Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1803 Don't you dare take Judai away from me!

As dusk approached, although the time difference between the real world and the elven world was as much as twelve hours, and the sunrise should have just arrived in the human world, many people had adjusted their biological clocks after a few days of adjustment and were feeling a bit sleepy because of the setting sun.

Especially Ms. Ayukawa Emi, who had been busy taking care of her students all afternoon, couldn't help but yawn and stretch her limbs while looking at the distant sky.

However, all that work was worthwhile, as she had treated most of the students' injuries. Thanks to Professor Chronos taking on the main burden and Hayato arriving in time, most of the students only suffered minor injuries in their battles with the card spirits, such as getting scraped by gravel after falling to the ground or losing stamina due to the destruction of their monsters.

Health and physical education are also part of the main curriculum at the Duel Academy, and most students are in good physical condition—after all, it's common knowledge that duelists need to be physically fit, otherwise they'll be at a significant disadvantage in duels. Thanks to this, the most serious injuries the students sustained were limited to this level; more gruesome injuries like severed limbs were completely avoided.

Professor Chronos was the most seriously injured, with his upper body wrapped in bandages under his clothes. He asked Professor Ayukawa not to make the bandages too obvious, as he needed to move around the school in a safe state where he didn't appear to be injured, so that his classmates would feel at ease. Professor Ayukawa wanted to object out of his duty as a doctor, but in the end, he and Coach Napoleon persuaded him together.

However, even after so much time had passed, the monsters attacking the school's perimeter were still not completely wiped out. No one knew where so many Pokémon had been lured in, and they had been besieging Duel Academy in waves for an entire afternoon. Even Principal Hayato's personal efforts outside were not enough to kill them all.

It really proves the saying, "As long as we swarm you, even if it's Kobayashi Hayato, you won't be able to kill us all before you run out of energy."

Especially since card Pokémon quickly dissipate into duel energy after being killed, leaving little behind, Hayato's frequent kills failed to leave any spectacular sights to deter other Pokémon from attacking.

"I really don't know how much longer it will take to end." With some worry, Ms. Ayukawa looked outside the school and said to Rei Saotome beside her, "Rei-kun, why don't you go and rest for a bit?"

Upon hearing this, Saotome Rei, who had just put down a box of alcohol, shook her head and said energetically, "It's alright, teacher. This amount of exercise is nothing to me. Ever since I learned about Judai-sama's stamina, I've been training for marathons to improve myself before I enrolled."

“But you must get tired, right? At least Malden looks very tired.” Ayukawa Emi smiled and pointed to Gana Malden behind Saotome Rei.

Although Saotome Rei's items were clearly heavier, perhaps her usual exercise was really effective, or perhaps it was just because Malden was too bookish and lacked exercise. Malden, holding a box of disinfectant cotton, was already covered in sweat and looked like she was about to run out of breath.

"Hey? Why are you so weak, Marden? This won't do." Raising an eyebrow, Saotome Rei easily took the item from Malden with one hand and patted him on the shoulder. "How can a duelist not have a good body? You should learn from me and Judai-sama and get out and exercise more. Don't be like that arithmetic senior in the Yellow Dorm who stays in the dorm all day like that."

Malden didn't reply, but just glanced at Saotome Rei, who assumed he was too tired to speak.

"Well, it's also my fault as the leader for not noticing your lack of stamina." Patting her muscular chest, Saotome Rei said, "After this is over, I'll make sure you work out properly—but for now..."

Turning her head, Rei said to Ayukawa-sensei, "But Ayukawa-sensei, now that we've done most of the work that needed our help, I'll take Koma to the temporary cafeteria to rest for a while and bring over the food that will be distributed later."

"Okay, get some rest, Li and Malden. You can eat something at the temporary cafeteria first. If you're too tired, other teachers can bring it over. Don't push yourself too hard."

With a wave, Rei walked ahead, leading Malden away from the gymnasium where the students who needed care were being housed, heading towards the temporary cafeteria on campus. Along the way, when they encountered patrolling students, Rei greeted everyone familiarly, as if everyone knew her—after all, although she had chosen to live in the Red Dormitory, Rei was the undisputed number one freshman, and having always been by Judai's side, she was practically a familiar face to most students.

