A Banned Card

"Welcome, travelers from another world. Lady Mana has already explained the details. Please, this way."

At the entrance of the Village of Spellcasters, Hikaru and Bastion stepped out from the portal. After taking a breath of the fresh air, a few spirits walked up to greet them.

Leading them was a female spirit with deep blue hair and a ruby headdress. Hikaru studied her for a moment but didn't recognize her.

Beside him, Bastion immediately did and politely greeted her, "Ah, you're Eldeen, right? A pleasure to meet you."

He was especially courteous, and Hikaru followed suit.

Eldeen? Hikaru searched his memory. After a while, he recalled, a Level 3 LIGHT Normal Monster with 950 ATK? He'd seen her as one of Fullmetalfoes Alkahest's "byproducts."

Eldeen smiled, gesturing for them to follow.

The Village of Spellcasters was a massive forest dotted with treehouses. Occasionally, golden lights floated by and circled them in the air, as if greeting them.

This place was honestly wonderful.

Hikaru waved and greeted the various spirits.

On the way, he saw many kinds of spirits: Doriados, Ancient Elves, Mystical Elves, Water Magicians, High Priestess of Prophecies, and even Dark Magicians, the ones Kaiba Seto was fond of.

Eldeen led them to a large treehouse that appeared to be a community hub or guild.

"Greetings, visitors from another dimension? Good work, Eldeen." At the guild reception was a winged, pink-haired magician: Injection Fairy Lily. A formidable card, at least in this world, she was quite powerful. "Please write your names and details here."

Hikaru and Bastion exchanged a glance. Bastion sighed. "This is the friendliest dimension we've ever encountered."

"Haha~" Lily chuckled. "This Village of Spellcasters is a dimension open to all spellcasters, founded and stabilized by the Three Sages and many powerful mages. Occasionally, other types of spirits visit too, so it's nothing unusual."

"Three Sages, you mean, like Aleister?" Hikaru asked casually.

"What! Aleister!?" Bastion's face changed drastically. "You mean that Aleister is here!?"

Though Hikaru had beaten Professor Banner, Aleister had left a deep impression on Bastion. To him, Aleister was a near-divine Fusion-related monster who had reshaped his understanding of Fusion.

Before that, Hikaru had just made him admire how diverse Fusion could be.

"You know Master Crowley?" Lily blinked, then smiled. "Well, that was a long time ago. He hasn't appeared in the Village for ages. We don't even know where he is now."

'I see. So my sneaky plan to nab an Invoker was a bust.'

"You can write the name of your challenge target on this form. If the target is interested or also wants to hone their skills in other worlds, they may respond and initiate a Trial Duel with you."

"Really?" Hikaru nodded. "Then can I write 'Dark Magician'?"

"Hahaha~ dear guest, you jest. The Dark Magician is the most powerful magician," Lily coughed awkwardly, smiling with polite restraint.

'First, the Three Sages, now the Dark Magician? You've got guts.'

"Of course, you can write his name. Maybe a few will respond to your call?"

She didn't reject the idea outright, so Hikaru didn't hold back. He quickly filled in his name, profile, and Deck, then added:

"Fusion is the noblest Summoning method. I am a duelist in pursuit of Fusion's ultimate form. If you also seek Fusion, answer my call!"

After that, he listed a row of names: Dark Magician, Dark Magician of Chaos, Magician of Black Illusion, Dark Magician the Dragon Knight.

In short, throw out the net and see what bites.

Once he finished, the paper floated into the air, hovered, and the text slowly vanished as if it had never been written.

"Tch, tch..." Hikaru shrugged, unsurprised.

"Yes!" On the other side, as Hikaru failed, Bastion shouted in joy.

He had written "Mathematician," and the paper fluttered, spun, sprouted wings, tapped him lightly, and flew off.

"Hikaru, I'm off!" he called, then hurried to chase after his invitation.

"Mathematician? That old man is a kind soul," Lily said with a smile, cheering him on. "Good luck out there!"

Hikaru scratched his head and was about to write two more requests when a voice called out:

"Hey, you there. Human warrior, right? Interested in writing my name down?"

Hikaru turned, and his eyes widened.

A bald middle-aged man in a crisp lab coat, wearing black-lensed glasses that hid his eyes, with a confident and wildly proud smile, hands in his pockets, exuding an "I am the best" energy.

"Ah, Mr. Scientist! Good morning!" Lily waved cheerfully.

"Morning to you too, Lily," he said, strolling forward.

"You're a Magical Scientist!?" Hikaru gasped.

'A Forbidden Card!!'

"You know me? Hahaha," Magical Scientist stroked his chin and laughed. "Looks like I'm famous in the human world too."

'More than just famous.' Hikaru's face twitched.

Before he transmigrated, Magical Scientist was called the second-strongest monster in history, a card so broken it defined the OCG meta.

"I saw on your form that you're a Fusion enthusiast. Coincidentally, I'm a magician who studies Fusion too," the Scientist said, hands in his pockets. "Though I'm not planning to leave this world, I have a ton of Fusion-related experiments. Want to challenge me?"

"That would be an honor!" Hikaru accepted instantly, eagerly writing down the Magical Scientist's name.