When Hikaru returned to his senses, his feet were already on solid ground.
The air was thick with gunpowder's scent and an odd, indescribable smell. The sky was oppressively low, seemingly devoid of a sun, with only faint flickers of firelight illuminating this world.
Everywhere he looked, there were crumbling ruins, and the world felt as closed off as a narrow box.
This was Hikaru's first time in a true "Broken Dimension." Seeing the devastation around him, he felt a little uncomfortable. After all, the world itself felt suffocatingly low.
"Mamma Mia!!!"
Professor Crowler had just landed when he seemed to step on something.
Letting out a terrified shriek, he flailed wildly, grabbing onto anything nearby and clinging for dear life while screaming.
"Professor, that's a bone you're holding."
"AAAAAHHHH—!!!"
Another round of chaos ensued.
"What's with all the noise? You're so damn annoying!"
Crowler's increasingly terrified screams seemed to finally provoke the "locals" of this place. A furious voice roared in frustration, "Who the hell are you? Screaming like that, can't you see I'm busy?!"
Following the voice, they saw a bonfire flickering with an eerie glow. A massive cauldron sat atop it, and a shadowy figure was stirring something inside with frantic movements.
Professor Crowler shouted in horror as if he had just seen a ghost.
"Huh? Humans?"
The shadowy figure finally noticed the two of them, momentarily pausing its movements before grumbling again, "Didn't I say not to bother me unless you can solve my problem? Can't you people lis—wait, what?!"
"Amagi, watch out!"
Just as the spirit began speaking, Flame Swordsman suddenly materialized at Hikaru's side, his searing flames illuminating the entire world.
It was only then that everyone realized, a massive, pitch-black entity was rushing toward them!
Seeing the danger, Dark Flare Knight also burst forth, drawing his weapon.
The two spirits fought fiercely, knocking away the dark mass.
However, the others were not as fortunate.
Amid the screams and panic, Professor Crowler wailed in terror. He tried his best to dodge, but one of the fragments struck his head, sending him flying backward before he collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
"Amagi! Run—!"
Just before losing consciousness, he hurled the object he had been clutching tightly toward Hikaru.
"AAAAHHH! MY STOVE!!!"
Meanwhile, the unknown spirit also wailed. The black mass had struck his cauldron, shattering it completely. The contents, strange green and purple substances, spilled across the ground, clearly rendered useless.
"Professor—"
Hikaru had never expected such a sudden crisis the moment they arrived. He caught the emergency escape device, but he still hadn't fully grasped the situation.
"You're not leaving until you compensate me for my stove!"
"Amagi, dodge!"
Flame Swordsman and Dark Flare Knight both shouted in alarm.
They saw it, an even larger mass of pitch-black energy, far greater than the previous fragments, was charging straight at Hikaru!
Hikaru's expression turned cold.
Flame Swordsman rushed in, attempting to push Hikaru out of the way and take the hit himself.
But in that instant, Hikaru yanked off the pendant around his neck and held it in front of him.
The moment the dark mass collided with the pendant, the pendant was crushed by the immense energy. However, the card inside remained completely intact!
Under the astonished gazes of the spirits, the pitch-black energy melted away like ice cream under the sun, vanishing without a trace.
In its place, a cracked card slowly descended from the sky. Hikaru caught it effortlessly.
'Fragment Fusion?'
A flurry of thoughts raced through Hikaru's mind.
"W-What was that?!"
The local spirit witnessing the scene jumped back in fear.
"What an incredibly powerful card. Is this the hidden strength Amagi has been keeping all this time?"
Flame Swordsman didn't recognize the card in Hikaru's hands, but he refrained from asking.
If Amagi had never placed this card in his deck and instead kept it on his person, then he must have had his reasons!
"Amagi, your teacher is only unconscious."
Meanwhile, Dark Flare Knight had finished checking on Professor Crowler and reported back.
Hikaru casually stowed away Fragment Fusion and turned his gaze toward the source of the dark energy.
There, within the shadows, a figure was slowly emerging.
The world was so dark that Hikaru had been unable to see it clearly all this time. After all, the figure itself seemed to be black, blending perfectly into its surroundings!
Hikaru gripped Super Polymerization, lightly flicking the card to disperse some of its heat as he remained on guard.
Even though he had just gained a card from the opponent's energy and fended off its attack, it was still an unknown entity that had attacked them without warning and had caused his teacher to fall unconscious. He couldn't let his guard down.
On the other side, the unknown spirit raised its staff, and the core mechanism at the tip began spinning wildly before bursting into a brilliant flame, illuminating the entire world.
And with that, Hikaru finally saw it clearly.
A wizard's hat, a magic staff, a sorcerer's robe, just from these descriptions alone, one might really mistake him for a Spellcaster-type monster.
But a closer look immediately revealed something off; his entire body wasn't clad in a mage's attire at all. Instead, it was made of technology.
He was Reforged Warrior, Fullmetalfoes Alkahest!
How could this be a Spellcaster-type monster?
'A psychic type!'
'Then… what about the other one?'
Hikaru quickly turned his gaze, only for his pupils to contract.
Armor covering his entire body, crystal-laden pauldrons, his entire form shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Even though his body exuded black mist, making him look unnatural and completely darkened, Hikaru wouldn't mistake him for anyone else, this was Gem-Knight Crystal!
'Why was Crystal in the same dimension as the Alkahest. Weren't they from entirely different worlds?!'
For a moment, Hikaru was utterly confused.
Then, it hit him. 'It must be that damn egghead's doing!'
That egghead had previously given Ryu a "Gem-Knight" card!
Everything suddenly clicked.
"KRAAARHHHHH!!!"
Gem-knight let out a furious roar, the black mist around him surging wildly. Although he seemed to have lost all reason and was seething with aggression, he didn't dare rush toward Hikaru.
His instincts were screaming at him that Hikaru held a terrifying power he could not contend with!
"WAAAH—"
Alkahest yelped in fright.
"What's going on?! Were these monsters sent to kill me?! I just wanted to find a quiet place to experiment."
He still hadn't figured out the situation.
Originally, Alkahest had planned to quickly collect his materials while the fire was still burning. But upon seeing this, he immediately shouted.
"Hey! That human over there! Get rid of him for me, and I'll follow you out of here!"
Upon hearing those words, Hikaru's eyes lit up.
He flipped over, landing beside Professor Crowler. Without hesitation, he reached into the professor's Duel Disk, pulled out his Deck, and swiftly spread it open.
After quickly picking out a single monster card, he decisively inserted it into his own deck.
Then, without hesitation, he activated his Duel Disk, facing the Gem-Knight head-on.
Click— Clack—
The Duel Disk automatically unfolded.
"Don't call me 'that human over there.' My name is, Hikaru!"
"Come on Spirit, Let's Duel!"
On the other side, as soon as Hikaru activated his Duel Disk, Gem-knight froze for a brief moment.
Then—
CRACK! CRACK!
The sound of shattering echoed as his left arm fractured, black crystals bursting forth before reforming into a dark crystal Duel Disk.
A deck materialized within it.
Hikaru smirked.
'Good!'
Even without reason, as long as a Duel challenge was issued, it would be accepted!
That meant, no matter what, as long as they could Duel, everything was fine!
Gem-Knights was a Fusion deck. And for Hikaru, that meant there was no way he could lose, whether it was the Gem-Knight series or the Alkahest; they were both excellent Fusion-related cards!
'Professor Akaba, I'll gladly accept this "gift" you've given me!'