Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

(Black-clad man's LP: 0)

The spearman's double slash pierced through Cotton Candy's body, and although it didn't destroy him, it successfully inflicted two injuries on the man in black.

Under these two consecutive attacks, the man in black was defeated and became a stepping stone for Manjoume's rise to fame.

586 The Prelude to the Decisive Battle

"...Amazing! They actually won against a professional player with an overwhelming victory!"

"【The White Knights】, monsters possessing armor penetration and multiple attack effects..."

"It seems that Manjoume's deck has become much stronger than before after being enhanced by Saiou!"

"Is that so? I feel like those Allied Monsters and Armed Dragons are still stronger. Are you sure they haven't been weakened?"

"Uh, well..."

As Manjoume won the duel, various expressions appeared on the faces of the onlookers.

Amidst the discussions, Manjoume, noticing Yusei and the others, narrowed his eyes and slowly walked over.

"Ten thousand feet?"

"Heh~ You guys came too? Perfect, I was just about to come find you!"

Manjoume casually pulled out a handful of badges from the coat of the man in black lying on the ground and stuffed them into his pocket. Then, he smirked and looked at Yusei and the others, saying, "...Heroes, it's about time for us to settle this once and for all."

"Yusei, Jaden, or Edward... any of you will do. Come and duel me! Of course, if you lose, you'll have to join the Society of Light!"

Edward: "...Not interested."

As Edward said before, she preferred to be an observer rather than participate in the conference.

Jaden Yuki: "...Is it about time?"

Yusei: "Oh? Manjoume, you're not planning to run away anymore?"

Manjoume: "...Hmph! I'm not entirely sure either, but this thought just popped into my head out of nowhere... Anyway, this duel is settled!"

Everyone: "It's fine if we don't know..."

"Fine, as long as I can have a good duel, I don't care about anything else..." Jaden Yuki wiped his nose and readily accepted Manjoume's duel proposal.

Prior to this, Jaden Yuki had made a promise with Yusei.

Taking advantage of the GX tournament, the two divided the work and went to rescue Manjoume and Asuka from the Society of Light.

This time, Manjoume took the initiative to challenge him, which was exactly what he expected.

While he faces off against Manjou, Yusei will also find his own opponent.

After all his companions have been rescued, it will be time for King Sai to receive a series of punishments.

"Then it's settled. I'll be here waiting for you at this time tomorrow." Putting away his duel disk and ignoring the black-clad man who was sneaking away, Manjoume set the time for the duel.

"Tomorrow? Not now?"

"Heh! As you probably saw just now, my deck is so much better than before. Even though it's all for nothing, I'll still kindly give you some time to work on your deck!"

"Manjoume, you're quite confident, aren't you!"

"That's for sure. If it weren't for defeating you with all your might, it would be meaningless."

After giving Jaden Yuki a meaningful look, Manjoume then strode off toward the Society of Light.

"Wait a minute, Manjoume!"

"How many times have I told you... it's the White Lightning of the Manjou!"

As if he had something to say, Yuki Judai called out to Manjoume, who was about to leave.

Upon hearing Judai's voice, Manjoume stopped in his tracks and, as usual, corrected Judai's statement.

"I found it strange when I was watching your duel earlier. Didn't you include the Disruption Trio in your deck?"

"...Disruption? What's that?"

"What? You've forgotten your card sprites? Look, those big, black guys who usually only wear disgusting underwear and run around everywhere!"

By gesturing wildly, Yuki Judai seemed to be trying to depict the crude and vulgar appearance of the three brothers who were causing trouble. However, this gesture only brought a look of doubt to Manjoume's face.

"What the heck? I have no idea what that weird thing is!"

With a sudden wave of his arm, Manjoume dispersed the imaginary images floating around him and issued a rebuke towards Yuki Jaden.

I, Manjoume, am a high-ranking member of the noble Society of Light, second only to Saiou!

How could someone like me possibly use such crude and vulgar cards? What a joke!

"Is that right?"

Recalling the past, Yusei interjected between the two, "...But I remember you clearly said that you were able to return from Northern Academy thanks to them."

"Come to think of it... after I defeated Misawa Daichi, I think I threw a few cards here..."

After Yusei's reminder, Manjoume's memories seemed to return somewhat. He crossed his arms, and a look of reminiscence appeared on his face: "It's been a while since I lost them. Those cards should have sunk to the bottom of the sea by now."

"Really?! You actually threw them away?"

Upon hearing Manjoume's admission, Yuki Judai's face immediately showed a look of shock.

