Hikaru walked onto the stage and gave his opponent a brief greeting. Seeing Hikaru wearing a mask, the opponent merely gave a light sigh, but didn't dwell on it.
In just a few days, this test examiner had already seen plenty of bizarrely costumed duelists. Now, seeing Hikaru merely wearing a strange mask, he didn't fuss over it.
Although today was registration day, in fact, over the past half year, there had already been many qualifying rounds. Only duelists who passed the qualifiers could register as a team for the later WRGP dueling tournament, so through this process, he had witnessed just how outlandish the ecosystem of duelists was.
Of course, he himself wasn't much better.
Earlier, Team 5D's had already done the "first move" and "second move" tests, so for this duel, Hikaru went first.
"Duel!" ×2!
"Light," LP: 4000. Duel Test Examiner, LP: 4000.
"My turn."
Hikaru held his cards and glanced around a bit.
Nearby, a few people had noticed him.
The first to notice him was still the "Nordic trio" who had just arrived at the scene. Seeing Hikaru go on stage to duel, the three immediately grew interested.
"That guy's called Light? "Huh, I don't see Jack?" "Hmph, that guy must think this kind of registration duel is too low-level and can't be bothered to come. Hmph, arrogant fellow."
The three's focus might differ, but all three watched this duel at the same time.
The opponent was a member of that "Jack Atlas" team, and a "Dark Signer," a God's Chosen as well. From any angle, he was their future opponent, so they certainly couldn't pass up this chance.
"Hm?" After briefly chatting with his companions, Team Ragnarok's captain Halldor suddenly narrowed his eyes, focusing intently on Hikaru.
To be precise, on his "eyes."
"That guy isn't looking at his hand!?" In the stands, quite a few sharp-eyed duelists also caught this detail.
Although he wore a mask, you could still see his eyes move, and precisely because of this, everyone could see where his gaze was.
"Not looking at his hand, that's too disrespectful to the opponent, isn't it?" In the Pendulum Dimension's touring group, a few people couldn't help but voice their doubts.
They were the "outstanding students" of the three great dueling schools under Leo Corporation, respectively wielding Gem-Knight, X-Saber, and Constellar decks, and were among the Pendulum Dimension's "touring members" this time.
In the row further behind them sat Yuya Sakaki, Zuzu Boyle, Gong Strong, and others. Some were participating duelists, while others had purely been brought along by Declan Akaba.
After several months, Yuya looked more confident than before, and precisely because of this, when he saw "Light" not even looking at his hand, he grew curious.
Disrespect aside, how was he going to duel like this?
Further outside the viewing hall, in the "reception room," Declan Akaba lightly pushed up his glasses, silent.
This person...
"From my hand, I Set two cards and Set one monster, ending my turn." Hikaru tossed out the cards from his hand without even looking.
This move rather startled quite a few people.
Wasn't he afraid of playing the wrong card?
Or was it that, the instant he drew, he already knew what those cards were?
If so, then that was rather impressive.
"Such an ordinary turn?" Seeing Hikaru's turn, the examiner felt deeply bored.
This was the KING's team, yet the opening was this boring?
If he were using his own deck, maybe even he could win easily.
"Draw."
"I activate the Spell Card, Foolish Burial. This card can send 1 monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send the Level 4 Dimension Fortress Weapon from my Deck to the Graveyard."
"Normal Summon, the Tuner monster, Level 3 Black Salvo.
When this monster is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 DARK Attribute Machine-Type monster from my Graveyard in face-up Defense Position. The effect monster Special Summoned by this effect has its effects negated.
Awaken, Dimension Fortress Weapon."
"Tuner monster and Synchro Material!"
"Here it comes? A Synchro Dimension Synchro Summon?" In the Pendulum team, the guy using X-Saber's eyes lit up, immediately growing interested.
"Using the Level 3 Black Salvo and the Level 4 Dimension Fortress Weapon, I tune."
"Lightning Warrior!"
Zzzt...
Lightning crackled, and a golden-haired swordsman with an outstretched hand appeared on the field.
Lightning Warrior. Level 7, LIGHT Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 2400.
"Battle! Lightning Warrior attacks the Set monster!"
