The cause of it all should be traced back to a child.
Hart Tenjo.
Over a decade ago, Dr. Faker had a second child besides Kite Tenjo, a lovely, deeply spiritual child, whom he named Hart Tenjo.
But Hart Tenjo was born extremely frail. Whether in body or in mind, perhaps because of an innate special "talent," his body had become quite weak. To save his son, Dr. Faker had no choice but to make a decision.
"Dr. Faker was a genius." Shay Obsidian said from the heart.
The vast majority of the Xyz Dimension's newest inventions actually came from Dr. Faker. He created Heartland, created Heartland City, developed countless kinds of brand-new cards, made contact with the power of the galaxy, and even manufactured fully intelligent AI. He was a genuine, absolute genius.
But even a genius like him, facing the problem afflicting his son, couldn't help falling into despair.
His talent, his wisdom, his inventions, all were like a joke before this incurable illness. He could create boundless wealth, could bring progress to the humans of his own world, but he had no way to save his own son.
Under this despair, that "person" appeared.
The Goddess of the Dark World, an existence that anyone in despair could potentially encounter.
The Goddess of Despair, E-Ra.
That being taught Dr. Faker a method.
Make contact with the Barian World. That world possessed a method to resolve Hart's physical condition.
Dr. Faker in his despair didn't hesitate for an instant. He wouldn't save people, but find a way to contact the Barian World? That he could do.
To save his own son, he sacrificed two genius close friends and finally managed to make contact with the Barian existences, reaching an agreement with that dimension. Dr. Faker would prepare to create something that would destroy the "Astral World," and the Barian World would provide the power to sustain Hart's life.
It wasn't until quite some time ago, when the Number cards appeared in the Xyz Dimension, that Dr. Faker's plan truly began to be implemented.
A group of little girls sat gathered around, listening to Shay speak of things they knew nothing about. The more they listened, the more engrossed they became, especially Lulu. Even though she too was from the Xyz Dimension, these matters were extremely secret information that ordinary people had no chance of knowing.
And the reason Shay knew...
Besides being present at the scene watching the duel at the time, there was another very important thing. That was that he was a student of the "Arclight" family. To be precise, he was a student of the Arclight family's eldest brother, "V," Christopher Arclight.
It was precisely because of this that he'd had the fortune of meeting Kite Tenjo.
However, Kite Tenjo had never known he had this "junior fellow disciple." After all, when V taught Kite, it was genuinely teaching him as a disciple. Shay Obsidian, meanwhile, was more taught by way of being an experimental subject.
But there was no need to tell Lulu these things. Watching Lulu's curious look, Shay's tone grew even calmer as he began to explain deeper matters.
"My teacher's father wanted to take revenge on Dr. Faker."
"Revenge? Why? What grudge?"
"Lulu, have you forgotten? I just said Dr. Faker sacrificed two friends who explored together with him in order to find the Barian World."
"!!!" Lulu covered her mouth in shock.
"Could it be..." Rin thought of a possibility.
Shay nodded.
The head of the Arclight family, the father of the three brothers, the man who called himself "Throne," was precisely one of the two friends Dr. Faker had wronged in order to find the Barian World back then.
He'd spent a long time in the void of nothingness, but by chance drifted into the spirit world. In the spirit world he researched the "power of the crest," and relying on this power, he found his way back, wanting revenge.
He kidnapped Hart, stole Hart's power. Using schemes, he made Reginald Kastle fall into his trap. Finally, relying on Hart's appearance and on conspiracy and trickery, he kept Kite from being able to duel wholeheartedly, defeated Kite, and obtained the power of the world's strongest human. He wanted to use these Numbers' power to take revenge on Dr. Faker.
Fortunately, at this point, a person appeared whom Shay didn't know what to make of.
Yuma Tsukumo.
He was just an ordinary little kid.
Shay Obsidian had gotten to know that kid during the Fusion army invasion. That kid was even younger than Yuto, but had an inexplicable quality about him.
