ZONE suddenly waved his hand again, and the entire laboratory began to transform under his manipulation, countless images appearing in the lab.
That is...
One after another "destruction" ending.
Worlds destroyed by robots, empty and desolate; worlds warring between dimensions, finally annihilated by dimensional warfare; worlds obliterated due to inexplicable spirit rampages; even worlds where the sky suddenly changed, entire worlds shrouded in darkness, leading to the direct extinction of humanity; and unknown flying dragons from who knows where, directly shattering the planet.
World after world flashed by, and Tenjo Hikari recognized some familiar people within them.
Ushio, Shinji, Crow, these people also appeared in the images, but the worlds inevitably fell to destruction.
"Impressive... looks like these are different timelines of this planet." Tierra couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, "This human... is extraordinary."
"I've been tirelessly trying to save this world, but no matter how I alter the past, no matter how I change time, in the end, this world will be destroyed." ZONE spoke, "Moreover, in other human worlds I've observed, they too eventually end in destruction due to one reason or another."
So that's how it is.
Tenjo Hikari took a deep breath and nodded.
"Finally, recently, I discovered the root of everything."
"The reason why the world ends—the Darkness, the human extinction's 'destiny,' an established 'fact.'
The Darkness is not merely a simple dark life form; it's more accurately the 'result' of cause and effect!
It's precisely because humanity goes extinct that It is born in the future, and because It is born, humanity is destined for destruction!
ZONE suddenly raised his right hand again, and the images began to shift, changing from endless scenes of world destruction to two duels.
One duel: Tenjo Hikari against Divine, where Tenjo Hikari directly defeated the Psychic End Punisher; another duel: Tenjo Hikari against Akaba Leo, where Tenjo Hikari's Super Polymerization shocked numerous powerful entities into silence, making them start to pay attention to Tenjo Hikari.
But more importantly... in the second duel, Tenjo Hikari surprisingly saw a familiar shadow!
"Darkness was actually in the second duel too!?"
Tenjo Hikari broke into a cold sweat.
At that time, he actually hadn't noticed at all!
Even though he had carefully observed the situation, even though he asked Tierra to help him search, even though he was always careful, he completely failed to notice Darkness's presence, nor did he realize that Darkness might have been right beside him then!
"As someone from the 'modern' era, you won't be able to detect him when he doesn't want to be detected." ZONE said, "But I can observe him."
Oh!
Because, to ZONE, these are records of events that happened in the 'past'!
So that's how it is.
"I discovered Darkness was born from your dimension."
"Are you implying this is our responsibility?"
"No—since it was born from your world, then you are the first target to be destroyed."
This... is indeed true.
Tenjo Hikari slowly furrowed his brows.
Unconsciously, Darkness has already consumed 'Tragoedia,' and it's even absorbing energy and possibilities from other dimensions...
Not to mention... since Fubuki's time, Darkness had already made its move in his world far earlier than in the original storyline!
The Light of Destruction still has the possibility for communication.
But Darkness is the enemy of humanity!
For Tenjo Hikari, It is the real, greatest enemy!
Then he suddenly thought.
"So, does this mean... I understand now, the reason why the Red Dragon brought Yusei to your era and why the Red Dragon brought me to this world are the same?"
ZONE slowly turned around, looking at the countless images: "The 'pure' Red Dragon is an absolute God of goodness."
He never hated or opposed the Red Dragon; in fact, when Yusei chose to forgo Its 'power', the Red Dragon was overjoyed. He was happy because it represented a more driven 'possibility' for humanity. To Red Dragon, this was also a kind of encouragement.
Tenjo Hikari pinched his brow.
The pure Red Dragon, so does that mean... there are indeed 'impure' Red Dragons?
It seems, Red Dragons actually come in pairs, right?
Looks like Yusei, in the end, still has to battle the Red Dragon intending to monopolize 'Synchro.'
ZONE seemed to say everything he needed to, the surroundings began to warp, he raised his hand again, and nearby, a large blueprint flew up, then shrunk under the light, finally flying into Tenjo Hikari's hand.
Tenjo Hikari caught it, glanced over, surprisingly, it was the 'Pendulum Machine'—Akaba Leo's machines.
But, just a quick glance, and Tenjo Hikari was certain these were far more mature and stable machines than Akaba Leo's!
No wonder it's ZONE!
The surprises weren't over, Zone pointed at Tenjo Hikari's waist, a card began to shimmer, Tenjo Hikari opened his card box, found a 'White Stone,' and then saw next to White Stone appeared a 'Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon,' and as Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon slowly dissipated, the White Stone inexplicably started hatching, its growth rate frighteningly fast.
Soon, the Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon completely vanished, and Tenjo Hikari's 'Dragon Egg' was on the verge of becoming a real White Dragon!
Tenjo Hikari's eyes lit up with excitement.
ZONE didn't say any more words, didn't encourage Tenjo Hikari, didn't urge him either, but after another glance with Tenjo Hikari, he silently turned and flew away.
He is the last human of this world. He has the right to do this, and he's obliged to battle with the 'Darkness'!
And Tenjo Hikari, in a daze, returned to that caravan, looking down at the machine blueprints in his hand, falling into silence.