Chapter 54: A Commission from the Realm of Elves

[Masked Sorcerer, LP 0]

As his Life Points dropped to zero and the storm of magical energy dissipated, Yuxuan did not get to see the sorcerer’s spirit again.

It seemed the final blow dealt by Silent Magician had completely blown the monster apart, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

Job done. Yuxuan clapped his hands, turned around calmly, and faced the remaining goblin minions. Silent Magician did not vanish with the conclusion of the duel; she stood guard beside him, grasping her staff, casting a cold gaze at the circle of goblins surrounding them.

The surrounding goblins were completely petrified where they stood.

The final scene of that duel was still vividly etched in their minds: a devastating strike with over five thousand attack points, the terrifying momentum, and the despairing scream of their boss being ground into dust had left an indelible mark upon their souls.

This duelist was terrifying!

The entire squad of goblins stood stiffly in place, utterly paralyzed with fear. Watching Yuxuan pack away his duel disk and turn around to walk toward them, they felt as though they were looking at the Grim Reaper slowly closing in...

Finally, a goblin in the back bit his bullet and stammered, "I... I suddenly remembered my wife is about to give birth, brothers, I'll take my leave first..."

With that, he turned on his heel and bolted.

Once someone took the lead, the entire group instantly scattered in a flurry. Another goblin slapped his forehead and cried, "That's right, my wife's giving birth too, I've got to go..."

"Me too! My wife as well!"

"Ah, I remember now, my dad died last year and hasn't been buried yet, I need to hurry..."

Boom!

A bolt of magical light exploded right in front of the fastest-running goblins, blasting a massive crater in the ground and sending the little monsters tumbling head over heels. The one leading the charge couldn't brake in time and crashed straight into the sphere of magical energy, shattering into pieces on the spot, saving everyone the trouble of collecting his remains.

The rest of the goblins were frightened out of their wits, instantly freezing in place, completely motionless.

"Don't be nervous. I'm no monster."

Yuxuan smiled as he walked over to the pile of ashes where the Masked Sorcerer had perished.

He picked up the deck left on the ground from what appeared to be the creature's remains and smoothly tucked it into his pocket.

This sight made the goblins lower their heads even further, not daring to make a sound, thinking to themselves that he was far too modest—the devil himself probably had tattoos of this guy...

"I didn't mean to trespass here, nor did I intend to meddle in your battles. I'm just passing through. As long as you can tell me how to get out of this place—"

Before he could finish, he felt Silent gently tugging at the corner of his coat from behind.

Turning his head, he saw the maiden mage pointing behind him, signaling him to look.

Only then did Yuxuan notice that figures were beginning to appear along the empty town streets.

Or, to be precise, spirits.

Tiny spirits were hiding in the shadows of the surrounding buildings or peering cautiously through the gaps in doors and windows. They seemed to have been drawn by the commotion of the duel and were now observing in secret.

A fair-skinned female spirit with blonde hair and blue skin finally mustered the courage to step out from the shadows and walk in their direction.

Though he didn't recognize most of the spirits here, he happened to recognize this one. Her name was "Mystical Elf"—a level four monster with eight hundred attack points and two thousand defense points, a vanilla card occasionally summoned by Yugi in the anime, which was why he remembered her.

"Hero-大人, you've finally appeared..."

Yuxuan: "?"

Hero?

The very word immediately brought to mind the classic trope of an otherworldly hero arriving to defeat the great demon king and rescue the princess...

"Ever since the disaster struck, a legend has been passed down here. One day, a hero from another world would arrive to overthrow the evil god and bring hope."

Good grief, there was even an evil god here. That sounded significantly harder than a demon king.

At this point, more spirits had mustered the courage to step forward. Though Yuxuan didn't recognize a single one, judging by their appearances, most of them seemed to be level one or level two vanilla spirits.

"Come with me," Mystical Elf said. "I will show you the way out of this place."

The spirits bound and guarded the remaining dark goblins, the minions keeping their heads down and not daring to utter a peep under someone's intimidating aura.

"I know not when it began, but this world suffered an invasion. The minions of the evil god run amok between towns, capturing spirits everywhere and sealing them into stone tablets, draining their lives and power to provide nourishment for the revival of the evil god."

"Does that evil god have a name?"

Yuxuan guessed that this evil god might well be some card he recognized from his previous life.

