"Professor, how's Hikaru doing?!"
In a haze, Hikaru Amagi vaguely heard the voice of a girl calling out.
"I can't believe even Hikaru Amagi collapsed... A Shadow Duel really is dangerous…" That voice was from a guy clearly overdosing on edgelord energy.
"…Shadow Duel…"
Hikaru struggled to open his eyes, glancing toward the edge of the bed.
"I already told you, Hikaru just passed out from physical exhaustion. What's all this about 'Shadow Duels'? Are you kids seriously still believing in that stuff?" The school nurse stood with one hand on her hip, clearly not understanding the students' concerns.
"Well..." Bastion Misawa looked like he wanted to explain, but before he could, Jaden Yuki had already noticed Hikaru waking up and leapt to his side.
Jaden's brow was furrowed, his expression more serious and composed than usual. Gone was the carefree slacker—the Jaden standing over Hikaru now had steel in his eyes.
"Hikaru. How are you feeling?"
"See? I told you all not to make noise. You woke the patient up!" the nurse chided, clearly annoyed.
Hikaru rubbed his temples, his senses slowly returning. He felt a bit thirsty and glanced around. As expected, the ever-attentive Alexis Rhodes was the first to react, handing him a glass of water.
"Thanks." Hikaru took a sip, then muttered, "I'm alright. Nothing serious."
He used the time it took to drink to process everything.
He knew his own body best.
It wasn't the Shadow Duel that knocked him out. Sure, it hurt like hell, but his body had been strengthened by Super Polymerization. When the flames hit, he still had Captain Zirconia shielding him—it wasn't even close to what Joey Wheeler experienced when he got torched by Egyptian God flames.
No, what really did it?
Too much fusion energy. All at once.
Darkness may have sent just an avatar, but that was still pure, unfiltered darkness. Even absorbing just a portion of that was enough to knock him flat.
Of course, that wasn't something he could just tell anyone.
That he was a dimensional traveler who arrived in this world with a real copy of Super Polymerization? No way. Not exactly small talk material.
"What about your brother, Alexis?" Hikaru asked, changing the subject.
"The doctors said his injuries aren't serious. He just needs some time to recover before he can move again," she answered, still a little shaken.
Back then, for some reason… she'd done things—things she'd never normally do. Just thinking about it now made her stomach twist. She'd almost hurt someone else to protect her brother...
Jaden, seeing Hikaru was okay, finally relaxed and turned to the others.
"Alright, guys. Let's give Hikaru some space. He needs rest."
His voice was sharp and commanding—nothing like the Jaden they'd known. The students exchanged glances. Seeing that Hikaru was fine, they all nodded.
"Rest up, Hikaru." Bastion left a small gift for him. Hikaru accepted it politely.
They were all burning with curiosity about what had happened in the Shadow Duel—but since Alexis was still here, they figured they'd get the story from her later. After offering some fruit and other small gifts, they followed Jaden out.
Still… everyone's expressions were grave.
Even Hikaru, the guy who took down the best duelists in school, had to be hospitalized after winning.
What about them?
Especially Jaden—he looked like the weight of the world had settled on his shoulders. He was so deep in thought he didn't even hear Syrus calling his name.
Once everyone left, only Alexis remained by the bedside. She seemed intent on staying.
She was here out of gratitude. Hikaru had saved her brother. Besides, Zane was with Atticus now, so she didn't need to worry about him. As for Hikaru, both Jaden and Bastion had wanted to help—but Alexis had insisted.
"You don't need to feel guilty about what happened, Alexis," Hikaru said, lifting his Duel Disk and removing his deck. He glanced at her before continuing, "If I had to guess, that guy had the ability to either brainwash or read memories. Otherwise, there's no way he could've imitated your brother so perfectly—or known your personal history."
While he talked, he began shuffling through his deck, quickly checking each card one by one.
Then his eyes lit up.
Midrash was already halfway complete! That was way faster than he expected!
And wait… was that a new Level 8 Fusion Monster?
Red-Eyes Meteor Dragon…?
Useless?
…No.
Useful! He suddenly remembered something.
"Ah?" Alexis blinked, then forced a slightly awkward smile. "Thanks, Hikaru. I didn't think… you'd be so good at comforting someone."
She still looked burdened with guilt.
Forget it.
Hikaru shrugged.
"Hey, that card the guy used to seal souls—did you bring it back?"
"Oh! Right—here." Alexis fumbled a bit and quickly handed it to him.
Hikaru took the card. No name, just an image: Darkness's mask, bound in chains.
In the anime, Atticus could use this card himself to transform into Nightshroud and wield the Red-Eyes deck powered by Darkness.
Basically, once he mastered it, it was his henshin belt—his Kamen Rider transformation device.
But in Hikaru Amagi's hands?
It was something completely different.
His eyes gleamed with excitement, and Alexis instinctively shivered, rubbing her arms.
That grin—so wide, so crazed—it looked like he'd just found some world-ending doomsday weapon.
And honestly?
He had.
This wasn't just a card—this was Darkness's avatar. Just dueling it had produced massive amounts of energy.
So this card?
To Hikaru?
This was no mere card.
It was a battery. A philosopher's stone. A perfect Super Poly catalyst.
Hell, it might even let him forge a Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Hikaru stayed in the infirmary for two more days, until they confirmed he was in good health. Once discharged, he raced straight back to his dorm.
It was time for…
The Grand Alchemy.
For several days, with the help of his spirit companions, Hikaru threw himself into creating new cards.
He confirmed several things:
First, he could forge cards using Super Polymerization. His spirit power wasn't high enough yet, but thanks to Darkness's "donation," he was making progress.
Second, if he tried targeted fusion by himself, he could only create lower-level monsters. If he aimed too high, his fusion spirits would panic and stop him from committing alchemical suicide. For now, he'd still need to let Super Poly decide what to give him.
Third—and most important—
Forging cards by hand is f*ing amazing!**
He looked proudly at his freshly-minted Predaplant Droseraecarpus. Even if the card wasn't all that useful yet, just the fact that it existed filled him with pride.
At this point, he could finally call himself an alchemist.
One day, he'd handcraft the Philosopher's Stone itself.
He couldn't stop smiling.
And this was just the first of the Seven Stars…
There were still six more to go.