Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

As for Marufuji Sho? He saw the elves around him wearing very little clothing, and he was already blushing with embarrassment. He felt like he was probably already in heaven. He didn't have time to care whether Kaiba Man was actually Seto Kaiba.

"Don't worry about the details, Manjoume. It's good that you're all alright. In short, all we need to do now is get out of here as soon as possible."

Jaden still remembers the original concept of the "Valley of Royal Sleep," which stated that entering and leaving required specific conditions. If they missed the period when three suns appeared in the sky, they would be trapped there and unable to leave after accidentally entering that other world.

Thinking about it carefully, the accident that happened during that camping trip was too coincidental. The location was recommended by Daitokuji-sensei, and he himself went on the picnic there. The three suns in the sky also happened to correspond to his ace monster, Helios the Three Sun Gods. Even more so, Asuka's older brother, Fubuki Tenjouin, had been there before he disappeared.

—However, it's no longer important whether that unexpected journey had anything to do with Master Daitokuji, since even Master Daitokuji has already left this world. This is what Judai thought, having missed the chance to witness Daitokuji's soul being swallowed by the Pharaoh.

Although this world differs from the "Valley of Royal Sleep" in many ways, such as the fact that the strength of the other elves besides the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is obviously incomparable to that of the Gravekeepers, and that the size of the tombs is also much larger than this cave.

However, Jaden dared not gamble that the conditions for leaving this world would be different. What if this world also only allowed leaving at a specific time, and he missed the opportunity to leave because of his own laxity? Wouldn't that be terrible?

"Leave here? Hmph, that's easy. As the ruler of this Pokémon world, my power is limitless! Sending you out wouldn't even take a second if I wanted to." Kaiba said upon hearing Jaden's words, unconsciously adding that line that someone had repeated to him many times.

Upon hearing the word "spirit" from Kaiba's mouth, Manjoume suddenly felt relieved. As far as he knew, the president of the Kaiba Group was a fanatical "science" enthusiast who insisted on explaining everything with science. It seemed that the other party was indeed not the legendary duelist Seto Kaiba, who liked trench coats and possessed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon; it was probably just a coincidence.

When Jaden heard from Kaiba that he could send them out without having to rush like last time, he breathed a sigh of relief and laughed happily. He said to Kaiba, "That's great, Mr. Kaiba. Can you help us get out of here? Please."

"Hmph, why should I help you? What good is attitude if you just want to ask for help?" The Kaiba, who had been quite agreeable just moments before, subconsciously curled his lips into a "planned" expression when he heard that Jaden needed his help. However, he managed to suppress the smile with his self-control and revealed a cold expression.

"In the world of Duel Monsters, there is only the cruel law of the jungle, and only the strong can give orders. Want my help? Then use your deck to prove that you are a 'stronger' than me, a 'weakling,' Jaden Yuki!"

As he spoke, a white light flashed from a bracelet on the Seahorse's wrist, revealing a disc-shaped device before transforming into a uniquely designed dueling disk.

Upon hearing Kaiba's words, Jaden didn't notice that Kaiba had easily called him by name even though he hadn't really introduced himself. Having already prepared himself, he glanced at the Duel Disk he was wearing: "Although I had a similar feeling after seeing the Duel Disk when I woke up, in the end, I still have to solve the problem through a duel."

"This isn't like the Jaden Yuki I know." Manjoume frowned upon hearing Jaden's mutterings. "Are you scared?"

As the saying goes, Jaden was indeed a little afraid—afraid of failure, afraid of the Dark Games. However, unlike the fear that most people understand, Jaden was afraid that if he failed, his companions who trusted him might be trapped in this world, and he was afraid of the lives lost in the Dark Games.

Even though he had fought life-or-death duels more than once before, because the final result was always Jaden's victory and no one around him was harmed as a result, Jaden knew the principle that "if a person is killed, they will die" and he would feel sad about the death of a person, but death had always been a thing that did not feel real to him - until Daitokuji "died" in front of him.

For the first time, Jaden, who had never thought about anything more and simply enjoyed the fun of dueling, felt the existence of things beyond dueling. The more burdenless a soul is, the more it will be dominated by this pressure and unable to breathe. Jaden's "fear" at this moment is that kind of thing.

However, even when it comes to fear, different people will naturally react differently. Some people will just shout and scream, some will lose consciousness due to panic, some will run away from the thing that frightens them, while others will act as if they are stomping on a cockroach, fighting with all their might while still being afraid.