Zzzt...
Lightning Warrior swung the longsword in its hand, slashing at the Set monster on Hikaru's field.
"My Set monster is the Level 1 Worm Hope. When this card is flipped by being attacked by the opponent, I draw 1 card from my Deck."
Hikaru drew a card from his Deck, and without looking, set it down on his left side.
Zzzt!
Boom
Worm Hope was instantly cut to pieces.
"When Lightning Warrior destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, it deals damage equal to the number of cards in the opponent's hand × 300. You, who drew an extra card, will have to take 300 more damage."
"When Worm Hope is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I must choose one card to send to the Graveyard."
Hikaru held up his hand. His right hand didn't move, but in the cards in his left hand, one card automatically floated up and flew into the Graveyard.
Light, LP: 4000 → 3400.
"Although it didn't deal battle damage, it caused 600 damage through effects. If he's just a test examiner, that seems pretty good?" Not seeing a mass of Synchro Monsters born, the X-Saber guy was slightly disappointed, but seeing Lightning Warrior deal effect damage, he grew a bit interested again.
If it were 5 cards in hand, that would be a direct 1500 Life Points, already quite a lot. As damage supplementation, it should be decent too.
In contrast.
"That Team 5D's didn't just grab some random person to enter as a temporary participant, did they? Feels so weak."
Just like what he said.
Such a simple test duel, yet he lost Life right off the bat. It looked completely uninteresting.
If the Synchro Dimension's "team of the most outstanding duelists" was at this level, then they could be confident.
"I Set one card and end my turn."
"My turn."
Hikaru picked up a card from his Deck, then, as if sensing something, looked down at the card.
"Oh, the card you wanted is here."
He "muttered to himself."
Of course.
Hikaru certainly wouldn't mutter to himself. It was just that, when he went on stage, Tierra had suddenly taken an interest and wanted to participate in this duel as the duelist. For one thing, this way Hikaru also wouldn't have to expose himself too early.
Although he himself didn't mind being exposed, if possible, he still didn't want to be exposed too early. After all, diplomatic activity wasn't something a pure duelist like him could figure out. Before things happened, it was best to let KaibaCorp finish communicating properly before being exposed.
And precisely because of this, hearing that Tierra was interested in participating in the qualifiers, he directly "ceded" control of the deck and Duel Disk.
Tierra was just bored, and this was a good chance to try participating in the qualifiers of this kind of large-scale duel, to test how big the gap was between herself and human duelists, and whether she could participate in this kind of major competition.
"Open Set card."
Thinking this, she directed Hikaru to begin operating.
"Trap Card, Saqlifice."
After Hikaru's words fell, the watching Declan Akaba suddenly felt that the "god" that had been hiding in his "field of vision" produced a violent emotional fluctuation.
Could it be...
At the same time, the duel continued.
Hikaru smiled and began explaining: "Saqlifice activates and Special Summons as an effect monster that's Machine-Type, EARTH Attribute, Level 4, ATK 1800, DEF 1000, and isn't treated as a Trap Card.
During the turn this effect Special Summons this card, the 'Qliphort' Spell and Trap Cards on my field can't be destroyed by effects."
"Eh?"
"Qliphort?"
"What deck is that?"
Quite a few people grew curious.
But they all knew clearly that this meant this mysterious duelist was finally about to start dueling.
"This card Special Summoned by Saqlifice can be treated as 3 Tributes when performing the Tribute Summon of an 'Apoqliphort' monster."
"3!?"
"Wait, how can there be a monster that needs 3 Tributes?"
Quite a few people raised doubts upon hearing this number.
The Nordic trio even strode quickly to the railing, looking at the field in shock.
"3"...
That was the number of "gods"!
"I Tribute the Saqlifice on my field by releasing it..."
"Behold, the power that symbolizes the system of life's reincarnation!"
"The mighty power hidden within the Qliphort."
"Towers, boot up!"
The frozen giant core began to burn. This enormous gem flew into the air, then countless metal materials projected in from all directions, combining together to become a massive mechanical creation, half black and half white.
"Tribute Summon, Level 10, Apoqliphort Towers!"
