"Whoo hoo, being able to explore the cosmos is really so exciting."
Before the dimensional gate in the Grand Cosmos Workshop, Atticus Rhodes, dressed in a casual Hawaiian-style short-sleeve and shorts and with a camera hanging from his neck, greeted Flame Swordsman and Crystal beside him.
"Hahaha! Everyone, how've you been lately?"
Several spirits laughed and returned his greeting.
Although they hadn't met many times, Atticus Rhodes had always been skilled at making new friends, and had gotten along quite well with Flame Swordsman and the others.
If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't surf or drink together, the relationship might have been even tighter.
Compared to Atticus Rhodes, Syrus seemed a bit nervous. Not tall to begin with, he was slightly hunched from the nervousness, hand pressed against his chest, looking even shorter.
But under Atticus's clowning around, overall he did loosen up considerably.
But the target really was the cosmos...
"No need to be that nervous." Hikaru noticed Syrus's tension. He raised a hand and said: "It's called the cosmos, but it's actually still the spirit world. So even if we really did stand in the cosmic vacuum, there's no need to worry about oxygen shortage or exploding from air pressure."
A very simple principle: the robot Tierra had built wasn't made to aerospace standards, and it had still been able to return to the Grand Cosmos Workshop relatively intact. The damage on it was more the local spirits' battle "friendly fire" than anything else.
So there really wasn't much need to worry.
Of course, this was a cosmos-tier space after all, so specialized transport was surely still necessary. Hikaru had chosen to pilot the "Qliphort Scout Vessel." Convenient, fast, and with Tierra operating in real time.
In short: safe, functional, sturdy, and mass-produced.
As mentioned before, Tierra had never much liked making multiple copies of her body-parts. But Qliphort Scout's effect was simply too useful, and she'd made a full three of them. These extra Qliphort Scouts happened to be able to do various other jobs, like calculations, like transport.
And now, it was time to "board."
Hearing Hikaru's words, Syrus knew he was consoling him and telling him to calm down. Syrus could also understand that senior Atticus was actually using his own way to console him too. So after simply taking a deep breath, he chose to board.
Seeing this, Atticus Rhodes smiled too, and boarded the Qliphort Scout Vessel along with them.
As he walked into the Qliphort Scout Vessel, what he saw wasn't the kind of cosmic spaceship cockpit from various fantasy movies, but more like a plain small room.
"Eh?" He instinctively let out a sound of surprise.
"Haha, Senior Atticus, if you wanted to see a cockpit, you won't find one." Hikaru said with a laugh. Setting aside that Qliphort Scout was itself a driverless machine, even if it were a real spaceship, a spirit and a ship were two different concepts.
This "Qliphort Scout" was a simulated spirit Tierra had created with her own power. Fundamentally it was more of a spirit, and its interior had been designed by Tierra to human living-space standards, more like a single-occupant "camper van."
Thinking about it this way, when there was nothing to do, they could also ride Qliphort Scout on tours across the various dimensions. Rather relaxing.
The three sat down properly, and Alkahest activated the dimensional gate. The whole Qliphort Scout Vessel was wrapped in green fluorescence.
"Won't it be a bit small?" Syrus was still a little nervous.
"It's fine. Once we reach the spirit dimension, we can increase its volume."
Oh.
Syrus recalled some of the spirit-related knowledge taught at Duel Academy, and hurriedly nodded.
That really did make sense.
Passing through the dimensional gate's green tunnel, Qliphort Scout landed in the vast, empty starry sky. Then, with the crisp sound of a snap, Qliphort Scout instantly expanded, growing until it was as enormous as the stars around it.
Not far off, a golden pillar of light happened to sweep past this area. With a thunderous crash, it struck Qliphort Scout. Syrus clutched his head and screamed "whoaaaaa!" Qliphort Scout shook under the impact, retreating a good distance backward. By the time they'd come to their senses, they'd been knocked out of the star field from before.
Syrus hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead and took deep breaths for a while, feeling like he'd suddenly come back to life.
"Whoa."
On the other side, Atticus Rhodes's camera automatically popped out a photo. He held that card and slowly shook his head, murmuring in low admiration: "What an oppressive barrage."
He looked back out through the window.
Outside the window, the stars were dazzling. Starlight drifted through the cosmos. Warships and battleships launched attacks on one another, shining amid the myriad stars, like a beautiful painted scroll.
"Click, click."
He raised the camera in his hand, and the shutter kept clicking, as if he were possessed. His mouth was still going...
"The next issue of the magazine is definitely going to sell like crazy!!"
Syrus followed suit and also looked toward the sea of stars. That dazzling galactic river cast its reflection in his eyes, making him forget his nervousness for a moment. He only felt that the cosmos was truly vast, truly beautiful.
