Whummmm~~
As Hikaru accelerated, a violet trail of light bloomed beneath his wheels, spreading outward across the surface of the sea like a shining road.
He looked down through the shifting blue below, and there, half-buried beneath the ocean floor, he finally saw it: a massive geoglyph, etched into the seabed itself.
No wonder it had eluded every search.
Hidden under the waves, unreachable by normal means. Without Yusei's data, he might never have found it at all.
The waves began to swell, crashing around him.
A storm rose without warning, each surge threatening to pull him under.
Just before the tide could swallow him whole, a roar split the heavens.
From above, a black skeletal dragon swept past, its presence alone driving the waves back in a spiraling wall of foam.
Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon, Hikaru's Duel Spirit, circled him, its hollow eyes burning with eerie blue fire.
And through the bond they shared, Hikaru could feel it, a pulse of excitement, something ancient stirring within the dragon's heart.
"Rrraaaaaarrrrr!"
From the depths came another cry, low, resonant, alien.
A heat flared against Hikaru's left hand.
He looked down.
The crimson-black Dark Mark burned with strange, radiant color.
"It's coming."
The sea erupted.
Massive tendrils rose from the deep, each one engraved with sacred, twisting sigils.
Then, with a roar that shook the sky, a colossal shadow burst from the ocean, a black-purple leviathan, a monstrous cephalopod whose body blotted out the sun.
"Impossible…" Muddy Mudragon whispered, its spectral body trembling.
"Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken! And that… that is the dark god who oversees it!"
The creature wasted no time.
One titanic tentacle crashed downward toward Hikaru.
"GRAAAA!"
The necro Dragon roared back, slashing upward to meet the blow.
Claws and tentacle collided, and the impact unleashed a blinding flare of light, a color not known to this world.
The shockwave rippled through the air, forcing both titans back.
Nethersoul Dragon flapped its tattered wings, withdrew a few meters, and let out a low growl, not in fear, but in recognition.
Then Geo Kraken howled again, its cry so deep that the sea itself began to boil.
Nethersoul Dragon answered in kind, and from the corner of its eye, a single tear slid free, falling silently into the water below.
In the age before mankind, long before the Signers or Synchro even existed, these two had known each other.
When the gods first wove together the power of Synchro,
each divine being had its own resonance, just as the ancient giant "Hundred-Eyes Dragon" embodied the Negative Synchro force of its master.
But among those countless gods, dragons, and demi-divine beings, there were outliers, like Undead Dragon… and Chacu Challhua.
Dragonecro Nethersoul had been lucky; though no longer bound to a Signer, it had found a new master it trusted completely.
Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken had not.
Its master had fallen, unable even to protect itself, let alone its servant.
And so the squid god had been abandoned, sealed, forgotten beneath the waves.
Now, when it saw Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon again, it struck not from hatred, but from despair.
"Kraken!" Hikaru shouted across the roaring surf.
"Why are you attacking?!"
He'd promised Yusei he'd find the Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha, but right now, this...this confrontation was far more urgent.
The Earthbound's enormous form twitched.
Perhaps it was the dragon's presence, perhaps the familiar echo of its old comrade, but its wild gaze began to soften.
Its many eyes turned toward Hikaru.
They focused on his left arm, where the Dark Mark pulsed with crimson light.
It was the mark of its Leader.
Swoosh!
Countless tentacles lashed uncontrollably against the surface of the sea.
Even though its sanity had returned, it still seemed bound by chains and restraints, forced to continue carrying out its duty, its "assigned role."
Amid crashing waves and slamming tentacles, Hikaru skillfully weaved through every obstacle, displaying acceleration techniques so sharp that even the Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken was struck with awe, though, in truth, Hikaru didn't actually know how to drive. The D-Wheel was steering itself; he was only supplying it with energy.
Regardless of the reason, the fact that Hikaru could so effortlessly evade its attacks gave the Kraken a chance, just barely, to resist the enslavement upon it and respond to his question.
It raised one of its tentacles and pointed, first at Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon, then at Mudragon of the Swamp.
Mudragon scratched its head in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"
The Kraken couldn't speak.
Bound by countless chains and shackles, it didn't even have the chance to communicate.
"Mudragon… and Dragonecro… what do they have in common? Wait, are you saying it's because Mudragon carries the power of the Crimson Dragon?" Hikaru suddenly remembered Mudragon's past.
