Chapter 115: The Truth

[Xie Er, LP 0]

Life Points reduced to zero; the duel's ritual concluded. The Orichalcos barrier began to spiral inward, slowly contracting toward Xie Er's location.

But at that same moment, a powerful force erupted from his Deck.

The flames of the Phoenix transformed into a towering pillar of fire, briefly shifting mid-air into the phantom image of a Phoenix. The fire swept across the entire field, its dazzling light enveloping all three participants in the duel.

After a burst of light so intense it forced eyes shut, an image appeared.

It looked like a distant, ancient battlefield where heaven and earth had fallen into endless wailing. The sky, like a torn painting, was ripped open, revealing a horrifying fissure.

Within that fissure, a terrifying Evil God seemed to dwell. Its deep, cold gaze appeared ready to devour all living beings.

Hordes of demons surged across the battlefield like a tide, their figures grotesque under the setting sun's afterglow. Some bore horns and wore armor; others spread wings to fly overhead; blood-red, ferocious demons roared with earth-shaking fury.

A cruel war erupted upon the land, flames consuming everything. A burning Phoenix fell from the sky, its feathers shimmering with brilliant light amidst the fire, its mournful cries echoing endlessly across the battlefield.

"Is this... an image from the past?" Judai murmured.

Though merely a guess, they all seemed to understand what it meant.

The forces of the Evil God invaded the Spirit World, triggering a fierce war in a dimension unknown to humanity. That fallen Phoenix was perhaps the Phoenix God of Nephthys.

This vision might be the Phoenix God indicating: "Back then, it wasn't that I didn't want to help you; I was simply too weak and died long ago..."

The fallen Phoenix dissipated, and the flames it released were absorbed into a certain stone tablet.

It seemed that since that battle, the Phoenix God's spirit had entered a sealed state. The reason it could now convey this to everyone was by relying on the residual Phoenix power it had just absorbed from the statue within these tribal ruins.

Immediately following, the scene shifted, moving from the Spirit World to the real world.

It was an ancient village nestled among surrounding mountains.

The gentle sunlight was suddenly blocked by thick dark clouds as demons surged forth from all directions like a tide. The forms of various monsters loomed indistinctly within the dark mountain forests, and the village was reduced to ruins under the demons' trampling.

Behind all those demons, beneath a sky shrouded in dark clouds, a certain pitch-black giant shadow watched everything with a ferocious grin. On that shadow's forehead was reflected the six-pointed star seal of Orichalcos.

"How could it... be like this?" Xie Er said in disbelief, murmuring.

Suddenly, he understood.

No, rather, he should have realized long ago that there were many suspicious points regarding the invasion of his village. It was just that until now, his mind had been under the influence of Orichalcos, intentionally guided to overlook these facts, making it impossible for him to think in this direction.

Now that he had lost the duel and his soul was about to dissipate, the connection to Orichalcos was finally severed. Only then could the Phoenix God find an opening to convey the truth to him.

From the very beginning, those evil spirits that invaded his homeland were summoned by the God of Orichalcos.

They staged this invasion themselves, then appeared in the guise of saviors at the moment of despair, offering Xie Er a chance to gain power. Only in this way would he willingly sell his soul and serve Dartz.

You Xuan, however, felt not the slightest surprise; he had actually guessed as much long ago.

Because this was an old trick that the old Dartz loved to use most.

The Three Knights of the old Dartz were all recruited through similar means. Relying on his power to glimpse the flow of fate, Dartz saw the potential possessed by Valon, Rafael, and Amelda, deciding that these three were destined to become Dartz's Three Knights.

Thus, Dartz manually manufactured the childhood tragedies of these three, planting seeds of darkness in their hearts, then step by step guided them to voluntarily join Dartz in pursuit of power, becoming his three strongest knights.

An old trick; nothing fresh.

After another burst of intense light, the vision vanished, and the phantom body of the Phoenix God gradually dissipated. It seemed its last shred of power had been completely burned away.

