In this world, Dark Magician was a myth-tier rare card—on par in fame with the Egyptian Cards.
After all, this was the signature ace of the very first King of Games—Yugi Muto.
Because of its symbolic weight, Dark Magician couldn't be called the rarest card numerically—it was far outclassed in scarcity by Dark Magician Girl, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and even some of the recently uncovered Crystal Beasts.
But in terms of value? In legacy? It was untouchable.
More than that, now that Yugi Muto had left dueling and moved into card design, most copies of Dark Magician had become collectors' items in every sense. Few real duelists actually held one in hand.
And replicating them? Impossible.
There were no official channels left to do it.
Which meant—
"This one's the real deal," Tiara gasped as Hikaru explained, watching from the side.
"But… why does the artwork look different than the ones we saw on promo posters?"
"There are multiple versions," Hikaru said, flipping the card through his fingers.
"Some Dark Magicians are labeled Legendary Magician, others are just Dark Magician."
He studied the unique illustration.
"No idea where they got this alt-art from, but if they were trying to create an artificial Dark Magician spirit, then this was probably a spiritless rare to begin with—just a collector's prize."
He remembered the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime.
Back when Yugi dueled the sinister magician Pandora, who also wielded a Dark Magician.
That version had shown signs of consciousness, even subtle reactions.
But this card in his hand?
It felt empty.
Soulless.
Nearby, the Allied Researcher had been restrained by two robot Spirits. Hikaru approached A-Assault Core, greeting it with a nod to ask how they intended to handle things.
"Headquarters has been contacted," Assault Core responded, then elaborated.
First: as vengeance for their suffering, they had no intention of letting these humans off easy. They also needed to interrogate them—to find out where the rest of the Allied Machine inhabitants had been taken.
But beyond that, as their rescuer, Hikaru had some leeway.
If he wanted to take any of them with him, they'd reluctantly agree.
"Nah, no need," Hikaru waved it off. "Just… if any of them are brainwashed pawns, figure that out first. Don't lump them all together."
"Understood."
He'd already thought about next steps.
Sending them back? Out of the question.
Either dump them on Reiji Akaba to keep as liabilities, or isolate them permanently.
These weren't harmless fools. If they lived, they'd go right back to being enablers.
Of course, human interaction with alternate dimensions was still a fairly new frontier.
KaibaCorp had enacted a bunch of "Special Duelist Laws," but those mostly applied to duelists, not researchers.
Seto Kaiba had always been that way—unless you had a Duel Deck, he didn't even consider you a "citizen."
This was, after all, the man who'd once decreed:
"If your Deck has fewer than 40 cards, get out of Domino City."
In other words, most of the current "laws" governing human interaction with other worlds were unspoken rules—products of hard-earned mistakes and wild incidents.
Researching Spirits was one of those gray areas. Clearly forbidden, but without official sentencing guidelines.
For now, the best move was to let the local Spirits detain them—whether freezing pods or spirit prisons didn't matter.
If anyone asked, KaibaCorp would surely say:
"If they lost a Duel to Duel Spirits, they can face the consequences."
And in the meantime, Hikaru planned to coordinate with Chazz Princeton—who had shown increasing interest in this field.
A research collab seemed inevitable.
Hikaru asked A-Assault Core to search the lab's computers.
Being a Machine-type Spirit, it had no trouble pulling raw data from an unguarded system.
Too bad Hikaru didn't have a Cyberse monster card—he'd be able to retrieve a lot more.
He made sure Assault Core wiped all security footage—especially the part where Super Polymerization fused the Sacred Beasts.
In normal circumstances, he wouldn't care about evidence, but that spell's traces? He wasn't letting anyone get a peek.
He searched for info on other dimensional labs—but no luck.
From the looks of it, each facility operated in total isolation.
A safety protocol.
"Cautious bastard…" Hikaru muttered, brows furrowing.
Just as he was wondering what else to strip-mine from the place, Assault Core rolled back up to him.
"New orders from HQ."
"Yeah?"
"Regardless of whether your friend wins or loses, both of you are now considered our most trusted allies."
Hikaru nodded.
"Also—please open your Alchemist's Book."
That caught him off guard.
He reached into his satchel and pulled out the emerald-bound tome—the legendary Book of Verdant Alchemy.
As he flipped through it, he blinked.
"Wait… you guys know about this book?"
"The legendary grimoire of the Peerless Alchemist," Assault Core beeped. "It is said that once a pact is signed, messages can be written in the book—and passed across dimensions."
Hikaru nodded.
He'd heard that too—from Eldlich the Golden Lord himself.
Supposedly, even in his own dimension, Eldlich could hear Professor Banner's voice—because Banner used the Book to contact pact-bonded users directly.
That's how the Golden Nation had ended up sending people to Earth—after hearing Banner's plea.
But because each dimensional coordinate was marked with a "lesson," Hikaru had never found a target he could contact.
Until now.
He traced a rune in the air.
Green alchemical glyphs floated above the book.
Assault Core sent a signal through the rune, and a booming voice echoed out:
"Thank you for rescuing our people."
A hologram appeared in the book's pages—
It was…
A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon!
The ultimate fusion of all Allied Machines from A to Z.
Displayed above it was a three-dimensional coordinate emblem—the location of this world.
"Whoa…"
Hikaru's eyes widened.
This was literally the combined might of all Allied Machines.
The strongest spirit of this entire dimension.
And it possessed a terrifying ability: Triple Counter.
Whenever the opponent activated a monster effect, Spell, or Trap?
Discard a card. Negate it. Destroy it.
Unfortunately, its spirit had been overwhelmed by the Sacred Beasts.
Otherwise, it would've easily freed its people.
"Warrior of humanity," the voice declared, "From this day forward, any matter involving this enemy faction—call on us. Our treads and cannons will not rest until they are no more."
So this was how Professor Banner coordinated with other spirit worlds…
Through the Book.
Hikaru smiled.
The first one.
"Thanks, Dragon Buster Cannon."
He closed the book, ready to find Chazz and see how his end had gone.
But then—
Tiara's voice rang out.
"Hey, don't rush off yet—dismantle their dimensional gate. That stuff's valuable material."
"Oh, right!"
Never leave loot on the table.