The Maze Brothers walked out with a howl.
Until the two gods were escorted out of the Academy, they were still in a daze.
Perhaps until the end, they were still pondering—
—How on earth could someone's duel be so treacherous!?
Students of Duel Academy? First-year freshmen?
What a century-old joke!
If they had a choice, they would even prefer another duel with Dark Game and Joey. Although they might be instantly defeated, even brutally beaten, it would likely end quickly, rather than this slow torture in front of everyone.
Especially that Jellyfish Head, who jumped in front of them after the battle and made a somewhat provocative gesture.
"I won! That was an interesting duel!"
Maze Brothers: "..."
The brothers almost rolled up their sleeves to start a fight at that moment.
Hahaha, yes, what an interesting duel.
Interesting, my foot.
The two turned around with gloomy faces and left.
Duel Academy, this cursed place, they doubt they'd ever return here in their lifetime.
"This is... quite unexpected." Even Asuka was momentarily lost for words from the spectators' stand.
Mitsuzawa also looked complicated: "Yeah, even legendary duelists were defeated."
He didn't finish his sentence, but both could comprehend the hidden meaning.
No, it wasn't simply "defeated."
Even legendary duelists were mentally crushed...
It was clear to everyone that the Maze Brothers were mentally shattered and almost in a breakdown when they left the stage. It wouldn't be surprising if they fought when they got back, and their friendship collapsed altogether.
The teachers and students who watched the duel found it immensely entertaining, and they all instinctively agreed with Judai that it was "such an interesting duel."
But upon reflection afterward, knowing that even legendary duelists ended up mentally shattered, the future of the Dueling Realm seemed more and more clouded...
This deck was actually Yugen's modification, and there is a prototype in physical card competitions called [Cosmic LOCK].
It was one of the card decks born in the early physical card environment. However, calling it competitive is a bit of a stretch since back then it was barely at the threshold of competitive levels, still inferior to the true mainstream of that environment.
From the name, you can tell it's a specialized lock-style deck centered on the "Cosmic Contraction" Continuous Trap, a typical societal revenge.
The reason it's just entertainment is that achieving the lock is not easy; setting up the formation is prone to disruption and interference. However, once the lock formation is set up, even deities would find it hard to rescue, given the depth of the early card pool.
The moment LOCK is achieved, the opponent is essentially in a state of "some people are alive but already dead."
Of course, Yugen wouldn't remember such a deck build, only knowing that such a thing exists. Hence, he didn't design the original Cosmic LOCK but a more stable combination of interference lock and Cosmic LOCK.
At the same time, his interference system was an upgraded version equipped with a lot of animation-specific cards. The early stage cleanup and formation setup were handled by his interference system, while the crucial lock card "Cosmic Contraction" was handed over to Judai, alongside the face-riding output job by Judai's "Iron Wall Gunner."
It took borrowing a bit of Judai's Destiny Power to achieve such an easy critical lock.
Of course, Divine Draws are essentially metaphysical, so even Yugen or Judai weren't sure if "Cosmic Contraction" would come into play immediately. But even without it, they actually had tactical setups. They could still fight with interference lock and Elemental Hero cooperation, just without the suppressive force of this Cosmic LOCK formation.
If it weren't for Judai's help, the original interference lock mostly relied on direct damage with Monster Effects and Magic Traps for output.
It's apparent that Judai really enjoyed such a fresh duel, laughing and high-fiving Yugen in celebration.
Mitsuzawa was again momentarily speechless watching this scene.
He pondered that his previous research and analysis of Yuki Judai's Hero Card Deck didn't seem to align with this tactical style...
Watching Yugen and Judai standing together in the arena gave him a peculiar feeling.
These two are influencing and changing each other. Originally, they should have been polar opposites, completely different types of duelists. Before today, Mitsuzawa even thought their combination might interfere and repel each other.
But now, it seems there is some kind of fascinating chemical reaction between them, making their combination suddenly terrifying...
Mitsuzawa silently made up his mind.
