It was stills afternoon. The sun wasn't that low. The first day of Maiami championship was roaring with monsters and duelists. But it wasn't because of excitement and happiness.
Yuya didn't know why his knuckles were bleeding.
He slammed his fist into the stone pillar again. The crack echoed across the silent, ruined amphitheater, but he barely felt the pain. A black, burning rage roared in his chest—a frantic, violent storm that wasn't his own, tearing through his mind until he couldn't think, couldn't remember who he was supposed to do.
He growled, his vision swimming in a haze of dark crimson. He wanted to destroy every single thing in sight.
"Yuya!"
A sharp, firm hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward before he could fall over the ledge.
Yuya spun around, swinging wildly, but Ryo caught his wrist with a tight, iron grip. Ryo didn't flinch. His red eyes were dead steady, locking onto Yuya's manic, crimson-tinged gaze.
"Get a hold of yourself," Ryo commanded, his voice slicing through the static in Yuya's head. "Look at me. Right now."
Yuya gasped, his chest heaving as if he'd been underwater. "Ryo? I don't—"
"Focus," Ryo snapped, tightening his grip on Yuya's arm, anchoring him to the ground. "You're letting something else drive you. Breathe, Yuya. It isn't you."
Yuya swallowed hard. Slowly, painfully, the red haze receded. His knees gave out, and he collapsed onto the cold stone-floor, gasping for air while Ryo kept a hand on his back.
"Yuya!!"
Heavy wooden boots thundered up the stone stairs. Gongenzaka burst into the courtyard, followed closely by Michio and Teppei.
"Yuya!" Gongenzaka rushed forward, dropping to one knee. "The tournament is in absolute chaos—some unknown people are attacking duelists across the city and turning them into cards!"
"Turning them... into cards?" Yuya forced out, his voice trembling as he forced himself up.
"We can't stay up here," Michio said grimly, checking his Duel Disk display. "Night is falling fast. We're completely exposed in open."
"We move to the Jungle Area," Teppei urged, looking around. "The thick trees will hide us from those people. We set up camp and hold until morning."
Yuya looked around. "Ryo isn't here?"
"Ryo?" Gongenzaka said, confused. "We came straight here while looking around, but Ryo wasn't with you."
"He wasn't...?" Yuya didn't understood anything. But the darkness and rage in him rose again.
"Yuya!" Gongenzaka and others were confused.
Gongenzaka yelled as Yuya started to become out of control. He grabbed Yuya tight.
"What is happening?!"
"I don't know! But maybe we should take him to Mieru!" Michio suggested. "Maybe she might help. Yuya-kun doesn't look harmed but there is definitely something wrong!"
"Yes! Even I don't know what is happening but she might be able to help!" Gongenzaka said.
All of them started to go to Jungle Area. Rushing while avoiding Obelisk Force.
# Volcano Area (Next Day, Morning)
A few streets away, tucked inside a cramped, dimly lit park bench, lay the mysterious boy.
The morning had come but the sun was still far away to light up the day.
On his hand lay a single card: Aether Genesis Ritual Dragon.
He stared at the artwork in silence. The long, deep-blue slim dragon was still there, but the golden lines traced around, its eyes were closed, glowing with an ominous, living brilliance.
"You've been staring at that card for a long time," Vance said, walking in from the hallway and dropping a second blanket onto the floor beside him. "As if it's going to start talking to you?"
"Maybe," the boy murmured, his fingers still numb from the freezing aura the dragon had left behind. "It feels like it's waiting for something."
Vance didn't ask any more questions. He sat down beside the boy, leaning his back against the bench, and the two stayed quiet as the last bits of darkness faded from the fresh morning sky.
And miles away, the evening of the previous day, deep in the shadows of the Jungle Area, Yuya finally closed his eyes, the dark noise in his mind growing quiet for the first time.
# Ancient Ruins
Morning arrived over the Maiami Championship.
High up in the Ancient Ruins, the air stank of burnt and crushed stone.
Celina moved silently through the crumbling stone arches. She kept her distance, sticking to the tall shadows as her Academia's Obelisk Force was at a lot of places.
BOOM!
A localized shockwave shattered the silence.
