"ENROKONAI CITY," a vast civilization teeming with Duelists vying for the top spot.
The 'Dueling Systems' itself are the most popular pastime in such a setting.
The Dueling Academy is recognized for producing the best Duelists, with newcomers rising through the ranks to become pros! People learn their essentials at this "School," which is filled by thousands of Duelists, but the most current activities are their training sessions, which are scheduled three times a week.
The Academy is made up of people of many races, with the bulk of them being Humans and a small number of them being Half-Demons. Dueling is a part of their traditional training sessions, often known as the 'War Race' or 'Five Versus Five.'
Despite the fact that the world appears to be in a state of chaos, the Dueling is mostly for entertainment, and no one is murdered. (Thanks to the 'Zero Watches' for casting Spiritual Shields.)
And the majority of Duelists are tasked with eliminating the top three Duelists!
- Number 3 on the leaderboard: whose title is "King" and whose true name is Tsuji Rokuro.
Then there's;
- Number 2 on the leaderboard: whose title is "Devil" and whose real name is Sakata Hisako!
And their top tier duelist, the legend himself and Number 1;
"Silver," whose real name is Takei Shigeo, managed to reach the highest ranking between both "King" and "Devil" for a massive amount of Battle Score.
Their championships are a sign of good luck, as none of them have ever lost to lower-tier ranks.
The three champions are known as the "Dueling Masters," and they battle with one another in order to maintain or lose their reign as champions.
- Enrokonai City (Dueling Academy), Saturday, 00:03 am -
The explosion subsided, but the three females didn't appear to be in the greatest of health.
Nina's, Ayuka's, and Alpha's clothing had been burned away, showing their skin, and Nina's glasses had been entirely ruined.
Alpha was kneeling in front of the crowd, her body scorched. The right half of Ayuka's bra was showing, and she seemed to be quite frail.
Nina wasn't in the finest of shape, but their competitor... Yujiro was there in front of them, in tip-top shape.
"... You have to be joking..." Ayuka stood up and grabbed her clothes. "Is there anything we can do about it...? Even our strikes don't seem to harm him..." Ayuka and Alpha, the two assassins, seemed to be exhausted.
The flames swirled around Yujiro's torso, forcing his hands back into his pockets until a white mask emerged on his face.
"... I've had enough... Sorry" The three females were horrified as Yujiro gently raised his right arm high above his head. "What is he up to now?!"
"I never thought it would come to this... but there's no other option now..."
The whirling flames began to climb incredibly high in the air, torching the area and causing every portion of his garments to sway violently.
"... Just keep in mind..." When Yujiro tensed the environment, his right eye flashed blue.
"... Stay away!!!"
His words echoed many times, and his hand slammed into the ground, sending a tremendous tremor across the landscape, before a massive wave of flames engulfed the area, destroying the trees and whithering out nature.
Finally, at the Dueling Academy, a flaming hole appeared, causing an explosion that engulfed both Ayuka, Alpha, and nearly Nina.
When the explosion erupted high in the air, it seemed like a genuine volcano, and the region was ripped into smaller fragments, which could be seen from space.
The cries of the two females were heard, and both of them were blown back, dropping their weapons and crashing on the ground.
"No! Ayuka! Alpha!" Nina's eyes saw an enormous abyss, and just in front of her, she shouted, and her vision went dark.
- Enrokonai City (Dueling Academy), Saturday, 3:43 am -
Nina eventually awoke after three hours had elapsed since the blast.
"I'm... outside...? Why...?" But suddenly she recalled something. "Wait! Ayuka! Alpha!" She turned to face them, seeing them lying unconscious on the floor in their charred clothing.
"No!" She yelled loudly and dashed over the carnage. "Come on! Get up! Get up!" