"Smash! Shatter! Cheers!"
"Destructive Bursting Gale Bullet!"
President Kaiba's roar was accompanied by laughter. The white dragon's mouth seemed to pour out a galaxy, a vast white light swept across the field, and another person screamed as they exited the stage.
"Hahaha — not enough, not nearly enough!" Kaiba bellowed, "Next!"
The laughter was so heroic it made everyone in the audience tremble.
A person in a black robe couldn't help but glance sideways in that direction. But as soon as he did, the voice in front of him pulled him back.
"You still have leisure to worry about teammates, handling it seems quite easy for you." Yugen chuckled.
The black-robed man shuddered all over, then turned his head to look at the situation on his own side of the field.
"... Flip summon 'Transformation Pot', discard all cards in both players' hands, then each draw the same number of cards."
Yugen casually sent five cards to the graveyard, drawing cards while chuckling.
"Of course, I can draw, but you can't. Because I have 'Temple Guardian' on the field, when this card is present, the opponent cannot draw cards outside of the draw phase.
So just discard all your cards. Then I'll draw five cards."
Black-Robed Man: "..."
"Oh, right, then activate the Trap Card 'Seal of Engraving', skip the opponent's next draw phase." Yugen gestured politely, "Then it's your turn.
Of course, since the draw phase is skipped you can't draw cards. Go ahead, take your turn."
The black-robed man looked at his empty hands, then at his sealed card deck, and just let out a long sigh.
Is this the aura of the new Duel King?
Afraid, indeed afraid.
He heard the white dragon roar beside him again, and another colleague fell under the dragon's breath. At this moment, he no longer felt any pity, but envy instead.
Envy that his colleague could leave so decisively, so quickly there was almost no time to feel pain...
"..."
The pleasant dueling activity ended. Yugen and the President had cooperated several times this week, already very familiar. With the intelligence gathered over a long period by the Kaiba Group, once the Judge fell this week, the New Doma Headquarters was raided, quickly removing much of the organization's foundation in this area.
Of course, it was just one side of the dark dueling underworld. Doma had been lurking for years, with important figures placed in the business and military sectors. Cleaning those up would take more effort, but that was something the President would have a headache over later.
But this time Yugen had some questions to ask.
Before the President broke in, he had been eavesdropping outside. Aside from feeling amused by hearing how desperate they were over living expenses, he also caught another crucial piece of information he was interested in.
Therefore, after the duel, he spared a life, though bound by the rules of the Dark Duel, he did not deal a killing blow, but instead asked:
"I just heard you all mention something about the 'Seven-Star'?" Yugen asked, "An underground dark duelist organization?"
The black-robed man, defeated by Yugen's duel, had to respond under the restraints of the dark forces — of course, after the torment of the duel, he was already mentally dazed, with his psychological defenses weakened and unable to resist.
"Yes, it's a new organization, we don't know much."
Yugen frowned: "Didn't you say your Doma has extraordinary methods, knowing everything happening in the world?"
The man bitterly smiled.
"But we wouldn't investigate every newly risen small group. However, the Seven-Star seems to have significant potential, if not... for the change, we would have investigated their background and archived it."
"Change?"
"Before the Duel City, the organization was already going all out to find you and the whereabouts of that Sealing Artifact. And afterward you also killed our ancestors, throwing us into chaos..."
Yugen laughed.
So it's my fault, huh?
And now that the New Doma Headquarters had been breached, the remaining divisions had all scattered, the vast organization had basically returned to the paralyzed state after Dazi's death, before the emergence of the Judge.
However, Yugen didn't need to investigate the details, since he roughly understood what the Seven-Star was about.
The Seven-Star consisted of seven elite dark duelists gathered from different fields... well... let's consider them elites.
This organization was unlike other dark duelists' clubs, it was established with the ultimate goal directed at the Duel Academy.
For the three cards preserved in the Duel Academy.
The Three Phantom Demon Cards.
Some say they are the new pinnacle of Duel Monsters in this world without the Phantom God, it is even said they have the power to reverse aging and grant immortality.
Immortality, just those few words are enough to drive anyone mad throughout history.
And the mastermind behind Seven-Star was such a person. That mysterious backer with power in both hands was actually an old man nearing the end of his life, one of the founders of the Duel Academy, President Kagemaru.
The President was once also a powerful dark duelist, but now aged, weak, and chronically ill, he had to rely on expensive life-support equipment to barely hang on.
He had wealth rivaling nations, enormous resources and top status, he didn't want to die. But even the most advanced modern technology could only barely keep him alive, hence he turned his gaze towards the mysterious field.
Daitokuji was the first-rate talent he discovered. He heavily sponsored Daitokuji's research, without which Daitokuji couldn't have developed 'Soul Transfer', that unprecedented alchemy achievement.
Just a pity that Daitokuji's human alchemy shells still had flaws, unable to last long before collapsing. Thus Kagemaru dismissed the proposal and turned to find other possibilities.
The Three Phantom Demon Cards are his last straw.
It's said that once the Three Phantom Demon Cards are obtained, the holder will instantly reverse aging, stay forever young, invulnerable to diseases, and maintain their body at its peak, never aging or dying.
However, the Phantom Demon Cards were sealed at the Academy's founding under a joint agreement, the original intent being no one was allowed to use them.
He wanted those three cards, but the Academy wouldn't allow it, Kaiba Group wouldn't allow it, even his own board wouldn't possibly agree.
So he gathered the Seven-Star, those dark duelists with extraordinary abilities, to violently break the seal and seize the power of the Phantom Demon.
Yugen pondered for a moment. The Seven-Star Group's battle over the Three Phantom Demons is the main line of the GX second semester, with the main line unfolding as the enemies actively attack, while the protagonist group is always passively receiving the moves, finding themselves caught in President Kagemaru's scheme in the end.
And now it seems like there's a new option available.
So he asked: "Then where is this Seven-Star... located?"
The black-robed man shook his head helplessly.
"They don't seem to have a fixed base. The so-called organization is just a council made up of a few leaders."
"Then how were you planning to seek refuge? How do you contact them?"
"There's no direct contact with their higher-ups, but the Seven-Star has recently gained some fame in the underground world, with several subordinate organizations."
The black-robed man confessed honestly.
"Start by finding any of their subordinate organizations, start working from the grassroots. Just perform a few missions, stand out and excel, and you'll naturally get the opportunity to advance upwards.
If your performance is dazzling enough, being chosen by the backers to join the 'Seven-Star' cadre lineup isn't impossible either."
Yugen shook his head.
"That's too slow."
The black-robed man hesitated: "There is... another way."
"What?"
"Recently, the Seven-Star seems to be preparing for a major operation, widely recruiting personnel and alliances. I've observed their movements, and it seems they are moving from north to south, focusing on cities with active underground activities, looking for top-notch assassins in the dark duel underground market.
Based on this route, the next city they will seek is actually predictable.
So if you make a big enough name in the underground world of the corresponding city before the Seven-Star arrives..."
"The Seven-Star leader will come to find you on their own?" Yugen's eyes lit up.
That might be worth a try.
Just in time to take this chance to find some dark duelists in the underground world to practice with.