"Die."
Jaden looked down at armityle with an icy gaze. Lightning wrapped around his body as he raised his hand toward armityle's head.
Swoosh-
A flash of light.
In less than the blink of an eye, half of armityle's head was erased.
Through the gap where his skull had been, one could clearly see the aftermath of the attack: an enormous chasm carved straight through the ground behind him, the distant hill split cleanly in two.
Jaden leapt off armityle's body and slowly floated into the air.
Below him, armityle's "corpse," missing half its head, began to writhe. A dense, ominous black aura poured out of the ground and wrapped around him. Under its influence, the destroyed half of his head regenerated at a visible speed.
Restored once more, armityle looked up at Jaden and burst into wild laughter.
"It's useless!"
"Even if my dark power is suppressed, this is still my world! Everything here belongs to me-I cannot die on this land!"
"I told you already, didn't I? Your comrade has killed you!"
His voice grew louder, more unhinged.
"Even if you can transform into this state... even if you've become so strong that even I can't comprehend it-so what!?"
armityle pointed at Jaden, his eyes blazing.
"You are strong, but you are still just a human!"
"No matter how strong you are, can you destroy the ground beneath my feet in one blow-leave absolutely nothing behind!?"
"You can't kill me. And when the suppression on my dark power is lifted, then even you, in your current state-"
He never finished the sentence.
Another light sphere pierced straight through his body, faster than thought. The energy detonated instantly, vaporizing armityle completely.
But once again-
It was useless.
Dark power surged from the earth, gathered, and reconstructed his form.
Reborn yet again, armityle's arrogance swelled.
"I told you it was useless, didn't I!"
Jaden, floating in mid-air, frowned slightly.
Then his expression smoothed out.
"An area twice the size of Earth," he muttered. "So this really does qualify as a small world..."
armityle heard him-and an intense sense of dread rose in his chest.
Before he could speak, Jaden's voice descended calmly from above.
"I apologize. I don't have time to keep wasting on you."
Jaden spread his arms. Lightning crackled violently as two golden spheres of light formed in his palms.
He looked down-not at armityle, but at the world itself.
This small world had no sky.
Above it was only the shadow of the void. Below it lay a vast landmass, larger than Earth itself.
So the solution was simple.
"-armityle," Jaden said flatly, as if deciding what to eat for lunch, "disappear along with the world you created."
He brought his hands together and aimed them downward.
armityle raised his arm toward Jaden-
But it was already too late.
In a world with no sky, where only darkness loomed overhead, a sun appeared for the very first time.
Golden light erupted.
The entire world was swallowed by brilliance.
Color vanished. Sound vanished. Even form and outline were erased beneath that overwhelming radiance.
Then-
Boom.
Like the detonation of fireworks across existence itself, several terrifying shockwaves expanded outward.
When the light faded, both armityle and his small world were gone.
Not shattered.
Not fragmented.
Erased.
Unlike the destruction of the Gods' Paradise, this time there was no debris at all. Nothing remained.
Floating in the void, Jaden swept the area with his Observation Haki. After confirming there were no remnants, no signs of resurrection, he turned away without hesitation.
"Old Man Atem, Old Man Kaiba," he said quietly, "sorry-I'm heading back first!"
Ahead of him, the golden gate formed by the thirteen Valkyries opened. Jaden shot forward and vanished through it.
As the small world disappeared, the power of the three Egyptian Gods that had been suppressing the area gradually faded.
Atem and Kaiba contacted each other immediately. After exchanging a few brief words, they moved at once-Kaiba preparing to return, Atem searching for a suitable vessel to descend into.
But Jaden was faster.
For the first time since gaining absolute confidence in his own victory, fear gripped his heart.
He wasn't afraid of losing the battle.
He was afraid of what he might see when he returned.
He feared that Yugi would be gone-his body shriveled in that mechanical chair.
For the first time, Jaden felt that he might truly lose something.
In his eyes, armityle had been nothing more than a clown.
What did defeating such an existence matter?
What meaning did becoming a Super Saiyan have-
If the old man died?
If someone precious to him was lost, then the entire operation would have been a complete failure.
So-
"Old man!"
Jaden burst back through the Valkyrie Gate.
The light faded.
Yugi slowly rose from the chair.
The instant Jaden saw him alive, the stiffness vanished from his face. He rushed forward and caught Yugi before he could steady himself.
"Old man! Thank goodness you're okay-Kaiba should be back soon. I'll contact Old Man Atem right now. Let them check you over. Don't worry-just stay calm..."
He didn't ask why Yugi had placed the Winged Dragon of Ra card on himself.
He didn't care.
All that mattered was that Yugi was alive.
Kaiba arrived soon after. Atem followed.
After confirming Yugi's condition, all three finally let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding.
Then, standing around Yugi from three directions, their expressions grew serious.
Yugi looked at Jaden.
Jaden shook his head.
He looked at Kaiba.
Kaiba snorted and turned away.
Finally, Yugi looked at Atem's host body.
Atem sighed.
"Partner... looking at me won't help," he said calmly. "Don't you think you owe us an explanation for all of this?"
Yugi inhaled deeply.
Then he bowed his head.
"I'm truly sorry," he said sincerely, "for making you all worry this time."