Akiza Izinski's winning result not only had Yuma Tsukumo and Tori Meadows cheering together, but people worldwide were cheering along with them.
This time the opponent was different.
If it were an ordinary, normal competitor, everyone would have their support or non-support, their own liked or disliked duelists.
But Gossip Shadow was extremely repulsive in image, speech, and self-perception.
Especially with the shameless self-proclamation of being the strongest duelist across all dimensions.
Everyone was already very angry hearing it, and then this guy actually Summoned a monster that could be called invincible.
This left some viewers feeling especially frustrated.
Especially at the end, when they'd used every method to drain Rhongomyniad's materials, thinking they could battle again, Gossip Shadow actually Xyz Summoned a 5-material Rhongomyniad once more!
Most people had even given up hope.
But Team 5D's didn't give up!
Leo and Luna, staying at the base, cheered while watching the surging die-hard fans, letting out a long "wow."
In this kind of special duel, facing this kind of special monster, conducting this special duel, made it easier to feel extraordinary excitement!
Throne's face turned slightly ugly. He lightly clapped.
"Impressive. As expected, one can't underestimate people from other dimensions. Being able to burst out this level of power in a crucial duel, even able to adapt to the Goddess of Despair's power. Impressive."
Akiza Izinski, the person involved, only thought it was her own longing resonating with Yusei's ideal, so she'd seen Yusei's thoughts and gained brand-new cards.
But as those in the know, Gossip Shadow and Throne understood the actual situation more clearly.
The Goddess of Despair was a "concept-tier" deity. As long as an existence completely sank into despair, they could call upon the Goddess of Despair, gain her power and blessing, become her agent, and bring more despair to all things in the world.
But she ultimately wasn't the Goddess of Despair of all dimensions. She was the Goddess of Despair born from the Xyz Dimension.
So she herself only possessed multi-dimensional power to elevate the souls of living beings!
Therefore, to contest for the Synchro Dimension's One God, besides sufficient strength and sufficiently excellent agents, she also needed "Synchro."
For this reason, they'd carefully selected a Synchro Dimension local who could perfectly adapt to the Goddess of Despair's power.
That person was Akiza Izinski.
But the result...
The power arrived, but the "person who spoke to her" wasn't the Goddess of Despair.
Someone had prepared in advance and spoken with her in advance.
This had probably completely disrupted all of the Goddess of Despair's preparations and plans.
Of course, the more serious problem was actually...
Team Despair versus Team 5D's and the Xyz Representative Team joint-battle duel round one, lost!
Throne's face was cold. He looked at another screen, corners of his mouth slightly rising.
With Akiza Izinski's duel ending, Kite, who'd been stopped in place, finally continued forward, walking into... the room he was supposed to enter.
Upon entering the room, Kite immediately felt something different.
Gossip Shadow's room had been full of cameras, photos, tabloid papers, and news. But this room was very...
Clean.
Or rather, empty!
In Kite's heart, that unknown and unsettling premonition became more and more obvious.
"Kite! Master Kite!"
As expected, when Kite didn't dare look, Orbital 7 let out a frightened cry. Kite took a deep breath and slowly raised his head. He saw a boy with a petite frame, round head, and empty eyes.
Hart Tenjo!
"Hart!"
Kite shouted in terror.
His pupils shrank to the extreme. His whole person looked as if struck by lightning a dozen times, appearing utterly shocked.
"Uh..."
"Fighting his little brother!?"
"Too despicable, this kid clearly can't bring himself to act!"
The viewers protested the first instant.
Akiza Izinski's group, having just finished the duel and wanting to help others, also saw this scene in the roadside footage. Yuma went blank for a while, then howled "Hart!" and dashed out. Behind him, Tori Meadows, who would never leave and would always follow Yuma Tsukumo, also burst out with superhuman athletic power, catching up close behind.
Akiza Izinski watched them leave, leaning against the wall, but didn't follow.
