Chapter 288

"Hahahaha, hahahaha!"

The Legendary Flame Master laughed wildly.

Yet Judai could feel the pain within the laughter.

He did not feel the pain that had kept him from standing before; he stood up very quickly.

Golden light flickered in his eyes.

No matter the reason.

No matter how pitiful.

One should never attack or invade weaker existences!

Whether it was Professor Chi Ma Professor Chi Ma Chima Chima Lingwang or this Legendary Flame Master before him, it was not allowed!

Professor Chi Ma Professor Chi Ma Chima Chima Lingwang might have been motivated by profit, while the Flame Master before him might have been motivated solely by his own pain.

But Judai would never condone placing one's own pleasure above slaughter and destruction.

"I will defeat you this turn."

"Defeat me? You, who are already like a candle in the wind?" The Legendary Flame Master laughed loudly.

"My turn, draw—" Judai did not say much else.

The reason was simple.

He had that confidence.

"Activate Spell Card, Fusion." Judai took two monster cards from his hand and displayed them. "I will fuse Elemental HERO Bubbleman and Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin from my hand."

"This hero will send a chill down your spine!"

"Fusion Summon!"

"My hero—Level 8, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!"

Swish—

A flash of bright white appeared on the field again, only this time, it was not glowing moss, but cold ice.

The icy hero appeared on Judai's field in the most standard hero arrival pose.

Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, Level 8, Water Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 2500.

"A monster I've never seen before..." The Flame Master's expression turned serious.

Its ATK had already surpassed it!

"It's not over yet. I will also activate this card to let you witness the super-strong Fusion tactic I learned from Hikari—

Spell Card, Neos Fusion!"

Judai immediately activated the card: "This card allows me to send the materials determined by the Fusion Monster from my Deck, hand, or field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon a Fusion Monster that lists 【Elemental HERO Neos】 as a material, ignoring its summoning conditions!

After this card is activated, I cannot Special Summon until the end of the turn."

"D-Deck Fusion?" The Flame Master gritted his teeth.

It simplified the Fusion process that required gathering materials, so what was it, a Ritual Monster, supposed to do!

"I send Elemental HERO Neos from my Deck and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole from my Deck to the Graveyard."

"Special Summon—Earth Attribute Neos, Elemental HERO Grand Neos!"

Unlike Glow Neos, this Neos appeared more robust, and the spear in his right hand had been replaced by a thick drill.

Elemental HERO Grand Neos, Level 7, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 2500.

Because of the Neo-Spacian effect, its ATK changed from 2500 to 3000.

"Damn it, to break through 3000 points so easily again..." The Flame Master gritted his teeth and muttered.

Judai looked at his face-down card.

His face-down card was Blasting.

It was an Elemental HERO card that could retrieve a Normal Monster and then destroy a monster on the opponent's field with lower ATK than that monster.

At this moment, if he retrieved Neos, he could directly destroy the Flame Master.

But...

"Grand Neos's effect, once per turn, choose 1 monster on the opponent's field and return it to the hand!"

"Nebula Hole!"

Grand Neos raised his drill, aimed at the Flame Master, and under the suction, the Flame Master's figure returned to its starting position.

How could...

Its expression became increasingly ugly.

With just two monsters, it had easily gathered 5500 points of ATK!

In a situation where he had tried his best and only had 2400 points, he had completed a reversal with just four cards!

Judai slowly exhaled.

Looking at the content of the duel, in fact, the opponent really wasn't strong. Not to mention the Seal Duelists encountered in this dimension, even compared to the previous few dimensional travels, this Flame Master couldn't be considered very strong.

But...

He just felt a tightness in his chest.

"Battle!"

However.

No matter what.

He had to defeat his opponent!

Judai's two loyal spirits nodded, rushed up in response, and attacked twice, bringing the Flame Master's Life Points down to 0.

Even though it only had 200 Life Points left before.

Even though he still had 5500 Life Points!

Why—

The Legendary Flame Master struggled in pain.

"Alright, Flame Master, I won—" Judai turned back. "Tell me why you attacked this place, and also... you need to make amends—"

"Amends?" The Flame Master was stunned upon hearing Judai's words. "Hahaha—hahahaha—"

"Flame Master?"

Under the shocked gazes of Judai and the many humans and spirits present, the light curtains around them all concentrated on it, and at the same time, black smoke rose from its body.

Immediately after, violent flames rose from the ground.

"Flame Master, what are you doing!!!" Judai had originally wanted to check on the condition of the spirits, but seeing this, he rushed out immediately, wanting to stop the Flame Master.

"Big Brother! Don't go over there!!"

Kenzan and Sho hurriedly held Judai back.

"Haha... hahaha..." The Flame Master opened his eyes and knelt down powerlessly.

In the end, in its eyes, it saw its former home, saw the slaughter it had caused in this dimension, and also saw... a pitch-black figure.

The flames burned out.

Sho and Kenzan also released Judai.

Judai walked over staggeringly; he lowered his body, as if kneeling, and arrived before a card.

A card that was burned until only one-third remained, where not even the whole body could be seen.

Legendary Flame Master.

"I never wanted you to die—" Judai said painfully.

This was a complete death.

He looked around.

The spirit village, let alone its former prosperity, didn't even have a few roof beams left that hadn't turned into charcoal. The entire village was burned pitch-black, like a wilderness. Judai stood in the center of the village, feeling that the world was as absurd as a joke.

He clutched the card.

"Judai, wait for me—"

A puff of black energy dissipated from the card. He turned his head sharply but could see nothing.

In the end, he could only silently tuck the card, now burned to a single scrap, into his chest under the wordless support of his two little brothers.

That black energy...

That mass of light—

That light curtain!!

And, that voice!

Was it coming for him?

Judai wasn't sure.

He turned back to look at the spirits.

At least...

At least... he had saved these spirits.

Fortunately, there were no unreasonable people among the spirits who would ask, "Why didn't you protect our home?" or "Why did you fight that guy? Wouldn't it have been better to let him leave happily?" After this, Judai and the others received the treatment heroes deserved.

The group of spirits had basically never welcomed guests before, so they were very happy about their arrival and soon forgot their pain.

Although they had nothing to entertain Judai and the others with, as long as they were still alive, they still had hope.

After all, spirits have very long lifespans.

It was just that this treatment made Judai feel even more conflicted inside.

He hadn't done his best.

Perhaps he should have gone all out from the beginning?

Perhaps he shouldn't have spent two days fishing halfway through, otherwise he could have arrived here before the Flame Master came.

Perhaps...

Under various thoughts, Judai decided to help the spirits rebuild the village first, and then set off again.

And at this moment—

"Hmm, can we finally pass through?" Tenjou Hikari stood in front of the train station and asked curiously.

"That's right!" The Kaiba Corporation employee on the train nodded. "Tomorrow, this station will set sail again. It can go directly to the rainforest or volcanic area. Please choose your destination, students!"

Rainforest and volcano, huh...

(End of chapter)