Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Despite Marufuji Sho's question, which was not malicious but merely a friendly inquiry about his partner, O'Brien remained silent with a gloomy face.

He looked down at his hands. They had only touched a little dust when he fell, but in his vision, they looked as if they were covered in blood. The blood pool that had been unfurled by the vanished [D·hero Blood Demon-D] only intensified his hallucination.

“At that time, I ran away.” He muttered to himself, as if answering Marufuji Sho, or as if justifying his actions. “Because I was afraid? I felt that if I stayed there, everything would be over.”

"It sounds like something bad happened to you." Edward put the cards away. "Was it because of that 'Chaos Wizard' from the 'Four Heavenly Kings of the Overlord Army'?"

"We've already investigated that castle. The Chaos Wizards' followers who were gathered there have all fled, most of them unable to survive the Skeleton Priest we didn't encounter." Caesar also revealed what they had done before arriving here.

Although he appears to have "gone dark," he has actually taken good care of Fubuki's younger sister, Tenjouin Asuka, over the past few years due to Fubuki's disappearance, genuinely regarding her as his own sister. After learning from Marufuji Sho that he stayed behind to try and buy time for Judai and Sho to escape, the three of them made a special trip back to the Chaos Wizard's castle.

But nothing was left there. The Skeleton Priest had not occupied the place, the Chaos Wizard had not survived, and there was no trace of Asuka, Jim, or O'Brien.

—None of the three of them knew that the [Skeleton Priest] was dead, or that someone had already taken over the position of one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of the Overlord Army".

Upon hearing their words, O'Brien took a deep breath and said seriously, "It has nothing to do with them. Both the Skeleton Priest and the Chaos Wizard are dead. New monsters have taken their place as the 'Four Heavenly Kings'."

“You have seen their power. There are also differences in strength among the ‘Four Heavenly Kings.’ Those like the Chaos Wizard and the Skeleton Priest could even put us in dire straits at one point, but someone like the Guardian-Bao only rose to his position because of his loyalty to his master.”

Although Edward and the others would casually mention "Overlord Army" when talking about the "Four Heavenly Kings," O'Brien seemed terrified and dared not even utter the words "Overlord Army." He even deliberately avoided the word "Overlord" when talking about the object of loyalty of the Guardian-Bao.

"The real terror and despair is that person—You-Konw-Who!"

Marufuji Sho blinked, almost unable to resist making a sarcastic remark, "Voldemort has become the overlord?"

Huh? You just blurted out what was on your mind?

Marufuji Sho was stunned for a moment before turning around and realizing that the person making the comment was actually Edward. He crossed his arms and said, "Duel Monsters is really amazing. Children's stories from the real world can be designed as Duel Monsters cards?"

"Hasn't there been precedents before? Even Star Wars and Oz can be combined into a Duel Monster series—the Oz series." Caesar was naturally familiar with the deck used by the legendary professional duelist "Thief" Keith, and reminded Edward, "Besides, the 'father of Duel Monsters' is a fairy tale enthusiast, so there's nothing special about using cards adapted from children's novels, right?"

“No, it has nothing to do with Harry Potter.” O’Brien denied Ed and Caesar’s guesses and gave the answer directly without keeping them in suspense, “Ju-Judai! That, that person whose name can’t be revealed, his real identity is... Yu-Yuki Judai!”

(Emoji reference)
Despite being extremely wary of the name "Overlord" and feeling dizzy and nauseous just thinking about it, O'Brien managed to say the name by relying on his memory of the Jaden's face, which occasionally smiled smugly, and told the three people in front of him that the Overlord's true identity was Jaden!

Before Caesar and Edward could react, Marufuji Sho was the first to shout, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

He glared at O'Brien and said, "Why would you think of something like that, O'Brien? That's impossible in reality. How could my brother possibly become a 'tyrant'?"

"That hot-blooded idiot, Jaden Yuki? Or you could say that Hayato-sensei orchestrated all of this to train us, and that he plans to become the final boss who will destroy the world and challenge us. I think the latter is more likely to become a reality." Edward also found it hard to believe that Jaden would be a "tyrant."

