"Something you told me through the duel?"
Chazz was completely bewildered by Jaden's words.
Was there really something like that? How come I didn't feel it at all?
Chazz furrowed his brow, turning the idea over in his mind.
If he had to say what he had gained from that duel, it felt like nothing but agony and utter dejection. No matter what massive boss monster he summoned or what astonishing, flashy play he pulled off, his opponent had remained breezy and nonchalant the entire time, effortlessly batting away his moves with a casual flick of the wrist.
If that process had conveyed anything to him, Chazz could only discern a single message
You're seriously trash.
I haven't even broken a sweat, and you're already on the floor.
"Chazz, when you came back from North Academy this time, you didn't just get new cards, right? You found a new partner, too," Jaden said.
Chazz froze for a second.
His initial reaction was that Jaden meant his new classmates from North Academy. But considering who was speaking, he quickly realized what Jaden was getting at.
Jaden was talking about spirits.
"Yeah, yeah! That's right! Like me, the Boss's most dependable partner!"
Ojama Yellow popped out again, covering his face with his hands as he wriggled his buttclad in those bright red underpantson Chazz's shoulder.
Having just been thoroughly traumatized, Chazz felt his blood boil the moment he laid eyes on the creature.
Damn it... Maybe I really should tear this idiot to shreds to vent a little...
"Exactly, that guy! I saw him several times during the duel," Jaden laughed. "Look, Chazz, haven't you also made a precious card spirit friend?"
"Precious? Friend?"
Chazz gave Ojama Yellow a look of utter disgust.
This pathetic thing?
Tears welled in Ojama Yellow's big eyes. "Boss, have you forgotten our sacred vows of eternal devotion? Or are you getting sick of me now that you've got new flames..."
"Get lost! I don't remember ever making any promises to you!" Chazz snapped furiously.
"So, Chazz, you clearly have the power of spirits, but it didn't seem like you included him in your deck at all, did you?" Jaden asked curiously. "Why is that?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Chazz's face hardened into a scowl. "In a duel this important, why would I ever let a piece of garbage like that onto the field..."
"But Yugen used an Ojama Deck and played brilliantly, didn't he?"
Chazz: "..."
"There's no such thing as a useless card; they're just waiting for their potential to be uncovered," Jaden said with a bright smile. "You've already gotten really strong, Chazz. But even so, you're still chasing after duels that are all about raw power.
"Yet I don't think a duel based on strength alone is enough. The fact that Yugen specifically chose that kind of deck and that playstyle to duel you must mean he wanted to show you that, too."
Saying that, Jaden turned with a grinning face toward Yugen.
"Right, Yugen?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." Yugen nodded with solemn gravity. "More or less."
Well, since Jaden has already framed it that way, I might as well roll with it.
It wouldn't do to admit that I simply thought crushing Chazzwho currently looks down on Ojamasusing an Ojama Deck would be hysterically funny...
"Yes, yes, exactly, Boss!"
Ojama Yellow danced with joy, looking at Jaden and then at Yugen, his eyes brimming with tears of gratitude. To him, Yugen was practically the greatest saint to ever walk the earth.
"See, even I have my uses!" Ojama Yellow proclaimed. "Look, Master Yugen used the power of our brothers to beat you into a pulp, leaving you completely battered, humiliated, and steaming with rage..."
A popping vein immediately throbbed on Chazz's forehead, his fleeting composure shattered.
He genuinely began to wonder if he really ought to just rip this buffoonish Ojama into confetti and be done with it.
"Still, Chazz, you fought a great duel."
Jaden took a step back, resting his hands on his hips as he looked toward the spectator stands.
"Look, everyone thinks so too."
Up in the stands, the students of North Academy began shouting in unison.
"Thunder! Thunder! Chazz 'Thunder'!!!"
The deafening roar swept across the arena like a tidal wave, threatening to blow the roof off the stadium.
Chazz stood stunned.
"You guys... but why?" he asked, dazed. "I clearly lost..."
"Because everyone saw your strength, and they saw how hard you worked," Jaden said with a smile. "Sometimes in a duel, the journey matters just as much."
Chazz: "..."
"What a joke," Slade Princeton said, stepping forward. "A loss is a loss. Our dream"
"to have Chazz conquer the Duel Monsters world and expand your family's influence to build the Princeton Empire, right?" Yugen interrupted with a chuckle.
The Princeton brothers glared at him.
"To be fair, you're not wrong," Yugen remarked. "In dueling, there are times when results matter far more than the process, where victory and defeat are everything."
Jaden glanced at him in surprise. "Yugen..."
"However, a duel is never merely a tool to win or a stepping stone to acquire fame and fortune," Yugen said smoothly. "In your eyes, Chazz is nothing more than an instrument, isn't he? To you, dueling is just a means to gain prestige, wealth, and status. It's precisely that mindset and the immense pressure you heap on him that keeps him from taking the next step."
Chazz: "..."
When he looked back at Jaden and Yugen now, the light in his eyes had subtly changed.
Jagger Princeton took a step forward, about to say something, but his older brother Slade held him back.
Slade shook his head, so Jagger swallowed his words, giving Chazz one last searching look.
The two turned and walked away.
After the Princeton Group and the media departed the island one after another, it was finally time for the two academies to part ways.
"And now, it is time for the awards ceremony of the duel between the Main Campus and North Academy!"
Professor Crowler stood on the makeshift podium, holding a microphone.
"Please welcome our special guest presenter, Miss Duel Academy!"
The crowd below stared blankly.
Miss Duel Academy?
Does someone like that even exist?
Then, the new students watched in horror as Ms. Dorothy walked out, dressed in a backless evening gown, caked in flamboyant makeup and sporting vivid, cherry-red lipstick...
"WHAT!???"
The freshmen felt as though their retinas had just suffered a devastating critical strike.
"Now, we invite the winning chancellor to the stage to receive the award!" Crowler announced with a flourish of his hand.
Chancellor Sheppard beamed with radiant delight as he stepped onto the stage. Ms. Dorothy leaned in and planted a deep, wet kiss right onto his cheek with her glossy, plump red lips. Chancellor Sheppard was instantly in heaven, breaking into a blissfully ecstatic smile...
Meanwhile, Chancellor Foster of North Academy completely broke down at that exact moment. Unable to watch any longer, he buried his face into Chazz's shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.
"Thunder! You must become stronger next year! You have to get stronger, Thunder!"
Foster bawled his eyes out, snot and tears flowing freely.
"No matter what, we're taking it back next year! Dorothy-chan, just endure that scoundrel Sheppard for a little while! Wait for meeee, waaaahhh!"
Watching his chancellor cry like a heartbroken child, Chazz hesitated for a moment before scratching his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"Um... Chancellor, I'm really sorry." Chazz scratched the back of his neck. "I thought it over, and I've decided... I'm staying at the Main Campus after all."
"EH!?"
Chancellor Foster froze into solid stone.
"Yeah, that's how it is," Chazz muttered. "Because I still have unfinished business here."
Chancellor Foster: "..."
So not only had he lost Dorothy-chan's kiss this year, but his top general was defecting back to the enemy on the spot?
Was this the literal definition of giving away the bride and losing the army?
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