Late night.
Yugen sat in the laboratory chair, yawning tiredly and stretching lazily.
The large laboratory was empty, with only his solitary lab left lit up in the entire corridor. Moonlight spread across the empty school building, the lights flickering in the quiet of the night.
Normally, he would have returned to the dorm by this time, but today he was caught up in research and it got a bit late.
Tonight, he exchanged a lot of ideas with Asuka, subtly hinting at the future enhancement direction of the Digital Angels. Yugen thought that once the enhancements were complete, he should also equip himself with one.
The enhanced operational capability of the Digital Angels is actually quite formidable, though currently, there's no prominent leading protagonist in the animated world. But it doesn't matter, having a good set ready and prepared is always right.
The strongest form of the Digital Angels isn't through internal system enhancements, but rather when integrated into other highly compatible card decks to unleash 120% of their power.
However, once this card deck evolves into its complete form, it will instantly obtain crushing power several generations ahead.
Mitsuzawa is currently focusing on developing the Undead Race. Yugen also managed to acquire an evolved physical card version of the Minotaur and Horse-headed Ghost, which are solid ace cards of the Undead Race, with considerable strength in the current environment.
It's just that he currently doesn't play with Undead-themed card decks, but if he gets his hands on a powerful Undead deck in the future, he will definitely include them.
He leaned back against the chair, stretching his neck joints, then suddenly saw a small hand offering a mug beside him.
A cup of steaming hot coffee.
Yugen instinctively took the mug, looking up in the direction it came from, and was surprised to find the Silent Magician was the one who handed it over.
The silver-haired magician girl handed the mug to him and then immediately returned to her spirit form, feeling somewhat shy as she looked away.
Surprised, the spirit actually learned to help make coffee.
Yugen chuckled, raised the mug, took a sip, and waved it slightly at her.
"Thank you."
The Silent Magician smiled slightly, bowed a little, then returned into the card deck on the Duel Disc.
Finishing the coffee, Yugen glanced at the time again, it was already close to midnight.
"That's it for today."
He stretched lazily, got up from the chair, turned off the lights and the power, and left the laboratory.
Leaving the school building, the path to the dorm was a narrow one surrounded by dense woods. The winding forest path crackled with the sound of leaves crunching underfoot. Tree branches swayed in the wind, rustling like whispers in the dark.
Yugen didn't consider himself afraid of the dark, but even so, there was something slightly eerie about tonight's atmosphere. Every breeze in the forest seemed to carry the whispers of ghosts.
The Silent Magician, who had returned to the card deck, floated out again, cautiously raising the magic staff in front of her.
Yugen frowned, "Spirit vibrations?"
Recently, Yugen began to find the matter of spirits somewhat mysterious. Just like how the Yuki Family in the protagonist group could understand Chestnut Ball's chatter, after spending so much time together, he too seemed to start understanding Silent's usual expressions without the need for words.
Not sure if it's proof of a deepening bond.
Silent nodded seriously.
Yugen pondered. Could it be like last time at the abandoned dorm, a rift leading to the Elf Realm?
Just then, a noise emerged from the forest.
At first, it was faint, but quickly became clear, as if something was rushing through the woods, rapidly approaching their direction.
Silent cautiously stood protectively in front of Yugen, blocking the direction where the thing was coming from. The leaves trembled in the rustling sound, branches swayed continuously, echoing a sense of unease from the shrubs and forest.
Then a dark silhouette suddenly leaped out from the bush.
"Aah! It's me, don't shoot... oh, no, don't use the magic staff!"
It was Judai.
Rushing frantically out of the forest, Judai almost ran into the magic staff Silent had extended, its tip glowing with a Magic Light Cannon almost hitting his nose.
Judai quickly braked, raising his hands in a surrender gesture. Silent raised an eyebrow, withdrawing the magic staff and stepping back.
"Judai?" Yugen asked curiously, "What are you doing here so late?"
"Well... it's a long story." Judai scratched his head, "An Obelisk Blue student suddenly barged into our dorm yelling for help..."
As he spoke, Marufuji Sho, Hayato, and Teacher Dade Temple appeared from behind, panting heavily.
"Big...big brother, you run too fast, we can't keep up..."
All three were out of breath.
"Huh? Yugen?" Teacher Dade Temple was stunned, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was in the lab a bit late today..."
Judai suddenly remembered something, "Ah, this isn't the time for chatting, rescuing is urgent! Let's go, talk while we run."
Even though he hadn't said anything, the situation and scene already led Yugen to roughly guess what was happening.
It seemed to be one of those early GX storyline points where Judai first encounters Duel Monster Spirits as antagonists.
Artificial Human - Telekinesis Intimidator.
Yugen thought for a moment and decided to follow. Judai's explanation also matched what he remembered.
Simply put, there was a club in the school dedicated to studying Duel Monster Spirits, where three daring students got involved.
