Duels should be played with a smile.

The shock of such bizarre monsters is so intense that many people feel physically uncomfortable at first sight and instinctively cover their mouths.

With the effects of three Necromancer's Faces, the already limited deck was reduced to single digits, and Sieg's heart jumped into his throat.

"The effect of 【Computer Sakai Princess - Queen】 is that if it is banished, you can return one banished card other than this card to your deck."

The adorable empress appeared, dispelling the image of the deadly face. The petite empress also soothed the hearts of the viewers who had just been greatly disturbed.

However, the shadow in my heart will probably take some time to dissipate.

During this time, whenever they recalled that scene, they probably felt a lot of negative emotions.

Every time you reminisce, it's a Sancheck! And as we all know, it's hard for people to control their overthinking, and every time you reminisce, it deepens the memory!

I hope the audience is alright.

But Zieg was clearly in trouble.

"Main Phase Two, don't worry, your despair package has only just begun."

Ella could already sense the despair gradually emerging from Sieg, especially the moment the Necromancer's Face effect was activated and the moment the Queen retracted it.

Therefore, we will continue to intensify our efforts!

"Urgent Spell Card [Pot of Desire], recycles 2 Necromancers and 1 Stargazer Green Corridor Beast, shuffles the deck and then draws a card."

Attentive viewers caught the keywords, pulling their memories back to more than a month ago. When they saw the figure on stage again, many viewers felt a sense of familiarity.

"It's her?! She seems to have a close relationship with the Duel King?"

"It was her. No wonder she has such great strength."

Once someone discovered this, Ella's identity quickly spread, which seemed to be a suitable reason for turning Ella from a stranger in the eyes of the audience into an "old acquaintance".

Their stance quietly shifted.

Immersed in the despair she was experiencing, Ella didn't notice that the energy of despair seemed to be decreasing again from the very beginning.

"[Starcraft Flagship Beast]'s effect: Recycle banished Starcraft Key Beasts, Special Summon yourself, and activate another effect to search for Starcraft Green Corridor Beasts in your Deck."

"Starry Sky Green Corridor Beast recycles banished Starry Sky Umbrella Guardian Beasts, Special Summons itself, and adds the banished [Great Starry Sky Ultimate Dragon] to its hand!"

When this monster that wiped out the God Cards was added to Isla's hand, no one in the audience doubted Isla's identity anymore.

She must have a very close relationship with the Duel King, otherwise she would never have possessed this card.

After that duel, the title of Daisei Giri Ultimate Dragon even seemed to surpass the three Egyptian God cards—and was called by many enthusiasts the fourth Egyptian God card that belonged exclusively to Duel King.

"【Temptation of Darkness】: Draw two cards and banish one DARK monster."

The deck doesn't have many cards, and there are 3 of them that are Necromancer's Face, so the probability of not drawing them is 0%.

The Necromancer's Face, capable of stopping children's nighttime crying through physical means, has reappeared. This time, both sides' decks have been completely sent to another dimension.

Remove the Candy Clown, which is used as a Nightingale Xyz Material, and activate its effect.

"Special Summon Grand Stargazer Dragon, excluding Stargazer Flagship Beast, Stargazer Green Corridor Beast, and Candy Clown!"

"Then, rebuild the Hypernet on top of the Nightingales! Upgrade and summon [Heavenly Thunder Aeus]!"

The dragon that annihilated the phantom god and the god-slaying weapon descended. This time, the enemy was nothing more than a few small Valkyries.

"I declare! Ragnarok has come! Angels will be forever condemned to the abyss!"

The Valkyries that Sieg relied on are buried in the graveyard that represents the past, and he no longer has any cards in his hand that can break through the Great Star's blockade. His future and his deck are gone.

Past, present, and future are all nothingness.

This is utter despair.

Chapter 143 Inviting the Victims to the Stage

"Yay! I love watching women fight!"

"What a coincidence, me too."

"No, can't you guys have a little bit of gentlemanly manners? Even if there's a duel between Miss Yuki-onna and Miss Ella in the quarterfinals, you should focus more on their duel than on their appearances!"

"Hypocritical! But as a true duelist, I think you have a point. Let me put it more politely."

"Gentlemen! I love war! Clang! Clang!"

"...Never mind what I said."

There were no monsters on the field, and the appearance of Angel-type monsters was also blocked. If Sieg were a true duelist, he might have been able to pull off a guaranteed draw and stage a stunning comeback on the spot—provided he could still draw cards.

Just as he was about to win, everything vanished in the blink of an eye. The young master, who considered himself superior and determined to rebuild his family's glory, could not withstand such a huge blow and fainted in front of everyone.

It's also possible that he was faking it. After all, as long as the victor is dazzling enough, no one will remember what shameful things the defeated person did.

The tournament groups were all drawn at the beginning, so after some duels were completed, the situation of the subsequent battles was naturally clear.

Because of the unusual pairings, Yuki-onna and Ella will face off in the quarterfinals. This is why many duelists were still enthusiastically discussing who was prettier and who was stronger between Yuki-onna and Ella after Ella won and left the stage.

During the break between matches, Ella, who had just left the dueling stage, appeared beside Leyou. She didn't pay any attention to Philvo, who looked somewhat surprised, and just stared straight at Leyou without saying a word.

