Duels should be played with a smile.

Asuka's hands trembled slightly as she struggled to draw a card from her deck. When she opened it, it was Benten, which was of utmost importance to her.

Due to the tomb-guarding trap, she had no choice but to send Benten into the tomb with great pain. Now, under the double blockade of Wang Valley and the tomb-guarding trap, entering the tomb is even worse than being excluded.

"This is really... a difficult situation."

She did have cards that could clear the back row, but with King Valley and Graveyard Trap present, she simply couldn't access those cards. In addition, the Graveyard Trap cards that Isis had never seen before made Asuka's situation even worse due to her lack of information.

Not to mention, under Isis's mystical prophecy or insight, she even deprived duelists of the crucial card-drawing opportunity.

No matter how powerful a duelist is, without cards, they have nothing.

Left with no other choice, Asuka was forced to set up defenses and wait for a turning point.

In the days that followed, Asuka had already dueled with Isis many times here, but in the previous duels, Isis had used various ritual decks to duel with Asuka's Cyber ​​Angel deck.

According to Isis, this was a trial.

Isis didn't say it explicitly; she only asked that she wait here for the "destined one" so that the trial could begin after she met the first person to arrive at the temple.

Isis didn't explain what the trial entailed, or whether there would be any rewards or punishments for completing or failing it. She simply used different ritual card decks to duel with Asuka every day.

The two had quite a bit of interaction during this time, and Asuka asked Isis many questions. However, Isis gave very few direct answers, which were not enough for Asuka to gain any useful information.

During this time, what sustained Asuka in continuing her duels was only her belief in becoming stronger, and her determination to catch up with her former comrades after becoming stronger.

She had a premonition that after overcoming this trial, she would gain unexpected rewards.

She desperately needed this "gift".

"Your electronic angel is still a bit immature. If that's all you've got, you're not good enough to defeat me."

Isis, who no longer uses the Ritual Deck without bonds but instead uses her signature Gravekeeper Deck, uses a slightly inferior deck to make full use of the Gravekeeper Deck's characteristics and advantages. Asuka, who also uses her signature Cyber ​​Angel Deck, is like a child challenging a giant in front of Isis.

"Your mind is already in turmoil if you launch an attack without seeing the future clearly."

"A face-down Trap Card, [Bomb of Destiny]! Can only be activated when your opponent declares an attack. Destroy the monster with the highest ATK on your opponent's field! Inflict damage equal to the original ATK of your monster!"

"Because my graveyard contains the [reversal of the mortal and underworld], I don't need to suffer the same damage. Your LP is not enough. You have lost this duel."

In the same calm tone as before, Isis announced the end of today's duel, put away the duel disk, and turned to leave.

Just like those days before.

However, today, Isis stopped at the door, turned around, looked at Asuka who seemed to be deep in thought and questioning her life, and said, "Your strength is sufficient. It is precisely because I learned of your sufficient strength in the duel a few days ago that I will conduct a real test for you today."

"But your mind is in turmoil; you have too many things on your mind. Until you put down the burden in your heart and clear away the fog in your mind, you will not be able to unleash your full potential."

"Think carefully about what you need to remember and what you need to discard right now."

Isis possessed a magical ability to calm people down. Her gentle and persuasive advice sounded to Asuka like a kind older sister comforting her wounded heart.

Seeing that Asuka still looked sullen, Isis seemed to understand something and said again, "If there is someone in your heart, then try to think from that person's perspective. How would they act if they were in your current situation?"

After speaking, Isis didn't linger. She had already realized that Asuka's inner conflict stemmed from something outside of the duel. As for this kind of thing, she could only offer a few words of advice and couldn't do anything else to help.

Just like she did back then, when she witnessed the future being changed, she felt a stirring in her heart. If that stirring hadn't been ruthlessly shattered, she might have had some different thoughts back then.

You see, she had been burdened with the responsibility of the tomb guardians since she was old enough to understand, and had never considered anything outside of her duties. But on that occasion, at that time, her duties were forcibly broken, and she learned for the first time what the beauty of the unknown was.

However, all of these have now faded into the past, becoming part of her life's record along with her other experiences, for her to reminisce and revisit at any time.

Several days later, it's unclear what kind of mental preparation Asuka underwent, but with no changes to her deck, she was able to fight Isis to a standstill. However, thanks to the Gravekeeper deck's strong suppression of the graveyard, the strengthened Asuka still couldn't defeat Isis.

After yet another failure, Asuka stops Isis before she leaves.

Let's do it again.

"Another round? This is a trial, not a game. If you don't reflect enough after a defeat, then there's no point in having any more duels."

"I know, but in the instant of failure just now, I realized that I was being too stubborn."

Asuka's eyes seem to have changed.

Even though the confusion in her eyes hadn't completely faded, and even though she still had many questions about the path she was about to take, she already knew what she should let go of.

She came with "longing" for her companions.

Because she had fallen too far behind her friends, and the mutual understanding between them had gradually faded away due to a lack of communication.

The person walking in front only left behind their back, leaving behind a trailing figure like her. As she gazed at that figure ahead, she could only transform her past attachments into a longing that was furthest from understanding.

If you chase after someone's back while harboring hopes and dreams, you'll only ever be left behind, falling further and further behind.

The gap between pursuing and catching up is simply too huge.

"As expected... Caesar is Caesar after all. He has never been confused about his path, while I am too weak and always cling to the past."