Could the spirit world be this beautiful too?
Hikaru looked out the window and, for once, relaxed too.
Although shellfire filled the surroundings, with Tierra there, there was no need to worry about the shellfire at all. Having time to look at cosmic scenery up close was quite a joyful thing too.
He turned his gaze forward.
He saw many familiar faces.
Not only the "Drytron" they'd come to seek, but also the "Ursarctic Bear-Star" they'd once briefly met, Ursarctic Polar Bear.
And it wasn't only these two systems of spirits. There were also Kozmo Warships, B.E.S Warships, and other familiar-looking spirits. Among them, what most caught Hikaru's eye was "Orbital Hydralander."
Hikaru used to be especially fond of this monster. When playing all-card single-copy-only decks, he was very fond of including this card.
But they hadn't come here to watch a cosmic war. Hikaru pressed the communication and tried to contact those forces.
Although the fighting looked heated, since it wasn't a duel, he should be able to make contact.
The next instant, Hikaru watched as those forces one after another all ceased fire, slowly adjusted their units, gathered together, and lined up into several formations.
The three exchanged glances. Then, another voice came through the broadcast.
It was a mechanical voice.
"An invitation to a duel ritual. As warriors, we truly cannot refuse. But humans, you have privately intruded upon our training grounds, and up to this point have been concealing and lurking. That is not something to be settled now."
Huh?
The three exchanged glances.
Lurking? What?
"Oh, Hikaru, there seem to be other humans over there."
????
What?
The three were a bit dazed.
Someone had gotten here first!?
Tierra pressed a few buttons, and they saw a ship that looked exactly like a pyramid slowly fly out from the corner behind a planet.
Hikaru's pupils contracted.
That was... the Emperor's Key?
Another voice came through the broadcast, requesting that they dock at the space port, and their "Great Leader" would personally review them.
"Looks like this is a dimension similar to 'Mountain,' little Hikaru." Seeing this situation, Atticus had a sense of déjà vu, and said to Hikaru.
Hikaru nodded, thinking it really was.
In any case, though they'd been struck by friendly fire a bit, Hikaru was also very curious as to why the Emperor's Key was here. So he didn't feel much resistance and had Tierra control the ship, slowly docking at the "port," the Ursarctic Big Dipper Vessel.
Docked on the warship, the three slowly disembarked. Syrus was nervous at first, afraid he'd suddenly burst and die. But after touching down, he found that although things were strange, he didn't feel any breathing difficulty.
There were several dragon-type robots on the Big Dipper Vessel too. They watched Hikaru's group carefully and cautiously, prepared to erupt at any moment.
This was the "training ground."
But it wasn't an ordinary training ground.
It was the training ground of many "cosmic warship system" spirits, or rather, the simulation battlefield.
Every so often, these ship-system spirits would host a great competition, doing battle against one another. Then based on their records, they'd sort out different match-up tables and opponents, and first- and second-move situations, finally producing a new champion, who would receive the "Great Leader's" inheritance.
In short, this was an extremely important training ground for these spirits.
So, the ones conducting simulation battles and sparring matches here were precisely the "finest new generation" of every clan!
And the result was that just now, at the very instant Hikaru and the others had suddenly appeared in this cosmos, a discounted laser cannon had struck them head-on. These spirits had been figuring out how to rescue them, only to find that aside from the movement caused by momentum, that machine hadn't a single scratch on it!
Although a spirit's power and size weren't absolutely correlated, the larger the spirit, the more energy it could store. This kind of attack landing on that machine yet not causing the slightest damage...
At that moment, these spirits' superiors understood.
This absolutely was a super-strong presence encountered.
Tierra flew out along with Hikaru, scanning left and right, her eyes shining.
Oh! That mech isn't bad-looking! Oh! That mechanical dragon has some real design sense! Whoa, what is that, a Dyson sphere? Oh, it's the kind of machine that renovates a habitable planet. Someone's got a brain!
While she was making her rough-and-tumble observations of those spirits, this bunch of spirits was also facing Tierra with cautious care.
As Tierra's power recovered and life returned to her, her power, which she'd never made any effort to conceal, grew ever more pronounced. The stronger the spirit, the more they could understand that this seemingly delicate presence absolutely wasn't something they could easily contend with.
Mass, volume: from a "scientific" perspective, these things could naturally distinguish tiers easily. A galaxy-tier warship was more powerful than a planet-tier one. But if one approached from the soul, from transcendent power, these spirits could feel from the bottom of their hearts the terrifying oppressive presence Tierra contained.
If a presence like this suddenly made a move, they would probably have to call the "Great Leader" to come and save them.
