Yu-Gi-Oh!: Don't you have your own cards?

A grous underground base somewhere in Domino Town.

The dim, cold stone hall was filled with a musty, damp, and decaying atmosphere. The candlelight flickered eerily without any wind, occasionally scattering tiny sparks.

Malik sat on the throne, while Lyshid stood below him.

Click, click.

Suddenly, a sound of bones rubbing together came from the throne.

Lishid glanced sideways at him.

"Damn it!" Malik roared!

"This guy named Jonouchi has been wandering around the downtown area aimlessly; we can't find a single opportunity to kidnap him!"

Malik calmed himself down.

Phew~ Forget it, I'll have to take matters into my own hands and use the Millennium Staff to subdue him at close range.

Lishid felt a little embarrassed.

Lord Malik seems unusually irritable today.

"Huh? Who!"

For some reason, Lishid suddenly adopted a fighting stance, throwing the dueling disk toward the door as if facing a formidable enemy.

Malik: "What?!"

"Lord Malik! Watch out!"

"Heh heh heh heh, the guard dog is quite sharp."

In the dark corridor outside the hall, a white-haired figure had silently appeared sometime earlier.

Realizing he had been discovered, the man stopped pretending. He slowly walked towards the hall.

"You ask who I am?"

The man pulled open his light blue shirt, revealing the millennia-old wisdom wheel hidden within.

Malik's eyes narrowed slightly.

"A thousand-year cycle?"

Slowly, An Moliang emerged from the darkness.

"Hand over your millennium-old artifact! I came here specifically for it."

……

A deserted alley.

"Moshi moshi~"

"Feed, feed, feed!"

"Cough! Cough!"

In the alley, a young man surnamed You was turning a card over and over, examining it from different angles.

They looked as if they wanted to find out where the monster Katu was registered.

"Tsk! Or is it just my imagination? This [Masked Beast Death Guardian] doesn't actually have a card spirit residing within it?"

You Tian held the card up to his eyes with one hand, while constantly rubbing his chin with the other.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Oh dear, this card was stolen from Gurus after all. Since it doesn't have a host card spirit, could it be a fake card?"

"Or perhaps I should rid the world of this scourge and tear him apart?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that the Death Guardian in the card trembled slightly.

Hmph! I knew it!

You Tian's lips curled into a wicked smile.

He held the card in both hands and gently twisted it with his four fingers.

"It's going to be torn up~~"

rub!

"Master! No!"

Suddenly, an ugly monster with three masks burst out of the card.

"I'm not using a fake card! I'm using a real card! A real card!"

As the monster spoke, it gestured for You Tian to look in its direction.

"Holy crap! It's so ugly!"

Although Yutian had seen the projection of [Masked Beast Death Guardian] several times in duels, he was still genuinely startled by the terrifying appearance of this ferocious beast when he actually saw its card spirit.

"Hmph! They finally came out!"

You Tian began to examine the Death Guardian's elf.

"I tried calling you for so long, and you completely ignored me?!"

The Death Guardian looked slightly embarrassed, his two claws pressed together, like an 800-pound child who had done something wrong.

"Master, it's not that I'm ignoring you. It's just that your domineering aura is too overwhelming! I dare not easily come out and disturb you!"

Wow! She's got a sweet tongue!

You Tian eyed the Death Guardian's elf with ill intent.

"I wonder how much this card, which houses a spirit, will sell for?"

Upon hearing this, the Death Guardian's elf was clearly somewhat flustered.

He immediately prostrated himself on the ground and let out a terrible cry.

"Don't sell me, Master! Waaaaah! I want to follow you, Master! I'll do anything you ask, just let me follow you! Waaaah!"

You Tian was clearly taken aback.

Seriously, are the card sprites in this world really that loyal? They react this strongly to just saying "I'll sell you out."

When I snatched you from the Mask of Light and Darkness... Pshaw! When I won you back, you didn't jump out and gank me, did you?

"It's fine if I don't sell it to you."

Upon hearing this, the Death Guardian felt as if he had been granted a pardon, immediately standing up with a fawning smile. "Thank you, Master! Master, I love you!"

