Several thoughts flashed through Zane Truesdale's mind.
Perhaps his master was right. He ought to consider more varied, more ruthless methods.
But... could defense truly bring supreme victory?
If his sixteen-thousand-point attack just now could have pierced straight through the trap, if his power could have risen above rules and schemes, would the outcome have been entirely different?
That dangerous thought flashed through his mind before he forcibly suppressed it.
Zane Truesdale turned and walked straight toward Yūki, stopping two paces away.
Without the slightest trace of a loser's self-pity, he looked straight at Yūki with an open, cold gaze.
"Yūki, I lost this duel. Whether in anticipating the situation or exploring the properties of cards, you're above me now."
After a pause, Zane Truesdale slowly clenched his slender hands into fists, his tone taking on an unprecedented solemnity and resolve.
"But I won't stand still. I'll thoroughly address my deck's defensive shortcomings and lack of tactical variety, eliminating every weakness one by one."
He stared into Yūki's eyes and spoke each word distinctly.
"Next time, I'll challenge you again in a more perfect form."
At those words, even Principal Samejima, who stood nearby, couldn't help raising his eyebrows.
A challenge?
The emperor Kaiser, who stood at the pinnacle of Duel Academy-Zane Truesdale, who had always let others line up to submit challenges and even disdained the weak-would actually use the word "challenge" himself one day?
A faint ripple of absurdity and bitterness also stirred in Zane Truesdale's heart.
Once, every student in the academy, and even some newcomers in the Professional League, could only address him with the utmost respect as Lord Kaiser, reverently hoping for a chance to challenge him.
Yet now, as the loser, he actually had to say the word "challenge" himself.
But... that was the