While Judai was attending his swimming lesson, Yubel floated above the swimming facility in a ghostly state, gazing into the distance lost in thought.
As a spirit, her abilities surpassed those of humans in every way. From her vantage point, she could clearly see the island's coastline, where waves continuously crashed onto the searing sandy beaches, glistening like shattered gold beneath the sun.
The carefree host, Yuki Judai, noticed nothing, but ever since the battle with the Light of Destruction, Yubel had felt uneasy.
The reason being the final words the Light of Destruction uttered before vanishing.
Yubel was quite certain, that being stared at Judai for a long time before finally saying, "The future hasn't changed."
What did this mean?
To whom was this statement directed? This planet? Or Judai personally?
Or perhaps... both?
Others might have dismissed it, but Yubel vaguely felt she understood what it referred to.
If it was about Judai's personal destiny, Yubel knew all too well what fate awaited him in the future.
Or perhaps this wasn't about fate, but rather about Judai's own identity.
He is "The Supreme King," a man destined to reign as the ruler over the pinnacle of the Twelfth Dimension. Yet, that soul still slumbered within Judai, not yet awakened.
Judai was still young, and the road ahead was long. Sooner or later, the power of The Supreme King would awaken, for that was his true self.
This was also Yubel's lifelong mission, her purpose in both past and present lives. She forsook her human form, fused with a dragon, transforming into her current appearance.
Her mission was to carefully protect Judai, watching over his growth until the moment the celestial King awakens.
Now with The Supreme King gone, his former territories were fragmented. The Twelfth Dimension turned into chaos, with powerful Duel Spirits proclaiming themselves as new kings in each dimension. The former subordinates of The Supreme King were constantly fighting, seizing resources and territories, leading to countless refugees across dimensions ravaged by war.
At times, Yubel was even grateful that Judai was born in such a relatively safe dimension this life.
Though she gradually realized this place wasn't as safe as she initially believed, often encountering legendary figures rare even among dimensions, at the very least there was no constant warfare here.
Moreover, Judai had an excellent mentor to watch over him.
Despite her reluctance to admit it, the truth was that Youyu was undoubtedly an outstanding protector. To date, many of the crises Judai might have faced were defused thanks to his intervention.
Over the years, Yubel found herself wavering.
Did she still wish to see The Supreme King awaken like she did initially?
If the soul of The Supreme King truly revived, cleansing the multiverse of rebellious ministers... what would become of the current Judai?
Would his personality be erased?
This caused Yubel to feel a sense of unease.
Should The Supreme King truly awaken, she thought the answer perhaps ought to be unequivocal— the immature personality known as "Yuki Judai" surely had no qualifications to contend with the ruler of all dimensions, wouldn't the current Judai inevitably disappear?
Yubel was lost in thought, abruptly pulled back to reality by a strange intuition.
She noticed someone had entered the swimming facility's locker room.
It appeared to be a student, wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform, with a somewhat slender figure.
Since it was class time, students were supposed to be in the pool, so the figure in the locker room seemed out of place.
Yubel watched as the student headed straight to Judai's locker.
The person slowly extended a hand, fingers splayed, and a pitch-black magic array formed in their palm. An invisible force field enveloped the entire locker, like a giant hand wrapping around it.
Then, the student lifted the hand, making a pulling motion, and the magic power moved that force, actually... actually...
...pulled the entire locker fixed to the wall, uprooting it!
Since a Duel Disc and Card Deck can't be carried while swimming, Judai's entire Deck lay quietly in the locker now.
This person actually intended to steal Judai's Deck!
Normally, this would be quite difficult. After all, Yuki Judai wasn't just anyone, and his Deck contained a myriad of spirits.
Normally, if someone tried to tamper with this Deck in his absence, the spirits—like Elemental Heroes—would emerge to counterattack on their own.
But this person seemed to have anticipated this point, and the magic cast not only lifted the entire locker but also established some kind of restriction. The spirits within the Deck were subdued while still dormant, unable to even materialize from the cards.
Yet the intruder miscalculated one thing.
Not all of Judai's spirits were sealed within the Deck.
The student, carrying the locker, turned and snapped their fingers, and a magic array spun open beside them, resembling a Teleportation Gate.
Just as they were about to step into the Teleportation Gate with their loot, they suddenly felt their hand lighten. Looking back, the locker captured by their magic was entangled by several tendrils, forcibly pulled away with a tug.
Yubel caught the heavy metal locker in her hands, her heterochromatic eyes coldly sizing up the other, "What do you think you're doing?"
It was only then she caught a clear look at the intruder.
A pale, slender young man with clean, almost bloodless skin. His eyes were hollow and unfathomable, gazing as if seeing straight into the stars, making it difficult to discern his thoughts.
Upon seeing Yubel, he was visibly surprised for a moment, then smiled.
"You've appeared, the dragon that guards the King." He remarked.
Yubel's mind shifted.
"Who are you?" she asked, "What do you know?"
This made Yubel temporarily give up on directly killing him—no one to date knew the story between her and Judai's past life, the tale of The Supreme King being a secret she meticulously guarded.
But this person clearly knew. She needed to find out where he had heard about it, exactly what he knew, and who else was in the know besides him.
She needed to eradicate all those involved, by any means necessary, regardless of the cost.
The man smiled faintly.
"I know everything."
Yubel wanted to ask more, but the other party evidently had no intention of saying much, flipping his hand and sending another magic power wave crashing over.
Yubel spread her fingers, reached out to catch it, feeling the wave burning painfully upon contact, her palm's ridged skin sizzling with a "hiss."
Though she ultimately neutralized the force, Yubel couldn't help but secretly be astonished.
This guy... so powerful!
"Truly a difficult opponent." The student turned his head, pondering for a moment, "I guess you don't want to make a scene, letting others know about Yuki Judai's secrets, right?"
Yubel: "..."
"Then the problem is simple."
The man smiled, lifting a hand, as magic power transformed into a black Duel Disc on his arm.
"Let us resolve this through the most sacred manner respected across all dimensions... a duel."