Jaden was not ashamed of feeling "fear". On the contrary, he clearly knew that the fear in his heart at this moment was precisely an opportunity for him to grow.

"A duel that will cost my comrades their chance to escape? I accept, Kaiba!" Jaden said, meeting Kaiba's gaze. "This is a trial, a trial of the negative emotions within me. Only by overcoming my immature emotions can one grow."

"Is a flea that blindly leaps toward a giant elephant brave? No, it doesn't even know what fear is. True courage is knowing fear perfectly well, yet still stepping forward into the darkness without hesitation, carving a path of light through the pitch-black wasteland."

"And those kinds of people are called 'heroes'!"

Jaden took out his deck from the card box on his waist, inserted it into the Duel Disk, and unfolded it. He said to Kaiba, "A hero cannot desert his post."

"Duel!"

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"Hmph, at least you have some decent courage. But the gap between your deck and [Blue-Eyes] can't be bridged by mere 'resolve' and 'courage'." In the Duel Disk that Kaiba raised, blue light lit up in the deck slots, and Duel Monster cards appeared out of thin air like virtual projections. Finally, even the [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] behind him turned into a beam of light and entered the deck.

"Take a good look at the disparity in strength, and understand what 'complete defeat' truly means!"

"Duel!"

[Seahorse Man: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Chapter 1200 The Passing Referee

"A mysterious man in a trench coat and helmet who commands the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon and calls himself 'Kaiba Man' will face off against Jaden Yuki, the user of 'E·hero' who is known as the 'legendary underachiever'."

"Duel! Victory or defeat!"

A man wearing a nine-tube mask stood at the edge of the open space between Jaden and Kaiba, and loudly proclaimed.

"Wait, wait a minute, where did this referee come from?" Misawa Daichi complained, pointing at the "Nine of Bamboo." "And that mask... you're the one who pushed me off the shore!"

"Huh? I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm just a referee passing by, you don't need to remember me."

"Don't worry about irrelevant things, Rokusetsu. The important thing now is to get Judai to defeat that suspicious Blue-Eyes White Dragon so we can leave here."

"So we're just going to ignore that suspicious guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere?" Hearing Manjoume's words, Misawa couldn't help but say, "Also, my name is Misawa—"

"I told you, don't pay attention to those trivial things."

"My name isn't some trivial thing, is it? Show some respect for others, at least remember my name correctly!"

Jaden heard the voice of "Nine of Bamboo" and felt it sounded familiar, but he didn't recognize who it was. However, the Kaiba person who seemed to be a Card Spirit seemed to be able to see through the mask and recognized that the other person was someone he knew at a glance.

"Hmph! You're so free, aren't you? Don't you have anything better to do than come here to watch me duel?"

Hearing the disgruntled snort from the Seahorse Man, "Nine of Bamboo" spread his hands: "You're so busy, yet you still went out of your way to find a place to play cards with a few kids. What's wrong with me coming to check it out? Although I've already complained before, I still want to say it again: you're really petty, you... no, 'Seahorse Man'."

Hearing the drawn-out "Kaiba-jin" from "Kiku-kun's" mouth, which sounded strangely sarcastic, Kaiba-jin snorted coldly and ignored him, turning to Judai and saying, "Since you're the challenger, I'll let you have the first strike."

"Huh? No need, Mr. Kaiba. Since I'm the challenger, shouldn't it be natural for you to summon the monster first and then I'll attack?" Upon hearing Kaiba offer to go first, Jaden was taken aback for a moment, and then said somewhat naively.

"Are you kidding me? Blue-Eyes White Dragon goes first? And then you, trained by that inherently evil Hayato Kobayashi, are going to demonstrate the correct use of Fusion Release?"

"Are you kidding? Let Blue-Eyes White Dragon go second? Even though I don't know how many Blue-Eyes White Dragons the opponent has, even I know that Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a classic example of an aggressive deck!"

'Osiris the Red Imp, born evil!'

'What a cunning adult! Thank goodness they're not from the real world, or they'd be pathetic!'

"It doesn't matter, I'll take care of the referee!" "Nine of Bamboo" interrupted Judai and Kaiba's staring contest, "Now that we can't decide who gets the first strike, I'll make the judgment."

"It's you I choose, Seahorse Man! You get to go first!"

"What?!" The Seahorse Man looked at "Nine of Bamboo" in surprise. He had thought that "Nine of Bamboo" should be on his side. "You actually betrayed me? Ha—"

“Don’t misunderstand, Kaiba-jin.” “Kyu-tsubo” interrupted when she heard Kaiba-jin almost say “Hayato”. “The reason I specifically chose you is just to see what kind of surprised expression you would have.”

