Duels should be played with a smile.

“I have never met you, but after I defeated a Faceless One who attacked me, I obtained some fragments of memories. In those fragments, I saw a scene where you, as the headmaster, were teaching Jaden how to duel when the basic dimension still existed.”

Recalling the duel from the fragments of memory, Edward couldn't help but shudder.

Dean Leyou rarely appears in public, and even when he does, unless he's wearing his signature dean's robes, most people wouldn't associate him with the elusive dean—someone this handsome could easily be an idol, how could he possibly be the dean? Besides, the first impression of a dean is that of a kind, white-bearded old man, not a handsome guy who's always smiling.

But this seemingly approachable and handsome guy was incredibly ruthless when he was giving Jaden dueling training.

Its cruelty was several times greater than the torture he was suffering today! He didn't know how Jaden had endured it back then—which is the second reason why Edward's memory of it is so vivid.

Perhaps it was precisely because of that brutal beating that Jaden was able to transform into a tyrant and protect the entire Fusion Dimension later on?

Pulling his thoughts back from his memories, Edward revealed the most crucial information.

"Based on these two rewards, many people have come up with countless speculations, and one that I personally agree with is that the existence of these Faceless Ones may be to give us pressure and motivation, so that we cannot stop moving forward. From the first appearance of Faceless Ones, the Faceless Ones that have appeared now have improved a lot in terms of both deck strength and dueling level."

If the sole purpose is to destroy the world, then simply devouring the loser after the duel would suffice; leaving behind rewards would be redundant.

However, losing a duel with the Faceless Man won't kill you now, but it will definitely leave you severely injured. And no one can say for sure whether the ever-growing Faceless Man will one day actually take people's lives with a duel.

"If our duels stagnate and the Faceless Ones keep appearing, the future of this world may not be good."

After Edward finished his story, he came to his senses and suddenly realized that there was an extra... Duel Spirit in the conference room?

"In fact, before we met you, we also experienced an attack by unknown individuals."

The victim, the anaconda, was being held in Leyou's hand at this moment.

"However, it seems that the situation we encountered is not the same as what you described."

Darkness is something that appeared in the original work, but these Faceless Ones are unheard of.

However, besides giving Leyou a sense of déjà vu from an online game, this faceless creature also evoked another special feeling, seemingly because it was something similar that Leyou had seen in various works before.

The idea of ​​some world's will or supreme being sending trials upon humanity is pretty much like anime/manga.

"This is... the Pokémon of the Azure Lock Dragon Anaconda? I rarely see Pokémon like this, but since it's you, I can understand."

Ed looked at the Azure Lock Dragon Anaconda with interest. Even today, when elves and humans live in harmony, there are still many elves and their cards that are quite rare, and the Azure Lock Dragon Anaconda is one of them.

"As for the situation you mentioned, I don't know the details, but if we go back to the academy and ask Judai, we might get some clues."

"Anyway, I've roughly accomplished half of my goal this time. Now all I need to do is meet up with John, find out what's going on his end, and then I can head back."

Leyou nodded. Anyway, according to the Anaconda, there are currently no Whispering Spirits in the Fusion Dimension. If you want to go to other dimensions, finding Judai should be the most convenient way.

Following the usual pattern, wouldn't it be quite pleasant to go meet Judai, learn about him in this world, and then, depending on the situation, join in the fun and cause some trouble?

After consulting with Yuki-onna and Ella, and with both women saying they didn't care, Leyou planned to ask Ed when he was leaving. However, when he came to his senses, he found that Ed had left the meeting room at some point.

Not long after, Edward returned to the conference room with a serious expression.

"Something's happened. We have to head to John's place immediately."

"We just received a call. John seems to have been attacked by a newly emerged Faceless One. This Faceless One is different."

Chapter Thirty-Four: She's Going to Eat People!

In the aftermath of the dimensional upheaval, for a long time, many modes of transportation, such as airplanes, were unable to operate due to various unprecedented natural disasters—unless there were enough powerful duelists who brought their Duel Spirits to escort them.