At the same time, the Orichalcos barrier had contracted until it was almost pressing against Xie Er.

"Was I wrong?" he asked softly, closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh.

"Xie Er!" Judai tried to reach out his hand toward him.

Xie Er took one last look at Judai and smiled faintly.

"You have good partners," he said. "I hope your future... can be different from mine."

Having spoken, his soul departed from his body, mixing with a pillar of green light that shot skyward, vanishing into the horizon without a trace.

This might be the first time Judai had ever witnessed with his own eyes what happened to someone who lost their soul after being defeated in a duel.

It seemed to have created quite a shock to his young mind.

Judai's expression became somewhat complex for a moment. But You Xuan remained as calm as usual, simply walking forward calmly, bending down, and plucking up the Deck.

"There is nothing else we can do," You Xuan said solemnly as he inserted the Deck into the empty card case in his bosom. "We can only inherit his will and continue moving forward."

Inheriting his Deck along with it.

Judai fell silent for a moment.

"...Mm."

"Alright, by now the sky over the academy should be brightening. Let's go back."

"..."

This time in the Spirit World, they had probably only stayed overnight, but the gains were actually considerable: a Skeleton Deck, an Insect Deck, and then also the Phoenix God and the King of Termination.

However, regarding the latter two, rather than calling them Decks, upon closer inspection they actually consisted of only a few cards each, making it hard to call them proper Decks. Strictly speaking, Xie Er's Deck was also a somewhat chaotic pile, capable of mixing several axes that had nothing to do with each other, and then stuffing in a bunch of Spell/Trap cards that were even less related as support.

Yes, this was indeed proof of a strong player.

Actually, with the blessing of spirits and having cultivated at the academy for so long, You Xuan could no longer be considered a complete outsider to the art of God Draws. Now, even when constructing his own Deck, he could be slightly bolder, but even what he considered bold amounted to merely adding a few obscure cards of unclear significance to raise the ceiling.

Every time he saw this kind of pure "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" style expert construction, he couldn't help but feel amazed.

The residual power within the Phoenix God's cards seemed to have been completely released just now; although usable, it had reverted to an ordinary card. But after seeing those images displayed by the Phoenix God, holding this card now suddenly gave a strange sense of déjà vu, like picking up an item that triggers a hidden side quest in an RPG game.

As for the King of Termination, it was hard to say. Although "The King of Termination - Demis" now appeared ordinary in You Xuan's hands, showing no sign of a spirit dwelling within, the duel just now suggested this card was not simple either.

You Xuan decided that to be cautious, he should not recklessly use such cards with unclear backgrounds for now; he would return and research and test them first.

In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, some cards are very dangerous. Some evil cards require a price to be paid to control them and might even backfire on the duelist. This card, "The King of Termination - Demis," seemed to be exactly that type.

You Xuan summoned Great Open, slicing through space with a single sword strike.

At the instant before stepping into that rift, Judai suddenly stopped in his tracks.

You Xuan turned his head to look: "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just..."

Judai looked thoughtful, pondering for several seconds.

Then he raised his head, restoring his usual sunny and optimistic smile.

"...Although many things that guy said, I can't figure them out right away. But I suddenly feel that coming to Duel Academy and meeting someone like you, You Xuan, is truly wonderful."

You Xuan smiled faintly.

"Mm, I think so too."

He turned around.

"Let's go; don't keep them waiting too long."

Judai: "Okay~"

The two stepped inside, and with another bout of heaven-spinning and earth-turning dizziness just like when they arrived, they soon landed back on solid ground, feeling slightly woozy.

It was exactly the location where they had left: the abandoned dormitory of Duel Academy, in that room covered with ancient texts and symbols of the Millennium Items.

But after landing smoothly, the first person they saw upon opening their eyes was somewhat unexpected.

It was Kaiba Mokuba.

Mokuba turned his head, saw the two land, and his eyes immediately lit up: "Ah, you're already back?"

(End of Chapter)