He not only rescued ordinary people during the invasion, but even, afterward, chose to rescue the Fusion army!
Yes. Among those Fusion army soldiers who'd been treated like discarded pawns, quite a few, upon realizing they were only discarded pawns, had chosen to hide and survive. But they had no individual dimensional teleportation, and could only live nameless in this unfamiliar world, hiding here and there, living like rats in a gutter.
If it had been Shay Obsidian who discovered these invaders, he would definitely have turned them all into cards without hesitation, using the card-conversion technology seized from the Fusion army!
But Yuma Tsukumo, after that, rescued many Fusion army soldiers. Those who hadn't hurt anyone, who fled the moment they arrived, who hid themselves away, he didn't want to give up on a single one of them.
It was absurd. So although Shay had initially felt quite favorable toward this kid who rescued and helped others, after experiencing Lulu's abduction, he simply could not accept Yuma Tsukumo's behavior.
But Yuma Tsukumo still persisted this way. Even though Shay clashed with him several times, Yuma still persisted, and even hoped Shay too could help those ordinary people in the same way.
Shay couldn't accept it, and Yuma wasn't bothered.
In any case, it was exactly this kind of person who, in the crucial duel, defeated Throne. Carrying the three sons' longing for their father, and relying on this broad, utterly unprejudiced heart, he hoped Throne would give up his revenge.
What a laughable idea.
For the sake of revenge, Throne was willing to cast aside even his own sons. How could he possibly heed Yuma's words?
But Yuma, relying on this heart of saving others, defeated Throne.
And made Throne release the souls he had plundered.
"I never expected that to actually be Dr. Faker's trap." Shay sighed with regret.
"Huh?"
"Mr. Throne was too obsessed with revenge, and so he underestimated Dr. Faker too much." Shay said thoughtfully, adding his own commentary. "Even though he defeated Kite, none of it escaped Dr. Faker's calculations.
Hmph.
Since Dr. Faker had deceived him once, why did he think he wouldn't be fooled this time?
The truth is, whether he won or lost, he had no way to defeat Dr. Faker. Because what Dr. Faker wanted wasn't the victory or defeat of the duel at all, and he didn't care about the Number cards either. From beginning to end, he cared only about Hart's life.
So as long as the duel continued, he could accumulate enough energy, then bombard the Astral World and destroy it in one stroke, thereby completing the deal with the Barian World."
Seeing this situation, Throne naturally wouldn't sit and wait for death. He tried to resist with the power of the crest. But unexpectedly, at that moment, an accident occurred.
Originally, Throne was already powerless to resist and could only leave his hope with Yuma. But at this point, that being appeared!
The Goddess of Despair, E-Ra!
She suddenly appeared and took Throne away, saying she could help him find another way to defeat Dr. Faker.
Even though it was precisely because of the Goddess of Despair's proposal and temptation that Throne had let Dr. Faker wrong Throne and Yuma's father, at this point Throne, without the slightest hesitation, chose to accept the proposal.
He cast aside his own sons and followed the Goddess of Despair, leaving the Xyz World for her home base!
"This..." Rin and Serena exchanged a glance, both feeling some regret.
It seemed not every story had a good ending in the end.
"Strange, brother, how do you know all these things?" Lulu Obsidian was a bit puzzled. "Mr. Throne's affairs are one thing, since you're V-sensei's student. But how do you know about the Goddess of Despair tempting Mr. Faker, and Mr. Faker sacrificing friends to save Hart?"
"Uh... he said it himself." Shay Obsidian scratched the back of his head. "Dr. Faker said it himself."
"?" Several faces went blank.
"It should have been after Throne disappeared. Yuma Tsukumo didn't want the Astral World to vanish, so he dueled Dr. Faker, right?" Hikaru surmised.
"Ah, yes, that's right." Shay Obsidian nodded. "I don't know why, but it's possible that kid was always like this. In any case, for the sake of people from an unfamiliar world, he, together with the revived Kite and Reginald, challenged Dr. Faker.
