Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1816 True Name Dissolves: Yubel
"Tch, all they do is play threatening tricks," Judai said unhappily.

However, although he called the other party's methods "tricks," Jaden had to admit that the other party's threats were indeed effective against him and that he had them under his control.

If this duel were just a one-on-one duel, Jaden would simply need to fight as usual, unleashing the power of a hero. However, since it's a two-person team duel, he has to consider John's situation. The monster on the field, "Gana Malden," must be eliminated, otherwise John's situation will be in danger.

However, even though the card "Awakened Three Phantoms" has been dealt with, eliminating two "Phantoms" is still not an easy task. The "Prestige" resistance, which prevents monsters from being targeted by effects and destroyed by effects, is becoming more common with the acceleration of the game, but it is still a troublesome thing. In particular, the first battle phase of this duel can only be entered when Jaden's turn ends and the second turn of "Gana Malden" arrives. This makes it impossible for Jaden to even destroy the opponent's monsters by battle.

“This seems to be getting really bad.” John realized this after being reminded by the other person. “But don’t worry about me, Judai. Just do what you want to do.”

“Even if you say that, John, I can’t really just leave you alone.” Jaden frowned and chose to take a card from the graveyard first. “Anyway, I’ll use the power of [Winged Kuriboh LV6] in my graveyard first—once per turn, if this card is in my hand or graveyard, I can Special Summon one [E-hero] Fusion Monster or [Winged Kuriboh] that is face-up in my hand, graveyard, or on the field.”

"Except for the [E·hero Absolute Zero] in the cemetery, resurrect, Aibo!"

"Kuri Kuri!"

Winged Kuriboh LV6, cosplaying as E. Hero Flame Wingman, jumped out of the Graveyard and appeared on Jaden's field in Defense Position. Upon landing, she cautiously glanced at Gana Malden's field, and only after confirming that the card "Awakened Three Phantoms" was not there did she breathe a sigh of relief and stay on the field with peace of mind.

"【Winged Kuriboh LV6】Can be released when an opponent declares an attack or when a monster on the field activates its effect, destroying that monster and inflicting damage to the opponent equal to its original ATK." "Gana Malden," who clearly knew Jaden's cards thoroughly and easily explained their effects, smirked. "But—it's meaningless! That weakling doesn't deserve to be your 'Aibo,' Jaden. That affectionate nickname should belong to me!"

"What can its power do? My 'Phantoms' on the field have resistance that cannot be destroyed by effects, so even if the effect is not targeted, it cannot stop my 'Phantoms' from attacking!"

“Of course I know you’re right, but doing something meaningless is better than doing nothing.” Jaden glanced at his hand and played a card. “Spell Card: Pot of Greed. Return five monster cards from my Graveyard—E·Hero Shadow Mist Lady, E·Hero Solid Man, E·Hero Neos Elf, M·Hero Gust, and Multiplying G—to the Deck, shuffle them, and draw two cards.”

Although the field is not shared, Jaden and John's graveyards are still connected in this duel. Therefore, Jaden can also shuffle John's card into his own deck using the effect of "Pot of Greed" - anyway, Jaden will return this card to John after defeating his opponent.

As for Jaden not choosing to return the [N] monsters from the Graveyard to the Deck, those cards naturally have other uses.

【游城十代：1500LP，手牌4→2→3→4】

"Next, I activate this [EN Switch] card in my hand that I just searched using the effect of [E·hero Neospiel]." Although it was destroyed by "Gana Malden," the effect of [E·hero Neospiel] had still functioned correctly, allowing Jaden to search for the card. "I return one [E·hero] monster or [N] monster on my field to my Deck, and Special Summon one [E·hero] monster or [N] monster with a different name from that monster from my Deck."

"I'm going to return [E·Hero Flameman] to the deck, and then I'll Special Summon—[E·Hero Skyman]!"

If you had three copies of Sky Warrior, who wouldn't want to play as a hero? Jaden was one of those people who had three copies of Sky Warrior, although he only put one in his deck to make room for other more important cards—such as [E·Hero Winged Man]—but he hadn't actually summoned it in this duel yet.

