The exploration team had returned to the human world. Though Nagatsuku wasn't much of a duelist, he wasn't some vague or esoteric villain either. A promise made to his younger brother was a promise kept.
In fact, once he snapped out of it and realized how close he'd come to a "life-and-death crisis" in the Spirit World, a chill still lingered down his spine.
The Duel Monsters world ran deep—deeper than he could grasp.
But his little brother had the nerve to challenge his authority on live broadcast? Like hell he'd just let that slide. He'd make sure Chazz Princeton regretted every word. Let him wait and see.
And just like that, Chazz Princeton became the "hero who saved the Academy," showered with praise from students all across the Duel Academy. All the previous criticisms against him? Practically gone overnight.
For the time being, Chazz was the Academy's biggest star—an all-around winner in academics, dueling, and reputation.
Yet even in this whirlwind of adoration, Chazz didn't let it get to his head. He steadied himself quickly.
He hadn't forgotten the friend who changed his fate, who helped him reach where he was now. They had shared critical intel. And when Chazz heard how countless Ally of Justice units had been dismantled and repurposed, fury had coursed through him.
If he hadn't been stuck dueling those spirits under his brother's challenge, he'd have joined Hikaru Amagi and thrown down right then and there.
Back at Duel Academy, he no longer just followed Jaden Yuki around like he used to. He had his own goal now—to become the head of the Princeton Corporation. For that, he needed to prepare.
Not just in dueling. After all, both of his older brothers were total amateurs in the game. If he wanted a fair fight, he'd need to prove himself in other areas too—like business. Otherwise, it wouldn't even be a challenge.
And of course, he already had a hunch—his brothers would definitely recruit elite duelists in the future to face him head-on.
As for Hikaru Amagi, now back in the human world?
He had a whole list of things to do.
First off, he'd looted a massive stash of dimensional gate components from the Fusion Army's labs. Though these were mostly from the Science Faction's tech, many materials overlapped with those used in the Alchemy Faction's gates. That alone saved him a ton of time—he could now build a new portal far more efficiently.
After using the Princeton Corporation's prototype gate once, Hikaru didn't dare say he had 100% confidence. But 90%? That he could manage. All that was left was the construction and test phase.
And elsewhere…
"Hehehe… Ha… Hahaha…"
Tierra floated beside Hikaru, giggling with eerie delight as she nuzzled a Duel Monsters card with her cheek.
The nearby Duel Spirits were frozen in silence. Even veteran spirits like Flame Swordsman, Black Flame Knight, and Captain White Crystal kept their distance, unable to believe what they were seeing.
That eerie, dangerous… actually looked happy?
New to the workshop and diligently focused, A-Assault Core was lifting two boulders with a mechanical hum, stacking them precisely on the portal frame using a laser welder. It glanced back at the others, confused by their expressions, letting out puzzled beeping sounds.
Wasn't that… just El Shaddoll Midrash?
Why all the shock?
Tierra indulged in her joy for a moment longer before noticing the stares. She coughed and returned to her usual faint, elusive smile.
But the upturned corners of her lips betrayed her excitement.
In Hikaru's alchemical furnace, a mass of machines and computers were being consumed. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Hikaru silently thanked the stars he'd thoroughly stripped that lab—he would've never found this much tech and raw material otherwise.
This round of alchemy was going well.
No—more precisely, failure wasn't even on the table.
In his earlier attempts to create cards, Hikaru had to worry about failure and wasted materials. But this time, aided by Tierra, he was simply extracting her power, giving it form, and preserving it in card format. All he needed was a vessel.
Tierra stretched out her hand, and bright white metal began to swirl in her palm. A mechanical lifeform took shape—entirely metallic, crimson-eyed, horned, clawed, with steel bat wings and a white reactor pipe on its back—floating as it danced to her will.
It bore a name with overwhelming force.
That's right.
This was Tierra's power, a shard of her essence—Infernoid.
With its creation, the path for Tierra to return in another form was real. One day in the future, she may rise again, resurrected among Duel Monsters cards.
Hikaru knew how dangerous this was. But it was part of the deal. He couldn't back out now.
"That's wonderful, Hikaru!" Tierra withdrew her hand as the mechanical demon faded into white light.
She turned to him, face alight with joy and satisfaction. "You've done well, my Chosen!"
Hikaru shrugged.
Tierra used to call him all kinds of things— "the chosen one"—though back then it always felt like manipulation. This time? She actually sounded sincere.
And it wasn't just his imagination.
To Tierra, Hikaru had genuinely become someone worth trusting.
Though their time together had been a blink in her long, long existence, Hikaru kept surprising her—and now, he'd upheld his end of the bargain, forging her a new card.
She'd known all along that Hikaru remained cautious around her, constantly worried that this so-called monster might bring doom to humanity.
Anyone who understood DT World's history would say that caution was justified.
After all, Tierra's goal had been nothing less than to wipe out all life on the planet. No god like that could ever be considered benevolent.
But to her, it was meaningless—only DT World mattered. The rest of the multiverse? She didn't care.
She wanted to reset DT World's ecosystem. That's it. No more, no less.
And she wouldn't explain herself to a human.
She had time. As long as she stayed with Hikaru, her revival would come. Even if it took years.
But he'd exceeded her expectations.
So now, she truly did want him as her own emissary.
"Hmm, can't have you working for nothing…" Tierra mused, thinking.
"Alright. Take this."
She extended her hand, revealing a blank card she'd apparently been hiding. It was tightly wrapped in glowing purple puppet strings. Soon, violet light began to shine from it.
"Hmm… looks like that's the limit," she muttered. "Only one component… too little power."
"Anyway, do your best to complete it yourself," she added offhandedly, placing the card gently into Hikaru's hand.
Hikaru blinked.
The artwork was blurry. The text sparse. Just like when he'd first received Midrash.
It was a "Shaddoll"—
Wind Attribute: El Shaddoll Wendigo.