And it was in that duel that Dr. Faker told everything."
Worth mentioning:
Dr. Faker was a genuine genius.
And Kite Tenjo was his son too.
He was willing to sacrifice everything to save one of his sons, even to become a villain, yet he wouldn't sacrifice his other son.
So in that duel, he actually didn't have much resolve.
Only, midway through, the people of the Barian World took control of his body. And precisely because of this, he genuinely conducted a 1-versus-3 duel with Yuma and the others.
That duel triggered a dimensional rift, drew in the Goddess of Despair, drew in countless powers, and space fell into chaos as a result.
This also caused Zane Truesdale and Bastion Misawa, who had come to help at the time, to suffer for it.
For reasons unknown, even though they were farther away, they were unexpectedly caught up in the dimensional space, which led to them being pulled into that bizarre dimensional rift along with Yuma.
"Come to think of it, it's very strange. Why were those two, who were farther away, drawn in?" Shay was still baffled by this to this day.
"Isn't it that?" Lulu Obsidian counted on her fingers. "Dimensional space attracts people who are more easily able to traverse dimensions. When there's no precise target, it prioritizes selecting that kind of person.
Duel Academy's textbooks explain the principle behind this in detail. That's why, during dimensional-gate teleportation, students are required to stand strictly in front of the gate, and no one else is allowed to get too close, to prevent mistransport."
Rin instinctively looked at Serena.
Serena let out an "Eh!?" of surprise and loudly said, "There's a thing like that?"
Rin couldn't help coughing a couple of times to cover her own awkwardness.
"Actually, to this day I still suspect that dimensional teleportation was something the Goddess of Despair deliberately caused." Shay Obsidian said in a low voice. "Otherwise, such a strange thing wouldn't have happened."
Hikaru nodded.
Looking at it this way, there really was that possibility.
"Then what about IV and Hart?" Hikaru recalled something and brought it up. "Earlier, on Team Despair, I saw a person called Hart Tenjo. And that one called IV was also using Xyz Monsters, so they should both be people from your dimension, right? What's their story?"
"That, I don't know..." Shay Obsidian's brow furrowed tightly. "By rights, Hart's body is poor. He shouldn't be able to take part in this kind of competition."
Right.
Sure enough, there were still other unexpected circumstances.
Even Shay Obsidian, who had personally witnessed the three warriors' great battle against Vector, wasn't clear on what exactly had happened. So it was surely guided by some "higher-level" existence.
Hikaru listened in silence, and afterward had at least gotten a clear picture of the course of events in the Xyz Dimension.
Overall it seemed roughly the same as the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, but because there was the added Goddess of Despair, there were differences in the details.
Throne hadn't vanished, but had been taken away by the Goddess of Despair. In addition, IV had also left the Xyz Dimension for unknown reasons, and Shay, with the help and research of the Arclight family's remaining members, had mastered the power of "Rank-Up."
For a mortal to contend against the supernatural "Barians," and having lost the "Numbers" too, they naturally could only pick sufficiently excellent, sufficiently powerful non-Number card users. Aside from Kite Tenjo, that mortal who wasn't quite a mortal, Shay really did seem to be one of the most suitable candidates. The only other one besides him would be Yuto.
After understanding all of this, Hikaru didn't play any mind games with Shay. He went ahead and told Shay some things about his own side too.
Looking at Shay Obsidian, green fluorescence flickered in his eyes.
At this moment, Shay Obsidian was actually very similar to Yusei Fudo. His body too had undergone excessive "extreme modification." But unlike Yusei, Yusei had genuinely chosen thorough bodily reconstruction, becoming the half-human, half-god "Unity God." Shay Obsidian had only strengthened humanity's "base coat" as much as possible.
Hikaru had actually looked at Shay Obsidian's Extra Deck earlier. In fact, his Extra Deck already contained "Rank 10"-level monsters. But because Rank-Up-Magic was too potent, he'd never been able to use them normally. Even ranking up to "8" left him feeling faint.