These three played a spirit-invoking game exclusive to Duel Monster Spirits in the middle of the night and didn't pick a spirit like the Black Mage Girl, who's both talkative and approachable, nor the Chestnut Ball, which is low in star level and gentle. For some reason, they chose Artificial Human Soga.
The result was that the spirit summoning was partially successful. Soga appeared in a half-dead, incomplete state.
Aiming to become complete, Soga required souls as a sacrifice. However, it didn't grab anyone forcefully, instead, it politely asked these three if it could take three sacrifices. Assuming that the sacrifices must be cards, they confidently affirmed it was fine. Not just three, even thirty would be fine.
So Soga manifested according to the contract.
Two days passed, and two students from the Elf Association disappeared.
The third student realized that the sacrifice was meant to be them, and in a panic, ran out desperately in the middle of the night. Somehow, they ended up crashing into the Osiris Red dormitory, meeting Judai and his group.
Just as they finished explaining the situation to Judai and the others, the power at the Red Dormitory was suddenly cut off, and the lights went out.
When the light came on again, everyone discovered that Soga's spirit had indeed appeared, grabbing the unconscious student and running into the dense forest.
Judai and the others had been following closely behind all the way to this place.
Yugen knew that if his memory served him correctly, according to the original animation, the place where Soga was escaping to should be...
Indeed, bursting out of the jungle, a gigantic power station enclosed by a fence appeared before them.
"This is the power plant of Academy Island, the whole academy's electricity is supplied from here," said Teacher Dade Temple.
A blue electric arc streaked across the sky above, like a thunder dragon twisting in the air over the power station. A bolt of lightning struck down from above, exploding into a translucent phantom on the ground.
It was none other than the well-known rare card monster spirit, Artificial Human Soga.
"Oh my!" screamed Teacher Dade Temple, "A spirit! It really is a spirit!"
Yugen squinted his eyes, scrutinizing him.
The boss's acting skills are still as great as ever.
Hayato was puzzled, "But Teacher, don't you always tell us that dueling spirits are real?"
"Ah, well... knowing is one thing, but seeing it with my own eyes is a first," Teacher Dade Temple adjusted his glasses.
Judai took a deep breath, stepping forward intending to talk to Soga, only to see Yugen had already gotten ahead of him.
"The spirit of the Artificial Human, right?"
Soga's figure hovered amidst the electric glow of the power station, flickering like a phantom, ignoring them.
The three missing students were unconscious nearby, they still seemed salvageable.
Seeing no response from the other party, Yugen revealed a card.
The card he held was "Artificial Human - Telekinesis Intimidator".
Sure enough, this time Soga reacted, taking an eager step towards him, seemingly craving the card in his hand.
"So, this card can help with your complete revival, right? You want this card?"
Soga pondered for a few seconds, seemingly considering the other's motives.
Then, in a low voice, he spoke.
"I want that card, but I will not give up these three sacrifices," he shook his head, "They agreed to be my revival sacrifices."
After a pause, he emphasized again.
"But I also want that card."
Hmm, still an adult spirit, knowing he wants it all.
"You all seem to be duelists, so solve this the way you do best."
Soga pointed to the Duel Disc on Yugen's hand.
"So we still have to duel after all."
Yugen nodded.
Completely expected.
"A duel is fine. If you win, the card is yours, and I won't interfere with your matters anymore.
But if you lose, what then?"
To the spirits, dueling is more sacred than to humans, naturally, they must negotiate the stakes.
Soga thought for a moment and said, "If I lose, then I am willing to forfeit these three souls who volunteered to sacrifice themselves for me."
Yugen shook his head, "I don't know those three."
Soga: "?"
The people behind: "???"
Why are you not playing by the rules?
Does that sound like something a protagonist should say?
Soga hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, "Then what do you want?"
"Every card is like a lifeline to a duelist, irreplaceable. I'm wagering what feels like my soul as a partner, shouldn't you also put up an equivalent wager?" Yugen said.
Soga hesitated, "So you're saying... my soul?"
"As expected from a high-level elf, your perceptiveness is impressive."
Yugen smiled.
"If I win, then you can reside in this card. From now on, no need for souls or sacrifices to revive, right?"
Thus, if he wins, the three students naturally wouldn't have to be sacrifices anymore.
"Heh, interesting. Human duelist, do you want to be my master?"
Soga said in a deep voice, assuming a dueling stance.
"Then you'll need to earn my approval first."
"So you agree then."
Yugen also activated his Duel Disc.
"Duel!" x2
Negotiations concluded, dialogues ended, next was to decide the outcome with cards.
After round of negotiations, no one else had the chance to speak. It seemed by the time they came to their senses, both sides were already close to the card-playing stage.
Judai suddenly realized.
Wait a sec.
Isn't it like... another card seeking him out only to be snatched away by Yugen again?