Chương 25: Semi-Finals and Finals
[Yuna POV]
After a few hours, the men in suits returned and ordered me to follow. When I stepped out of my room, Mokuba was already waiting. His eyes were red and vaguely swollen, indicating that he was crying.
Seeing his pitiful state, I felt guilty for leaving him alone. Should I have said something? Unfortunately, it was too late, so I ensured he could be happy now.
I approached Mokuba and held out my hand. Mokuba's eyes widened in surprise. He raised his head and smiled as he eagerly grasped it. My expression became tense but immediately loosened; my lips loosened, and I was satisfied by his uplifting mood.
When we were ready, Pegasus's subordinate led us deeper into the castle. Mokuba and I were wary and kept a fair distance from them. I still couldn't trust Pegasus even if he had agreed not to lay his hand on Mokuba.
We walked for five minutes, guided through multiple lavish hallways before arriving at a door. It was an extravagant dining room with chandeliers, beautifully designed pieces of furniture, and a long table filled with plates of food that only rich people could ever dream of eating.
A group was already sitting at the table, and their expressions brightened when noticing us while I flinched in response. Yugi and his friends greeted us eagerly while I raised my hand weakly. No matter how often I met them, their overly friendly atmosphere felt poisonous.
I had already expected their presence but thought it would be sooner. Probably Kaiba's duel started earlier than the original, so by the time they made an appearance, it ended long ago...
Mokuba and I sat across the Yugi's crew in silence. While sitting down, I secretly glanced at Yugi. His face was still pale, and he seemed shaken by what happened before. Well, he will eventually overcome it during the tournament.
I turned my head and stared at the new person in the crowd. It was a fair-skinned woman with blond hair, a short-sleeved purple coat, and a white tank top.
From watching Yugioh for so long, I instantly knew who she was. Mai Valentine, a supporting character in the show. She was distant in season one but eventually joined the crew and reappeared throughout the story.
But since I hadn't even interacted with her yet, we only nodded at each other briefly and focused on ourselves. As usual, the group tried to strike up a conversation, but unfortunately, Mokuba and I weren't in the best mood to talk, so we responded haphazardly.
Sensing our atmosphere, they thankfully stopped, and I focused on the food displayed on the table. My stomach quietly grumbled, complaining about the lack of nutrients. However, since nobody was eating, I was too embarrassed to be the first, so I dug my nails into my palms to endure the temptation.
Suddenly the door to the dining room opened, and the person I wanted to see the most right now entered. Sensing my gaze, Pegasus's chuckled, and he sat down on the far end of the table.
I sighed and unclenched my hand; it looked like I just lost my appetite...
As soon as Pegasus sank onto his chair, he spoke in a relaxed tone: "Well, now that everyone's here, I would like first to congratulate Yuna Sano, Yugi Mutou, Mai Valentine, and Joey Wheeler for being the four duelists that survived the preliminaries match."
Pegasus clapped nonchalantly, but nobody copied his applause. He smiled, unperturbed by the unfriendly welcome, and continued his explanation: "Now I will explain how the semi-finals and the finals will work."
Suddenly, he revealed four cards from his breast pocket and presented them to us: "It's simple; the four of you will draw a card; if your card matches with someone else, they will be your opponent for tomorrow!"
Pegasus gestured at Yugi, Joey, Mai, and me to approach. We hesitantly picked our cards and went back to our seats. I observed the card in my hand, and there wasn't anything special except for the front side of the card, where it was an image of Blue Eyes White Dragon.
I curiously rubbed my finger along the picture, and a complicated emotion welled inside me. I glared at Pegasus, who purposely avoided my gaze. As harmless as this card was, only Mokuba and I knew the hidden meaning deep inside...
"Ah, that's the same card I have, Sano-san!" Joey exclaimed and brought me back to reality.
I glanced at Joey's hand, where he held the same Blue Eyes White Dragon Card. I then turned to Mai and Yugi, who also held similar cards to each other with the image of Dark Magician.
Pegasus smiled: "Looks like you have found your opponents for tomorrow. Then allow me to explain further."
He informed us that three matches would be held tomorrow. Two for staying in the semi-finals and one final match to determine the winner. He then placed two new cards on the table. I immediately recognized them as they were the exact copies of the cards he had given me before the beginning of the tournament!
The one with images of gold and treasure was called the Glory of the King's Hand, while the card with nothing but a grey box was called the Glory of the King's Opposite Hand. You must possess one of the cards to participate in the semi-finals; otherwise, we will be disqualified.
Thankfully, I remembered to bring both cards with me, or else things would have got awkward...
Anyway, The Glory of the King's Hand was needed to claim the cash prize, while The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand would allow us to challenge Pegasus for the Duel King title.
When Pegasus finished speaking, he smiled and spread his arms: "Now please enjoy what I have prepared, and I can't wait to see the amazing duels tomorrow!
The dinner itself was uneventful, Yugi's crew couldn't control their hunger anymore and excitedly dug in while Mokuba and I ate timidly. No matter how delicious the food was, there was no way I could enjoy it while eating at the same table as that man!
It wasn't long until Mokuba, and I left; Pegasus remained silent and only observed us from a distance, which was more terrifying than it should be. When we returned, I stopped in front of Mokuba's room and gently tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh, you want to come in?" Mokuba asked, grasping my intentions.
I nodded, and he shrugged in agreement as I curiously entered and scanned his room. Well, as I expected, it looked just like mine, so there wasn't anything special. However, when my eyes wandered to the couch in the corner of the room, I froze.
Kaiba was lying there motionlessly; his eyes closed and in a trance-like state. Mokuba sighed and held his brother's hand as he muttered something unintelligible. His shoulder's trembled, and he hurriedly wiped his face from the tears.
