In the eyes of Tenjo Hikari and others, as long as darkness is patient enough, it can wait until the end of time, and then take advantage of humanity's weakened moment to wipe out humanity in one fell swoop, thereby making itself "eternal."
However, in reality, that is not feasible.
The reason is simple; the future development of this world has already been determined—Dimension Travel.
This world has already established communication with several dimensions; this world has already understood the Spirit World. This world will never follow its original path nor perish under the "moment's rampage."
It may face the destruction of civilization due to spirits, it may face civilization's destruction due to multidimensional wars, or perish for various other reasons, but the outcome will certainly differ from what it desires.
Therefore, it's not about impatience; it's that it no longer deserves to wait.
The longer it waits, the greater the possibility of its natural "death" or "disappearance!"
That's just the way things are.
Now is the most fragile point for humans; it's the time when dimensional travel education is starting to unfold, when the application of dimensional travel is being expanded, and when humans are at their weakest conceptually and most defenseless against dimensions.
As for now, being found by Tenjo Hikari and forced to engage, it has no way to "wait" anymore.
After all, Tenjo Hikari doesn't even want to give it a chance to regroup and "wait" again.
On the contrary, Tenjo Hikari's mention of a "gauntlet match" doesn't concern it at all.
Tenjo Hikari said so, but not everyone can actually duel it, even with dimensional travel and spirit studies teaching. Although these excellent Duel Academy students have the protection of spirits and empowerment, wanting to duel it is not something that can be achieved by mere consideration.
Most people simply can't withstand any combat damage it inflicts.
Ultimately, only people of the caliber of Yuki Judai, John Anderson, and Tenjo Hikari can duel it.
This information swirled in its mind, and then it quietly spoke, "Alright, Tenjo Hikari, then I'll give you all a chance to challenge me."
It slowly raised a finger, "I can allow two of you to duel me. In response, I'll create a clone to act as my teammate, engaging in humanity's final duel with you.
If you win, it indicates you have surpassed my existence and have acquired the qualification to never go extinct.
If you lose, then as a price, I will take away your influence in this world, take away your positive impact on the world, take away everything you have."
The few individuals exchanged glances.
"I'll go—""Let me.""I'll go."
They didn't dwell on the price, instead, they eagerly declared their intention to participate in the duel.
"If only two can be chosen... I'll go." Tenjo Hikari didn't waste words and stepped forward first.
The crowd saw Tenjo Hikari speak, exchanged glances, fell silent for a moment, but unexpectedly all nodded simultaneously, acknowledging this fact.
Everyone present trusted Tenjo Hikari from the bottom of their hearts!
Soon after, they began discussing who would be more suitable as Tenjo Hikari's teammate.
Having experience teaming up with Tenjo Hikari multiple times, Judai and Manjome volunteered; the two have worked with Tenjo Hikari many times and are familiar with each other's decks, ensuring no issues with tag-team dueling.
But soon, after hesitation, Manjome voluntarily chose to withdraw.
Even though he's confident in teaming seamlessly with Tenjo Hikari, in the Inner World, under the dark world after darkness appeared, he already felt a sense of suffocation.
For fear that the challenges faced in the duel would be even more severe, he didn't want to hold Tenjo Hikari back, only resenting that his development of Spirit Power wasn't strong enough.
"Just in case, Tenjo, take these cards." Manjome thought for a moment, pulled out his deck, found a few cards, and handed them to Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari was taken aback, then nodded in acknowledgment.
Seeing Manjome's actions, Ed, Serena, and several others hurriedly checked their own decks, finding cards that could complement Tenjo Hikari's deck.
On the other side, John and others also produced some cards, handing them to Judai.
"Interesting... Though it's not a gang-up, you plan to take me down together using this method?"
Tenjo Hikari didn't answer the darkness.
"Fine—anything's possible." Darkness slowly spoke, "Moreover, in this duel, you can fully utilize all the power, all the cards you possess.
Whether it's the deck size or the extra deck, you can use them freely."
Upon hearing this, Tenjo Hikari paused his movements, looked at Darkness thoughtfully.
"The more thoughts stored in your decks, the greater the impact on humanity in this duel."
"Make your choice, humans."
Intimidation.
The implication is that the more power Tenjo Hikari and the others use from others during the duel, in return, the greater Darkness's influence on the Human World. If the "power balance" isn't controlled properly, even if the duel's content was agreed upon by Darkness and Tenjo Hikari's group at the start, due to excessive growth of Duel Energy, it could lead to Tenjo Hikari and Yuki Judai becoming the "burden of all humanity" and "symbol of humanity's doom" for the duel.
When that time comes, even if Tenjo Hikari and Judai don't want to bear this title and the duel is lost, it would turn into the "moment of humanity's doom."
Tenjo Hikari gently frowned, assembled the cards, and took a deep breath.
He wouldn't be intimidated by such threats.
"I will fuse all the thoughts and beliefs and defeat you."
As long as we win, that's enough!
A moment later, the two prepared individuals stood in front of Darkness.
The rest stood by their sides, cheering for them while also remaining vigilant of Mr. T around them, ready to fend off potential surprise attacks.
After all this time, they've witnessed the behavior of the spirits and creatures under Darkness and don't entirely trust these entities.
But in Darkness's view, this is unnecessary.
While it would provide a bit of power to its subordinates during their duels to exert some residual heat, when personally participating, it adheres to all rules and never uses any extra abilities out of thin air.
"Then—"
Darkness extended its left hand, a mass of black mist mixed with numerous cards flew out, forming a shadow appearing at its side, then manifesting into a duel disk. Meanwhile, from its left hand, countless pale bones began to change, gradually constructing a duel disk.
Tenjo Hikari and Yuki Judai stood before the two "darkness," ready as ever, inserting their decks.
"The duel symbolizing humanity's doom begins—"
"Clap, clap—"
"Clap, clap—"
Among Darkness's spectators, the nearest Mr. T's began clapping, followed by Mr. T's further away, filling the mountains and fields with the sound of applause, like waves or tides, echoing as if a hymn, celebrating the beginning of the duel.
Among them, several sneered, mocking Tenjo Hikari and Yuki Judai for not bringing their companions' power along, which would turn this into an unstoppable doom duel.
Facing this situation, behind Tenjo Hikari, Serena was the first to lose patience, cupping her hands in front of her mouth and shouting loudly, "Go for it!! Master!! Go for it, Brother You Cheng!!"
Her voice wasn't loud enough on its own, but among the wave-like applause, it still shone brightly.
And with her encouragement, Manjome, John, Ed, Amon... all other classmates and friends also started cheering for Tenjo Hikari and Yuki Judai.
Even as the applause grew louder, their voices were clearly conveyed!
"Duel!" X3.
"The duel will adopt the standard dual-duel mode—you humans are most familiar with the dual-duel mode!
I'll start with the first move!"
The human extinction outcome, the world's reverse, Darkness and its clone, LP: 8000.
Duel Academy, Darkness of the Universe, Hero Envoy, Yuki Judai & Humanity's Light, Fusion Master, Tenjo Hikari, LP: 8000.
"My turn, draw—"
Darkness takes the first move.
"Pay 2000 Life Points."
Darkness LP: 8000→6000.
Right from the start, 2000 Life Points were paid.
"Activate Spell Card—"
"End Countdown!"