A week passed by in a flash.
During this time, the Shadow Riders sent several waves of sporadic harassment, all of which were repelled by the others. Since they were nothing more than small fry, Jaden Yuki didn't even bother to step in.
Lately, he would occasionally disappear from Duel Academy, venturing into the forest surrounding the Abandoned Dorm to search for any trace of Professor Banner.
To Jaden's surprise, even though the original plot dictated that Banner's research lab was hidden beneath the Abandoned Dorm, he found nothing. He had practically turned the place inside out and sent his Duel Spirits to comb through every inch of the area, but not a single clue remained.
"Did that guy just evaporate?" Jaden grumbled to himself.
Banner might have acted foolish and cowardly on a daily basis, but the man was incredibly shrewd. It was obvious that the underground laboratory had been abandoned long ago. Perhaps from the moment Jaden first stepped into the Abandoned Dorm to investigate, Banner had sensed the danger and moved his research elsewhere.
"Where could he have gone?"
Having found no leads, Jaden had no choice but to leave the dorm.
By the time he returned to the main campus, the atmosphere was already buzzing with excitement. The school was fully decorated for the upcoming festival with Duel Monster banners and streamers, and student-run stalls were popping up everywhere.
Crowds of students wandered about, some dressed in elaborate Duel Monster costumes, enjoying the festivities of the School Festival.
"Oh, Mindy, look! There's a hottie over there!"
"Eh? You're right, Jasmine... wait, isn't that Alexis's brother?"
Alexis's best friends, Jasmine and Mindy, were dressed in beast-girl outfits. They were staring off into the distance, lost in thought as they watched a familiar figure.
As a side note, Alexis had defeated Titan, one of the Shadow Riders, in a Shadow Duel two days prior. Thanks to her victory, Atticus Rhodes's condition had improved significantly, and he had finally begun to live a normal life again.
Eventually, his memories started to return. He recalled that before he went missing, Professor Banner had summoned him for Shadow Duel training.
...
"How is that possible...? Professor Banner is involved with Shadow Duels?"
Inside the Academy hall, the group was gathered, discussing the shocking news with heavy hearts.
"A coward like him? No way..." Chazz Princeton couldn't believe it for a second. There was no way that weakling could have anything to do with Shadow Duels.
"Regardless, if there are seven Shadow Riders in total, we've already defeated six," Zane Truesdale said, crossing his arms calmly.
Though the week had been relatively quiet, the Shadow Riders who did appear were all dealt with in duels against Chazz, Alexis, and the others. They weren't particularly strong, which meant they were defeated before Jaden even had a chance to act.
However, the final Shadow Rider had yet to show themselves.
"Maybe there are actually only six of them?" Chazz suggested, snapping his fingers as if he'd had a stroke of genius.
Everyone stared at him in dead silence.
"Cough... I-I'm just kidding! Don't look at me like I'm an idiot!" Chazz's face turned bright red. He quickly shifted his gaze toward the door. "Speaking of which, it sounds really lively out there. Is it because of the Duel Festival?"
"Isn't that normal?" Alexis shook her head. "There's probably a duel going on. It is a festival, after all."
"Let's go take a look," Bastion Misawa suggested, standing up with a smile.
The others exchanged looks. Although they weren't exactly in a festive mood, they knew sitting around here wouldn't help matters. They nodded and followed him outside, hoping to clear their heads.
"Seriously, why are there so many people watching this?" Chazz complained as they stepped out. The crowd was so thick it was hard to even walk.
"Whoa! That's incredible!"
"She's cute, and her dueling skills are insane!"
A sudden burst of cheering erupted. Chazz's ears perked up, and he managed to squeeze his way through the crowd.
In the center of the clearing, a boy in an Obelisk Blue uniform was dueling a young girl. She was wearing dog ears, seemingly cosplaying a monster, but the state of the duel was shockingly one-sided.
[Nameless Girl: LP 4000]
[Obelisk Blue Student: LP 500]
"My turn!" the girl chirped, drawing a card. The dog tail behind her wagged furiously the moment the card left her deck.
"Is that... is that a fake tail? Or is it real? How is it moving that fast?" Chazz's lip twitched in disbelief.
"I activate the effect of Tearlaments Scheiren in my hand!" the girl announced. "I Special Summon this card and discard one monster from my hand. After that, I send the top three cards of my deck to the Graveyard!"
She giggled as she sent the cards to the GY. "The card I sent is Agido the Ancient Sentinel! According to its effect, when this card is sent to the Graveyard, both players send the top five cards of their decks to the Graveyard!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
A series of sound effects rang out. The cards from both the girl's and the student's decks flowed into their Graveyards like water. As her cards hit the GY, a barrage of effect prompts began to echo from her side of the field.
"Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain!"
"Oh dear, there are so many effects activating in the Graveyard that I don't even know how to explain them all!" the girl said with a mischievous grin. She tapped a series of buttons on her Duel Disk, causing even more cards to plummet from both decks into the Graveyard.
"W-What kind of deck is this?!" Chazz was completely flabbergasted.
Wasn't she just taking her opponent down with her? Her cards were all in the GY, and so were the opponent's...
Wait.
Chazz looked closely at the girl's field. As the Graveyard glowed with light, one Tearlaments Fusion Monster after another began to assemble on her field. The dazzling display of chains left the surrounding students speechless.
What kind of duel was this? Did such a style even exist in this world?
"Now, we both have exactly fifteen cards in our Graveyards," the girl said, crossing her arms and nodding in satisfaction. "So, I activate my face-down card: Exchange of the Spirit! By paying 1000 Life Points, both players swap the cards in their Graveyards with the cards in their Decks!"
"But first," she continued playfully, "I'll activate the effect of Mudora the Sword Oracle in my Graveyard! By banishing this card, I can target up to five cards in either Graveyard and shuffle them back into the deck. I'll choose five cards from your Graveyard!"
"And I'll do the same with Keldo the Sacred Protector! It has the same effect as Mudora, so I'll shuffle five more cards from your Graveyard back into your deck!"
"Wait, so ten of the opponent's fifteen cards are going back?" Chazz rubbed his chin, trying to process the math. Why would she do that...?
Hold on. Exchange of the Spirit?
Doesn't that mean...
Before he could finish his thought, the Obelisk Blue student's deck was reduced to a mere five cards in an instant. Every other card he owned had been dumped into the Graveyard.
"How am I even supposed to play?!" the Obelisk Blue student cried out, halfway between a laugh and a sob. He surrendered on the spot.
"Yay!" The girl jumped up happily, flashing a peace sign.
"...She's way too strong," Chazz muttered, swallowing hard.
His eyes were wide, and his jaw was nearly hitting the floor. That single combo had left the opponent with absolutely no chance to fight back.
This person's deck was simply terrifying!
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