, and acted accordingly. She spent two hours meticulously investigating the entire Vampire Empire with her current power, then made her judgment.
Barring the unexpected, the Vampire Empire would directly collapse within twenty years at most.
"What? Twenty years!? No, that's impossible!" Even Fräulein was startled into full alertness. Gone was the languid young lady; she looked like a general ready for battle at any moment. "No, impossible... When I investigated before, it was just slowly shrinking. Twenty years? There's no way it would be that fast. It should take at least two thousand... two hundred years!
With our vampire brethren collectively maintaining this dimension, we can delay it even further. There's absolutely no problem!"
She refused to believe such a conclusion. At the same time, the spirits listening to the results also shouted their disbelief, refusing to accept the number. Many even questioned Tierra's abilities.
"I'm stating results." Tierra looked at those spirits who dared to question her calculated results, sweeping her gaze across them. Behind her, infinite blue flames seemed to blaze. Every spirit, whether Vampire Fräulein or ordinary vampires, whether "existent but yet unborn" new spirits or ancient ones like Duke of Demise, even Camula as a true vampire, fell deathly silent.
In that brief instant, they felt as though their hearts had been plucked out and weighed, like data on a scale, subject to a "verdict" at any moment: a verdict of death!
Tierra snorted coldly. She had no interest in explaining her anger or displaying her divine might. She didn't care about such tedious things.
She was simply impatient.
When she stated conclusions, they would listen quietly.
The spirits already residing in the Grand Cosmos Workshop were well accustomed to this.
Lady Tierra was like this. She normally took no interest in anything. If you needed her help, you could try asking, and she would decide based on her mood.
But there was one thing you absolutely must never do.
That was to question Tierra. To question her judgment or calculations.
She raised a finger and declared before all the spirits, especially the vampires: "Perhaps in your eyes, your shattered dimension still looks sturdy. With your continued protection, it could exist for hundreds or even thousands of years.
But that is a foolish assessment. No, rather, it's self-deception."
"If this dimension were truly that safe, would your leader have left to seek answers, only to vanish without a trace?"
The vampires fell silent.
"Indeed, at the current rate of destruction, this dimension wouldn't collapse so quickly. But this rate of collapse is gradually accelerating." Tierra folded her arms and spoke coldly. "Based on my year of understanding spirits, the vast majority of duel card spirits deeply respect and honor the results and agreements of duels.
You, vampire spirit, may not be a top-tier spirit, but you are still a clan leader. You lost to Hikaru previously, yet only surrendered your card while insisting on physically remaining here. That's because you had a vague sense of it, didn't you?
Every day, every month, every year, the rate of your world's collapse speeds up just a little.
If you left this dimension, the collapse would become uncontrollable within just a year or two. After another two or three years, even if you guarded this place with everything you had every single day, it would be hopeless."
Fräulein silently lowered her head.
"Wh... what? My Lady?" "So that's how it was..." "Really, my Lady?! I knew it! The Lady would never play tricks with the results of the dueling ceremony!"
Although the vampires were known for being "cunning" and "devious," they were still duel monster spirits. How could they possibly do such things?
"I only concerned myself with how my sheltered subjects were doing each day... I truly hadn't been watching the dimension's condition. Now that it's been said, my niece's behavior makes sense." Duke of Demise gradually began to believe Tierra's judgment.
If it weren't the case, why would Vampire Fräulein have done those things?
"But... I never imagined it would be this fast. Twenty years... that's far too soon!" Vampire Fräulein had only vaguely sensed something was wrong. She had no clear picture of the dimension's overall state. Now, hearing Tierra say this, her head was spinning.
For a spirit who might sleep for a year at a time, twenty years was far too soon!
So soon it felt like it would pass in the blink of an eye!
"Relax. Twenty years... isn't that short." Tierra responded casually. "If I'm not mistaken, your dimension was likely caught in the destructive edge zone during the original dimensional fracturing. A region hit by the blast radius.
Although it sustained serious damage, it wouldn't collapse that easily.
Relying on the dimension's self-repair mechanisms is clearly not going to work. You need major surgery."
The "major surgery" she referred to was Tierra fundamentally restructuring this dimension's "mechanisms," similar to what had been done with the Frightfur Sanctuary, guiding this world into an entirely new ecosystem.
But unlike the Frightfur dimension.
Not only were the vampires all old-fashioned spirits, the Vampire Empire was also far larger. More importantly, the Frightfur dimension had barely been born as a new dimension before the collapse. Those spirits had adapted to the new era's dimensional rules and cycle logic, so their dimension was inherently more susceptible to modification under the influence of power.
This one needed to be rebuilt from the ground up by hand.
For Tierra, who possessed barely half her power, accomplishing this would be quite difficult.
Without other tools to assist her, she would likely need a very long time just to patch things up enough to halt the continued collapse. As for actually "repairing" it, that wouldn't be a matter of just a year or two.
