After uncovering everything he needed, Hikaru Amagi began transporting all salvageable materials from the shattered dimension back to the Alchemy Workshop.
While Professor Banner's workshop didn't look that big from the outside, Hikaru had, through intense study and experimentation, discovered its true nature—it wasn't just a subspace...
It was Macro Cosmos itself.
He used to wonder what happened to Banner's trump card, Macro Cosmos, in the original timeline. Sometimes, he'd poke around the lab like he was hunting for a Philosopher's Stone, hoping the card might be hidden somewhere. But as his understanding of alchemy deepened, he came to realize: the entire workshop was Macro Cosmos.
The planets inside the lab might've been small—each only big enough to hold two or three people—but the Macro Cosmos Workshop had limitless space.
Within the fractured dimension, beyond the unconscious puppetized Duel Spirits, there were also numerous materials tainted by dark energy—perfect fusion fodder for Shaddoll monsters. Hikaru planned to use those later to forge new base-level Shaddolls.
After checking all the dark machines scattered across the ruins, Hikaru spent a full day gathering and sorting materials. Even with his body enhanced far beyond a normal human, he was exhausted.
Fortunately, the dimension had already been sealed off by Ruru's former puppet captain, and Hikaru had reinforced that with his own alchemy—no one else could access this zone now.
After dismantling the Fusion Army's dimensional gate, Hikaru could finally leave in peace.
But before heading back—
Tierra turned, looking back at the ravaged land, a place so ruined it no longer resembled anything natural. With a casual snap of her fingers, she and Hikaru stepped through a Return Gate and reentered the Macro Cosmos Workshop.
"What was that just now?" Hikaru asked, his tone sharp.
Tierra's sudden action unsettled him. He'd been on guard the whole time.
But Tierra simply crossed her arms with poise, unbothered by his suspicion, and calmly replied:
"Hikaru, you did a pretty clean job erasing the traces. But you still left behind the Shaddoll-modified humans."
"You didn't want to deal with them, sure. But you also left behind potential tools—and cores—for your enemies."
Hikaru arched an eyebrow.
"You did seal the dimensional route with alchemy, yes—but that's still too much trouble," she added, floating over to grab a cup of Instant Fusion noodles, tearing the seal and pouring in hot water. "So I just returned that broken dimension to origin."
Hikaru wasn't shocked that she acted on her own.
He was shocked that she could use that kind of authority.
"That place was so broken, it wanted to revert anyway," she said while closing the lid on her noodles. "Just like Spirits feel pain, entire worlds can ache, too."
"And energy-wise? That dimension was tiny. With all those puppetized humans as fuel, restoring it to a primal state took less effort than boiling noodles."
"All I did was accelerate its natural entropy."
Hikaru nodded.
Of course.
This was trivial for her.
So he wasn't surprised.
What did surprise him was how the other Duel Spirits reacted.
The ones watching from nearby were utterly dumbfounded.
They'd already held Tierra in awe, but this—this was real top-tier. Most Duel Spirits might call themselves superior, but very few actually wielded such power.
The Blazing Swordsman brothers weren't shocked, though. They'd never met something like this, true—but they had trained under the Original Chaos Warrior, so this tier combat strength wasn't new to them.
Other Spirits just stared in reverent silence.
Nearby, A-Assault Core, who'd been helping Hikaru haul materials all day, blinked its sensors as everyone looked skyward. With a confused beep, it resumed its work, clanking along on treads.
"Assault Core, take a break," Hikaru called.
He didn't need its help anymore. The next phase involved examining White Crystal's body and safely transitioning it into El Shaddoll Grysta using non-destructive methods.
Even though Assault Core looked like a machine, Hikaru knew better.
It was a Duel Spirit—a spiritual entity, not a mindless bot. He'd never treat it like some expendable drone.
Meanwhile, Tierra had already started eating her noodles.
She wasn't the least bit worried Hikaru would reprimand her or restrict her movement after acting on her own.
After all this time together, she understood him deeply.
Even though he possessed a card of overwhelming power, Hikaru was cautious. Not cautious in personality or dueling—but cautious in how he wielded that strength.
He never used it to wipe out enemies just because he could. He didn't perform dark duels to execute foes he despised.
But if someone did cross a line?
He wouldn't hesitate.
So when Hikaru saw those soldiers who had been forcibly turned into puppets by Shaddoll magic, he felt no sympathy.
It was what they deserved.
But he also refused to use their corpses to amplify his power.
Tierra had seen this before. She knew what it meant.
When someone with such strength deliberately held themselves back, it wasn't weakness.
It was fear—fear of becoming arrogant, unhinged, and lost to madness.
That was what she admired about Hikaru Amagi.
Not just his obsession with Fusion, not just his unshakable loyalty to his friends—
He understood himself. Understood the world. Knew what he had to do. Knew what the world should be.
So when she "cleaned up" those puppetized humans, Hikaru might be annoyed at her acting alone—but he wouldn't be mad about the act itself.
Tierra had seen countless life-and-death cycles. She didn't want to see another batch of soulless puppets line up against Hikaru with Sacred Beasts and duel disks, wasting his time and pushing him toward madness.
It was better to just—
Turn them into compost for the world.
Her agent had far more important things to do than babysit the ghosts of the foolish.
Besides—
Helping clean up after your chosen champion?
That was part of being her too.