Chapter 354

Just then, the man who called himself Yusuke Fujiwara revealed a strange smile, "Judai, haven't we always been together? Always..."

His eyes suddenly emitted a red light, as if he wanted to influence Judai's consciousness.

However, he noticed an unexpected change in Judai: "Uh...!"

"These little tricks won't work on me. I'll ask you one more time, who exactly are you?"

At this moment, Judai's eyes turned golden, and a demonic figure of indistinguishable gender appeared beside him, staring at him.

"Judai, this guy isn't human!"

"Yes, I noticed that too."

"..." Realizing that he had been seen through, 'Yusuke Fujiwara' suddenly took a step back, spread his arms, and released a blinding light from his body, making it impossible for Judai to open his eyes.

"Wait, don't go!"

In the blink of an eye, the light faded, and 'Yusuke Fujiwara' disappeared.

Judai looked around but couldn't find the other person. "They really ran fast."

Just then, Yubel suddenly reminded him, "Judai, look!"

Following the direction Yubel pointed, Judai saw a feather falling there, its colors a gradient of white, yellow, orange, and red.

He instinctively caught it, feeling the lingering scent on it.

"An elf?"

Judai didn't intend to waste his energy tracking them down. He took out a cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. "Hey, O'Brien! It's me. Investigate someone for me right now!"

"Hmm, his name is Yusuke Fujiwara. He's probably from this school. If possible, please also try to compile his card deck information."

The scene shifts, Judai is back in his dormitory.

"Welcome back, Judai."

As soon as Asuka heard the door open, she went to greet her, "How's the investigation going?"

"I just fought with what was causing the anomaly at the academy. It wasn't particularly strong, but its power was rather strange. I'm afraid there's something even more troublesome behind it."

Asuka frowned, her expression uneasy. "Has another major incident occurred? Are there any clues?"

"Not yet, but there is someone who might know the true nature of that darkness—no, I should say an elf..."

Judai took out the feather he had found earlier. "I've already asked O'Brien to investigate; we should have some leads soon."

After putting the feather away, Judai turned to ask, "By the way, Asuka, do you know someone Yusuke Fujiwara? I've noticed that a lot of people in the academy seem to know him, as if he's been here since the very beginning."

"Yusuke Fujiwara? I've never heard of that name before..." Asuka hesitated for a moment before saying, "We've been staying here for the past few days, so we had no idea when this person appeared in the academy. We've never heard of him in the last three years either, unless he's a senior from our year..."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Judai suddenly realized, "That's right! We can start by surveying the students from the previous year or the year before that!"

So Judai called O'Brien again to remind him of the matter.

With this premise in mind, O'Brien quickly located the man's whereabouts.

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Just as you guessed, Yusuke Fujiwara is indeed a student from your previous year. I've found his information; that guy isn't at the Duel Academy."

Judai: "As expected..."

"To be precise, Yusuke Fujiwara disappeared several years ago."

What's going on?

The person on the other end of the phone explained, "In the past, Student Council President Kagemaru used the now-abandoned special student dormitory to revive the Wicked God, hoping to gain the power of immortality, but you stopped him."

"After the incident, President Kagemaru terminated the research on the Wicked God and released all the students in the special student dormitory for the experimenters, but there was one student who never returned."

Judai suddenly realized. "That person is Yusuke Fujiwara?"

"That's right. Yusuke Fujiwara, along with Ryo Marufuji and Fubuki Tenjo, was considered a genius student. There's an unconfirmed piece of information that he was always immersed in some kind of private lesson."

"Personalized course!" Judai exclaimed. "Could it be the special course that Fubuki- Teacher Daidouji mentioned? In other words, Darkness!? Could it be that the strange dark things that have appeared recently are related to Darkness?"

"I can't confirm that, but if it's the same as your speculation, then Fubuki Tenjo might be in danger."

Asuka: "How could this be...!?"

O'Brien added, "As for the deck of Yusuke Fujiwara I was asked to investigate before, I've also investigated it. There is indeed one monster that matches the feather you described, and the name of that card is [Ernest]."

"If I'm not mistaken, it should already be looking for Fubuki Tenjo right now!"

Chapter 273 The Man in Black Reappears

In the basement of the old dormitory, two figures are facing off.

"Who are you?"

"What exactly did you do?"

What are you talking about?

What did Yusuke Fujiwara do? Where did he go?

"Fujiwara... Yusuke...? I don't know, I can't remember at all..."

"Don't play dumb!!"

The person impersonating Yusuke Fujiwara had red eyes and was preparing to attack Fubuki Tenjo by channeling the power of spirits...

"That's enough, Ernest!!"

"Nani... Waaaaaah!!"

A Dark Power emanated from behind him, blasting Ernest away.

"Fubuki- senpai, are you alright?"

"Elder brother!"

Upon hearing the voice, Fubuki asked in surprise, "Judai, Asuka?! Why are you here?"

That's right, the people who came were Judai and Asuka. After learning that Fubuki Tenjo was in danger, they rushed to find him.

Then, after Judai and Asuka discovered that he was neither in the dormitory nor in the Teaching Building, Judai had a feeling that Fubuki might be here, so he changed his route and rushed here. Fortunately, he arrived in time to stop Ernest from harming Fubuki.

After hearing Judai and Asuka's explanation, Fubuki finally understood. "But why did you know I was in danger?"

"It's a long story, but because it's related to the experiments you participated in in the past, we need to help you recall them..." Judai turned to look at Ernest, who was standing guard to the side. "Ernest, this matter is also related to your master, Yusuke Fujiwara. You should listen to a little bit as well."

Upon hearing this, Ernest realized that his identity had been exposed, so he stopped using Yusuke Fujiwara's appearance and transformed back into a male angel with pure white wings.