"That's great, Li." After passing a group of students patrolling the campus, Malden suddenly said quietly, "You're quite popular in the academy."

"It's not that I'm popular or anything, I'm just relatively more outgoing, so most people wouldn't refuse to get to know more people, right?" Although Saotome Rei didn't know why Malden suddenly brought this up, she still told her the truth, "Unlike Jaden-sama's wish to 'make friends with everyone in school,' I don't actually want friends that much. I just respond to other people's kindness, and then I naturally become friends with other people."

"If I had to say, well, it's probably because I'm lively and cute, smart and pretty that people pay attention to me and treat me kindly, right?"

Hearing Saotome Rei's boast, Gana Malden's eyes darted around, and he muttered to himself, "That alone is enviable, unlike me, who is neither cared for nor appreciated."

Whenever Malden recalls the "darkness and tragedy" he has experienced, he cannot help but feel fear and despair, lamenting why he has to bear such a burden. Especially with Saotome Rei, whose situation is completely opposite to his own, constantly appearing beside him.

At the beginning of the semester, Malden had a good impression of Saotome Rei. She was a responsible older sister who had become quite similar to the person she admired. She took good care of Malden and would introduce her to more people, even though Malden was introverted. Although she was younger than most of the students—because she had skipped a grade—she was quite mature in her dealings with others and was trusted by teachers and classmates.

At that time, Malden admired Saotome Rei and thought that he wanted to become a mature person like her.

However, after arriving in this other world, especially after the recent battle, Malden couldn't shake the feeling he had towards Rei Saotome. Why? Why did his own family break apart while Rei Saotome had a family that doted on her so much, even supporting her skipping grades to attend the Duel Academy's high school?
Why? Why do teachers and students see Saotome Rei as an independent individual, not as Yuki Jaden's lackey, but as "Saotome Rei of the Red Dorm," while they themselves are seen as "Saotome Rei's little brother, Gana Malden"?
Why? Why is the other person able to get so close to Jaden Yuki?!
Without the ability to read minds, Saotome Rei naturally couldn't know what Malden, who was a step behind her, was thinking, nor could she perceive the sudden change in her mind. Completely unaware of the changes happening in Malden's heart, she continued walking ahead as usual, saying, "Sigh~ Even though I'm so excellent, Judai-sama is always like a block of wood, completely oblivious to people's thoughts."

"That old woman, Asuka Tenjouin, is really awful. Last time I 'accidentally' squeezed out too much hand cream and wanted to apply it to Judai-sama, she suddenly appeared and took all the extra hand cream. So what if she met Judai-sama a few months earlier than me? If I had entered school in the same year as Judai-sama, she wouldn't have had a chance to even be on stage!"

"Hmph, this experience in another world will be the best help for me to close the gap with her. Before Judai-sama graduates this year, my perfect love plan will definitely succeed and push Asuka out of the way. Then, Tenjouin Asuka will be crying and blessing me and Judai-sama to live happily ever after at the graduation ceremony, wahahahaha!"

What Saotome Rei didn't notice was that as she spoke these words, Ghana Malden's eyes became increasingly strange, his eyes were covered by newly appearing orange and green colors respectively, and scales began to vaguely emerge on his left arm.

Just then, the two arrived at a staircase. Malden quietly closed the distance between himself and Saotome Rei, raising his left hand to touch her body, his eyes filled with uncontrollable ferocity and anger.

"Ah, Lord Judai~"

Upon hearing Saotome Rei mention Judai's name again, he finally lost his temper and blurted out, "No!"

"You are not allowed to take Judai away from me!"

Suddenly, Malden grabbed her clothes. Before Saotome Rei could react, she felt a tremendous force pulling her body up and throwing her into the air, freeing her from the constraints of gravity!

Although they were only thrown half a meter off the ground, it cannot be ignored that Saotome Rei and Malden had now reached the edge of the stairs. If they were to be thrown down like that on Malden's orders, no matter how strong Saotome Rei was, she would inevitably suffer a fracture. If the landing point was not chosen properly, it could even be life-threatening!

