Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Upon hearing what the tenth generation said, Coach Napoleon was genuinely taken aback.

First of all, Judai's voice came from the air. Perhaps because he was moving in the air, the wind was blowing into his mouth and the voice was changing, making it difficult for Coach Napoleon to recognize who was speaking. His first reaction was to look in the direction from which the voice came and see that it was Judai who was speaking.

Then, what does "leave Malden quickly" mean? I've already confirmed that this is indeed my son—Gana Malden. Is there some danger nearby? If so, shouldn't I be pulling Malden away as soon as possible? Why did Jaden Yuki say "leave Malden"?
Despite thinking quickly, Napoleon was stunned for only three or four seconds before he could react. Suddenly, "Ghana Malden's" hand reached back and gripped his shoulder.

"Malden?"

With his back to "Ghana Malden," Napoleon the coach didn't understand why he was grabbing his shoulder. However, after grabbing Napoleon's body with his right arm to prevent him from moving freely, "Ghana Malden" also raised his left arm, revealing his left hand, which had become even more severely deformed, and pressed it against Napoleon's neck—although it was a bit short, Napoleon still had a neck.

Unlike when it first possessed the body and simply grew scales on normal human skin, Malden's left hand has now completely mutated from fingertips to elbow, covered with dark red scales. At the same time, bone spurs protrude from the body surface, and the structure of the nails has become alien and sharp, making it look exactly like a "demon arm".

When he possessed Amon Garlem's body before, his arm also underwent a mutation, but Jaden was certain that it was not as drastic as the arm of "Gana Malden" before him. The sharp nails could be used as weapons, which was the main reason why he pressed his fingers against Napoleon's neck.

—It has taken a hostage!

"Don't keep chasing me, Jaden. What's lost can never be regained no matter how hard you try. That being said, I still love you very much. In a different situation, I might happily immerse myself in a game of chasing you."

She lightly touched Napoleon's skin, a few drops of blood flowing from the broken wound onto "Gana Malden's" fingernails, and smiled at Judai, "But for now, that's enough. Don't come any closer to me!"

"In contrast, I won't go anywhere else. Why? Because the place I want is right here!"

The ground suddenly trembled, and the white gravel covering the earth began to sink and flow, instantly revealing the yellow mud that had been buried before. This was clearly not something that originally existed in this Pokémon world, but rather a part of the land that had been transferred to this world from Duel Academy Island!

The sudden tremor did not subside. Instead, after the crack appeared in the earth, several roars suddenly rang out as it swallowed the sand. The familiar sound reminded Jaden of something, and a card in the card box on John's waist also roared at the same time!
"That voice... Could it be!?"

"Boom!" Several loud noises rang out at the same time. Judai and the others noticed that seven huge, crooked obelisks were rising around the exposed muddy ground under the sand. This time, it wasn't just Judai; Asuka, Marufuji Sho, and the other people who had experienced the incident also realized what this place was.

"The Seven Essences Unlocking Gate!?"

Although the forest has disappeared and the central crater has been filled and leveled by gravel, the obelisk whose tilt angle has not changed significantly proves that this is the location where Kagemaru finally "seized" the "Three Phantom Demons" cards during the "Seven Stars" incident two years ago.

—The "Gate of the Seven Essences" that should have been located in the back mountain of the Duel Academy is also the place where the cards of the "Three Phantom Demons" were sealed!
"So, your goal is actually the 'Three Phantom Demons' cards?!" Jaden stepped forward, about to stop him. "Absolutely not! These are dangerous cards that absorb the life energy of Pokémon from all over the world just by awakening! I will never allow them to appear again!"

The impact of the "Seven Stars" incident was not simply the death of Kagemaru and a few of his duelists who had turned to the dark side. Fubuki, who had been missing for a long time, returned as "Darkness" during that incident. Misawa encountered Tanya, whom he still misses dearly, during that incident. And Daitokuji-sensei also lost his second life during that incident. No matter who it was, the impact of the "Seven Stars" incident was hard to ignore.

But more importantly, the Three Phantom Demons have an absurd concept that seems to have come up with on a whim: "absorbing the power of all the spirits in the world." In the human world, the life force they absorb is enough to make an old man like Kagemaru regain his youth.

This wasn't time reversal; rather, his lifespan was forcibly extended to several hundred years using immense life energy. Combined with the healing of his injuries, it's no surprise that Kagemaru was over a hundred years old, allowing him to appear as a robust young man in his early twenties. Theoretically, under the power of the "Three Phantom Demons," Kagemaru's actual lifespan at that time could have been four or five hundred years.

And this is still in the human world, a world where dueling energy is not abundant and is entirely produced by duelists, where not everyone can see elves and all cards contain spirits. If this were the spirit world, a world where elves are all materialized and dueling energy is abundant, Jaden and his friends would not even dare to imagine how strong the "Three Phantom Demons" could become with the help of the "Seven Spirit Gates"!

John, the "Three Phantoms," touched the card box at his waist, his expression resolute: "Your ambition will not succeed! I will not allow any elf to become your tool for mass slaughter, not even a card like the 'Three Phantoms'!"

"Heh, that's not something you can just tell me to do and expect me to obey. Just like I told you to leave my Jaden, you wouldn't listen to me." Ghana Malden glared fiercely at John, golden light emanating from her arm, causing a smirk to appear on her lips. "Look, even the 'Three Phantom Demons' buried and sealed beneath this desert are yearning for me, calling out to me!"

The energy in his hand was violently flung to the ground by "Gana Malden," and a large amount of black lightning leaped out from the gap. In just a moment, two cards were sent out, and "Gana Malden" grabbed them.

