After a week of rest, Hikaru recovered from his mental fatigue. On Sunday, he prepared for his second test of the club's dimensional gate.
A lot had happened this week. The Society of Light completely replaced the Polymerization Club, clashing with the Fusion Club and even Jaden's group. Following Crowler's request—and his own belief in 'if there's a duel, duel it'—Jaden was locked in constant duels, trying to pull people away from the Society's grasp.
In short: duel. Fun.
Hikaru, meanwhile, was left alone. After Pro Duelist X, none of the Society members dared challenge him. Most were tangled in petty squabbles over whether Slifer Red or the Society should dominate, with stakes like 'disband the Red Dorm' or 'join the Society.'
Even Serena joined the fray. Despite preferring the Red Dorm uniform, she lived in Obelisk Blue's girls' dorm and despised it being painted white. Naturally, she joined the dueling chaos.
Dennis, always playing the invisible bystander, also jumped in. As an ex-Fusion Army member with old grudges against the Society, he found no shortage of fights.
Somehow, the entire school became hyper-aggressive. Students were dueling constantly. Principal Sheppard seemed pleased about it, based on his calls with Crowler.
Though... he also mentioned returning soon. Crowler looked a bit disappointed—back to being just a professor.
Still, Sheppard seemed somewhat gloomy. Probably... after getting wrecked by Zane?
People often forgot—despite his looks and age, Sheppard was once a famous duelist. A former instructor of the Cyber Style. Zane was his student.
Cyber Style had more than Cyber End Dragon. There was also Underground Cyber Style. While the anime made it look weak, in OCG, it actually had a boss monster with pseudo-immunity. Pretty solid here.
Not that it mattered to Hikaru.
Landing smoothly, Hikaru scanned his surroundings. Tierra followed, hovering down.
"Ooh, nice place," she mused.
Yeah... not bad.
Trees. Flowers. Birds. Some high-rise buildings nearby. Not exactly deserted.
"All artificial," Tierra noted.
'Artificial?'
'So this was a man-made, shattered dimension?'
Hikaru nodded, gripping the Emerald Grimoire for safety.
He stepped toward the flowers—but Tierra stuck out a finger to stop him, pointing ahead.
Focusing, Hikaru noticed—a small bird landed among the flowers. A second later, a massive blood-red maw shot from the ground, snapping the bird whole. Only a giant green mouth remained, chewing, then sinking back into the plants.
Eyebrow raised. Carnivorous plants.
Hikaru had tinkered with Predaplants before—but no fusion monsters. This wasn't a "Predaplant monster." This was literal man-made meat-eating flora.
Probably defensive tech.
Unfazed, Hikaru circled around. Soon, he spotted several people under the skyscrapers, rushing frantically.
Soldiers in purple uniforms were loading supplies.
Finally—a color other than white. Hikaru's eyes felt blessed.
But why so frantic?
"Hurry! The battle starts tomorrow! It's time to serve the Professor!"
'...What?!'
'Tomorrow?'
'The bald egg is blitzing the Xyz Dimension tomorrow?!'
'So soon?!'
Hikaru had calculated—this should've been a year away.
But Leo Akaba was moving now?
Then... why station Raviel here?
As Hikaru pondered, Tierra pointed. "Hey, doesn't that machine look like the physical duel hologram the ramen company gave you?"
'Duel hologram!'
It clicked.
Akaba wasn't normal.
In canon, he didn't invade Xyz Dimension with duels.
He teleported in Chaos Ancient Gear Giants, then bombarded the entire city.
Dueling? Nope.
If this were happening, even with figures like Dr. Faker, Mr. Heartland, or the Numbers family, Xyz Dimension would be caught off guard. Huge losses.
No wonder this place was a key stronghold.
But also—a chance.
This world's tech was behind. Dimensional teleportation was their priority. Physical holograms were rare. No duel disks with integrated projectors yet.
They had to set them up manually.
Of course... Sartorius had figured this out.
Hikaru grinned.
Typical. A classic "dog bites dog" scenario. Sartorius probably sent him here for that very reason.
Didn't matter.
"Hey—you guys."
Hikaru didn't bother sneaking. Stepping out, his duel disk flared. The card preloaded—El Shaddoll Grysta—glowed as a massive angelic figure materialized, lunging to grab the machine.
"INTRUDER!!"
Alarms blared. Red light flooded the dimension.
A colossal navy demon emerged, catching Grysta mid-attack.
The soldiers saw Hikaru.
"It's Amagi Hikaru!"
"He's finally here!"
And unlike past Fusion Army grunts, these soldiers had discipline.
"We've been waiting for you, Hikaru!" someone shouted, leaping from a rooftop.
Cloaked. Medals. Tailcoat. His purple uniform far grander than the soldiers'. A teacher?
Hikaru raised a brow.
"Rumors said a mysterious figure was opposing us. I figured it had to be you." The man cracked his knuckles, forcing Raviel to pry Grysta's arms apart. "After all, you're the only one the Professor personally put a bounty on.
If you want to survive, attacking first is the best choice."
Now seeing his face—dark-skinned, broad-lipped—Hikaru realized. Agile. Strong. Even while controlling Raviel, he moved like it was nothing.
"I'm Yoshikawa Borg, instructor at North American Branch. Bet you've never seen me before."
"Come on then." He gestured. "This'll be your final duel. Let's end it in style."
The soldiers saluted and stepped back, forming a ring around the machine, sneering.
'Confident, huh?'
Hikaru tapped his duel disk.
Raviel and Grysta's images faded.
Both duelists stepped into the clearing, raised their disks, locked eyes, and shouted—
"DUEL!"
[Amagi Hikaru, LP: 4000]
[Yoshikawa Borg, LP: 4000]