Chapter 516: Collecting the Deck

"Phew—"

Jonouchi let out a long breath.

He won.

If he said this meant nothing to him, that would be a lie. After so many years, this was the first time he had truly faced Pegasus, his first opponent from Duelist Kingdom.

At least this proved one thing: he hadn't wasted his time over these years.

Yes, although he had experienced so much, he was still a mortal. But at least he had been getting better all along.

"Pegasus?"

Jonouchi stepped across the field and walked toward Pegasus.

The latter, after the duel, was kneeling on the ground. His long hair hung low, and since half his face was already covered, he looked even more eerie now, as if his whole person had been swallowed by darkness.

Jonouchi frowned slightly.

He had already realized something was wrong during the duel. The duel had been accompanied by impacts of real damage, which, while not fatal, were definitely not at the level of an ordinary duel.

Jonouchi had long since encountered similar situations, and this was definitely not the worst one for him. After all, he had faced the Egyptian Gods, experienced top-tier Shadow Games, and even fought hand-to-hand against Valon inside the Seal of Orichalcos.

So he naturally knew that this level of supernatural duel could be life-threatening.

Pegasus slowly raised his head. At this moment, there was no longer any hostility in his single eye, and all the previous contempt and mockery had vanished like a hallucination.

It even seemed to contain a hint of gratitude?

"Thanks, Jonouchi-boy." He said. "I knew... you wouldn't let me down."

"Eh?"

The sudden change caught Jonouchi off guard.

However, he quickly reacted.

Just as he expected, the Pegasus he had just faced wasn't the real one, but a Pegasus who had been manipulated, or at least influenced in some way.

Through the duel, the current Pegasus seemed to have returned to normal.

In fact, Pegasus had never looked down on Jonouchi. When he mentioned him in the original GX, among the top-tier duelists he knew in the world, Jonouchi Katsuya was ranked only after Yugi and Kaiba.

Although the situation when he said this was likely just a casual mention at a drinking table and not necessarily very rigorous, it only represented his thoughts at the time. But it was enough to prove that Jonouchi Katsuya had enough weight in his heart.

"Listen, we don't have much time."

Pegasus took a deep breath and said seriously.

"Jonouchi-boy, that boy, he has already been targeted..."

"Boy? Who are you talking about... Judai!?"

Jonouchi quickly thought of the conversation before the duel started, which seemed to focus on Judai. Pegasus mentioned the threat of the Light of Destruction, and it was easy for Jonouchi to associate it with Judai recently defeating the Supreme King in the Supreme King's Castle.

Someone had targeted Yuki Judai.

Could it be the same person who controlled Pegasus?

"Who?"

"It's still that destructive wave of light. It hasn't been completely eliminated from Earth... no, it's even more serious. More light is coming, I can feel it, I know..."

Pegasus's breathing became more rapid, and his voice became more labored.

"While being... manipulated, I felt like it wasn't me, as if another personality had been stuffed into my head. But my consciousness was clear at all times; I could see what I was doing, as if I were being forced. But I remember, the Light of Destruction... it borrowed my power to create a card—a card of sword fighting—a card that couldn't be completed with its own ability."

"I remember I completed it, it was a card with dangerous power. But I can't remember specifically what it was, I only remember..."

Pegasus gritted his teeth, clutching his head, as if his head was splitting with pain.

"Go tell the current King of Games, tell Fujiki Youxuan..."

His words finally couldn't be finished, and he lost consciousness and slid down.

"Pegasus? Pegasus!"

Jonouchi tried to lift him, but Pegasus's head tilted, and he passed out, no matter how much he shook him, there was no movement. "Light of the universe? Targeted Judai?"

"And the sword-fighting card made by Pegasus..."

Jonouchi scratched his head.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Melo?"

Youxuan had come to KaibaCorp again after a long time, picking cards in the warehouse of a newly released batch of cards, while chatting casually with Mokuba behind him.

Mokuba had just told him about the ambush on the card professor of Industrial Illusions, and it was Youxuan's old acquaintance, the Mecha guy, Kark Dickson.

A few days ago, while Youxuan and the others were busy subduing the Supreme King, an arrest operation led by the card professor to investigate illegally leaked cards was ambushed. The Industrial Illusions team was almost wiped out, and the Mecha guy, Kark, was still in the hospital, delirious.

"Industrial Illusions was the first to notice the existence of the Light of Destruction and began to formulate response strategies." Mokuba said. "Perhaps this can be considered the Light of Destruction officially declaring war on Industrial Illusions."

"Then I guess the Pegasus brothers are probably overwhelmed now?"

Youxuan said casually while rummaging through the pile of cards.

!. Read

"Pretty much. They are now wishing they could turn the Earth upside down to find the whereabouts of that Melo..."

"So who exactly is that Melo?" Youxuan wondered.

"Just an ordinary third-rate duelist, the background story he dug up is unremarkable, and has no reference value." Mokuba spread his hands helplessly. "The Light of Destruction attached itself to him, and who he was originally doesn't matter anymore. It's as if this person had no characteristics in the first half of his life, but suddenly he was enlightened, gained incredible power, and even top-tier experts couldn't match him..."

Mokuba's voice grew smaller as he spoke, and he frowned slightly, as if he had associated something.

How come this life story sounds like I've heard it somewhere...

As he thought about it, his gaze couldn't help but turn to Youxuan in front of him.

Suddenly it became a bit strange.

Youxuan looked at him sideways.

"What are you looking at me for?" He raised his hand. "I swear to heaven, I definitely haven't been possessed by the Light of Destruction. If I said half a lie, let Lei..."

He thought about it.

"... strike that Melo to death."

Mokuba pondered.

"Hmm... quite convincing."

"Really?" Youxuan raised his eyebrows.

Mokuba looked at him expressionlessly.

"No, I just think that since they are called the Light of 'Destruction', the person possessed shouldn't be as dark as you."

Youxuan: "..."

A brief silence.

Youxuan coughed twice, stood up and said.

"Alright, that's about it for today... finally, another deck is complete."

"Let me see what you picked today."

Mokuba leaned forward curiously; he had always been curious about Youxuan's deck.

Youxuan didn't hide it and handed it to him generously.

Mokuba took it and looked.

"... Volcanic?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 517 =====

Mokuba took it and looked.

"... Volcanic?"

(End of chapter)