"Phew—"
Joey let out a sigh.
He won.
If he said this meant nothing to him, that would definitely be a lie. After so many years, this was his first real confrontation with Pegasus, the original opponent from the Duel Kingdom.
At the very least, this proved one thing: he hadn't wasted his years.
Yes, even after experiencing so much, he was still just a mortal. But at least he was continuously getting better.
"Pegasus?"
Joey stepped across the field towards Pegasus.
After the duel, Pegasus was kneeling on the ground. His long hair hung down, obscuring half of his face, making him look even more sinister, as if he had been consumed by darkness.
Joey frowned slightly.
During the duel, he had already sensed something was off. The subtle impacts of real damage during the duel, though not fatal, were certainly beyond the level of an ordinary match.
Joey was no stranger to similar situations, and this was far from the worst he had faced. After all, he had encountered the Tragoedia, experienced top-tier dark games, and even fought Valon in the arena of the Orichalcos.
So he naturally understood that such an extraordinary duel could be life-threatening.
Pegasus slowly looked up. At that moment, his single eye no longer held any hostility; all the disdain and mockery from earlier seemed to vanish like an illusion.
He even looked somewhat grateful.
"Thank you, Joey Boy," he said. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."
"Eh?"
The sudden change took Joey by surprise.
But he quickly regained his composure.
As he had suspected, the Pegasus he had just faced was not the real Pegasus, but rather one who had been manipulated, or at least influenced in some way.
Through the duel, the current Pegasus seemed to have returned to normal.
In fact, Pegasus had never looked down on Joey. In the original GX, when he mentioned Joey, he noted that among the top duelists in the world he knew, Joey ranked just behind Yugi and Kaiba.
Although the context in which he said this might have been a casual mention over drinks, it still demonstrated that Joey had substantial weight in his mind.
"Listen, we don't have much time."
Pegasus took a deep breath and said earnestly.
"Joey Boy, that boy, he's already been targeted."
"Boy? Who are you talking about? Jaden!?"
Joey quickly recalled that before the duel began, the focus of their conversation seemed to be Jaden. Pegasus had mentioned the threat of the Darkness of the Universe, which easily led Joey to think of Jaden's recent victory over the Supreme King.
Someone was targeting Jaden Yuki.
Could it be the same person who controlled Pegasus?
"What kind of person?"
"Still that Light of Destruction. It hasn't been completely eradicated from Earth; in fact, it's even more serious. More light is coming, I can feel it, I know."
Pegasus's breathing grew rapid, and his voice increasingly strained.
"While I was... manipulated, I didn't feel like myself. It was as if another personality had been stuffed into my head. But my consciousness was always awake; I could see what I was doing, as if I were being forced.
But I remember, the Light of Destruction... it borrowed my power to create a card—a Duelist card—one that it couldn't have completed on its own."
"I remember completing it; it was a card with dangerous power. But I can't recall the specifics, just that..."
Pegasus grimaced, clutching his head as if in agonizing pain.
"Go tell the current Duel King, tell Fujiki Kira."
His words faltered, and he lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.
"Pegasus? Pegasus!"
Joey tried to help him up, but Pegasus's head tilted, and he fainted, unresponsive no matter how much Joey shook him.
"Light of Destruction? Targeting Jaden?"
"And the Duelist card created by Pegasus."
Joey scratched his head.
"What's going on?"
…
"Mello?"
Kira had returned to Kaiba Corp after a while, sorting through a new batch of cards while casually chatting with his associate, Mokuba.
Mokuba had just informed him about the ambush of the Industrial Illusions' card professor, an acquaintance of Kira's, the mech guy, Kirk Dixon.
Recently, during Kira and their group's efforts to defeat the Supreme King, the card professor led a mission to track down illegally leaked cards, which was ambushed. The Industrial Illusions team almost suffered total loss, and mech guy Carl was still in the hospital, delirious.
"The Industrial Illusions was the first to notice the existence of the Light of Destruction and began formulating a response," Mokuba said. "Perhaps this marks the official declaration of war against the Industrial Illusions by the Light of Destruction."
"Then I guess the two Tenma brothers are probably in a real bind right now?" Kira casually remarked while searching through the cards.
"Pretty much. They're desperate to turn the Earth upside down to find that Mello."
"So who exactly is this Mello?" Kira wondered.
"Just an ordinary third-rate duelist, and the backstory we dug up is pretty mundane with no reference value at all," Mokuba said with a shrug. "The Light of Destruction attached itself to him; who he was before doesn't matter anymore.
It's like this person had a completely unremarkable life but suddenly gained incredible power, making even top duelists unable to compete with him."
As Mokuba spoke, his voice trailed off, and he frowned slightly, as if recalling something.
Why did this life story sound so familiar?
As he pondered, his gaze inadvertently turned to Kira.
It suddenly became a bit awkward.
Kira glanced sideways at him.
"What are you looking at?" He raised his hand. "I swear, I am definitely not possessed by the Light of Destruction.
If I tell one lie, let lightning..."
He thought for a moment.
"...strike that Mello."
Mokuba pondered.
"Hmm, that's quite persuasive."
"Really?" Kira raised an eyebrow.
Mokuba looked at him with a straight face.
"No, I just think that since they call it 'Light of Destruction,' the person it possesses probably wouldn't be as dark as you."
Kira: "…"
A brief silence.
Kira cleared his throat, stood up, and said, "Alright, that's about it for today; I finally have a complete deck."
"Let me see what you picked today."
Mokuba leaned in curiously; he was always interested in Kira's decks.
Kira didn't hide it and generously handed it over.
Mokuba took a look.
"…Volcanic?"