Ed fell under the sword's light, unconscious, and a half-torn card fell from his body.
But at this moment, Itadori's condition wasn't much better. After the duel ended and he exited ZEXAL's state, severe pain wracked his entire body, causing Yuji to stagger and almost fall to the ground.
Fortunately, at that moment, an arm supported him.
Yuji raised his head with difficulty and looked at the owner of this arm.
"Are you okay?" Kaito, who had come to support him, had finally arrived.
"I'm still alive, but it hurts like shit." Yuji pulled out a smile with difficulty.
"Allen and the others should be here soon. It will take some time for them to assemble their troops."
"Help me over there. Let's turn this guy into a card and retreat—we'll be doomed if we meet a large army looking for him." Yuji said weakly.
Kaito helped Yuji approach the unconscious Ed, but when Yuji just aimed his duel disk at Ed, the half-destroyed card beside Ed suddenly flashed.
A middle-aged man in red attire appeared before the two.
Facing the person who appeared suddenly, Yuji and Kaito instinctively prepared to fight until Kaito saw the face of the newcomer.
"Sakaki Yusho..." Kaito gritted his teeth and said the visitor's name.
Sakaki Yusho, who had appeared suddenly, didn't seem to have grasped the situation. After looking around, he looked at Kaito and Yuji: "Kaito? And you are... Itadori Yuji, the chief of Heartland Academy? Well, this should be the XYZ dimension? Has the war reached this level?"
"Get out of the way." Kaito said coldly, not bothering with pretenses toward the person before him who was once regarded as his teacher.
"Ed?" Sakaki Yusho noticed the unconscious Ed behind them, and the half-broken [Smile World] beside him.
"It seems this card brought me here again..." Sakaki Yusho said after bending down to pick up the half of [Smile World].
"I said get out of the way. Can't you hear me?" Kaito said coldly.
"Are you trying to turn him into a card?" Yusho frowned after looking back at the unconscious Ed.
"That's right, just like what he did to our people." Facing the tomato's father, the source of all evil, Yuji naturally wouldn't have a good expression, not to mention he now seemed intent on stopping them.
"Stop it, boy. What you do will only perpetuate the hatred—it won't solve the problem." Yusho advised.
"If you can't solve the problem, solve the person who raised the problem. Seems you're one of those who raised it." Itadori's answer was simple and blunt.
After listening to Itadori's words, Yusho frowned slightly, but he showed no intention of moving from Ed's body.
Seeing this, Yuji asked softly in Kaito's ear: "Are you confident of a quick victory?"
Kaito thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I'm not familiar enough with the cards you gave me. I'm afraid I won't be able to deal with him quickly. Once Obelisk's troops arrive, it will be bad."
After speaking, Kaito looked at Yusho: "So, are you on their side this time? Yusho... Teacher." When Kaito uttered the word 'teacher,' his teeth almost cracked from gritting them.
"No, Kaito, I just want to stop this war, and you will only let the hatred continue." Yusho said.
"Let's go, Kaito." Seeing that nothing could be done, Yuji, whose body was on the verge of collapse, lost interest in continuing to argue with this old man and said to Kaito who was supporting him.
"Just let this guy go like that?" Kaito glanced at Ed behind Yusho and said unwillingly.
"No choice. He won't be so lucky next time." Yuji said unwillingly. He had finally defeated the opponent's general, but hadn't expected Yusho to appear halfway. Thinking of this, Yuji gave Yusho a deep look:
"Listen, you saved him this time. Then, after today, you'll share in the hatred for our companions who died because of this guy. You are from Standard dimension, right?..."
After saying this, with Kaito's help, Yuji turned and left.
And Sakaki Yusho, after listening to Itadori's words, looked at the backs of the two leaving, sighed deeply, and looked at the half-torn [Smile World] in his hand.
After Yuji and Kaito had gone far, the sounds of the Obelisk Legion's large force finding Ed's location from his car came from afar, and the half [Smile World] in his hand shone again. Yusho also disappeared from this dimension.
On the other side, Yuji, supported by Kaito, breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the large army brought by Shinjo. The string that had been taut in his heart loosened, and he passed out.
...
Fusion Dimension, You Show Duel School.
Sakaki Yusho returned to this illegal organization in the Fusion dimension and had just found a place to sit down when a girl walked in.
"Teacher, where have you been? Everyone couldn't find you anywhere. We thought something happened to you." The girl said anxiously.
"It's Asuka. I went out for a walk." Yusho recovered and said casually.
"Teacher seems to have something on your mind? Did something happen just now?" Asuka keenly noticed that Yusho seemed preoccupied and couldn't help asking.
"I'm fine. Can you help me prepare for tomorrow's class?" Yusho said.
"Teacher..." Asuka hesitated to speak, but after thinking for a while, she still didn't speak and turned to leave.
After Asuka left, Yusho looked at the [Smile World] in his hand, and in his mind, the look in Itadori's eyes before he left lingered.
After a long time, he let out a long sigh and said with emotion: "Reo Akaba, you've created a monster."
...
Three days later
Yuji opened his eyes, sat up with effort, and looked at his surroundings.
"This is... the hospital?"
"You're awake." A cold voice sounded from the side. Yuji followed the sound, and the voice's owner was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, though fortunately his face was still exposed.
"Yasuo? Where is this?" Yuji asked.
"The hospital in Sanjuku District. People from outside moved in after you were in a coma for 3 days," said Yasuo.
Hearing this, Yuji relaxed a little, then asked: "Did the relocation process go smoothly? Were there any other actions by those fusion soldiers?"
"Their commander is still lying in the ICU. What can they do?" Sugihara said. "If you're awake, go find Renjiro and the others. After all, as the leader, you still have things to do."
"Alright. Then..." Yuji called out the system panel.
[Congratulations to the host for defeating the legendary duelist, Ed Phoenix. You have been rewarded with a UR dream ticket, a chance to draw a random Number monster, and a chance for dimensional travel]
Yuji didn't care about these rewards but directly opened the main quest panel.
...
(End of this chapter)