Alexis felt her soul being slowly devoured. A wave of helplessness washed over her.
However, she had at least discovered the deck her opponent was using: a Red-Eyes Black Dragon decka Dragon Deck. If only she could get this information to Jaden...
"Damn it, my vision is starting to blur..."
"Jaden..."
Tap.
Just as Alexis began to descend into true despair, the sound of a footstep echoed in her ears.
"What is this...?" Darkness's expression shifted slightly. He looked around in surprise at the dark aura suddenly rippling through the air. "How is this possible? The surrounding darkness... it feels like it's afraid of something."
Boom!
A crimson lotus fire suddenly surged through the surrounding walls, spreading rapidly.
"Roar!"
The Red-Eyes Black Dragon standing behind Darkness erupted into a violent, panicked shriek.
"Even you are beginning to feel fear?" Darkness looked back at his dragon in astonishment.
By now, the dark walls had been incinerated by the crimson lotus flames. A dull golden light shimmered in the gloom. A red coat swayed in the wind. A Duel Disk on a young man's left arm flashed with a crimson light, looking incredibly eerie amidst the absolute darkness.
"Jaden Yuki..." Darkness muttered under his breath as he stared at the boy.
"It seems we aren't too late, Jaden," Yubel said as she stepped onto the Shadow Duel field, her eyes falling on the golden haired girl lying on the ground who was still clinging to consciousness.
"Jaden..."
Seeing the boy appear before her, Alexis's eyes reddened. The heavy weight of despair finally lifted from her heart.
"You've worked hard." Jaden walked over to Alexis's side and knelt to check her injuries. Her wounds were mostly burns from the black flames; they looked terrifying, but they weren't life-threatening. The real danger was the erosion of the soul caused by the Shadow Duel.
For an ordinary human like Alexis, resisting a Shadow Duel was an incredibly difficult task.
"Rest for a while. Just leave the rest of this duel to me," Jaden said, gently patting Alexis on the shoulder.
A surge of invisible darkness flowed into Alexis's body. The exhausted girl suddenly felt her entire being wrapped in a strange warmth. Her pain gradually vanished, and even her spirit felt significantly rejuvenated.
Before she could process the changes in her body, she saw Jaden walking toward the man across from them. She cried out nervously, "Jaden! The deck that man uses is"
"I know."
"Eh?" Alexis blinked, startled by the confident smile on the boy's face.
"Just leave the rest to me," Jaden said with a light smile. His expression then turned calm and serious as he faced Darkness.
"Jaden..." Alexis watched his back. In that moment, an indescribable sense of peace filled her heart. It felt as though as long as this person was here, everything would be absolutely fine.
"Jaden Yuki, you finally showed up." Darkness stepped forward, a smirk playing on his lips.
"It seems your target was me from the very beginning," Jaden replied, unsurprised. He took a deck from the box at his waist and slotted it into his Duel Disk.
"Indeed. I am very interested in you personally," Darkness said, deploying his own Duel Disk and loading his deck. "A duelist like you is truly a rarity in this world. I want to know why you possess such formidable power."
"Oh?" Jaden looked at Darkness with interest. "However, someone like youwho only dares to fight using someone else's bodyisn't qualified to know why I have this power."
Darkness fell silent. He realized Jaden had seen through his disguise immediately.
"Using someone else's body?" Alexis froze, staring at the man. She had felt something was off from the start; the man's silhouette felt hauntingly familiar.
"Jaden Yuki, I am starting to find you more and more interesting," Darkness said, his gaze turning icy.
"DUEL!"
[Darkness: LP 4000]
[Jaden: LP 4000]
"Darkness... that's what I should call you, right?" Jaden drew five cards, his eyes locked onto the man.
He could see that although this was Atticus Rhodes's body, the soul was wrapped in a mass of nihilistic darkness. That darkness had no physical form; he couldn't even sense its life force.
"It seems you've done some investigating..." Darkness was slightly surprised. Although he hadn't gone to great lengths to hide his name, he had never personally told Jaden. The fact that Jaden knew it meant he had learned a few things before they even met.
"Just a few bits and pieces. I still have plenty to ask you." Jaden glanced at the cards in his hand. "Since the first turn is mine... I summon Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman!"
Hum.
Light flashed.
"Awoo!"
A small, white, six-legged dragon appeared on Jaden's field, letting out an adorable cry.
[Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman]
[Level: 1]
[ATK: 400 / DEF: 300]
"Eh? He changed decks again, Jaden?" Alexis was stunned. It felt like Jaden's deck changed every time he dueled. He swapped them out more often than his clothes.
"Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman..." Darkness's eyes flickered as he stared at the small dragon. "The feeling this spirit gives off... is it a spirit from the future?"
"Oh? You felt it?" Jaden smiled faintly. He had used his own power to mask the Tuner attribute of the Buster Whelp, yet Darkness had managed to see through it regardless.
Darkness's gaze turned solemn. He can use the power of future spirits. Jaden Yuki, does your power also come from a destroyed future, just like mine?
"When Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman is successfully summoned, I can add one Destruction Sword card from my deck to my hand," Jaden declared. "I choose to add Destruction Sword Fusion to my hand."
Destruction Sword Fusion...
"Jaden Yuki, the human who can control the power of Fusion at will," Darkness murmured. "Are you truly so proficient in every kind of Fusion?"
"Next, I set two cards," Jaden said with a wave of his hand. Two face-down cards materialized on the field. "With that, I end my turn."
"Turn end?" Alexis was taken aback. She felt like Jaden's turn ended a bit too abruptly. He only had a single Level 1 monster on the field. Did his face-down cards have some special purpose?
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