After the Academy Festival came to an end, Duel Academy entered a short holiday period. Most students would leave campus and return to the warm comfort of home.
Of course, some chose to stay.
Some just didn't want to go home. Others, like Atticus Rhodes—having returned after being missing for a year—were handling re-enrollment paperwork and preparing to rejoin the second-year class.
And then there were students like Hikaru Amagi and Jaden Yuki, keyholders of the Seven Stars' keys. No matter what, it wouldn't be wise for them to leave campus during this period. It wasn't just for the Academy's protection—but for their own. If they left and were ambushed by the Seven Stars, things could turn dangerous fast.
Not that it mattered to the keyholders.
After all, every single one of them was hopelessly addicted to Dueling. Staying at school meant they could happily spend their days at the Fusion Club HQ, surrounded by like-minded duelists, free from public scrutiny. Of course they were happy.
The only thing Jaden regretted was that Zane Truesdale was slowly pulling away—preparing for his professional debut next year, his time was now spoken for.
And Hikaru wasn't around every day either. More often than not, he locked himself in the Fusion Club's president's room, tinkering with god-knows-what. Occasionally, strange explosions would echo out, leaving those outside scratching their heads.
On this day, another blast rang out from Hikaru's room. He immediately activated the room's industrial-grade ventilation system to clear out the smoke, then used a long pair of tongs to carefully remove a card from a massive alchemy furnace.
Ever since receiving those gemstones from Eldlich the Golden Lord, Hikaru had upgraded his setup. Most of the equipment had been chosen by the Malefic Alchemist himself. Though the new furnace looked small, it was far more expensive than any of the gemstones.
But Hikaru didn't care about the cost. Money came and went; it was there to be spent. Out with the old, in with the new.
"Success?"
"That aura… feels familiar."
Hikaru heard the voices of his Duel Spirits. He waved the smoke off the card so the spirits could get a good look.
"A Gem-Knight?"
"Ah, a comrade of yours, huh?"
"Emerald, is it? So you've been synthesizing Gem-Knight Emerald all this time, Lord Amagi."
Hikaru nodded.
When he'd first sorted the gemstones, he'd noticed a fair number of fragmented sapphires—likely the cheapest of the batch given their poor clarity and abundance. So he decided to use them for practice, especially focusing on synthesizing Predaplant monsters.
But after a few attempts at making Gem-Knight Emerald, he made an exciting discovery—the synthesis process also seemed to feed energy into El Shaddoll Winda.
That alone got Hikaru pumped.
Over the past half-year, El Shaddoll Winda had become more and more complete. With help from Nightshroud and repeated duels with Haruto Kokawa in Tsutono City, the card had nearly reached physical perfection. The only reason it remained idle was Hikaru's lack of access to other "Duel Terminal archetype" duelists to fuel its growth.
But now, seeing that Emerald synthesis somehow empowered Winda—he'd put his Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio experiments on hold to focus entirely on Gem-Knights.
Perhaps because Gem-Knight Emerald was a Normal Monster, his Spirit Compatibility only needed to be Level 5 to attempt it. Or maybe Gem-Knight Prism Aura's presence had reduced the synthesis difficulty. Whatever the case, Hikaru could now successfully craft Emerald.
And today, at last, he'd done it. He carefully stored the completed Gem-Knight Emerald card.
Currently, his only Fusion Monsters from the archetype were the ones provided by Captain Prism Aura—namely Prism Aura and Zirconia. The Emerald line lacked a proper Fusion counterpart, so Hikaru could only wait for Super Polymerization to grant him something fitting.
Meanwhile…
Hikaru sifted through his cards and took out one in particular—a card depicting a green-haired sorceress wielding a staff, commanding phantom dragons. The mystical patterns shimmered along its surface, the etching radiant in the light. Hikaru's heart skipped.
He slid the card into his Duel Disk.
"Error," the Duel Disk replied.
But Hikaru wasn't disappointed.
This was just a test to see if Winda was complete.
Truth was, he hadn't been able to judge the card's completion visually for days. As far as he could see, it was already a real card. He couldn't tell if anything was missing just by looking—only the Duel Disk could confirm it.
Seems… it's still incomplete?
No big deal. He could try synthesizing Gem-Knight Garnet next. A bit pricier than Emerald, sure, but it wasn't like he was grinding full gems every time. Most attempts used powdered fragments, so it wasn't too painful on the wallet.
One of the Gem-Knight spirits hesitated, almost speaking up—but fell silent.
There was something about that Winda card. A fear from the origin of their archetype. Not from within, but from something deeper—older. A primordial terror.
"Master! Time to duel!" Serena's voice rang from the hallway, followed by an enthusiastic pounding on the door.
Unlike Alexis, who had plenty of other hobbies and rarely stuck around the Fusion Club, Serena had no such distractions.
She just wanted to duel.
Every day at this time, Hikaru would set aside time to duel with Serena—not serious matches, but casual ones. They sat at the table, tossing together random decks from piles of mismatched cards, each drawing 40 and dueling whatever they pulled.
Like a live-action "Chronicle Mode" from YGOcore.
Jaden, Bastion Misawa, and other friends would often drop in, watching or joining the discussion. Some Fusion Club members who hadn't gone home also stayed to observe and chat.
Though Serena had forced the "Master" title on Hikaru, he never objected. She truly wanted to learn Fusion Summoning—and he didn't mind teaching.
After all, that's what the Fusion Club was for. Learning and enjoying Fusion—not like Reiji Akaba's twisted methods. If they could enjoy their holiday together, exchanging ideas and building bonds, wasn't that the best outcome?
And besides, it was a perfect excuse to keep Serena on campus.
"Serena, that's an Extra Deck monster sent to the Graveyard by effect—not a proper Fusion Summon. You can't target it with Monster Reborn," Hikaru said, pointing at her Graveyard.
"Yeah, Serena—no revival for that," Bastion added.
"Ah, right—" Serena flushed slightly and retracted her move.
Hikaru could tell. She wanted to learn how to bring out Fusion monsters the way he did, with all kinds of twists and combos. But in her stubbornness, she often ignored key rules.
Her eyes drifted toward Hikaru's belt, where his deck box sat. For a brief instant, she thought she saw it glowing with an eerie violet light. But when she blinked—nothing.
Weird?
Blair Flannigan had given her a full physical. Her body was healthy—perfectly so. In fact, her Spirit Compatibility was astronomically high—Level 6. The nurse had even speculated that Serena might have been "modified" by Reiji Akaba.
She'd been instructed not to use a Duel Disk for long periods. So… had she imagined that glow?
Still—
She couldn't shake the feeling...
Something dangerous was close.