Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"...Curry!!!"

The winged Kuriboh and the spherical Kuriboh that appeared beside the two were now radiating white and golden light, respectively.

Once they revealed themselves, they helped their master resist the sudden and eerie purple light.

At this moment, the semi-circular disc located on Yusei's chest also began to emit a strong light.

Just like last night, it felt like there was some kind of resonance with my partner.

"This light...could it be..."

As if he had thought of something, Yusei immediately decided to rush towards the door.

There, perhaps, lies the holder of the other half of the fragment... who is also the one who started all of this!

……

Move forward a little bit in time.

While Yusei and Jaden Yuki were talking, Asuka's figure was walking towards them from not far outside Osiris Red Dormitory.

"I still feel... I can't quite let go of my worries..."

Asuka, walking along the dark path, had a lingering gloom on her face, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

For some reason, she had a bad feeling about it.

Even lying in bed, forcing myself to close my eyes and covering my body with a warm silk quilt, I still couldn't alleviate this inexplicable feeling.

It was as if something major that was closely related to her was about to happen.

While realizing their long-cherished dream, they will also witness an extremely cruel reality...

This strangely familiar yet eerie feeling was constantly troubling Asuka's heart, making it difficult for her to shake off.

"Hmm? That light is...?"

Subconsciously, he raised his head and looked towards Asuka on the second floor of Osiris Red Dormitory. He immediately saw the purple light emanating from Yusei and the others' dormitory.

Noticing the unusual situation, she quickened her pace, ran to the dormitory door, and then reached out and opened the door.

"...Yusei?!"

"...Asuka? What are you doing here?"

Asuka opened her door, she almost bumped into Yusei, who was also about to open his door.

Seeing the surprise in each other's eyes, the two called out each other's names at the same time.

At that moment, the purple light suddenly spread out, engulfing the four people inside the dormitory, along with Asuka outside...

"...This feeling, is it another transfer phenomenon?" After being engulfed by light once again since the previous extracurricular teaching session, Yusei couldn't help but have this thought flash through his mind.

Wait... what happened to the science?

Is this ever going to end?!

Is this phenomenon really reasonable?

……

Shortly after that, behind the Duel Academy, inside the crater.

Above the churning, scorching lava, a disc of blue-white energy, acting as the ground, suddenly appeared in mid-air.

Yusei and the others, who had been swallowed by the light, appeared here one by one, accompanied by flashing purple light.

"……here it is?"

The light disappeared, and my vision returned to normal.

Realizing he had been transported to a certain place, Yusei subconsciously glanced around at his surroundings.

Before being swallowed by the light, Yusei instinctively reached out and hugged the girl who was standing there in a daze, protecting her to his chest so that she wouldn't be separated from him.

Asuka, who was being held by Yusei, blushed and showed the shy expression that a young girl should have. However, she did not struggle unreasonably to get away from Yusei. Instead, she quietly accepted Yusei's kindness.

After all, you can't lose anything by giving a hug, right?

Taking it one step further... isn't entirely unacceptable... if it's Yusei.

Youxing: “…”

"...Yusei! It looks like we've been moved inside the crater!"

Behind Yusei, Yuki Jaden, who had moved over with them and lost his balance, was kneeling on the ground. Looking at the surrounding scenery, he couldn't help but gasp and let out a heartfelt sigh.

Being rather oblivious to matters of the heart, he was completely unaware of the ambiguous atmosphere between Yusei and Asuka, and directly interrupted their actions with his voice.

"...The volcano? Is it the volcano behind the academy?"

Upon hearing Jaden Yuki's voice, Yusei realized that he was safe for the time being. He then released the girl in his arms, turned around and walked to Jaden Yuki's side, looking down at the sea of ​​lava with him.

White mist rises, and bubbles churn.

Even from a distance, one could still feel the scorching heat emanating from the lava.

This scene inevitably brings to mind...

If you fall from here, without a doubt you will say goodbye to this world forever and go to the land of the dead.

