The Underworld.
Because the Royal Court City, much like the Underworld itself, did not belong to the world, Atem sensed the moment Jaden stepped into the Royal Court Trial.
The instant the Royal Court stirred, he knew.
Atem let out a quiet sigh.
Jaden had already begun.
His expression remained calm, unchanged, as though everything were proceeding exactly as planned. But beneath that composure, there was a trace of worry he did not bother to deny.
Atem had seen too much.
Too much of the human royal line.
Just as he had told Kaiba and Yugi before, if Jaden could truly complete the Royal Court Trial, then what awaited him was not merely success.
It would be an unprecedented achievement.
A feat so vast that no hero in the countless legends-from ancient times to the modern age-had ever accomplished it.
And yet.
Whether the trial could truly be completed.
Or how it was meant to be completed.
Even Atem did not know.
What he did know, however, was part of the truth behind it.
The Royal Court Trial had been initiated by the final king of the great kingdom.
The King of the End.
The Foolish King.
During that era, a conflict of unimaginable scale erupted between humans and the Gods.
Under the guidance of the thirteen Valkyries, that Foolish King somehow obtained the thirteen Royal Orbs-artifacts said to grant wishes. By what means, no one knew.
And then, he made his wish.
He wished to resolve the conflict between humans and the Gods.
The result was absolute.
The great kingdom split apart.
The Gods vanished.
And the world formally entered the age of humanity.
But no wish came without a price.
Everything followed cause and effect.
The Foolish King's wish created its consequences.
The Gods disappeared.
The Royal Orbs lost their power to grant wishes and were cursed by the Gods.
The thirteen Valkyries vanished alongside them.
And the world entered the age of humanity.
These were the effects.
But the cause...
Aside from the vanished Gods themselves, no one truly knew what had happened.
The humans of that era only knew this:
Stars fell from the sky.
The world was swallowed by darkness.
And the great kingdom split.
Thus, rumors spread.
They claimed the Foolish King had gathered the power of the stars to create a wishing stone, enraging the Gods and provoking divine punishment upon the great kingdom.
But Atem knew better.
The truth was nothing like that.
Originally, the Gods owned the earth.
They governed everything.
Humans were nothing more than a slightly more intelligent animal, managed by the Gods like any other living thing.
And yet, after that event, the earth completely belonged to humanity.
The Gods did not retreat.
They vanished.
Who the final victor was could be seen at a glance.
And precisely because the outcome was so baffling, the cause became impossible to ignore.
The Royal Court Trials carried out by successive generations of the royal family were all attempts to fill in that missing cause.
To explain it.
To justify it.
But before Jaden, every single one of them failed.
Some of them even died during the attempt.
Atem knew all of this.
He knew the choice each royal heir was given.
He knew that those who dared to confront it without the ability to bear such a massive cause met their deaths.
And that those who chose to flee managed to survive.
Even knowing that-
He still encouraged Jaden to choose boldly.
Because just because no one else could do it...
Did not mean Jaden couldn't.
He had never imagined that the affairs of their present era would intersect with the remnants of that ancient kingdom.
But now, they had.
So he had already made his decision.
"Jaden, you are not only the King of Man, but also the Prince of the Spirits. If that Valkyrie gives you a choice, then choose boldly and face the Gods in Ragnarök."
"I will help you."
Yes.
Atem had already planned what would come next.
The Valkyrie would present a choice.
And Jaden would never choose to run.
Because the choice she would give was-
...
"King of Man, you now have two options."
Brynhildr's voice was calm and emotionless.
She stood before Jaden, her gaze unwavering.
"First: I will select twelve heroes from humanity. You shall lead them. Together with the power of us thirteen Valkyries, you will challenge the Gods in a duel called Ragnarök-also known as the Twilight of the Gods."
"If you win, the Gods will refrain from unleashing divine punishment, and humanity will be permitted to continue for one thousand years."
She paused.
"Second..."
"Dissolve your kingdom."
"The Gods will still enact divine punishment. However, if the kingdom is dissolved, the Gods will not act absolutely. They will select the humans allowed to survive into the next era and permit them to establish a new civilization."
Brynhildr looked directly at him.
"So, King of Man..."
"Will you join forces with us thirteen Valkyries and challenge the Gods?"
"Or will you comply with the will of the Gods?"
"Choose."
With that, she fell silent.
Waiting.
In truth, the King of Man was never meant to be given a choice.
The Gods had only sent her to inform humanity of their decision.
Humans had become an eyesore.
Eighty percent would be culled.
Twenty percent would remain.
Their lineage would be severed, and humanity would be allowed to start over.
The Gods hoped the humans of the next era would be more obedient.
More reverent.
They wanted humans to understand their place-as one species among many, ruled by the Gods.
They did not need a garden full of monkeys with intelligence.
They needed a species smarter than dinosaurs, less savage, capable of worship, yet incapable of walking the same path as the Gods.
In simple terms-
The Gods wanted animals that knew how to kneel.
Not creatures that dared to imitate divinity.
But Brynhildr did not think that way.
She believed humanity possessed greater potential than the arrogant Gods ever acknowledged.
So she acted.
She exploited the Gods' arrogance during their assembly.
Provoked them into leaving behind an opening.
And wagered everything on humanity's future.
She knew it was a gamble.
But she did not believe it was doomed to fail.
Especially not with this generation's King of Man.
An existence so proud he would not even kneel before a God.
If it was him...
Surely he would accept without hesitation.
That was what Brynhildr believed.
But under her gaze, Jaden did not answer immediately.
He frowned.
Atem and Brynhildr both expected it.
They thought Jaden might burst into laughter from sheer anger, then choose the first option without a moment's pause.
But that was not what he was thinking at all.
Choose the first option?
What a joke.
"What kind of bullshit is this Ragnarök?"
Jaden laughed.
It wasn't amusement.
It was fury.
"We humans fight the Gods to the death. If they lose, they lose nothing. If we win, we get... what? An extra thousand years?"
"Is that supposed to be a victory?"
At that moment, Jaden finally understood.
Now he understood what Atem had meant.
Old Man Atem had seen this coming.
He had known Jaden would never accept either option.
That was why he had given him confidence beforehand.
So that he wouldn't hesitate.
Worthy of Old Man Atem.
But-
You overthought it.
Even without that confidence, I'd still make my decision my own way.
Because-
These so-called Gods are infuriating.
"Heh," Jaden said, his smile sharp. "If the Gods want a fight, then let's fight."
He looked straight at Brynhildr.
"But you said earlier, didn't you? Ragnarök is also called the Twilight of the Gods."
Brynhildr was momentarily stunned.
She didn't know what he intended.
Still, she nodded.
And when she did-
Jaden's smile widened.
His tone was arrogant.
Openly so.
Yet there was a strange weight behind it, a conviction that made his words impossible to dismiss.
"Good."
"Then let's give these self-proclaimed Gods a real Twilight of the Gods."
"There's no need to choose anyone else."
"I alone am enough."
"There's no need for thirteen versus thirteen either."
"If we're going to fight-"
"I'll ascend to where the Gods reside."
"And I'll sound the horn of Ragnarök myself."
...