However, the frequency of natural disasters, which used to be frequent, decreased significantly after the turmoil subsided. As a result, after the efforts of countless people, life slowly returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Leyou and his two companions were traveling with Edward in a helicopter driven by a sprinter, heading towards the location mentioned in the received message.

Following the dimensional upheaval, due to the loss of the basic dimension, many places in the merged dimension have undergone significant terrain changes. As a result, John, who was originally from another school, is now much further away from the academy. Now that an accident has suddenly occurred, it will take a lot of effort to rescue him.

Perhaps because the news of John's attack was not good, Edward, who had been so talkative before, was now rather silent.

Finally, it was Leyou who spoke up.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered that he might have come into contact with something similar to the Faceless Ones before.

However, after listening to Leyou's account, Edward gave a negative answer.

"So far, the Faceless Ones we've encountered have generally not said anything unnecessary, except for the necessary explanations during the duel. They are quite different from the talkative and arrogant type you've described."

"Is that so... But based on my deduction, that guy was most likely not from that dimension."

The guy Leyou was referring to was the one who had previously used the Dark Realm deck to fight against his Sky Striker deck. He only remembered that after being defeated, the guy escaped by some means, but he hadn't seen him cause trouble since, so he didn't pay much attention to it. However, after hearing Edward's description, he recalled the situation back then.

That guy doesn't seem like someone from the DM era, but if he's related to this era, then maybe that makes sense.

Even if it's not the Faceless One that Edward mentioned, it doesn't rule out the possibility that it's an existence similar to Darkness.

If we run into that guy this time, we absolutely have to catch him and expose him!

Ella, who was standing nearby, suddenly looked over. Just now, she felt as if something related to her had happened, but after looking left and right, she couldn't find anything noteworthy. So she went back to studying how to use her deck to get a 100% win rate when going first.

As for the person accompanying the research... it's the Yuki-onna, of course!

Thus, the Snow Woman, who had just defeated Edward and was feeling quite smug, suffered a crushing blow and was dragged to prison by Ella.

With two elves in their true forms and Edward's heroes of destiny by their side, the helicopter encountered nothing along the way and finally arrived at its destination in a relatively short time.

However, there was no trace of John. In fact, the street, which should have been crowded with people, was eerily quiet—not a single person could be seen, as if something terrible had happened not long ago.

"The situation doesn't seem to be as simple as it appears."

Summoning the Hero of Destiny, Edward began his search. Seeing this, Leyou also drew three copies of the card "Ghost" from his deck, using these insects, which possess super survival abilities and a large number of them, to help search for John's whereabouts.

Leyou had a pretty good impression of John, after all, she was the real female lead, besides Hubert, and her personality and strength were quite good, it was just that the Jade Beast system was really a bit weak.

Thinking of this, Leyou had a bad feeling – a lot of time had passed since he received the news and arrived here, and according to Edward's statement that the Faceless One was getting stronger and stronger, the possibility that John had been defeated was not small.

After a fruitless search, just as Leyou was about to send Snow Maiden and Ella separately to look for John's whereabouts, the Sprinter rushed over at super speed from the direction Edward had left earlier, bringing news that was neither good nor bad.

John was found, but he was in the middle of a duel, and LP was already on his last legs. The damage from the Dark Duel was clearly reflected in him, and he was not far from falling.

Upon finding John, Edward immediately forced his way into the duel, while simultaneously sending a sprinter to deliver a message.

"Let's go, hurry over there!"

Led by the dashing figure, the three of them rushed over, but before they could even see John and Edward, the dashing figure became illusory, leaving only the words "Go and save them" before disappearing.

Things seem to be getting a little bad...

From the moment Ed left to the moment the sprinter found him, no more than five minutes had passed. Could it be that Ed was defeated in those short five minutes?!

Just how strong is this Faceless One that has appeared this time?

Continuing to speed up, while also reminding Ella and Yuki-onna to be careful of the enemies ahead, the three continued on their way to their destination. At the same time, Leyou also began to try to contact Philvo.

At times like this, I desperately miss the all-powerful Doraemon. If she were here, she could have found John's location right away and remotely understood the situation, avoiding a lot of trouble, instead of worrying like a headless fly.

"what?"

