At dusk, Hikaru Amagi returned to his dorm, carefully examining the card in his hand.
Ancient Gear Golem and Ancient Gear Beast had fully merged—transformed into a single card:
Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem
Level 10 · EARTH · Machine-Type
Fusion Materials: Ancient Gear Golem + any 2 "Ancient Gear" monsters
It bore the common "Ancient Gear" trait—opponents couldn't activate Spells or Traps during its attacks.
It also inherited Ancient Gear Golem's piercing damage against Defense Position monsters.
And beyond that—it had an additional effect:
When destroyed, Special Summon 1 "Ancient Gear Golem" from your GY, ignoring summoning conditions.
This was, of course, the signature ace of Professor Vellian Crowler.
In terms of rarity, it was leagues above Ancient Gear Golem.
After all, in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, many duelists owned three copies of Ancient Gear Golem.
But Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem?
Only Crowler had ever been seen using it.
Its power, naturally, was also far greater.
The whole point of running Ancient Gears was to fuse into monsters like Ultimate Golem, Megaton Golem, or Chaos Golem.
Ancient Gear Golem?
That was just raw material.
But therein lay the problem—
"Where's my Golem?!"
Hikaru scratched his head, clearly distressed.
Owning a more powerful and rarer card was, in this world, undeniably a win-win situation.
Any duelist would've been overjoyed by such a trade.
Any Fusion Club member would've accepted it with glee.
But not Hikaru.
He'd worked his ass off to get that Golem.
He'd even been planning strategies around it.
And now it was… fused?
"How the hell am I supposed to Fusion Summon Ultimate Golem without a regular Golem?!"
Wait—
Suddenly realizing something, Hikaru tore open his deck and started flipping through it card by card.
After a moment, the expression on his face grew… complex.
"What the hell…"
"No wonder I couldn't draw any monsters for days—then just suddenly drew Ancient Gear Beast today… So that's why…"
To make the deck more stable, he'd added a decent number of usable monsters—some Ancient Gears, some Elemental HEROes—just to help with Fusion.
But now that he looked again…
Where the hell were the monsters?
They were gone.
All converted into Fusion Monsters.
"So that's why I drew all those Flame Swordsman-related Fusions together today…"
It wasn't a coincidence.
His low-level monsters had been fused by Super Polymerization, increasing the number of support Fusions and raising their draw ratio.
He only realized this now.
How was he supposed to know his deck would morph on its own?!
"I've been dueling every day, feeling energy flow into my body… and only Flame Swordsman showed up?
This is why!"
Scratching his head, he sighed.
It seemed Super Polymerization didn't distinguish between "essential" and "expendable."
It just quietly, constantly… turned his deck into Fusions.
"No… wait." Hikaru pulled out Cannon Soldier and Cyber-Tech Alligator from the deck.
"Looks like materials don't get fused away.
Golem and Beast probably fused because my Extra Deck didn't already have Ultimate Golem—so the system used them as a base?"
If that were the case—
That was… acceptable.
Hikaru smiled again.
Now that he'd figured out Super Poly's printing logic, he could manage things better going forward.
Eventually, he'd build a fully optimized Fusion deck—no more opening hands with three completely unplayable cards.
"Too bad that Yanagi guy got taken away.
He could've been a good energy farm."
"Tch. Shame. A real shame."
Still, plenty of Obelisk Blue students in Fusion Club didn't like him.
There'd be plenty more punching bags.
As he thought about the club—
At the very top of the Fusion Club tower, inside the Dimensional Research Lab, purple light pulsed violently.
Three students and two instructors, all in purple uniforms, stood quietly before a massive machine.
It was a giant violet ring, endlessly spinning atop a mechanical platform.
At its center: a churning swirl of black and white chaos.
After a few moments, a man wearing a massive cloak stepped out from the ring.
"Professor!"
Everyone saluted him.
He was bald, severe, with an imposing uniform.
More than a teacher, he looked like a military officer—gold epaulets and medals gleaming.
This was Reiji Akaba, the professor at Duel Academy and leader of the Fusion Supremacist Faction.
"Professor Akaba, how was the joint dimensional expedition with KaibaCorp?" one instructor asked.
Akaba shook his head.
"Regrettably, it wasn't the 'Netherworld' Mr. Kaiba seeks.
Still… fortune smiled.
It was a fragmented world filled with spirits."
Dimensional expeditions were massive projects led by KaibaCorp, with global participation.
Rumor said Kaiba himself was searching for a nameless Pharaoh—desperate to complete a duel left unresolved years ago.
To that end, he had invested all his energy into interdimensional and cosmic exploration.
He hadn't even updated his deck in years.
Kaiba Seto was a rare genius—equally adept with tech and the arcane.
But he was only one man. To find a single "Underworld" among infinite dimensions was beyond him.
So he opened dimensional gates in his departments and partners—including Duel Academy.
Each branch of Duel Academy had its own gate.
Students regularly visited broken minor dimensions, interacting with spirits or duelists within.
Of course, they never approached major realms, especially those with human civilizations.
That was forbidden.
This was why the Fusion Club had risen in prominence.
Because Professor Akaba had personally improved their dimensional gate tech.
Kaiba took notice—and granted them a dedicated gate.
That's also why the Fusion Club had so many Ancient Gear cards.
They were sourced from a crumbling mechanical dimension.
"Has anything happened in Fusion Club while I was away?"
"Yes, yes, Professor!" one teacher stepped forward excitedly.
"A new recruit—absolutely phenomenal! His whole deck is Fusions only!"
What was the pinnacle of loyalty to the Fusion Club?
A Fusion-only deck, of course.
"All Fusion?" Even Reiji Akaba blinked.
What kind of deck even worked like that?
Among the student representatives, the Slifer student looked smug, the Ra student proud, and the Obelisk Blue student… downcast.
The two instructors eagerly recounted everything—
From Hikaru's entrance test to his duel with Yanagi.
His understanding of Fusion and his apparent connection with Monster Cards had left a deep impression.
As ordinary staff, they didn't care about factions.
A promising student meant better department evaluations. Of course they were thrilled.
"You've discovered a new fragment dimension. Should we call this student to—"
"No."
"Eh?"
Everyone stared, waiting for the rest of his words.
"Send… Yanagi."
"But, Professor, Crowler already punished him—"
The Obelisk rep stepped forward nervously.
Akaba glanced at him, then said:
"I mean send him to the new fragment dimension."
What!?
Even the Blue rep looked stunned.
What did that mean?!
Akaba offered no explanation.
He simply swished his cloak and turned away.
The reason was simple.
The Fusion Club had its own purple uniform, its own dimensional gate—
It could easily break away from the main three dorms.
But why had color-based discrimination persisted for so long?
Why had Akaba never stopped it?
Because…
He had allowed it.