After consecutively defeating Nightshroud and Camula, and along the way dealing with Titan, who was no longer one of the "Seven Stars," two members of the Seven Stars had now been defeated. The progress of protecting the seal of the Sacred Beasts could be said to be going quite smoothly.
However, during this process, Atticus, who had been rescued from Nightshroud, was still in an extremely weakened and critically injured state.
Part of that was due to his body being possessed by Nightshroud for far too long, and part of it was also because Youmi had accidentally finished him off in a single blow. Since it had been the same body, Atticus had no choice but to take that damage head-on as well.
As for Zane, although he had successfully turned the tables against Camula and protected the Seven Stars Gate Key, he himself had fallen unconscious from taking massive damage and exhausting his mental strength. Although he had now woken up, he would still need to stay in bed for several days.
Shadow Games inflict severe damage on both the mind and the body. Although Youmi, by virtue of being possessed by a Card Spirit, had a robust physique, the injuries she sustained in the previous Shadow Duels still caused her consciousness to blank out from time to time. She would need some time to ease these lingering aftereffects.
It was hard to imagine how badly Jaden would have ended up if duels of this level had really been left almost entirely to him like in the original.
In the conference room arranged by Principal Sheppard.
"Uh, where were we just now?" Youmi's head suddenly dipped as if she were about to fall asleep, before she jerked it back up and looked around. "Sorry, the aftereffects don't seem to have fully worn off yet…"
Everyone had already gotten used to her condition over this period. Since it was an effect left behind by Shadow Games, they simply smiled and said nothing.
Bastion pointed at a report sheet in his hand. "We were discussing the candidates for the exchange duel with the North Academy. Chazz went to the North Academy for exchange studies earlier, and this time he'll be participating as a student in the friendly exchange duel. In order to evaluate the teaching results, the exchange duel participants must be first-year students. The strongest first-years are all here right now, so Principal Sheppard asked us to arrange it ourselves."
Professor Banner added, "Professor Crowler's opinion is to send either Miss Rhodes or Misawa, after all. Youmi, your mental condition has been pretty bad lately, so you're probably not suited for dueling right now. As for Jaden… I still recommend Jaden here meow~"
Professor Crowler nodded seriously. "Of course it can't be that bottom-of-the-class Jaden, y'know. The other student sent by the North Academy will definitely be an elite among elites. If you want to take part in this duel that Principal Sheppard has entrusted with such importance, no matter how you look at it, your written exam scores can't just barely be passing, y'know!"
Jaden folded the report in his hands into a paper airplane. He hadn't expected to be called out again at a time like this.
"My written exam scores have gone up too, you know. Doesn't that also prove that my grades are improving?"
Resting her chin on her left hand, Youmi said, "Isn't that great~? Written exams have always been Jaden's weak point, but he has incredibly sharp intuition in duels."
Professor Banner chimed in, "Going from 59 to 61 points is already quite an improvement, meow~"
"Uh, then… which questions did you get wrong on the last quiz?"
Youmi's face twitched twice as she awkwardly reached up and rubbed her horns.
Jaden scratched his head, then pulled his test paper out of his bag and pointed to one of the questions. "Um, like this one… Suppose the opponent activates Black Hole, and we chain the second effect of Dragonmaid Sheou to negate and destroy it, then return itself to the Extra Deck to Special Summon House Dragonmaid. If the opponent then chains a set Call of the Haunted to Special Summon Archlord Kristya, how should this be resolved?"
"And how did you answer it?"
Jaden turned his head away in embarrassment. "I didn't know what Archlord Kristya was, so… I handed in a blank answer."
"Classic you…" After giving Jaden a simple jab, Youmi continued, "But if it's Chazz, wouldn't it be perfect to have him face Jaden in a rematch? If I remember correctly, Chazz's Dragon pile lost to Jaden before, right?"
Logically speaking, after returning from the North Academy, Chazz should already have obtained the Armed Dragon Deck. It was hard to say just how far it would be strengthened.
"Huh? Chazz actually lost to bottom-of-the-class Jaden before?" Professor Crowler hadn't known about Chazz's earlier appointment duel with Jaden.
Since his opinion of Jaden wasn't as harsh as in the first semester of the anime, he hadn't arranged for Jaden to face Chazz during the monthly exams. "How did I not know about this, y'know?"
"Ah, that was back at the start of the term. It did happen," Jaden said, pulling his HERO Deck with Flame Wingman sleeves out of his deck box and holding it out toward Professor Crowler. "In that case… let me be Chazz's opponent this time Professor Crowler"
Professor Crowler jumped in anger. "Why are you calling me Professor Crowler too now?!"
Meanwhile, aboard the submarine heading toward Duel Academy.
Principal Foster of the North Academy walked up beside Chazz, who was organizing his cards, and asked, "What are you thinking about, Chazz?"
"Ah, Principal?" Having been fully absorbed in deck construction, Chazz was startled a bit. "I was thinking that if it's all first-years, then among the students at the school, there's one opponent I absolutely want to defeat. So I've been considering my deck build. But as for him, he's probably struggling right now to fight for a spot because of his written exam scores~"
In the conference room, Jaden suddenly sneezed, the force of it knocking him and his chair straight onto the floor.
Principal Foster nodded thoughtfully. "Oh? I think I've heard you mention him before. That student called Jaden Yuki, right? The one who uses an Elemental HERO Deck? In that case, wouldn't it be good to include some tech specifically aimed at Fusion strategies? Something like Mispolymerization, for example."
"Yeah, that's already within my considerations. Though more than that, I keep wondering whether I can really bring out this deck's full power. I still end up having doubts like that."
Normally confident, Chazz had fallen into a spiral of self-doubt ever since his first loss to Jaden Yuki. Even though he had defeated fifty opponents in a row at the North Academy and claimed the top seat, he still had thoughts like this from time to time.
He looked down at the two cards in his hand.
One was Light and Darkness Dragon, which he had once obtained from Seto Kaiba.
The other was Armed Dragon LV10, which he had received from Principal Foster of the North Academy.
"There's no need for that kind of doubt, Chazz. You've performed excellently at the academy already. If it were possible, I'd really like you to stay at the North Academy long-term."
"That said, since this is an exchange program, it can't be helped. The reward for this duel is certainly important, but I don't want you to add extra burdens because of shadows left by past opponents or the pressure you're carrying. Wouldn't it be better to just relax and enjoy the duel?"
Principal Foster patted Chazz on the shoulder.
"Principal…"
Chazz was moved by his words. "I will definitely—"
"Of course, you should still do your best to win the Duel Princess reward."
"Give me back my moment!" Chazz said, but even as he complained, he packed away his deck. Thinking of his opponent and the academy he had been away from for so long, he declared, "Just wait for me, Jaden. I, Chazz Thunder, am back."
Inside his deck case, as if responding to his resolve, a yellow light began to shine.
...
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