"Hmm, these two guys are quite something."
Ryuzaki remarked while walking, holding his chin.
The Eye beside him exaggeratedly said, "'Quite something' is an understatement, isn't it? These comrades of yours are practically monsters!
One suddenly pulls out a Giant Divine Soldiers card without a word, and the other one is even more incredible, able to fuse even the Evil God. This, this, this..."
Ryuzaki had already considered the possibility of the three entering the realm and being separated, so he had left an Elf Card as a spy with Judai and Kaiba. After all, he had plenty of elves now, ever since that Elf Hunter delivered his head on a platter, he had a whole army of elves.
Now, some of the elves have found their owners through the Kaiba Group and were returned, but the whereabouts of others are still being investigated, and even more elves voluntarily stayed by Ryuzaki's side.
Thanks to the elves, he can understand the situation of his teammates immediately.
"Calm, calm down," Ryuzaki said, "Just standard procedure."
Eye: "..."
But come to think of it, even though he knew these two were powerful, by their standards, this time seemed a bit exaggerated.
Never mind Kaiba, he'd surprisingly been secluded silently and concocted a Giant Divine Soldiers card. This indeed surprised Ryuzaki a bit.
It's not that it's surprising that in this day and age Giant Divine Soldiers still respond to Kaiba's summons; in the original work, Giant Divine Soldiers were bound to Kaiba, so that's not unexpected.
It's just that Ryuzaki had dueled with the president before, during Duel City GX Kaiba was aiming to reach the top and seize the title of Duel King, while conveniently defeating his old nemesis Orichalcos Cheating Snake to save the world. If the president had Giant Divine Soldiers then, he wouldn't have hidden it.
So the clear inference is that Kaiba didn't have Giant Divine Soldiers in his hands at that time. Perhaps it was still in development, or maybe seeing Ryuzaki pull a Winged Divine Dragon made the president ponder on the gods again. But Giant Divine Soldiers must have been completed between the end of that tournament and now.
As expected, although the president is elusive, he never rests.
And on Judai's side, it's even a heavier weight.
Now Judai has probably already surpassed the Level 100 limit of the original work, not only retrieving Yubel but also fully absorbing the Overlord's Power. Judging by the looks of it, it's likely not through violently defeating the opponent to absorb it, but rather through the traditional method of converting them the way hot-blooded anime protagonists do, making them willingly give him everything.
The Overlord's Power obtained through this method is naturally purer and fuses better with oneself.
The evidence is the Super Fusion card Judai just pulled out, fusing even the Evil God indiscriminately, and the resultant monster Neo Dominator, equally symbolizes Judai and the Overlord's complete fusion, transforming into the Evil Heart state of Neos.
It's worth noting that in the animation, while Judai was said to have mastered the Overlord's Power in the end, the Evil Heart series used by the Overlord vanished without a trace, and such a fusion like Neo Dominator never appeared.
"But speaking of which, the fusion condition is Neos plus any Effect Monster on the field..." Ryuzaki couldn't help but mutter.
Isn't that tantamount to having no limits?
That means Neos can casually consume any opponent's monster on the field as Fusion Material, for some reason suddenly feels a bit like his Lava Demon God...
No, no, it's not—it's Judai's exceptional insight and card imprinting skills, surely has nothing to do with me.
Ryuzaki stopped walking, standing poised in a sea of darkness.
It seemed no different from the silent darkness encountered throughout, but Ryuzaki sensed he had reached the deepest part of the realm, near the enemy he was seeking.
A voice seemed to emanate from the void.
"Welcome, Duel King, Fujiki Yugen..."
"...Welcome to the paradise of darkness and fear."
Ryuzaki looked ahead, seeing the darkness rising from beneath, transforming into human shapes. Vague human shapes were glaring at him, filled with resentment as if wanting to kill.
Ryuzaki passed by the two at the forefront, recognizing them.
Insect Moth and Ryuzaki Kyoryu.
"It's you, if it weren't for you..." Ryuzaki said angrily, "I wouldn't have fallen to such a state!"
Butterfly also barked angrily, "Even if swallowed by darkness, even if turned into a ghost, I'll never forget you."
Ryuzaki laughed, "I say you might have gotten something wrong, I've never even met this guy."
The figures appearing afterward seemed also to have been defeated by him, or at least suffered because of him, repeating phrases like "you took my XXX," "Demon," "I'll never forgive you" and the like.
But Ryuzaki turned a blind eye, simply said, "Others have shown me these before. Honestly, if you think being cursed by a few defeated foes is the deepest darkness within me, by now the darkness within my heart likely has even the Great Evil God Zok steering clear."
He burst into laughter, saying, "And you're too uncreative, really, it's the same repetitive nonsense. Frankly speaking, when facing me, these people curse much harsher to my face."
Evil God: "..."
The Evil God was silent for a moment, then let out a heavy snort. All the shadows on the field vanished into smoke and clouds. Ryuzaki felt emptiness beneath his feet, as if he was falling into the bottomless void.
The Evil God's voice continued, "Your inner darkness is indeed immense, a darkness unmatched by ordinary humans. Seems we need to delve deeper."
Ryuzaki gradually stopped descending, yet did not fall onto solid ground. This time he felt like he was floating in water, the icy darkness flowing past his fingertips, a chill seemingly penetrating through his body, invading the deepest part of his heart.
"Ha, you are afraid."
The Evil God's voice said.
"This is the deepest darkness within your heart. The strongest human, hailed as the king at the pinnacle of the dueling realm, also experiences fear."
"Then tell me... what are you afraid of?"
"Do you fear defeat?"
"Fear that your position as king will be taken?"
"Fear that even as king you cannot protect the world today?"
"Or perhaps fear... us?"
As the last syllable dropped, a tremendous power exploded within this darkness.
Boundless pressure released, forming three immense shadows in the space. The extinguishing Evil God swung its long tail, emitting sharp cries, the armor covered in bones like the ultimate fear incarnate as the Root of Fear, and lastly the Divine Incarnation suspended in the center like a black sun.
The pressure from the Three Evil Gods was released in unison, as if trying to crush everything into dust with that spiritual weight!
Ryuzaki looked up, directly facing the enormous pressure exuding from the Three Evil Gods.
Then suddenly burst into laughter.
Evil God furiously said, "What's so funny?"
"Sorry, nothing... but you're right. Yes, there is darkness within me, I am indeed afraid, but it's not of you."
Ryuzaki laughed gently.
"Since you're so eager to know what I fear... then as you wish, I'll show you."
A strange light flickered in his eye, he laughed.
"But brace yourselves... don't get scared."