"Polymerization... was that the card he searched earlier?"
Darkness was referring to the Polymerization that Hikaru had retrieved with Fusion Recycling Plant.
"That's right!" Hikaru answered. "Let's show him our fighting spirit, Jaden!"
"Yeah, I know!
Spell Card, Polymerization! With its effect, I fuse Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier from my hand!"
"This card is going to send a chill down your spine. Come forth, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!"
A textbook hero landing!
A textbook hero entrance!
The white hero: Absolute Zero!
Elemental HERO Absolute Zero. Level 8. WATER Attribute. Warrior-Type. ATK 2500.
"Liquid Soldier's effect! When this card is sent to the Graveyard or banished as Fusion Material for a HERO Fusion Monster: draw 2 cards. After that, discard 1 card from my hand."
Jaden drew two cards, looked them over, and said: "I discard Cross Keeper."
"Next, Spell Card, Pot of Avarice! I return Evil HERO Adusted Gold, Evil HERO Dead-End Prison, Evil HERO Toxic Bubble, Elemental HERO Sparkman, and..." He studied his Graveyard for a moment.
"First of the Dragons," Hikaru suggested.
"Works for me!" Jaden picked up First of the Dragons without hesitation. "First of the Dragons. I return these five cards to the Deck and draw 2 cards."
Jaden glanced at his hand.
Nice.
Darkness's blue eyes flickered.
He hadn't expected that a single Set Polymerization could accomplish this much under these conditions.
But he felt no regret, no remorse.
He understood that trying to defeat humans through dueling skill alone was too difficult for him.
A year ago, he might have believed himself superior to humanity. But after watching so many dimensions, so many duels fought by humans, seeing entity after entity try to use dueling to defeat champions of justice, he had come to terms with his own limitations.
He felt no shame in that.
A deficit in skill didn't mean the duel couldn't be won.
He didn't care whether his plays were optimal. As long as each card produced the intended disruption and kept his opponents from performing at full strength, that was enough.
That was precisely why, while devouring other dark entities and collecting powerful cards, he had rebuilt his Deck from scratch into its current form.
"Battle! Elemental HERO Absolute Zero attacks Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon!"
"But Absolute Zero has 100 less ATK..." Ruri tensed up.
"It's fine. When Absolute Zero leaves the field, it destroys all of the opponent's monsters!" Serena explained.
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Dealing 2500 damage in this duel was already a massive amount!
But...
Right at that moment!
Darkness raised his hand, and the demon on the field bared a vicious grin.
"What's happening?!" Hassleberry shouted in confusion.
"I thought he couldn't activate monster effects anymore!" Syrus exclaimed.
"When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I send 1 Fiend-Type monster from my hand and 1 from my field to the Graveyard to Special Summon this card. I send Disaster Fiend from my hand and Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon from the field to the Graveyard."
"Descend! Darkness Neosphere!"
Adreus raised the crimson dagger in its hand and plunged it into its own chest. Then, amid an eerie cackling, scarlet light erupted from the wound. A seed, a seed of sin, took root and grew from its heart. In moments, that heart had transformed into a blood-red eye.
In the blink of an eye, the demon had been converted into something entirely new.
Darkness Neosphere. Level 10. DARK Attribute. Fiend-Type. DEF 4000.
"Wh-What?!"
"4000 DEF?!"
"Wait, I thought Darkness couldn't activate effects anymore!"
The younger students voiced their confusion.
"No." Chazz sighed from the side. "Just like how he exploited the restriction on activating his own effects to keep Amano-Iwato on the field and shut down his opponents' effects...
A built-in Special Summon condition like this doesn't need to be activated. It doesn't start a Chain. It's a Summoning condition, not an effect."
"Huh..." Serena and Hassleberry let out surprised murmurs in unison.
Nearby, Ruri watched the scene unfold and couldn't help but worry: "Darkness Neosphere... has 4000 ATK and DEF, but Darkness chose Defense Position."
"That guy doesn't want to lose any Life Points."
"This is ridiculous. Can he really stall this much?!"
