Yu-Gi-Oh: Fusion Is the Noblest Summoning Method!

"Are you alright?"

Hikaru ignored the panicked, terrified Spirits and instead dashed straight to the one lying on the ground, supporting him with a concerned question.

As an alchemist who frequently traveled between dimensions, Hikaru had accumulated a great deal of experience in this area. From Captain Crystal to Andal, and more recently during his probing into Leo Akaba's roots, Hikaru had rescued many Spirits. He was well-acquainted with handling injured Spirits, knowing exactly what to do and what not to do.

"Run..."

The Spirit lying there was Elemental HERO Bubbleman. His mask was cracked, tufts of black hair scattered all over, and both his grappling hooks had splintered. His condition was appalling.

Celina lowered her head to listen, mimicking Hikaru. His voice was so faint that, coupled with the sobs of the surrounding Spirits, she could barely make out the words.

Run?

Hikaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Run, now!" Bubbleman, seeing no reaction from them, finally gathered all his strength and shouted.

But before his cry even finished, a chilling laugh echoed from the shadows.

"Heh heh... another fish caught the hook!"

With that eerie voice came a silver flash through the darkness.

Swish, clang!

Several silver blades sliced through the air and struck the walls. Celina froze in a half-squat, staring at a blade the width of a finger lodged just in front of her. At the same time, Hikaru had already stood, catching a blade mere inches from her.

At the same moment, a net of hundreds of purple puppet strings appeared before them, intercepting the majority of the thrown daggers in midair.

Celina fell to her knees in fright, sitting stiffly for a long while before calming down.

"Heeheehee... not just any human warrior, are you?"

From the shadows emerged a squat, round gray-white demon whose head seemed fused with its torso. It oozed mucus and giggled lewdly.

Its right arm writhed on its own, slowly morphing into a Duel Disk shaped like a curved blade. With a sinister grin, it said,

"In that case, let's..."

Before it could finish, the blades attacking Hikaru and Celina clattered to the ground with a metallic chorus. Then, hundreds of puppet strings pierced the demon's body like needles. In its horror, it was strung up into a beehive.

"W-wait, let's duel by the rules..."

It had barely finished the plea when the strings coiled tighter around it, then gave a brutal twist.

Its body shredded like paper, dispersing into white light before it could even scream.

"Where'd this trash construct come from, trying to ambush Hikaru and then still asking for a duel?" Tierra had no interest in bantering. She simply crushed it.

To ambush without the power to back it up and then demand a Duel of Honor? That's just asking to die.

Bubbleman, watching this, coughed and tried to get up, only for Hikaru to hastily support him again.

"Don't move. You're still hurt."

"Cough, cough cough..."

Hikaru calmed Bubbleman and summoned Alkahest to help check his condition. Then he turned to Celina.

She was sitting on the ground, gasping for breath. Though the blades hadn't struck her, the sensation of death brushing past had obliterated her earlier thrill of adventuring alongside her mentor.

This wasn't a field trip.

Even with her mentor nearby, she couldn't afford to let her guard down like that.

Hikaru saw her state and knew she'd soon recover. He didn't scold her.

Celina was a girl with her own understanding.

Unlike Hikaru or Jaden, Celina had never experienced anything like this. Her first dimensional exploration had been relaxed thanks to Hikaru's presence, as if it were merely a fun outing.

Whereas Hikaru and Jaden's first dimensional trip landed them in jail.

That ambushing Duel Monster Spirit just now... was that Dark World's assassin, Goldd?

If it's an assassin, there could be several. Maybe even an entire Dark World force hidden in this dimension.

Good thing Celina had brought him. If it had just been a group of freshmen arriving without any intel, they might've suffered severe losses. That assassin hadn't even given a warning. He attacked to kill.

"Mm... cough cough..."

Bubbleman gradually came around.

In the past, Hikaru could only wait for an injured Spirit to recover on their own.

But now he had Gem-Knight Lapis, a medical specialist Spirit, in his team. For non-fatal wounds like this, regaining consciousness was no problem.

Once Bubbleman regained awareness, Hikaru learned about the current situation in this dimension.

Not long ago, roughly two months in human terms, this dimension was suddenly invaded by Fiend monsters. They seemed to be searching for something.

At first, the native HERO Spirits maintained the upper hand, fighting on their home turf with terrain advantage. But then, one day, a terrifying light swept through the dimension, causing the HEROes' powers to plummet. Even the strongest among them felt weak and began losing ground.

Worse yet, the invaders changed tactics. The lesser Fiends stopped issuing formal duels and instead resorted to ambushes, preying on ordinary Spirits. Some even used weaker Spirits as bait to lure in targets.

About a month ago, to protect the general Spirit population, the HEROes carried out a massive evacuation, moving most of the Spirits into Skyscraper 2 and sealing it off to prevent further harm.

Bubbleman had been one of the heroes sent back to rescue those who hadn't escaped in time, but he fell into a trap and was ambushed by Goldd, nearly dying. Thankfully, Hikaru and Celina had arrived just in time.

So that's how it is...

"Master, what do we do now?" Celina, having heard the whole explanation, was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what was happening. Demons versus HEROes, protecting civilians, the clash of justice and evil—these concepts were too vast for her inexperienced mind to process.

"Isn't it obvious? You've known the answer all along."

"Huh? I, I have?"

"The highest-ranking demon left in this dimension is that guy, Dark World's Warlord."

Hikaru activated his Duel Disk, snapped his fingers, and grinned at her.

"So all we need to do is find him, duel him, beat him, then tell them all to scram or die."

"OHHH!! Right!!" Celina's eyes lit up with realization.

Though she now understood the situation...

A strange light.

Dark World's invasion.

There's no mistaking it.

It's Yubel.