"How is it going?"
In the ruined village, Jim held his hat and shouted.
"Ready!"
"Good!"
Jim responded loudly.
Over the past few days, he and O'Brien had been getting along well with Judai, although O'Brien still seemed disinterested, Jim and Judai had become friends quickly—of course, part of the reason was that in life-and-death crises, one could see a person's true nature more easily and was more likely to open up.
During this time, Judai indiscriminately rescued all the Spirits and humans on the road, which immediately earned Jim's favor, making his dislike for Judai's previous lies decrease significantly.
Upon reaching this base with O'Brien, they discovered through investigation that on that day, Judai didn't "hear about missing people nearby" but was "looking for people who deliberately left," further increasing their goodwill towards Judai.
As the saying goes, true feelings are revealed in times of trouble; he quite admired the students from the school's rescue team.
As for now...
From their perspective, looking into the distance, they could see the massive Archfiend army gathering in the sky.
Needless to say, these Spirits were heading towards their camp.
Even if dueling doesn't scare them, if these Archfiends attack directly, there will always be places they can't defend. Fortunately, support from Kaiba Company and the Lightsworn was on the way. They had already contacted Kaiba Company before, and if they could leave swiftly, like a lightning bolt, before both sides took action, they would be safe.
This was a necessary risk; otherwise, if they stayed here, they would run out of supplies.
Now, they had to seize the moment when both sides were at a stalemate and leave quickly.
Marufuji Shou provided the car, Judai was in charge of the front, he was responsible for the rear, while Kenzan and O'Brien were on the sides, and that guy called Dennis assisted in the combat.
Because of their involvement, Judai and his team found it much easier, and the student's pressure wasn't as great as before.
Once they got these people to Kaiba Company, they could explore other scattered places individually, ensuring greater safety and convenience than now.
"Why bring that thing along, throw it out!"
"You bastard, what are you talking about!"
While he was contemplating, over there at the car door summoned by Marufuji Shou, two people were arguing.
"What's going on!" He rushed over to mediate.
Judai and the others were still preparing, and there couldn't be any problems at this moment.
"Why do you have to bring this thing!" A student wearing a yellow uniform, seemingly from the western branch, pointed at a wolf beside him and started cursing, "Why purposefully save a spot for it!"
The wolf lowered its head, using its front paws to cover its eyes, looking very frightened and trembling all over.
Hearing the student's words, Kenzan immediately grabbed him by the collar, scolding loudly, "Bastard, what nonsense are you spouting! It's a victim too, Big Bro risked his life to save it!"
During this time, Judai not only rescued students but also saved any Spirits they encountered being attacked on the road, seeing no racial difference, only victims needing protection.
To protect this Spirit, Judai nearly got injured, so to Kenzan, the student's words were utterly absurd.
"Then don't save it! Anyway, it's just a beast, if that guy gets hurt, what will we do?"
Kenzan trembled with anger hearing his words, as the small Spirit on the ground whimpered, covering its eyes and started crying.
Jim, who initially wanted to mediate, suddenly fell silent, slowly walking to the student's front and punched him.
"Bang—"
"Ah!"
The student fell to the ground, looking at Jim in shock.
"Jim?" Kenzan looked at him, even more shocked.
"Hey, you kid." Jim rubbed his fist, "Don't forget, it was Judai who saved you! What are you saying!"
He was beyond furious, "The one who painstakingly saved you, Judai, is still working hard to protect you, and now you're saying this!? Don't forget, even Judai needs to Summon Spirits to protect everyone!
Spirits are our partners, our family, and you say that!?"
Jim always carried a crocodile on his back, which was his friend, his family, so hearing this student say such things, he could not control his anger.
Of course, another reason was that Spirits' hearts should not be hurt at this time.
He gently picked up the wolf-like Spirit, feeling a bit melancholic.
Clearly, the vehicle carried many humanoid Spirits, yet because of different appearances, they were treated differently.
Was such a person really worth saving?
After some time, everyone and all the Spirits got on the vehicle, Judai sat at the front, calling to Shou, who quickly used his Deck to set the train in motion.
Now, the unique advantage of his Deck was evident, as while others needed to summon dragons, Archfiends, or the like for auxiliary transportation, his large truck could transport everyone without needing gasoline, as long as he had enough energy to supply the Cards.
The Roid quickly accelerated, heading towards the target, and to avoid getting trapped in the battle, Shou went full throttle from the start, aiming to leave quickly.
However.
The moment they left the camp.
For some reason, or by some agreement, both sides' Archfiends suddenly flapped their wings fiercely, flying towards them as if they were the center.
"What's happening!? Didn't Kaiba Company say they still needed a few days before the final battle!?" Shou's face turned pale immediately.
Kaiba Company had learned from the Lightsworn about the two factions in the Dark World, knowing there was still some time before their decisive battle, which was why they decided to run early.
But, why?
It was too late to think about it now; they had only one choice, and that was to accelerate, accelerate, and accelerate!
Amidst the terrified screams inside the car, Marufuji Shou took a deep breath and then accelerated again, urging his Spirits to move quickly forward.
An Archfiend charged out first, approaching the Roid from the front, Judai drew a Card, and the Neos's figure appeared behind him, punching the Archfiend away.
But following it came more and more Archfiends!
Just when Judai decided to make an effort, on the side, another faction of Archfiends suddenly swooped in, using steel forks and blades to pierce the initial wave of Archfiends, shouting "Hail Lord Supreme King!" and began a brawl with them.
"Shou!?"
"I understand, big brother!" Shou bit his teeth, even in immense pain, he responded to his brother without a tremble.
For some unknown reason, the Archfiends seemed to have started their civil war early.
However, their target remained unchanged.
Which was to escape as early as possible before the Dark World civil war—
But!
While trying to move forward, they realized that the Archfiends attacking them paid no mind to the other faction but crazily blocked their path, as if they'd stop at nothing to prevent their escape.
Simultaneously, the other faction of Archfiends was frantically helping them deal with the barricades, willing to die if necessary.
"What's… what is going on…" Judai stood at the front, increasingly bewildered by the scene, unable to help but murmur.
Previously, Tenjo Hikari told him that once he had rescued those scattered people, he would reunite and hoped he could hold on. However, from his perspective, if things were so dangerous on his side, Hikari was unlikely to be in a better situation, so he didn't want Hikari to be so exhausted.
Therefore, upon discovering a prime opportunity, he quickly discussed with his companions, seeking a way to leave quickly.
But now—
It seemed they had made a mistake.
It seemed that their speculation during their discussions was true, and the Archfiends' target from the beginning, was not all the students, not to kidnap students.
Instead… aimed at someone.