"I see now..." Meanwhile, Aster finally understood something that had been nagging at him. "No wonder he used Winda as Xyz Material for Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon.
He didn't want to give Jaden's team more Fusion Materials, and he was also wary of... Flame Wingman."
"Ah!" Jesse caught on in an instant. "Jaden's favorite monster, Flame Wingman. There could be Shining Flare Wingman or even Shining Neos Wingman making an appearance. Even with only one Special Summon allowed, Darkness couldn't guarantee Jaden wouldn't pull off a Shining Flare Wingman in a single Fusion.
Just now, for instance, if Jaden had drawn Dead-End Prison, activated its effect, and Fused into Shining Flare Wingman, Darkness, with no Spell or Trap to block the attack, could have had Shining Flare Wingman destroy Winda by battle, taken 2200 points of damage, and then had Shining Neos Wingman arrive through Favorite Contact to wipe out every card on the field and attack directly for the game..."
"This guy!" Jim couldn't help clenching his fists, itching to jump in. "He has all those powerful cards and he still duels this cautiously!"
"When it's life or death, caution is natural..." Adrian let out a quiet sigh. "Jaden and Hikaru have been under immense pressure this whole time. The least we can do is stop complaining from the sidelines."
The group nodded, each trying to think of what they could do to help.
Jaden looked at his hand and clicked his tongue. But he hadn't forgotten Winda's effect. He retrieved Hikaru's El Shaddoll Fusion from the Graveyard, then Set it along with his other cards.
"I Set three cards and activate the Continuous Spell, Mirage of Nightmare."
At least, even though the attack had failed, Neos Overlord was still on the field. If the opponent's monsters were sent to the Graveyard next turn, he could use Neos Overlord's effect to seize control of Darkness Neosphere.
From the looks of things, that opportunity was not unlikely.
"End turn..."
Countdown to the End: 6.
CRACK.
Jaden flinched and looked to the side.
If, up until now, the globe under the Countdown had been slowly consumed by dark clouds, then from this point on, the world was like a desk lamp with its switch flipped, blinking out in sections all at once.
New Domino City. A man who had been running through the streets for what felt like hours, unable to find a single soul, stopped and slumped against a wall.
His green trench coat was rumpled and dirty. He leaned against the wall with one hand pressed to his forehead, dazed.
Since becoming a "legendary among legendary duelists," Joey Wheeler hadn't felt this kind of helpless terror in a long time. It was as if he had become that weak, stray dog all over again.
He felt that if this went on much longer, his legs would give out.
What was happening?
Where was everyone?!
Forget ordinary pedestrians. Even the duelists who had been working alongside him had vanished.
What in the world...
Then, he raised his head and looked at the sky.
The sky was making cracking sounds.
He shot to his feet, eyes wide, staring at the fracturing sky. It split apart like a screen developing cracks, and through the gaps, images began to bleed through.
"What... is happening?"
Industrial Illusions headquarters. Pegasus and the Paradox Brothers stared at the sky with grave expressions.
The Paradox Brothers exchanged a glance and asked: "Mr. Pegasus, what is this?"
"It seems... we'll be saying our goodbyes to one another." Pegasus murmured softly.
Scenes like this played out across the globe. With each new anomaly, those who had survived the first wave of the "area attack" gradually became aware of the crisis.
Some resourceful individuals rushed to find dimensional gates, hoping to escape to other dimensions for safety. But when they attempted interdimensional travel, they found themselves in a world almost identical to their own.
Here, many people who should have disappeared were alive, confused and panic-stricken.
The difference was that in this other world, the sky also held a "screen," but this one was far larger and far clearer.
Kaiba Corporation.
In this silent, emptied world, a tall man carrying a briefcase walked down a deserted corridor. He happened to pass by a window, glanced up at the fractured sky, and paused.
"I see..."
"So that's what this is about."
He stopped walking, choosing to stand there and watch in silence.
Meanwhile.
In the post-apocalyptic world, Jaden stared at the fracturing images in the sky, his face grim.
"This..."
