"Ghost Ogre, could I trouble you to lead the way?" Hara Shichi said to Ghost Ogre behind him.
"Leave it to me." Ghost Ogre walked ahead.
"Huh... this Duel Spirit..." Nafili frowned as she watched Ghost Ogre's back, seeming to recall something. "Is this the Duel Spirit who tried to trick me into joining some kind of trial ten years ago?"
"Clang!" Ghost Ogre had just begun to draw her blade when Hara Shichi pressed down on the back of her hand.
"Calm down. Don't lower yourself to his level," Hara Shichi whispered by Ghost Ogre's ear.
"Hmph!"
Ghost Ogre gave a cold snort and said to the door at the end of the passage, "The mechanisms here have already been destroyed. We can just push the door open."
"Alright."
Hara Shichi pushed open the door and found ruins beyond it. Countless mechanisms lay broken across the ground, while atop a towering pile of rubble sat a green-haired young man, lounging lazily.
"Looks like those two pieces of trash ahead are dead. Losing to a brat like you... how embarrassing." As he spoke, the young man lightly leaped down, grinning. "But that works out. I was getting bored waiting here."
"Now then, let me hunt your soul!"
Black mist emerged once more, but Hara Shichi had been prepared this time. He immediately shouted, "Ghost Ogre!"
"Smack!"
A silver blade flashed. In an instant, the young man was sent flying, his body embedded in the wall like a mural.
"You... why... didn't you duel?" The young man stared wide-eyed as he finished speaking, then tilted his head and fainted.
"Who said I was going to duel you, idiot?" Hara Shichi rummaged through the young man's clothes, pulled out a card case, and pocketed it.
Honestly, he finally understood why Black-Clad Man Number Two had used Dark Duel.
Winning got you a Deck. That was practically free profit.
"Why did you knock him out?" Nafili, who had caught up from behind, scratched her head. "I was counting on getting some information out of him."
"No need to make things so complicated." Ghost Ogre pointed ahead. "Once we pass the trial ahead, we'll reach the place where that Duel Spirit is sealed. Their leader will definitely be there."
"A sealed Duel Spirit..." Nafili murmured. "Someone really broke in over something so incomprehensible?"
"Clang!"
"Calm down, calm down." Hara Shichi soothed Ghost Ogre.
Ghost Ogre's red eyes glared viciously at Nafili. If looks could kill, she would have killed Nafili hundreds, if not thousands, of times already.
"You've never seen that Duel Spirit. You have no idea how powerful it is. If the old dean hadn't intervened back then, the entire Duelist Academy might have been reduced to ashes!"
"So, do you know that Duel Spirit's name?" Hara Shichi could not help asking curiously.
"Too much time has passed. I've forgotten the full name too." Ghost Ogre shook her head. "But I heard the old dean say that it was an incredibly powerful Fusion Monster."
"It seemed to be called... something Super... something Magician... something Knight...?"
Strongest Self
"Never heard of it." Nafili shook her head.
But Hara Shichi exchanged a glance with Ai, and both saw shock in the other's eyes.
Hara Shichi's throat felt dry. "Say, that Duel Spirit's name wouldn't happen to be Master of Chaos - Red-Eyes Black Dragon Knight, would it?"
"I'm not sure. It seems like it was, but maybe it wasn't." It had happened decades ago, and Ghost Ogre could not remember clearly.
"There's no time to lose. Let's keep moving." Hara Shichi realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly spoke.
"Wait." Ghost Ogre tugged on Hara Shichi's sleeve. "Although the first two trials were destroyed, the third trial cannot be destroyed. You'd better be careful."
"What is the third trial?" Yukikaze asked curiously.
"The trials have three stages. The first is the Theory Trial. As long as you solve the puzzle duel, you can proceed to the next trial. The second is the Combat Trial. As long as you defeat the designed automaton, you can enter the next round. The third is to surpass yourself. You must defeat your strongest self to complete the entire trial."
"Defeat your strongest self?" Yukikaze blinked. "What happens if you lose?"
"Your memories of the trial grounds will be erased," Ghost Ogre answered.
"Then... what if someone clears the first two stages, decides they don't want to take the third trial for now, and turns back?" Yukikaze asked.