Facing Rhongomyniad had truly exhausted her, so exhausted that even after the duel ended, she still felt physically and mentally drained.
Dueling one's own little brother...
Truly a malicious arrangement.
"Hahaha!" Throne watched everything light up on the screen and couldn't help clapping excitedly again.
Kite absolutely could not beat Hart Tenjo.
This was an eternal, unchanging truth.
Even though in personal ability, in dueling skill, in physical qualities, even in personal spirit, Kite could crush a dozen of his little brothers.
But precisely because of this, Kite absolutely could not act ruthlessly against his little brother.
Even more, even if Hart Tenjo was found to have extraordinary supernatural control ability, extraordinary psychic talent, Kite absolutely would not act ruthlessly.
Even the Hart Tenjo appearing before him who was mind-controlled, with empty eyes!
Throne himself understood this most clearly.
Previously, in the Heart Garden's great battle, to obtain Kite's Number, he'd designed a duel with Kite. At that time, he'd used the power absorbed from Hart Tenjo to briefly transform his own appearance into Hart's.
Just that alone had thrown Kite's mind into disarray.
Dueling wasn't purely a contest of skill. It was equally a clash of heart, spirit, conviction, and actual "energy."
Even the top warrior, when their mind was unsettled, restless, and helpless, not knowing what to do, would completely lose composure, have their weaknesses grasped, and be instantly defeated.
This was also why Throne was confident Kite absolutely could not win.
Thinking of this, his original smile slowly faded.
Originally, by this point, it should already be over.
Because Akiza Izinski was not only the weakest among Team 5D's main members, but she also had the Goddess of Despair's mark. Losing the duel was simply a matter of course.
But he hadn't expected to be beaten to the punch!
On the other side, among people at the scene, while Kite was dazed, super intelligent robot Orbital 7 instantly thought of an idea: "Master Kite! Although Master Hart is before us, others have already left their previous positions and are heading here. We just need to wait for them to come over, then have them help duel!"
Made sense.
Kite thought inwardly.
Although he didn't want Hart to be hurt, compared to his own dueling, having Team 5D's members duel was absolutely safer. They could also bring out more strength and could more easily dispel the bastard attached to Hart.
But this point had actually been long thought out by Throne!
While Kite and Orbital 7 were thinking about the possibility of this, Hart Tenjo raised his left hand. The Duel Disk on his hand instantly emitted a burst of radiance. The familiar white light chain Kite knew stretched to his Duel Disk!
Photon Chain!
Kite's pupils shrank.
No way to dodge or yield!
Throne showed a savage smile.
Too naive, Kite.
The moment you stepped into this base, everything was decided.
Even if you hadn't come looking for Hart, Hart would have appeared before you when time came. At that point, you still could only duel him!
Come!
Let me see this most despairing, most thrilling duel!
But while he was excited, Hikaru slightly stroked his chin.
The current situation exceeded his plan's scope, but wasn't beyond expectations. Yusei personally clearly knew various contingency plans and response strategies for what came next.
But before that, Hikaru had also thought of something truly beyond Throne's plan.
He looked thoughtfully at Throne, then looked at Quattro.
Quattro was leaning against the wall, having recovered for a while. Seeing Hikaru suddenly look at him, in the first instant he was somewhat confused and didn't understand why Hikaru was looking at him. But the next second, he suddenly thought of a possibility!
"Ahem, Hikaru, duel me!"
Quattro suddenly shouted loudly.
This abrupt shout drew the cameras focused on Kite all over to this side.
"If possible, of course." Hikaru nodded without hesitation.
This sudden situation left countless viewers confused.
"Ohh, so quick a reaction." Brave in the Team Ragnarok trio instantly understood Quattro's and Hikaru's meaning.
That strange man Throne's line of thinking was to arrange the previous two duels to lock in Team Despair's win-loss relations.
As long as the previous two ended, Team Despair wouldn't need to participate in a third duel. All others who rushed over would become meaningless people.
But!
Because the first duel had already begun and Team 5D's had won, the third duel had instead become "possibly meaningless" for Team Despair.
