"You want... to duel me?" Youyu confirmed once again.
Even Marik seemed unaware of this: "Sister?"
"Yes." Ishizu nodded affirmatively.
She glanced at Marik, then withdrew her gaze and looked back at Youyu.
"For three thousand years, guarding the secret of the Pharaoh's memory has been the supreme mission passed down through generations of the Gravekeeper Race," she said slowly. "Although this noble mission still remains incomplete for now, the fact is... this long vigil is finally approaching its end."
Marik stood in silent thought beside her.
Indeed, the Pharaoh's soul, which had wandered for three thousand years, finally awakened within a suitable host, and the Three Egyptian Gods have revived in the modern era. The pieces of the Pharaoh's lost memory are finally coming together.
Their mission, spanning over three thousand years, was finally nearing its conclusion. They were about to be freed from this fate's binding.
But what comes after?
Their very existence had been defined by this mission, generation after generation. And now, as this ultimate goal nears completion, what would they do with the rest of their lives?
"I am a member of the Gravekeeper Race, but I'm also a Duelist," Ishizu said. "And a Duelist can always find answers through a duel."
As she spoke, she glanced at Marik, intentionally or not.
It seemed she not only sought answers for herself but hoped Marik could also gain insight through this duel.
"...I understand now."
Youyu let out a sigh.
It wasn't the first time he'd suddenly been dragged into a card game. The Ishtar siblings had helped him a lot on this trip to Egypt, so just playing a card game didn't really matter.
And so, they quickly took their positions in the Ishtar mansion's backyard.
Though the modern Duel Discs could shuffle the decks automatically, Youyu still exchanged decks with Ishizu according to modern dueling practices before starting.
After the decks were shuffled and cut, and placed back into their Duel Discs, Youyu remembered something and half-jokingly smiled: "This time, are you going to use the Millennium Necklace to foresee the future?"
Unexpectedly, Ishizu paused, then immediately bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle: "That duel... if it left you with a bad experience, I'm very sorry..."
Her bow was so accurate and her apology so sincere that Youyu felt a bit embarrassed: "It's okay, I was just joking, don't worry about it...
...It's time to begin."
Ishizu activated her Duel Disc and nodded.
"Duel!" x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Ishizu, LP 4000]
"I go first, draw a card." Ishizu took the initiative.
Youyu started pondering.
He remembered Ishizu's deck was mainly based on Fairy-Type cards. In the original series, her ace was the Trap Card "Exchange of the Spirit," but she didn't use it last duel, so Youyu thought she probably wouldn't use it this time either.
So perhaps her deck still centered around Fairy-Types?
Maybe Counter Fairies?
"I set a Monster on the field," Ishizu summoned a Monster in face-down position, then drew another card from her hand, "and set another card, ending my turn."
This setup didn't reveal much about what kind of deck she was using.
"My turn," Youyu said, "I summon 'Breaker the Magical Warrior.'"
The mage-themed Breaker the Magical Warrior made a stylish entrance, holding a sharp silver longsword in his right hand and a red shield in his left.
[Breaker the Magical Warrior, ATK 1600]
"When Breaker the Magical Warrior is summoned, he gains a Spell Counter, increasing his attack by 300 points," Youyu explained, "but he can also remove the Spell Counter to destroy one Magic or Trap Card on the field.
I remove the Spell Counter from Breaker and destroy your set card in the back row."
[Breaker the Magical Warrior, ATK 1600 → ATK 1900 → ATK 1600]
The indicator light on Breaker's shield lit up the moment he was summoned, but immediately went out again. Breaker swung his sword, unleashing a crescent-shaped Sword Qi through the air, instantly slicing Ishizu's set card into two.
The reveal showed the true nature of the set card.
"Continuous Trap - Necrovalley Temple," Ishizu said calmly. "When this card is destroyed by an effect and sent to the graveyard, a Magic or Trap Card with 'Necrovalley' in its name from the deck is set on the field."
She drew a card from her deck.
"I set the Field Magic card 'Necrovalley' in my field zone."
Seeing that card set face-down in Ishizu's Duel Disc's field zone, the corner of Youyu's mouth twitched involuntarily.
She's playing a "Gravekeeper's Deck" after all...
It does make quite a bit of sense.
After all, the Gravekeeper Race... wouldn't they play a Gravekeeper's Deck!
However, this deck is a bit of a headache.
Not that the Gravekeeper's Deck itself is particularly strong, but its core, the card known as 'Necrovalley,' has powerful interference effects that can still cause trouble for numerous modern meta decks even years later.
Necrovalley, Field Magic Card. It negates any card effects involving the graveyard for both players and cards in the graveyard cannot be removed from play.
The literal "Valley of Eternal Rest"—as long as this field exists, monsters sent to the graveyard are essentially put into "eternal rest." For decks heavily reliant on graveyard resources, this card is devastating.
"Battle phase," Youyu said, "Breaker the Magical Warrior attacks the face-down monster on the field."
Breaker lunged forward, his sword shrouded in dark red magic power, carving a sharp trajectory through the air!
The set card flipped under the Sword Qi, revealing a bulky bald man with thick eyebrows and a big nose, resembling a pig-like Zhu Bajie from the classic tales!
[Gravekeeper's Guard, DEF 1900]
"Clang!"
The crisp sound of metal clashing rang out, Breaker's sharp blade was solidly blocked, and the recoil made him stagger back two steps.
[Youyu, LP 4000 → LP 3700]
"Gravekeeper's Guard, flip effect," Ishizu announced. "When this card is flipped face-up from face-down defense position, one monster on the field returns to its owner's hand.
I return 'Breaker the Magical Warrior' to your hand."
The bald Gravekeeper chanted a spell, and golden script enveloped Breaker's entire body. The swordsman tilted his head up, gave a low, muffled cry, and was instantly transformed into a beam of golden light, flying back into Youyu's hand.
You could say it lives up to being a "Gravekeeper's Deck," which is somewhat spiritually connected to the Netherworld...
"I set a card face-down and end my turn," Youyu concluded.