"The sixth turn. Seven turns for me. A third of the time has passed, humanity..." Darkness intoned. "And so, these unknowing humans will gradually come to understand everything that is transpiring through this duel.
You, too, will begin to hear their voices during the duel. And your voices will reach them in return."
He gazed at the sky. A third of that beautiful planet had been replaced by darkness.
Something stirred within him.
Although this duel had been initiated by Hikaru, Jaden, and himself, its scope had surpassed his expectations.
He had not anticipated that this duel would truly draw all of humanity into it.
"Of course, if you lose, they will vanish without pain. If you win, this duel will leave no trace in their memories. They'll only feel as though they experienced a dream." Darkness added.
He spoke lightly.
But everyone present felt the weight of those words pressing down on them.
Adrian, who had once cracked under pressure himself, immediately looked at Hikaru.
Hikaru was taking deep, rapid breaths.
He seemed to be managing.
Adrian exhaled in relief.
"This is bad..."
Beside him, Aster's voice cut through.
What?
Adrian turned, and his eyes contracted.
This was bad.
Jaden's breathing had become uneven. Sweat poured from his jaw like rain.
As a duelist in the thick of it, he seemed to be hearing something, and the pressure had become immense.
"COME ON!!!" Chazz was the first to react.
At a time like this, the last thing they needed was to make things worse for those fighting.
The others heard him and joined in.
"Come on!! Jaden!! Come on, Hikaru!!"
Their voices rang out in unison.
With the encouragement of his friends and allies, Jaden's breathing steadied.
No matter what, those voices in his ears were too harrowing...
"What heartwarming voices... Heh heh. My turn. Draw." Darkness drew two cards from his Deck.
"At that instant!" Jaden raised his hand. "Mirage of Nightmare's effect! During my opponent's Standby Phase, I draw until I have 4 cards in my hand."
Jaden drew four cards at top speed from his Deck, then prepared for his next play.
Just then...
"Jaden!"
He froze, and looked at Hikaru.
"Hold off on resolving it."
Jaden's eyes went wide, but he nodded.
Perhaps it was that shout that brought him back from the edge.
Darkness drew two cards from his Deck.
He glanced at them. The moment he saw one of them, the flames in his eyes flared with a boom, and he looked thrilled.
"Looks like he drew something incredible." Yubel, seeing Jaden tense under pressure, jumped in to help him analyze the situation.
Jaden nodded.
"Spell Card, Upstart Goblin. I draw 1 card from my Deck. After that, my opponent recovers 1000 Life Points."
Darkness didn't rush to use his trump card. Instead, he played a simple draw spell.
Humanity, LP: 7800 → 8800.
Darkness drew one card, glanced at it, and looked somewhat unamused. "A second copy."
Humanity, LP: 8800 → 9800.
"Spell Card, Pot of Greed."
"Spell Card, Pot of Desires. Banish 10 cards from the top of my Deck face-down. Draw 2 cards."
Jaden took several deep breaths.
Although Darkness cycling through his hand at this pace was bad for them strategically, the breathing room it gave Jaden in this moment was crucial. He was adjusting to the screams and wails echoing around him, steadying his nerves, watching Darkness's every move with sharp vigilance.
After all the cycling, Darkness now held 4 cards in hand.
And it didn't look like he was done.
But first, he had to deal with Neos Overlord's effect. "Spell Card, Herald of the Abyss."
"If my opponent controls a face-up monster: I pay 1500 Life Points, then declare 1 Type and 1 Attribute. If my opponent controls a face-up monster of the declared Type and Attribute, my opponent must send 1 of those monsters to the Graveyard. This turn, my opponent cannot activate the effects of that monster or cards with the same name."
Darkness raised his hand. Within his skeletal avatar's hollow eye sockets, the blue flames blazed brighter. "Fiend-Type. DARK Attribute."
"I declare: humanity will perish!"
Jaden's brow tightened. He wanted to fire back, but he had no room to argue while resolving the effect.
Neos Overlord was easier to Summon than Shining Neos Wingman, but Neos Overlord happened to be a Fiend-Type monster rather than a Warrior, making it a sitting duck against this kind of Type-and-Attribute call.
