Tragoedia realized almost instantaneously what was happening.
This was a trap.
From their last encounter, Youyu had left a deep impression on him, and coupled with Youyu's own title of "Honorary Principal," it was indeed easy to attract hatred, so Tragoedia focused almost all of his attention on Youyu.
This caused him to overlook the fact that Youyu wasn't the only one in this world who could pose a threat to him.
For example, the young man who appeared before him now, Muto Yugi, renowned as the First Duel King alongside Youyu, and rumored to have once been the vessel for the Nameless Pharaoh.
This made Tragoedia quickly realize that Youyu's departure itself was a trap.
Tragoedia was not merely a tremendously powerful demon; his abilities were quite troublesome. He had no physical form and could jump between mediums as a dark miasma.
He could attach himself to other humans, occupying their bodies as if claiming a nest. He could also attach himself to Spiritual Artifacts or cards, jumping from one place to another like an invisible ghost.
Imagine how difficult it would be to catch such a creature. As long as he focused on playing hide and seek, any means of detection or search technique would be futile against him.
After all, how would you catch a ghost?
Unless...
...he willingly gave up hiding and brazenly jumped out to cause trouble.
Currently, Youyu was indeed very strong, not afraid to face Tragoedia head-on—but that was only for now.
Strength never clouded Youyu's judgment; he clearly knew all his advantages and all his shortcomings.
In a game, he preferred to be in the proactive position. Not only in terms of action but also in intelligence.
He preferred to make the choice of when to strike rather than passively waiting for enemies to come to him.
In the world of dueling, there is no absolute; even the strongest Duelist may face cards and tactics they can't handle. Perhaps Tragoedia hadn't figured out his details yet, but as time drags on, uncertainties arise.
If Youyu really did nothing, simply sitting on the island and waiting for the little shrimp to come, by then the little shrimp might have found a strategy against him, or obtained some unknown power, or printed a pile of new cards not in the original work.
By then, it would be truly troublesome.
That's why Youyu chose to leave proactively—to try to trace Tragoedia's whereabouts, but also to deliberately show a weakness to lure Tragoedia to take action.
And the simple-minded little shrimp indeed took the bait.
To ensure nothing went wrong, when Youyu left the formation himself, he left on the island the most powerful Duelist in the world apart from himself, the one he trusted the most.
So Tragoedia barely set foot on Academy Island and ran into Muto Yugi before he had the chance to do anything.
"...Tch." Tragoedia snorted, "A trap set for me...well then."
The darkness exploded in the man's pupils, his eyes as deep as the abyss.
"Then come at me." He said coldly, "After all, you Duel Kings will sooner or later become my obstacles. Muto Yugi, let me solve you here!"
The typical arrogance of a villain flared up again, and the little shrimp felt confident and capable...
"Youyu told me of your origin." Yugi said seriously, "He said you were born from the evil within the Millennium Item, a conglomerate of sin.
If that's the case, you are the enemy meant for 'the other me' to defeat, part of his mission."
"Pharaoh, huh?" Tragoedia sneered, "But he's no longer in this world."
The cocky expression seemed to say——
——could the Pharaoh really crawl out of the grave to deal with me?
However, the little shrimp didn't know that he actually could, the question was whether he had the capability...
"Indeed, he's gone." Yugi said resolutely, activating the Duel Disc and striking a pose, "Therefore, I will shoulder this mission!"
"Ha, mere vessel."
Still talking about "vessel" in this day and age, out of all villains in the world, perhaps only this little shrimp is left...
"Duel!" x2
[Tragoedia, LP 4000]
[Yugi, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw."
Tragoedia glanced at his hand, laughing coldly, seemingly very confident.
"Ha, you may be the human Duel King, Muto Yugi. But I guarantee you've never seen a duel like mine!"
Yugi held his breath, focusing his mind.
He knew of Tragoedia's origin, and naturally knew of the opponent's strength. It had been a long time since Yugi had fought a legit opponent of this caliber; he could not afford to be careless.
Tragoedia waved his hand, "Set two cards face-down, turn end."
Yugi looked at the two newly set cards before him and hesitated slightly.
TWO Set Cards...and directly ended the turn?
Is this what you call "a duel never seen before"?
"Then it's my turn."
Suppressing his confusion, he entered Yugi's turn.
"I will Normal Summon 'Delta The Magnet Warrior', in Attack Position!"
A pale blue electromagnetic force appeared, metal components slid along electromagnetic tracks in mid-air, connecting and assembling, quickly forming a small electromagnetic warrior.
[Delta The Magnet Warrior, ATK 1600]
"Magnet Warrior, huh?" Tragoedia smirked, "Then Flip Cover Card, trap 'Hole'. When a Monster with attack power over 1000 is Summoned, destroy those Monsters immediately!"
Poor Magnet Warrior had barely stood, only to fall into the huge hole in the ground and be blown to pieces.
Yugi frowned slightly.
Well, doesn't this card play seem familiar?
But then he continued, "Then 'Delta The Magnet Warrior''s effect activates. When successfully Summoned, send a level four or lower 'Magnet Warrior' Monster from the Card Deck to the graveyard."
From Yugi's Card Deck, a card automatically popped up.
"I send 'Beta The Electromagnet Warrior' from the Card Deck to the graveyard."
Of course, even so, he'd used up his Normal Summon for this turn, unable to Summon another Monster.
So, Yugi stylishly flipped out two cards with two fingers, made a grand flourish, and slammed them down with a "bang".
"I also set two cards face-down, turn end!"
Tragoedia sensed the unique aura belonging to the Duel King, looking at the two mysterious set cards, his mind stirred.
Wow, seems this is a matchup of equal rivals?
"Humph, then my turn, draw."
Tragoedia drew his card, glanced at Yugi's backfield of two unknown purpose cards, pondered a moment, and seemed to decide on a conservative strategy, opting not to probe proactively for now.
"Then I'll set another card face-down, turn end!"
Yugi: "..."