Dark Duel, as the chairman, I have no choice but to take part in it myself!

Maybe his methods are not particularly clever, but as long as he has the information gap, You Xian will try to fool everyone he thinks it is necessary to fool. During the whole process, he will constantly change his identity to disguise himself.

For example, most of Youxian's actions in the Synchro Academy were seen by Sophia.

She had to admit that she really didn't know everything You Xian had done, and she had no idea how many identities You Xian had or how many layers of disguises he had. But when he was in the Synchro Academy, You Xian used similar means to achieve his goals.

Sophia even suspected that she had been deceived by You Xian using similar methods before, but she just hadn't found any evidence yet.

Otherwise it would be difficult to explain You Xian's strange attitude towards her and her inexplicable liking for You Xian.

It was after realizing this that Sophia always felt that You Xian was a very "illusory" person, as if his handsome face was always surrounded by a hazy mist, making it impossible to see his true appearance.

No one knows what secrets are hidden in the deepest part of the thick fog. Perhaps everything You Xian showed was just a disguise, just like the vests he put on himself, everything was the most real lie.

Even Sophia, an 'insider' who had glimpsed part of the 'truth', would never dare to say that she understood You Xian, not to mention that what she knew was only the tip of the iceberg.

Do you need to trust such a person? Trust a person who habitually hides his true appearance? Even if the other person's position is opposite to yours.

You Xian’s identity is the chairman of Shenghua, and although she herself has also become the chairman of the Synchro Academy, she still has the identity of a dark duelist.

But now, she is faced with the choice of entrusting her life to the other party. Even those seemingly most loving couples may not dare to take this gamble, right?

So, should we choose option 2? Should we let Youxian bear the corresponding risks?

No! Sophia would never do that!

Looking at the blood-red sign, all that was left on Sophia's face was pure determination and confidence.

"I'm going to choose option 1! I believe in Youxian, just like Youxian believes in me! Even if I make the wrong choice in the end, I have no regrets."

Yes, that's the choice she would make.

The fate and compatibility of the 12 stars are by no means a coincidence. Since You Xian was willing to risk being killed by a large crowd of people to rescue her and bring her back to a safe place, how could Sophia let him down?

Even though she and You Xian were not real lovers, at least at this moment she could give You Xian 100% trust, and she also firmly believed that You Xian would never let her down.

Although she really didn't understand Youxian and had no idea what was hidden deep in Youxian's heart, what did it matter?

It's no surprise that everyone has secrets they don't want others to know.

And Sophia has such a character. No one can influence her decision, not even the tempting voice around her, and not even the threat to her life!

After receiving an unexpected answer, the prompt waited for three seconds before a new word slowly emerged:

[Are you sure you want to do this? Another trial participant has most likely chosen option 2. If you make the wrong choice, you will be punished by having your heart pierced.]

[And even if you both choose option 1, you still need to pay a certain price. Is it really worth it? ]

[You deserve a better life instead of waiting to die in this dilapidated place, right? ]

Although the reminder tried to "persuade" the person who had made the mistake, it obviously could not shake Sophia's will.

The girl shook her head firmly: "This kind of seductive method is meaningless to me."

"I choose option 1! He will wait for me, no matter what! Just like I will wait for him."

Although there was no basis for her statement, Sophia's words seemed so firm and unwavering.

Price? What price could be more horrible than watching the other person die? Sophia would never agree to such an outcome.

【…】

[You have won. The first trial is over. Please go through the light gate in front of you to enter the second trial.]

[You missed a great opportunity. If you had chosen option 2, you could have gotten a powerful deck and left here, but now the trialists will have no way out.]

[Feel panic, what awaits you next will be a real choice. 】

It seemed as if the clues with darker colors appeared in front of Sophia one by one, and then quickly disappeared into the mist, replaced by a water-blue light gate.

"Sure enough, he won't let me down."

Looking at the portal in front of her, Sophia's face seemed to relax a little.

As the scarlet sign disappeared, all the spectators outside, including those from the Super Academy, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Great, as expected... as expected, they are the ones who deserve the blessing."

"It's a shame. He still has to be the chairman of our Synchronicity Academy. I think it won't be long before we have a powerful vice-president."

"Of course, Shenghua should also have an additional powerful vice-president."

"Now Shenghua should be joining forces with the Synchronicity Academy."