"No one would do that." Ghost Ogre's voice was cold. "Because I neither told them the contents of the trials beforehand nor informed them of the consequences of failing."
"You mean that if someone lacks confidence in themselves, it would be best for them to stop here?" Hara Shichi keenly grasped the meaning behind Ghost Ogre's words.
Ghost Ogre said nothing, merely nodding faintly.
"I'm not interested in the trial. If possible, I'll wait here," Julie, who had remained silent until now, suddenly said.
"Then I'll wait here too." Yukikaze hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I get stronger every second. Beating myself would take no time at all," Nafili said disdainfully.
"Ghost Ogre, sorry for the trouble, but protect them." Hara Shichi instructed Ghost Ogre.
"Are you going?" Ghost Ogre looked up and asked.
"Yeah. I have to go," Hara Shichi said.
"If it really is Master of Chaos, we can't let it fall into the hands of people with sinister intentions!" Ai said solemnly.
"Understood. Then I'll wait here for good news." Ghost Ogre lowered her head.
"Then let's begin the third trial!"
Hara Shichi pushed the door open. First came a burst of blinding white light. Once it faded, he saw an endless azure sky and rolling white clouds floating around him. It was as though he stood within the sky itself—or rather, upon a crystal-clear mirror?
"What do you think of this sky?" A cool voice rang out. Hara Shichi discovered a man who looked exactly like him sitting beside a piano in the distance, smiling at him.
"It looks a little familiar. Also, I can't play the piano," Hara Shichi said.
"Neither can I. It's just for show." The man snapped his fingers, and the black piano immediately turned into a white table. Then, seemingly from nowhere, he produced a chair and set it opposite the table.
"Sit. Aren't we here to play cards?" The man took out a card case and a playmat, placing them on the table.
"I thought you were going to duel me while holding Duel Disks," Hara Shichi said as he sat opposite him.
"Please. Isn't it exhausting to stand there like an idiot holding a Duel Disk for ten or twenty minutes?" the man complained. "Besides, unlike you, I don't have cheats. I don't have even a shred of Duel Power."
"Hurry up and shuffle. I'm almost done."
"By the way, why are you using clear sleeves? Where are the girl sleeves? What's the point of playing Yu-Gi-Oh! without girl sleeves?"
"Are you really me?" Hara Shichi asked doubtfully. "Do I talk this much?"
"Of course I'm you." The man raised an eyebrow and casually flipped over the top card of his Deck. A familiar card image entered Hara Shichi's view.
"Who else but you opens Madolche Messenger every single day when playing Marincess?"
"..."
"You just saw an identical version of yourself and instinctively tried to stay rational by becoming quiet. Don't deny it. I know myself."
"That's true." Hara Shichi laughed.
"Finished shuffling." Hara Shichi gave the man's Deck a simple cut and handed it back.
"I'm done too. You roll the die." The man handed Hara Shichi a twenty-sided die.
"Eleven." Hara Shichi tossed it casually.
"Five. Tch." The man clicked his tongue. "You choose who goes first."
"I'll go first." Hara Shichi drew five cards.
"Any response when entering the Main Phase?"
"No."
"Then I Normal Summon Madolche Puddingcess." As Hara Shichi spoke, he placed Madolche Puddingcess from his hand onto the table.
"Chain Infinite Impermanence." The man activated the Trap Card without hesitation.
"Isn't that a little excessive?" Hara Shichi tugged at the corner of his mouth. "With this Deck build of mine, you're using hand traps?"
"I told you, I'm your strongest self. Naturally, I'm using your strongest Deck. Isn't it only natural to run hand traps?"
"Then I'll Set three and pass." Helplessly, Hara Shichi Set three cards.
"My turn, draw. Any response during the Draw Phase?" the man asked after drawing a card.
"No. By the way, where's Ai?" Hara Shichi asked. He had been unable to sense Ai's presence since earlier.
"The signal's blocked," the man said. "Don't use cheats when playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, alright? Stop thinking about Card Printing on the spot."
"Then continue."
"Fine. Any response when I enter the Main Phase?" the man asked again.
"No response. Move, move, move."
