Honestly, if it were up to Hikaru Amagi, he'd still prefer to keep his universal Fusion materials. But the power of Super Polymerization had carried him this far, and by now, he'd long accepted the reality that Super Poly always fused whatever it wanted—into something "stronger."
Even if we're talking card strength alone, Hikaru thought that Cursed Seal Beasts were way more valuable to him than even Armityle the Chaos Phantom. But if you factored in battle power? Yeah… Armityle still pulled its weight.
At the very least, it was a good way to shut up Tiara when she was always screaming "Do something big! Shake the world!" every other hour.
And anyway—
Hikaru had already gotten in touch with Professor Crowler.
Demonic Gods, Cursed Seal monsters—hell, the more, the better. If he could draw them, he could get them. And if he could get them, you better believe he was already working to collect them. That kind of card had way more use to him than flashy beatsticks.
Cursed Seal Beasts were practically "alchemical primal matter"—ideal Fusion materials. Hikaru had already predicted Super Poly would eat them eventually. That's why he'd already started contacting people to buy them in advance.
Armityle might be rare. But Cursed Seal Beasts? Not that expensive.
He could afford them just fine.
Still...
"I really want Roshinman, though."
Armityle the Chaos Phantom had multiple forms. The one he really wanted was the alternate version: Armityle the Chaos Phantom – Phantasmal Mirage Roshinman. That version allowed him to hand control over to the opponent, and then—at the end of the turn—banish all cards that 'they' control.
And "they," in this context, meant the opponent who was "gifted" control of Armityle.
Since the effect activates from their side, even monsters with unilateral immunity get hit. They're just wiped off the field. Then, after Armityle banishes itself, its original owner can Special Summon a regular Armityle the Chaos Phantom from the Extra Deck—no Fusion materials required.
Compared to the normal Armityle, which just gets a 10,000 ATK buff on your turn, Roshinman was broken on every level.
But Hikaru wasn't in a rush.
Like how Flame Swordsman had evolved. Or Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon. Even Armityle had to have some evolution path in the works. He was sure of it.
He sighed, sliding two cards back into his Deck Box, then casually flipped through Morishima's Deck.
"Beep-beep—bzzt—"
As he thumbed through the cards, Duel Spirits gathered around him. Some quietly thanked him and disappeared. Hikaru didn't stop them.
Not every Duel Monster had the heart for battle. Not all of them were even eligible to duel. Most were just inhabitants of the Spirit World—not warriors. But even so, plenty stayed behind, offering whatever help they could.
Among them was A-Assault Core.
He also saw cards related to VW and XYZ, though only Y-Dragon Head had a Spirit present in the lab. To his surprise, he also spotted Ancient Gear Hound and—no way—Ancient Gear Golem – Chimera Core!
That last one? Total jackpot.
Hikaru had never managed to get Hound or Double Hound before. Especially Double Hound and Triple Hound—those cards were exclusive to the Fusion Military units. As a rogue duelist, there was no way he'd get them through any official channel.
But Chimera Core? That was massive.
He read the card's effect closely.
Yep. It was the "O-Form" version. Even better.
The original Ancient Gear Chimera Core could, once per turn, burn the opponent for 1000 LP for each face-up Spell you controlled. Pretty wild.
But this O-Form had a simpler effect—just 1000 burn once per turn. A nerf, sure—but in exchange, it had a broken ability:
It was unaffected by all other card effects. Straight out of the gate. No Equip needed. No gimmick.
And on top of that—if it got destroyed in battle, you could Special Summon any Ancient Gear monster from your Deck, ignoring summoning conditions.
Like… Ancient Gear Golem, obviously.
"Damn, this card's legit."
Hikaru smiled wide.
Because on top of everything, it had a ridiculously forgiving Fusion requirement—any two Ancient Gear monsters.
Flexible materials. Full immunity. A death-trigger effect that skips conditions and drops in a powerhouse? In this world, dropping that going first made you untouchable. And if you had Ancient Gear Catapult set, you could just fuse Chimera Core and whatever you used from the GY into Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem the next turn.
Suddenly, the deck's tempo and sustain shot through the roof.
This was very nice.
After studying Morishima's deck, Hikaru happily packed things up.
Then he turned to the Spirits.
A-Assault Core rolled forward on its treads, stopping before him.