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network! You currently have three identical monster cards and two spell cards in your hand, right?"

"Nine of Bamboo" said smugly, "That's the expression you're looking at, Seahorse Man. That humiliated look. Although your hand is quite good when you're going second, it must be really tough when you're going first, right? I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of moves you'll make."

With the sound of "Nine of Bamboo," Kaiba looked down at the cards in his hand. As he had said, there were three identical 8-star LIGHT Dragon-Type Normal Monsters, as well as the Spell Card [Fusion] and the Quick-Play Spell Card [Fusion Deactivate]—this three-pronged attack, though old-fashioned, was undeniably effective.

But the premise is that he has to win the second turn, otherwise he can't even enter the battle phase. Is he going to end his turn with only a monster standing on the field and no defensive means?

Although the decision made by "Nine of Bamboo" displeased the Seahorse Man, he did not protest but accepted the result, saying, "Hmph, fine, I'll go first then, but do you think you can embarrass me like this!"

"My turn, draw a card!"

Kaiba draws a card from his deck and inserts it into his Duel Disk without even looking at it.

'Being destined to draw a card is never a privilege reserved for you or the game; true duelists can even create their own future through the cards they draw!'

'I can see it! I can see the card I drew!'

The moment he inserted the card into the Spell & Trap Zone, Kaiba announced, "I activate the Spell Card, [Hand Elimination]!"

"You didn't even look at it!?"

To Jaden's surprise, Kaiba successfully activated the inserted card, sending all his cards to the graveyard first: "[Hand Elimination] effect: Both players discard all their cards to the graveyard, and then draw the same number of cards from their decks. I have five cards in my hand, so after discarding, I can draw five more cards."

“I feel the same way.” Jaden also discarded five cards from his hand, watching with regret as cards like [Hero Arrives] and [E·Hero Skyman] were sent to the graveyard, before drawing five cards.

Seeing the five cards drawn again, Kaiba couldn't help but smirk at the corner of his mouth, which was only visible beneath his helmet. He took out a card and activated it, saying, "Activate the Spell Card [Dragon's Shrine]. Send one Dragon-Type monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. If the monster sent to the Graveyard is a Dragon-Type Normal Monster, send another one Dragon-Type monster to the Graveyard."

"Is it really this Dragon-Type monster-specific card, 'Foolish Burial'?" Since Manjoume's Dragon-Type monsters often have the type that appear in the Graveyard to activate their effects, Jaden has seen this card appear quite often in his interactions with Manjoume—meaning, in "card exchanges"—and is looking forward to seeing what kind of card Kaiba will send to the Graveyard.

Behind the seahorse, a gigantic skeleton appeared, surrounded by stone bricks, resembling an exhibition area in a museum. Inscribed on a stone slab beside the skeleton were the words "Dragons were once here." Without a doubt, these enormous skeletons were those of a dragon, or at least they once were.

After a burst of blue light appeared in Kaiba's Duel Disk, he drew a card from the top of his deck and said, "The card I'm sending to the Graveyard is this one, [Blue-Eyes Dragon of the Abyss]."

"Then, the Level 8 [Blue-Eyes Dragon] can be used with this card. The Spell Card [Resurrection Gospel] can be activated by targeting a Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster in my Graveyard—that is, the [Blue-Eyes Dragon] that was just sent to the Graveyard."

In the center of the "exhibition area" built around the dragon's skeleton, the soil broke open, and a statue slowly rose, revealing a giant stone dragon. As the blue light from the Seahorse Man Duel Disk was released and wrapped around the mud-covered stone statue, the dragon's broken body began to be repaired as if time had reversed.

With a sudden burst of light, as if by the legendary "dotting the eyes of a dragon," the stone dragon, buried underground for many years, was revived and awakened. It slowly stepped down from the statue's base and began to move its body, spreading its pure white dragon wings that grew around a ring on its back. These wings did not resemble the conventional biological structure but rather the vector nozzles of some kind of spaceship traveling between stars.

"Submit to this magnificent, divine, and dazzling light, and witness the pure white power at the end of time contained within these trembling wings!"

"In the [Gospel of Resurrection], [Blue-Eyes Dragon of the Abyss] will be Special Summoned to my field. Appear, [Blue-Eyes Dragon of the Abyss]!"

