"Lost again, huh."
Kaito looked up at the sky and let out a long breath.
Falling in the same place, losing twice to the same opponent—this was an unprecedented experience for him.
Kaito Tenjo was one of the top Duelists in this Xyz Dimension. Even in the anime, aside from the duel where Vetrix used his younger brother Yuto as a shield with Out-of-Game Tactics, Kaito had never suffered a single defeat, whether in clashes within the Protagonist Group or against BOSS Battles.
Even in his final, desperate battle, Kaito had only died on the moon because he was utterly exhausted, his old injuries from years of battle piling up until his body could no longer bear the strain. But though he had died, he had ultimately won the duel. Even at the very end, he had not lost face.
To suffer two consecutive defeats at the hands of the same person was a humiliation worth remembering for life. But it also proved all the more that his loss had not been an accident.
Kaito sank to the ground and looked at Kira, who was putting away his Duel Disk.
This person... was strong.
He already understood that even if they dueled again—five times, ten times—the result probably would not change. Because the current him truly was no match for this person.
But...
Rather than becoming discouraged, Kaito gave a quiet chuckle.
Fine. Since he had decided to continue walking the path of a Duelist, perhaps this made things even more interesting.
After all, he could now clearly see that where he stood was far from the peak. There were Duelists this powerful above him, which also showed him that there was still enormous room to improve, still the possibility of evolving further. That gave him even more motivation to