Apoqliphort Towers. Level 10, EARTH Attribute, Machine-Type. ATK 3000.
"3000 ATK!?"
"What high ATK"
"That's already enough to rival Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The various watching duelists let out different exclamations.
And at the same time...
Lightning Warrior, ATK: 2400 → 1900.
"What?" The examiner gave a start.
"While Towers is on the field, Special Summoned monsters have their ATK and DEF reduced by 500."
That was fine, then.
If it was only reducing 500 ATK, the problem wasn't very serious.
On the other side, Declan Akaba also heard a voice.
That person was Hikaru.
Towers was precisely Tierra's creation, her power.
Declan Akaba nodded, indicating he understood, and then more doubts rose in his heart too.
Hikaru, a person from the Fusion Dimension, why would he team up with people from the Synchro Dimension? And... a "champion team," at that?
"Activate Towers' effect." Hikaru said offhandedly. "Once per turn, during my Main Phase. The opponent must send 1 monster from their hand or field to the Graveyard."
"Huh?"
"What a domineering effect."
It was actually an effect targeting the duelist!
The examiner was a bit irritated. He looked at the field, looked at his hand, figured he absolutely couldn't send a monster on the field to the Graveyard, and so chose a card from his hand and sent it to the Graveyard.
It didn't matter. Although it was sent to the Graveyard, it was still useful.
"Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion's effect, activated when this card is sent to the Graveyard. I Special Summon 1 Level 3 WIND Attribute Machine-Type Mecha Phantom Beast Token to my field."
"He's a Dark Signer, yet the monster he uses is called Towers ('materialism')?" Among the Nordic trio, Bommer spotted an odd point.
"It seems this guy is hiding other intentions too." Halldor nodded. "Team 5D's really is a special team. We need to respond carefully."
"In that case, then I attack."
Hikaru raised his hand. In the sky, at the center of the towering mechanical giant, a hatch opened, revealing an enormous laser cannon: "Attack Lightning Warrior."
Boom
A lightning blast even more terrifying than Lightning Warrior's swept out!
"This is exactly the moment I was waiting for. I activate the Trap Card, Mirror Force!"
A giant mirror appeared before Lightning Warrior. Mirror Force reflected Towers' power, bouncing it back onto Towers. However, that destructive force didn't leave the slightest trace on it.
"What?" Everyone gave a start.
"Sorry, a Normal Summoned Towers is unaffected by the effects of Spell and Trap Cards... The attack continues!"
Clang!
The lightning blast reappeared, and the giant cannon of light pierced through the warrior!
Examiner, LP: 4000 → 2900.
"No wonder it needs 3 monsters as Tributes. It really does have extraordinary resistance..." Quite a few spectators marveled.
"I end my turn just like that."
The examiner wiped away cold sweat.
As expected, you really can't underestimate the KING's team!
A 3000-ATK monster unaffected by Spells and Traps was indeed impressive!
"My turn, draw... Normal Summon, Level 4, the Tuner monster, Rose, Warrior of Revenge."
"Here it comes again, a Tuner monster!"
"He's going to tune!"
"Using the Level 4 Tuner monster Rose on my field and the Level 3 Mecha Phantom Beast Token, I tune."
"Synchro Summon, Level 7, Seven Swords Warrior!"
The previous one was a golden-haired warrior; this time it became a pure gold swordsman.
No idea who built this test deck, but the whole deck's low-level monsters were pitch-black, while the Synchro Monsters were glittering gold.
Seven Swords Warrior. Level 7, EARTH Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 2300 → 1800.
Seeing this monster take the field, Hikaru offhandedly asked, "Do you want to hide a monster effect, or hide a trap?"
After getting his answer, Hikaru just folded his arms like that, paying no mind to anything else, calmly waiting.
"ATK 2300?" The X-Saber guy looked and shook his head. "That swordsman just now got crushed without any trouble, and now he's summoning an even lower-ATK monster?"
"Don't be hasty. There's probably some strange effect, right?" His companion told him to calm down and watch.
There were quite a few duelists here with thoughts similar to his companion's. Everyone knew that although the examiner used a generic deck, he was basically conscientious and wouldn't slack off just because the opponent summoned a powerful monster. Since he chose to Synchro Summon this monster, there had to be a reason.