I patted him on the shoulder, and Mokuba frowned when he noticed my sympathetic gaze: "I'm not crying!"
However, no matter how much he tried to hide, Mokuba still couldn't remove the sadness in his eyes. Eventually, he relented and embraced me. His bold approach caught me off guard, and I felt my anxiety rising again.
I gulped, and my hand hesitantly wrapped around his back. We hugged silently as Mokuba buried his face in my stomach. I had never really embraced anyone before, and I couldn't remember if I ever hugged my parents because I was pretty young back then, so it was a new experience.
But, despite the weirdness, it doesn't feel as bad as I would've thought...
"Sister...." Mokuba mumbled; he raised his head and stared into my eyes: "Don't lose tomorrow!"
I gasped; seriously, this child's way too cute compared to the arrogant piece of work called his brother! I pinched his cheek, and a strange chuckle escaped my lips: "Won't..."
He nodded and was convinced by my promise. Eventually, Mokuba yawned, and he rubbed his exhausted face. I guided Mokuba to his bed, and he fell asleep as soon as his body hit the mattress. Today was excruciatingly long, and many things that felt pretty traumatic happened.
I quietly approached the soulless Kaiba. Right now, with his soul missing, he's merely a shell. Yet he looked like he was in a deep coma. I recalled Mokuba's sad expression and gritted my teeth.
It's safe to say that Mokuba was my first friend, and his depressed mood hurts. I don't want to see him sad and do that, and I will defeat Pegasus no matter what.
I took a deep breath and stared at Kaiba. You can rest easy; I will protect Mokuba! With newfound determination, I rushed to my room and activated my system. I immediately navigated towards the shop menu and fervently scrolled through the list of useful cards.
Links, XYZ, Synchro, Pendulums, and Tuners, are already out of the question as these gimmicks weren't implemented in this timeline yet, so I ignored them without a second thought. I also skipped past some well-known card negations as they weren't as useful in this first season, where all effect cards were simple, and there was no point stopping them.
I'm looking for monsters or spells consistent with my current deck. My playstyle revolved around sending my powerful dragons to the graveyard and special summoning the monsters to utilize their effects.
Therefore, I hoped I could find more dragon monsters that allow me to send monsters to the graveyard quickly while being cheap at the same time. Since with only five thousand and two hundred credits, I couldn't even afford one ultra-rare card, and my options were limited.
"Should I go for a fusion as well?" I muttered and crossed my arms, deep in thought.
Having an extra deck won't be that bad, but considering the cost and getting fusion materials, I can, at most, have one monster. As I fervently scrolled further down the screen, I stopped when some cards caught my attention.
I stared at the cards intently and sighed, I wanted them all, but I definitely didn't have enough. While sulking, I purchased the cards I could afford as my credits decreased rapidly.
They were all monsters, and I ignored the spells as I already had a lot and needed to replace my fodders as soon as possible. Now onto my extra deck...
I left enough to buy a monster in the Super Rare rank, but I'm having trouble with who to buy! I hoped I could get a dragon fusion monster to revive them through Felgrand's Ability in case they were defeated; then, who should I choose?
My dragons were mostly light and dark attributes, so they first needed light or dark monsters as materials. Geez... There's not many, were there?
WAIT!
A light bulb lit up in my brain, and I vigorously searched in the shop. I finally stopped at a single card, and my eyes shone excitedly. This was it!
I bought the card without hesitation, and it materialized mid-air and fell to the floor. As I eagerly reached for the card, a phenomenon stopped me from moving.
Cold Sweat ran down my back as my fingers trembled in fear. Why am I feeling like this? My pupils slowly zoned in on the card, and I shivered uncontrollably. The card was extruding an eerie sensation as a wisp of purple smoke surrounding it.
Gathering my courage, I picked up the card, and a petrifying fear washed over me. However, that suffocating feeling disappeared, and I fell onto my knees. I stared at the card in my hand in shock and was again reminded that Duel Monsters wasn't a simple card game anymore...
Each card contained a power I couldn't fathom, and this was the first time I had tasted its might. But the question was why I hadn't encountered this situation earlier.
Knowing it's useless to think about now, I focused on the card. I hurriedly placed the card into my deck as the atmosphere returned to normal. I exhaled with relief. Seriously, what the heck was that? I decided it was best to forget it; that card had stopped emitting the pressure, so I assumed everything was fine.
After returning my deck to my inventory, I quickly showered before falling onto my bed. I gripped the sheets tightly, and my knuckles turned pale: "I will win, no matter what...."
[Next Day, 3rd POV]
Within the duelist castle, two people, one male, and one female, could be seen standing across from each other. Surrounding them was a massive duel arena that spans across the room.
"You got this, big sister!" Mokuba shouted from the spectator seats while the other people cheered as well.
The two duelists stared at each other in silence, the man's expression twitched, and his anxiety spiked: 'Facing her is kind of scary...' He thought while glimpsing at the quiet Yuna.
Unlike in the past, her altitude was fierce, like a predator stalking its prey. Joey didn't know what changed, but it was too late to turn back. He joined this tournament for the prize money to pay for his little sister's surgery, so he needed to win.
Unbeknownst to him, Yuna was also fighting for something incredibly important. She knew Joey's participation purpose, but she won't give up.
"Are both duelists ready?" The referee asked from the sidelines.
Yuna and Joey nodded as the duel arena appeared: "The match between Yuna Sano and Joey Wheeler has officially begun!"
The two duelists breathed deeply and drew five cards into their hands. They gazed at each other and smiled proactively: "DUEL! x2"
[Yuna Sano: 2000 LP]
[Joey Wheeler: 2000 LP]
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