If it were him, even after turning to the dark side, he would never abandon his partner, Winged Kuriboh.

However, Manjoume was...

Wait a minute! Considering the complicated and entangled relationship between Manjoume and the three brothers, doing something like this doesn't seem so unreasonable...

After all, their relationship was less like that of trusted partners and more like that of a perpetually frustrated older brother and a group of good-for-nothing underlings…

"Hmph! It's already been thrown away, what's there to say! Instead of such trivial matters, you should worry about your duel with me tomorrow!"

"Manjoume..."

Seemingly not intending to dwell on the topic any longer, Manjou left without looking back after saying those words, leaving everyone with only a lonely yet resolute and dashing silhouette.

"Huh? Manjoume is quite interesting these days. I'll take this opportunity to go and see other places."

Seeing that the duel was over, Edward, having lost interest, decided to leave and go find a new melon.

Yusei couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt about Edward's actions.

"Ed, aren't you going to duel? There are plenty of duelists here right now."

Looking at the silver-haired girl, Yusei couldn't help but ask curiously, "Don't you get a little bored just watching from the sidelines?"

“Well, it seems that I’m kept at a distance by those duelists.” With a helpless shrug, Edward continued, “However, there are some strange guys who insist on challenging me, so I’ve dueled with them a bit.”

As he spoke, Edward pulled out a handful of badges from his crossbody bag.

These are undoubtedly the best proof of her numerous victories.

"What...when did you collect so many?"

Staring intently at the badge in Edward's hand, Yusei's face revealed an undisguised look of surprise: "Ed, you've actually engaged in so many duels without our knowledge?"

"Well, they were basically guys I could take down in one or two rounds, so it didn't take much time."

Satisfied with the surprised reaction of the crowd, Edward smoothed the stray strands of hair with his free hand, then handed the badges in his hand to Yusei: "I heard that the number of badges collected seems to be linked to the results, Yusei... I'll give these badges to you, Osiris Red. I only need to keep one for myself as a qualification to participate in the competition."

"This...isn't this not good?"

"Heh... Anyway, there's no rule against giving badges to others, is there?"

"Well, that's true."

Scratching his head, Yusei finally accepted Edward's offer.

Although he didn't really need these badges, he just wanted to enjoy the thrill of dueling with others.

……

"Disrupting the Three Brothers... Damn it, why are these guys popping into my head?"

"Speaking of which... why did I come here, the Society of Light?"

"Why? Why am I here? No... I can't remember..."

"No, it's not just that..."

Even what happened a few days ago is still a blur in my mind... What am I...?

In the room of Manjoume, the Society of Light.

Having made a duel promise with Jaden Yuki, he was currently lying sprawled out on his soft bed.

Reminded by Yusei, he vaguely recalled Manjoume who had disturbed the three brothers, and his mind was now in a state of utter confusion.

Because Saiou had been staying at home for some unknown reason during this period, his influence on the members of the Society of Light gradually diminished.

At this moment, Wan Zhangmu also took advantage of the gap to vaguely perceive the sense of incongruity that was happening to him.

For example, even though he was wearing a white uniform, he couldn't completely like the color. Instead, when he saw black objects, he felt a sense of calm.

Secondly, after seeing Misawa Daichi's white hair, he would feel a sense of rejection. Even if Misawa suggested that he dye his hair white as well, he would only give a perfunctory answer that he would think about it, and would not actually do it.

Finally, even during routine association meetings, with those words praising the great light echoing in his ears, he no longer felt sublime peace as before, but instead felt restless and doubtful.

"We must use this competition, under the command of Lord Saiō and in the name of the Society of Light, to bring peace to the world."

"Listen carefully, everyone. Where there is light, there is darkness. Why is that? Close your eyes quietly and imagine it with your heart!"

"The pure white sun shines in the sky! And the immaculate, pure white earth it illuminates!"

"If anything can bring it to an end, it is only darkness, only shadow! That is the demon that breeds darkness, and we must completely destroy the source of darkness! So that light can always shine equally on the whole earth!"

"Only light can bring lasting peace and stability! Gentlemen, let us continue to strive together for this noble and ideal goal! This is the mission of our Society of Light!"

"...Ohh ...

Hiding among the crowd at the rally, Manjou's reaction was strikingly different from the frenzied crowd around him.

Listening to the charlatan-like speeches delivered by the newly promoted cadres on stage, he only felt annoyed, unlike the others who were strongly inspired...

This change, which rejected the light, had been deeply imprinted on his body, causing a gradual qualitative change in Wan Zhangmu's mentality.