The statue had endured countless years of wind and rain and had long since lost its shine. Weeds and wildflowers surrounded it, swaying gently in the breeze.
"It feels like it wants to say something."
Judai Yuki slowly stepped forward and reached out toward the statue.
Yugen watched quietly without speaking.
He felt nothing and heard nothing. To him, it was just an abandoned village and a broken statue.
Bringing Judai Yuki along had been the right call. With his abnormal level of Spirit affinity, even the faintest remaining consciousness might be detected.
Yugen kept silent and encouraged Judai Yuki in his heart.
Come on. Use that unbeatable power and print out a copy of "Nephthys the Preserver."
If he could bring back the entire Deck and even a Phoenix God Spirit, that would be even better.
Boom!
Just as Judai Yuki approached the stone steps before the statue, an explosion erupted in front of him. A burst of blinding light and violent wind threw him backward, and he tumbled across the ground.
"Kuriboh!"
Winged Kuriboh cried out in concern.
"I'm fine, partner... What just happened?"
Judai Yuki stood up in confusion.
A figure in black robes descended from the sky and landed on the altar before the statue. He moved like a falling meteor and touched down without hesitation.
He pulled out a Card.
Silent Magician and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning immediately appeared beside Yugen to guard him. The black robed man raised the card high. From this distance Yugen could not see it clearly, but based on the image and his memory, he could make a rough guess.
It was Nephthys the Preserver.
"Stop him!" Yugen ordered.
The two Spirits rushed forward.
A pillar of green light shot into the sky, forcing them back. The energy was overwhelming, and a six pointed sigil formed beneath the man's feet, flowing into the card in his hand.
That was the power of Orichalcos.
The ancient statue of the Phoenix God began to glow with golden light, as if covered in armor. The burning light poured out of the massive statue and was drawn toward the card in the man's hand like water into a bottomless Dark Hole.
In an instant, the golden light was absorbed into the card. The statue dimmed even further.
The green light slowly faded. The man lowered his arm and looked at the card, frowning slightly.
"Only a trace of power remains," he muttered.
"You!" Judai Yuki jumped to his feet. "What did you do?"
The man glanced at them, his eyes sweeping over their red and yellow uniforms.
"So the Duelists from the real world are students of Duel Academy." His voice was calm. "I did nothing special. I was only searching for the Spirit of Nephthys.
It seems it is not here. Even this tribe only carried a faint remnant of the Phoenix God's power."
Yugen quickly understood. The man held a card of "Nephthys the Preserver" brought from the outside, but it had no Spirit inside. He was searching for the Phoenix God's Spirit and intended to use the card as a vessel, capturing and sealing it with the power of Orichalcos.
Even without activating The Seal of Orichalcos in a Duel, the energy he had just released was stronger than the barrier Bandit Keith once used.
This opponent was dangerous.
"Duel Monsters are partners of Duelists!" Judai Yuki said angrily. "Duelists and their cards trust and support each other. They are not tools to be enslaved by force!"
"Oh?" The man studied him. "There are many naive children like you."
"What do you mean?"
"Duelists may treat monsters as companions, but Duel Monsters do not always respond to that trust," the man said. "In the end, victory in a Duel is all that matters.
A commander needs absolute authority. There is no reason to treat servants as equals."
"I will never accept that," Judai Yuki said firmly. "Then let's prove it with a Duel!"
"Fine. That was my intention anyway."
The man had already activated his Duel Disk.
"You trespassed into the domain of a god. I had no intention of letting you leave." His voice turned cold. "I am Shell of the Shin Doma Three Swords. I will send you on your way."
His uniquely designed Doma style Duel Disk snapped open, lights flashing.
"You two can come at me together."
Hearing the other side introduce himself, Yugen frowned slightly.
Shin Doma also had a Three Swords?
He remembered the Three Swords of Doma from before. Rafael, Amelda, and Valon were all dangerous opponents. Among them, Rafael had even handed Yami Yugi one of his rare defeats, achieving what many bosses failed to do and becoming a legend of the DM era.
But those three had already turned over a new leaf, and the chance of them being dragged back in was low. Still, if Shin Doma had formed its own Three Swords, it could not be far weaker than the previous one. At the very least, it should be worth taking seriously.
Since the opponent had proposed a two on one Duel himself, there was no reason for Yugen and Judai Yuki to refuse. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, two against one meant double the resources and a clear advantage. And he had already declared he would not let them leave, which meant this would not end until someone fell.
Shell said, "Then each of you will have 4000 LP. We share the field and the Graveyard, and I will use your combined 8000 Life Points. We will use standard tag Duel rules."
Under standard tag rules, both sides form teams and take turns rotating. Each time a team's turn comes up, the active Duelist must switch.
In this Duel, for example, if Shell went first, the next turn would be Yugen, then back to Shell, then Judai Yuki, and so on.
The time Seto Kaiba fought three people at once was not standard tag rules but a chaotic free for all. Even though it was called one against three, each of the four Duelists was treated as a separate side. That meant he only got one turn after three turns from the other side, which was almost impossible unless someone had overwhelming confidence.
Even so, in a two on one, the advantage was still theirs.
"Duel!" x3
Judai Yuki, LP 4000. Yugen, LP 4000. Shell, LP 8000.
"I go first, Card Draw!"
The random draw gave the first turn to Judai Yuki's team.
"I Summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in Attack Position!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman, ATK 800.
Judai Yuki said, "When Elemental HERO Bubbleman is successfully Summoned and there are no other cards on my field, I draw two cards from my Deck!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman was one of Judai Yuki's key comeback cards. Because of this famous anime effect, it was nicknamed Greedman. As long as you dropped it onto an empty field, you could draw two cards, making it very strong.
Yugen was not interested in building a Elemental HERO Deck at the Academy Department for now, but he had still picked up Greedman. Even outside a Hero strategy, Elemental HERO Bubbleman had value in certain Deck builds.
"Then I activate the Spell Card Polymerization from my hand!" Judai Yuki continued. "I fuse Elemental HERO Bubbleman on the field with Elemental HERO Clayman from my hand!"
The two monsters vanished into the vortex of Polymerization. A column of water burst upward, and a sturdy figure landed heavily on Judai Yuki's field, arms crossed like a fortress.
Elemental HERO Mudballman, DEF 3000.
It was a Normal Monster, but with defense comparable to Blue-Eyes White Dragon. As an opening wall, it was more than acceptable.
"I set one card and end my turn," Judai Yuki said.
"A Hero Deck, hm. Becoming a hero is not so easy," Shell replied calmly. "My Turn! Card Draw."
He added the drawn card to his hand, then selected another.
"First, I activate this card and turn this Duel into a grand ritual offered to Dark God. Field Spell, The Seal of Orichalcos!"
A dark green barrier spread from beneath his feet as a pillar of light shot into the sky. Green light flared in Shell's eyes, and a six pointed sigil appeared on his forehead.