"Humans, we cannot confirm whether they deliberately came to this dimension." The Cosmo Queen gently tapped the ground and said, "Moreover, humans, you also mentioned that you are dimension travelers looking for Drytron members."
The three of them nodded silently.
"Whether sneaking in or coming specifically for a challenge makes no difference to us."
"Since you are human warriors, proceed according to the requirements of the Duel Ceremony—losers will be punished, but victory means no hard feelings, as the rules of the Duel Ceremony dictate, you will gain a chance to get our Spirit Cards. Of course, as regular duelists, you won't have to endure any penalties."
"The duelist format is 2 versus 2."
A standard spirit challenge ceremony, huh…
"I'll do it!" Marufuji Shou and Tenjouin Fubuki spoke almost simultaneously. Even if they didn't know the others during times like this, they had to give a hand, especially since it seemed the others were completely unaware of the Spirit Realm's rules, so it was better to help out. Besides, the two of them also had confidence in their own strength.
"That won't do." The Cosmo Queen continued, raising its Magic Staff and pointing it at the Emperor's Key trio, who were surprised that they were involved.
"Each side of the duel must provide one person! A total of two people!"
"Are punishment and challenge happening simultaneously…" Tenjouin Fubuki frowned, looking at Tsukumo Yuma and his companions, "But, Cosmo Queen… they're still children—"
"It doesn't matter, we will dispatch opponents to match them."
Tenjouin Fubuki sighed and looked at Marufuji Shou, who looked at him firmly. Knowing he couldn't insist further, he stepped back quietly.
Despite wanting to help Caesar desperately, he understood that as Shou's brother, Marufuji Shou also wanted to give his best effort.
Given that, when faced with a choice of one or the other, he chose to trust Ryo's brother.
On the other side, things were simpler; hearing they had to duel, Tsukumo Yuma rotated his shoulder, shouted loudly, "So we just need to duel! If we knew earlier, we could have left here a long time ago!"
"Seriously—Yuma, don't underestimate the opponents!" Mizuki Kotori, the green-haired girl, puffed out her cheeks, criticizing him.
"Exactly, Yuma, this time we're up against spirit foes after a long time, so we can't let our guard down." Astral, floating beside Tsukumo Yuma, also said.
Last time they faced spirits was during the Fusion Army's invasion of their dimension; it's been a long time since they fought, so they might not be in top form.
"Ah—I know!" Yuma patted his chest and looked at his teammate.
"Hello, I'm Tsukumo Yuma!"
He seemed very enthusiastic.
Marufuji Shou took a deep breath, "Marufuji Shou."
"...Marufuji?" The trio on this side was a bit surprised.
However, the spirit opponents at the Training Ground were already in position by then.
A blue Mechanical Dragon with two huge cannons on its shoulders—Drytron Gamma Eltanin.
A woman wielding a red lightsaber—Kozmoll Wickedwitch.
The four of them stood in place on the massive deck, each person on a road, and the entire cosmos, ships, and spirits slowly turned their attention to the port.
"The duel rules are the Trial standard 2V2 format, with the first player unable to draw cards; attacks can commence from the second turn onwards—"
The Cosmo Queen floated above the deck as the judge, announcing the rules.
The next second, at the center of the cosmos, a silvery-white light pierced the sky, and the duel officially began—
"Duel!" x4.
Marufuji Shou activated his Duel Disk, while Tsukumo Yuma put on his D-Gazer with a leap.
Human team, LP: 8000.
Spirit team, LP: 8000.