"Oh, it's an old acquaintance, huh."
Yugen examined the two great emperors blocking the path, his eyes gleaming.
The spirits of the emperors, now that's truly some rare good stuff.
It should be noted that the Emperor Series cards are rare on their own, and the spirits even more so.
Yugen had already collected all the available Emperor Series cards in the current environment, and he wasn't lacking any. But as for spirits, he currently only had an Evil Emperor Gaius... Who had been sitting on the bench for quite some time, nearly relegated to being the waterboy among the team spirits.
However, seeing two fellow emperors appearing at this moment, Gaius wafted over, sensing their aura, and hovered in his spirit form behind Yugen.
"Oh, who would've thought we could encounter them in a place like this."
He paused for a moment, his tone carrying a hint of joy.
"Hey, once they join us, we must have a good chat with them, let them know who's the boss."
As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Following Yugen, Gaius seemed accustomed to this mindset—it had only been a few seconds since they met, yet he had already presumed that the Thunder Emperor and the Frost Monarch here would soon be on their side.
Neither Gaius nor any of the other team spirits found anything amiss with this, as it seemed only natural.
After all, the opposition being villains, and daringly blocking their master's path, was pretty much tantamount to signing their own warrants.
It was like they were just a step away from hanging a sign around their neck saying "Courier."
"Sure enough, it took the bait, Revolver."
Two men appeared one ahead and one behind in the narrow tunnel, standing beside the Frost Monarch and Thunder Emperor. One had purple hair, and the other wore a hat, with a sinister-looking face.
"My name is Raimaru."
"I am Hyoumaru."
The two introduced themselves and then spoke in unison.
"Destiny has led us here to await your arrival, Revolver. We are the end of your destiny!"
Seeing the two appear, Yugen was unsurprised, instead smiling satisfactorily.
"So the intel was indeed correct, there really were mice from the Light Association hiding here."
In fact, upon witnessing the appearance of the Frost Monarch and Thunder Emperor, he had already guessed as much.
Because in the animation, these two were under the Light Association's spirits.
In fact, the Four Great Emperors of Ice, Flame, Thunder, and Earth all appeared in the Light Association arc of the GX animation, and the owners were simply named after the attributes of the Four Great Emperors.
For example, the current opponents Yugen faced were Hyoumaru, who used the Frost Monarch, and Raimaru, who used the Thunder Emperor.
The Emperor Series are rare cards, and having spirits makes them even rarer. So upon coincidentally meeting two emperors at the same time, Yugen immediately assumed they were the two from the animation.
Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? To find two such rare spirits all at once.
However, Yugen found the attitude of these two amusing and simply asked, "So, by the sound of it, you guys were waiting for me?"
"Of course, Revolver, we've been waiting just for you."
Hyoumaru sneered.
"This place is already sealed by the Ice Thunder Barrier, now it's the Emperor's domain. Without defeating us, don't even think about leaving."
"We've heard of your rising fame and numerous deeds lately," Raimaru chuckled, "We brothers were curious about the might of Revolver Leader and wanted to witness it for ourselves."
The two exchanged glances.
"Last time you went first, so I'll take this one, sound good?" Raimaru said to Hyoumaru.
"Hmph, just eager to claim the credit, aren't you?"
Hyoumaru sneered.
"This time is this time, I don't recall agreeing to alternate turns."
"What did you say?"
Seeing as the two were about to argue, Yugen interjected with a laugh, "Hey, since you're brothers, why hurt your rapport over an outsider like me?
How about this, don't worry about who goes first or last, I want you both. Come at me together."
The two exchanged glances, faces lit with joy.
"Haha... We've long heard of Revolver Leader's arrogance, and today, we see it indeed is not just hearsay. Very well."
Raimaru squinted his eyes and sneered.
"Don't regret it."
Saying so, the two took opposite sides and stood firm.
"Then let's adopt team mode, each side taking turns, and we alternate between us two, each having 4000 LP. Sound good?"
That sounded fairly considerate. Even though they were taking two times the life points and hand-field advantage unapologetically, they at least weren't trying to cheat Yugen out of his turns.
Yugen shrugged, "Sure."
He didn't mind, even if giving the opponent an extra turn in the chaotic battle rules caused no significant issues.
"Confident, are you? Then bring it on."
"Duel!" x3
[Yugen, LP 4000]
[Raimaru, LP 4000]
[Hyoumaru, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw."
As Yugen drew his card from the deck, the phantom of the Evil Emperor floated leisurely behind him, slightly grumbling.
"Not even a chance for my appearance..."
Gaius felt grumpy since he wasn't included in Yugen's deck.
"Ahaha, next time, definitely next time."
Yugen laughed it off.
"Set a monster in face-down defense position, and set another card. My turn ends."
"Then we will begin from my side!" Raimaru declared, "My turn, draw!"
Hyoumaru shot him an annoyed look, "Hmph, just because you shouted faster…"
The order of turns between factions is decided randomly by the Duel Disc, but within their joint team, who goes first wasn't regulated, relying on their internal negotiation.
Raimaru yelled and acted quickly, seizing the first move from Hyoumaru...
"I activate the Magic Card 'Demon Sanctuary'!" Raimaru declared, "I can Special Summon a 'Metal Demon Derivative' on my field!"
Yugen was naturally familiar with this card, an old acquaintance. Back in the DM era, Kaiba gave it to Yugi, claiming it was the key to countering the Winged Divine Dragon.
Of course, this was under the old rules where normal magic could be activated during the opponent's turn, and you could summon a monster after the opponent's attack declaration without causing a battle rewind. By using the characteristic of Metal Demon Derivative—that battles result in damage inflicted on the opponent—a reverse armor bounced Mr. Malikma, bringing his Life Points to 1 with the Winged Divine Dragon effect, to death.
Today, it seems even without those imperfect, seemingly absurd rules, this tactic has quite an underworldish taste.
But with rules now improved, and normal magic can't be activated during the opponent's turn, this usage is naturally obsolete.
"Sacrifice Metal Demon Derivative for an Upper-level Summon!"
Raimaru's pupils seemed to be filled with thunder as he laughed heartily and raised the card in his hand.
"Now, immediately appear—
—Thunder Emperor Zaborug, Summon!"