Yubel.
Ted was basically dazed until the very end.
He'd just sent off the toxic Sword Woman, and now Yubel had shown up.
And this time, it was a Ten-Star monster.
Yubel herself was considered a rare card; Ted had never seen one before, and he never imagined there was such a Ten-Star monster in the world—the "damage reflection" effect, had 0 attack and 0 defense, and a layer of destruction resistance.
Every duelist who crashed and died against her would feel a "welcome home" hospitality.
If that wasn't enough, at the moment of defeat, she even performed a "grave-digging" move, taking the core of his deck, "Medicine Eater," and gave Yubel a trap countering ability.
Even Ted's last trump card, the invincible attack trap "Sakuretsu Armor," was blocked. Ted was speechless—he could only admit that this guy was just too stable.
Hilarious—is this the legendary "King of Duels"?
Terrifying, truly terrifying.
Ted Banias had always been confident in his own strength, both in the past and now. Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought of challenging Yugi Muto back in the day.
But now, although he hadn't faced Yugi Muto directly, at least he'd finally gotten to face the next Duel King after all these years—a wish fulfilled.
Yet, he felt in his heart that he would have been better off not dueling at all.
If this duel taught him anything, it was the gap between people—sometimes it was like the difference between a human and a dog. Compared to the person before him, Ted, who was once a well-known card professor, now felt like a clown.
Ted Banias fell to his knees in the classic "Detective Conan suspect" pose, hands on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Ryuya Saito, standing by, was at least loyal enough—seeing his friend so out of it after a duel, he wanted to go help him up.
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
But in the next moment, Ted, who had collapsed on the ground, suddenly sprang up, raised his head to the sky, and let out a long, drawn-out scream of "Aaaaah!" A transparent shockwave erupted from him, almost blowing away all the stunned onlookers nearby.
It sounded like a heart-wrenching wail. Ted Banias spread his arms wide, looked skyward, and spat out a cloud of chaotic darkness from his mouth!
A tyrannical energy spiraled into the sky, piercing the roof and shooting into the heavens like a pillar breaking through the firmament.
The darkness rampaged through the room like a violent storm, engulfing everyone.
Strangely enough, such a powerful gale left people barely able to stand, as if they'd be blown away, but the force somehow didn't affect anything else in the room. Tables, chairs, items—nothing moved, not even a scrap of paper, as if the storm didn't exist at all.
Kira was the first to realize: this wasn't a real wind.
It appeared as a storm, but it was something more fundamental—a force that affected the soul. Everyone could sense it only because they had souls, able to feel the threat of being drawn into a vortex. The inanimate objects weren't affected.
It was as if the recent duel had triggered this power, which erupted out, threatening to swallow everyone present.
But Kira quickly realized this wasn't something Ted did intentionally, but a loss of control over a force dormant in his body. Ted himself was likely suffering the most.
Still, it wasn't a big problem.
At this level, Kira was completely in control.
"Silent," he said.
As soon as he spoke, a white-robed mage with silver hair flashed out. The staff twirled nimbly in her hand, leaving a trail of silver light.
Now, the Silent Magician had unlocked the time limit on physical manifestation, making her much more durable and practical, and firmly establishing her as Kira's ace in situations requiring Pokémon-style brawls.
Dazzling silver light, like lightning splitting the night, shot straight toward the dark storm. The hurricane trembled violently, the wind howling in a wail. The light pierced the core of the darkness.
A thunderous roar, and the dark storm shattered under the silver light, scattering into countless fragments.
At the very end, the darkness seemed to form a monstrous face, baring its fangs at Kira—but it disappeared in an instant.
The storm subsided. Ted Banias' eyes glazed over, and he collapsed face-down like a puppet whose strings had been cut, no longer moving.
The thugs nearby were already scared out of their wits.
The concrete manifestation of spirits could be seen by mortals, and this terrifying display was soul-shaking. These people were only used to street fighting and scaring regular folks—they had never experienced anything this horrifying.
And as for Ted—was he dead?
Did the duel just kill him?
Kira frowned.
Again—a duel ends and the person is gone.
Same thing happened with Zigfried: Kira hadn't meant to kill him (he had questions to ask), but Zigfried didn't give him the chance—when the duel ended, so did Ted.
Later, Kira discovered that Zigfried Lloyd had already died, and he'd been dueling his spirit.
This card professor, though, seemed like the real deal—not some vengeful spirit. Kira hadn't gone for the kill; he'd planned to question him after the duel. But once again, his opponent collapsed as soon as the cards were played.
The similarities between these two duels made Kira sense a hidden hand behind the scenes. Both Zigfried and Ted were puppets whose strings were being pulled, playing their assigned roles on stage.
"Looks like he won't be able to say anything for a while," Kira said, turning to Ryuya Saito.
"So I'll have to ask you guys."
Ryuya Saito shuddered, feeling that in the lamplight, Kira looked as sinister as a demon.
…
"So... they don't know anything either?"
Some time later, Makuba rubbed his temples, sounding a bit troubled.
"Yeah. They're just a local gang, recruited to run errands. Zigfried Lloyd—or rather, his spirit—was just chosen as a thug by that 'someone' and kept around.
Their current missions all revolve around disrupting the local Kaiba Corporation—stealing their equipment, rare cards, and causing mid-level trouble."
Makuba sighed. "Things are getting more and more complicated. My own investigation turned up hints that Industrial Illusions—or rather, the Pegasus Foundation—may also have financial connections to all this.
Last time, investigating Maximillion Pegasus turned out to be a misunderstanding. This time... I'm not sure. Maybe he still holds a grudge against Kaiba Corp?"
He shook his head.
"In any case, I plan to visit the foundation headquarters and see myself. Want to come?"
Normally, Kira would go with him, especially since he was already involved this far.
But to Makuba's surprise, Kira shook his head.
"No, you go. If you find anything, just let me know."
He seemed to be thinking of something, looking off into the distance.
"I... want to return to Duel Academy."