The Society of Light.
An organization under Sartorius, whose goal is to make Sartorius the guide of the world's destiny.
Its mbers include Sartorius himself, his sister Sarina, the Four Emperors of Earth, Water, Fire, and Thunder, and several pro duelists.
But the core mbers of the Society of Light are, Chazz and Alexis.
Yes. Those two.
In the original, Chazz was brainwashed after Sartorius exposed his inner fear of Jaden. Through a duel, Sartorius manipulated him into becoming a pillar of the Society within Duel Academy.
Alexis, anwhile, lost to Chazz, who was empowered by Sartorius's foresight, during a duel where she tried to stop him from turning Obelisk Blue into "White Dorm." She, too, fell under Sartorius's influence and was brainwashed into joining.
These two beca Sartorius's main forces inside the Academy, sending waves of Obelisk Blue "elites" to challenge Jaden, only for Jaden to repel every one of them with his absurd top-decking luck.
This period in the original was an infamous arc where even in a world full of top-decking duelists, Jaden's luck was considered ridiculous.
Even so, that wasn't Hikaru's focus.
His focus was...
In this world, Chazz wasn't just Seto Kaiba's disciple; he never had any "fear" of Jaden. If anything, he feared failing himself, not others.
Under these circumstances, brainwashing a duelist who possesses Duel Spirits was absurdly difficult.
After all, while Chazz never used Light and Darkness Dragon, considering how his Duel Spirits in the Union Hangar could tank panda dragons and shrug off heavy fire, Sartorius's trying to brainwash him was wishful thinking.
Additionally, in the original, Sartorius targeted Chazz not only for his strength but because Sartorius couldn't see Duel Spirits. He needed soone who could duel Jaden and help determine the direction of fate.
But in this world, things were different.
Thanks to the advancent of dinsional exploration, Duel Spirits were no longer re legends or fairy tales. With Sartorius's supernatural abilities and enhancents from dinsional science, seeing spirits wasn't a problem anymore.
Even soone like Bastion could see them now.
So the original motives Sartorius had for targeting Chazz didn't exist here.
Which made Hikaru curious, why was Sartorius visiting Duel Academy now?
The principal wasn't back yet, and Prince Ojin with his orbital laser satellites wasn't around either. So what was Sartorius's goal?
The answer, it was a big one.
Sartorius smiled, politely exchanged greetings with Head Instructor Napoleon, and humbly explained that he only beca Aster Phoenix's manager because they were childhood friends, otherwise, he could never have signed soone like Aster.
Then, he stated his reasons for coming.
First, he intended to transfer into the Academy. As a high school student himself, it made sense. Since Aster was here, whether for friendship or business, he'd join too.
Second, he wanted to scout more talented duelists for the pro circuit. Watching Aster duel Zane Truesdale made him genuinely happy, seeing his friend smile again after so long. Naturally, he wanted to visit the school that produced soone like Zane.
His speech was so flawless that even Crowler grinned ear to ear, thrilled at the new opportunities for the students. No friction arose over Napoleon inviting Sartorius without Crowler's prior knowledge.
When asked about Aster's academic life, Sartorius answered, "Apologies, professors. Aster's schedule is fully booked for the next three years. He'll only attend classes if his duel calendar permits."
"Ah... I see..." Napoleon sighed, disappointed.
Though Aster had lost to Jaden once, he also won against him. In Napoleon's eyes, Aster was still the best weapon against Slifer Red.
"Hmm, and those students?" Sartorius shifted the topic, chin tilted toward the teaching building.
There, students clad in red, yellow, blue, black, and even purple uniforms stread out together, chatting and laughing.
"Ah," Crowler puffed out his chest. "Those are the pride of Duel Academy, our glorious Fusion Club, founded by my disciple, Amagi Hikaru. Speaking of Hikaru, Sartorius-san, would you be interested in recruiting him for the pro league?"
"Oh my..." Sartorius followed Crowler's gaze.
At the sa mont, Hikaru instinctively looked up. His eyes locked with Sartorius across the distance.
"So that's him, the Absolute Fusionist, the new symbol of Duel Academy, Amagi Hikaru. Truly a magnificent presence." Sartorius smiled, faint purple light flickering in his eyes.
Hikaru narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly...
WHOOSH...
WHOOSH...
A strong breeze whipped up by the seaside campus. It grew stronger and stronger.
"Wha...what's going on!?" Napoleon staggered.
"Mamma mia! W-Why's the wind picking up!? Sartorius-san, perhaps we should head inside the building?"
A crazed, fanatical grin briefly flashed across Sartorius's face. But when Napoleon instinctively rubbed his eyes, that grin vanished, replaced by Sartorius's usual gentle smile as the light in his eyes faded and the wind subsided.
"Ah, no need. I'll just wander the island by myself. Thank you both for your ti." Sartorius bowed politely and walked off with a smile.
"Huh? Wait, Sartorius, he's gone." Both instructors were left baffled.
anwhile, as Hikaru paused, Jaden and Chazz both asked what was wrong. Hikaru frowned, thought for a mont, then shook his head.
During that brief eye contact with Sartorius, their powers, Fate and Fusion, had clashed. But it ended in a stalemate.
Still... Why was Sartorius bothering him? Shouldn't he be ssing with Jaden or Aster?
Or... was Sartorius now trying to turn him, the Fusion Club President, into the Academy's Society of Light proxy?
"What a bizarre human." Tierra chid in from the side. "Feels like watching and Sophia fighting for system control over one body."
Yeah... that was disturbingly accurate.
Elsewhere, Sartorius walked into a forest alone. He slamd his hand into a tree, leaving a massive crater, then leaned against it, body trembling, letting out a low growl.
If anyone could see his "face" at that mont;
The left side was sorrowful, shedding tears of empathy.
The right side was ruthless, laughing maniacally.
"The one who represents the Tarot card 'The Sun.'"
"Light, hope, radiance. Upright or reversed, it's ant to benefit mankind."
"But... you saw it."
"His 'Sun' isn't warm, white, or gentle like that light. It's dark. A black sun, like a void, a devouring singularity that consus everything. It doesn't emit light. It absorbs. Such a sun only brings destruction."
"No! I believe even a black sun is still a sun. It remains the source of life."
"This wave of annihilation, this destructive intent, will never be our salvation!"
He muttered endlessly, cycling between self-denial and self-affirmation, until his breathing finally cald.
Maybe, probably, he really was a bit schizophrenic.
Especially after the battle between the Society of Light and the Fusion Army, when so of his "light" was taken away, his symptoms worsened.
But...
That wave of destructive light was also growing far beyond anything he'd foreseen in his childhood divinations.
At first, he believed this light was powerful enough to destroy planets.
Now, after endless wars and dinsional battles, that light had grown exponentially.
So even with so stolen, his total reserves now exceeded what he'd had before.
"Fuse... Fuse every Absolute Fusionist together. I see... Even the sun, if it's too pure, too intense, becos a black hole that blinds us and hides everything from sight."
Sartorius straightened up, smiling, his face contorting into sothing grotesquely cheerful, absurdly "healthy."
He knew, Amagi Hikaru and Leo Akaba absolutely despised each other.
Fate had already given him the answer.
He raised his hand. A table materialized from thin air. Casually, he drew a card from the deck atop it.
It was a dinsional coordinate card, marking a Fusion Army base, the very one where the Society of Light had once failed its invasion.
That place hid many interesting cards.
And a bloody secret.
But it also had the strongest guardian.
"Show , The Sun!"
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