Philvo seemed to be busy with something at the moment, and after replying to Leyou, he didn't say anything more.

The situation was probably quite urgent, and Leyou had no time for jokes. After briefly explaining the current situation, she waited for Philvo's reply.

"Wait a moment, the situation on your end... is a bit beyond my expectations."

Before long, the map navigation and remote monitoring that Leyou had been longing for appeared in front of Leyou in the form of a light screen.

There was also a reminder from Fairworth.

"As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Faceless One... You will probably encounter quite a few more in the coming days. If you have the chance, try to have the three of you personally defeat those Faceless Ones. You might make some unexpected discoveries."

“I feel that the previous anaconda attack may not have been solely due to Darkness.”

Because of the unique nature of the virtual world, Philvo did not encounter any Faceless Ones during his time there. Based on Leyou's account and the information she gathered on-site, those Faceless Ones might indeed be what Edward suspected—existing to promote the continued progress of this world.

But it seems that's not all. Whether it's a coincidence or a real connection, the Faceless Ones, like the Duel Spirits, are easily attracted to intense duels and powerful duelists.

"Alright... Anyway, we'll probably have to settle this with a duel eventually, so I'll keep an eye on things."

After hanging up the call, Leyou couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

He was an optimistic person and always fought with a smile.

That's why he hates anything that doesn't make him smile during duels.

Duels can indeed bring joy, but too many duels that involve things other than dueling themselves are not very enjoyable.

As he had told Dartz before, duels should only be for entertainment; duels mixed with too many unnecessary elements are nothing more than tools that bring pain.

In a pure duel, even if you get completely wrecked by someone's red traps or subjected to all sorts of strange and unusual attacks, after the duel ends, you can exchange a smile with your opponent and continue to have fun together next time.

However, when a duel is no longer pure, no matter how relaxed one's mindset is, things outside the duel will always interfere with the duelist's every thought and every decision.

From the carefree days of entering the academy to the mental trials brought by the demonic invasion, from his companions being corrupted by the light waves to deciding the fate of the world through duels, this series of duels, filled with too many superfluous elements, is the journey that transforms Jaden from a cheerful boy into a hero bound by responsibility.

It was these duels that made Jaden unable to say with a smile, "What a pleasant duel."

It was precisely because of the increasingly heavy duels and the pressure of classmates turning against each other that the originally pure duelist Jaden became the powerful Jaden who closed himself off.

Since arriving in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Leyou has always had a go-with-the-flow attitude and doesn't have anything he particularly wants to do. Even though he has a system, if there are no penalties, he will just slack off whenever he wants, completely ignoring the system.

Even if there are clues about his origins or secrets about his past, no one can stop him from touching them when he wants to—for example, after subduing the anaconda, if it weren't for his sudden encounter with Edward, he actually planned to explore this fused dimension first.

After all, does one's origins really matter? I've lived as an ordinary person for twenty years and I've still managed, haven't I? I haven't witnessed the end of the world.

But now, after the duel with Dartz, and after the duels with Darkness and other duelists who used duels to achieve their nefarious intentions, Leyou has a general idea in mind.

Using duels to bring smiles to people's faces—specifically referring to those malicious villains with ill intentions, who are usually bitter and resentful, with a sullen face that greatly affects the mood of those who duel with them.

So, force them to laugh through duels, and beat them until they do!

From now on, whenever you encounter those troublemakers, you must challenge them to a duel until they laugh—or simply beat them to death!

After all, it's very difficult to deal with someone who refuses to laugh and refuses to die.

You like using duels to achieve your nefarious goals? Well then, let me teach you a lesson with a duel. Just play cards, don't give me this damn nonsense!

With something on her mind, Leyou acted more quickly, and with Philvo's guidance, she soon found John and Edward.

Then I was startled by the scene before me.

What happened to John being attacked by a Faceless Man?

What's going on with these five duelists in black robes right in front of me?

John and Edward were back to back, each fighting two Faceless Men. Judging from their injuries, they were probably barely clinging to life.

In contrast, their opponents showed no signs of injury, standing there silently as if they were wooden statues.

Ed and John moved very slowly, as if they were stalling for time, and their opponents did not urge them on.