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

The Lightsworn spirits flew over, accompanied by KaibaCorp's rescue unit. Most of the students were safely protected, allowing Jim and the others to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

However, just as everyone was boarding the vehicles provided by KaibaCorp to head to a rest station,

A student, held and torn by The Fiend, mentally broken either from shame or fear, grabbed Jaden's arms and frantically demanded, "Why? Why didn't you save us sooner?! You could have wiped out all those Fiends instantly! Why?!"

"You bastard, get out of the way!" Syrus, enraged beyond measure, slammed his shoulder into the student, cursing under his breath.

"It's fine, Syrus. He's just too scared, that's all." Jaden smiled as if the insults weren't even aimed at him.

After that, a few more students quietly broke down in tears, but they weren't as irrational, and none blamed Jaden. Some spirits rescued thanks to him approached, offering their gratitude, which Jaden waved off, saying it was nothing.

"Jaden, don't listen to that guy." Jim glanced at the classmate KaibaCorp had draped in clothing, softly comforting him, then turned back to Jaden. "You've done more than enough. Honestly, if it had been me, I'm not sure I could've beaten that Dragon Lord. We might all have been wiped out."

"...No,he's not entirely wrong."

"Jaden?"

Jaden clenched a fist before him, recalling the words of his Other Self.

Victory is justice!

If you want to defeat evil, you must be stronger than evil itself,that is the only way to protect the weak.

If… if he had been like he was at the end of the duel from the very start, then perhaps days ago he could have driven the Fiends away without endangering his classmates, without making Jim and Syrus risk their lives.

Just then, several Lightsworn warriors blocked their way, gripping their weapons tightly, staring at Jaden as if he were some terrible monster.

Jaden casually raised a hand in greeting, and the warriors instinctively lifted their weapons, visibly tense.

"...Hey there!" Jaden was the first to break the silence, greeting them with an easy laugh, acting carefree.

But Jim had already realized the truth.

From start to finish, Jaden was never some naïve, thoughtless hothead,inside, his mind was full of complicated thoughts.

"What is it you want?" Jim asked in a low voice.

"Supreme King, please come with us."

Jaden frowned slightly, his smile fading.

The next moment, Axel stepped forward. "No way! Jaden has no reason to go with you!" He stood in front of Jaden, shielding him. "No matter what you think of him, he's a hero who's saved countless students. Everyone here knows it!"

That was an undeniable fact,even those who later, in some way, resented him for their own foolishness, even his enemies, would have to admit it.

"Human, you saw it too, didn't you? That power?" one Lightsworn warrior said coldly. "Wiping out countless Fiends in an instant, then subjugating the rest in moments,that is the sign of the Supreme King's power returning. That very power once ruled over more than a dozen dimensions with sheer terror, and it is awakening in this human! We cannot ignore this!"

"Besides, aren't the surviving Dark World Fiends in this area now serving him?" another pressed. "They should be completely eradicated!"

"Eradicated?" Jaden's expression darkened. "Some of them simply sought me out to protect me. Some even defended my classmates before. And you're here because you allied with them, aren't you?"

Jaden had already learned from the Overlord's underlings that the Lightsworn located Dark World so quickly and invaded this dimension only because the Overlord, unable to defeat the Dragon Lord and fearing an accident with the Supreme King, had joined forces with them.

"Strike evil at its root! With the Dragon Lord, Mad King, and Overlord all dead, now is the perfect time to wipe them out!" one insisted.

"You mean kill all Dark World spirits? Even those who won't side with evil? Even newborn spirits?!" Jaden's voice grew heavier.

He said this not because the Dark World survivors had sought to crown him king,he had never accepted that. Nor because the Overlord had died before his eyes, and he felt responsible for them.

It was because… how is that justice?!

To kill indiscriminately, without distinction?

"Exactly,Dark World breeds evil. Killing them all is the best choice," a Lightsworn angel added. It admitted some Dark World spirits might be just, but compared to the evil ones, they were a mere drop in the ocean.

"They are born evil, born to harm those around them, born to threaten others. The best way is to erase them!" it continued. "We of the Realm of Justice will never allow evil to remain."

As it spoke, it studied Jaden,because compared to Dark World, the "Supreme King" before them was the greater threat.

"Born evil?" Jaden's voice trembled.

"Bro?" Syrus and Hassleberry called his name.

"Why? Why are some beings born evil?" Jaden's tone carried not just a question, but an accusation, making the angel instinctively feel fear, even a faint urge to submit.

Jaden thought back to his childhood.

He was a bit careless, but never simple-minded.

When he realized the kids around him began to get hurt for no reason, and those who beat him would fall gravely ill the next day, he knew,he wasn't an ordinary child.

Called a demon, a monster, he felt pain and loneliness, no matter how easygoing he acted.

So back then, to avoid hurting others, he gave up on making human friends, choosing instead to befriend HERO cards,cards that became his friends.

He believed he wasn't born a villain, that he wouldn't always be this way.

He had been lucky,lucky to meet his HEROes, to have a happy childhood, to enter Duel Academy, to meet Banner, Hikaru Amaki, Syrus, Hassleberry, and many others… and lucky to make friends like Johan, Jim, and Axel.

Yet again and again, his belief was shattered, denied,by humans, by spirits, by reality.

"Because the world is like this,light and dark, good and evil," the angel replied, trembling but firm. It had lived for centuries, seen countless innocents killed by Dark World, and in its heart, the only solution was to annihilate them.

The tension thickened, the air heavy. Axel glanced at Jim, signaling him to do something.

Jim frowned, ready to pinch his crocodile Shirley's leg to pretend it was injured, to break the mood.

But at that moment, a vehicle skidded in from the distance, drawing a long black line, and stopped nearby, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

The door clicked open.

"We here yet?" A figure stepped into view.

"Ah!" Syrus gasped, then sighed in relief.

"Whoa…" Hassleberry grinned widely.

Jaden's eyes narrowed slightly, his oppressive aura fading as he raised a hand. "Yo! Long time no see."

"Yeah… hahaha, long time no see. Lots of familiar faces here?"

"Hikaru!"

Syrus and Hassleberry shouted excitedly.

"Hikaru Amaki?!"

"The human Fusionist?!" the Lightsworn spirits exclaimed.

Jim and Axel exchanged puzzled looks. Why had the atmosphere changed so suddenly with this student's arrival?

Hikaru dusted off his clothes. Behind him, a small head peeked out, mouth open in surprise at the sight of Jaden and the others, waving. "Jaden!"

The tension vanished completely.

Jaden broke into a genuine smile. "Hikaru, you done over there?"