Things were pretty much as Tenjo Hikari expected.
Mitsuzawa Daichi was soon dragged to the training field by the Empress for special training.
According to the Empress, they knew that Mitsuzawa Daichi, as a companion of Tenjo Hikari, possessed a powerful Spirit like the Mathematician, so he shouldn't be weak, but if he really wanted to be with Tania, he absolutely couldn't be so "frail."
Even though Mitsuzawa Daichi was already considered well-developed among his peers, with quite a bit of muscle, it still wasn't enough.
Courage, wisdom, still not enough!
So, they wanted to give Mitsuzawa Daichi special training, to make him stronger—otherwise, how could he become a "diplomat" across various Dimensions?
Not afraid of being killed by local evil forces when they rebel?
Tenjo Hikari and Serena certainly couldn't just wait here for Mitsuzawa Daichi. Not to mention Tenjo Hikari, Serena, though a freshman, also very much wanted to participate in the finals, so she definitely wouldn't just settle for two duels with the Twelve-Star Duelist.
So, Mitsuzawa Daichi told Tenjo Hikari and the others to leave first.
He would probably train here for a few months.
Then he would quickly collect the remaining three or four seals and then participate in the finals.
By then, all of Tenjo Hikari's companions could reunite at the final venue, so there was no need to worry about him.
Worry?
Worry about what—
Tenjo Hikari saw that Mitsuzawa Daichi had absolutely no intention of leaving.
This Amazoness Camp had an Empress like an elder sister, archers that were pure-type girls, tall and strong women like the warrior commander, and even a yet-to-mature Princess, and more importantly, all of them were muscular—
Mitsuzawa trained daily in a manner that was painful yet joyful. Tenjo Hikari saw him and sensed that he was somewhat unwilling to leave.
As they were about to go, he shook his head.
With this state, Mitsuzawa Daichi would definitely get a good beating from the Empress when he left, or maybe even have to participate in a duel of the royal-rumble level, otherwise they wouldn't let him go.
Tenjo Hikari and Serena stayed at the camp for two days, and as they were leaving, the Tyler Sisters stopped them again.
The sisters also decided to stay, but unlike Mitsuzawa Daichi, they wanted to whisk the Empress away.
Since they knew there was an "Amazoness Augusta" Spirit in the camp, they certainly wouldn't leave just like that.
As users of the Amazoness Deck, naturally, they were drawn to an Amazoness's top-tier Monster.
However—
Challenging and trialing were entirely different from "taking away the leader of a faction."
Up until now, Tenjo Hikari had encountered quite a few Spirits of this type.
The first being the Black Luster Soldier, then the Vampire Fraulein, Magical Scientist, all of these were leaders of specific factions.
The Primal Black Luster Soldier, needless to say, was a divine-level existence, ruling over the Warriors' realm; and the Vampire Fraulein, even after losing, only gave her card and the banshee's card to Tenjo Hikari, while she herself fell asleep and returned to the Vampire Kingdom.
As for the Magical Scientist, although curious about Tenjo Hikari's Polymerization, it had a laboratory that couldn't be left unattended.
Responsibility and combat, these are things that Spirits would not easily abandon.
The Tyler Sisters wanting to take the Empress was almost impossible.
Getting the Empress's card would be good enough.
The two, along with the remaining forces of the Integration Department, blocked Tenjo Hikari's way. Serena, thinking they were looking for trouble, eagerly picked up her Duel Disk, but was once again disappointed.
The Tyler Sisters weren't here to give Tenjo Hikari trouble.
Being twins specializing in tag duels, the Tyler Sisters had different personalities but shared a similar inner nature.
Which was being battle-hungry.
And everything else was actually added later.
As Tag Duelists, they understood well why Spirits favored the form of a "tag duel."
The reason was simple: tag duels could reveal whether two duelists were willing and adept at "cooperation," which was a convenient way for Spirits who valued dueling to choose partners.
After all, in solo one-on-one duels, even with the same ambition, there might be personality and lifestyle clashes.
After one duel as opponents and another as teammates, totaling two duels with Tenjo Hikari, the sisters confirmed one thing.
That was, Tenjo Hikari's dueling was purely, simply, just for Fusion dueling.