Hikaru told Shay Obsidian that he had a way to raise Shay Obsidian's upper limit for using "Rank-Up-Magic," but in return for the deal, he hoped Shay Obsidian could do him a favor.
"What favor?" Shay Obsidian's brow furrowed.
In principle, for Hikaru, who had saved Lulu, never mind asking a favor, even asking Shay to risk his life for Hikaru wouldn't matter. But he still had to hold to his own principles.
"Yusei needs to use a mortal's body to connect with everyone in this world." Hikaru said. "But now, because of the competition schedule, he has almost no way to communicate with others.
The only time he can contact other contestants is during matches, and this brief three-day intermission. So early this morning, he left our base to go visit those contestants one by one."
Shay Obsidian was startled to hear this.
"He has no way to contact the City Hall people. You're helping out over there now, right? Could you help him obtain some means of contact? The more the better."
Shay Obsidian had never imagined that the request Hikaru would voice would actually be a request like this!
He stood dazed for a moment, then lowered his head.
Actually, he had wanted to give up on the WRGP tournament. After all, he'd come to compete only because Goodwin had discovered his and Yuto's trail and was willing to give them help. But now that he'd found Lulu, he could set the matters here aside for the time being.
Getting Lulu safely home and putting Mom and Dad at ease, that was what he had on his mind.
But Hikaru's words...
"Is that person really worth your help? He isn't even a Fusion Dimension person. He's a native of this dimension."
Hearing Shay Obsidian's question, Hikaru gave a soft laugh.
He knew that because of what he'd been through, Shay Obsidian took the "dimensional divide" extraordinarily seriously.
"Shay, do you still remember what I told you during the duel?"
"...Which one?" He felt a bit of pressure.
Hikaru had held back at every turn during the duel. To speak plainly, thinking back on it now made him extremely embarrassed. Only, his poker face by nature could conceal the awkwardness quite well.
"The Fusion army is indeed evil, so it should be destroyed. Even being a native of the Fusion Dimension itself, even having once joined the Fusion army's 'reserves,' I would still strive to destroy it!"
Hikaru stood up and clenched his fist, his eyes flickering with a light Shay Obsidian couldn't quite put into words. It wasn't a light, but a love for the future, for summoning methods.
"Yusei longs to create a brand-new order in this chaotic time, to once again spread harmony and love throughout the whole world, to once again let all existences sit down and reunite. Although this is Synchro, how similar it is to the philosophy of Fusion!
Shouldn't the world be exactly like this!?
My Fusion, my conviction is driving me to walk this path. I believe it will also make me stronger!"
He lowered his gaze to Shay Obsidian: "Shay, as a duelist, don't you think this is a joyful thing?"
Joyful.
Yes.
The most primal, most fundamental point of dueling was that dueling could bring oneself joy.
A person's love and passion for something is never guided by duty, but by joy, by one's own true heart.
Hikaru...
This guy really was exactly like the things he'd said during the duel.
For a moment, Shay felt a touch of admiration. The various scenes of the earlier duel resurfaced, and that line, "That Fusion army was destroyed, by my own hand," repeated endlessly before his eyes.
Once he calmed down, everything in the duel, on the contrary, replayed before his eyes like a rich, mellow wine.
The philosophy of alchemy, the duel's display of alchemy, the earnestness of his words, and the hatred toward the Fusion army.
No wonder Lulu respected him this much.
He kept nodding inwardly.
No wonder Hikaru could be called the "strongest Fusion duelist," the "Absolute Fusion User," and yet those Fusion Dimension people had no objection at all. He truly was a pure duelist beyond imagination.
That wariness in his heart gradually dissolved, replaced instead by even greater guilt.
"Since that's the case, then... I'll do my best..." Shay said, quite lacking in confidence.
Because, compared to dueling, having him, a cold-faced, poker-faced person, socialize with others really was a tall order for him.
But what could he do, when Hikaru was the benefactor who'd saved his little sister? He'd help!