【E·hero Sky Warrior】【DEF300】

Generally speaking, the most common use of [E·hero Skywalker] is its search function. For example, Edward often uses [Hero Arrival] to Special Summon [E·hero Skywalker] to search for [V·hero] and [D·hero], since its search effect only requires the [Hero] field. Even he would find it difficult to remove it from his deck because it is so useful.

However, for Jaden at this moment, [E·hero Sky Warrior] is the second most useful.

"When 【E·Hero Sky Warrior】is Normal or Special Summoned, you can activate one of its two effects. Here, I choose to destroy up to the number of other 【Hero】 monsters on my field!" Jaden shouted, pointing to his opponent's field. "Besides 【E·Hero Sky Warrior】, I also have two 【Hero】 monsters on my field: 【M·Hero Kamikaze】 and 【Winged Kuriboh LV6】, so I can destroy up to two Spell/Trap Cards!"

"I will destroy the opponent's Continuous Spell Card 'Seven Essences Release Gate' and Field Spell Card 'Paradise Lost'!"

"Psionic Storm!"

【M·hero Kamikaze】 and 【Winged Kuriboh LV6】 stood behind 【E·hero Sky Warrior】, and as the propellers of the wings on its back spun at high speed, they unleashed their respective powers, adding even stronger energy to the two whirlwinds created by 【E·hero Sky Warrior】, causing flashes of electricity to appear within the storm from time to time.

The seven obelisks that invaded this world were destroyed by the storm, and even Paradise Lost itself was torn apart by the tornado, returning the three to the desert where they originally were.

"Big Brother!" "Tenth Generation!"

After the duel began, Jaden and John heard the voices of Sho Marufuji and Asuka again after a long time, and couldn't help but turn around and look: "Asuka, and everyone else?"

“We haven’t seen you guys since that ‘Paradise Lost’ card was activated.” Seeing that Judai was still lively and energetic, Asuka breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, it seems like nothing happened to you guys.”

"Kenzan and I were just trying to summon monsters to rush in, but we got hurt instead." Marufuji Sho's face was a little pale, but he still smiled. "But it's good that you're alright, big brothers."

"Although everything is fine now, it doesn't mean everything will be fine in the future." The "Gana Malden" opposite him had a gloomy face as he looked at Asuka and Saotome Rei, who were trying to approach Judai, and muttered to himself, 'Why are there more and more troublesome people?' He raised his hand.

The next moment, the ground suddenly bulged up, lifting Judai, John, and "Gana Malden" all at once, until they reached a height inaccessible to anyone else on the ground. "Even though our duel wasn't over yet, you took my Judai so easily!"

"You are not allowed to attract Judai's attention!"

However, even though "Gana Malden" moved as fast as possible, Asuka and Rei, who were closest to the platform, managed to grab onto the edge of the rising sand and stone platform and were lifted up several meters above the ground.

"Asuka, Rei?!" Judai was surprised by his friends' reckless actions. "You don't need to do this. John and I will take down this guy soon, so don't worry."

“But Judai, you’re usually too reckless. How can anyone feel at ease?” Asuka climbed onto the sofa and said earnestly, “I was so worried about you and John while you were gone. Oh, and everyone else too. So now I’m going to make sure you come back safely.”

“Me too! Unlike that old woman, I’m especially worried about you, Judai-sama, far more than anyone else!” Saotome Rei followed up with Asuka, unable to tolerate her “running away”.

As Asuka gritted her teeth and said, "Who's the old woman?!" Rei looked across at Judai and John and said, "Besides, this guy stole my important little brother. Judai-sama, you should also support me, as the eldest sister, to personally confirm that you can bring Malden back."

"Oh, that's true. Taking care of your younger brother is the eldest brother's duty." Hearing Rei's words, Judai nodded, his attention easily diverted.

"Heh, really for this person's body? I doubt it. I saw it clearly, that look in your eyes... you woman, you clearly have designs on Judai!" The source of that sour voice was none other than "Maldives." She poked her chest and said, "Do you think that if I give this body back to you, you'll disappear from Judai's side?"