"But..."

The Death Guardian immediately knelt down again.

Seeing how quickly the ferocious beast knelt down, You Tian's eyelids twitched again.

"This is the first time I've seen card sprites. What are you all for? I can't have an ugly accessory always following me around, can I?"

Upon hearing this, the Death Guardian immediately raised his head.

"Reporting to Master, we Card Spirits are actually projections of ourselves from another world into this one. All we can do is accompany you in duels!"

You Tian pursed his lips.

"Maybe we should just sell it."

"No, no, no, Master!"

The Death Guardian's eyes darted around wildly.

"There are many people in this world who possess supernatural powers."

"They would use this power for dark duels or acts of violence."

"With a card spirit like me by your side, if you encounter those people, I can help you deal with them! I can protect you from the corruption of supernatural forces!"

Wow! I've struck gold!

You Tian was actually worried about this kind of thing.

According to the original storyline, the top eight in Duel City would be: Malik, Rishid, Isis, Mai Kujaku, Moriya, Jonouchi, Kaiba Raito, and Yugi Muto.

Now that Sister Wu has been defeated, the original storyline has changed.

However, Malik and Mo Liang should still make it to the quarterfinals, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

After all, it's only a matter of time before a leader of the Gurus, an incarnation of the great evil god Zok, manages to create six chip cards.

However, this presented him with a problem.

That is, both of them will use Dark Duel.

In the original storyline, Mai, an ordinary person, suffered severe physical and mental damage during her dark duel with Malik.

If I were to encounter these two in a duel, without some mysterious power to protect me, even if I won, I would probably suffer terribly.

Fortunately, it seems there is now a guard.

You Tian looked at the Death Guardian's elf with a mocking expression.

"You're lying!"

The Death Guardian was visibly taken aback.

"No, Master! I'm telling the truth! I would never lie to you! I truly can protect you!"

You Tian stroked his chin.

"I have no doubt about protecting me, but why do you insist on following me?"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"You can't exactly say, 'Just because I'm handsome and dashing, does that mean you have to shamelessly follow me around?'"

"Judging from your voice, you seem to be a male monster?"

The Death Guardian rubbed his hands together sheepishly.

"As expected, I couldn't hide it from my master."

"That's right, I do have ulterior motives."

You Tian nodded. "Continue."

"Actually..." The Death Guardian seemed a little shy when he said this.

"I stayed by your side because of love."

What the hell!

You Tian took several steps back.

So it really is because I'm handsome that he got lustful at first sight?!

Looking at the Death Guardian's terrifying and ugly face, You Tian's legs began to tremble.

The Death Guardian paused for a moment.

"Ah, no, no! Master, it's not you! The person I love isn't you!"

You Tian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't talk so dramatically!"

He rolled his eyes at the elf, but then You Tian was a little confused.

Not yourself? Yet you want to follow me, could it be? Is it because of Jonouchi?!

"Then who is it because of...?" You Tian asked tentatively.

"Actually, Master, there is a female card spirit residing in your deck."

Hmm! Another expert? Double good news?!

You Tian instantly became happy.

He quickly picked up his deck.

"Oh my! Who is it? Is it [Wind Spirit Master Rhine] or [Earth Spirit Master Aus]?"

"Or perhaps it's the 'Invaders of the Throne'?"

Looking at the pure and lovely girls in the pictures on the cards, You Tian couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

Just as I expected! Being transported to Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's only truly enjoyable with a cute Pokémon by my side!

"Neither," the Death Guardian said again.

You Tian frowned slightly.

"Neither of those? Then which one is it?"

As they were talking, one of the cards in Yu Tian's deck lit up. Then, a monster that Yu Tian was very familiar with appeared in front of him in the form of an elf.

"It is I, [Naji Demon]."

……

You Tian fell silent.

He glanced at the hideously ugly [Masked Beast Death Guardian] on his left, then at the [Sacrifice Demon] that had just appeared on his right, resembling a bizarre flying cup, and his entire demeanor instantly darkened.