"Greetings, warrior of the humans."
"Hey there, Assault Core," Hikaru greeted it back.
He casually asked for a rundown of what had happened. Assault Core answered simply:
One day, a group of humans had appeared in this Spirit World. At first, the Duel Spirits didn't mind—after all, they'd left the Machine World dimension long ago and were curious about other worlds. They wondered when they'd "return."
But then, those humans suddenly attacked them. It was unexpected. They couldn't react in time. Many were captured, overwhelmed, and imprisoned here in this lab.
The captured Spirits were being used to power the Sacred Beasts, while also being experimented on by some human researcher.
Hikaru turned his gaze to the Allied Researcher.
"Uh…" the scientist trembled.
"You know what comes next," Hikaru pointed to the machines around them.
"If you want to live, you'll tell me what you've been doing. Come clean now, we contact KaibaCorp—you'll be arrested. Refuse? Then…"
He nodded at the Duel Spirits.
They looked eager to… reminisce.
The Researcher was sweating like a waterfall. But he clenched his teeth, refusing to speak. Even if the Spirits tore him apart, he wouldn't give up the project's biggest secret.
"Professor gave me everything... I owe him—"
"Funny how you people only find your morals after the damage's done," Hikaru growled.
The man looked down, terrified.
And just as he dug in his heels to die with the secret, Tiara suddenly gasped from the side.
"Whoa!"
Hikaru turned instantly.
"What is it?"
"This isn't the kind of secret you buy off me with a couple instant noodles, Hikaru…"
"…What do you want?"
"When we get back, I want you to create a lower-level Infernoid monster card for me."
Hikaru froze.
A new Infernoid?
That's… big.
What kind of secret would make Tiara demand something like that?
From a real-world perspective, Tiara had been revived through the power of all the Infernoids and the Void Shell. As a card, she had multiple forms—her true self, and the temporary Infernoid Tierra, a Fusion of ten Infernoid monsters.
Which meant—
Even one lower-level Infernoid would be part of Tierra's revival.
She was basically asking for one-tenth of her resurrection.
It was the first time Tiara had ever made a demand that big.
But if the price was that steep, then whatever they were hiding in this lab must be insane.
Though Tiara had been decent to him lately—cooperative, even—Hikaru never forgot: she wasn't some benevolent goddess.
She was the cold, calculating god who once tried to reset the entire ecosystem.
He paused. Thought it through.
Just one Infernoid. Out of the ten she'd need.
A fair trade. A test of trust.
"…Alright. If your secret's really worth it, I'll do it."
Tiara smiled softly.
"You won't regret it."
She raised her staff. Strings of marionette energy exploded outward, tearing into equipment across the lab. One set of strings shot down into a hidden lever—the one the researcher had been protecting.
They dug deep. Searching.
"No—wait—STOP—can we talk about this!?"
Realizing she might've found that, the researcher panicked. Eyes wide. He looked to the Duel Spirits for help.
"Now? You serious?" Hikaru scoffed.
He'd just sold his soul for this secret—he wasn't in the mood for talk.
While he watched Tiara work, her eyes suddenly lit up.
With a swift pull, she yanked a glowing red card from the lab's depths.
It soared through the air and landed in Hikaru's hand.
He stared.
Then his eyes widened.
He turned to the researcher, stunned.
"You… you guys actually got your hands on this!? Where the hell did you find it?!"
The researcher turned ghost-white.
He couldn't even speak.
The Professor's most important experimental goal—discovered.
"I'd suspected they were working on artificial Duel Spirits," Tiara shrugged. "But I didn't expect this."
"And hey—don't forget our deal. You wouldn't have found this card if I hadn't helped. No Tiara, no jackpot."
Hikaru looked at the card.
Crimson arcane armor. Jet-black skin. Flowing white hair.
His mind went blank but for one thought:
Don't talk to me about Cursed Seal Beasts right now.
He wanted to play this thing for days. Weeks.
Hell, just feel the weight of it in his hand.
Because this wasn't just a rare card—
It was mythical. Legendary.
Not unique—but so rare that no one would ever trade it away.
Dark Magician.
Who needs Cursed Seal Beasts?
He only wanted those to replace this card.
Now that he had it?
He could probably trade it for hundreds of those beasts.
And not miss a damn thing.