He clutched his chest, too angry to speak clearly. If he had not been a skeleton, he probably would have coughed up blood.
"From the Graveyard, I banish the LIGHT-attribute Dark Magician of Chaos and the DARK-attribute Breaker the Magical Warrior."
Yugen raised a card.
"The souls of Light and Dark are offered to the field of chaos. Descend, legendary warrior who opened heaven and earth. Level 8, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Summon."
The souls of Light and Dark shot into the sky and merged within a swirling vortex. Magic surged, light burst outward, and blades of light and darkness split the curtain of brilliance as Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning stepped out from the storm of power.
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, ATK 3000.
A chaotic wind swept across the field as the warrior appeared, bringing heavy pressure with it. The skeleton soldiers around the altar trembled, their bones rattling under the invisible force.
Only Bone King, who should have felt the pressure most, paid no attention to Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. His gaze remained fixed on the skeletal couple on the opposite side.
His incarnation was holding his queen's hand.
"This is better."
"Now we can be together forever."
"My king."
Bone King said nothing.
"Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, direct attack. Twin Slash of Genesis."
Blades of light and darkness cut through the air, carrying a vortex of chaos that seemed to tear through space itself.
Until the last moment before he was swallowed by the light, Bone King kept staring at the loving pair of skeletons across from him. As destruction closed in, he could not help wondering whether he had committed too many sins in life, only for fate to send this cruel punishment upon him.
At least it was finally ending.
Just destroy everything.
Being bones was not worth it.
Bone King, LP 1600 to 0.
The green magic circle shrank, and Bone King's soul shot upward, drawn into the vortex in the sky and vanishing without a trace.
His incarnation followed immediately, pulled away with the main body. Not just the incarnation, but also Lady in Wight, Prince of the Wights, and Skull Princess were taken by the same rising green light.
The entire skeletal family disappeared one after another. It seemed that in this altar ritual, when one side lost the Duel, not only the Duelist but even the souls within the losing side's Deck could not escape.
On the bright side, at least they were together forever.
A family should be complete.
Yugen stepped forward and pulled the Deck from the fallen Bone King. Although the original had been sacrificed in the ritual and the remaining Card no longer housed a Spirit, it should still be usable.
"Do not worry. Go in peace," Yugen said seriously. "Your Card, your queen, and your children's cards will all be put to good use. I will not waste them."
Or at least sell them later.
That could be decided afterward.
He continued searching the remains, but a skeleton had little to offer. Even the Duel Disk seemed to be formed from the body itself and could not be removed.
However, he did find a small green crystal.
"What is this?"
"A fragment of Orichalcos," said Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning.
Envoy of the Beginning had fought the forces of Orichalcos in his own Dimension before, so he had some knowledge.
"Is it dangerous?"
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning shook his head. "It is only a symbol of status. It represents authority granted by Dark God to certain followers in occupied areas. It shows that this one was an agent of Dark God in this region."
Yugen understood.
"So if someone had this, could they infiltrate their ranks?"
"I do not know," Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning replied. "Only regional leaders have these. They are not common among ordinary followers."
"A regional leader."
Yugen glanced at the vanished Bone King.
So he had been a minor boss.
After collecting the spoils, Yugen turned to face the skeleton soldiers below the altar. With Envoy of the Beginning present, they did not dare move, especially after witnessing their king's end.
Their simple minds could not fully understand what had happened. From their perspective, the queen ran to the other side, then the king ran to the other side, and then the king was gone.
The good news was that their ritual had succeeded. The bad news was that the priest had been sacrificed.
One thing was clear.
They could not afford to offend this human.
Yugen jumped down in front of them.
"All right. I have a few questions for you."
With Bone King gone, the remaining skeleton soldiers lost all threat. Yugen cleared the field in moments and brought the situation under control. The captured Spirits were freed, and after watching Bone King go from rage to death, they looked at him with open admiration and kept calling him a hero.
"Why does every Dimension have some kind of hero legend?" Yugen muttered. He wanted to say he was not a hero, at most a side product of one. Years of certain niche anime had left him with odd associations, and the word hero no longer felt as simple as slaying a dragon.
From the locals, Yugen quickly learned the background of this place. Bone King had risen from countless ordinary bones, fighting his way up to become king. He united the undead forces in the region and built an army, but his expansion threatened nearby towns and led to war with other races.
In the end, the bone army was defeated. After that, Bone King disappeared, and for a long time no one saw him again. Peace lasted until a black vortex appeared in the sky of this Dimension.
The power of the Dark God descended and set its sights on this Spirit Dimension. It chose two agents, granting them strength for conquest and revenge. One was the Bone King awakened from an unknown graveyard, and the other was a knight of some insect race.
With the power of Orichalcos, the agents were unstoppable across this land. No one had been able to defeat them. Until today.
Hearing this, Yugen could not help thinking that if this was the level of the vanguard the Dark God sent into this Dimension, it seemed a little underwhelming.
A dirt covered mage Spirit spoke up. "We have long heard that heroes from other worlds command the power of cards. They come from the Dimension of warriors and will defeat the Dark God to bring back the light."
Yugen considered this and guessed that in terms of Duel, outside Duelists were generally stronger than Spirits. Even if many Spirits possessed powerful abilities, they still needed skilled Duelists to draw out their full strength. A gifted Spirit was like an elite soldier, but even the best soldier needed a capable commander to win a war.
He asked about Judai Yuki, but unfortunately no one here had seen the red jacketed Jellyfish Hair. One of the Spirits invited him instead. "If the hero does not mind, please visit our town. It is the only settlement nearby. If you are looking for someone, that is the best place to start."
With no better idea for the moment, Yugen agreed to follow them. He was not too worried about Judai Yuki anyway. With Innate Card Affinity and the reincarnation of the strongest of twelve Dimensions, even in a low level state he was not someone ordinary people could trouble.
After leaving the damp ground behind, Yugen realized they had been in a wet underground cavern all along. Outside the entrance, piles of bones were stacked high. They walked along a rough forest path, and as they neared the foot of the mountain, he caught sight of a massive statue below.
The statue stood dozens of meters tall in the middle of a lifeless village. It was shaped like a phoenix, every feather carved with fine detail, though time had worn its surface. The ancient body was covered in cracks like a Rift, and the surrounding houses and streets were overgrown with weeds and vines.
Even from a distance, it looked familiar. Yugen asked, "What is that?"
"It is an ancient site," the mage Spirit explained. "Long ago, a tribe that worshiped the Phoenix God lived there."