"I knew it! You're the reason my brother and everyone else disappeared from this dormitory!"
Alexis Rhodes glared at Titan, her voice cold with conviction as she watched him reveal the Millennium Puzzle. To her, this was the definitive proof that the man standing before them was indeed a Shadow Duelist.
"Alexis, your brother's disappearance likely has absolutely nothing to do with this man," Jiang He said, shaking his head and cutting her off.
He turned his gaze toward the towering figure in the black trench coat, sighing as he looked at the "Millennium Puzzle" in the man's hand. He couldn't help but mock the amateurish attempt.
"Listen, if you're going to pose as a Shadow Duelist, at least try to make your knock-off Millennium Puzzle look somewhat realistic. Don't go around waving a hollow shell with a lightbulb inside."
Jiang He paused, his eyes narrowing. "Besides, the real Millennium Puzzle has two curved marks beneath the golden eye, looking like a pair of eyebrows. Yours is missing them."
"..."
The self-proclaimed Shadow Duelist, Titan, fell into an immediate, stunned silence.
There are eyebrows under the eye of the Millennium Puzzle?
He had spent a long time profiting from commissions by posing as a Shadow Duelist, and he had never once failed to intimidate his marks. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that one day, he would be lectured on the anatomical details of the real artifact!
Does this kid... has he seen the real one? Does he actually know how to perform a Shadow Game...?
A sudden wave of panic washed over Titan.
Alexis, Syrus Truesdale, and Jaden Yuki all stared at Jiang He in a daze. Was there really that much lore behind the legendary Millennium Puzzle? And more importantly... how did Jiang He know all this?
"I-If you don't believe me, then there's no point in continuing this duel," Titan stammered, his facade of calm rapidly crumbling.
Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel, intending to escape through the passage on the other side of the chamber.
Thump!
The moment Titan took his first step, it was as if he had triggered a hidden mechanism. The scattered stones surrounding the spacious chamber began to glow. Faint glimmers of light appeared at fixed intervals, converging in the center of the floor to form a massive, glowing sigil in the shape of the Millennium Puzzle's eye.
"The golden eye... and the two curved marks beneath it! This is?!" Titan stared in horror at the massive golden imprint appearing right at his feet.
Alexis and the others watched in shock, their eyes darting between the glowing floor and Jiang He. It was exactly as Jiang He had described.
"It seems you won't be leaving quite so easily," Jiang He noted.
He scanned the stone walls, noticing strange, talisman-like markings etched into the rock. If his memory served him right, these were remnants left behind by someone a long time ago. They were part of the reason Atticus Rhodes had disappeared in the first place.
"While you were hiding here earlier, you must have accidentally activated the ritual site while setting up your dry ice and fog machines," Jiang He said, looking at Titan with the pity one might reserve for a particularly hapless victim.
It seemed this fraud was destined to be swallowed by the very power he tried to fake. He was about to experience a real Shadow Game.
The ritual had begun. In this space, two people had to duel, and a winner had to be decided. The loser would have to pay a dire price.
Jiang He wasn't worried about himself. He had exchanged points for The Mark of the Crimson Dragon - Dragon Head through the system, which granted him immunity to the physical damage of a Shadow Game. He could technically lose on purpose and walk away unscathed.
However, he had no interest in being submerged by the disgusting dark derivatives that were currently crawling out of the shadows. Even with the protection of the Crimson Dragon, the thought was repulsive.
And he certainly wasn't going to lose just to save a fake like Titan, who had come here specifically to target him. Titan wouldn't die immediately; he would just have to suffer for a while.
Jiang He figured he was actually doing the man a favorhelping him fulfill his dream of becoming a "real" Shadow Duelist.
"WhaWhat?" Titan's mind went blank.
I accidentally triggered a real Shadow Game? That means...!
Massive numbers of pitch-black derivative spheres, bearing hideous, twisted faces, began to surge from the chaotic stone walls. They flowed like a dark tide, swarming toward the man in the black coat.
"Uwah!! They're coming toward us too!" Syrus screamed in terror.
Jiang He looked over. Not far away, another wave of dark spheres was indeed rolling toward their group.
"What on earth are those?" Alexis gasped, looking at the approaching darkness with disgust. No girl would ever be comfortable in a scene like this. Instinctively, she stepped closer to Jiang He, seeking a sense of security.
Jaden and Chumley were sweating profusely, their eyes wide as the darkness closed in. They looked as if they wanted to hide behind Jiang He as well.
"Kuri Kuri!"
Suddenly, a brown, ball-shaped monster flew out from the deck at Jiang He's waist. With a look of "vicious cuteness," Sphere Kuriboh made a series of threatening faces at the dark spheres.
Remarkably, the dark spheres seemed intimidated. They recoiled as if they had hit an invisible wall and began to retreat like a ebbing tide, flowing back toward the already overwhelmed Titan.
"Kuri Kuri."
Seeing this, a furry little creature with a pair of wings flew out from Jaden's deck as well. Winged Kuriboh imitated Sphere Kuriboh, flapping its wings and driving away the dark spheres on their side.
However, the moment Winged Kuriboh caught sight of Jiang He's Sphere Kuribohspecifically noticing the way the little ball seemed to be eyeing its "fur pants" againit let out a startled shiver. It finished its task in a flash and dove back into Jaden's deck, disappearing instantly.
"Kuri kuri...?" Sphere Kuriboh tilted its head, its short arms scratching its head in confusion.
Jiang He wanted to cover his face with his hand. It seemed Jaden's Winged Kuriboh had been left with a serious psychological scar after their last encounter.
"What an interesting little fellow." Alexis's eyes lit up. She smiled, fascinated, and gently stroked Sphere Kuriboh's head.
She had seen Jiang He summon Sphere Kuriboh during their previous duel, but because she couldn't see Duel Spirits back then, she hadn't realized it had a personality and conscious thoughts. This was the first time she was seeing a Duel Spirit in a physical, sentient form.
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