This was also a trait different from the Fusion Dimension. In the Fusion Dimension, the result of most monster fusions was almost fixed, but in the Synchro Dimension, as long as the Levels matched, you could freely Synchro Summon monsters tailored to different environments and situations.
"Equip Spell Card, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade!"
"Equip it to Seven Swords Warrior."
A sword burning with fierce flames fell from the air, dropping into Seven Swords Warrior's hand.
"Seven Swords Warrior's effect, once per turn, when this card is equipped with an Equip Card, deal 800 damage to the opponent!"
Light, LP: 3400 → 2600.
"I see, so since battle can't easily win, he just uses effect damage? Like the earlier Lightning Warrior, a good line of thinking."
"But before that, can he hold on until 4000 Life Points are whittled down?"
"Normally that's impossible." As the few people in the Pendulum Dimension discussed, beside them, a local said offhandedly, "But if it's Seven Swords Warrior, that's another story."
"What do you mean?" The few of them looked at him.
It was a guy dressed like a clown, apparently an officer of this dimension's "Security Maintenance Bureau," named Jaeger, who was also their accompanying personnel during this period.
Although his dueling didn't seem too good, he knew the test deck extremely well.
"Seven Swords Warrior has an effect, once per turn, to send an Equip Card to the Graveyard. And as long as its Equip Card is sent to the Graveyard, it can choose 1 face-up monster on the opponent's field to destroy!"
"Eh!?" The three Pendulum exchange students responded in surprise at the same time.
"Oh, I get it. By then, Seven Swords Warrior, with its ATK restored to 2300, combined with the Phoenix Blade in the Graveyard, can win directly, right?" Zuzu Boyle suddenly realized.
"What do you mean?" Yuya Sakaki asked, puzzled.
"Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade can banish two Warrior-Type monsters from the Graveyard to add itself from the Graveyard to the hand. In Kyujiro's Graveyard, there's the Rose just sent to the Graveyard and the Lightning Warrior from last turn. By banishing those two monsters, it can be added to the hand.
Then re-equip it to Seven Swords Warrior, and the ATK becomes 2600, which can win directly."
Jaeger said with a confident smile.
This was their Synchro Dimension's outstanding examiner. Even in this kind of perfectly ordinary test, he could precisely calculate and execute the kill!
The few people from the Pendulum Dimension all realized at once.
On the other side, in the Xyz Dimension, which had stayed fairly quiet, some people were discussing too.
The Xyz Dimension's team had three people total.
The leader was a man who looked extremely stern. He was folding his arms, gazing indifferently at the field. This person was precisely the Xyz Dimension's "strongest human duelist," the "Number Hunter", Kite Tenjo.
Beside him, a tall male and a fairly cool-looking female were his guards and helpers, his "left and right arms." The purple-haired girl was named Droite, and the red-haired man was named Gauche.
This duel had nothing remarkable about it. It was just that they'd heard Jaeger's words and felt a bit of interest in this duel.
True, by Jaeger's account, this turn could indeed achieve victory, but that duelist called Light still had a Set card he hadn't used.
Without being certain of the opponent's Set card, how could one so casually assume he'd definitely "won"?
"Isn't that right, Kite!" Gauche laughed heartily.
Kite was expressionless.
At this moment, he couldn't muster any interest at all in this test-type duel.
Right now, his mind was filled with other matters.
Where on earth had his brother Hart gone, where had Zane Truesdale gone, where had Yuto and Shun gone, where had that kid Yuma gone, why did this bunch have to run around even at such a chaotic time, even crossing dimensions?!
More importantly, before he came, his father had told him that there were still a "large amount" of lost Number cards in this dimension!
Not just the Number cards in Hart's hands, but even more!
In the Synchro Dimension, Number cards were too dangerous, because the people here had no idea of the harm Number cards could do! He just wanted to cure his little brother, why did so many troublesome things have to come up?
While he was thinking about all these troublesome matters, on the field, Seven Swords Warrior's effect had already activated. Countless golden-glinting longswords fell from the sky, striking Towers like a rain of arrows.