If Kite won, Team 5D's and Team Xyz directly won. If Kite lost, the two camps would duel again.
In other words...
Kite could choose to forfeit, then directly conduct a long, time-consuming awakening duel with Hart, while Hikaru would directly duel Quattro to decide the final result.
This was a rule limitation outside the rule limitation!
Using the rule tricks Throne had originally intended to conduct, and turning them back against Throne with a rule trick!
Originally, this kind of thing would have been impossible to accomplish.
Because if things had gone according to Throne's initial line of thinking, this base's main hall wouldn't have any other people left. Hikaru wouldn't be standing with Quattro, much less have any opportunity to accept or challenge!
Beyond that, to accomplish this thing, the most important point was that the opposing team's consent was needed.
Normally, where was there such a thing as beginning the third duel before the second duel had started?
No one would agree!
Making corresponding choices and arrangements based on the second duel's result was the normal line of thinking.
But Quattro had chosen at this timing to proactively duel Hikaru, so all the difficulties were resolved!
This was a qualitative change caused by double variables!
"Bastard... Quattro, my foolish son, do you know what you're doing?"
"Uh, cough cough..." Quattro struggled to get up. The corners of his mouth rose. That cruel, ruthless face at this moment had a strange sickly-noble young lord feeling, drawing screams from countless women with special tastes.
Especially when saying the following key words.
"Did you forget? Didn't you say you knew all of my objectives for coming here? Since that's the case, I will accomplish my objective! I will take you, Hart, and all the Number monsters back to the Xyz Dimension.
I will defeat the Goddess of Despair!"
Although he looked pale, with dark circles and hunched from exhaustion, plus unable to even stand steady due to the energy impact, at this moment he was the most handsome man in countless people's hearts.
"Quattro..." Throne softly murmured his son's codename.
"Hmph."
Throne suddenly departed from his position. The next moment, wild wind howled. Everything in the room spun and flew under the pull of energy.
But this power, though it could affect others, couldn't affect Hikaru. And beside Hikaru, Quattro was also pulled by countless puppet strings, not flying away.
"My foolish son. Getting a bit of growth and becoming smug? Don't forget, I am the captain. I have the true final decision-making power."
Throne floated, slowly descending.
"But... refusing directly here would probably affect the team battle..."
Throne considered.
Although Quattro suddenly speaking up at this time, wanting to duel Hikaru, was something that greatly affected his mood.
But Quattro's judgment wasn't wrong.
Even if Kite lost, because of Akiza Izinski's matter, their team still had to duel Team 5D's.
Among the remaining duelists, Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, Hikaru.
Any one of them was a powerful duelist with no problems in conviction, dueling, or technique.
Since that was the case, dueling any of them was the same.
And to beat one of them, after this Quattro kid had exposed rebellious thoughts, he absolutely couldn't be allowed to appear.
Personally dueling the opponent was a matter of course.
"Hikaru, one with the same surname as Kite. You want to duel our Team Despair, is that right?
Since that's the case, then try me, the true captain of Team Despair!"
Hikaru's eyes narrowed. The corners of his mouth twitched.
Quattro also smiled along.
Where was the reasoning in dueling someone whose body was utterly exhausted.
When Hikaru had looked at him, Quattro had instantly understood!
Hikaru wanted to seize this opportunity to duel Throne, then execute his real plan.
He absolutely also had a grudge with the Goddess of Despair!
Throne's mask flashed with red light. He mounted his Duel Disk, maintaining his noble posture.
Hikaru lightly flicked his left hand. The Duel Disk automatically began rotating and shuffling at high speed.
"Duel!" ×2!
Absolutely no one had expected!
Almost no viewer had predicted that the actually meaningful "second duel" between Team 5D's and Team Xyz would be...
Hikaru versus Throne!
Absolute Fusion User, Hikaru, LP: 4000.
Goddess of Despair's agent, Throne, LP: 4000.
...
STONES 💎
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