"Cough... cough..."
Aster Phoenix gradually regained consciousness. He propped himself up and stood.
Although his soul had been sealed inside Chaos Ruler, he had been watching the Duel the whole time, so he more or less understood what had happened.
Hikaru helped him to a seat, letting him rest against the back.
Even though Hikaru had been physically healed by Light Force after the Duel, his mental exhaustion hadn't faded much.
Light Force's cards were, on average, far stronger than his. The match had been incredibly tense.
In fact, reviewing it from the beginning, Light Force could've pulled off a terrifying opening hand and might have defeated him outright.
After all, cards like Arcana Spread Hikaru didn't recognize, but he did know Arcana Reading and the general effects of Arcana Force cards.
Also, if Sartorius's shadow's Set Magic Jammer had successfully negated his Fusion, there'd be no guarantee of victory.
Ultimately, it all came down to "choices." Without Sartorius's destiny manipulation, Light Force's playstyle differed, focusing more on card power than synergy.
After some rest, Hikaru returned Aster's cards. Aster looked through his Deck, smiled, and nodded, though he couldn't help coughing again.
"Sorry, Aster. Before you could forge your own future, I used that power."
"Fate always smiles on me, so don't worry. I'll take flight again." Aster chuckled after a short cough, then pulled a card from his Deck. "Here, Hikaru. Take this as a trade for Fusion Destiny."
He handed over a Monster Card.
Hikaru hesitated briefly, then accepted it. "Then I won't be polite."
Aster leaned back in the chair, gazing at the starlit sky, laughing heartily.
His father's killer was dead. His friend's fate had changed completely. He now had the power to reset the clock of life. Everything suddenly felt bright.
"What will you do next?"
"Go surfing," Aster said casually.
"Hahaha..."
"...No, thinking about it, this place is still dangerous. I think I'll go save people instead." A second later, his tone turned serious.
Yes.
Sartorius's matter was over.
Even so, that didn't mean this dimension was safe.
The invasion from the Dark World still threatened it.
After that, Hikaru and Aster tidied up the tower. Sartorius remained unconscious. Affairs of the Society of Light were left to his sister, Sarina. With Sartorius's defeat, the brainwashing effect lifted, and many ordinary students, reflecting on the past period, felt completely lost.
Thankfully, Sarina knew a bit of Onmyōdō, and was proficient in various elemental spells. She could even use the Yin-Yang Mirror. With her help, things were soon stabilized and reassured.
That meant Hikaru no longer had to worry about a powder keg back home and could focus on the Dark World invasion.
Of course, after all that, Hikaru also had time to examine the card again.
[Infernoid Tierra].
"Revive your friends."
Hikaru hadn't expected such a gentle revival.
Besides Sartorius and Aster, even Tierra was included.
Hikaru sat in his room, looking at the card. Tierra sat beside him, eyes sparkling.
Flame Swordsman, Dark Flare Knight, Gem-Knight Crystal, those who guarded Hikaru finally understood what he meant when he mentioned "Tierra" and just how powerful a "Monster" she truly was.
"This was when I just woke up, right? Still soulless, missing a few parts, but not bad," Tierra said cheerfully.
Light Force, the root of destruction and war, was in a sense the same type of "god" as Tierra, so it could provide destructive power, hence the card [Infernoid Tierra] given to Hikaru.
However, Light Force could not provide the creative power Tierra once wielded.
Honestly, Tierra was quite delighted.
By her own calculations, even a half-resurrected form like this would require Hikaru to build her 10 components from scratch, then use Super Polymerization to gather Duel Energy to create a Fusion version of her.
Then, he'd have to create the 10 components again in reverse order to complete the soul's journey and fully revive her as a card.
Now, Light Force skipped the first half entirely, creating a half-resurrected state and saving Hikaru a ton of time and effort.
So, Hikaru didn't need to start from her tail again.
But naturally, this came with a price.
The card had been created by Light Force for Hikaru. It belonged to him, not Tierra.
On this point, Tierra was very particular. Just like how Hikaru had never run an Infernoid deck.
She couldn't simply dwell in the card like a Spirit would.
Still, now that the card existed, she believed Hikaru would try even harder to forge her physical components.
After all, a Fusion Monster he hadn't used? He wouldn't let that slide.
Beyond that...
Hikaru pulled out his Deck.
It now contained several luminous new cards.
Like how Sartorius had brandished glowing cards mid-duel and shouted names, Light Force, if nothing else, was never stingy.
He glanced at a few. All sparkled with unique patterns, likely requiring either recognition or Duel Energy to activate.
He picked one up and handed it to Tierra.
[Infernoid Piaty], a Level 5 upper-tier Infernoid.
No doubt about it, its Attack power was higher than Tierra's current form.
Individually, Infernoids had decent effects. The issue was their bricky synergy.
After reviewing one, Hikaru examined more of the gleaming cards.
'Oh!'
This one was great.
His eyes lit up.
[Masked HERO Koga]!
Not Dark Law, though still impressive. It seemed that because he had used many HERO cards during the Duel, Light Force granted him some HEROes it had seen in other dimensions.
He checked more, there was even [Evil HERO Lightning Golem].
Nearly all were LIGHT Attribute monsters, and several Fusion Monsters made Hikaru visibly brighten. There were so many, he couldn't tell which had come from Super Polymerization and which from Light Force.
He even noticed that the long-silent [Claw of Hermos] had become significantly more materialized, at least halfway complete.
What could he say? The situation had been tough; regardless, the rewards were well worth it.
With everything done, Hikaru stretched.
Finally, a moment to breathe.