Mystical Elf shook her head. "No, no one has ever seen it. We are a peace-loving spirit race, almost powerless against the minions of the evil god, and have spent these past years hiding everywhere.

"But recently, they suddenly seemed unsatisfied with slowly capturing spirits. All at once, they decided they wanted everything."

Mystical Elf led him to the outskirts of the city, raised her slender blue arm, and pointed toward the sky.

Yuxuan followed the direction of her finger. The sky there was exaggeratedly split open, looking as though a shocking rent had been torn into it. The fractured space formed a pitch-black vortex, resembling a greedy, gaping maw.

"That is...?"

"The path leading to the evil god's domain," Mystical Elf said with a worried expression. "Every day, that fissure continues to expand, swallowing our world further.

"When the day comes that it opens wide enough, our world may cease to exist."

"I sympathise with your plight," Yuxuan said, "but I don't think I can be of much help."

Mystical Elf smiled slightly.

"For so long, we have been hiding from the minions of the evil god while awaiting the arrival of the legendary hero. A spellcaster spirit prophesied that the hero would descend from another world, use the power of cards to shatter the minions of the evil god, and awaken the sleeping warrior."

"The sleeping warrior?"

"Yes, a legendary warrior with peerless power who stood forth to combat the evil god's might with his sword," Mystical Elf said. "He was immensely powerful, even beating back the forces of evil once.

"But eventually, the evil god intervened. With terrifying authority, a single strike defeated that warrior—the sole protector of this world. Afterward, the warrior's power was sealed. Legend has it that only when the hero arrives can his 'strength' awaken the warrior once more and trigger a miracle."

In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, spirits and duelists are mutually complementary. Just as powerful spirits grant duelists stronger destiny power, spirits can only unleash their full potential in the hands of a powerful duelist.

And even the Three Phantom Gods, perched at the pinnacle of Duel Monsters, only reach their strongest state in the hands of the undefeated Pharaoh.

"As for where the warrior rests, it is right here."

As she spoke, Mystical Elf led Yuxuan to a massive mountain boulder.

Carved clearly into the side of the peak was the image of a warrior, just like those etched on ancient Egyptian stone tablets. He wore armor, kneeling on one-half of his body while resting his sword against the ground, and even across the stone tablet, one could seemingly feel the unyielding spirit in those eyes.

Just as he had expected, what was carved here was Black Luster Soldier.

This was why the ruins were connected to this spirit realm.

"If you wish to leave this place and return to where you came from, this is the only way. The legendary warrior possesses the power to cleave space. It was that power that summoned you here, and likewise, only that power can take you back."

Mystical Elf said softly.

"But you said you need my help to defeat the evil god?" Yuxuan asked. "If I just go back like this..."

"The true body of the evil god is not here. These are all its minions; no matter how many are beaten back, more will come. It's meaningless."

Mystical Elf shook her head.

"The true form of the evil god resides in the world from which the hero came. On one hand, it attacks the spirit realm, enslaving vast numbers of spirits to absorb their power as weapons; on the other hand, it plots against the other world. Both of our worlds are under its threat."

Yuxuan frowned slightly.

In the world he came from? Could it be a duelist wielding dark power?

Well, although he had no idea what kind of character this so-called evil god was, he figured making trouble in his own world wouldn't be so easy.

After all, there were quite a few big bosses up there...

He exchanged glances with Silent Magician, and the latter nodded gently.

Perhaps because of the bond between duelist and spirit master, Yuxuan could sometimes understand her meaning without words. She was telling him that the seal here indeed possessed magic similar to the stone tablet they had used to enter through the ruins, and they should be able to return from here.

Just as he prepared to step forward and reach out to touch the stone tablet, a muffled explosion suddenly shattered the air beside him.

It sounded like artillery fire leaving a barrel. Before he could react, Silent Magician sprang forward, her staff sweeping in an arc. A cannonball propelled by the surging magic in her hand was blasted away, changing direction and detonating elsewhere, blowing open a giant crater billowing black smoke across the plain.

Yuxuan turned his head to look and saw a figure standing atop the hillside at some point.

His hands were shoved into his pockets, with blonde hair, sunglasses, and a star-spangled banner bandana wrapped around his head.

"Sorry."

A cynical, lighthearted smile hung on the man's face.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave quite that easily."