"Then I'll listen attentively."

Next, Judai and Asuka recounted O'Brien's previous investigation findings.

"Based on our speculation, Yusuke Fujiwara may have been taken away by the power of Darkness. Fubuki- senpai, you were also controlled by Darkness before, and even I can't figure out the nature of Darkness for the time being. So we want to see if you can recall that lost memory."

"Memories of Darkness... Ugh! I can't remember...!" Fubuki Tenjo clutched her head in anguish. Every time she tried to recall that memory, her head throbbed with pain, and she couldn't remember anything at all.

Asuka: "What do we do now, Judai? If my brother can't remember anything, the trail will go cold."

Judai shook his head, his expression grave, and said, "I don't know either. But then again..."

He suddenly looked at Ernest and asked, "Ernest, you should know something about the changes in the world, after all, darkness was chasing you back then."

"Hmm." Ernest decided to trust Judai for the time being, and explained to them, "The dark world that has appeared is gradually eroding the Spirit World."

"A dark world? Was that the work of Darkness?"

Ernest did not directly answer Judai's question, clearly unaware of the truth, and simply continued to state what he knew.

"The dark world originally existed in the gaps between the various Spirit World, but one day it suddenly expanded. Duel Monsters Cards are like a door connecting the Spirit World and this world, and also connect the souls of duelists and Duel Monsters."

"The more trust a card carries within it, the stronger that bond becomes; however, cards not trusted by their duelists will be tainted with darkness."

Judai and the others suddenly realized. "So, the cards that don't react to the Duel Disk are the ones that have been corrupted by the power of darkness?"

"Exactly. If we just leave it unchecked, those guys will corrupt this world through the contaminated cards. I've always wanted to tell my master this fact."

From Ernest's explanation, everyone basically understood what was going on with the recent anomalies, which were largely consistent with their previous speculations.

The reason why Duel Monsters cards cannot be used is because they have been corrupted by the darkness that Ernest pursued. That darkness and Darkness have some kind of inevitable connection, at least that's what Ernest has been investigating this matter for many years, believes.

The essence of darkness was understood by Judai and his friends, but the true nature of Darkness remained elusive. Judai instinctively felt that darkness and Darkness could not be equated.

Judai stroked his chin and muttered, "The problem has ultimately come full circle... What exactly is Darkness? Where did the real Yusuke Fujiwara go?"

At that moment, Fubuki Tenjo spoke up, "Judai, why don't you duel me here? Maybe that will remind you of something?"

"Fubuki- senpai!?"

"No, brother! Fighting here will probably just trigger Dark Yami..."

Asuka and Judai had been to this underground space of the old dormitory twice before, and each time they encountered the Dark Yami. It can be said that dueling in this place is an extremely dangerous thing.

"It's alright, Asuka. I've always been afraid to face the truth, but I can't go on like this anymore."

As Fubuki spoke, she took a card out of her pocket.

In an instant, the surrounding Dark Power condensed into the card, transforming into a black mask—the Judai Darkness Mask that Jaden had previously sealed onto the card.

Seeing this, Asuka said worriedly, "Stop! If you do that, brother, you'll be controlled by Darkness again...!"

"Let's do it this way, senior."

"Judai, even you...?"

Judai shook his head and said easily, "Don't worry about Fubuki- senpai's safety, Asuka! Times have changed. I might not have had the ability to protect Fubuki- senpai before, but now that I have truly mastered the power of the Overlord, Darkness alone cannot take Fubuki- senpai away from me."

Moreover, the power hidden within Judai's own soul has not yet been fully explored. After all, a soul capable of defeating the Overlord cannot be simple. Therefore, Judai clearly recognizes that he possesses the power to rewrite the rules.

"So you don't need to worry about Fubuki- senpai's safety."

"Well... fine, I really can't do anything with you guys..." Asuka had no choice but to accept it.

"Thank you, Asuka."

Just as Fubuki Tenjo was about to put on the mask, it suddenly flew out of her hand and into the hand of a figure that had suddenly appeared.

"I see. Then I will not allow you to uncover the truth about us!"

"It's you!?"

The figure that suddenly appeared was none other than the Man in Black from before.

Chapter 274 Rematch with Mr. T! Five-Headed Dragon

The sudden change drew everyone's attention.

"Who is that guy...?"

"Be careful, brother, Judai!"

"You should step back, Fubuki- senpai!"

Judai quickly stepped forward to protect the group, reminding them, "That guy is the dark entity we encountered before, the one suspected to be related to Darness."

The Man in Black who snatched Darness's mask spoke flippantly, "What a coincidence! Aren't you Yusei Fudo and his companions? Nice to meet you. My name is Trueman, you can also call me Mr. T!"

At that moment, Judai suddenly realized. "So that's how it is! You are Darness's messenger!"

"Hmph!"

Mr. T smiled but did not answer. His silence, neither affirming nor denying, could be taken as tacit agreement.

Judai unfolded his Duel Disk and said, "In that case, I'm going to defeat you. Any objections?"

"Heh heh heh, just what I wanted. It's time to settle things between us!"

Mr. T conjured a Duel Disk with his left hand and sneered, "But there's one more thing to do before that..."

He picked up the mask in his hand, and the mask instantly transformed into a mass of darkness that merged into his body.

"Oh dear!" Mr. T seemed to have discovered something interesting. "It seems the memories within this mask don't contain what you're looking for."

"What!?"

The others' expressions changed upon hearing this, but Judai remained unfazed. "But defeating you would be the same, wouldn't it?"

"Who knows, it's hard to say... Alright, let's have a showdown, Yusei Fudo!"

"That's exactly what I've been waiting to hear!"