Teacher Dade Temple has disappeared.
After not showing up at the Red Dormitory for several days, missing classes, and even skipping teaching meetings, everyone finally began to realize this fact.
The Academy quickly sent out a rescue team to investigate all the places Teacher Dade Temple had visited before his disappearance. They also dispatched one team after another to investigate in the forest behind the Academy's hill, but so far, nothing has been found.
There are no clues, and no signs of leaving the island, as if this teacher had vanished into thin air.
Only his beloved pet, the Cat Pharaoh, remains at the Red Dormitory. Yet, this fat cat seems indifferent, continuing to eat and sleep as usual, seemingly unaffected by the absence of its 'caretaker.'
Coincidentally, the Academy is currently in a rather delicate and tense period, which naturally raises concerns about the situation of Teacher Dade Temple, who vanished during such times.
It's only natural that many have started to suspect the Seven-Star.
In the original timeline, Dade Temple was assigned a key to seal the Phantom Demon, so it made sense for him to be attacked by the Seven-Star. However, with world lines changing, the key that was supposed to be given to Dade Temple is now with Yugen, theoretically leaving him without a reason to be targeted.
But as the principal said, the Seven-Star are all reckless individuals, with vicious and ruthless methods. They might use some insidious tactics, possibly even taking hostages for blackmail.
Judai is especially worried about this. If you don't count Yugen, who is constantly trying to get extra lessons from Dade Temple in the lab, Judai is definitely the student with the closest relationship to Dade Temple in the whole school.
He even once considered dragging his roommates to join the island's search and rescue team to find traces of their teacher. However, without any clues, on such a large island, there was no way to start, and he eventually gave up under the persuasion of Sho and Hayato.
Yugen, on the other hand, doesn't care much. Not to mention the Seven-Star attacks, he is actually the strongest of the Seven-Star.
It's just that now, Dade Temple's alchemy body has probably reached its limit, and he might be going to prepare for his last arrangements. Once ready, he will naturally reappear and entrust the achievements of his life's research to his most trusted student.
Of course, Judai couldn't understand this. Although Yugen told him not to worry so much, Judai still seemed a bit listless. Even during the night Elf Realm trip he used to look forward to every day, he seemed less interested compared to before, and many times he couldn't get into the mood.
Of course, when it's time to duel, he's still quite enthusiastic.
The two teamed up for several nights in a row, making substantial progress.
Since obtaining information from Hades in the Netherworld, the two of them headed north, traveling for several days in a row. About six days' journey later, just as instructed, they indeed found an Overlord Army Camp.
Judai instantly perked up. Finding a place to duel, Judai temporarily put aside the gloom of his missing teacher, summoning his Flame Winged People to charge in first.
The two had a pleasant card duel with the camp's garrison. Judai quickly discovered that the spirits in this camp all looked fierce and evil, as if they wanted to devour people whole. Yet, as soon as you engaged in card duels, you quickly found out that they were quite easygoing.
Indeed, dueling is like music, a friendly gesture that transcends species and dimensions. You see, even demons who look so menacing become more polite after a duel.
As Hades previously indicated, the garrison here enthusiastically pointed them in the right direction. The Overlord City, starting from here, seemed to lie to the northeast, though the distance was still far, and the journey wasn't close.
Before leaving, Yugen received a batch of supplies from these enthusiastic spirits.
For example, Duel Discs from different dimensions. Although the Duel Discs growing out of the spirits themselves couldn't be taken, their armory stored some Duel Discs left by Duelists who fell from other dimensions.
There were also some card deck supplies. Although there weren't many particularly strong cards, they could still sell for quite a bit altogether.
In addition, there was some armor and equipment. Although Duelists in the Otherworld relied on their cards and didn't engage in physical combat, armor and protection weren't entirely useless.
Take Chazz for example. In the Otherworldly Dimension Chapter, the unfortunate Chazz intended to duel, only to be caught off guard as the evil elf on the other side, ignoring any rules, teleported directly behind him for a sneak attack, knocking him out before he could even play a card.
Though the scene should mainly be blamed on the new scriptwriter, it does provoke some thought.
Many of the spirit armors here are specially tempered and have magic resistance. If Chazz had been wearing armor back then, maybe that strike wouldn't have knocked him out directly, at least providing an opportunity to play a card and counterattack.
If it wasn't due to the plot, but really came down to a duel, that spirit might not have been Chazz's match.
Judai, on the other hand, obtained two mounts from the camp. But they weren't horses, but creatures resembling the Land Birds from the Final Fantasy series.
Riding them felt similar to riding horses, with reins for control. However, these birds had far superior physical attributes than Earth's horses, with greater speed and stamina, capable of running all day without gasping for breath.
Moreover, whether it's due to the training by the Overlord Army, this batch of Land Birds were quite smart. Yugen and Judai knew nothing about riding techniques, but as soon as they grabbed the reins, they quickly got the hang of it.
This made Yugen feel more like being in an open-world card dueling RPG. Advancing through maps and clearing monsters, occasionally triggering side quests in spirit villages, casually collecting new card decks, and even finding gear and mounts, providing quite an enjoyable game experience.
After leaving the Overlord Army Camp, their speed on the Land Birds drastically increased. In just two days, they covered more ground than the accumulated journeys of previous days.
Finishing their daily lessons and work, Judai eagerly pulled Yugen online again. Riding the Land Birds, after merely ten minutes, some commotion arose in the distance.
The two exchanged a glance and immediately maneuvered their reins, heading toward the sound.
Approaching the sound source, they stopped their Land Birds behind a large rock, peeking from behind it to assess the situation.
Below the rock, there was indeed a group of uniformed individuals. Dressed not like civilians but more like uniformly armored, suggesting a military unit. The soldiers were all pale, with some even showing fangs protruding from their mouths.
Yugen and Judai exchanged another glance.
Having recently interacted with a similar member within the Seven-Star, they quickly recognized the species.
This is a group of Vampires.