Having achieved his goal of stalling for time, Coach Napoleon was no longer of any use to him. "Gana Malden" kicked Coach Napoleon in the backside, sending him flying towards Judai and John. He then took the opportunity to retract the power attached to the two cards. The dueling energy was so abundant that it rolled around on his body as if he were wearing an outer garment. "Gana Malden" then showed a happy and enjoying expression.

"Are you alright, Coach Napoleon?" John asked with concern after catching Coach Napoleon.

Napoleon's neck was only scratched, and although it looked bloody, it was actually not bad. In fact, it was his buttocks that were kicked that hurt more.

However, the physical pain paled in comparison to the shock he felt. He gripped John's arm tightly and asked anxiously, "I'm fine, but Malden! What happened to Malden?!"

In his excitement, his usual habit of uttering "Aru" vanished. "Regarding Malden," Judai clenched his fist, feeling guilty for yet another person being harmed and manipulated by the other, and for failing in his duty as the "hero" he admired, and looked earnestly at Coach Napoleon, "In short, leave it to us. We will definitely bring him back to Coach Napoleon!"

"Huh? Why are you saying this when you brought him to me?" Instructor Napoleon was taken aback by Judai's words, his heart skipped a beat, but he tried to remain calm and said, "Marten is a student in the Yellow Dormitory, shouldn't he be handed over to Kira-sensei?"

John saw that Marufuji Sho and Asuka had also followed, and handed Napoleon over to them for care. After hearing Napoleon's words, John asked in confusion, "But wouldn't it be better to leave the child with his father? Malden is your son, Napoleon, isn't he?"

The tone wasn't even a guess, but a complete certainty. Napoleon, the instructor, said in a flustered manner, "W-why do you know about this, aru!? I don't remember announcing this in the academy. Malden doesn't seem like the type to talk about this with anyone."

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network!" Marufuji Sho suddenly shouted, then coughed, "Ahem. If Rokuzo were here, he would definitely say the same thing, right? It is said that when he was habitually investigating the past duel information of each student, he accidentally found out that Malden's former name was 'Gana Bonaparte'."

“Because the surname is not very common and happens to be the same as yours, Coach Napoleon, Wuzhe followed the clues and found out the relationship between Coach Gene and Malden.” Asuka paused and added, “However, there should be no more than ten people in the academy who know about this, and we won’t go around talking about it.”

"Please, please don't tell anyone, aru!" Coach Napoleon pleaded. "I'm worried that if my relationship with Malden is exposed, others will look at his abilities differently, aru."

"There's no need to wait for the relationship to be exposed. The strength he's shown now is already hard to ignore," Kenzan remarked, watching "Gana Malden" almost completely absorb the power of the card.

"Hmm? Only two units of power... it's still not enough." Feeling the power within his body that was just one step away from his expected level, "Gana Malden" opened his eyes, frowned, and muttered to himself, "Even in a place like this, I have to stumble, Onore Kobayashi Hayato!"

"—However, as long as I get my hands on the third 'Phantom Demon' that's right in front of me, it will still satisfy my needs." Looking at John in front of him, "Gana Malden" grinned maliciously, then looked at Judai and smiled gently, "Wait a little longer, Judai, I will soon be able to gather enough energy to create a world that will truly prevent us from being separated again and from being disturbed by others."

“I can’t pretend I didn’t hear those words, ‘Malden’!” Jaden raised his Duel Disk. “No matter how many times you take over other people’s bodies, I will expel you from their bodies just like I did when I saved Amon last time!”

John also stepped forward and stood next to Jaden, raising his Duel Disk and saying, "Count me in too, Jaden!"

Looking at John standing beside him, Judai smiled and said, "Are you coming too, John?"

“Well, after all, I can’t just ignore what they said about trying to take my card.” John replied with the same bright smile. “Although we usually jokingly call [Thunder King Harmon] a ‘distant relative’ of me and the [Jewel Beasts], we have indeed become partners during this time, and I can’t just sit by and watch him get taken away!”

"Furthermore, regarding the other two 'Phantom Demons' that were taken from us, although they claim that the 'Phantom Demons' were actively calling for them, Jaden, you can tell just as well as I can, right? The 'Phantom Demons' are terrified, terrified of the deadly aura emanating from this dangerous guy!"

“In that case, let’s all go together!” Jaden nodded and said, “Rescue Malden and the ‘Phantom Demons’!”

"We can't forget to give them a good beating too!" John looked equally spirited. "At the beginning of the semester, you and I teamed up for the first time in the human world for a duel. That duel was our first team duel in this world of elves!"

"Then let's continue like that duel and achieve another complete victory!"

Jaden seemed to remember something and said, "Don't fall down after the duel like you did last time, John."

"Don't worry, my Duel Disk is equipped with a Duel Energy Storage Device this time, so I won't be so easily defeated again," John promised earnestly. "I won't fall behind."

Judai and John were talking in tacit understanding, but Garner Malden had a gloomy look on his face. Finally, he couldn't help but say, "Enough! How much longer are you going to chat!"

"I've already gathered such immense power, and with such a terrifying threat right before my eyes, why are you still looking away from me? Look this way! Just look at me, that's enough!"

The energy emanating from "Ghana Malden" converged on his left arm, distorting it into a bizarre arm with a duel disk. The surging energy even conjured a deck of cards out of thin air: "Looks like it's necessary to take some necessary measures against you here."

"—Break your arms and legs so you can't escape from my side; cut out your tongue so you can't say hurtful things anymore; crush your soul and swallow it, so we'll never be apart again!"

In the abnormal gravity of "Gana Malden's" speech, she, Judai, and John shouted simultaneously—

"Duel!" X3 (End of Chapter)