To be honest, if Hikaru were allowed to choose, he would definitely prefer to keep his Universal Fusion Material.
But having co this far relying on Super Polyrization, he had long since accepted that Super Polyrization would randomly fuse him a "stronger" card.
Although in terms of pure card strength, Hikaru believed The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion was far more significant to him than Armityle the Chaos Phantom.
That said, if you considered other aspects, like "combat power," then Armityle wasn't bad at all.
If nothing else, it at least helped keep Tierra, who always wanted him to "do sothing big, sothing big!"—a little more restrained.
And besides?
Hikaru had already contacted Professor Crowler.
King of the Swamp, The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion—the more the rrier!
If he could get more of them, it naturally ant he could draw them—of course, he was actively acquiring them—these kinds of cards ant far more to Hikaru!
After all, this kind of Universal Fusion Material was like the very "Philosopher's Stone" of alchemy, but for Fusion.
Hikaru had long since prepared for the possibility that The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion would get fused away via Super Polyrization, so inherently, he'd already started sourcing more.
King of the Swamp might be sowhat rare, but The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion wasn't all that expensive—he could still afford it.
Then again...
"I still really want Phantom of Fury."
Armityle the Chaos Phantom didn't only have one form—There was also Armityle the Chaos Phantasm - Phantom of Fury, which could hand over its control to the opponent, then banish all cards on "its" side of the field at the end of the turn—"its" referring to the gifted opponent!
Since the effect was considered activated by "self," many one-sided immunity monsters couldn't stop it and would be banished directly. After banishing itself, it could let the original owner Special Summon an Armityle the Chaos Phantom from the Extra Deck, ignoring summoning conditions!
Compared to the standard Armityle, which only gains 10,000 Attack on your own turn, this form was powerful on all fronts.
Obviously, Hikaru wasn't in a rush.
Just like Fla Swordsman and Dark Flare Knight had potential evolutions, even Armityle the Chaos Phantom likely had more to show.
Hikaru sighed slightly and pocketed the two cards, then flipped through Morishima's Deck.
"Beep beep—Zzt—"
As he went through the Deck, Duel Spirits gathered around. So thanked Hikaru before quietly leaving, and he didn't stop them.
Not all Duel Monster Spirits had either the courage to fight or the qualifications to Duel—Most Duel Spirits were simply "residents" of the Spirit World.
Becoming a "warrior" wasn't that easy.
Still, many stayed behind, hoping to lend Hikaru their strength.
Among them, one being A-Assault Core.
Besides that, he saw cards from VW and XYZ, though only the spirit of Y-Dragon Head was in the lab. Hikaru also spotted Ancient Gear Hunting Hound and Ancient Gear Howitzer!
These two cards were a pleasant surprise.
Until now, Hikaru had never obtained a Hunting Hound or a Double Hunting Hound. Especially Double and Triple Hunting Hounds—those Ancient Gear cards belonged exclusively to the Fusion Army.
As a so-called "heretic," he had no chance of getting them through official channels.
On the other hand, Ancient Gear Howitzer was truly sothing!
He examined Howitzer's effect closely.
Yes, it was the 0-edition version—even better!
The original version had a once-per-turn effect that inflicted damage to the opponent equal to 1000 tis the number of face-up Spell Cards on your field.
But the 0-edition only dealt 1000 damage per turn.
Still, though the 0-edition's damage was nerfed, it required no Equip Cards and ca with full immunity right out of the gate: "Unaffected by other cards' effects."
Even more, if destroyed by battle, it could Special Summon an Ancient Gear monster from the Deck, ignoring summoning conditions.
What else could that be but Ancient Gear Golem?
"Not bad at all. In fact, this card's fantastic!"
Hikaru was quite pleased.
Its best feature? Extrely lax Fusion materials—just any two Ancient Gear monsters!
With such loose summoning conditions, top-tier immunity, and the ability to summon Ancient Gear Golem upon being destroyed, this card made going first a huge defensive advantage. And if he activated "Ancient Gear Duel," he could fuse that fielded Ancient Gear Golem with materials from the Graveyard to summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!
Summoning difficulty and follow-up costs were dramatically reduced—Truly, a great find!
After studying Morishima's Deck for a while, Hikaru cheerfully packed up.
Then, he turned back to the Spirits.
Leading them, A-Assault Core drove its treads forward and stopped before Hikaru. "Greetings, human warrior."