Still...
At least Darkness had cut into his own Life Points again.
Darkness, LP: 5200 → 3700.
"Spell Card, Trade-In. I send the Level 8 Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End from my hand to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards."
"Graceful Charity. I draw 3 cards from my Deck and discard 2. I discard Armageddon Knight and End Spirit."
"Normal Summon, Breaker the Magical Warrior. Equip Spell, Wonder Wand, equipped to it. Then I activate the Wand's effect: send the equipped monster and this card to the Graveyard. Draw 2 cards."
After the massive hand refresh, Darkness looked at his cards and gave a slight nod.
"Heh heh heh heh... Witness the strongest monster in the world. No... the strongest monster in all of history!"
"Normal Spell Card, Numeron Eveil!"
Numeron... Eveil?
Jaden blinked.
Beside him, Hikaru saw the card and his pupils shrank. His jaw dropped.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
"If a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck exists only on the opponent's field: select 4 Number Xyz Monsters from your Extra Deck, with no more than 1 of the same Rank. Special Summon 1 Number Xyz Monster whose Number value equals the sum of those 4 monsters' Number values, treating it as an Xyz Summon. Attach all 4 selected monsters as Xyz Materials to the Summoned monster. As long as the monster Special Summoned by this effect exists face-up on your field, you cannot Special Summon non-Number Xyz Monsters."
Hikaru noticed strange numbers beginning to float in the air around Darkness, forming an eerie constellation.
28, 40, 9, 9...
86!!!!
The genuine article... the strongest monster!!
And on top of that...
Darkness could no longer activate DARK Attribute monster effects!!
The strongest. Invincible. Ultimate. An absolutely unbeatable board state!!
"JADEN!!!" Hikaru screamed so hard his voice cracked. Everyone jumped at the sheer desperation in his voice.
They had never seen Hikaru this panicked. Never seen him this rattled.
Jaden understood. This was something they could not handle no matter what.
So there was no room for hesitation!
"I activate a Trap Card!"
"Counter Trap: Solemn Warning!"
"I pay 2000 Life Points! When a Spell/Trap Card, or monster effect, that includes an effect to Special Summon a monster is activated: negate the activation and destroy it!"
Divine light descended.
For reasons Hikaru couldn't explain, the phantom of the "old man from Heaven" felt more vivid than ever before. It even seemed to glance his way.
Humanity, LP: 9800 → 7800.
BOOM.
"Hmph..." Darkness watched his card shatter, a flash of irritation crossing his face.
If that card had resolved, he could have ended his turn in peace and watched his opponents struggle.
Hikaru let out a breath of relief.
Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad was an "invincible" monster. With at least 1 Xyz Material, it could not be destroyed by battle. With at least 2, its ATK and DEF increased by 1500. With at least 3, it was unaffected by other card effects. With 4 or more, the opponent could not Normal or Special Summon monsters. And with 5 or more, once per turn, it could destroy every card the opponent controlled.
Its only weakness was the mandatory effect at the end of the opponent's turn that removed 1 Xyz Material.
But Darkness had used Dominus Purge, locking himself out of DARK Attribute monster effects. In other words, if the Special Summon had gone through, that mandatory detach effect would never activate, making Rhongomyniad forever invincible and forever impossible to deal with!
"Ha! Looks like the Life Points Darkness gave them with Upstart Goblin turned around and became the weapon they used to break his strategy!" Chazz spoke up first, trying to ease the pressure on the two duelists.
When Hikaru had seen that card, "tense" wasn't a strong enough word. He was worried about the state of his two friends and wanted to help them however he could.
"Hmph... In that case, I'll settle for the next best thing."
Darkness snorted. "Absolute Zero has the effect of destroying all of my opponent's monsters when it leaves the field. Neosphere can't be destroyed by battle, but if it were destroyed by effects, that would be a problem.
So then...
Normal Summon. Level 1 Tuner Monster, Brainwasher."
"A Tuner?"
The crowd went still again.
