Chapter 450: Rumors of the Seven Stars
Chapter 450: Rumors of the Seven Stars
"Shatter! Crush! Bravo!"
"Destroyer's Burst Hurricane!"
Kaiba's loud roar was accompanied by a booming laugh. The White Dragon in his hand seemed to pour out a galaxy, and the boundless white light swept through the entire arena. Another scream echoed as a fallen opponent left the field.
"Hahahaha—Not enough, not nearly enough!" Kaiba shouted, "Next!"
The laughter was bold and majestic, causing everyone present to tremble.
One of the black-robed figures could no longer bear it and unconsciously glanced in that direction. But as soon as he did, a voice in front of him snapped him back to attention.
"Still have the leisure to worry about your teammates, huh? Seems like you're handling it pretty well." You Xuan chuckled.
Only then did the black-robed figure come to his senses, turning his head back to focus on the duel before him.
". Flip Summon 'Morphing Pot', discard both players' hands, and then draw the same number of cards."
You Xuan casually sent five cards from his hand to the graveyard and drew, chuckling softly.
"Of course, I can draw, but you can't. Because I have 'Shrine Guardian' on the field, as long as this card is face-up on the field, your opponent cannot draw cards except during their Draw Phase.
So, discard your entire hand. Then I'll draw five cards."
Black-robed Figure: ". . ."
"Oh right, then I activate the Trap Card 'Seal of the Grave', skipping your next Draw Phase." You Xuan gestured politely, "Then it's your turn.
Of course, since your Draw Phase was skipped, you can't draw. Go ahead."
The black-robed figure looked at his empty hands and then at his sealed deck, letting out a long breath.
Was this the prowess of the new Duel King?
Truly terrifying.
As he listened to the nearby Blue-Eyes White Dragon's roar, another colleague fell to its breath. At that moment, he felt no pity, only envy.
He envied how his colleague could fall so decisively, so quickly that there was hardly time to feel pain.
". . ."
The pleasant duel activity came to an end. This was the several times You Xuan and Kaiba had cooperated within the week, and they had long since become familiar with each other's strategies. With the intelligence gathered by the Kaiba Corporation over the years, they had, in this week alone, raided the new Doma headquarters and eradicated much of the organization's foundation in this area, following the fall of the Arbiters.
Of course, this was only on the underground Dark Duel side. Doma had been lurking in the shadows for many years, with key members embedded in the business and political worlds. Cleaning them out would require more effort, but that was a headache for Kaiba to deal with later.
However, You Xuan had some questions he wanted to ask.
Before Kaiba broke down the door, he had overheard something outside. Aside from finding it amusing that this group had been pushed to worry about their basic necessities, he had also caught another crucial piece of information that piqued his interest.
So, after the duel, he spared a life, refraining from delivering a fatal blow as per the rules of the Dark Duel. Instead, he asked a question.
"I heard you mention something about 'Seven Stars'?" You Xuan inquired, "An underground Dark Duelist organization?"
The black-robed figure, defeated by You Xuan's dueling prowess and bound by the power of darkness, had no choice but to answer—especially since the duel had left him mentally exhausted and his psychological defenses weakened.
"Yes, it's a newly emerged organization. We don't know much about them," the figure replied.
You Xuan frowned, "I thought Doma had connections everywhere and knew everything that happened in the world."
The figure bitterly smiled.
"We don't investigate every new group that pops up. But this Seven Stars seems to have considerable potential. If it weren't for... certain changes, we would have looked into their backgrounds and kept records."
"Certain changes?"
"Before the Duel City incident, the organization was already dedicating all its resources to finding you and the Seal. And then you killed our ancestor, creating chaos within our ranks."
You Xuan smiled at the mention.
So, they were blaming him now?
With the new Doma headquarters conquered and the remaining branches scattered, the once-vast organization had essentially returned to the paralyzed state it was in after Daichi's death and before the Arbiters' emergence.
However, You Xuan didn't need to investigate further, as he already had a good idea of what the Seven Stars were about.
The Seven Stars were seven elite Dark Duelists gathered from different fields. Well, somewhat elite, at least.
"The Three Phantom Demon cards."
"It is said that those cards represent the new pinnacle of Duel Monsters in a world where the Phantom God is absent. It is even rumored that they possess the ability to reverse aging and achieve immortality."
The mere mention of "immortality" was enough to drive people from any era into madness.
The mysterious sponsor behind the Seven Stars was indeed such a person. The all-knowing, all-powerful sponsor was an elderly man on his deathbed, one of the founders of the Duel Academy, the Shadow Maru School Director.
The School Director was once a powerful Dark Duelist himself, but now he was old and frail, his life hanging by a thread and sustained only by expensive life-support machines.
He possessed wealth that could rival nations, vast resources, and a top position, but he did not want to die. Even the most advanced modern technology could only barely keep him alive, so he turned his attention to the mystical realm.
Dade Temple was the number one talent he had discovered. He sponsored Dade Temple's research with immense funds, which allowed him to develop the "Soul Transference," an alchemical achievement unparalleled in history.
Unfortunately, the bodies refined by the Great Virtue Temple still had defects and could not be sustained for long before collapsing. Thus, Shadow Maru rejected this proposal and began searching for other possibilities.
The Three Phantom Demons were his last straw.
It was said that whoever obtained the Three Phantom Demon cards would instantly reverse their aging, regain their youth, and become immortal, free from sickness and old age, with their bodies forever maintained at their peak condition.
However, the Phantom Demon cards had been sealed away by a joint agreement between various forces when the academy was first established. The intention was to prohibit anyone from using them.
He wanted those cards, but the Duel Academy, the Kaiba Corporation, and even his own board of directors would never allow it.
So he assembled the Seven Stars, a group of extraordinary Dark Duelists, to break the seal and claim the power of the Phantom Demons by force.
You Xuan thought for a moment. The struggle for the Three Phantom Demons with the Seven Stars Group would be the main storyline of the second semester in GX. However, in the storyline, the protagonists were always on the defensive, and in the end, they discovered that they had been manipulated by Shadow Maru all along.
But now, it seemed like there was a new option.
So he asked, "Then, where are these Seven Stars?"
The black-robed figure shook his head helplessly. "They don't seem to have a fixed base. The so-called organization is just a council composed of a few leaders."
"And you want to join them? How do you plan to contact them?"
"We can't directly reach their upper echelons, but the Seven Stars have recently been making a name for themselves in the underground world, and they already have several subordinate organizations under their command."
The black-robed figure confessed honestly.
"Go and find one of their subordinate organizations, and start from the bottom. Just complete a few missions and excel. Naturally, you'll gain a channel to move up the ranks.
If you perform well enough to catch the eye of the mastermind behind the scenes, there's a chance you could join the 'Seven Stars' leadership as well."
You Xuan shook his head. "That's too slow."
The black-robed figure hesitated. "There might be another way."
"What is it?"
"Recently, the Seven Stars seem to be preparing for something big. They are actively recruiting and forming alliances in the underground world. I've observed their movements, and it seems that they are moving from north to south, targeting cities with active underground activities. They are looking for top-notch killers in the underground markets of Dark Duels.
Based on this pattern, we can roughly predict the next city they will visit.
So, if we can make a name for ourselves in the underground world of that city before the Seven Stars arrive..."
"The leaders of the Seven Stars will come to us?" You Xuan's eyes lit up.
This was worth a try.
It would also be a good opportunity to practice his skills against some of the more formidable Dark Duelists in the underground world.
(End of Chapter)
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