Amidst the murmurs of countless spirits, the turn shifted to Jaden.
He looked at his hand, pausing.
"Jaden, no matter what, you must not let the Envoy of the Beginning flip face-up!"
"I got it!"
The Envoy of the Beginning could banish monsters directly or attack twice. No matter what, they couldn't let it stand back up! Otherwise, their chances of victory would be slim.
But… the Envoy of the Beginning had a Defense of 2500! It wouldn't be easy to take down.
"In that case, I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand."
Seeing Inferno Wing display its power earlier had already excited him. Now that he finally had the right fusion materials, and needed a high-attack monster, he wouldn't hesitate!
"I Fusion Summon—Flame Wingman!"
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] Level 6│WIND│Warrior│2100 ATK
"Hahaha, Flame Wingman, huh? Bro, isn't that you?" Seeing Flame Wingman appear, Gaia burst into laughter and turned to Avian.
"That's merely one side of me," Avian folded his arms and said calmly. "Jaden, if you only see the glory of a hero but not the darkness and suffering behind them, you'll never become a true hero."
"Uh… what?" Jaden was momentarily confused by Avian's words.
Why did that sound like he knew him?
"Besides, with just 2100 ATK, do you really think you can defeat Lord Chaos Warrior? Keep dreaming!" Gaia sneered.
"Heh, whatever, a hero needs a battlefield worthy of a hero! I activate the Field Spell, Skyscraper!"
'Here it comes!'
Watching from the side, Hikaru suddenly felt his blood pumping.
The "Anti-3000 Slayer" had arrived!
Skyscraper allowed Elemental HERO monsters to gain 1000 ATK when attacking a monster with higher ATK than themselves. For Flame Wingman, with 2100 ATK, this meant he could take down any monster 3000 ATK or below with ease!
"Using the field to defeat the Lord Chaos warrior? Not a bad idea, but too naive! I activate the Trap Card, Ring of Destruction!"
'Oh, crap a banned card!'
In Hikaru's world, this card had been errata'd and unbanned, but here, it was still in its original broken state!
"Select one monster on the field, destroy it, and inflict damage to both players equal to its ATK!"
A massive ring shot out from the card, locking onto Flame Wingman.
BOOM!
The Flame Wingman exploded into dust!
[Hikaru & Jaden, LP: 4300 → 2200]
[Avian & Gaia, LP: 5500 → 3400]
"No..." Jaden tensed up upon seeing the situation.
On the other side, Avian made sarcastic remarks, "Heh, if it were Dark Fusion, this would never have happened."
Jaden looked uncomfortable, yet Avian pressed on, "Heroes are not just about their shining glory. Darkness is what truly represents a hero's strength!"
Jaden felt uneasy for a moment. He wasn't afraid of being stuck here himself; he was just worried that the new friend he had called over would end up trapped because of him.
"Don't listen to him, Jaden!" Hikaru shouted from the side.
"Avian! Stop spouting nonsense! Everyone has the right to pursue what they believe in! To me, the pinnacle of Fusion is my goal, and for Jaden, a hero is a hero!"
Avian's expression darkened with irritation.
"Don't force your ideals onto him! Jaden, use my card!"
'Use my card!?'
A sudden shout snapped Jaden back to reality. He looked at the field and, in an instant, realized something. His smile returned, bright as ever, "Haha, so it's this card haha, Hikaru, did you prepare this on purpose!?"
"Of course, I told you, I adjusted my deck in advance!" Hikaru looked at Jaden, showing a rare warm smile, and gave him a thumbs-up. "Fusion is all-encompassing! A Tag Duel is just like Fusion!
Trusting your partner and supporting them is also a form of Fusion!"
As Hikaru finished speaking, countless spirits were moved by his words.
"Wow, I've decided, I will dedicate my life to this warrior!"
"So... this is the pinnacle of Fusion!"
"So cool! Flame Swordsman, can you introduce me later? I'm a Fusion Monster too!"
At the moment, an untold number of warriors stirred by Hikaru's words contemplated leaving their dimension.
Jaden took a deep breath, looked across at Avian, and resolutely summoned a monster, " I Normal Summon, Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
[Elemental HERO Sparkman] Level 4│LIGHT│Warrior│ATK 1600│Normal
"Why summon that guy at this point?" Avian scoffed. "If you don't deal with Envoy of the Beginning this turn, next turn, I'll show you the power of Dark Fusion!"
"Huh? Avian, you and Sparkman don't get along?" Jaden was puzzled.
"Hmph, that guy always competes with me for Burstinatrix's affection. No, wait! Why did you ask that? You heard nothing!" Avian blurted out.
"Uh... D-darkness, huh..." Jaden wasn't sure how to respond, so he could only sigh. "Well then, this is the perfect time to smooth things over!"
"What do you mean?" Avian was confused.
Then Hikaru shouted, "I Activate my Set Card! Miracle Fusion!"
"Miracle Fusion!!!"
"No way, that Fusion maniac actually set a card like this!?" Avian clearly recognized the card.
"Haha, Hikaru is a Duelist who pursues the ultimate Fusion! Of course, he would have this kind of card!" Jaden shouted excitedly, then immediately followed up with, "According to this card's effect, I can banish monsters from the field and graveyard as Fusion Materials to Fusion Summon an 'Elemental HERO' Fusion Monster!"
"I will fuse the Flame Wingman in my Graveyard with the Sparkman on my field!"
"From within the radiance, behold Flame Wingman's new form!"
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!"
The armored Flame Wingman changed from Wind Attribute to the Light Attribute, symbolizing Sparkman, and his attack power rose to 2500!
"For every monster in my Graveyard, Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 ATK! In my Graveyard, I have three Elemental HEROES: Avian, Burstinatrix, and Clayman!"
[Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman] Level 8│LIGHT│Warrior│3400 ATK!
"T-this is bad..." Avian staggered back uncomfortably. "Shining Flare Wingman inherited my ability."
"That's right! When he destroys a monster in battle, he inflicts damage equal to its ATK!" Jaden pointed at the glowing hero in the sky. "Black Luster Soldier has 3800 ATK, so during battle, Shining Flare Wingman will reach 4400 ATK!"
"Our Life Points are only 3400!!" Realizing this, Avian furiously turned to Gaia. "You bastard! Why did you use Ring of Destruction? Why not wait until the Battle Phase!? Now I don't even get another turn!"
"Hey, you little brat, before the trial started, weren't you the one who told me to target this human!?" Gaia shot back. "Moreover, I had to deal with that fusion maniac called Hikaru! It wasn't easy for me either!"
"Tch, if I had known, I would've gone all out—ugh, you were totally useless! You completely dragged me down!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!? You should've used Dark Fusion on something else!!"
"Why is it so bright all of a sudden—"
"Huh?"
The two arguing spirits turned their heads, only to see the radiant warrior standing before them, erupting with blazing white flames!
"Uwaaaaaah—!"
The flames engulfed them instantly!
[Avian & Gaia, LP: 3400 → 0]
"The winners are the warriors from another dimension!" Black Luster Soldier slowly rose, his body shining brilliantly, showing no concern that 'he' had been destroyed. "As promised, warriors from another world, I shall personally send you back to your world."
"Whoo-hoo! We won! That was such an exciting Duel!" Jaden cheered in excitement.
Hikaru rubbed his head as he watched the prison doors slowly open, letting out a relieved sigh.
After dodging so many death flags, they had finally won!
Looking at the stands filled with eager spirits, Hikaru's lips curled uncontrollably into a wide grin, almost unable to contain his expression.
This trip was definitely worth it!