Feeling a mix of emotions upon realizing what happened, Judai was speechless for a while.
He didn't know how to face this dark other self.
Initially, he felt only hatred towards the Overlord.
When he first heard of the concept of the Overlord, he only knew the other was synonymous with evil. He saw the residents of the Other Dimension suffering and all those oppressed by the Overlord.
Later, Judai understood that it was his opposite, and his hatred only grew. He was eager to deny this part of himself and wanted to defeat and destroy it.
But then he realized that the Overlord was a collection of all the darkness in his past. Because the Overlord took on all of his dark past and all the negative parts of his heart, he could be so pure in this life.
Judai had never thought he'd be so sad about the disappearance of this dark persona.
Nor had he thought that the Overlord's death would come this way, and it was for him.
"You... knew all along," Judai said sadly. "You told me to unleash the power of Super Fusion, but you knew what that meant. You had already decided to become the sacrifice for this card..."
"There's nothing to regret."
The Overlord's voice was weak, yet still carried an unchallenged authority. Though it was just a faint sound, it was still resounding.
"You should know that I am merely the darkness in your heart. Your countless pains and regrets gathered together—that is me.
Now that you have let go of the past and conquered the darkness within, I have no reason to exist anymore."
Judai said painfully, "But... after all the difficulty... it was so hard to finally understand each other, so hard to..."
"Don't be a coward."
The Overlord said harshly, but then softened and spoke gently.
"Yuki Judai, you are the Overlord. Now you have conquered the darkness within yourself and reclaimed the power that belongs to you. And I belong to the past, the dark, irretrievable past. Once it's gone, it's gone, with no value left to linger on.
Move towards the future, Yuki Judai!"
The final words echoed in the darkness. At this moment, he seemed to become once again the master of the Twelfth Dimension, standing atop Overlord City, his cloak fluttering like a banner in the night, forever.
Judai sat cross-legged on the ground, slowly opening his eyes.
"Judai?"
Yubel asked with concern beside him. Though she didn't know what happened inside Judai, she could sense a subtle change in his aura and noticed his odd mood.
"...It's nothing."
Judai shook his head, speaking softly.
"Just saying goodbye to an old friend."
Yubel was taken aback. She had some understanding of the situation surrounding Super Fusion and now recalled the scene during the duel when Judai suddenly used Super Fusion, which gave her a clue.
Yubel knew she was saved by Super Fusion; without the power of this card, it would have been nearly impossible for her to escape the grip of the Light of Destruction. In a way, the Overlord could be said to have sacrificed himself for her.
Even though Yubel knew the Overlord was merely the dark side of Judai's heart, it had ultimately become an independent persona, and she felt a pang of sorrow, unsure of what to say, so she quietly sat beside Judai.
The two remained silent for a long while until Judai broke the silence.
"Yubel, the one that was possessing you earlier... was it the Evil God?"
Yubel nodded, "Yes."
Judai asked, "How did you encounter it?"
Yubel pondered for a moment, then shook her head, "I'm not sure. I was in a terrible state, and it actively sought me out."
Judai asked, "Do you feel better now?"
Yubel nodded, "Thanks to Super Fusion, my body is much more filled with power now, and I feel much better."
While saying this, she glanced to the side, where Elemental HERO Neos had flown over. Yubel nodded to him, "I apologize for the previous offense.
And thank you for your help."
During the activation of Super Fusion, Neos and Yubel had fused into Neo Sage, at which time the miraculous Dark Fluctuation from Neos transmitted into Yubel's body through the medium of Super Fusion.
Neos was the spirit in Judai's card deck with the closest connection to him, and Neos himself was born as a miracle Elemental Hero to combat the Light Fluctuation, making his power most effective in dispelling it. Thanks to him, Yubel was able to recover quickly.
Neos was good-natured and didn't mind her previous rudeness, responding courteously with idle talk.
Yubel said, "But I can sense that the Evil God just now was not its true form."
Judai also said, "The Evil God seemed to say at the end that it remembered us and mentioned that it would come to us again once it breaks its seal and revives..."
Yubel snorted heavily, "Let it come if it wants. This time I was weak and allowed it to take advantage, but next time? Ha, if it dares to come, it can try."
As she spoke, she revealed sharp claws, seemingly eager to act.
Judai pondered for a moment, then said, "It's good that Yubel is confident. However, encountering the Evil God this time, with it possessing Yubel, already posed a considerable challenge.
If not for the Overlord's help, I might not have won a single move. If this Evil God truly breaks free, fully appearing before us once more, there's no telling how difficult it might be to deal with."
There was one more thing Judai hadn't mentioned. During the duel, the Overlord had commented whether he intended to always rely on that Duel King. The Overlord's ultimate sacrifice further encouraged him toward the future, holding considerable optimism for Judai's limitless potential henceforth.
This made Judai start to consider whether he might have been too reliant on Yugen all along.
No matter the incident or challenge faced to date, he had barely ever been truly worried. Deep down, he always felt someone was there to fall back on. Regardless of the size of the trouble, Yugen always handled it.
Perhaps this can no longer continue.
He has long been a Duelist capable of standing on his own. With such courage, how could he face someone like the Overlord, who is willing to give him so much?
"Yubel, I've been thinking… do you have a way to locate where that Evil God's true form is?"
Judai asked.
"It says it hasn't fully revived yet, so its state must still be weak. If we seize this opportunity to find it..."
Yubel was somewhat surprised that Judai would have such an idea.
Taking the initiative instead of waiting for the next passive encounter.
But she didn't dislike this tactic.
"There's no way to determine the exact location, only the general dimension," Yubel said, "but even reaching that dimension might be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"That's okay, let's go explore for a bit."
Judai smiled.
"I've gained some insight into dimensional travel by now, after all."