"Supreme King?"
Jaden was obviously thrown off for a moment when he heard that name.
It felt like a part of his sleeping memory had been jolted—his expression went blank for an instant.
But he quickly recovered, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Seriously? Who would name themselves something so lame?" Jaden cracked up.
Kira: "..."
"But to rule twelve dimensions with the power of dueling... That must mean he's really strong, right?"
There was even a glint of expectation in Jaden's eyes. Kira recognized that look—the burning soul of a true duelist itching for a worthy opponent.
Kira suddenly thought, maybe he should try to get the President Kaiba and Jaden together as duel buddies someday, so they could ease their dueling cravings with some friendly matches instead of dragging others into it.
"But this Supreme King, you said he's the ruler of the spirit dimension, right? What does that have to do with me?" Jaden was still confused.
"Because you're the reincarnation of the Supreme King's original duelist body," Kira said offhandedly. "Only by one of you defeating the other can you become whole."
Jaden snorted and laughed.
"Pfft, sorry, that's just too funny—hearing you spout such nonsense with a straight face..."
Kira stayed expressionless.
Jaden reined in his laughter. "Wait, you're serious?"
His expression turned odd.
If anyone else had said this, Jaden would've thought they were talking nonsense in their sleep. Suddenly bringing up stuff like reincarnation and Supreme Kings—honestly, even for Jaden, it sounded way too absurd.
But then he realized Kira was actually serious...
He hesitated for a long while before finally asking, "Kira... how do you know all this stuff?"
Jaden was usually pretty dense about anything not related to dueling, but even he was starting to feel his companion was shrouded in mystery.
He couldn't even remember when it began, but Kira had always given them that unfathomable feeling—not just with his endless creative deck builds and tactics, but as if he had some all-seeing, godlike perspective.
But the conversation couldn't go on, since by now they were getting close to their destination.
The blonde girl had been leading the way up to now, and as the two of them talked softly, she hadn't overheard.
Jaden looked up and pointed ahead: "Hey, the tree struck by lightning!"
Kira followed his gaze. Sure enough, on the bare mountainside, the split tree stood out—obviously the place the girl had described.
But when he looked back, Kira narrowed his eyes.
"Where did she go?"
"Huh?"
Jaden snapped out of it and looked around. The girl was nowhere to be seen.
In the blink of an eye, the girl who'd been leading them had vanished.
They looked around, but all they could see were rolling hills, lifeless except for clumps of withered grass and bare rocks. The path was overgrown and tangled with vines. The wind blew through dead branches and leaves, making a rustling sound like ghosts sighing in the night.
"It's a barrier," Kira suddenly said.
"Huh?"
Jaden looked at him in surprise.
"We've been set up—this is a trap."
Even as Kira said it, his voice was as calm as ever, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with himself. Jaden, hearing him so unruffled in such a dire situation, didn't even react.
The next moment, though, he felt the ground beneath his feet shift, and a hand suddenly shot out from the earth, grabbing his ankle.
"Wah!"
Jaden yelped, instinctively trying to shake it off, but the grip was too strong.
Silent Magician, always ready, shot out from beside Kira, her staff glowing as she launched a Magic Blast at Jaden's feet. The magical light blew dirt everywhere, and a dark, twisted humanoid was sent rolling out of the ground, smoking as it tumbled aside.
It looked human, but its face was withered and haggard—a clear product of the Zombie-type.
At the same time, more shadowy figures began appearing from the black mist—some Demon-type soldiers, more undead, and even a giant black flower that screamed as it unfurled, its tentacles whipping toward them.
Kira stood his ground, not moving a muscle as a tentacle shot toward his back. But just as it was about to hit, a flash of sword light appeared from nowhere, slicing the tentacle into pieces in a single, invisible stroke.
The phantom of Black Luster Soldier appeared, his hand never even seeming to draw his sword, yet his chaotic sword aura swept back along the tentacle's path, shredding the monstrous flower to pieces.
"Flame Wingman!"
Jaden shouted. He reached for the top card of his deck, and without even looking, drew the trusty HERO combo and a Polymerization.
Fire exploded in the fusion vortex as Elemental HERO Flame Wingman descended, spreading one wing with a mighty roar. His dragon's head unleashed a torrent of flame.
A group of demons charging at them were instantly scattered by the fire dragon, two of them turned to charred husks in mid-air.
From ambush to counterattack, the whole process was lightning-fast—in an instant, the two were surrounded by top-tier monsters, sealed tight as a drum.
Their enemies were numerous, but in terms of Duel Monster levels, they were only two or three stars at best. With Kira and Jaden's aces on the field, just their presence kept the minions at bay, glaring but not daring to approach.
After only two or three seconds of this standoff, a hoarse voice called from the shadows in the forest behind.
"Duelists... how rare. To think we'd run into such interesting prey this time."
A black figure stepped out. The minions immediately parted to either side.
Silent Magician lifted her staff, summoning a ball of white light that hung in the air like a little sun, illuminating the scene.
In the magical glow, they could see the newcomer had a hideous green face, a devil's crown, and luxurious robes very different from the crude rags of the minions. On his chest was a skull with glowing red eyes.
The Dark Ruler Ha Des.
The Demon King's gaze flickered back and forth between the two.
"Tsk, tsk. That aura... could you be travelers from the Duelist World? Hehehe... what a big catch."
Ha Des sneered. Then he raised his arm, where a swirl of blood-like liquid condensed into a Duel Disk.
"No matter who you are," he said, "since you've come here... don't even think of leaving."
PS: Bonus chapters at 2000 PS