Chapter 224
Although nothing has been discovered yet, the two have become vigilant.
After thinking for a moment, Judai, for safety's sake, spoke first and suggested, "Teacher, we don't know anything about this ruin, so I'm worried there might be traps. I suggest we all stay put for now and carefully investigate the area."
Daidouji seemed to have taken his advice, nodding and replying, "That makes sense. Let's have lunch here first~ Meow."
"Okay."
Judai nodded in agreement.
As long as you don't wander around, you won't trigger the Dark Walk game, right?
However, what we didn't want to happen, happened anyway.
The reason is that Daidouji put the fat cat "Pharaoh" out of its backpack.
Whether by fate or by design, "Pharaoh" still managed to touch the Dark Item that had been placed there beforehand, just like in the original story.
Suddenly, a bright green light shone forth, and the sun in the sky split into three.
Judai sensed a Dark Power trying to teleport them away.
"Asuka!!"
"Judai?"
Caught off guard, Judai quickly grabbed the girl beside him.
The next second, everyone's vision went white, and they instantly lost consciousness.
When they regained consciousness, the scene before Judai and Asuka had changed.
The two stared in astonishment at the enormous pyramid before them.
Asuka suppressed her embarrassment, pulled away from Judai's embrace, and asked, "Judai, what happened? Why are the others gone?"
Just as Judai was about to speak, he was interrupted by the voice of an adorable creature.
Curry Curry~~
Upon seeing the Winged Kuriboh, no longer a phantom, Judai exclaimed in surprise, "Winged Kuriboh, you've materialized and appeared before me, which means..."
He suddenly looked up and realized, "We've been transported to the legendary Spirit World!"
Chapter Fifty-Five: The Gravekeeper Clan
"The Spirit World?!"
Asuka was horrified upon hearing this, exclaiming, "It would be terrible if we were trapped here!"
"Yes."
Judai nodded in agreement.
Just as they were thinking about how to escape this world, they were suddenly surrounded by a group of soldiers dressed in black robes who appeared out of nowhere, pointing their guns at them.
Who are you?
"How dare you trespass into the holy land and disturb the Pharaoh's peace!"
"You will all be punished by God!"
"Take them away and bury them in coffins!"
The sudden situation startled Judai and Asuka.
What's going on?
"Judai..."
Asuka hid behind Judai, somewhat frightened.
Judai's expression also turned serious as he stared at the group of natives and said, "It seems we've accidentally trespassed into your territory. Could you please make an exception and let us leave this world?"
"No!"
An elderly man dressed in a black and white robe and wearing a black headscarf stepped forward and firmly refused him.
"Why?"
"You will be executed as Gravekeeper's, and buried alive in a stone coffin."
Judai: "But we're not Gravekeeper's!"
"These are the rules; it is a fact that you have entered my territory."
Judai clenched his fists and said unwillingly, "So, you mean there's no room for negotiation between us?"
Only then did he take a good look at the elder's appearance, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You are the [Gravekeeper Chief]?!"
The elder replied calmly, "Indeed."
"So this is the territory of the Gravekeeper Clan, the final resting place of the royal family?!"
The head of the Gravekeeper Chief nodded in agreement.
Upon receiving confirmation, Judai breathed a sigh of relief, "Since it's such a sacred place, there must be some kind of trial that can exempt us from punishment, right?"
Upon hearing this, the Gravekeeper Chief hummed in agreement and said, "Yes, there is. It requires winning the trial ritual I will be conducting. In the past, someone escaped this punishment by doing so."
After saying this, a deck of cards appeared in his hand without him even noticing.
Judai smiled confidently, "A duel, huh? It seems everything still boils down to this."
"Alright, I accept this trial. If I win, Asuka and I can return to our original world, right?"
The Gravekeeper Chief put down his deck and chuckled, "What a courageous young man."
"Don't worry, as long as you win, we will forgive your offense and let the two of you, along with the other three who broke in with you, leave this world together."
"But if you lose, everyone will be buried alive, wrapped up like mummies."
Judai, brimming with fighting spirit and utterly fearless, declared, "Then it's a deal!"
Asuka clenched her fists worriedly and said, "Judai, be careful."
"Yes, of course."
At the very top of the pyramid, the Judai and the Gravekeeper Chief stood on two protruding platforms at the top of the two side walls, with no connection between them except for the air.
The platform is suspended in mid-air, and looking down it resembles a deep abyss.
At the very bottom were three coffins containing the mummified remains of Daidouji, Sho, and Hayato.
Daidouji shouted frantically, "Judai, fight on! Meow!"
"Judai!"
Judai turned his attention back to the opponent and unfolded the Duel Disk.
The Gravekeeper Chief also summoned a Duel Disk on his left arm.
"Duel!"
"The ceremony begins!"