I have no idea what is happening in the outside world, let alone what I will face when I return.

Without any hesitation, Sophia, who had opened up a path for the future, walked straight through the door leading to the next stop in her life.

==================Dividing line================

After successfully passing through the light gate, the world that appeared in front of Sophia was no longer the foggy world, and the surroundings were obviously much brighter.

It looked like an endless green jungle here, and Sophia was at the entrance to this vast jungle.

In the center of the jungle, an ancient and solemn altar stands tall. However, due to the distance,

The stone altar has been worn down by time and looks even older, with its rough surface covered with cracks dating back thousands of years. The altar is surrounded by creeping vines and flowers, which seem to be the ancient guards, guarding this sacred land.

Of course, what Sophia noticed first was not the change of scene but a person standing not far in front of her.

You Xian, the person who had just made the same decision as her, appeared in front of her. This meant that what awaited them next would be a trial that required their "cooperation".

"..."

Neither of them spoke, they just looked into each other's eyes, and then the whole scene fell into a brief silence.

The silence lasted for a minute before both of them smiled faintly at the same time. It was a smile of relief and joy, but there seemed to be something else mixed in it.

It's something like a mixture of sugar, spices and some beautiful things. It's hard to describe it in words, but it does exist.

Watching this peaceful scene, Emperor Penguin had no intention of speaking. His eyes were on the two people in the center of the venue, but his consciousness seemed to have traveled through time and space, and glimpsed his past hidden in the deepest part of his memory.

As the train of time slowly passed through the forest, the emperor penguin, who was already 40 years old, stood there. Looking back with affectionate eyes, he saw his shadow when he was 20 years old.

When the fireworks rise, that seemingly old picture will not fade away with the years, but will only be remembered often as the years pass by.

As the former chairman of the Ritual Academy, Emperor Penguin has certainly experienced the trial of being a chairman, and his significant other at the time was also his beloved.

Once upon a time, he also faced a similar choice in a trial. Although it was different from what You Xian experienced, it had the same meaning.

At that time, he made the same choice as Youxian and Sophia. After the trial, he also looked at each other with the same expression as this scene, and then hugged the other person's body intimately in his arms.

No matter how time passes, that scene will always be engraved in his mind, because it is the proof of their love.

Coincidentally, this moment is exactly like that moment.

But...he is no longer the protagonist this time.

As someone who pursues the true meaning of 'love', he should have blessed them, but if he was asked to speak... he just couldn't do it, he just couldn't do it.

Closing his eyes with melancholy, the emperor penguin put his nostalgia and tenderness back into the deepest part of his heart. When he opened his eyes, all that was left was endless jealousy and coldness.

"I...I want to break them up. Break them up! Damn it!"

He knew what emotion was stirring in his heart, it was something called jealousy, an emotion he should not have.

However, he just couldn't control himself. The poor man was extremely tortured when he thought that his beloved had been dead for countless years, while these two damn guys in front of him were deepening their feelings during the trial.

If possible, he even wanted to personally go and push You Xian and Sophia apart, and then control the hand of one of them to kill the other, so that the one who survived would regret it for the rest of his life.

But he couldn't do it, even though he had a certain ability to interfere with the trial, he was ultimately just a bystander.

The trial will not end or change because of personal will. The emperor penguin is destined to be a jealous bystander, and the two people who have completely lost their way out must continue to move forward, even if only more difficult hardships are waiting for them.

Before Youxian and Sophia could say anything to each other, the scarlet fonts appeared one by one in front of them again.

[First of all, congratulations to both of you for passing the first test. ]

[But unfortunately, the choice you are about to face is no longer such a painless one. You will really pay a price, and only after bearing the price that ordinary people cannot bear can you continue to move forward.]

[Now move forward, towards the destination you are destined to reach. ]

Scarlet fonts appeared in front of the two people, and then quickly dissipated into the air. At the same time, a scarlet blood light appeared, pointing straight from their position to the altar in the distance.

"..."

"It seems that this hint should be for us to go there."

Although he really wanted to say something to this girl who had tacitly cooperated with him in making the choice, You Xian finally decided to put her aside for the time being.

Let's wait until the trial is over and then slowly deal with the relationship with Sophia, just the two of us in private...it's best if no one else knows.

The entanglement between him and Sophia is indeed complicated enough, and it must be sorted out as soon as possible, otherwise no one knows which direction the situation will lead.

