Dark Duel

As Kira walked along in search of food, he reflected on himself and felt that his approach might have been a little off.

Take other schools, like the Cyber Style from anime. They relied on cultivation and improvement, practicing the art of drawing cards day and night like martial arts training. Only through utter sincerity could they move Cyber End Dragon and earn the spirit's recognition.

Meanwhile, Silent Magician was probably wondering how she had ended up with such an unconventional Master. His method of summoning a spirit was actually to annoy her until she begged for mercy.

But from another angle, judging by the result, hadn't he summoned her?

It seemed he would have to think more carefully about the proper way to cultivate bonds in the future.

As Kira walked, lost in thought, he suddenly sensed that something was off.

The nighttime alley lay quietly hidden behind the city's neon lights. It was a shortcut to the commercial district, only six or seven hundred meters long. The street beyond was lined with snacks and late-night eateries.

The air was thick with dampness, mixed with some unidentifiable odor. The stone path beneath his feet looked uneven in the weak light, while a cool breeze rustled through the old tree at the alley entrance.

After taking only a few steps, the dim lights revealed a wall blocking the path ahead.

A dead end.

Kira frowned.

That shouldn't have been possible. According to the previous owner's memories, this path was clearly open. Had something gone wrong with the inherited memories? Had he taken the wrong turn?

Puzzled, he turned around and headed back the way he had come. But when he reached the other end, he immediately discovered something else was wrong.

Another wall stood beneath the dim light. He had clearly turned around, yet it looked exactly like the wall from before. Looking closer, even the surroundings on both sides seemed eerily familiar.

Could this be the legendary Ghost Wall?

Fear naturally washed over him. For a moment, every shadow before him seemed to conceal a life-stealing ghost or a grotesque demon.

But Kira quickly did his best to calm down.

In some other world, encountering supernatural phenomena like this might have meant nine chances of death for every chance of survival. But this wasn't somewhere else. This was Yu-Gi-Oh!

Now that he was in this world, whether it was an extraterrestrial god, demon, ghost, or monster, could it take his life without playing cards first?

Kira stopped and warily scanned his surroundings. Then he suddenly heard a heavy roar from the darkness, as though it had come from the abyss. A dim gleam pierced the dark, followed by an invisible wave that swept toward him like a blade.

Startled, alarm bells rang in his mind. He instinctively took half a step back and raised his Duel Disk in front of him. A flash of white light flickered across it, and a translucent Magic Circle resembling ice crystals unfolded, firmly blocking the invisible strike. An intangible blast swept outward, carving cracks into the ground and walls.

A transparent phantom appeared beside him. Silent Magician's white robes were as pure as snow, and the staff gleaming with cold light spun through her hand.

Kira let out a long breath.

He was once again convinced that spirits were essential for home and travel alike. Without two or three spirits in one's deck, one simply wouldn't dare leave the house.

"You're actually a spirit user?"

A rough voice came from the darkness as a black-robed figure slowly emerged from the fog-like surroundings.

"And a high-level magician spirit, too. Heh, I really hit the jackpot today."

Kira narrowed his eyes. He could not see the newcomer's face, only the green glow flickering in the eyes beneath the hood.

"A Dark Duelist?" he asked tentatively.

But he was fairly certain this was a character he had never seen in the original story. After all, there were countless Dark Duelists in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, and the anime had shown only the tip of the iceberg.

"Heh, not bad, kid. You know your stuff."

The black-robed man sneered and unfolded his Duel Disk. Kira had never seen this design before. It was some sort of black model, with five square sections spiraling down one after another and joining together to form the Monster Zone.

"Since you know the rules, that makes this easy. That's right, I'm a Dark Duelist, and—"

He slowly pulled back his hood, revealing a somewhat weathered face. A dim green light flickered in his eyes, while an overwhelming King's Aura seemed to spread with his invisible presence.

"I am Onizuka Genichiro."

Kira searched his memories carefully, but he truly could not remember ever hearing that name. He could only ask, "Sorry, should I know you?"

Onizuka Genichiro: "..."

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

"Ahem." Genichiro frowned. "I made it into the Top 64 of the third Battle City tournament in Domino City. Genichiro, known in the scene as the 'Dinosaur Overlord.' Still don't remember?"

Sorry, but the anime had only shown the first Battle City tournament. It had never covered the later ones, so Kira had not seen them.

Besides, when it came to dinosaurs, shouldn't the first person to come to mind have been Ryuzaki, who had just been beaten flat?

"When I rose to prominence, that Legendary Duelist, Dinosaur Ryuzaki, had already retired and vanished without a trace. Some ignorant fools kept saying that if Ryuzaki were still around, I would be no match for him. Heh. What a joke."

Genichiro gave a chilling smile.

"I have already obtained Dark Power, power strong enough that I will not lose to any Duelist. When I heard that Ryuzaki intended to make a comeback, I immediately realized that this was the opportunity I had been waiting for all along."

Genichiro shouted loudly.

"I am the strongest Dragon User! As a remnant of the previous generation, his only fate is to be devoured by darkness and wiped out!"

Kira: "..."

Then go find Ryuzaki. Why were you blocking his way?

"Sure, good luck with that, buddy." Kira said, "I've got things to do, so I'll be leaving first—"

"It's useless. You cannot leave this domain. Only one of us can walk out of here alive."

Genichiro said coldly.

"I saw it. You defeated Dinosaur Ryuzaki in the arena, and it was an absolute crushing victory. From beginning to end, he never even touched your LP."

That was when I changed my mind. You were more valuable than Dinosaur Ryuzaki as a target, and more worthy as a sacrifice to darkness. If I can devour you into my darkness, I will surely advance even further down the path of a Dark Duelist!"

Kira: "..."

"Enough talk."

Genichiro had already unfolded his Duel Disk.

"Once a Dark Duel begins, it will not easily stop. We will determine not only victory and defeat, but life and death! Come, stake your soul as a Duelist!"

Actually, based on what he knew of the original story, Kira knew that a Dark Duel was not completely impossible to stop. If someone with Dark Power far greater than that of the person who initiated the Dark Duel intervened, they could forcibly end it and even alter the rules governing the stakes of victory and defeat.

For example, the Pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle could do that.

Or there were special circumstances. For instance, in the middle of a Riding Duel, if you saw that you were about to lose, you could hurry up and pull out a screw. Once the bike crashed, the duel would be over too.

But this duel did not look like one he could escape. Kira took a deep breath and unfolded his Duel Disk.

"Duel!" x2