Want to play cards? I'll use my King's Deck!

Wendy looked up at the sky. The infinitely spiraling staircase seemed to connect to the infinitely high horizon.

"You see, this method is indeed the most efficient, and it's also very safe."

Safety? You call this safe?

If my heart hadn't been terrified, I almost would have believed it.

Hearing Wendy's words, the other three were filled with a desire to complain. They knew they definitely wouldn't do it again. No, it would be better if there was no next time.

"Are you alright, Wu?"

You Xi pulled Xing Yewu up from the floor, asking her with concern.

"fine."

Xing Yewu shook her head. Apart from a slight blush and lingering fear on her face, she was indeed fine.

And... thankfully, nothing leaked out below, otherwise she could consider restarting right now.

The kind that has a profound meaning in life.

"It's quite spacious down here."

Putting his hat back on, Jounouchi Ranpo glanced around.

Judging from the size of the spiral staircase, they could guess that this place, hundreds of meters underground, was not small, but when they actually came down, they found that it was much larger than they had imagined.

The space where the staircase is located is circular, and there are several doors in the wall.

One of the doors should be the correct path to the enemy boss.

"Hey, Yu Xi! Quickly get your little sprite to check which door it is..."

Ranpo turned around and urged Yuki on, but before he could finish speaking, several clusters of dark blue flames instantly ignited.

"That's it, we won't let you go any further!"

Chapter 223 A Powerful Enemy Blocking the Way

At the very top of the spiral staircase, in a vast, open hall, was not completely dark.

The light crystal on the wall automatically lit up when Yu Xi and the others landed, illuminating the surroundings. This is why Ranpo was able to see his surroundings clearly.

At that moment, three clusters of eerie blue flames suddenly burst into flame.

And it was accompanied by a condescending voice.

"That's enough! We won't let you go any further!"

The burning flames transformed into human form, and as the flames dissipated, what appeared before Yuki and the others was a person wearing a hood and a mask.

The three people, one male and one female, surrounded You Xi and the others in the center, radiating obvious hostility.

"Is he a member of [Doomsday Bell]?"

The way they made their entrance, along with their clothing that differed from that of ordinary cult members, allowed Youxi to quickly recognize the person.

"I remember you should still be wreaking havoc outside, how come you arrived so quickly?"

"Protecting this place is more important than bullying those brats. But I didn't expect anyone would actually find this place."

One of the hooded men spoke up: “But your luck ends here. With us here, not even a fly will get past. Are you ready to die, you brats!”

"Stop being so arrogant, you bastard! We should be the ones saying that!"

Faced with the enemy's provocations and threats, Ranpo Jōnouchi was not intimidated. Even though the opponent's Feel energy fluctuations were extremely powerful.

"You dare show yourselves in front of us? You should be prepared to die. I've been wanting to get rid of you guys for a long time. Come on, let's see who survives to the end!"

"So things turned out this way. But since you've shown up here, it means there aren't any other enemies inside, right?"

Wendy wasn't as enthusiastic as Ranpo Jounouchi; she simply stepped forward and set her sights on another hooded woman.

The last one was taken by Xingyewu.

"Xiao Xi, it seems we can only accompany you this far. Leave these people to us."

"dance……"

"Don't forget, Xiaoxi. The most important thing right now isn't rescuing Xiaoxue, is it? Not playing cards with these people in a place like this. So you go ahead first, we'll catch up later."

Xingyewu gave Youxi a thumbs up.

Seeing the girl's encouraging and determined bright smile, Youxi nodded.

"I understand. Then I'll leave it to you all."

With that, Youxi released Xingyewu's hand and prepared to follow the Black Demoness's guidance toward their final destination.

"what……"

Seeing Youxi release her hand, Xingye Wu felt a little disappointed.

However, now is not the time to worry about this.

"Trying to run away? Did you even ask our opinion? Do you think any of you can get away?"

"I already said, those are our lines!"

Seeing that Yuki and the others ignored them, the three executives who controlled the power of "Earthbound Gods" were very annoyed, but before they could make a move, Ranpo Jounouchi took the initiative to step forward and activate his Duel Disk.

"This is……!"

As Ranpo Jonouchi activated his Duel Disk, the Duel Disk on the arm of the hooded man he was facing also involuntarily unfolded, entering battle mode.

"Don't think you're the only ones who have the ability to force a duel, you bastards!"

Considering the tournament format, all participants in this Star Cup tournament have had their duel boards equipped with a forced duel function similar to a duel guard. As long as you have a puzzle card, you can force yourself to duel your opponent.