She could do this.
But she didn't want to.
A bunch of vampires. Although they were likewise beings between life and death, they were neither alive nor dead nor mechanical. She could hardly muster interest.
There was also another thing. She had vaguely sensed that something major was about to happen at Hikaru's academy.
She could help Hikaru in her spare time, but devoting all her time to this was out of the question.
Even if this was an interesting new challenge she had never attempted before, she wasn't in the mood.
She had no interest in explaining to the vampires, so she simply told Hikaru the conclusions and situation directly.
"I see." Hikaru rubbed his chin and first calmed the vampires' nerves.
Twenty years. Not short by any means, longer than his current age. But for these vampires, twenty years was indeed extremely brief.
However, there was actually a win-win approach.
It was simple. For Tierra, the most troublesome part wasn't devising a plan or making modifications. It was the lack of time and execution methods. Everything had to be done by hand.
But what if she had the tools and the time?
Then everything could be streamlined.
The simplest solution was giving Tierra an additional "support unit."
Not a destruction-specialized support unit like Lilith.
But rather...
A support unit from the other side!
Hikaru reassured the vampires and notified Magistery Alchemist.
For the next period, the Grand Cosmos Workshop's research agenda was crystal clear.
He silently pulled out a card.
Pendulum Commander - Grand Spirit Machine Army!
This card was temporary, and because it was influenced by the power of the dragon behind Leo Akaba, Hikaru couldn't use it at all. He could only watch it crack more each day.
But...
What did that matter?
True, the card in Hikaru's hand was cursed, and he absolutely couldn't use it. But for Hikaru, that wasn't important.
Hikaru needed its rank, needed its "Pendulum." After a period of research, he had completed his preparations.
It was just that he'd had other matters to handle before, and "Nehemah" still hadn't been crafted, so he had planned to take it slow.
But now...
Tierra's eyes flashed gold as she watched from the side.
Oh?!
Was it time to activate the backup plan?
Prioritize the "Qliphort" revival?
Exactly.
What Hikaru would craft next was...
Stealth Qliphort - Materialism!
Unlike the Infernoids, which progressed from simple to complex, from bottom to top, the Qliphorts had to be built from the top down. Therefore, the first Qliphort Hikaru needed to construct could only be one thing...
Materialism!
This was the most difficult of all Qliphorts, the obstacle that had to be faced from the very start. Its crafting complexity was even greater than Infernoid Lilith's.
Moreover, unlike the Infernoids where he had ample experience from crafting many, Materialism was nothing like Lilith. There were no prior references, so Hikaru had to design from scratch.
But...
Even so, it was less taxing and more reassuring than having Tierra do everything by hand alone.
After discussing with Magistery Alchemist all night, Hikaru was about to sleep right there in the Grand Cosmos Workshop. But at that moment, he received a flood of alerts.
He opened the book and noticed his Earthbound Prisoner friends frantically calling for him.
Surprised, he quickly closed the book, shut his eyes, left the Grand Cosmos Workshop, and appeared in the Fusion Division immediately.
What happened?
He rushed to ask the Line Drawing Winged Dog Demon.
What was going on?
Had someone actually dared to charge into the Fusion Division while those three were stationed there?
"Hikaru!" Tierra followed closely behind him into this world. The moment she touched this world's air, her eyes widened sharply. She stared out the window in shock and called for Hikaru to look.
Hikaru didn't hesitate and ran straight to the window, looking at the sky. Roiling black clouds were surging wildly across it, carrying eerie lightning that churned overhead.
At the island's shore, Aster removed his diving goggles. He had just finished all his work and finally come to the academy to fulfill his promise to Hikaru. But the moment he stepped ashore, he saw the terrifying black clouds.
"What's happening?"
It wasn't just him. Everyone with even a trace of "power," and even some ordinary people, seemed to sense something. Crowler, already changed into pajamas, hugged his doll and came to the window, gazing at the horizon in bewilderment.
Dark clouds engulfed the entire Duel Academy island. Moments later, horrifying black light and black lightning crashed from the sky, striking every edge and shore of the academy island.
Aster watched helplessly as his beloved jet ski was sliced clean in half by the black light. He screamed and rushed over, only to find himself completely blocked by a terrifying black transparent barrier. He couldn't leave at all.
This?!
Huh?
His mind was full of question marks.
He had just arrived. What was going on?
Professor Viper was likewise gazing at the sky. Seeing the terrifying spectacle, he couldn't help widening his eyes, filled with delight. Behind him, a yellow phantom laughed. "Heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha... It's begun."
Hikaru pulled his gaze back and slowly drew a breath.
This...
A familiar power.
Not just him. Even Tierra had encountered this power before. It was now engulfing the entire academy island!
Darkness!
That thing had actually made its move this early!