The office door opened, and Professor Chronos de Medici hurried inside. "What is going on, Principal?" Professor Chronos de Medici asked the moment he entered. "What do you mean Duel Academy has been infiltrated, no-ne? Why are all the students suddenly being sent back to their dorms?"
"Calm down, Professor. We still do not know the exact situation. All we know is that unauthorized people have entered Duel Academy, and both their numbers and identities are still unknown. But the Academic Affairs Office has already been deployed to investigate. We should be able to locate them soon."
Professor Chronos de Medici straightened at once. "Then please allow me to join the operation as well, Principal. I, Professor Chronos de Medici, will never allow anyone to lay a finger on our students!"
"I understand how you feel, Professor Chronos de Medici. But for now, let us observe the situation first. If there is a need, I will inform you."
"Understood, Principal."
Professor Chronos de Medici lowered his voice. "By the way, Principal, do you think they might be after those three cards?"
Principal Samejima fell silent in thought for a moment. "I do not think so. It does not match the methods of those people." He shook his head and continued, "But just in case, I have already arranged for people to inspect the Sealed Grounds."
After a pause, his expression turned solemn. "No matter what happens, the seal on those three cards must not be allowed to fail."
On Duel Academy Island, Gamma moved through the depths of the forest, stopping from time to time to crane his neck and search for some recognizable landmark. He was lost. For an intruder, that was hardly professional, but he had no choice except to accept the cruel truth that he had genuinely lost his way.
Even so, he felt this was not his fault. It was this cursed Duel Academy that had been built on such a primitive island, and spread across such a vast area. Wandering through the dark forest, he felt as though he had been trapped inside a tangled painting, with trunks and branches stretching in every direction.
"Sealing array, sealing array..."
Gamma muttered under his breath as he kept walking, until he finally pushed his way out of the thick woods. The soil beneath his feet was soft and damp, and every step stirred the rustle of fallen leaves. Everything around him looked exactly the same, from the straight tree trunks to the dense canopy overhead, as if the whole forest had been copied and pasted.
"Move six hundred meters toward four o'clock, then pass through the bushes."
Gamma silently repeated the route from the mission briefing and pushed through another cluster of shrubs. His view abruptly opened up. In front of him lay a huge empty clearing, with absolutely nothing in it.
"Damn it, where is the Phantasmal Demon Sealing Array actually hidden?"
Feeling depressed, Gamma began reflecting on which step he had gotten wrong this time. Then a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him. "Who are you?"
It was Asuka Tenjoin, who happened to be passing this way on her return to Obelisk Blue Dorm. Gamma glanced at her, thought for a moment, then gave a low snort. "Duel Academy student?"
"You came at the right time. I was just worrying about not being able to find the way, so now you can guide me."
Asuka Tenjoin retreated two steps in alarm. "You're the intruder?" Gamma did not answer. He raised his arm, and mechanical parts assembled into the shape of a Duel Disk.
A pale blue wave burst from the Duel Disk and swept outward, as though forming a barrier around the two of them. "The Duel Field has been deployed. Now you have nowhere to run," Gamma shouted, clenching his fist. "Let's do this your Duel Academy way. Duel! If I win, you must take me to the place I specify!"
Although she had no idea how things had suddenly jumped to this point, Asuka Tenjoin immediately sharpened at the mention of cards. She stepped back warily and unfolded her own Duel Disk. "If it's Duel, then I'll accept anytime."
"Duel!" x2
After the alarm sounded, Yugen and the other two immediately started back toward their dorms. Asuka Tenjoin belonged to Obelisk Blue Dorm, so she was naturally not headed the same way as them and split off midway. But when they drew close to Yellow Dormitory, Yugen suddenly stopped.
"How about you go back first, Daichi Misawa?" he said.
Daichi Misawa turned around in confusion. "They just announced intruders and put the whole school on alert. Where are you planning to go?" The moment he said it, something occurred to him. "Don't tell me you and the Student Council also want to look for those people...?"
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to the Student Council," Yugen said, waving a hand. "See you tomorrow."
Daichi Misawa thought to himself that of course he knew nothing would happen to the Student Council. It was everyone else who was more likely to run into trouble. "All right. Be careful."
After parting with Daichi Misawa, Yugen stopped heading toward Yellow Dormitory and turned back into the forest instead. "You've found the target? Are you sure they're intruders?" he asked. In spirit form, Silent Magician and Jinzo floated out to his left and right, both nodding firmly.
"They're watching me?"
Silent Magician nodded again. Yugen continued forward, muttering, "How strange. Where did this new group of fans obsessed with me come from?"
Hidden in the darkness, Alpha narrowed his eyes as he watched Yugen. "Yugen Fujiki, a first-year Ra Yellow student, yet with several astonishing recorded results," he murmured to himself. "What exactly is so special about you?"
After Yugen separated from Daichi Misawa, he suddenly turned back and entered another stretch of woods on the island. Alpha followed soundlessly behind him. Was this guy not going back to the dorm? Alpha wondered.
He suppressed the question and continued after him into the forest. One ahead and one behind, the two moved along a winding route between the trees. Alpha had no idea where the other party was going, but this direction clearly led away from the areas where teachers and students gathered and farther into the woods.
Alpha felt that this was a good sign. His mission this time was to take away the student called Yugen, and the less commotion it caused, the better. A more remote location would make it easier to act.
Night had already settled in, and thick clouds veiled the moonlight. The dimness made the forest look even more sinister, and the outlines of the trees flickered in and out of view in the dark. Branches and leaves swayed softly in the wind, as if something hidden in the forest were whispering to itself.
Alpha gradually began to feel that the atmosphere was unsettling. Then, after rounding one turn, he focused his gaze ahead and suddenly froze in shock. The figure in front of him had disappeared without him even noticing.
Where did he go?
Alpha looked around blankly. Now that he took in the dense forest again, it felt as if he were standing in the middle of a giant maze. Fragments of moonlight were sliced apart by the towering branches overhead, casting broken, twisted shadows, while a strange mist drifted through the air.
A voice spoke softly behind him. "You saw it?"
Alpha spun around and leaped back at once. When he turned, he saw that Yugen had somehow appeared behind him, standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. Beneath the dim moonlight and in the drifting mist, he looked eerie enough to make Alpha's scalp prickle.