[Marik, LP 0]
Marik closed his eyes, calmly accepting the destructive blow of the sword that seemed to shake both heaven and earth. He appeared serene and even seemed to enjoy it a little.
A face of contentment.JPG.
The sword light from the Dragon Slayer Knight flashed by, and the impact of the holographic image vanished instantly. Marik's thin frame was pushed back two steps, his Life Points dropped to zero, and the swordsman's image promptly disappeared into thin air.
Mr. Marik was even a bit disappointed.
Is it over already? That was too quick, wasn't it?
Left feeling slightly unsatisfied.
As the duel ended, the onlookers generously offered applause.
"What do you think, Mr. Youyu?" Ishizu asked.
"Not bad," Youyu displayed a look of 'there's potential', "The progress is greater than I imagined."
Initially, he thought that back when Marik built his kingdom, it relied entirely on a glass cannon strategy, with the entire deck centered around the repeated rebounds of the Ghoulish Bird. Now, without the Winged Dragon of Ra, Youyu couldn't imagine how he could play with a deck having such negative combat power.
Never expected him to improve further from an already advanced stage; Mr. Marik, the original founder of the Underworld style, had made more progress after painstaking research, delving deeper into the Underworld path...
Alright, let's arrange Mr. Marik's participation.
It's time to let the Duel Academy's sheltered flowers experience the harshness of society.
"What a pity," Aigami said, "just a little closer."
He might have intended to comfort the defeated Marik while also expressing admiration for his strength. But Marik turned his head with a strange expression: "Pity? What's to pity? You didn't think I could win against Mr. Youyu, did you?"
Aigami: "..."
"Ahem." Youyu nonchalantly reminded, "Speaking of which, you mentioned that this deck has a duplicate set..."
"Oh, right!"
Marik hurriedly took out a deck and said with a smile, "I lost, so as agreed, this is for Mr. Youyu."
Youyu was very satisfied with Mr. Marik's self-awareness now.
The Gravekeeper's Deck ranks among the top in terms of shutting others down, with devastating restraint effects on many mainstream deck versions.
However, its problem is complete incompatibility with other systems—even with a high Duelist rank, it's hard to mix it into other deck systems.
After all, the "Necrovalley" lineup, designed to get back at society, messes with the opponent while also being a nuisance to yourself. Both players cannot activate graveyard-related effects, nor can they special summon monsters other than "Gravekeepers."
But even if it might not be useful immediately, this deck certainly has collection value. Who knows, you might just encounter an opponent who's a perfect match against the Gravekeepers someday?
Seeing Youyu accept this gift, Marik's smile widened, even giving Aigami a victorious grin.
The implication being—
—Ha, see that? He accepted my deck, not yours!
Aigami felt disoriented again.
Is this really something to be proud of!?
...
That night, Duelists from all around the world landed on the Duel Academy Island.
The inclusion of Youyu's name among the organizers indeed had a considerable deterrent effect, attracting many strong contenders in the Duel World to the island. For a time, Duel Academy was bustling with activity, with all sorts of star players and Duel World bigwigs sprawling across the island.
Ishizu and Marik both remained on the island as contestants. According to Youyu's original plan, he intended for the Aigami siblings to participate as well. Since the Ishtars' Gravekeeper Race represents the Underworld style, they could introduce students to the harshness of society; while the Aigami siblings' Cubic style represented a powerful, aggressive OTK wave, allowing students to directly feel the suppressive power of Legendary Duelists.
However, due to the unexpected loss of the Quantum Cube, Youyu sent the Aigami siblings to assist Kaiba Group instead.
The last meeting didn't end well between Aigami and President Haima, hopefully, this time would be better...
During the evening's opening ceremony, Youyu personally took the stage for a speech.
There wasn't much special about the speech itself; it was just a simple explanation of the tournament rules, an emphasis on the educational philosophy and spirit of Duel Academy.
In a nutshell—
—The ocean, oh, it is full of water.
The speech went on for a while, seemingly lengthy, but upon reflection, it didn't really say much.
Each contestant received badges imprinted with the "GX" logo, which served as both the entry credential and points for the competitors. By winning duels, competitors could claim badges from their opponents.
The one who gathered the most badges by the end would be the winner of the tournament.
This meant competitors needed to be not only skilled but also willing to put in a lot of duels.
This required not only competence but endurance—a real test of stamina.
Youyu also emphasized that any external contestant who lost all of their badges must immediately withdraw from the stage and leave the Duel Academy Island.
Upon hearing this, the professional contestants below eagerly rubbed their hands together, filled with fighting spirit and ready to go, each brimming with confidence.
They probably shared the same thought.
As the saying goes, easy to invite the gods, difficult to send them off.
Most who came were notable figures in the professional circle, naturally carrying some pride. Learning that many participants were academy students, their confidence only grew.
Moreover, most of these professional competitors were male, and men—it's well understood—prefer entering difficult situations over exiting them.
Since I've come here today, it won't be easy to send me away!
Thus, as the opening ceremony concluded, Youyu ended his speech, and the world-renowned GX Tournament officially began at Duel Academy.
But as competitors were landing in large numbers, an uninvited guest who hadn't received an invitation also found their way to the island via some unconventional channels.
Within the Duel Academy, in an unknown location.
A metallic chair stood in a dark space. A woman sat gracefully in the chair, in front of her was a giant screen suspended mid-air, which displayed the live broadcast of the GX Tournament's opening ceremony.
The flickering light from the screen illuminated her face. She had long eyelashes, a delicate and pleasing face, but her skin was unnaturally pale, devoid of any coloration.
In the screen, Youyu was giving his speech on stage. The camera panned, zooming in on the student section, soon focusing on a certain student.
The student with jellyfish-like hair seemed completely unbothered by being watched, laughing and chatting with Marufuji Shou.
"Yuki Judai, the one defying fate... hmm?"
She spoke softly, her clear voice echoing endlessly in the darkness.