"Move my ass. Sooner or later, I'm deleting this garbage Deck and playing meta." The man snapped irritably. "I Normal Summon Madolche Messenger. Does that resolve?"
"After I shuffled your Deck, you still drew it? It resolves, it resolves. Keep going." Hara Shichi suppressed a laugh.
"You know better than anyone about your Bonds with Madolche Messenger." The man rolled his eyes. "Then I enter the Battle Phase. Madolche Messenger attacks Madolche Puddingcess directly. Any response?"
"Response." Hara Shichi flipped the Set Card to his right. "I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, negating your attack."
"Fine. I Set one and end my turn."
"My turn, draw." Hara Shichi said, "Any response during the Draw Phase?"
"Go ahead."
"Then I Chain Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Set Card in the back row."
"Here."
The man sent the Set Card in his back row to the Graveyard. It was a Marincess Trap Card Hara Shichi did not currently have—Madolche Promenade.
"Then I enter the Main Phase. I activate Madolche Puddingcess's effect, Tributing this card to Special Summon one Marincess monster from my Deck."
"Wait!" The man suddenly sent a card from his hand to the Graveyard. "Let me drop a G first."
"..."
Strongest? Weakest?
No matter how much you guarded against them, hand traps were impossible to guard against.
It was a saying popular among Duelists.
Some had even reached the conclusion: "If a Deck cannot accommodate hand traps, then it has no competitive potential!"
Setting aside whether that conclusion was right or wrong, it also proved just how powerful hand traps were.
At that moment, Hara Shichi faced precisely such a situation. The man before him had used the hand trap called Proliferating G. Every time Hara Shichi Special Summoned, the man would draw one card from his Deck.
"I Special Summon Madolche Puddingscess in Defense Position," Hara Shichi said cautiously.
"Then I draw one card." The man drew a card and looked at Hara Shichi teasingly. "Want to keep extending?"
"No. I'll end my turn like this." Hara Shichi shook his head.
"Then it's my turn, draw." The man casually drew a card from his Deck, then immediately said, "I enter the Main Phase and Normal Summon Madolche Puddingscess."
"Next, I activate Madolche Puddingscess's effect. I banish Proliferating G from the Graveyard to Special Summon one Marincess monster from my Deck. I choose..."
"Chain!" Hara Shichi abruptly flipped open a Set Card. "Forbidden Chalice! This card can target one face-up monster on the field. Until the end of the turn, that monster gains 400 ATK and has its effects negated. I choose Magicalized Pâtissière - Hotcake Owl!"
The man fell silent for a moment, then smiled. "I see. No wonder you dared to enter this trial. Is this your path to victory?"
"After all, I know myself well." Hara Shichi gave a self-deprecating laugh. "If you're my strongest self, then your Deck must be very 'weak.'"
"Because Marincess is weak." Hara Shichi spoke calmly. "It doesn't have the overwhelming board-building ability of combo Decks, nor does it have the powerful resource management and interruptions of trap-beat Decks. As a midrange Deck, it also lacks the extenders it should have."
"If a Deck like this wants to win, it can only target the metagame. If there are many combo Decks in the environment, I'll run lots of Effect Veiler and Nibiru. If there are lots of Decks that rely on Graveyard resources, I'll run Ghost Belle or D.D. Crow. If there are lots of beatdown Decks, I'll run lots of Cyclones... The entire Deck changes with every shift in the metagame. Only then does it have a chance to win."
Hara Shichi explained, "When you aren't strong enough on your own, you can only rely on external tools. Fortunately, the Marincess engine isn't large, so I can run plenty and plenty of tech cards."
"But the drawback is that once I encounter an off-meta Deck or build, some of those tech cards become completely useless dead cards!" Hara Shichi stared at the pile of cards in the man's hand. "It looks like you have plenty of hand resources, but how many of those cards can actually help against me?"
"Not bad. But don't forget, the Deck in your hands can't even be considered competitive. It's only a barely cobbled-together corpse, and you have only one card in your Extra Deck. Do you really think you have a chance to win with a Deck like that?" The man Set a card. "I Set one card and end my turn."
"My turn, draw!" Hara Shichi looked at the card he had drawn, and his eyebrows rose slightly. It seemed the formula for victory was nearly complete.
Before you continue