Chapter 405: Determination
Chapter 405: Determination
With the conclusion of the final duel between Xiang Hongye and the Judge, the quarter-finals of the tournament officially came to an end.
Following the quarter-finals, there was a brief period of rest as per the tournament schedule. Just like the first Duel Monsters tournament, the quarter-finals were held during the journey, but a special venue had been prepared for the final stage of the semi-finals.
The Duel Tower, a symbol of Seto Kaiba's and Yugi Muto's past, was where Yugi planned to claim the title of Duel King and obtain the three Egyptian God cards, thus conquering the world and leaving his past behind.
However, everyone knew what happened afterward. Kaiba spared no expense in organizing the largest-scale tournament in the world, gathering the holders of the three Egyptian God cards and staking the title of Duel King. In the end, all his efforts only served to crown Atem as the victor, and the Egyptian God cards followed him, leaving Kaiba with nothing.
It seemed that after that tournament, Kaiba had been in a semi-retired state from dueling. He claimed to the public that he would never touch a deck again and would focus solely on business, but it was common knowledge that he still dueled occasionally.
The Duel Ship continued its journey. However, according to the tournament organizers, they were nearing their destination, and the duelists could take a break, eat, and make any last-minute adjustments to their decks.
The final stage of the tournament was almost upon them.
Back in his room, Jaden Yuki took out the deck he had received from Xiang Hongye and spread the cards out on the table, studying them intently.
Among them were at least half rare cards that were difficult to acquire on the market, undoubtedly a significant boost to his deck of common heroes. These were the cool and powerful heroes he had always dreamed of, but now that he held them in his hands, he felt a sense of emptiness and weight in his heart.
The door behind him opened, and Jaden turned to see Aster Phoenix walk in.
"Aster," Jaden acknowledged.
"How's Mr. Xiang doing?" Aster asked.
"He's in a coma in the ship's medical room, and the equipment can't detect any issues," Jaden replied, his voice trailing off.
They both knew what that meant. Those who fell in defeat within the Orichalcos barrier lost their souls, their physical bodies appearing alive but devoid of their essence.
Defeating the Serpent God, the true form of the Judge, was the only way Atem had proven to rescue those whose souls had been taken.
Aster glanced at the cards spread out on the table.
"Mr. Xiang's deck?"
"Yeah, the semi-finalists are all tough opponents. I need to study and strengthen my deck as well," Jaden nodded, "And now, I have to duel with all my might, carrying Mr. Hongye's spirit with me."
"Well, I figured you'd say that," Aster shrugged, "So, even if I asked you to give up this duel, you probably wouldn't listen, would you?"
"Of course not," Jaden said, "Mr. Hongye dueled as a true duelist until the very end, and I can't back down now."
"I knew it," Aster nodded.
He handed Jaden a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Jaden asked, curious.
"It's a list of card information that I know about a possible deck used by the Judge, called 'Orichalcos,' which is an original Doma deck," Aster explained.
"Both Seto Kaiba and I are very familiar with these cards. Out of the semi-finalists, you're probably the only one who hasn't seen these cards before. If you do end up facing the Judge, the situation could be very unfavorable for you."
Jaden took the paper and looked it over, feeling touched. "Aster, you've prepared all this beforehand?"
"Don't get too sentimental yet," Aster said, "This is just a precaution."
"Just like you, Yu Xuan, and your varied strategies?" Jaden asked, nodding in agreement.
"Well, something like that," Yu Xuan acknowledged. "In any case, these are just precautions. I believe his strongest deck is still likely to be the Orichalcos series. But as for which deck he'll use in the duel...if you do end up facing him, be prepared for any tactical possibility."
"Yeah, I know," Jaden affirmed with a series of nods.
Seeing Jaden's quick agreement, Yu Xuan suddenly realized that his words of caution might be unnecessary. After all, when it came to Jaden, there was no such thing as learning about one's opponent beforehand. Regardless of what deck his opponent used, Jaden always stuck to his own style—meeting force with force and adapting as needed.
However, to be frank, Yu Xuan wasn't optimistic about the outcome if Jaden were to face the Judge.
Whether in the anime or the manga, Yuki Judai (Jaden Yuki) was the quintessential growth-oriented protagonist. But the current Jaden was only halfway through his first year; he lacked the Masked Heroes from the latter parts of the manga and the new dimensional powers from the latter parts of the anime. His connection with Yubel, his ultimate power, was still drifting in space, and he hadn't awakened his true potential yet. In essence, he hadn't drawn any trump cards.
He had only just obtained the advanced Elemental Hero deck entrusted to him by Xiang Hongye, which could be considered his initial reinforcement. But to face an opponent of the Judge's caliber with this deck...frankly, Yu Xuan felt that even with cheats, Jaden's chances of victory were slim.
However, it was clear that Jaden wouldn't be persuaded, and as his friend, Yu Xuan had said all he could. The rest was up to Jaden.
"By the way," Yu Xuan asked, "during the duel, the Judge did something to you, didn't he? Did you feel like something was off?"
Jaden furrowed his brows, staring thoughtfully out the window for a moment.
"I can't quite explain it," he said.
"You can't explain it?"
"It felt strange," he said, searching for the right words. "I saw fragmented scenes, almost like...snippets of memories. But it's odd because I don't recall having those memories."
Jaden remembered something. "Oh, and I kept hearing someone calling my name, 'Jaden, Jaden,' over and over. It felt like it was coming from a very distant place."
Yu Xuan pondered this for a moment.
It was possible that these were memories from Jaden's early childhood that had been deleted, or perhaps they were from his past life. But regardless of which set of memories it was, they were likely connected to Yubel. The one calling his name was most probably Yubel herself.
In the anime, Yubel had mentioned that even when she was first launched into space, she could still receive feedback from Jaden. Despite being far from Earth, their connection as master and servant remained intact.
She had continuously sent messages to Jaden, and during that time, he had suffered from nightmares every night.
It was only when KaibaCorp's technology deleted the portion of his memory related to Yubel that their connection was severed, and Jaden forgot about her existence entirely.
Could the Judge's interference with Jaden's memory have reestablished their link to Yubel?
(End of Chapter)
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