Only...
Still no effect!
At the same time, that Light began describing Towers' effect again.
"Sorry, while a Normal Summoned Towers is on the field, it's not only unaffected by Spell and Trap Cards, but also unaffected by effects activated by monsters whose original Level or 'Rank' is lower than this card's Level!"
!!?
The three suddenly focused all their attention on the duel on the field.
The left and right arms, who had been uninterested just a moment ago, suddenly all showed surprised expressions.
"Unaffected by... Rank!?"
"This dimension actually has cards like this?"
In most cases, a Level monster's effects specifically targeting "Level" wouldn't affect Xyz Monsters, because Xyz Monsters don't have a "Level." Hence there's a classic Rank joke: "What, isn't no Level just Level 0?"
But that's not the case. An Xyz Monster's Rank is a special calculation independent of Level, and all Level-related cards can't act on them.
But now!
This person called Light had actually brought out a monster effect that could simultaneously target both Level and Rank!
This point was actually rather extreme. Of course, it wasn't that this effect was extreme, because a more impressive effect should be "unaffected by other monster effects." The truly extreme point was that this represented that this "duelist" not only understood his own dimension's things, but also had some grasp of other dimensions' powers!
That was quite an extreme personal ability.
"Master Kite, it seems your trip this time won't be very boring." A mechanical voice rang out beside him.
Kite Tenjo nodded slightly, his interest piqued somewhat too.
Being able to duel more outstanding duelists could naturally improve oneself.
"Ignoring Spells, Traps, and monsters lower than itself. That Light is indeed extraordinary." Halldor felt some interest.
"As long as its ATK is higher, it's fine." Dragan didn't mind. The Aesir he commanded happened to be able to clash head-on with this monster, and the Aesir had the ability to automatically revive on the turn they're destroyed, so there was no need to fear at all.
But...
If it were any other duelist, just seeing this monster would probably make cold sweat run down their back?
Just as he thought, on the duel field, the examiner was already dumbfounded.
He stiffly retrieved Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, then ended his turn.
He knew he couldn't hold on much longer.
Directly across from the Xyz Dimension's seats, separated by the entire duel field, in the Fusion Dimension's seats, Jaden craned his head. Beside him, a somewhat nervous Syrus marveled: "As expected of a top duelist of the Synchro Dimension, what an impressive monster... feels really hard to deal with."
ATK 3000, comes with ATK reduction, and unaffected by Spells and Traps, immune to the vast majority of monster effects... If it were him, he'd probably have a headache for quite a while.
Fortunately this monster seemed able to be destroyed by battle, but that Light could still use Trap Cards for support.
"Playing really well, Hikaru." On the other side, Jaden, craning his head, couldn't help but marvel. "Oh, it should be Miss Tierra."
"What?" The few onlooking spectators blanked.
The few classmates who thought they knew Hikaru quite well retorted at the same time, and even Serena was a bit incredulous.
Impossible, absolutely impossible. Although it seemed very much like him at first, now it was completely different, right?
Even Chazz had some doubts.
At first he too thought this person might be Hikaru, but having dueled up to now, it didn't resemble him at all.
Only Jaden laughed a couple of times.
Others thought Hikaru would absolutely use Fusion, that Hikaru would absolutely never violate his own conviction and couldn't possibly use anything other than Fusion.
What they said wasn't wrong.
But that didn't mean "Hikaru's" body couldn't duel this way.
The others hadn't experienced it, so they didn't know, didn't understand. But he understood all too well.
Just like how the Supreme King could control his body and duel with a completely different deck from his.
Hikaru could do something similar.
The duelist wasn't "Hikaru." It was Tierra.
And besides;
No matter how things appeared on the surface, he instinctively believed that this was Hikaru. So even if it didn't resemble him at all logically, he wouldn't doubt his own judgment.
He knew Hikaru absolutely wouldn't leave his friends to their fate and wait for news alone at the academy. As expected, he'd found his own way to come after all!