"Now that I have acknowledged my own weakness, all I need to do is move forward boldly."

Isis took out her Duel Disk.

In her eyes, she could no longer see Asuka's thoughts as clearly as before.

There is only one thing in this world that can never be truly understood: the human heart.

"Then let's do it. I hope this duel will make me feel your determination."

"Then let's go!"

……

"Hey hey hey, young man, judging by how excited you are, you don't mean you want to duel with me right now, do you?"

"You just finished a match, so you're probably not in great shape right now, right? Even if I beat you, it would be an unfair victory, and it would be bullying a kid. If this gets broadcast live, my reputation will be ruined!"

Using an excuse he came up with in a matter of seconds, Leyou tried to dissuade Shangmo from initiating a duel, but after he said those words, the excitement in Shangmo's eyes only intensified.

"As expected! Brother Leyou, you were watching my duel from the sidelines, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have known that I had just finished my duel!"

Leyou suddenly realized that this child also had the potential to become a Grim Reaper elementary school student.

At the same time, I realized once again how foolish it is to make a mistake when you're busy.

"Don't worry about such trivial matters. I think what you need most right now is to get some rest. That duel just now was quite exhausting for you. You're still growing, so you shouldn't overexert yourself."

Leyou made up a reason that even he didn't know was true, and now all he wanted to do was run away.

Well... the main reason is that I don't want to bully children.

Of course, there's also the hope of seeing this powerful kid and the incredibly strong former Duel King, Jack Atlas, engage in a tense and exciting duel.

It would be even better if we could see Shangmo knock Jack over.

After the previous exchange and witnessing today's duel, Leyou had no doubt that this child, who was only in junior high school, had the ability to defeat Jack.

This kid... not only constructs things that are very "advanced", but he also takes things out in a completely unreasonable way.

Being able to kill Lei Jing is not something an ordinary person can do—this is one of the reasons why Le You doesn't want to duel with Shang Mo right now. Who knows what strange things he might pull out when he's on a winning streak?

"Brother Leyou! Don't underestimate me just because I'm only a middle school student! Come and have a duel with me!"

Shangmo, whose mind was now completely consumed by duels, seemed to have no other thoughts besides dueling. After saying this, he took out the Duel Disk that he had put away not long ago, and then took out a deck of cards from the seventh pocket in addition to the six pockets inside his clothes, and set it on the Duel Disk.

"In this duel, I will use the deck I finally obtained to fight you!"

Knowing he couldn't escape this duel, Leyou gave up struggling. He took out a deck and, while setting it up on the duel disk, casually asked, "So precious... what kind of deck is this?"

"Hehe, if you give me the first move, you'll know immediately."

Leyou stopped what he was doing and, with lightning speed, switched to another deck before the deck was even set up.

Young man, don't blame me for switching decks at the last minute. It's part of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and I had to try it!

……

"It's... Ryuki Takumi?"

Asuka stroked the deck that Isis had handed her, remaining silent.

The second duel didn't last long. This time, Isis's offensive didn't slow down at all, but Asuka, who understood her inner strength, also unleashed the full power of her deck, defeating Isis by maximizing the use of every card.

Then, Isis handed her a deck protected by a Meteorite Spellbook card sleeve.

As a former student of the Ritual Academy, Asuka was both familiar with and unfamiliar with the Dragon Radiance Takumi deck.

She had heard of Long Huiqiao's name countless times, but because of the special nature of this deck, she had never had the opportunity to use it.

In other words, many people in the world know about Takumi Ryuki's deck, but very few have actually used it.

All of this stems from the person who brought Takumi Ryuki, a "ritual deck that transcends rituals," to this world.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Making Long Hui Skillfully Feel Pain

[Leisure Tour: 2 PM]

[Yusa Naoma: 1 point]

"I told you... I told you not to be impatient. The duel just now has already used up too much of your luck. Look at me now, my luck is bad, and yours is even worse."

When Leyou saw that he rolled a 2, he was ready to watch Shangmo perform. But when Shangmo rolled a 1, he almost burst out laughing.

The law of conservation of character is truly undeniable!

Shangmo scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, as if defending his actions, and said, "Duel is always made up of countless unknowns... Even if my deck has a certain advantage when going first, its ability to break through when going second cannot be said to be weak."

"And... Brother Leyou, what do you think? Why don't you choose a backup plan?"

It's clear that Shangmo really wants to get the first move, which makes Leyou even more curious about Shangmo's deck.

As a kind and benevolent person, he naturally didn't need to say much about Shangmo's request.

"Since you've put it that way... my answer is, of course, I choose to go first." A wicked smile appeared on Leyou's face. The moment he saw the expression on Shangmo's face disappear, even though he felt a tiny bit of guilt for deceiving a child, the pleasure he felt at that moment dispelled that insignificant guilt.

"After all, I quite like saying no to people~"

"Enough chit-chat, Duel!"

Philvo has already sent word to Leyou that the official broadcast of his match with Shangmo is underway, so Leyou has toned it down a bit and announced the start of the duel before the live broadcast began.

As long as the bad behavior of deceiving children is not seen by others, then it is as if nothing happened.

Besides, isn't it only natural that the winner of the roll gets to go first?

This is absolutely not an excuse for his ordeal.

Although Shang Mo is young, he is quite mature. He took what just happened as a joke between the two of them. Even though they have become opponents now, they will still be friends after the duel.