Well, things between two people should be relatively simple, as long as other people are not involved.

Iris's side was not a big problem, she didn't seem like the kind of person who liked to talk nonsense, as for the other dark duelists...regardless of whether they were interested in what happened between him and Sophia, even if they were really interested and went out to talk nonsense, what was the point? No one would believe them at all.

"okay."

For some reason, Sophia seemed much calmer at this moment, without any of the entanglements that You Xian had.

Following behind Sophia, You Xian moved forward step by step along the soft path in the forest filled with the fragrance of soil.

Until now, he still didn't understand what this trial was about.

A simple walk? Impossible. Since the first trial was so difficult, how could the second trial be easier than the first?

Moreover... the price mentioned in the hint is really worrying. Is there any danger on the way to the altar? That doesn't matter. If there is anything that really pops up to confront me, I can just slap it.

While observing the jungle surrounded by green vines, You Xian, with his mind still a little confused, was thinking about all these random things.

However, in fact, You Xian's guess was completely wrong, because there was no danger along the way.

Their destination was not too far from the entrance of the jungle, and it only took a little time for them to easily reach their destination - the jungle altar.

The center of the altar in front of the two people was a disk with intricate patterns carved on it. Surrounding it were several smooth stone bowls filled with unknown liquids. Whenever the wind blew, the liquid in the stone bowls rippled, as if they were whispering and telling an ancient story.

Looking further from the altar, dense trees shaded the sky, and sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves onto the ground, adding a sense of mystery to this ancient land. But the deeper you look into the jungle, the more you feel a strong sense of oppression.

Well, it looks like an ordinary altar, but it doesn’t seem so ordinary.

[There are two presidents in each term of the Ritual Academy, but only one can stand in the sun, while the other can only exercise his power in secret.]

[During this process, the chairman who was hiding in the dark made sacrifices. He/she stepped into the dark path just to better help his/her other side, just like what you are about to face...]

[Just like the first trial, the second trial is equally simple. It only requires you to make a choice - a decision to sacrifice one party.]

[To enter the third level, you must sacrifice one of you as a sacrifice. ]

[Though the trial-taker as a sacrifice will not die, there is a high probability that he will become disabled, perhaps deaf or blind, anything is possible.]

[Note that this disability cannot be cured by any means and will not return to normal until five years later.]

[Choose, whether to sacrifice yourself to the other person in exchange for the other person's path to move forward or to sacrifice yourself to achieve everything for the other person. 】

[Special Tip: If you want to sacrifice a trialist other than yourself, you do not need to get the other party's consent. As long as you can defeat the other party in the duel, you can force the other party to be your sacrifice. ]

It was still a choice, but this time the choice did not leave the two people with the right to retreat. There were only two choices before them: make the decision themselves and offer to sacrifice themselves, or wait for the other party to sacrifice themselves.

As the hint disappeared, a scarlet light began to shine from the disc on the stone platform in front of You Xian, as if telling of its own ominous sign.

"Ha, these so-called trials are really something."

You Xian looked at the blood-red words and couldn't help but shook his head slightly.

He had thought that this so-called trial for the chairmanship would involve an assessment of the relationship between the two people, but even he had not expected that the trial would be so extreme.

Five years of disability is definitely not a short period of time. If it occurs during a person's golden period, it may completely ruin that person's life.

It’s like when a person with normal vision suddenly becomes blind, no one knows what he will think or how he will react.

Not being able to see anything means that most of the beautiful things in this world are gone from you, and all that is left for you is endless loneliness and pain.

And as if they were just trying to prevent the world from being in chaos, this trial also specifically mentioned that one could force the other party. It was as if they were instigating the trial-taker to take action against his or her significant other.

Five years... This is not a small price to pay. Perhaps the first hurdle only requires confidence from both sides in each other. As long as both sides can choose 1 or 2, there won't be much loss. But now it is completely different.

Of course, Youxian can also defeat Sophia through a duel and force her to become a sacrifice. Sophia will absolutely have no ability to resist him - as long as he wants.

Faced with this difficult decision, both of them fell into a brief silence.

Sophia had no intention of speaking. She just lowered her head and seemed to be whispering something.

"I--"

Just as You Xian was about to say something, Sophia suddenly stretched out a hand to stop him.

"Can you promise me something?"