"Level 11!" Tierra realized it in an instant. "Hikaru, here it comes. It's that one!"
Hikaru nodded.
Should be manageable.
"I Tune the Level 1 Brainwasher with the Level 10 Darkness Neosphere!"
He raised his left hand. White bones assembled into a massive ring, and Neosphere walked through it. Its body began to fragment, green lightning tearing through its form.
"Synchro Summon!"
"My artificial demon, it is time to manifest once more and serve me."
"Level 11!"
"Psychic End Punisher!"
CRACKLE.
From the psychic dimension, a demon howled as it emerged. From its maw came the screams and anguish of countless humans, and among them was a voice Hikaru recognized all too well.
Psychic End Punisher. Level 11. LIGHT Attribute. Psychic-Type. ATK 3500.
"Just as I expected." Tierra frowned. "What do we do, Hikaru? When its controller's LP is lower than the opponent's, that thing is unaffected by the opponent's activated effects."
"On the bright side, at least it can't activate its ATK-boosting effect anymore."
Tierra and Hikaru traded dry quips.
Yubel envied the easy rapport between those two, but now wasn't the time for that. She spoke with authority: "You heard them, Jaden."
Jaden nodded.
So Mirror Force was useless again?
"Battle! Psychic End Punisher attacks Absolute Zero!"
CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE.
Lightning tore through the air. The artificial demon raised its right fist and brought it crashing down on the hero.
"AAAGH!!!" Jaden took the blow head-on and was sent flying.
"Jaden!!" Yubel rushed to his side.
Humanity, LP: 7800 → 6800.
"Jaden, are you okay?!" Hikaru called out, worried about his friend's condition.
"I'm... I'm fine." Jaden clutched his stomach, a large gash splitting open across his forehead.
Did it hurt?
Of course it hurt. This duel against Darkness exceeded any abnormal Shadow Duel he had ever experienced.
But it wasn't a big deal, not really.
He could endure this kind of pain.
What he found harder to bear was that the instant he took damage, voices flooded his ears: "AAAAH!" "Someone save us!" "We're going to lose, we're going to lose!" "Why do our lives depend on a useless guy like him?!"
Jaden coughed twice.
"Shut up, you wretches!!" Yubel swatted furiously near Jaden's ear, but nothing could dispel those voices.
"It seems you're reaching your limit as well. Of course. Human resentment, human suffering, human stupidity, human selfishness. It's all so laughable.
I activate a Spell Card.
Beginning of the End.
If I have 7 or more DARK monsters in my Graveyard: I banish 5 of them to activate. Draw 3 cards.
I banish Tragoedia, Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon, Chaos Emperor Dragon, Armageddon Knight, and Brainwasher from my Graveyard. Draw 3 cards."
His avatar drew the cards and glanced at them.
Reckless Greed.
He looked at the card he had Set earlier and chuckled.
"I Set all the cards I drew. Turn end."
Countdown to the End: 7.
DING.
"AAAAH!"
"Mama!"
"Wh-What do we do?!"
Screams. Rage. Terror. And the riots of the foolish, who figured if the world was ending, they might as well go wild.
These voices made it impossible for Jaden to stay calm.
And yet.
"Draw!"
Hikaru drew his card with a steady hand!
"There's no need to panic. No need to worry. No need to fear. Treat all of this as a mirage born from a nightmare. When we reach the end, the mirage will transform into something beautiful."
He gathered all the cards in his left hand in one smooth motion and held them at his side. "Mirage of Nightmare's effect. During my Standby Phase, I randomly discard cards equal to the number drawn by that effect.
Last turn, Jaden drew 4 cards, so I randomly discard 4!"
"Why?" Chazz protested. "One of Jaden's Set cards has to be Emergency Provisions, right?"
"There's no need!" Hikaru declared. "A true duelist makes even his discards count. My Fusion doesn't flinch at a side effect like this!"
"Oh ho..." Darkness murmured in surprise.
With Hikaru's motion, all four cards flew from his hand.
Field Spell, Fusion Recycling Plant. Equip Spell, Future Fusion. Monster Card, Shaddoll Hedgehog. Normal Spell, Metalfoes Fusion!