A figure was hurled through the air, crashing violently into the stone chairs of the amphitheater. Stone splintered into a spray of dust and gravel as Shun Kurosaki tumbled down the steps, his coat dirtied, blood dripping from his lip as he struggled to push himself up on a single, trembling arm.
A shadow dropped lightly onto the rubble above him.
Shiunin Sora looked down on Shun. The cheerful, sweet expression he usually wore was completely gone, replaced by a cold, arrogant smirk.
"Is that all the Resistance has got?" Sora taunted. "You're done, bird-man. Time to go into the binder."
Celina instantly run to him. To help him.
Sora froze. The arrogant smirk instantly vanished from his face.
"Yuzu...?" Sora stammered. "How did you get up here so fast—"
His eyes dropped to her left forearm. The sharp, red casing of her Academia-standard Duel Disk glinted in the sun.
"That Duel Disk..." Sora understood. "You're... Celina?"
Celina didn't answer. She slammed a card straight into her Duel Disk slot.
"Lunalight Spark!"
A burst of smoke erupted around her. That engulfed the entire staircase.
"Gah! My eyes!" Sora yelled, shielding his face with his arm as he coughed violently in the dense haze. "Hey! Hiding won't help!"
"Oi! Are you okay?!" She said in low voice.
Shun was barely able to say anything. He moved his lips, but couldn't say anything. But if he could had, it would had been "Academia dog."
By the time a gust of wind cleared the violet smoke from the ruins, the stone steps were completely empty.
Celina was gone—and Shun Kurosaki had vanished along with her.
# LDS Control Center
Far from the battlefield, in the high-tech command center overlooking the city's status feeds, Akaba Reiji watched screens flickered with real-time updates with calculating gaze, until he stood up.
A call came. A deep but sharp voice came from other side that carried precise accent.
"What are the plans now, Reiji?" Ryo asked. "I confess I still find it hard to believe Academia chose to send so many soldiers here. Around fifty Obelisk Force operatives... that's enough to destroy all of Maiami, let alone hunt few duelists."
"Someone alerted them," Reiji replied, his expression unreadable behind his reflective glasses. "The Academia operative who infiltrated the dimension alongside Celina likely reported our tournament structure directly to their command."
"Yes, you already told me about that on that day," Ryo said, crossing his arms. "So to solve it, we should turn the third round into a city-wide battle royal to force their hand. It certainly wasn't guaranteed when they will invade here, but the timing worked out in our favor. But my point is—why send an entire army?"
"To crush any organized resistance before it starts," Reiji said flatly. He adjusted his glasses. "Which is why I am stepping onto the field now."
Ryo blinked, he really wished he could see Reiji's face to read his intentions. "A duel? I knew you were going to join the fight eventually, but why right now when the battle royal is about to end? Look at the clock. The time to reach 12:00 is barely thirty minutes away."
"Thirty minutes is plenty," Reiji noted quietly.
"The Real Solid Vision system across this city is defaulted to forcibly end all active duels the moment the clock hits noon," Ryo pointed out. "When that happens, the Obelisk Force will be forced to fall back. A lot of duelists have managed to stall them in long, drawn-out matches to buy time. So why go out there now?"
"I am not coming out to duel the Obelisk Force," Reiji answered calmly, sliding his deck into his Duel Disk.
Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Then why?"
"Because this was the exact moment I must had to evaluate our potential," Reiji said, turning toward the door. "I needed to see what the duelists who will become the Lancers are truly capable of—how they endure the horrific nature of a war with no second chances, and whether they can still ensure victory. The results are illuminating. The elite Youth Team was completely carded, with the sole exception of Yu Sakuragi—and he was only saved because someone from outside intervened before he would lost the duel. Left on his own, he would be a card right now.
"On the other hand, the Junior Youth class lost comrades, but they performed far better. They broke through Academia's strict formations using only what they possessed at the time. They have far more potential, and with our help and LDS card technology, they will only grow stronger."
Ryo imagined how everyone will react when Reiji tells them about all of their plan. He let out a small, quiet breath. "I see... You had this calculated all along."
Reiji narrowed his eyes slightly, a sharp glint in his posture. "You did great managing the field and dueling with that deck... But tell me, Ryo—even if you've mastered that D/D/D Deck, did you forget who taught you how to use it in the first place?"
The automatic doors were slid closed.