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Chapter 115: The Truth
Chapter 115: The Truth
【Sherril, LP 0】
As Sherril's life points dropped to zero, the ritual of the duel came to a close. The Orichalcos' barrier began to swirl and contract, slowly drawing towards Sherril's location.
However, at the same time, a powerful force also erupted from his deck.
The phoenix flames transformed into soaring firelights, briefly forming a phantom image of a phoenix in mid-air. The flames engulfed the entire arena, enveloping the three duelists in its dazzling glow.
After the blinding flash of light, a scene appeared.
It looked like an ancient battlefield from a distant time, where the heavens and earth were engulfed in endless lamentations. The sky, like a shattered scroll, was torn apart, revealing a startling fissure.
Within that fissure lurked a terrifying evil god, its profound and cruel gaze seeming to devour all living beings.
An army of monsters surged onto the battlefield like a tidal wave, their silhouettes in the dusk's glow exceedingly sinister. Some had horns and wore armor, others flew with outstretched wings, and among them were blood-curdling demons whose roars shook the earth.
A cruel war erupted on the land, with flames consuming everything in their path. A burning phoenix fell from the sky, its feathers shimmering in the fire, and its mournful cry echoing across the battlefield endlessly.
"Is this...from the past?" Yugi muttered.
Although it was just a guess, they all seemed to understand its meaning.
The forces of the evil god had invaded the world of the sprites, unleashing a fierce battle in a dimension unknown to humans. The fallen phoenix might have been the Phoenix God of Nephthys.
This footage perhaps showed that the Phoenix God was not unwilling to help them initially; it was simply outmatched and defeated.
As the fallen phoenix dissipated, the flames it released were absorbed into a stone tablet.
It seemed that after that battle, the Phoenix God's sprite had entered a sealed state. The reason it could communicate with everyone now was due to the residual Phoenix power they had absorbed from the tribal site's statue earlier.
The scene shifted from the sprite world to reality.
It was an ancient village nestled among the mountains.
The gentle sunshine was suddenly obscured by thick clouds, and monsters surged forth from all directions like a tidal wave. The silhouettes of various beasts loomed in the dark forests, and the village was reduced to ruins under their trampling.
And behind all those monsters, beneath the dark clouds that shrouded the sky, a black shadow with the mark of the six-pointed star of Orichalcos on its forehead watched with a sinister smile.
"How...how could this be?" Sherril said, his face filled with disbelief.
Suddenly, he understood.
No, perhaps he should have realized much earlier that there were many suspicious points about the invasion of his homeland. However, up until now, his spirit had been under the influence of Orichalcos, deliberately guided to ignore these doubts, and he had not been able to think in this direction.
Now that he had lost the duel and his soul was about to dissipate, the connection with Orichalcos had finally been severed, allowing the Phoenix God to find an opportunity to reveal the truth to him.
From the beginning, the evil spirits that invaded his homeland were summoned by the God of Orichalcos.
They had staged this invasion themselves and then appeared as saviors in the desperate moment, offering Sherril the opportunity to gain power. This was how he willingly sold his soul and pledged his life to the new Doma.
Yuen, however, was completely unsurprised, as he had already guessed most of it.
After all, this was an old trick often used by the old Doma.
The Three Musketeers of the old Doma were also recruited using similar methods. Dartz, with his power to peer into the course of destiny, saw the potential of Baron, Raphael, and Amelda, and decided that the three of them were fated to become Doma's Three Musketeers.
So Dartz manipulated the tragedies of their childhoods, planting seeds of darkness in their hearts, and then guided them step by step to join Doma voluntarily in their pursuit of power, eventually becoming his strongest followers.
It was an old trick, nothing new.
After another flash of intense light, the image disappeared, and the illusory body of the Phoenix God gradually faded away. It seemed that its meager power had been completely exhausted.
"Sherril!" Judai tried to reach out to him.
Sherril glanced at Judai one last time and smiled faintly.
"You have good partners," he said. "I hope your future... will be different from mine."
With that, his soul left his body, mingled with the green pillar of light, and soared into the sky, disappearing without a trace.
This might have been the first time Judai had witnessed someone losing their soul in a duel.
It seemed to have left a profound impact on his young mind.
Judai's expression became complicated for a moment, but You Xuan maintained his usual calm demeanor. He walked forward, stooped down, and pulled out the card group.
"There's nothing else we can do," You Xuan said solemnly as he inserted the card group into the empty card box at his waist. "We can only inherit his legacy and continue moving forward."
Along with his card group.
Judai fell silent for a moment.
".Mmm."
"Alright, it's almost dawn at the academy by now. Let's head back."
". "
They had probably spent only a night in the spirit world, but they had gained quite a lot. There was a set of White Bone cards and an insect card group, as well as the Phoenix God and the King of Ends.
However, upon closer inspection, the latter two were not exactly complete card groups. There were only a few cards in each, making it difficult to call them a proper deck. Strictly speaking, Sherril's card group was also a bit messy, mixing several unrelated cards together and then adding a bunch of magical and trap cards that seemed even more out of place.
Well, it was indeed proof of a strong duelist.
Actually, with the blessing of the sprite and his long training at the academy, You Xuan was no longer a novice when it came to drawing powerful cards. Even when constructing his own deck, he could be a little bolder, but even in his own eyes, his boldness only went as far as including a few more obscure and unpopular cards to raise the upper limit.
Every time he saw such a pure and skilled construction, he couldn't help but be amazed.
The remaining power in the Phoenix God's cards seemed to have been completely exhausted, and although they could still be used, they had returned to being ordinary cards. However, after witnessing the images the Phoenix God had displayed earlier, holding this card now gave a strange sense of deja vu, as if he had picked up a hidden side quest in an RPG game.
As for the King of Ends, it was hard to say. Although the "King of Ends, Demise" appeared ordinary in You Xuan's hand and didn't seem to have a sprite residing within it, it had shown its power during the duel and seemed to be more than just a simple card.
You Xuan decided to be cautious and refrain from using cards with unclear backgrounds for the time being. He would research and test them first when he got back.
Some cards in the world of Duel Monsters were very dangerous. Some evil cards required a price to wield and could even backfire on the duelist. This "King of Ends, Demise" seemed to be of that type.
You Xuan summoned the Great Opening and cleaved through the space with his sword.
Just before stepping into the rift, Judai suddenly paused.
You Xuan turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Judai said. "It's just that..."
Judai fell into thought, pondering for a few seconds.
Then he lifted his head, his sunny and cheerful smile returning.
". Although I can't understand a lot of the things that guy said right now, I suddenly feel that coming to the Duel Academy and getting to know a guy like you, Xuan You, is really great."
A faint smile appeared on You Xuan's face.
"Mmm, I feel the same way."
He turned around.
"Let's go. Let's not keep them waiting too long."
Judai: "Okay~"
The two stepped into the rift, and just like before, they experienced a dizzying spin of heaven and earth, soon landing back on solid ground.
They found themselves in the same place they had left—the dilapidated dormitory of the Duel Academy, the room inscribed with ancient texts and symbols of millennium artifacts.
However, the first person they saw upon landing was unexpected.
Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba turned his head and, seeing the two of them, his eyes lit up. "Oh, you're back?"
(End of Chapter)
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