Feeling a little uncomfortable under Ella's gaze, Leyou, who wasn't good at dealing with this situation, thought for a long time before finally managing to utter a sentence.

"How was the harvest?"

"Ok?"

With her tall figure and mature demeanor, Ella's head tilt, a gesture that seemed to be trying to look cute, made Leyou's heart race a little.

How can we possibly withstand this?

"You're collecting despair, aren't you? It seems to be working pretty well for me?"

"A good start."

After the duel ended, Ella returned to her usual taciturn self.

At the beginning, when she created the Hellstorm, especially when the Necromancer's Face appeared, she did indeed collect a lot of Despair Power. She even discovered that there were many other dark forces mixed in with that Despair Power.

But after she pulled out the Great Star Power, and after she irresistibly sent Zieg off, all she could feel was the despair of the person opposite her.

At this moment, Ella, who didn't understand human nature very well, vaguely realized that as long as you are strong enough and you are the victor, you can gain recognition.

"You mean there's some other darkness? If I'm not mistaken, it's probably Dartz stirring things up behind the scenes... Tsk tsk tsk, it seems like getting rid of that guy completely won't be easy."

Even weaklings like Anubis and Sieg have been strengthened for strange reasons, so what kind of changes will the big, dumb guy who could only rely on fake card barriers and infinity make?

It can't be that Orichalcos is some kind of superhuman, right? What's the point of playing then!

"for you."

Perhaps because she had just collected a lot of energy, Ella conjured up another numbered card out of thin air, handed it to Leyou, and then quickly left before Leyou could even ask why it was this particular card.

Even though Ella was the first person to appear by her side, Ella's way of thinking was also the most difficult to understand. To this day, Leyou still often can't figure out what she's thinking.

This numbered card just appeared out of nowhere? And it even has a spirit residing within it?

With a helpless shrug, Leyou put away the special numbered card and continued to discuss with Philvo how to ensure the smooth progress of the next steps and how to figure out what kind of existence he was.

And Ella, Miss Ella is studying what the human heart is.

……

"Game, look at that person."

Following Xingzi's hand, Yuqi's heart skipped a beat.

"What's wrong with that person? They don't seem to have anything particularly unusual about them, do they?"

"Who? Let me see?" Rebecca, who was still clinging to the game's arm, looked towards the player's tunnel like a curious child.

"Darling! Look at that person, their back view looks just like yours!"

"W-Where? It's just your imagination, right? Hey, look over there. Jonouchi and Kaiba seem to have gone to prepare for the next match, and those other players look really strong too!"

Using clumsy methods to divert the attention of two women of the opposite sex, one on the left and one on the right, one big and one small, Youqi felt that she was struggling to keep up, while secretly admiring Leyou's ability to make the three women around her get along harmoniously.

Indeed, the other me is better; dueling is still more fun.

Recalling the time when he communicated with the other self who claimed to be from another world, Yugi's feelings were extremely complicated at this moment.

At first, the game was somewhat incredulous, and the other self residing within the Millennium Puzzle was equally skeptical.

However, after a duel that appeared to be between only two people but was actually between four, and after the future game tried to reveal the Pharaoh's true name but was repeatedly silenced, the two had no choice but to believe it.

A duel is a clash between hearts. In that duel, both Yugi and Yami Yugi felt the hearts of the other two, which were similar to their own yet even stronger. They were hearts that had become more mature after experiencing many things.

Moreover, seeing familiar monsters appear on the field of people who are almost identical to themselves, and displaying even greater power under their command, gave both Yugi and Yami Yugi a sense of enlightenment.

This time, he chose to attend as a guest, giving the opportunity to participate to his future self, which was the result of the four of them discussing it.

After that four-person duel, Yami Yugi had a private conversation with his future self. Yugi didn't ask what they talked about, but he could sense that his other self had changed a lot.

When he saw his future self participating in the competition today, the game still gave a thumbs up to the makeup artists and costume designers from Haima Company, as he himself almost didn't recognize them.

At the same time, he admired Anzu and Rebecca even more, marveling at the power of women's intuition.

……

Jaden, codenamed Friend Hero, has arrived at his next competition venue, and now he is troubled by a problem that is neither too big nor too small.

What deck should he use this time?

Normally, he would use his own hero deck.

But this place might be the past, or a parallel world. He had secretly visited his home in this time before and saw his younger self from afar.

I also saw my little self using Dark Claw and Super Fusion, having a fun duel with other kids.

Given my childhood love of dueling, I would never miss such a major tournament. So, if my past self saw myself using a Hero deck, would it have a special impact on me?

He and Atum disagreed on the timeline, so even though he had been in this world for some time, he always avoided confronting his past self—in a sense, the power of the Overlord might cause more adverse consequences than the power of the Pharaoh.

"This shouldn't be such a complicated matter, right? Why don't you choose a deck from me?"

Hubert appeared at the right moment next to Jaden, and used his power to condense several decks and placed them in front of Jaden.

Judai's expression turned even more grim.

Because he recalled certain events from his duel with Hubert.

None of the cards used by Hubert can be considered from the mortal realm.