"Did you have fun?"
Jaden was speechless. Truth is, Jaden is a "duel for fun" type; he usually enjoys his duels. But he also knew that the "fun" Kira spoke of often wasn't the same as his.
When Jaden's having fun, the opponent might also enjoy themselves if luck's on their side.
When Kira is having fun, the opponent usually suffers.
So that otherworld Supreme King—hopefully the guy's okay…
Oddly, they'd roamed that otherworld instance so long, across dimension after dimension, where everyone feared the Supreme King as a god with none daring to defy him—the strongest existence, by all accounts.
Yet even after hearing so much, when Jaden learned Kira faced the Supreme King, his instinct was: that Supreme King's going to have a bad time.
He'd never actually met the Supreme King himself—only legends—but even so, he felt that no matter how strong that guy was, when he met Kira he'd end up flat on his face…
"So, did you already take him out?"
Jaden suddenly felt a bit deflated.
Finally, a big-shot opponent—and the headhunter Kira nabbed the kill again…
"Not this time," Kira shook his head. "That wasn't his true body. His real self remains in the Supreme King's dimensional citadel; he came here by using you as a medium.
I can drive him back for now, but I can't annihilate him."
"You're making me afraid to sleep," Jaden grumbled.
He was now wide awake. Even a big-hearted guy like Jaden couldn't stay calm at the thought of a demon lord intruding when he slept.
"Exactly. So I think we should ask for leave tomorrow, head to the Supreme King's citadel, and end this in one go."
Kira paused, studying Jaden for a moment.
"What?" Jaden asked.
"No, nothing," Kira hesitated. "But this time… it may have to be you."
"Me?" Jaden blinked.
"Yes," Kira said. "Like I've said, the Supreme King is essentially the darkness in your own heart. Even if I defeat his true body at the citadel, as long as you live, the Supreme King can awaken again."
He thought of the original story.
In GX, candidate MVP teammate Axel once risked his life to go down with the Supreme King, claiming the Supreme King was gone and only Jaden's personality remained. But later, the Supreme King wasn't truly gone—just suppressed deep within.
The Supreme King is Jaden's inner darkness, and inner darkness can never be truly erased. Given the right conditions, it can always reawaken.
Yet throughout GX, Jaden never confronted the Supreme King himself.
That's what Kira was weighing now. In every Yu-Gi-Oh series, the strongest duelists must face their inner darkness. Running away, or outsourcing the job, is no real solution. Only by facing your greatest darkness, overcoming it—or even turning it into your own strength—can you truly break through.
Kira hesitated, wondering if Jaden was ready.
It's like a tribulation—a chance for Jaden to break his limit and evolve, but with great risk.
If Jaden failed, his personality might be devoured by his inner darkness. The Supreme King would return in full.
Even then, it wouldn't be hopeless. The original series proved you could still beat the Supreme King in a duel. But it would be messy, uncertain, and hardly guaranteed.
Still, Jaden had already faced the Arbiter, met Koyo, and gained Gentle Darkness's power. Kira judged that his growth was about there. He had to face the Supreme King himself.
"So, now?" Jaden asked.
"Let's head back and rest a bit, then depart later," Kira said. "It's time to end this…"
He stopped and glanced toward the woods. "Someone's coming."
A moment later, the brush parted and a blond head poked out.
"Huh? You guys?"
Joey froze.
He looked around at the pitted ground and general wreckage, then peered suspiciously at the two.
"The Supreme King was just here. Long story," Kira said. "In short, we're moving the plan up. Get ready—we're heading to the Supreme King's citadel soon."
"So sudden?"
Joey hesitated, then asked anyway.
"Also… did a God just appear here?"
Kira was a bit surprised.
His duel with the Supreme King took place in a barrier-like realm—the Supreme King's darkness shrouded the area. Outsiders shouldn't have sensed much.
Ra's divine might is great, but this was only the egg—not the true form. From afar, maybe you'd notice a flicker of golden light in the sky, but that's about it—unlikely to be seen clearly.
"You saw something?" Kira asked.
"No, just a strange… sensation," Joey scratched his head. "How do I put it… a sense of déjà vu."
Kira fell silent.
He remembered—Joey did have a fateful brush with Ra. Back in the day, Marik pulled a dirty trick, used 0 ATK Ra to attack Joey directly, and knocked him out via spiritual damage.
Having eaten that hit, Joey would be deeply familiar with Ra's divine power.
"Yes and no," Kira coughed. "You could say it was Ra… It's a long story. I'll explain when there's time."
Joey didn't press, but he couldn't help giving Kira another look.
He'd never imagined that, years after Battle City, someone could still wield Ra.
Thinking back on those glorious days, with old foes and friends now gone their separate ways, he even felt a bit nostalgic for their old enemy, Marik.
Where was Marik now? What was he doing…
Kira had obtained this "egg" some time ago; tonight was just its field debut. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to use it earlier—it was still in testing, in a lab he ran with experts from Industrial Illusions.
After all, this was handling a God card. Even if it was a derivative card and not the God itself—a gray area, really—it was God-adjacent. So extensive testing was required before live use.
Tonight's results showed the development had gone smoothly.
The Supreme King had the honor of being the first duelist in history to get "egged" by Ra.
Auspicious indeed.
...
2 Bonus chapter at 1000 PS