“In that case, I’ll just give it back to you. Anyway, I’ve already absorbed most of the dark power deep within this person’s heart, and with the power provided by ‘Phantom Demon’ just now, it’s more than enough for me to fully recover and store a considerable amount of energy. This… is not necessary.” As he spoke, without Jaden interfering with cards like [Wisdom Stone Alchemist], “Gana Malden’s” body exhibited the same behavior as when Amon was controlled before. First, the hand with the Duel Disk drooped down as if it had clipped through the fabric. Then, Malden’s entire body knelt down and collapsed forward, while in its original position, golden duel energy surged, gathered, and deformed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, although still under the control of others, [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] was able to do something else for John and the others. He caught Malden's body, which was falling to the ground, and threw it toward Judai. [M·hero Kamikaze] also made a move, using a gentle airflow as a buffer to catch Malden and hand it to Saotome Rei.

"Little Pony?!" Saotome Rei thanked [M·hero Kamikaze] for returning Malden so easily, and then, to prevent him from running away, pulled Asuka along to check on Malden's condition. Meanwhile, Judai and John stared intently at the golden energy lifeform.

The life form first took on a similar appearance to Malden, then transformed into the likeness of Amon, followed by the form of Rick, the one who had induced Professor Cobra's death. Finally, the energy began to truly reveal its original form, growing much taller and becoming slender.

Behind it, a pair of demonic bat wings spread out, and its hair stood on end in a frenzy, reflecting its mad mental state. For the first time, the golden energy life form's eyes displayed colors other than the gold of energy: one eye was orange, the other was green, and a third red eye opened on its forehead.

Under the watchful eyes of Judai and John, the energy transformed into a real substance, one half of the body possessing strong pectoral muscles, the other half displaying a mature and rounded female secondary sexual characteristic, all wrapped in a black leather outfit.

Half of her hair was purple and the other half was white, just like her half-male and half-female body. The being standing in front of John and Judai raised her left hand and casually smoothed the hair that fell in front of her forehead so that Judai could see her clearly, and also so that she could see Judai's appearance clearly with all three eyes. She/he said with a smile: "Finally, after so long, I can use my own body again."

(I wanted to post some nicer pictures, but none of them passed the review, so I'm posting the original ones, especially the sexy parts of Sister You.)

"Well then, this is how you should greet someone, even though there are still a few annoying guys around. Anyway, it's been a long time, Judai~"

"Is this the true face of the mastermind behind everything?" John didn't react to the other person's words. After all, the other person had been acting as if they knew Jaden very well from the beginning, but Jaden had said that they didn't remember the other person at all. John thought this was just another piece of nonsense from the other person. "An elf I've never seen before. No, that neither-male-nor-female, neither-human-nor-dragon appearance, is it an elf?"

He didn't notice that Judai's eyes widened suddenly after seeing the other person's plastic surgery. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his head, accompanied by indescribable complex emotions and a flood of memories that had been sealed away at some point. This caused Judai to stagger back a step, clutching his head in pain.

"Judai!?" Asuka, who was being pulled away from the dueling area by Rei, saw this and hurriedly went to help Judai, but saw that Judai waved his hand to refuse and made a gesture for them not to come near him.

With one hand covering his head, Jaden stared at the other person with an incredulous expression. Amidst the astonished gazes of the others, he suddenly spoke: "...Yubel?"

“Yuber? That sounds like a man’s name. Is it a woman?” Rei said subconsciously, then suddenly realized, “Wait, Judai-sama, do you know her?”

John and Asuka also showed surprised expressions, but neither Judai nor Yubel were paying attention to anything else while looking at each other. Yubel, the true form of the golden energy life form, showed a rather happy expression when he heard Judai's words: "Yes, it is me, Judai, the one you love deeply, the one who loves you deeply, the one you abandoned, and the one who still loves you!"

“That’s right, that’s it. Just keep looking at me like this. There’s nothing more important to us than this, isn’t there? It’s really gratifying that you recognized me at a glance, didn’t you?”