"...So, how do we get out of here?"

The purple light that had brought them here had disappeared, and the two Kuribohs seemed to have returned to the deck.

The three of them stood there awkwardly, pondering their next move.

At this moment, Asuka also regained her calm demeanor.

--boom!

"...He who holds the key! Come and fight me, the King of the Seven Stars!"

Just as Yusei and the others were contemplating their next move, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed inside the volcano.

As the sound rang out, the sea of ​​magma suddenly churned, creating wave after wave.

After that, a dragon made entirely of flames with crimson eyes burst out of the magma and crashed onto the energy disk where Yusei and the others were standing.

"Holy crap... the enemy was a fire dragon? No, compared to that... I almost fell off just now!"

After steadying himself, Jaden Yuki, who had almost fallen into the sea of ​​lava, patted his chest with lingering fear, then lowered his body and moved away from the edge of the energy disk, taking a step closer to the center.

In this way, even if you get scared again, you don't have to worry about being in danger.

"Hmph! Playing tricks... Who goes there? Quickly state your name!"

Raising his arm to protect himself with the Duel Disk, Yusei frowned as he looked in the direction where the Flame Dragon had crashed down.

He uttered a line he had long wanted to say, the protagonist's statement.

Thanks to Principal Samejima's reminder, Yusei remained highly focused after obtaining the key, carrying the Duel Disk on his arm at all times.

It is precisely because of this that Yusei was able to make an effective response at this moment.

335 Crimson Soul

"...My name is Darkness, the vanguard of the Seven Stars...and the one who will take the key to the Gate of the Seven Stars from your hands."

The two people mentioned here refer to Yusei and Jaden Yuki, but do not include Asuka, who also holds the key.

"Yusei, and Jaden Yuki... are you ready?"

Emerging from the firestorm created by the fire dragon crashing to the ground, a young man dressed in a black trench coat and with half of his face covered by a dragon-shaped mask calmly introduced himself to the people in front of him.

His tone was flat, without much personal emotion.

It was as if he were simply stating something perfectly ordinary.

I'm here to take your keys. If you know what's good for you, hand them over obediently.

After that, I may kindly grant you some peace.

Although he didn't say these words directly, his attitude at that moment already confirmed this conjecture.

The young man, who called himself Darkness, walked steadily toward Yusei and the others, then stopped at a certain distance from them.

"You actually know our names?" Despite it being their first meeting, Darkness called out both of their names.

It seems that, just as Principal Samejima possesses some information about the Seven Stars.

Seven Stars also received similar intelligence.

"Speaking of which... why didn't you go to the more famous Kaiser Ryo? Why did you come to us first?" Judai Yuki asked Darkness, puzzled.

Could it be that these guys don't know that Obelisk Blue is the gathering place for the top students of the Duel Academy?

Or perhaps he intends to begin his operation with Osiris Red.

"...Fame? Caesar? I don't know what you're talking about...but I was drawn here by the light of this fragment."

Reaching out to pick up the shimmering semi-circular disc hanging around his neck, Darkness couldn't help but look in the direction where Yusei was.

On his chest, there also hung the other half of the disc, which shimmered with light.

The two fragments, at this moment, seemed like Stand users drawn to each other, resonating in a certain rhythm at extremely close range.

"That is the other half of the disc... Darkness, are you the other person the High Priest spoke of who passed the trial?"

Holding the half-disc currently located on his chest, which resonated in some way with the other half held by Darkness opposite him, Yusei cast a questioning look at Darkness.

"...High Priest? Trial?"

Darkness, dressed in a black trench coat, remained silent for a moment after hearing Yusei's question, then tilted his head slightly, adopting a somewhat doubtful posture: "...Who knows about that kind of thing?"

"...Maybe it happened, but...how could I possibly remember such trivial matters?"

"Yeah……?"

Yusei blinked, watching Darkness's reaction.

Judging from his reaction, he didn't seem to be lying. In fact, he had no reason to lie about this.