An organization of Dark Duelists named "Seven Stars" launched a surprise attack on Duel Academy in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Tenjouin Asuka, a freshman and the school's top beauty, bravely stepped forward and defeated the challenging Dark Duelist, which helped to contain the situation.
Within one night, the news spread throughout the Duel Academy.
Already a star at the academy, Tenjouin Asuka became even more famous, becoming the center of attention once again. As a freshman, she dared to accept the challenge of a Dark Duelist and even won beautifully, making her a campus star overnight.
Her direct instructor, Cola Sprite, not only received a generous reward from the system but also accolades from the academy.
Youyu went a step further by giving Cola Sprite a big gift package, allowing her to select cards from it to optimize both her own and her student Asuka's Card Deck.
Additionally, Youyu offered her a special discount channel with limited-time offers that surpassed usual event discounts and deals, valid for a week.
Meanwhile, Asuka, the center of attention, had already entered the infirmary.
Dark Duels aren't without harm, especially for a first-timer like Asuka, making it a heavy burden. After the duel, she was taken to the infirmary.
Chinai-chan happened to be at Youyu's place (learning to play cards), and upon receiving a call late at night, she rushed to the infirmary to work overtime.
Youyu quickly followed to understand the situation.
Asuka, having won the Dark Duel, was actually not in much trouble, although the mental and physical burden was significant, it wasn't too harmful.
Chinai carefully examined Asuka and assured her that resting for two days should suffice.
However, as the defeated party in the Dark Duel, Darkness was not optimistic about his situation.
Asuka had fought this masked man for so long, only to discover in surprise after winning—
—Nani, this is my brother!?
Originally, having won the game, Asuka should have been in a good mood, but this revelation made her feel awful.
She firmly enrolled in this school, partly to investigate the mystery of her brother's disappearance, which is why she often ventured into restricted areas to visit the abandoned dorm where the incident occurred.
After searching for so long, she finally found him, but accidentally killed him??
Fortunately, Youyu, who arrived with Chinai, helped check on Fubuki's condition and promptly informed Asuka that her brother was actually okay.
Or rather, Asuka had rescued him from the darkness.
Although the body dueling with Asuka was indeed Tenjouin Fubuki, the true duelist at the time wasn't him but an evil entity named Darkness—the power sealed within the black section mask that appeared on Fubuki's face.
After Tenjouin Fubuki vanished, he remained trapped under the control of Darkness with his consciousness buried deep within, nearly extinguished. Thanks to this Dark Duel where Asuka broke Darkness's power, his body got liberated.
Therefore, the one defeated in the Dark Duel and punished was Darkness, not Fubuki. The reason Fubuki hasn't woken up yet is that his consciousness has been suppressed for so long that he couldn't withstand the burden of his body.
Of course, this shouldn't be a big problem. As long as Darkness doesn't return to cause trouble, and there are no other bizarre dark entities eyeing Fubuki's body, he just needs to lie in bed, slowly recover, and wait for his self-consciousness to return.
Asuka trusted Youyu's words, having grown up hearing stories of the First Duel King. His conclusion reassured the girl, for if she had unknowingly killed her brother through a Dark Duel, she might never overcome that shadow.
But this issue also drew Youyu's attention.
He initially thought that with Kagemaru dead, the attacks by "Seven Stars" should have ceased. But now, it seems he was a bit too optimistic.
So who is secretly behind Seven Stars now?
Firstly, he confirmed Kagemaru had indeed died—he personally witnessed it, so he could rule out the possibility of the chairman still being behind Seven Stars.
But what he knew was that Kagemaru had been remotely controlled by the lobster Tragoedia for quite some time. In fact, that old man had long since died and had been a puppet for Tragoedia.
Could it be possible that the "Seven Stars" organization recruited and established by Kagemaru has now turned into Tragoedia's henchmen?
During the Northern Academy's island league event, Youyu had already noticed Tragoedia craving for the cards of the Three Phantasm; perhaps all of this was still about the Three Phantasm?
But what still puzzled Youyu was... What's the point?
The original target of Seven Stars' attack was the seven keys sealing the Phantasm, but here, the Three Phantasm were sealed by Youyu himself, without any key involved!
Could it be he wants Seven Stars to completely topple Duel Academy and violently break the seal?
Seems unrealistic as well.
And even if Tragoedia becomes overly ambitious, he should know that although Seven Stars each has their own background and strength as dark duelists, they are still too inexperienced to face Youyu.
It's unlikely that the lobster is worried that our school's teachers and students lack experience, hence specially arranging for an experience package delivery?
If that's really the case, it's too considerate, offering experience, card decks, and even free shipping. The last time someone was so courteous was Mr. Horse during the Duel City era, and Youyu felt a bit embarrassed...
The attack from Seven Stars isn't a major deal; in the original work, Judai and the others managed it. Nowadays, the GX protagonist team is somewhat reinforced compared to the original, and Youyu believes that even if he lets it go, a few dark duelists shouldn't stir up trouble.
In contrast, what's more concerning is the movements and intentions of the lobster.
That night Youyu called Mokuba.
"Sorry Youyu, I've been busy and haven't had much time to personally focus," Mokuba apologized over the phone. "But our agency has been investigating the matters regarding Kagemaru as you previously instructed.
However, the individuals behind the scenes are very cautious, so progress has been limited so far..."
He paused, lowered his voice, sounding a bit strange.
"But regarding the new information you provided last time... about the Duel King named Hibiki Koyo?"
"Mm-hmm. Any findings?"
"There really are."
Mokuba paused, seemingly thinking about his wording.
"Remember when the media announced Hibiki Koyo had fallen ill?"
"I remember."
"After you mentioned Hibiki Koyo last time, the Kaiba Group's agents conducted a deep investigation into it... What do you think we found? It's fake."
"What is fake?" Youyu asked.
"The whole matter—the rumors about the Duel King's illness are completely false," Mokuba said. "Hibiki Koyo wasn't sick at all. He disappeared, and no one knows where he is.
But we discovered something interesting. Before his disappearance, Hibiki Koyo accepted a commission... a task.
We don't know its specifics yet, but we know the client came from a special government action agency, codenamed 'D'... Sound familiar?"
Youyu briefly pondered.
"Prepare a plane for me, Mokuba," he said, "Maybe we should talk face to face."