"It's so sad that you didn't recognize me before. Although I didn't appear in front of you like I do now, if it were you, my Judai, who is inseparable from me like a soul, it would be impossible for you not to recognize me. That would be too much!"

"But it's okay, as long as you give me your love, I will forgive you for everything you did wrong before, because only your love is something that must belong to me."

Looking at Yubel, who was holding her cheeks in her hands and blushing, Jaden lowered his hands and said, "Although I don't know why I only remembered you now, Yubel, what was it that made you hurt so many people!"

"Tsk, why bring up other people besides the two of us at a time like this? Judai, your rating in my heart is going to drop, probably from 10,000 to 9,999, right? But it's okay, because it'll be back to 10,000 in the next millisecond." Even though Judai looked a little angry, Yubel could only see Judai's cuteness and the side that she loved. "If you really want to ask me, is this a necessary sacrifice?"

"Don't use Hayato-sensei's words to answer such serious questions!" Jaden said angrily. "Shouldn't you be my important partner? Why, why did you do such a terrible thing? Do you know how much pain your recent actions have caused? And Professor Cobra and the others, some people have already died because of you!"

"That's why I told you! Don't mention anyone else!" Yubel was getting a little angry too. "We finally got back together, why make me unhappy at a time like this!"

"As for hurting others? Inflicting pain on others? Judai, do you even remember how many slices of bread you've eaten? Besides, 'pain is love,' isn't that exactly what you taught me?"

"Alright, Jaden, hurry up and continue your turn, because I can't wait to kill John Anderson. Then, it'll be the duel I've been waiting for, just the two of us."

Hearing the other party's urging, Jaden glanced at the card in his hand. Although he had dealt with the troublesome [Awakened Three Phantom Demons] and [Paradise Lost] one after another, now that he knew his opponent's true identity was actually the "Yubel" he knew, his mind was in turmoil, and he couldn't find his previous state.

【"Ghana Malden" → Ubel: 15400LP, Hand: 1】

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【DEF4000】

[Fantasy Emperor-Rabiel][ATK3000]

【Leviathan】【ATK3000】

Backcourt: [The Resurrection of the Demonic Realm]

[Yujo Judai: 1500LP, Hand: 4→3]

【M·hero Kamikaze】【DEF1900】

【E·hero Sky Warrior】【DEF300】

【Winged Kuriboh LV6】【DEF200】

John Anderson: 4000LP, Hand: 2

Back row: [Sapphire Beast - Topaz Tiger] [Ultimate Sapphire Beast - Rainbow Dragon] [Sapphire Beast - Emerald Turtle]

Many people don't know this little-known fact about Ubel:
On its own, Yubel's name—ユベル/Yubel—seems like a meaningless word, but when combined with its evolved German suffix, it evokes the German word übel, which sounds similar to Yubel—meaning malice or disease.

Looking deeper, simply converting "Ubel" as a name yields "Hubert," which is the same as the name Hubert used to translate "Ubel" as "Hubert."
Looking at the German suffixes, a review of modern German literary history reveals that in post-WWII Germany, during the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, a writer named Hubert Fichte openly supported the legalization of homosexuality. He was also the world's first novelist to use homosexuality as a subject—even the protagonist in the 09 film "I Killed My Mother," a film with a homosexual theme, is named after him, translated as Hubert.
Leaving Germany, Takahashi himself mentioned in an interview that he really likes Go Nagai's works, one of which is referencing Gazette from the Mazinger series, and Yubel is also a rather subtle reference.
In Devilman, Akira Fudo is a demon of humanity, a "good darkness." Asuka, whom he loves despite being driven to the battlefield and losing everything, is androgynous. Even the extremely sorrowful dragon can be compared to Seiro from Devilman.

It's as if the correspondence between Jaden and Akira Fudo is written all over their faces, and Yubel and Ryo Asuka are written on their faces. There's even a scene in Devilman where Ryo Asuka is holding Akira Fudo's corpse, which perfectly corresponds to the scene at the end of the Otherworld arc where Yubel is holding Jaden.