After all, they had encountered many refugees on the road in the past two days who had been caught up in the war due to the invasion of the "Overlord Army" and were forced to flee their homes and become displaced. They had also dealt with some Overlord Army members who were not concentrated in the main camp "Overlord Castle" but were scattered in various places. They just couldn't connect the "Overlord Army" that burned, killed and looted with Yuki Judai, who was full of heroism and naive fantasy, and the "Overlord" who controlled the "Overlord Army".

Could there be another "Overlord Army" with the same name, doing things like helping old ladies cross the street every day? This strange thought even popped into his mind.

Unlike the other two, Caesar looked into the distance, in the direction O'Brien had fled from—the location of Overlord Castle. The mountains obscured the castle from view, but he could still see the dark, oppressive sky in the distance. His gaze subtle, seemingly carrying complex emotions, Caesar ultimately only said, "You've revealed your true self, Jaden Yuki."

"Hmm?" Because Caesar's voice was very soft, even Edward, who was closest to him, couldn't hear it clearly. Edward looked at Caesar in confusion, as if asking him what he had just said.

But Caesar ignored Edward and instead asked O'Brien, "Judai, he's become quite powerful, hasn't he?"

"It's not a matter of whether he's strong or not; right now, he's exuding an indescribable sense of oppression." O'Brien didn't know how to describe the Supreme King Judai in his eyes. The impression the other party had left on him had exceeded all limits; how could it be described in words?

“That’s enough.” Caesar nodded, indicating that he knew what he needed to know. “Regardless of how Jaden Yuki becomes the ‘Conqueror,’ it’s enough to know that he is still a strong man. I will defeat him!”

"If Jaden Yuki becomes the guy who commands the 'Overlord Army' with terror and despair and intends to conquer the world," Edward glanced into the distance, "then I'll have to ask him where he threw his heroism. This time, it's my turn to be the most orthodox 'Hero' fan."

Glancing at Edward and Caesar, and then at O'Brien, who remained withdrawn in fear as no one continued to question him, Marufuji Sho bit his lower lip: "I don't understand. Does everyone assume that Big Brother has really become 'Overlord'? There must be some mistake. Big Brother's Duel Disks were all left here and I'm keeping them safe. Without the Duel Disks, how could Big Brother possibly command such a terrifying 'Overlord Army'?"

"There must be some misunderstanding, right? Like, my brother was controlled by someone, became a puppet of the 'Four Heavenly Kings' of the 'Overlord Army' or something. Yes, that must be it. It's because he lacked the Duel Disks needed to resist that my brother was forced to become an 'Overlord,' used by the 'Four Heavenly Kings' to strengthen their control over the 'Overlord Army' or something—"

Marufuji Sho was about to continue speaking when O'Brien interrupted him in a cold tone: "That guy? A puppet? Ha, what are you dreaming about?"

"How could the Four Heavenly Kings possibly control that monster? Where did you think Jim went?" Looking at Marufuji Sho, whose hopes had been dashed, O'Brien relentlessly continued to reveal the cold, shocking truth, "We went to the Overlord Army's headquarters, that demonic lair called 'Overlord Castle.' Although it was poorly defended when we went, we encountered the Overlord Army returning on our way out. Under the leadership of 'Overlord,' they had just destroyed another town." "Th-th, it must be the 'Four Heavenly Kings'—"

"Still indulging in wishful thinking!" O'Brien interrupted Marufuji Sho once again. Seeing Marufuji Sho, who seemed to have guessed something because of O'Brien's earlier hint and now wore a "don't say any more" expression, O'Brien ignored his pleading eyes and shared his own fears. "There's no such thing as being controlled! 'That person' is destroying everything that lacks power, acting on their own will. It's like a reversal of the 'heroism' of the past, where people would help the weak!"

"Jim was enraged by the deaths of innocent people and dueled with 'that person,' revealing his identity through repeated attacks during the duel—it was Jaden Yuki. However, no matter how hard Jim tried to awaken his will during that duel, he failed, and in the end, 'that person' killed Jim with the duel!"

At this point, O'Brien took out Jim's last "relic" from his pocket—the "Orichalcohol Eye." "Jim also told me that 'that person' was not Jaden's second personality, a controlled will, or anything else; 'that person' was Jaden Yuki himself!"

