Chazz's brain was a complete mess; he couldn't figure out what had just happened.
After his last Duel with his master, Seto Kaiba, he had been detained at KaibaCorp, dueling against all sorts of robots Kaiba had prepared. After dozens of days, only now did he finally have the time to properly see what had been going on recently.
He never expected that every single piece of news would be so shocking.
He wanted to call Hikaru or Jaden to ask what was going on lately, but after roughly checking and confirming there was no major problem, he didn't disturb his friends. Instead, he hurried toward the train station.
There was only just over a month left until the finals.
And he only had a few Seals.
Although he had one "Twelve-Star Seal" personally awarded by Seto Kaiba, gathering the remaining Seals within just one short month was far from simple.
After all, just reaching the venue for the "Final Tournament" would take time, too.
At that moment, he really wanted to complain about his master.
Something so huge had happened outside, yet Kaiba told him nothing. Instead, he let him duel robots for over a month until he was sick of it, and then threw him back out, saying: "My disciple must not be mediocre, so the preferential treatment given to other students doesn't apply to you!
I've already informed all of KaibaCorp. You don't get the extra 20 days of compensation. If you can't participate in the finals within this month… heh. Jun, weigh it carefully yourself."
How could he dare waste any time after that?
Collecting Seals as fast as possible was the only priority.
And besides Chazz, there was another completely "in the dark" person, horrified to realize the world had changed.
That was Bastion Misawa.
This man, who had stayed in the land of beauties for a long time, finally left the Amazoness village with a muscular, beautiful Duel Spirit girl in his arms. Under the Empress's cold gaze, he had at last "achieved results."
Abruptly, once he left the village and started reading recent news, he felt utterly bewildered.
The world had changed too quickly.
Fortunately, though his intel was outdated, he had already gathered plenty of Seals in advance, and without a master hounding him, the pressure wasn't heavy. Just two more would be enough. With over a month left, it was more than sufficient.
However, there was one thing that still left him quite regretful.
In such a major event where everyone could show off, he hadn't gotten involved, and nobody even knew he existed.
Compared to these two with outdated intel, the "elite group" was in a much better situation.
"Wuhu~~ Zane, look, I caught a seagull! A seagull!"
Atticus was clutching a strange-looking bird in the ocean region, calling it a seagull. The creature struggled wildly, flapping its body, yet Atticus kept clinging to it. Soon enough, the "seagull" seemed to give in to him, helplessly landing on the ground.
As soon as it hit the ground, Atticus snatched up his camera and frantically snapped pictures.
"Brother…" Alexis Rhodes rubbed her forehead helplessly.
This was terrible.
Beside them, Hell Kaiser flipped through his badge expressionlessly. His badge already held ten Seals, from One-Star all the way to Ten-Star.
"Where are they… where are the Eleven-Star and Twelve-Star Duelists!" Hell Kaiser clenched his right fist, muttering to himself, caring nothing for Atticus, his mind filled only with victory.
Watching him, sweat trickled down Alexis's forehead.
One after another,why was there not a single one who could give her peace of mind?
She glanced at her tablet: "At least Jaden's safe now."
"Oh? Our Alexis is worrying about her classmate?"
"Brother!! Not worrying is the real problem!" Alexis snapped. "Good thing Jaden solved it himself; otherwise, what would he do if he was all alone with no one to rely on?"
Earlier, when the Dark World forces launched a full-scale assault on the Critical Nexus, their area hadn't been too remote. Because of the terrain, not many students came here, and with Kaiser and Atticus present, they had been safe, protecting all the classmates nearby.
Since their classmates were protected, naturally, the next step was to help others. Then again, who knew she had a brother dragging things down, and Zane, who was eager to duel anyone he saw?
By the time they were leaving the ocean region, Hikaru had already sent word that it was over.
"Aiya, Alexis," Atticus wagged his finger with a grin. "Too naive, far too naive, Alexis."
'?'
"If you always want seniors to help, how can juniors possibly grow? Besides, Jaden has Kenzan and Syrus with him. I believe Syrus will definitely help Jaden. You must believe in his growth."
Alexis eyed him suspiciously.
Just from one duel between Zane and Syrus, why was her brother so certain?
Atticus smiled.
In this area, he had an extraordinary talent. Just one duel was enough for him to judge whether the duelists were sincere, whether they had grown.
He looked toward Kaiser and chuckled again.
Besides, if Alexis was truly worried, then with Zane's personality, he'd have already dragged her into a machine and flown straight to Jaden's side. No way would he still be here searching for opponents.
That sort of thing was impossible.
Thinking of this, Atticus dramatically covered his eyes and exclaimed: "Alexis~~ Compared to them, I worry about you more!"
"Why are you worrying about me!" Alexis protested, clearly dissatisfied. She was the one worrying about her unreliable brother. "Compared to me, you're the one who's more worrying!"
Atticus waved his left hand.
Don't be fooled by how much he messed around; he wasn't here for nothing, nor for sightseeing. During this time, he had gotten a lot stronger.
More than that, he had already figured out his future path.
In contrast, his clever and serious little sister might seem diligent and responsible, but in truth, she was just running around with Zane and him.
"Hey,Zane! Stop staring off. There's only just over a month until the finals. Let's get ready early and head to the venue!" Atticus waved his hand, calling to Kaiser.
At those words, Kaiser stopped muttering, frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Though Atticus had been pestering him all this time, he had to admit, every suggestion Atticus gave was useful and saved him a lot of effort. So he didn't mind listening.
'The finals…'
He couldn't help but laugh aloud.
"Good! I'll duel stronger Duelists, claim more and more victories!"
"Ugh?"
Alexis sighed.
Why were all the men around her so strange?
Meanwhile, Johan, Jim, Axel, and the rest of the Duelists aiming for the finals began their last adventure. Just a month later, Hikaru checked the time, finally finishing his long experiment.
It was time to visit the DT Spirit World.
He called over Captain Crystal and Lulu, prepared using the coordinates Tierra had painstakingly obtained.
The dimensional gate activated, and he felt dizzy. Moments later, he stood in a patch of grass.
Then,
He immediately saw a large group of Spirits reacting to their sudden appearance as though facing a great enemy, surrounding them tightly.
Hikaru froze for a moment.
This was completely different from what he had imagined!
Greeting them were neither Shaddolls nor Gem-Knights.
All around him were sticky, inhuman creatures, wriggling like slimes, grotesque and twisted bugs from outer space,a single word burst from Hikaru's mouth.
'Worms!?'