While it can't subdue an opponent by applying an electric shock program to their duel disk after a duel victory, like the Duel Guard, Saki's modifications allow it to function similarly even in duels against non-competitors.

Incidentally, due to the punishment from the Dark Game, Saki was unable to join Yuuki's team and instead stayed on the ground to support Ensho and the others.

"Go for it, Xiao Xi!"

One of the hooded men was held back by Ranpo Jonouchi, while the other two executives were simultaneously subdued by Wendy and Mai Hoshino. Amid cheers and shouts of encouragement from his teammates, Yuki rushed toward one of the doors.

As Yuki approached, a dark blue flame barrier appeared on the door, attempting to block her advance.

However, this tactic was useless against Yuki, who possessed a spirit.

"Miss Belle!"

"Hmph! A little trick!"

With the blessing of Feel, the Black Witch slashed down fiercely, cleaving through the flame barrier and the door, and Yu Xi rushed straight in.

There were no other forks in the road, only a straight path, and just as Wendy had guessed, Youxi didn't encounter any more enemies along the way.

This is probably because most people were assigned to guard different levels of the spiral staircase, while the bottom level was the territory of the cadres and leaders.

Whether that's true or not, You Xi wasn't quite sure. In any case, it was definitely a good thing that no one was jumping out to stop her.

Unfortunately, this good fortune didn't last long.

As You Xi rushed to the end of the corridor and broke open the door again, a silent figure appeared before him.

The man wore a bird-beak-shaped mask, but no hood or anything, revealing a head of slightly messy orange hair. Behind him was a tightly closed door.

As soon as You Xi saw him, her eyes stung and she had to stop.

"Uncle Logan..."

Looking at the enemy before him, Youxi felt a mix of emotions.

He certainly hadn't forgotten Logan's existence.

When Yu Xi didn't see Logan among the three cadres who had blocked her way earlier, she had a vague feeling that things would probably turn out this way. Now, this has simply confirmed her guess.

"This road is blocked."

Logan showed no intention of catching up with You Xi or exchanging pleasantries, coldly uttering his words.

Without Xingye Wu and the others to share the burden, the dark blue flames spread from Logan's feet almost instantly, closing in behind Youxi and blocking his path.

It's obvious that if Yuxi doesn't defeat Logan here, he won't be able to open the door behind him and move on.

"It seems there's no other way."

Youxi really wanted Logan to regain his senses right there, but he also knew that this was something he could only dream about and it was difficult to achieve with just words.

That's the only way.

Yuki placed his deck into the Duel Disk to activate it, and his gaze met Logan's from behind the bird-beak mask—

"Duel!" x2

【Yu Xi LP: 8000】

Logan LP: 8000

Chapter 224 Black Feather? Earthbound Killing Intent!

"duel!"

There was no unnecessary small talk or nonsense; the battle began within five seconds of meeting.

As Yuki drew her five starting cards from her deck, Logan's cold, emotionless voice rang out once more.

"I get to go first! Activate the effect of 'Blackwing - Simon of Poisonous Wind' from my hand."

[If you control no monsters, you can banish 1 "Blackwing" monster from your hand except this card to activate this effect. Place 1 "Black Whirlwind" from your Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Zones. After that, this card in your hand can be Summoned or sent to the Graveyard without Tributeing. The "Black Whirlwind" placed by this effect is sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase, and you take 1000 damage. After this effect is activated, you cannot Special Summon non-DARK monsters from the Extra Deck until the end of this turn.]

"Exclude 'Black Feather - Rogue Vata', use the Continuous Spell 'Black Whirlwind' to move to the back row, then Normal Summon 'Poison Wind Simon'."

"Blackfeather - Simon of the Poisonous Wind, Level 6/Dark/Bird Beast" "ATK: 1600/DEF: 2000"

The game begins with the "Black Feather" combo that Yu Xi is extremely familiar with. Black feathers fall, and a bird-man warrior with purple feathers as hair steps into the battlefield like a tribal shaman.

"Simon of Poisonous Wind has 1600 ATK. The effect of 'Black Whirlwind' activates, adding 1 'Blackwing' monster with ATK lower than the summoned 'Blackwing' monster to my hand. I choose 'Blackwing - Sodri the Phantom' and summon it. This monster has 1400 ATK. The effect of 'Black Whirlwind' triggers again, searching for 'Blackwing - Auster the South Wind.' And when 'Sodri the Phantom' is successfully summoned, I add 'Blackwing - Shama of the Storm' (whose card name includes 'Blackwing Dragon') to my hand."

A long string of operational pronouncements flowed smoothly from Logan's mouth, accompanied by feathers fluttering in the air.