"Hello, Assault Core." Hikaru returned the greeting.
He then asked generally what had happened.
Assault Core explained simply: one day, a group of humans had suddenly appeared in the Spirit World. At first, the Spirits didn't mind. After all, they'd long since left the Machine holand dinsion and were curious about other dinsions—perhaps soday they could "return."
However, that group of humans suddenly attacked, catching the Spirits off guard.
They were swiftly overwheld, and many Spirits were captured.
These captured Spirits were being held in the lab, used as both fuel for the Sacred Beasts and test subjects for the human researchers.
Hikaru looked toward the Union Doctor.
"Speak—" The Union Doctor lowered his head in fear.
"You should understand: if you want to live, you'd better explain what you're doing here." Hikaru pointed at the machines. "Co clean now, contact KaibaCorp, and you might just be arrested. Refuse, and there's only one fate for you."
He gestured toward the surrounding Spirit machines.
They had quite a lot they wanted to "catch up" on with him!
Cold sweat poured down the Union Doctor's face like a waterfall, while he gritted his teeth and said nothing. Even if the Spirits attacked now, it didn't matter. As long as "that" wasn't found, the professor could retrieve it later.
"Don't kid yourself. The professor was my savior—"
"Funny how none of you cared about morals until now."
The Doctor shrank further under the pressure.
Just as he was determined to resist and protect the lab's greatest secret, Tierra suddenly went, "Oooh!"
Hikaru turned at once.
"What is it?"
"Hikaru, this isn't sothing a few boxes of Cup Noodles can get you."
"So?"
"When we get back, I want you to create a Low-Level Infernoid monster card for ."
Hikaru frowned.
A single Infernoid?
That's huge!
What kind of secret would prompt Tierra to na a condition like that?
Her resurrection, in reality, ca from the combined power of all Infernoids and the Shell. In card terms, aside from her main form [Tierra], there was also a temporary revival form: [Infernoid Tierra], which required the Fusion of over 10 Infernoid monsters to summon. In other words, a single Low-Level [Infernoid] could count as one-tenth of her card material!
One-tenth of a "resurrection."
And It was the first ti Tierra had ever made such a demand!
Then again, if she was asking for sothing that big, the lab's secret had to be massive.
While she had been pretty cooperative with him lately, Hikaru never forgot—Tierra was not a purely "benevolent god". She was a "ruthless deity" who wanted to reset the ecosystem.
He wavered, weighing his options.
After a while, he figured he could try. After all, it was just "one," and Tierra would need at least ten cards as materials.
Using one opportunity to assess her attitude toward cooperation might be worth it.
"Fine. If the secret is convincing enough, I'll help you."
Tierra chuckled softly. "Don't worry."
She raised her staff. Countless puppet strings whirled out, smashing various equipnt in the lab. Then the strings burrowed under the lever the Doctor had desperately tried to pull earlier, writhing and searching.
"Wait—no, can we talk this out?" Realizing Tierra had likely found it, the Union Doctor panicked and turned to the machines.
"Now? Are you joking?" Hikaru had already agreed to this price—he wasn't in the mood for nonsense.
As he watched Tierra work, she suddenly brightened, yanked the strings, and pulled out a glowing red card from deep within the lab!
The card floated and landed before Hikaru.
He glanced at it—then froze, eyes widening. He looked up at the Doctor.
"You even got your hands on this card!? Where the hell did you find it!?"
The Doctor's face was ashen. He didn't even dare to reply. The professor's most important "experintal target" had been found!
"I figured from the start they were trying to create artificial Spirits," Tierra shrugged. "Though I didn't expect this to be the goal."
"Haha, don't forget our deal. Without , you wouldn't have found this card in a thousand years."
Hikaru stared at the card in his hand—the blood-red magical armor, the black skin, the long white hair. Only one thought remained in his mind.
'Forget The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion, let enjoy a few days dueling with this card first!'
Why?
Simple—this was a legendary, no mythical-level rare card in this world!
Not one-of-a-kind, but so rare no one would part with it!
Dark Magician!
Who would still care about Hex-Sealed Fusion after this?
Not to ntion, he'd originally wanted Hex-Sealed Fusion just to replace this card.
If he traded this card away, others would probably be willing to offer hundreds or thousands of Hex-Sealed Fusions in exchange!!
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