The duel was over.
Tenjo Hikari put away the cards and looked around.
Most of the spirits were gradually recovering, as these spirits had just been transported to be turned into puppets, so the transformation wasn't deep. They should have time to recover slowly. However, for those humans, perhaps because of Lapis's intense resentment, the chances of reversal were slim—although Tenjo Hikari could attempt "Re-Crushing" and "Sublimation" to restore them, as mentioned before, he wasn't exactly compassionate enough to do so.
With such hatred, it was hard for Tenjo Hikari to believe they were innocent.
Crystal slowly descended from the sky, stumbling and nearly falling, but at that moment, a hand reached out to steady it. Turning back, Crystal saw the Flame Swordsman grinning and the Dark Flare Knight standing with arms crossed.
These two had always followed Tenjo Hikari, forever protecting him, and naturally took over shielding duty from Crystal during the onslaught of pain and resentment.
Now that the duel was over, they flew over immediately.
"Haha, you did great, kid!" Flame Sword laughed heartily, patting Crystal's armor.
Dark Flare chuckled lightly beside him.
Flame Sword and Dark Flare were Tenjo Hikari's earliest spirits, though not much later, Crystal and Alchemist joined the team. The four had a good relationship due to their similar joining times. The three who specialized in external combat naturally grew close.
Now, seeing Crystal's performance, they celebrated for him.
This made Crystal a little embarrassed.
It glanced back at the enormous Lapis, watching it shrink slowly, feeling relieved. Supported by the Flame Swordsman, it approached Tenjo Hikari and knelt on one knee.
"Lord Tenjo..."
"Captain, what are you doing?"
Captain Crystal coughed twice; clearly, it hadn't fully recovered. It steadied its voice, seemingly preparing for something, while Flame Sword and Dark Flare immediately understood.
"Lord Tenjo, please allow me to follow you forever."
?
Tenjo Hikari was momentarily stunned.
Crystal had its own thoughts.
As a knight, it upheld the knight's ideals, always thinking of returning to its original world to protect its people.
It had always been fixated on its own matters.
Until today.
When it finally realized that its accident was not just an ordinary mishap, since it had caused countless disasters, bringing pain to many people and spirits. Even though these weren't "its fault," seeing Lapis's painful expression, it couldn't ignore it.
As Her Highness Midrash said, it shouldn't be lost; it needed to rescue the suffering and punish evil—just as Lord Tenjo consistently did.
"Please permit me to follow you, allow me to be your servant, learn from you, to punish evil and bring justice—"
"Uh..." Tenjo Hikari was taken aback by its words. He raised his hand, trying to reach for it through the air, saying, "Captain, don't do this..."
"You have always been our companion..."
Compared to Crystal, Tenjo Hikari was more of a modern person, lacking the so-called "knight" mindset.
The two swordsmen were already prepared for this situation; one guided Tenjo Hikari, while the other handed him a sword, then instructed him on what to do—
Crystal respectfully saluted Tenjo Hikari, then pledged eternal allegiance, even unto death. After saying this, its body shook and it collapsed with a thud.
"Captain?!"
"Crystal—" The two swordsmen were startled.
On the other side, Tierra casually raised her hand, sending several puppet strings to bind it, twisting it into a card with a snap.
"You see, Tenjo Hikari, I told you it's better to just change it to Fire Attribute." Tierra continued murmuring in Tenjo Hikari's ear, "Look, absorbed too much power and pain, and knocked itself out?"
Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.
He carefully took the card, glanced at it, while the two Flame Swordsmen also came over to look.
"Oh oh oh! Is the Captain also becoming a Fusion Monster?"
"Hmm hmm hmm, this is fitting—a knight of the lord should indeed be a Fusion Monster."
Even the usually silent Dark Flare couldn't help but speak.
Tenjo Hikari silently rolled his eyes.
What a joke.
How can you fuse with just a Fusion Monster with no fusion materials? Do you really expect me to always start with Instant Fusion?
However—
Tenjo Hikari looked at the card, now purple with puppet strings, without the urgency like before with the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem or Armityle the Chaos Phantasm.
For a simple reason.
The Gem-Knight series Fusion Cards didn't specifically require "Crystal." As long as there was a Gem-Knight among the Fusion Materials, he had several lower-level Gem-Knight monsters; missing Crystal wasn't an issue.
On the other hand, even if Crystal turned into "El Shaddoll Grysta," because Shaddoll's fusion materials also consist of a Shaddoll Monster and a corresponding attribute monster, there was no worry about lacking fusion materials.
On the contrary—
Tenjo Hikari put away the card.
If Crystal really turned into "El Shaddoll Grysta," its strength would be quite formidable.
"Captain, take a rest first. After we get back, Alchemist and I will check on you again and help you with purification."
"Thank you..."
Crystal responded weakly.
After finishing this matter, Tenjo Hikari was ready to check on the spirits' status in this dimension, but, surprisingly, Tierra couldn't help speaking to the two Flame Swordsmen: "Hey, you two, I heard from Tenjo Hikari that you've been the earliest spirits following him, right?"
She extended a hand, pulling out a purple thread from her fingertip, which gradually formed a data graph as she slid her fingers.
"You two, why haven't there been any changes so far?" she asked, even looking a bit puzzled.
Even gods have their moments of confusion: "Last time I checked, you both showed signs of evolution, yet after months, aside from your sword widening, armor thickening, and Spirit Power increasing, there hasn't been any significant breakthrough."
She drew a chart showing smooth growth, with no noticeable spikes towards the end.
"Today, even Crystal is evolving. What's the deal with you two?"
While Crystal absorbed a lot of resentment, the brothers' progress also baffled Tierra, prompting her to comment.
"Well, um—Her Highness the Goddess, I really don't know," Flame Sword scratched his head in confusion.
Dark Flare didn't speak and just shook his head.
It had considered this too.
"No worries, steady growth is a good thing." Tenjo Hikari wasn't bothered. Flame Sword always seemed to step into traps himself; isn't he allowed to enjoy it? Besides, there was growth.
Yet—
He had thought about this.
The brothers showed signs of evolution but unlike other spirits, which experienced breakthrough changes, the Flame Sword twins experienced steady growth.
At first glance, it might seem like they couldn't compare to other spirits, but upon reflection, Tenjo Hikari had a general understanding.
Simply put, Flame Sword and Dark Flare had been with him from the start, fully acknowledging his warriors of "Fusion," thus being in complete harmony with his intentions from the beginning, never needing any breakthrough — the brothers always aided him, never being choosy. No matter the dirty or tough work, or even the art of bluffing, or battling parasites, the brothers handled it all clearly.
Plus, they were originally "Fusion Monsters."
To this day, Tenjo Hikari hadn't used "Super Polymerization" to fuse Fusion Monsters. Once they became Fusion Monsters, it seemed as though "Super Polymerization" gave them recognition, and there was no need to worry about their "livelihoods."
Conversely, perhaps controlling and mastering higher alchemy, and further grasping the opportunity for Super Polymerization, rested here?