"A duel?"
Dark Mist burst out laughing.
"Why should we duel?"
"Astral is finished. You're nothing more than an insignificant puppet. You and your Numbers are already mine for the taking, Yuma Tsukumo! Under these circumstances, why would I need to keep dueling you?"
Yuma gritted his teeth. "Damn it."
He did not want to lose. He did not want to surrender like this.
But his arm would not obey him. All he could do was watch helplessly as his hand slowly reached toward his Deck, preparing to surrender.
Was this really the end?
His Soaring High, his bonds with Astral, everything.
Dark Mist revealed a sinister grin, delighted that his scheme had succeeded.
He had done it.
At last, the Astral he had dreamed of day and night, along with every Number Astral had collected so far, would all belong to the great Dark Mist.
However, just as Yuma's hand was about to touch his Deck, his movement froze.
Dark Mist's pupils contracted. He had suddenly noticed that someone had appeared behind Yuma at some point.
A handsome young man stood behind Yuma, gently placing one hand on his shoulder. It was as though that casual gesture alone had lifted an enormous burden from Yuma's body.
Yuma immediately felt much lighter, and regained a measure of control over his arm. He looked up in astonishment, recognized the person beside him, and gasped, "M-Mr. Kira?"
Dark Mist's expression changed drastically as well. "Kira... the Duel King of this dimension? Why are you here?"
Yuma had the same question. "Mr. Kira, how did you...?"
"I saw you sneaking a boat out to sea in the middle of the night, so I followed to see what was going on." Kira shrugged. "I thought I was just here to watch something entertaining. Didn't