"Ah, lost again."
Judai lay flat on the ground.
"Can't be helped, Mr. Momiji is really strong, after all."
Hibiki Momiji walked over and sat down beside him with a smile.
"I'm the one who's surprised, Judai, you're really amazing too." He said, "I didn't expect someone like you to have such a deep bond with heroes, so passionate about dueling.
Honestly, even I feel a bit inadequate."
"Haha, everyone often says that."
Judai scratched his head but then remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, during the duel, Mr. Momiji, you seemed...a bit uncomfortable..."
Hibiki Momiji remained silent, his gaze shifting elsewhere.
In his ears, he heard a hallucination-like whisper, akin to a demon's murmur.
"Duel, and burn out what's left of your life, world champion Hibiki Momiji..."
As if from the depths of netherworld darkness, a pair of evil eyes were watching him, sneering.
"Every time you draw a card, it's as if your card deck named 'Life' is diminishing."
"But even so, you can't stop, right?"
"As a duelist..."
"..."
Hibiki Momiji gently closed his eyes.
"Mr. Momiji?"
Judai sat up, calling out worriedly. Hibiki Momiji snapped out of it.
"Sorry... I'm fine."
Then he silently took glasses out from the pocket inside his jacket, putting them on, and reached out to gently pat Judai's shoulder.
"It was a fun duel, thank you, Judai. It's really great to meet a kid like you in the final arena."
"I'm also glad to meet you, Mr. Momiji..." Judai said blankly, "but what do you mean by 'final arena'?"
Hibiki Momiji chuckled slightly, not explaining.
"You will also grow to be a top-tier duelist in the future. Be sure to remember," he said seriously to Judai, "no matter when or what kind of opponent you fight against, don't forget today's feeling.
Learn to enjoy dueling, use dueling to bring joy...become that kind of duelist."
"Hmm...okay."
Judai nodded vacantly.
But to him, that seemed like a matter of course.
Isn't dueling the happiest thing in the world?
"Alright then."
Hibiki Momiji perked up, standing.
"After the duel, I'm a bit hungry. Are you hungry, Judai?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, I kind of am..."
"It seems the other advancing players haven't gathered yet, so let's go grab something to eat while we wait."
Those who first collected all the puzzle cards and reached the designated location were already registered for the quarterfinals, having received the entrant list. But some slots were still undecided; the ones who arrived and registered had no reason to keep waiting around.
"Great! Food!" Judai was very pleased.
For him, dueling and eating seem to be the happiest things in life.
"What do you want to eat? It's my treat."
"Eh, isn't that a bit much?"
"Haha, no problem, don't worry..."
"..."
Their silhouettes gradually faded into the distance.
But neither seemed to notice the pair of malevolent eyes silently observing them from a shadow just around the corner.
"Planet Series, Earth. As the intel said, it's indeed in Hibiki Momiji's hands."
The figure narrowed their eyes, staring intensely at Hibiki Momiji's back with a cold smile.
"The world's strongest hero, Hibiki Momiji, the world champion...quite a tricky opponent indeed. Really, they're always giving me such troublesome tasks. So now..."
The shadow narrowed their eyes, the gaze turning cruel.
"Does it mean I'll have to...eliminate Hibiki Momiji?"
Yet this shadow failed to notice that someone else had appeared closely behind them.
Elusive as a ghost, a calm and gentle voice sounded from behind: "Oh? And why do you need to remove him?"
The shadow was startled, instinctively jumping back to distance, as wary as a startled rabbit, looking behind.
And then they saw Yugen, looking ghost-like, appearing behind them.
Yugen sized up the figure.
To his surprise, it's a girl. Blonde, blue-eyed, tall and well-proportioned, instinctively crossing her arms defensively, warily watching Yugen.
"Don't act in such a misleading way," Yugen said helplessly, "someone might misunderstand and think I've done something to you."
The woman realized her overreaction, lowered her arms, coughing to relieve the awkwardness, adopting a calm demeanor like a mastermind again.
"Isn't Duel Academy Headquarters teaching you folks to stealthily tail girls?"
But she didn't stop carefully observing Yugen while speaking.
With her skills, she hadn't noticed when this person circled to her back, let alone when they detected her covertly watching...
"Are you Mizuki Mackenzie?" Yugen asked.
Mizuki: "!"
This person even knows her identity?
"I knew it." Yugen realized he wasn't mistaken.
Mizuki Mackenzie, the top deputy under the comic BOSS Tragodia, but also coerced.
She's the daughter of Professor Mackenzie from the American Duel Academy. Tragodia possessed Professor Mackenzie, and upon discovery, Tragodia sealed her mouth by forcibly entering a fragment of itself, turning her into a puppet.
But Mizuki's dueling skills weren't bad, at least from the comic, she easily defeated Asuka. Later, in her duel with Mitsuzawa, she deliberately lost due to personal schemes, but her skill seemed far above Mitsuzawa.
So based on the original story, Yugen quickly guessed she's currently a vanguard for the Little Lobster faction.
"Hmm? Yugen, what's up?"
At this time, Keihei came over, seeing Yugen confronting Mizuki.
Keihei naturally didn't recognize Mizuki, he glanced, noticing she had fair skin and high beauty, not seeing anything special otherwise.
Mizuki withdrew her gaze, moving towards Keihei.
"I've collected six puzzle cards." She said, "I want to advance."
"Oh, a contestant."
Keihei nodded, pointing to a place on the coast.
"Register over there. The staff will issue a participant card, confirming your quarterfinal qualification."
"Alright."
Mizuki put away her contestant card and headed in that direction.
For some reason, staring at Yugen gave her a feeling of unease.
A sense of being watched by something dangerous.
Watching Mizuki leave, Keihei finally asked, "So, is she one of Doma's people?"
"Probably not."
Yugen looked at her distancing figure, slightly smiling.
"This elimination round might be more interesting than anticipated, huh."