Chapter 954: Fleas That Can

“This time, I’ll make sure you never rise again!” Mr. T threatened.

Jūdai smiled: “Interesting. That’s exactly what I was about to say to you.”

As he raised his dueling disk to begin, a voice filled with amusement echoed from behind: “Though it’s regrettable to say so, it’s unlikely you can defeat this fellow permanently with just one duel.”

At the sound of the voice, Jūdai’s eyes lit up instantly as he spun around excitedly: “You Xuan?”

Sure enough, he saw You Xuan walking calmly out of the trees, hands in his pockets, stepping slowly toward the two.

Seeing him appear, Mr. T frowned beneath his sunglasses and muttered coldly: “Duel King You Xuan. So you’ve finally shown up.”

Mr. T—or rather, Darkness—had not been active within the Duel Academy grounds for the first time. But his recent consecutive moves had all been thwarted by Jūdou Jūdai. The Darkness faction had sent three agents to the academy so far, including this one, and each time, Jūdou Jūdai had been the first to intercept them.

Conversely, as the academy’s most famous representative and its true behind-the-scenes boss, Fujiki Yūgen had never appeared until now.

Jūdai immediately abandoned Mr. T and rushed happily toward You Xuan: “You’re back?”

“Yes,” You Xuan smiled. “You’ve worked hard for the academy lately.”

“Hehe, not hard at all.”

Jūdai rubbed his nose, grinned, then dropped the smile and turned serious toward Mr. T.

“Watch out, You Xuan. This guy isn’t ordinary. He possesses that same unbelievable power—and I’ve faced him before, but each time his deck is different.”

“Mm, I know,” You Xuan said. “This isn’t his true form. So I doubt a single duel can keep him down for good.”

He paused, then smiled. “But if you want to strike his true self, sufficient dark power might just do it.”

He waved his hand, signaling Jūdai to step back, then stepped forward himself. “Sorry, Jūdai, I’ll take this one. No problem?”

“Fine.”

Jūdai shrugged and stepped back.

It felt like returning to those days back at the academy, when every challenger’s deck was snatched away by You Xuan.

But after You Xuan became famous, he spent more and more time away from the academy—and it had been a long while since he last snatched a deck from Jūdai. Now, times had changed, yet Jūdai still felt a strange nostalgia for this feeling.

Watching You Xuan’s back stride onto the field, he felt a twinge of disappointment at not getting to duel himself—but also a deep sense of relief.

It was as if, just seeing that back, everything was already settled.

Mr. T spoke coldly: “It seems you’re an unavoidable nuisance if I’m to carry out my plan, Fujiki Yūgen.”

“Probably,” You Xuan shrugged indifferently. “I’ve got plenty on my plate. Let’s wrap this up quickly.”

“Hmph. Is that the confidence of a king—or just arrogance?” Mr. T adjusted his glasses with a sneer. “I’ll make you regret this arrogance.”

“Duel!” x2

【You Xuan, LP 4000】

【Mr. T, LP 4000】

“I’ll go first. Draw.”

You Xuan took the first turn.

After drawing, he glanced at his starting hand, then glanced briefly behind him at Jūdai and smiled mysteriously.

“Then, Jūdai, lend me your new power.”

Jūdai: “Huh?”

Next, You Xuan revealed a card from his hand: “Activate the spell card ‘Transformation Contact.’”

“When you have no monsters on your field, send one ‘New Space Hero’ monster from your hand and one from your deck to the graveyard, then draw two cards!”

Jūdai’s eyes lit up instantly: “Ohhh, my New Space Hero—no problem, You Xuan, take it all! Go!”

Seeing his own creation in You Xuan’s hand, Jūdai was thrilled. Especially since he knew You Xuan’s decks always had a completely different style.

The New Space Hero was unique worldwide—only Jūdai possessed it. But that also meant every strategy had to be built from scratch, with no one else’s ideas to draw from.

And You Xuan was, without doubt, the most unconventional duelist Jūdai had ever known. He already sensed this duel might reveal an entirely new way to use the New Space Hero.

“I send ‘New Space Hero: Earth Mole’ and ‘New Space Hero: Dark Panther’ to the graveyard.”

The spectral shadows of the mole and panther flashed above You Xuan, then transformed into two beams—one black, one gold—flying into his graveyard.

You Xuan: “Then, draw two cards!”

“Next, I summon ‘New Space Hero: Azure Dolphin’ in defense position!”

A stream of azure water rose from You Xuan’s field, swirling into a vortex. A slender blue space warrior with a dolphin’s face emerged from the vortex, its arms spreading wide as transparent bubbles exploded outward in all directions.

【New Space Hero: Azure Dolphin, DEF 800】

“Azure Dolphin’s effect,” You Xuan said. “Discard one card from your hand to look at your opponent’s hand. Choose one monster card from it. If you control a monster with higher ATK than that monster, destroy it and inflict 500 damage to your opponent.”

You Xuan sent a card from his hand to the graveyard: “Echo Locator!”

Azure Dolphin opened its dolphin mouth, releasing a wave of transparent sound. Mr. T’s six cards instantly appeared fully exposed before You Xuan.

You Xuan studied the cards in Mr. T’s hand, chin resting on his hand: “Let’s see… Future Fusion, and Dragon’s Mirror… Hmm, impressive. A dragon-specialized deck.”

“So let me guess—the target of Future Fusion must be…”

“Heh, nice. So what if you saw them?” Mr. T sneered. “Let me tell you outright: the monster you’re about to face is the legendary Five Emperors Dragon—the strongest dragon in history!”

You Xuan drew a sharp breath: “The Five Emperors Dragon?”

Mr. T grinned triumphantly.

But before he could say another word, You Xuan continued: “A flea that can’t even count as a wall.”

Mr. T’s smile froze on his face: “…”

He let out a heavy grunt and said coldly: “Your bravado won’t last long. Now, pick a monster from my hand.”

He paused, then sneered again.

“But as you can see, I have no monster in my hand with ATK lower than your dolphin’s. And since Azure Dolphin’s effect forces you to choose a monster if your opponent has any, if that monster’s ATK exceeds all yours, you take 500 damage yourself!”

(End of Chapter)