—And this is what Ghana Malden, or rather, Ubel, who is now possessing him, wants to see.

By creating the clone [Yubel Phantom], Yubel was able to use the "lucrative" Duel Academy as bait to gather bewitched Pokémon from all over the world to besiege the Duel Academy. As planned, he successfully attracted the attention of the vast majority of people—especially Hayato Kobayashi—and was able to quietly approach the students of Duel Academy.

It was among these people that he found a suitable new host—Gana Malden, who had a deep inner darkness due to his parents' divorce.

Although Yubel herself had some doubts about why Amon Garem's character, who almost died in the past, whose status in the family was completely replaced by his younger brother and who almost lost the meaning of life and returned to that situation of having nothing, was not as good as Ghana Malden, she did not delve into these questions. As long as the host was useful, that was enough.

Although Gana Malden's grades when he entered the university were not as good as those of Saotome Rei, who was the top freshman, he was still an excellent student who could enter the Apollo-Yellow Dormitory. And like Misawa Tensou from the year before last, and Dilano Kenzan from last year, he was the kind of student who was qualified to enter the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory, but could only enter the Apollo-Yellow Dormitory because of the Duel Academy's system.

He wouldn't be as eye-catching as the students in the Obelisk-Blue dormitory, nor as outgoing as the underachievers in the Red dormitory. He maintained the Yellow dormitory's consistent "low-profile" setting. However, as Saotome Rei's younger brother, he could openly appear near Jaden, perfectly meeting Yubel's various criteria and making him quite satisfied.

Especially the darker parts of his heart gave Yubel a pleasant surprise. She never expected that Gana Malden would actually be Napoleon's son, only that he didn't take Napoleon's surname because he was awarded to Napoleon's ex-wife during their divorce. No wonder Yubel felt that Napoleon was watching her while she was secretly possessing Malden's body and lying dormant, and thought that this unassuming short man had discovered something about her.

However, she managed to deceive everyone and return to the Duel Academy with the injured students. She gradually corrupted Malden's heart, excavating the darkness within him and successfully turning him into her puppet host. After collecting dueling energy and healing herself during this period, she no longer needed to successfully bewitch Amon Garlem before possessing him, as she had done before. Instead, she could possess him first, then gradually bewitch him, and finally control him, just like she did with Malden.

Killing Saotome Rei might expose him, but as long as he uses his connection with Gana Malden—his father who has always cared about him and wanted to please him, the Napoleonic coach—to get the other party to delete the surveillance footage in the stairwell, the truth will naturally be buried under this yellow sand.

Saotome Rei is a unique individual, distinct from Amon Garlem and the three students who received powers from Yubel. She has a much closer relationship with Jaden, being his admirer. Killing him would be far more effective in igniting the darkness within Jaden. Even if she fails, the mere fact that "someone died at the school" would be enough to instill fear and despair in the students, becoming nourishment for their growth!

So—just die here, Saotome Rei! This is your punishment for daring to steal Judai from me!
Under the bloodthirsty gaze of "Gana Malden"/Yubel, Saotome Rei, who was being tossed into the air, was caught by a pair of hands just as she was about to fall onto the steps, her open red uniform swaying with her movements.

"It's alright, Rei. I caught you." Shifting her gaze from the still-shaken Rei Saotome, Jaden stood up. Beneath her jellyfish-like hair were a pair of cold, yet burning, brown eyes, faintly tinged with amber, gleaming with rage. "This time you possessed Malden, you bastard!"

"Jūdai! When did you get here!?" Yubel took a step back in surprise, completely unexpected that Jūdai, who was supposed to be helping Hayato fight outside the school, would suddenly appear here. "How did you end up here?!"

The last card in Star Knights was a disappointment—a Normal Spell Card without its own archetype but with self-restriction. It's not unusable, but searching for it requires discarding a card, which is a waste, and negating it isn't a quick-play strategy. Its strength is assessed as a genuine card.