"Stop talking!" Marufuji Sho's lower lip was already bleeding from being bitten, and his face was pale. "It's impossible, how could my brother kill someone? This is absolutely—"

"Jim was killed by his own hands, I witnessed it with my own eyes!" Just recalling the events as he recounted them, he felt something called "fear" transform into a collar tightly locking his throat, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. O'Brien transformed this unvented fear into resentment and anger, venting it on the innocent Marufuji Sho, "What do you know, what do you know!"

"No matter how much you deny reality, can you wake your older brother? Can you save Jim? You—"

Caesar remained silent, simply standing between the agitated O'Brien and the devastated Marufuji Sho.

“I’m sorry, I was a bit emotional just now.” O’Brien realized that he was in a fit of impotent rage, and his emotions were fleeting. He apologized to Marufuji Sho, who was bowing his head and sobbing. He turned around, leaned against the tree trunk, sat down, and closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

“It’s cruel to expose a child’s shattered illusions.” Edward shook his head and said, “But it’s incredible that even a mercenary who is always surrounded by death is so frightened. He’s probably the ‘Overlord’ of the Tenth Generation.”

"Are you going to stay here and take care of that terrified guy?" Caesar asked casually, glancing at O'Brien.

“How could that be?” Edward chuckled. “I already said I was going to ask Jaden who the real ‘Hero’ is now. Besides, I remember Jaden defeated you, right? If I beat Jaden, wouldn’t that indirectly prove that I’m stronger than you now?”

"Heh, don't forget that the score you challenged me with was 101:99, which is far ahead of me."

"When did you get two more points than me? It was a tie before!"

"Just now, when you unleashed my [Cyber ​​Dragon] without even leaving a single opponent, it was too embarrassing, so of course I have to deduct points from your account."

“That should only be one point!” Protesting Caesar’s unauthorized alteration of the score, Edward turned to Marufuji Sho, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown after O’Brien’s words, and said with some concern, “However, in this state, it seems that your brother, Caesar, is not suitable to continue. Otherwise, let him stay here with O’Brien—”

"No, I want to go to the Overlord Army's headquarters too!"

Wiping his eyes, Marufuji Sho, his eyes red, looked up and conveyed his thoughts to Edward: "No matter what, no matter if 'Overlord' is the eldest brother or not, I'm going there with you. Even if it's just to return the Duel Disk to the eldest brother."

Tightening the straps of his backpack, feeling the weight of Jaden's Duel Disk inside through his clothes, Marufuji Sho took a deep breath. "Besides, I need to go and check on my older brother—it's a promise."

In Marufuji Sho's mind, he couldn't help but recall a conversation he had with Jaden when Caesar was operating as "Hell Caesar".

Back then, feeling dejected because she was powerless to change Caesar, who had become completely different from before, she asked Jaden, "What if someone important to me turns bad and can't be restored?"

If I remember correctly, my older brother's answer to me at the time was—

"We can only watch. No matter how much that guy changes, he's still an important person, isn't he?" Jaden said with a smile, her arms around her head. "If it were me, I would always, always, always protect him."

“The other party has clearly changed.” “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

"But, without any reason, I will always look after that important person until the very end. That is proof of how much I cherish that person."

(The reason why Judai became a villain after turning into a tyrant in the original work, and why Maru Fujisho only watched and did nothing, is actually Judai's own words, which can be considered a boomerang.)
As if remembering something, Judai once raised his hand and tucked his pinky finger together with Maru Fujisho's, saying, "Shall we make a promise, Sho? If I change someday, you'll have to witness me until the very end, okay?"

"Huh? Big brother, you can change?" Marufuji Sho looked at Judai suspiciously and retorted, "Big brother, at most you'll just go from liking one fried shrimp to liking two, right?"

"Nonsense! I could easily eat five of them right now!"

Back then, amidst their playful banter, I made a pinky promise with my older brother: "If my brother changes, I will witness him until the very end." That was the promise we made then.

"What's promised must be kept!" Comufuji Sho revealed a resolute expression as he returned from his memories.

(Resolute expression, like :) (End of Chapter)