Chapter 379: The Oriole Behind

"Aaaargh, lost."

Judai lay flat on the ground with his limbs spread out.

"No way, Mr. Koyo is really strong."

Hibiki Koyo walked up and sat down beside him with a smile.

"I was the one who was surprised, Judai is also really strong." He said, "I didn't expect there to be a duelist in the world who has such a deep bond with heroes and such passion for dueling like you.

Honestly, even I feel a bit ashamed."

"Ahahahaha, everyone often says so."

Judai scratched his head, but then remembered something.

"Oh right, just now during the duel, it seemed... like you were a bit uncomfortable..."

Hibiki Koyo was silent, only turning his gaze elsewhere.

In his ears, it sounded like a hallucination, a whisper like a demon.

"Duel, then burn out your remaining life, world champion Hibiki Koyo..."

As if from the deepest dark abyss, a pair of evil eyes stared at him, letting out a ferocious laugh.

"Every time you draw a card, it's like the Deck you call 'Life' is decreasing."

"But even so, you can't stop, right?"

"As a duelist..."

"..."

Hibiki Koyo closed his eyes lightly.

"Mr. Koyo?"

Judai sat up and shouted worriedly. Hibiki Koyo then came back to his senses.

"Sorry... I'm fine."

Then he silently took out the glasses from the inside of his jacket and put them on, then reached out and patted Judai's shoulder lightly.

"A very happy duel, thank you, Judai. It's really great to meet a child like you in the final arena."

"I'm also very happy to meet you, Mr. Koyo..." Judai was a bit dazed, "But what does 'final arena' mean?"

Hibiki Koyo smiled lightly and didn't explain.

"You should also grow into a top-tier duelist in the future. Then you must remember." He said earnestly to Judai, "No matter when, and no matter what kind of opponent you are fighting, don't forget today's mood.

You must know how to enjoy the duel, use the duel to bring happiness, you must become that kind of duelist."

"Hmm... oh."

Judai nodded blankly.

But in his view, this seemed to be a matter of course.

Isn't dueling originally the happiest thing in the world?

"Alright."

Hibiki Koyo cheered up and stood up.

"A bit hungry after the duel, are you hungry, Judai?"

"Eh, now that you mention it, I really am a bit..."

"The other promoted players don't seem to have gathered yet, let's go eat something and wait."

Those who arrived at the designated location after collecting six puzzle cards had all completed the promotion registration and obtained the top eight list. But the last few spots hadn't been decided yet, so there was naturally no need to keep waiting here after the first ones registered.

"Great! Eat!" Judai was very happy.

Dueling and eating were probably the happiest things in his life at this stage.

"What do you want to eat? My treat?"

"Eh, that's not good, right?"

"Ahahahaha, it's okay, small problem. Don't be polite..."

"..."

The backs of the two gradually moved away.

But they didn't seem to notice that not far behind them, in a certain shadow after the corner, a pair of malicious eyes were silently examining them.

"Planet series, Earth. Sure enough, as the intelligence said, it's in Hibiki Koyo's hands."

That person narrowed his eyes and looked straight at Hibiki Koyo's back, laughing coldly in a low voice.

"The strongest hero on the surface, world champion Hibiki Koyo, huh... really a tricky guy to deal with. Seriously, always giving me some troublesome tasks. In this way..."

The shadow narrowed his eyes, and his gaze gradually became cruel.

"Wouldn't I have to... finish off this Hibiki Koyo?"

But this shadow also didn't notice at all that there was another person behind him at some point.

Already so close that he

The dark shadow was startled, instinctively turning and jumping backward to create distance, looking behind with the vigilance of a frightened rabbit.

Then, they saw Fujiki You Xuan, who had appeared behind them like a ghost, though they didn't know when.

Fujiki You Xuan sized this person up.

It was actually a girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, with a tall and curvaceous figure. She was currently hugging her chest in a defensive posture, looking at Fujiki You Xuan with a face full of alertness.

"Don't make such a misleading pose," Fujiki You Xuan said helplessly. "Someone who doesn't know the situation might think I did something to you."

The woman then realized her reaction was a bit over the top. She lowered her arms, coughed to ease the awkwardness, and resumed the calm, mastermind-like posture.

"Is this how the Duel Academy headquarters teaches you to sneakily tail girls?"

But as she spoke, she never stopped vigilantly observing Fujiki You Xuan.

With her strength, she hadn't even noticed when this person had circled behind her, let alone when the other party had noticed her secretly spying.

"Are you Reiji Ma Kenqi?" Fujiki You Xuan asked.

Reiji: "!"

This person even knew her identity?

"As expected." Fujiki You Xuan knew he hadn't misidentified her.

Reiji Ma Kenqi, the top general under the manga boss Tragoedia, though she was also being coerced.

She was the daughter of Professor Ma Kenqi of the American Duel Academy. She had discovered that Tragoedia had possessed Professor Ma Kenqi, so to silence her, Tragoedia had separated a fragment of himself and forcibly entered her body, turning her into a puppet at his beck and call.

However, Reiji's dueling strength was quite good. At the very least, judging by her manga record, she easily crushed Asuka. Later, in the duel against Misawa, she intentionally threw the match due to her own small schemes, but she had been in control throughout the entire duel; her strength should be far above Misawa's.

So, according to the original work, Fujiki You Xuan immediately guessed that she should also be a vanguard for the Lobster faction now.

"Hm? Fujiki You Xuan, what's wrong?"

At this moment, Mokuba walked over and saw Fujiki You Xuan confronting Reiji.

Mokuba naturally didn't recognize Reiji. He took a glance, and other than thinking the girl had fair skin and a high level of attractiveness, he didn't see anything special.

Reiji withdrew her gaze from Fujiki You Xuan and walked toward Mokuba.

"I've collected six puzzle cards," she said. "I want to advance."

"Oh, a contestant, huh."

Mokuba nodded and pointed to a spot along the shore.

"Register over there. The staff will issue you a contestant card as proof of your qualification for the top eight."

"Okay."

Reiji took the contestant card and turned to head in that direction.

For some reason, making eye contact with Fujiki You Xuan made her feel very uneasy.

There was an illusion that she had been targeted by something dangerous.

Watching Reiji walk away, Mokuba asked, "What, is she one of Doma's people?"

"That shouldn't be it."

Fujiki You Xuan watched her retreating back and smiled slightly.

"This tournament might be even more interesting than expected."

(End of Chapter)