[Yusei Fudo: LP4000]
[Gravekeeper Chief: LP4000]
"There was once a young person, about your age, who had lost their way in this world and escaped from this ritual. Whether you can become the second one depends on yourselves."
Upon hearing the Gravekeeper Chief's words, Asuka, standing behind Judai, felt a pang of anxiety: 'Could he be referring to his missing brother?'
However, the thought of Judai's upcoming duel made her temporarily put the matter aside: 'My brother's situation isn't important right now; Judai's duel is more important.'
Just as she was thinking this, the Gravekeeper Chief had already drawn a card from his deck.
"I'll go first, draw a card!"
[Gravekeeper Chief's Hand: 5 → 6]
After glancing at his hand, he placed one of his cards face down on the Duel Disk: "I summon a monster in face-down Defense Position. End of turn."
[Gravekeeper Chief's Hand: 6 → 5]
'Is this the typical conservative playstyle of a Gravekeeper deck...?'
Judai raised an eyebrow slightly, which was exactly what he expected.
"My turn, draw a card!"
[Yusei Fudo's card pack: 5→6]
After confirming his hand, Judai immediately revealed all four cards. "I activate the Spell Card [Great Fusion] from my hand. You must send three or more monsters from your hand or field to the Graveyard to perform Fusion Summon."
"I'm Polymerization Winged HERO, Sparkman, and Bubbleman from my hand."
Golden light shimmered on the field, revealing the figures of three heroes in turn. Then, the three monsters transformed into three streams of energy that combined and released a dazzling light.
"Fusion Summon! Come forth, [Elemental HERO Storm Neos]!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a deep blue warrior with giant wings on his back and his right hand modified by a cannon emerged from the light.
[Elemental HERO Storm Neos: Attack Power 2800]
[Yusei Fudo's card pack: 6 → 2]
"Monsters summoned through [Great Fusion] cannot be destroyed by effects and gain Piercing Damage."
Upon hearing this, the head of the Gravekeeper Chief's expression darkened. "What did you say?!"
Immediately afterwards, Judai revealed another Spell Card: "Equip Spell activated, [Favorite Hero]! Equip this card to Stormtrooper. While there is Field Spell on your field, the equipped monster's ATK increases by its original DEF value, and it cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects."
[Yusei Fudo's card pack: 2 → 1]
He then announced loudly, "Battle has begun! At the start of the battle phase, activate a Field Spell from your hand or deck."
"I activate [Fusion Recycling Plant] from my deck."
As soon as he placed the card on the field, the equipment card's effect took effect instantly.
[Elemental HERO Storm Neos: Attack Power 2800 → 5600]
The Gravekeeper Chief was shocked upon seeing this. "What?!? The attack power has reached a whopping 5600 points?"
Asuka behind him clenched her fist excitedly. "Beautiful! With this, Storm Warrior, now equipped with the Pierce effect, can achieve a one-hit kill as long as the monster's DEF is below 1600!"
"Even if that's not possible, with the dual protection of [Great Fusion] and [Favorite Hero], we can ignore the special effects of the Reverse Monster."
Chapter Fifty-Six: The King's Valley of Slumber
Despite the Judai going all out from the start, the Gravekeeper Chief didn't panic.
He calmly revealed one of his cards and said, "Young man, you're too naive! I activate the monster effect of [Shabti Charm] from my hand!"
Discard this card from your hand. Until the End Phase of this turn, monsters you control with "[Gravekeeper]" in their name take 0 battle damage.
[Gravekeeper Chief's Hand: 5 → 4]
Judai was shocked upon hearing this, exclaiming, "What?!"
In this way, even with Piercing Damage, it's impossible to harm the Gravekeeper Chief.
"Pretty capable, uncle, but even so, I'm going to launch an attack."
Judai then swung his arm and gave the order, "Go! Stormman, attack the defending monster! Chaos Storm!"
Stormman then raised the cannon on his right arm, and a large amount of cyan light gathered in the muzzle. Then, the condensed cyan energy was released and shot towards Geka.
At the same time, the Gravekeeper Chief's card on the field is passively flipped due to becoming the target of an attack, and a Gravekeeper holding a stone tablet is revealed.
[The Gravekeeper's Apostle: Defense 1000]
The next second, the light cannon blasted into the monster.
Boom--!!!
The violent explosion instantly pulverized the monster.
The Gravekeeper Chief calmly said, "Young man, although you destroyed my guard monster, I will not take battle damage because of the [Shabti Charm] effect, and the [Gravekeeper's Apostle] special effect has also been triggered."
When this card is destroyed by an opponent's monster's attack and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 [Gravekeeper] monster from your Deck, except [Gravekeeper's Apostle], face-down Defense Position.
"Because of its effect, I summoned [Gravekeeper's Spy] from my deck in face-down Defense Position."