But how on earth did he get so close with Yusei and the others, even able to team up with them!? A bit envious. He really wanted to join in the fun too, but unfortunately the Fusion side's team was already set, and he couldn't just register to participate for no reason. Besides, he also had to help find Bastion. If today weren't the "KING's" team registering, he wouldn't have been in the mood to watch the competition here, and wouldn't have seen Hikaru take the stage.
Ah, what a pity, what a pity.
Beside him, the illusory Yubel pursed her lips, looking somewhat displeased.
This otherworldly god has it way too comfortable.
The duelist trusts her, she can wander around freely on ordinary days, can enjoy the duelist's resources, the duelist's spirits all listen to her, and when there's nothing going on she can even actively participate in the duelist's duels...
Nothing to say. Very envious.
"Draw."
Hikaru drew his card, then waited for Tierra to operate.
"Let's use this," Tierra murmured. "Using this, you should probably be even harder to recognize."
Tierra wasn't simply wanting to play around, either.
She knew very well that Hikaru himself could absolutely never change his own will, because if he really changed it, then he wouldn't be the Hikaru she knew.
Hikaru could even resist the temptation of Outer Entity Azathot; this kind of duel, even if it would expose his identity, he wouldn't hide.
But if possible, it was definitely better to be as late as possible. After all, he had friends, teachers, and work, and no matter what, Hikaru would surely want it to be later.
So she, a "duelist" who also wanted to indulge a bit, happened to get the chance.
But simply using a high-Level monster wasn't enough.
The duel had to look more "real."
"Activate Towers' effect, once per turn, the opponent must send 1 monster from their hand or field to the Graveyard."
The examiner helplessly sent the last monster in his hand to the Graveyard.
The Seven Swords Warrior on the field definitely couldn't be sent, because if it was sent to the Graveyard, then Towers would attack directly.
As long as he survived this turn, there was still a chance to win.
"Normal Summon, Level 2, the Tuner monster, R-Genex Overseer. This card can be activated when it's Normal or Special Summoned. I Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower Genex monster from my hand."
"I Special Summon, Level 3, Genex Gaia."
!
Quite a few people blanked.
It wasn't just Towers!
This duelist could actually Synchro Summon too!
No.
Right, of course.
This guy was, after all, a duelist of the Synchro Dimension. It would be strange if he couldn't Synchro Summon!
And those people watching this duel gradually showed grave expressions too.
A single high-Level monster was indeed impressive, but not impossible to deal with. Yet he also had other Synchro Monsters at the same time, and that made him very hard to handle.
At this moment, outside Team 5D's rest room, a rapid motorcycle sound rang out, and Jack Atlas hurriedly got off his vehicle.
There was still half an hour until the time limit. He'd made it in time.
"Yusei, Crow, I'm back, I'll go on stage right now, eh?"
Eh, someone's already gone on?
Who's that person?
Not Akiza, or Leo and Luna? Not even Yugo?
"It's Amagi."
"Hahaha, Crow, are you holding a grudge against me for coming late? Stop joking around, how could that possibly be Hikaru." He laughed loudly.
Crow and Yusei exchanged a glance and gave a slight smile.
Ha
Even Jack didn't believe it. That Amagi's disguise really was good.
On stage, the duel continued.
The robot turned into green streaming light, its body shining in the air, and another machine also began to disassemble, building a brand-new monster.
"Although I didn't create it myself, the appearance is rather nice-looking..." Tierra said in a low voice.
"Synchro Summon, Level 5, Ally of Justice Catastor!"
Ally of Justice Catastor. Level 5, DARK Attribute, Machine-Type. ATK 2200 → 1700.
"Catastor activates at the start of the Damage Step when it battles a non-DARK Attribute monster. That monster is destroyed directly."
A blue fluorescence lit up on Catastor's body. It came before Seven Swords Warrior, then destroyed it in an instant.
Immediately after, Towers began to move...
"Towers attacks directly!"
Boom
The examiner, frightened, blocked his hands in front of himself, preparing to ward off the pillar of light.
But before the light even fell, the duel had already ended.
He let out a sigh of relief.
In that instant just now, he had a feeling of being about to die, though he didn't know whether it was his own hallucination.
At the same time, the referee called out at the top of his voice.
"Team 5D's, a perfect victory in the test duel, completely passed."