Hikaru's gaze was iron. "I activate card effects! Shaddoll Hedgehog's effect! When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: add 1 Shaddoll monster from my Deck to my hand, except Shaddoll Hedgehog. I add Shaddoll Falco!"
"I chain: Metalfoes Fusion's effect! I return it to the Deck, shuffle, and draw 1 card!"
Hikaru drew, then raised the card he had pulled. "Spenta, the Magistus Sealer's effect! I discard it from my hand to add a different Magistus from my Deck to my hand. I add Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires!
Crowley's effect: when this card is added to my hand by a method other than drawing, it activates! Special Summon! And then, its effect: when Summoned or Special Summoned, I can Fusion Summon 1 Magistus Fusion Monster using monsters from my hand and field as materials!
I fuse Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires on the field with Shaddoll Falco from my hand!"
"A new frontier of the summoning arts. Stay tuned, and descend as a storm!"
"Fusion Summon!"
"Level 8! Aiwass, the Magistus Codex Guardian!"
Steel erupted from the ground, assembled together, and took the form of a wind demon.
Aiwass, the Magistus Codex Guardian. Level 8. WIND Attribute. Fiend-Type. ATK 2000.
"Only 2000 ATK?"
"Isn't that useless?"
"It's over, it's all over! That monster is unaffected by activated effects!"
"With ATK that much lower, how are they supposed to fight?!"
Voices swirled around Hikaru without end.
They were the negative emotions of the humans trapped in this world, and now those voices were tormenting Hikaru, making it hard for him to move.
"Naive!"
"Watch my Fusion! Shaddoll Falco's effect in the Graveyard! When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position!"
Tierra conjured a few puppet strings and dragged a ball of purple crystal onto the field, Setting it face-down.
"Heh heh heh, it's useless, Hikaru!" Darkness spoke with confidence. "You have no cards in your hand, your monster on the field has only 2000 ATK, and my Psychic End Punisher is unaffected by your activated effects, with ATK far above yours.
It seems you Fused the wrong monster."
"Is that so?"
Hikaru fired back.
"What?"
"I activate Aiwass's effect! During either player's Main Phase, I can target 1 face-up monster on the field other than this card: equip this card to that monster as an Equip Card. When this card is equipped to an opponent's monster by this effect, the equipped monster's effects cannot be activated, and I take control of it!"
Hikaru pointed at Psychic End Punisher. Aiwass spread its wings, transformed into a gale, and flew to the artificial demon.
"Ha ha ha ha! Hikaru, didn't I tell you? You've seen it yourself. Psychic End Punisher is unaffected by my opponent's activated effects."
"Not so fast. Take a look at your own field."
?
Darkness looked at his field. Aiwass had already clamped its metallic body around the artificial psychic demon. The demon resisted for a brief moment, then spread its wings and flew to Hikaru's side of the field.
"What?! Why?!"
"It's simple, Darkness. Because this isn't an activated effect. Aiwass's effect as an Equip Card is a continuous effect that persists as long as it's equipped." Hikaru narrowed his eyes and smiled. "I would have thought that someone who studies monster traits and characteristics so carefully would understand this kind of detail.
But it seems you've been so focused on stripping away individuality, on preserving only continuous effects, that you never bothered to truly understand them.
A monster equipped with Aiwass gains 1000 ATK and DEF!"
Psychic End Punisher, ATK: 3500 → 4500.
"Beautiful!"
"Perfect!"
"That's our master!"
"ATK on par with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Incredible!"
"Too bad Jaden's team has higher LP than Darkness, otherwise Punisher's protection against activated effects would apply."
Hikaru smiled.
"Battle! Psychic End Punisher, direct attack!"
"Hold it! I activate a Trap Card: Threatening Roar! You cannot declare attacks this turn. This is an effect that targets the duelist."
The attack failed again.
But...
Anyone with even a shred of dueling knowledge could see it.
Darkness, who had been confident and unshakable from the start, who had piloted this duel with calm precision, had finally panicked.