The duel was over.
However, the sky showed no signs of clearing... The surroundings remained shrouded in mist, and the unconscious police officers were still out cold.
Hikaru looked toward the Skull Knight, staying on guard.
Even if he wasn't affiliated with the Fusion Army, who could say for sure?
What if this Skull Knight was one of those sore losers who refused to admit defeat?
But thinking more carefully, Hikaru realized he had absolutely no idea why this person had challenged him to a duel in the first place.
Before the duel, there hadn't been any kind of agreement between him and the Skull Knight.
There was nothing at stake… neither the lives of the police officers nor anything else had been wagered.
In other words, it had been a purely forced duel.
So, he had to remain wary of his opponent, in case the guy suddenly decided to make a move.
Despite that, when Hikaru turned his gaze back to the Skull Knight, he noticed something strange.
…The Skull Knight's body was slowly collapsing.
His bones were falling away, fragments of bone detaching from his skeletal frame, as if he were about to crumble completely.
'What's going on?'
Hikaru frowned.
"Interesting... you interdimensional human," the Skull Knight said as he watched his own hand disintegrate. After observing it for a while, he looked up at Hikaru. "You truly are no ordinary duelist."
Was he not planning to fight anymore?
That put Hikaru a bit more at ease.
Even so, he had no idea why this guy had come to him in the first place.
But he could wait and hear the explanation.
"You interdimensional humans possess incredible technology, and you yourself wield power beyond the ordinary. But... this world isn't as simple as it seems. That much, you should be able to understand, right?"
He was implying that since Hikaru had such dark, sinister power and had hidden it among ordinary interdimensional travelers, then he should also be able to comprehend that similar things might exist in this world.
However, Hikaru was deeply familiar with the original Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's series, so he simply nodded without much thought.
"If you understand that, then... interdimensional human, stay out of the changes about to unfold in this world."
The robe around him scattered into the wind, revealing bones that had already mostly decayed beneath. He did not explain to Hikaru what was happening in this world, nor did he intend to tell him what his "brother" was planning.
From his perspective, interdimensional people were merely passersby in this world. Once time passed, they would return to their own world. At that point, the fate of this world would have nothing to do with them.
And so, not knowing the internal affairs of this world, not knowing the enmity between the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Gods, not knowing the cycles of reincarnation this world had gone through again and again, that was a blessing for outsiders like them.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, the Skull Knight tossed two cards with a whooshing sound. Hikaru caught them on reflex and looked down.
'Ghost Fusion and... Dragonecro?'
'What the hell?'
When he looked back up, the Skull Knight had completely vanished, leaving only a gently twitching lower jaw behind.
"Human... the last trace of my former life, of my humanity... I give it to you. As the Absolute Fusionist, I trust you won't let it go to waste."
With that, the Skull Knight's figure dissolved completely, leaving behind only a riderless D-Wheel horse. It reared back with a long howl before galloping away like the wind.
The dark, deathly aura slowly faded. Hikaru stood frozen in place, staring down at the cards in his hand. Thereafter, he looked up and met Tierra's eyes, exchanging a silent glance.
After a moment, the groans of the reviving police officers reached Hikaru's ears. They were waking up.
Tierra, stroking her chin, mused aloud, "So is that how it is, Hikaru? Because you're a duelist devoted to Fusion, and because that man's ace was a Fusion Monster scorned by Synchro Dimension... he saw in you someone like his former self and entrusted his final power to you?"
"Sounds about right?" From both a logical and emotional standpoint, that did seem to be the case.
"Hahaha, then you better thank me properly, Hikaru. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten such a... hmm... pretty strong card that easily."
She was speaking from a "power" perspective.
Though it wasn't in its full form, the Pirmais she had personally summoned was no mere low-level spirit.
And for Dragonecro to clash evenly with it in sheer force, its spirit rank must have been quite high.
Hikaru agreed. She wasn't wrong.
After all, this was one of the Crimson Dragon's Duel Dragons!
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's series, the existence of spirits wasn't very prominent, only one dragon could visibly see Duel Monster spirits. But that didn't mean spirits didn't exist.
In reality, all the dragons used by the main cast had spirits. Moreover, this world even had the Aesir gods, creatures on par with the Egyptian Gods in divine rank and race.
That was the status of Duel Dragons.
Any Duel Dragon had the potential to channel the power of the Crimson Dragon, the god of Synchro and time travel!
And even though Dragonecro was a Fusion Monster, it had a fully synchronized counterpart.
Even if Hikaru couldn't use that version, the original was already powerful enough.
Plus, considering his own performance and Tierra's assistance, this card now seemed quite "tame", it had fully accepted its new master.
Because its new master was the one its original master had chosen: a Fusion-based duelist with power aligned with death.
Exactly the kind of duelist it was meant for.
Who would have thought? After coming to another dimension, not only did Hikaru meet Yusei, Yugo, and Rin, he also gained such an unexpected gift!
"Once we gather the materials, I'll help you build the next Infernoid," Hikaru said, not forgetting Tierra's help.
Though, in hindsight, Tierra's assistance might not have been that critical, the Skull Knight had already been observing him for some time.
So whether Tierra was there or not probably didn't change the final outcome. It only affected how fast that outcome arrived.
However, Hikaru wasn't the kind of person to be stingy about credit.
"Hahaha, that's what I admire most about you~~" Tierra laughed, knowing full well her attempt to take credit had been a stretch. She was genuinely happy to hear Hikaru acknowledge her anyway.
At heart, this was simply the reward for their effective teamwork. Both she and Hikaru understood that perfectly.