Chapter 1229: New Journey

"Nightshroud?" Jaden asked. "You mean that dark power hidden inside Atticus-senpai’s mask?"

That power was strong, but not unbeatable. When Atticus wore the mask, his personality would be devoured by Nightshroud, and he would fight using a "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" deck. Jaden had some understanding of that dark personality’s strength. From his current perspective, it wasn’t actually that powerful.

By the way, every time Atticus went dark, he always looked extremely cool and imposing, acting like an unbeatable boss with absolute confidence. Just by looking at him, one would think he was an undefeated king. Yet if you looked at his entire anime record, he had lost every single duel without a single win. Every time Atticus put on that tragic, deeply vengeful expression and wore the mask with some grand resolve, it turned out to be completely useless—he couldn’t beat anyone.

This was probably one of the reasons why Nightshroud, as a boss in GX, ended up looking so pathetic.

"Yes, but that can at most be considered a fragment of its power," Kira said. "The true Nightshroud is far stronger than that. Remember the old abandoned dormitory behind the Academy?"

Jaden nodded. "Of course."

That was impossible to forget. Over the past three years at the Academy, there had been quite a few stories involving that abandoned dorm. It seemed all kinds of supernatural events and dark forces particularly favored that forbidden zone.

"That place was once a student club where some students exploring dark powers searched for the power of Nightshroud."

Jaden’s heart stirred. "Was Atticus-senpai also part of it?"

"Probably. Though he likely doesn’t remember it now," Kira said. "But Atticus was only someone who got involved. He wasn’t a core member. The most central member of that club was a student named Fujiwara Yusuke. He is the key.

"Fujiwara Yusuke also had a beloved Duel Spirit called Honest. That spirit has probably already infiltrated the Academy to investigate his master’s disappearance. Find that spirit. He will be a powerful ally."

Honest was indeed a powerful ally and a card of great historical significance in Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Because its effect was so broken and scummy, it earned the nickname "Scum Honest" among players. Its effect: When a LIGHT monster battles, you can discard this card from your hand to increase your monster’s ATK by the opponent’s monster’s ATK.

This effect once made it the strongest hand trap exclusive to LIGHT monsters, dominating the real-life environment and changing an entire generation of duelists’ habits. Back then, whenever someone saw a LIGHT monster on the opponent’s field, they would instinctively wonder if the opponent was holding Scum Honest.

"A spirit called Honest..." Jaden nodded seriously. "Got it."

Kira continued: "As for Nightshroud’s true body, from the information I currently have, it is most likely an aggregate of negative emotions from duelists—fear, despair, hatred. All the feedback from negative hearts ultimately converges in a world of pure darkness, giving birth to the monster known as Nightshroud. Its goal is most likely to assimilate our world using its own, sucking everyone in and making them part of itself."

Jaden immediately declared, "We absolutely cannot let it succeed!"

"Correct," Kira smiled and patted Jaden’s shoulder. "But there’s nothing you can’t handle, right?"

Jaden nodded, then asked, "What about you, Kira? You’re still leaving?"

"Yeah," Kira replied. "My matters are also quite important. I probably won’t be able to return anytime soon. But I believe you’ll be fine here."

Jaden patted his chest repeatedly, assuring him he had it covered.

...

Kira did not linger long in the GX dimension. He collected some cards, learned about the situation during his absence, handed over all the information he knew about Nightshroud to Jaden, and soon returned once more to the Synchro Dimension.

...

In the Synchro Dimension, the WRGP tournament—with its timeline moved forward—was in the tense preparation stage. However, with Illiaster’s organization having vast influence and actively pushing things forward, it was certain to be held on schedule.

During this period, New Domino City experienced the "Ghost attack incident," just like in the original anime. A Riding Duelist called "Ghost" suddenly began attacking Riding Duelists around the city without any pattern. Through duels, he left the Duel Runnerers battered and bruised. Moreover, his duels carried real damage—all defeated Duel Runnerers suffered crashes, with many seriously injured and sent to the ICU.

Fortunately, no deaths had occurred yet. It seemed Ghost was heavy-handed but still showed some restraint; at least the attacks were not fatal.

The Security team’s ace officer, Tetsu Trudge, personally took action but was also defeated by Ghost, beaten badly and hospitalized.

Although Trudge lost, the incident angered Yusei Fudo, who had already grown close to him. Yusei began patrolling the streets himself and soon encountered the duelist known as "Ghost." Just as in the original story, this was the first time Yusei witnessed the "Meklord Emperor" Synchro killers.

Caught completely off guard, Yusei was naturally taken by surprise and found himself in a dangerous situation. However, at the critical moment, Yusei’s Crimson Dragon birthmark activated. He on-the-spot created Majestic Dragon, and Majestic Star Dragon smashed through the Meklord Emperor in one strike, literally blowing Ghost’s head off.

Only afterward did Yusei and the others discover that Ghost was merely a robot. When they retrieved the Duel Runner that had been knocked away, the Meklord Emperor deck on it had already been taken. This was Yusei and the others’ first contact with the Meklord Emperors.

Although Kira had intervened, Z-ONE still followed the original plan, having the Three Pure Nobles of Iliaster serve as the main antagonists for the protagonist team during the WRGP. The battles against the Meklord Emperors and the growth that came with them were also very necessary for Yusei and his friends.

Similarly, Primo—the most hot-headed of the Three Pure Nobles—officially set his sights on Yusei Fudo after this duel. Although Primo had been brutally beaten by Kira before, he now understood the massive gap in strength. He knew it was unlikely he could defeat Kira with his own power alone. Moreover, Kira had now become his superior and had divine recognition, so he probably wouldn’t get another chance to fight him. Therefore, Primo’s focus had completely shifted to Yusei. He had already begun seriously preparing for their rematch, intending to thoroughly crush Yusei and reclaim the dignity he lost from being one-shot by Majestic Star Dragon.

...

After a month of preparation, the WRGP officially began.