They didn't understand, but they were willing to accept it—because they only cared about the joy of battle.
With that, things got simpler.
They told Tenjo Hikari they would duel him again next time, not for the Fusion Army, just purely for the fight.
Of course, they also told Tenjo Hikari the stakes of the duel.
They noticed that Tenjo Hikari really didn't like seeing "Integration Department," "Fusion Army," and such things and factions sullying Fusion, and though they were students, they were also high-ranking members of the Fusion Army.
Even though the Fusion Army was now splintered, it still had Secret Team, remnants, and other forces.
As long as Tenjo Hikari could keep winning against them, they'd be willing to help him disband the forces or promote his idea of "Fusion."
"Accepted." Tenjo Hikari, after hearing everything, nodded lightly, extended his hand to shake Gloria's, and they held tightly before Gloria let out a "tch" and released her hand.
No matter where, he always had to compare with others.
Noticing Gloria's look, Tenjo Hikari lightly chuckled.
Then the sisters looked at Serena.
"Serena, dear~" Grace gently waved and greeted Serena amiably.
Serena nodded with a blank expression.
"Hehe~" Grace chuckled, "Well... after all, you're not with us—after all, you're the Professor's daughter, so we'll tell you something extra."
"Grace?" Gloria slightly frowned.
"What's the big deal, sister," Grace lightly covered her mouth with her right hand and said, "After all, little Serena is the Professor's daughter."
"What do you mean by this?" Tenjo Hikari, hearing their discussion, suddenly focused, staring directly at Grace, "Could it be, you have information on Akaba Leo?"
"Haha! A really nice look in your eyes, Tenjo Hikari!" Gloria, noticing the hostility in Tenjo Hikari's eyes, smirked, having stopped caring about her sister leaking information. "Indeed, Tenjo Hikari—
Since you want to know, I'll tell you."
"The Professor has already notified us," Grace continued.
"He's regrouped his forces at the second base," Gloria nodded slightly.
"He's even found another daughter of his and gained new allies—" Grace raised her right index finger, waggling it lightly, "Well, Serena dear? Isn't it exciting, knowing you have a sister?"
"I-I have a sister?!" Serena was so overwhelmed by the huge news that her mind went blank.
Serena's sister?
Tenjo Hikari frowned.
So, although the raid on Heartland failed, the alternative objective [kidnapping Ruri] was a success?
"Since you've reconnected, you should know what I've done, right?" Tenjo Hikari was a bit surprised, thinking they should know about his sabotage of the Fusion Army's facilities.
"Ha, what does it matter," Gloria laughed heartily.
"Yes~" Grace also chuckled elegantly, "We don't care about that."
"How about it, Tenjo Hikari, next time we fight, we'll tell you more secrets, even classified ones!"
In fact, there weren't many secrets. Akaba Leo needed to recuperate and regroup his forces, and probably wouldn't be able to act for several years, only hide.
But at a time like this, information became even more important!
Because any mishap, and it might all be over.
"...Heh, next time, Serena will be taking action personally," Tenjo Hikari said, looking at the slightly confused Serena.
"Oh?" The sisters looked at Serena.
Their gazes, like beasts in the jungle, emitted a faint crimson light. Serena, just snapping back to reality from learning she had a "sister," met their eyes, stood tall, fearless, glaring back, her "wildness" also conveying to the Tyler Sisters—
You have sharp claws, mine might not be any less sharp!
"Ha, interesting!"
"Then, we look forward to it~"
Afterward, the two eccentric women didn't linger with Tenjo Hikari and Serena but waved goodbye and returned to the Amazoness camp, seemingly ready to watch the special training.
Meanwhile, Tenjo Hikari was contemplating Akaba Leo's situation.
Death, Akaba Leo was certainly hard to kill.
Considering it was a cross-Dimension attack, not a direct assault, and with the protection of the Three Phantasm, Akaba Leo was difficult to harm.
But…
New "ally"?
After the raid on Heartland?
Where in the X Dimension Human World would you find someone willing to cooperate with him at this time?
Tenjo Hikari had a peculiar expression.
Could it be he was possessed by some odd thing from the X Dimension?