Facing either of them alone is already nerve-wracking, and no matter what, he absolutely shouldn't end up on the opposite side in doubles.
Looking at the Maze Brothers' fate makes it clear.
It's a fate worse than death.
Chazz, also a spectator of this duel, was shocked along with others by the horror of the "Cosmic LOCK" but quickly refocused on those three odd yet cute creatures used by Yugen.
"Disruptive Monsters? Are these Miscellaneous Monsters even useful?"
Chazz furrowed his brow, plunging into deep thought.
...
...
Another large influx of credits, Yugen was quite satisfied.
Similarly, his research application to the Academy was approved a few days later.
Yugen was already a student closely watched by both the Principal and Chronos, and once he presented a small achievement he had already accomplished, the research department was even more astounded by his talent.
Therefore, even though such an incident was unprecedented, after consecutive meetings to discuss it the past two days, the Academy finally agreed to his request. Consequently, Yugen received his laboratory, an Academy granted budget, nearly equivalent to a teacher's treatment.
However, of course, he wasn't a Master, so he couldn't take on students.
But it didn't matter; he could recruit himself.
He happened to know who had great research talent and would never refuse this opportunity.
...
...
For the past two days, Mitsuzawa Earth had a hard time getting to sleep halfway into the night, sitting in front of his computer carefully analyzing Yugen and Judai's duel, listing the cards used by both sides attempting to reconstruct the deck and tactics.
The more he reconstructed, the more puzzled he felt.
He realized that this guy comes up with an entirely new eye-opening tactic almost every time he appeared, completely different from the previous ones. Therefore, he almost couldn't see the point of researching countermeasures anymore.
Actually, now he felt he was no longer researching countermeasures but rather studying the problem-solving approach of a top student to gain inspiration and improvement.
Just as he was delving deeply into his study, the main subject suddenly messaged him.
Seeing Yugen's message surprised Mitsuzawa, causing him to freeze for a second before opening the content.
"My Monsters... Hidden potential?" Mitsuzawa read the message with a dazed expression.
Such a thing?
How come I didn't know?
...
...
Meanwhile,
Obelisk-Blue, Girls' Dormitory, Bathroom.
Asuka Tenjouin extended her foot lightly to test the water temperature before gracefully descending into the pool.
Rolling hills and clear streams have always been a perfect match, no wonder men have loved landscape paintings since ancient times and thrived in exploring nature.
Asuka relaxed into the water, squinting her eyes when suddenly, she uncomfortably realized that her two good friends, Junko and Momoe, were staring directly at her.
"Wh... Why?" Asuka instinctively assumed a defensive posture.
"Nothing, just envious of Asuka..."
"Envious of what... speaking of which, don't stare like that."
Junko giggled: "By the way, Momoe seems to have grown a bit too, really nice, making people envious."
Momoe quickly dodged: "Junko, don't touch randomly."
After laughing for a while, Momoe casually mentioned: "Speaking of which, there are a few outstanding boys among this year's students."
Junko: "Yeah, like that Yuki Judai. But he's so noisy, talks a lot..."
"That Mitsuzawa is pretty nice. Quite handsome and seems really smart."
"Actually, Yugen fits my aesthetic quite well too; he's talented and impressive. It's just a pity..."
The words stopped here, and they seemed at a loss on how to describe it.
Momoe: "Ahaha, actually, as long as you're not dueling him, he's quite okay..."
"Indeed." Junko strongly agreed, "Watching him duel others is actually pretty fun."
Not so much yourself.
Easy to induce cardiovascular diseases.
"What does Asuka think?"
Asuka tilted her head in thought, yet before she could say anything, she suddenly heard a beeping sound from the poolside.
It was her terminal. She had left it nearby in case someone needed to reach her urgently.
Asuka moved to the poolside, reached out for her student terminal, and took a quick glance at it.
"Hmm?" She raised her brows.
It was just a message from the same Yugen they mentioned earlier.
[Want to know, the true power of Digital Angels?]
Asuka: "?"