[Abyssal Blue-Eyes Dragon] [8☆/Light]

[Dragon Clan/Effect]

[2500/2500]

A magnificent dragon with a graceful, feminine body appeared on Kaiba's field. At the same time, the gems adorning the base of the two pairs of lifeless wings behind him lit up, reflecting the excess blue light back into Kaiba's hands.

"【Blue-Eyes Dragon of the Abyss】has three effects, each of which can only be used once per turn, and can only be activated if there is a 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 on my field or in my graveyard. If 【Blue-Eyes Dragon of the Abyss】is Special Summoned, its first effect is activated: I add one Ritual Spell Card or 【Fusion】 from my Deck to my hand. I chose the Ritual Spell Card, 【Chaos Form】."

After adding a card to his hand, Kaiba continued, "Next, I'm going to activate this Continuous Spell Card in my hand, [Gathering Power], and then set two cards face down."

After playing down to his last card, Kaiba revealed his final hand, saying, "The last card I'm going to activate is this one, [Life-Slicing Treasure Card]. Until I have five cards left, I'll draw from my deck!"

"Powerful cards often come with huge risks, and the 'risk' of this card is that it will discard all cards in your hand to the graveyard at the start of the fifth user's Standby Phase after activation," the referee "Nine of Bamboo" explained. "Wow, the card that Kaiba used is indeed a very risky card."

"You've been talking like that for a while now, not like you have this card or you've never used it." Not one to mince words with the referee, the Seahorse Man immediately retorted, only to be met with "Nine of Bamboo" looking around and whistling.

"A one-way 'Heavenly Treasure Card'? What an outrageous effect! Are there even cards like that on the market?" Jaden couldn't help but complain when he heard about the effect of the 'Life-Severing Treasure Card' that Kaiba mentioned.

"Why don't you think back first? Besides the legendary duelist Seto Kaiba, who else could get their hands on an authentic Blue-Eyes White Dragon card?" Manjoume, standing outside the arena, couldn't help but say. "Compared to Blue-Eyes White Dragon, even this card with its ridiculously fake effect is not that impressive."

"Although I also think it's fake, it's a pity that the original version of that card really did have that effect. Unfortunately, even in the early days of Duel Monsters, very few were released, so that only a handful of people would actually use it in public." Hearing what Manjoume said, the referee "Ku-Tong" spoke up, "However, there is news that a stripped-down version with this card's effect will be released in the next card pack."

"A censored version?" Marufuji Sho tilted his head in confusion.

"The maximum number of cards drawn has been reduced from five to three. Once activated, all damage taken by the opponent becomes zero until the end of the turn. The side effect of discarding cards is also brought forward to the end of the turn it is activated."

"In that case, is there any need to buy that card? It's too much of a stripper!" Misawa thought about the effect and felt it was pretty useless. Unless future decks can evolve to the point where three cards or even one card can unleash a sudden burst of power, but that shouldn't be the case, right? Duel Monsters shouldn't be that fast, right?

Maeda Hayato, who has a certain artistic flair and an artistic mindset that isn't outwardly apparent, has a different opinion: "The greater significance of that card's release is that it allows people who like Duel Monsters to collect early cards that they could only hear about before but never actually see."

"In other words, it's a meal replacement. This is the despicable thing about the card printers who sell nostalgia cards. It's unforgivable, Pegasus." "Nine of Bamboo" said in a tone that this card-selling strategy had nothing to do with him, but he noticed that the students who had accidentally wandered in, including Jaden who was in the middle of a duel, were all looking at him.

"Who exactly are you, you who just appeared out of nowhere? Stop trying to fob me off with that 'passing duelist' excuse. You know way too much. There are some things you probably don't even know much about in the real world!"

"I don't know much, just some things I want to know." "Nine of Bamboo" brushed off the suspicious look on Manjoume's face, changing the subject. "What kind of amazing combo will Kaiba pull off after drawing five cards in one go? Let's turn our attention back to the duel arena!"

Although awkward, "Nine of Bamboo" successfully changed the subject, causing Jaden and the others to temporarily abandon their idea of ​​investigating his identity. On the other side of Jaden, Kaiba, who drew five cards, drew one card and placed it in the Monster Zone: "This turn, I have not performed a Normal Summon yet. I Summon 'Blue-Eyes Girl' in Attack Position."

"Then I place two cards face down, and my turn ends."

Along with the phantom images of the two face-down cards, a girl with long, white hair and dressed in a beige cloth robe appeared. The ornaments attached to her clothes looked quite luxurious, adding to the girl's sacred aura.

【Blue-Eyed Girl】【1☆/Light】

[Mage Race / [redacted] / Effect]