"Captain, how are you feeling?"
"Uh, Lord Amagi, I don't feel anything strange."
Inside the Alchemy Workshop, the Fullmetal Alkahest questioned Gem-Knight Crystal to check the process's clarity. Once satisfied, he and the Golden Idol began laying circuits across his frame.
Because Hikaru always called him Captain Crystal, everyone else followed suit. But no spirit dared call Tierra by name. Even now, they still referred to her as "Lady Winda" or "Her Ladyship."
Today, Hikaru was testing the final parameter.
Not because he actually planned to transform Gem-Knight Crystal into "El Shaddoll Grysta" to complete some symbolic alchemy achievement. In truth, Hikaru had long used Crystal for testing various data.
The main goal was to search for the "DT Spirit World."
Though Crystal had never explicitly stated how their spirit world differed from the ones Hikaru had visited, Hikaru's interdimensional travels and summaries gave him a conclusion:
Crystal's "world" was different from ordinary Spirit Worlds.
Or rather, even Spirit Worlds had distinctions.
Crystal once said their world was invaded, but the invader left after observing it, deeming it of no value or unworthy.
From the lore of the DT World, Hikaru understood. After all, the DT World is Yu-Gi-Oh's most infamous "dead zone." Countless champions met their end there. Even Tierra, the Source of Destruction Goddess, died there. Alien invaders, reborn evil gods, cosmic deities, they all perished.
In Crystal's world, their "Fractured Dimension" wasn't like other dimensions Hikaru had visited, which simply branched off the main Spirit World. It was a form of isolation—Crystal had been infected by "Shaddoll" and had to be quarantined. While waiting for rescue, the dimension was breached by Leo Akaba's forces, cutting him off from his original world.
That world, that was what Hikaru sought!
It was vast, revisitable, and ripe for exploration. If he could locate it directly, he wouldn't have to fabricate cards so laboriously.
And he had also promised Crystal he'd help him find a way home.
Tierra lounged nearby, piloting an imp flying lazily in circles.
Soon, a voice called out, "Alright, sample complete. Thanks, Captain."
"I should be thanking you, Lord Amagi." Captain Crystal stepped down from the sampling unit with a relieved sigh. "What began as my selfish request became your ongoing effort. I am deeply grateful."
"Haha, don't be. I had my own motives," Hikaru said with a smile. "If possible, I want to collect all El Shaddoll cards at once. That'd be way faster than crafting them."
He pulled out a card etched with constellations, a data fragment extracted from Captain Crystal. It was one of his recent research foci.
Modifying and upgrading the dimensional gate was still too difficult for him since several attempts yielded no viable breakthrough. So, he pivoted to clearing up unfinished tasks.
He inserted the card into the dimensional gate.
It glowed faint green before fluorescent runes flickered, Spirits in the room turned back into cards and returned to his Deck.
Tierra clapped and dismissed her imp, floating beside Hikaru as the gate bathed them in light. In its wake, only a slightly recovered Gladiator Beast Andal and a snoring Thunder Dragon cub remained.
Moments later, Hikaru fell through the air and landed with a soft "thud" as thunder rumbled all around, masking his landing.
He landed on one hand, then stood and stretched.
Ten meters?
To his current body, that height was mildly numbing at best. With a few stretches, he was fine. Tierra hadn't even bothered to assist with her puppet strings. She was too distracted, curiously scanning everything.
But when she finished looking around, her expression collapsed into a look of indescribable disappointment.
It was the first time Hikaru had ever seen her look that way.
At first, she was lightly thrilled. Then, upon seeing the unfamiliar scene, she was overcome with loneliness, her eyes were filled with disappointment.
"Boring—"
At the same time, Captain Crystal's voice echoed, "Lord Amagi, this isn't my dimension, it doesn't even appear to be the isolated dimension I was sent to."
'Is that so?' Hikaru nodded.
Maybe it was a dimension Crystal had passed through. It certainly bore traces of his presence.
Still—
Hikaru crouched behind a boulder, leaned to peek, and scanned the dimension's interior.
A swarm of machines was excavating, while countless figures bustled about. Some chanted slogans, others coordinated labor. Giant, inhuman-looking creatures loomed and shifted.
'Humans?'
Hikaru was surprised.
Judging by scale, this dimension was tiny. The sky was only about 30-40 meters above ground. A textbook, "Fractured Dimension."
So why were humans here?
And what were they digging?
He squinted and studied more closely. That's when he noticed some wore familiar uniforms—Fusion Army!
He blinked, stunned.
"Oh," Tierra tilted her head. "I see. This dimension is contaminated. Those humans are mining the infected rock or something."
"Ah—I remember now," Crystal said. "While under control, I think I did enter this Fractured Dimension. And the stuff—"
"I understand," Hikaru nodded.
As expected of Captain Crystal. Apparently, an accident had caused this dimension to be "Shaddollified."
Very fitting for card lore.
While pondering this, Hikaru saw the Fusion Army rolling in a massive containment tank to the center of the terrain.
They carefully opened it.
Screams erupted.
Black mist surged from the chamber. Bound, weak spirits were instantly corrupted, shrieking in agony. The land, too, was tainted. Even after clearing an area, the corruption spread. The soldiers scattered, trying to avoid being splashed by the black ichor.
"Bastards!!" Captain Crystal cried out, reappearing at Hikaru's side. His radiant white armor cracked with rage.
All this pain, because of him!
"No, Captain," Hikaru narrowed his eyes. "Don't get it twisted. This isn't your fault. The fault lies with those who abuse this power."
"And what we need to do is correct the mistake!"
...
Bonus @500 PS💎💎
Stones PLZzz