"I seriously can't with this..."
Hikaru Amagi shook the heat off his hand and slid the card back into his deck box.
Several Duel Spirits around him exchanged uneasy glances but said nothing. None dared to question what they'd just witnessed.
That card—mysterious, ominous—they still had no idea what it actually was. But they'd seen Hikaru use it before when dabbling in alchemy.
Back then, they'd sensed the terrifying power sealed within it, but couldn't gauge its limits. They'd assumed it was a dark-type card Hikaru was afraid to use, worried it might endanger his friends or himself.
Clearly, they'd underestimated it—by miles.
What the hell even is that thing?!
"Master," said Vanrong, the alchemist spirit—always the calm one. He appeared beside Hikaru as the card was tucked away. "I'd thought it was just a kind of catalytic component card. Clearly… I was drastically mistaken."
He gestured with his staff toward the One-Eyed Duelist, now unconscious on the ground, surrounded by scattered cards. "This time, since the opponent violated the sacred rules of a Shadow Game so severely, the backlash landed entirely on him."
"But next time… You can't just throw that card down without hesitation."
Vanrong narrowed his eyes. "If I had to estimate… you'd need your Duel Spirit Affinity to reach at least ten stars before you could wield that card freely."
Hikaru nodded slightly. "Yeah… I get it."
Vanrong was analyzing from a professional standpoint. Hikaru, from accumulated experience and intel.
"Today was wilder than the past ten years combined," said Haruto Kunigawa, watching from nearby, a little dazed.
Hikaru turned and grinned. "Well, remember it. Our world? It's never truly calm."
Haruto exhaled slowly, his expression darkening. "Now I finally understand why our higher-ups back home are so adamant about limiting interdimensional interaction. Even this tournament is a shallow taste. They don't want us diving deeper."
"Living like this every day? Our people would lose their minds."
Dueling monsters?
Lose the game and die?
Refuse to die, and the monsters keep attacking under your control?
Insane. Nightmarish.
"Your world might not be safe either," Hikaru added. He had no idea what Haruto's dimension was really like, but if his own world was a twisted blend of GX and Arc-V, then Haruto's could be a patchwork too.
If that was the case...
There might be Number monsters over there.
And that? Was not safe.
Haruto stood in silence for a moment, then gave a solemn nod.
After all was said and done, the One-Eyed Duelist began to stir.
Its first act upon waking: a feral roar, a massive leap backward, claws digging into the dirt, scanning everything around it with a predator's paranoia.
Then, seeing Hikaru and the spirits, it relaxed by degrees. And finally—shamelessly—began to cry, softly sobbing, tears streaking down its strange, furred cheeks.
Looked like it went through hell.
While it recovered, Hikaru crouched nearby and gathered up the scattered cards.
"Huh—?"
He tilted his head as he read the names and saw the images.
Where was Parasite Fusioner?
Why did it look... different now?
"Well… that's fine, I guess."
Hikaru shrugged. The appearance didn't bother him too much.
To be honest, Parasite Fusioner was kind of underrated these days. Its effect let it substitute for any specific Fusion Monster's name requirement—kind of like King of the Swamp.
That ability? Still pretty damn useful in this world.
But truth be told…
Only chaotic duelists liked messing with cards like this. Most duelists, even the serious card junkies who claimed they didn't care about aesthetics, avoided using nasty-looking cards like Parasite Fusioner or Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier.
Still, the mutations weren't bad at all. One of them had even morphed into Thunder Dragon Fusion, and another was a Gem-Knight vanilla monster. And honestly? Those could fetch a decent price in the GX world's card market.
But what really caught Hikaru's attention—
Fusion Monster: Chimeratech Rampage Wyvern.
Oh. HELL yes.
His eyes sparkled.
So long as that card was on the field, all Gemini monsters counted as having been Normal Summoned a second time—basically activating their true forms.
That was the key to infinite loops—a classic combo engine.
And the Fusion requirements? Ridiculously lenient—just two Gemini monsters.
And Hikaru had Gemini monsters.
Ancient Gear Knight, for one.
A Level 8 Fusion Monster like Chimeratech Rampage Wyvern was perfect bait for Instant Fusion, which in turn paved the way to summon Dark Magician the Dragon Knight - Chaos Ruler.
Not to mention Cyber Twin Dragon could be summoned off it, too.
You couldn't just hope someone else would trigger your combo every time. Best to have your own way to do it.
This one? Belonged in the Extra Deck. No question.
"…They look like… my comrades."
The One-Eyed Duelist approached, gently clutching its head, staring at the mutated cards. Eyes wide, voice trembling. "Captured… with me…"
"Oh?" Hikaru's interest piqued.
After some prodding, the creature explained—memories hazy but bitter. Some force had been hunting down Duel Spirits, capturing them for experiments, using them as living fusion cores.
It couldn't remember everything, but it did remember these cards.
"No wonder this time felt so smooth…" Hikaru mused aloud. "So your comrades also lent their strength."
It all made sense now.
When he activated Super Polymerization, behind the scenes, those imprisoned Duel Spirits must have fed their power into the fusion—fueling it. Becoming part of the new cards.
No wonder Parasite Fusioner had changed so drastically.
But more importantly—
Hikaru checked his pocket.
Yes!
El Shaddoll Winda was down to 25%!
If he took part in another Shadow Duel—or dragged Haruto into a ten-day duel marathon—he could probably finish it off.
"Um... can I stay with you?" the One-Eyed Duelist mumbled. Its massive paws fidgeted nervously. "I… I owe you everything. But I've got nothing to give…"
"…And if there's ever a chance… I want revenge…"
Its voice was timid. But steady.
"Of course!" Hikaru lit up. "Hell yes, you can!"
Finally! The Gladiator Beast deck had new synergy!
Everything was falling into place.
Just as Hikaru was getting ready to pack up and head back to the dorms, Flame Swordsman glanced sideways at Black Flame Knight, his expression thoughtful.
"Hey… is your armor… glowing?"
"…Wait a second. Your sword—did it get wider?"
The two were old pals—brothers in arms, professional trolls to each other—so they noticed the smallest differences immediately.
?!?
Hikaru whipped his head toward them.
Holy crap—they were right.
Flame Swordsman's blade had grown wider. Black Flame Knight's armor shimmered faintly gold.
No way.
Hikaru scrambled through his deck again, eyes scanning, scanning—
The card art changed. Just a little. But it changed.
Could it be…?
Inferno Swordsman?
Phantom Swordsman?
Super Polymerization… could it evolve them!?
Even if the changes were so subtle you'd need to squint to catch them, they were real. No mistake.
Hikaru bit back a laugh.
Nope. Can't smile now.
Not with the One-Eyed Duelist still so gloomy beside him.
No choice. Gotta head back to Duel Academy and file a request.
Time to found a brand new Fusion Division.
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Hello everyone, I hope you like the story, if so please leave a review, as some of you know, this story accumulated a lot of errors in terms of characters names (sometimes it's the japanese version, which is not correct as I want it to be the US version) and the cards names. As such I would like your help if possible, I have the ambition of doing a massive edit of all current chapters, if you can please leave a paragraph comment when you see an error so I can edit (big thanks to Desperadokid, who helped me throught his comments !)
For this week I will do more release depending on the power stones !
100 Power Stones = 1 chapter (in addition to the daily update)
So give stones if you want mooooar !