In the suicide-style attack of the Evil Emperor, LP dropped to zero, and Marufuji Ryo half-knelt on the ground, hanging his head down and not rising for a long time.
He seemed to be reflecting on life, or pondering a philosophical question like "Why do people play cards when full?"
"It's... it's over..."
The student watching the live broadcast swallowed hard. Though he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason, he dared not take a breath.
It was as if he feared that speaking would disturb some terrifying entity.
Too horrifying...
Whether an illusion or not, after "Evil Emperor Gaius" appeared, he felt that the yellow-robed person's surroundings seemed to be shrouded in a disturbing dark aura, even lingering faintly after the duel ended and the projection disappeared.
It seemed to be increasingly creepy.
A few students didn't speak a word, only secretly inhaling sharply.
It's only been a few days since they last saw him, yet the Master of the Yellow Robe seems to have made another breakthrough, feeling even stronger than before.
How many people in this world now can subdue this guy...
Although they haven't checked the posts now, it's probably already erupting within the Academy's internal forum.
"Sad news! A new king is born," "The end of Caesar's undefeated legend," "The Master of the Yellow Robe is unstoppable" — contents like these are probably there.
The future of the Academy is becoming darker and darker...
Yugen walked to Caesar and extended a hand.
Kneeling on the ground, Marufuji Ryo hesitated for a moment, then grasped the hand offered to him. Yugen pulled him up.
"Are you alright?" Yugen asked with a smile.
No, not really...
Initially thinking so, Marufuji Ryo ultimately nodded: "I'm okay."
After a pause, he added, "You are indeed strong, I could feel it from the duel. It seems that the rumors are true."
"Rumors?" Yugen asked.
"They say you are already on a different level from the rest of us." Marufuji Ryo smiled helplessly, "No one in Duel Academy is a match for you anymore... It seems not at all exaggerated.
It should be that you are the absolute king of Duel Academy."
According to habit, he initially wanted to say "it was a splendid duel," but couldn't bring himself to say it...
Maybe to Yugen himself, or from the audience's perspective, it might feel like a splendid duel, anyway, for him, it was anything but splendid.
As the victim, all he could perceive was power.
"You're flattering me, it was just luck." Yugen smiled.
Marufuji Ryo pondered for a while, and couldn't help but ask, "I heard from Asuka, you guys were researching Electronic School... But I didn't expect it would yield results so soon."
"Card research works this way." Yugen smiled, "As long as you find the right direction and believe in the existence of the monster in your dreams, it does exist."
Marufuji Ryo suddenly remembered that the legendary Duel King Muto Yuugi seemed to have said something similar.
It is said that back when Muto Yuugi and Seto Kaiba first encountered the legendary Five Emperors Dragon, Yuugi fused his Chaos Warrior with Kaiba's True Ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon to form a new trump card, "Ultimate Dragon Knight."
At that time, Kaiba was quite surprised, saying that even as a card printing tycoon he didn't know these two could fuse, so how did you know the "Ultimate Dragon Knight" existed?
Then Yuugi replied, actually, he didn't know there was such a card either. But we duelists must always have faith, if you believe it exists, then it exists; if it doesn't appear, it only means your faith is not strong enough...
Is this the true essence of card printing?
Looking again at Yugen, Marufuji Ryo's expression unconsciously became more complicated.
He suddenly realized that in addition to dueling, this person may have already gone far, far in many aspects, and the rest of them could only look up.
By comparison, possessing the title of Caesar within the Academy for three years, satisfied with the status quo without seeking change, stuck at a bottleneck for a long time without breakthrough...
Maybe the years of prevailing within his environment made him complacent, assuming he had found his path, could join the ranks of top-level experts. Unbeknownst to him, the realm of dueling outside the Academy was so vast, and the path he insisted on had long reached its end.
This cannot go on.
"I lost. According to Duel City rules, this is a Puzzle Card."
Marufuji Ryo handed the Puzzle Card to Yugen, then unveiled another card.
Yugen raised an eyebrow.
Good heavens... Electronic Ultimate Dragon?
Even he was a bit surprised, looking curiously at Caesar: "Electronic Ultimate Dragon? But isn't it..."
"Yes, it is my trump card, my soul, still my most important old friend. Until now, no matter what kind of challenges, it was always overcome with it."
Marufuji Ryo gazed somewhat lost at the card in his hand.
"But maybe at some point, I relied too much on the old friend.
Before, I thought this was my dueling style, always achieving victory with an old friend. But the battle with you made me realize perhaps those were just grand words.
The truth is, maybe I just relied on it too much. So maybe it's time to stand up and find a new path as a duelist."
Yugen pondered for a moment.
Hm, it seems the effect of this match was good, Caesar seems to have realized it early, though who knows if he might overthink.
This person won't have a breakdown from now on, right...
"The competition requires the loser to hand over a rare card; this is indeed my rarest card." Marufuji Ryo said seriously, "I hope you will accept it."
Yugen looked at him earnestly.
Then pushed his hand back.
"No, you keep it."
Marufuji Ryo: "Huh?"
"You've realized this, that is enough. As a duelist, you surely can go further."
Yugen smiled.
"If you must insist, then let's compromise, give me that one."
He pointed at Marufuji Ryo's Card Deck.
"Cyber Twin Dragons."
Marufuji Ryo was stunned.
Not the Termination Dragon, but the Twin Dragons?
He had more than two of both Termination Dragon and Twin Dragons, but in terms of rarity and card value, Twin Dragons were naturally far less than his Electronic Ultimate Dragon, after all, the Termination Dragon was the treasure of the Electronic School.
"Yes, Cyber Twin Dragons are fine." Yugen smiled, "If you find your path and become stronger in the future, then come and duel again.
Then if you win, this Twin Dragons will be returned to you. How about that?"
Marufuji Ryo suddenly felt like he understood his intention.
In fact, during the duel he felt more than once that the opponent seemed to be trying to tell him something through the duel.
His current thoughts, the realizations he gained, seemed to be the result of the opponent intentionally guiding him.
Perhaps... he is trying to enlighten me through the way of the duel?
And now this proposal, perhaps is also a way to encourage me to improve?
Indeed, he could feel that this person is already on a different level, and during this duel, he felt Yugen was always skillful and relaxed.
Not like evenly matched opponents going all out, but rather like a veteran expert guiding a younger one with potential.
Feeling he understood, the frustration brewed during the duel vanished considerably, and gratitude even surged in his heart.
He took out a Cyber Twin Dragons as promised and handed it to Yugen, nodding heavily: "Deal. I will get stronger, and one day return to reclaim it."
Yugen accepted the Cyber Twin Dragons with satisfaction.
Cyber Twin Dragons, GET. World Championship deck completion +1.
What? Electronic Ultimate Dragon?
Isn't that besides being expensive, it's nothing but a useless fish?
Caesar would even have to thank me.