The reason Mudragon had become a Synchro Monster at all was because it had once been blessed by the Crimson Dragon, granting it a fragment of Synchro power.
Geo Kraken's massive body rose and fell upon the waves, as if affirming Hikaru's deduction.
"I see…" Mudragon, too, began to understand.
During their time together, it had learned much from Hikaru about this world's secrets, the ongoing struggle for control over Synchro Energy.
And the god that had once saved it… was apparently now the so-called "One God."
In that case, it was no wonder that the Earthbound Gods had marked it for death, sending their enslaved Servants to hunt it down step by step.
At first, the Kraken's assault had only been retaliation, a reaction to Mudragon's sudden appearance. But once its master realized that Mudragon had received the Crimson Dragon's blessing and carried a trace of its red Synchro light… there was no way the Earthbound deity controlling the Servants would ever let it go.
It wanted to steal that Crimson Synchro Energy.
Because it sought ascension.
Suddenly, a tentacle shot up from the depths, lunging straight toward the unsuspecting Hikaru.
"Hikaru!" Mudragon cried out.
Dragonecro, still lost in memory, nearly froze in horror before snapping back, roaring and surging toward him.
But;
Whap!
There wasn't even a ripple. The tentacle struck mere centimeters from Hikaru, yet not even his coat fluttered.
At some point, Tierra had appeared beside him, yawning. "I thought this was going to be a Duel, turns out it's an obstacle race? Step on it already, Hikaru. Forget the hazards."
Dragonecro and Mudragon both slowed down.
"Heh." Hikaru gave a quiet laugh, then slammed the throttle forward, racing ahead with blazing speed.
Even though Geo Kraken flailed and thrashed, trying every way to stop him from completing the glowing sea sigil, the "Earth Painting", it couldn't hinder him. In the end, Hikaru traced the entire pattern across the ocean's surface, completing the Earthbound Seal.
A deep, resonant sound rang out from the sea, like the mournful horn of a distant ship.
It was both a cry and a sigh of release.
Crack.
Crack!
The chains coiled around its body, the countless shackles binding its tentacles, shattered one by one.
On the sea's surface, it let out one final cry before dissolving into countless violet fragments, scattering into the air.
At last, it transformed completely into a glowing card, wrapped in purple light, and drifted gently into Hikaru's hands.
Hikaru caught the card.
The moment his fingers touched it, countless images flashed before his eyes.
Some of them were fragments of Geo Kraken's memories, messages it wished to pass on before its release.
Others showed the path to finding Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha.
But most importantly…
At the end of Geo Kraken's memory was a vision.
A colossal god, its entire body wreathed in roaring flame, commanding countless serpents that coiled like living rivers of fire.
Wherever it appeared, the earth itself ignited; wherever it gazed, the spirits bowed in submission.
"Human… who permitted you to look upon me!?"
Suddenly, the fiery god turned its head, and looked directly at Hikaru.
With one swing of its fist, the entire planet trembled,the blow crashing down toward the point of Hikaru's vision.
That memory, that divine presence within the memory, had noticed him.
Hikaru's eyes flew open, breath sharp and cold.
Even Tierra, who had shared the vision through their mental link, gasped in shock.
She had seen it too, and even she, a being who had stared into countless worlds, felt something she hadn't known in eons: fear.
Hikaru slowly rubbed his temples, forcing his voice steady.
"The God of the Earthbound Gods, the one who ruled even over them all!"
At the same time...
In the Upper City, within the noble district designated Zone 2,a rare sight unfolded: noblemen, all dressed in formal attire, stood waiting in front of a towering machine.
The vast dimensional gate began to hum and rotate,its mechanisms grinding open as a detachment of soldiers marched out and lined the walkway in two rows.
The nobles exchanged practiced smiles, bending their posture into expressions of flattery.
Finally, from the glowing gateway, a man in a deep violet professor's uniform and a sweeping cape stepped forward with long, deliberate strides.
"Ah...Professor Akaba! We never expected you to come in person, hahahaha!"
"Duke," Leo Akaba replied, his tone polite yet devoid of warmth, "a pleasure to see you."
"Hahaha, what an honor! To think you yourself wished to inspect the site! Well then, no need to delay. Allow me to guide you at once… to the land of the Crimson Flames you wished to see."