On the other side, the Emperor's Key slowly docked beside the port. Syrus and Atticus Rhodes curiously watched as people walked out from inside.
"Kids?" Atticus Rhodes's brow knit tightly.
How could there be kids mixed up in a dangerous dimension like this?
A boy and a girl, two kids in casual wear. The boy looked a little tired, and the girl clung tightly to his side, extremely nervous.
Beside them was also a glowing presence floating in the air. The party of them saw Hikaru and the others, and hurriedly greeted them with a bow.
The lobster-head and green-haired girl repeatedly thanked them, saying that if it weren't for them, they didn't know how much longer they'd have had to keep dodging.
Now, they could finally leave.
"You cannot leave." Not far off, an enormous red-robed woman holding a staff slowly walked over.
The Cosmos Queen.
"Eh!" Yuma Tsukumo jumped in fright.
Atticus Rhodes hurriedly turned to face her and said: "Cosmos Queen, they're humans who stumbled into this dimension. They didn't mean to disrupt your training. Please give us a chance, let them leave here, and forgive their crime of ignorance."
"Humans, we have no way to confirm whether they came to this dimension on purpose or not." The Cosmos Queen lightly tapped the ground, then said, "And moreover, humans, you yourselves said it. You are dimensional travelers who came seeking Drytron members."
The three silently nodded.
"Whether it's sneaking in stealthily or coming specifically to challenge, for us there's no difference."
"Since you're humans' warriors, then let's proceed according to the requirements of the duel ritual. The losers receive punishment. The victors will have it forgiven as before. As per the duel ritual's rules, you'll have the chance to obtain our spirit cards. Of course, you are duelists coming through normal channels, so you needn't bear the punishment."
"The duel's format is 2-versus-2."
The standard spirit challenge ritual...
"I'll do it!" Syrus and Atticus Rhodes spoke almost simultaneously. At a time like this, even if they didn't know the others, they surely had to help out. After all, the other party clearly didn't know the spirit world's rules at all, so helping out where they could was the better path. Also, the two of them had comparatively more confidence in their own strength.
"That won't do." The Cosmos Queen went on, raising her staff and pointing at the Emperor's Key trio. The three, unaware their own matter was on the table, were a bit surprised.
"Duelists must be provided by each side, one each. Two in total!"
"Punishment and challenge are being carried out at the same time..." Atticus Rhodes furrowed his brow and looked at Yuma Tsukumo and his two companions. "But, Cosmos Queen, they're still children."
"It doesn't matter. We will send out opponents of comparable caliber."
Atticus Rhodes sighed and looked at Syrus. Syrus met his gaze firmly. Realizing he couldn't keep insisting, Atticus silently stepped back.
Although he very, very much wanted to help Kaiser, he understood clearly that as the younger brother, Syrus also wanted to lend his share of strength.
Since that was the case, in a situation where they could only pick one, he still chose to trust Zane's little brother.
The other side was simpler. Hearing they were about to duel, Yuma Tsukumo cracked his right arm, spun in a circle, and said loudly: "So all we needed was a duel! If I'd known earlier, we could have left here long ago!"
"Honestly! Yuma, don't underestimate your opponent!" The green-haired girl Kotori Mizuki puffed up her cheeks and scolded him.
"That's right, Yuma. This time we're facing spirit enemies for the first time in a long while. We can't take this lightly." The Astral being floating beside Yuma Tsukumo also said.
The last time they'd faced spirits was already back when the Fusion army had invaded their dimension. Having gone so long without combat, they weren't necessarily at 100 percent form.
"Ah! I know!" Yuma patted his chest, then looked at his teammate.
"Hello, I'm Yuma Tsukumo!"
He looked quite enthusiastic.
Syrus drew a deep breath: "Syrus Truesdale."
"...Truesdale?" All three on this side were a bit surprised.
Just then, the training ground's spirit opponents had also taken position.
A blue mechanical dragon with two giant cannons mounted on its shoulders, Drytron Gamma Eltanin.
A woman holding a red beam sword, Kozmo Wickedwitch.
The four took their positions on the enormous deck, each on their own path. The entire cosmos's warships and spirits also slowly turned, focusing their attention on the port.
"The rules of the duel: the trial-standard 2-vs-2 format. The player going first cannot draw this turn, and attacks are possible starting from the second turn."
As referee, the Cosmos Queen floated above the deck, reading out the rules.
The next instant, at the center of the cosmos, a silver-white beam of light pierced the horizon. The duel officially began.
"Duel!" x4.
Syrus activated his Duel Disk. Yuma Tsukumo, meanwhile, put on his D-Gazer and gave a lively little hop.
Human Team, LP: 8000. Spirit Team, LP: 8000.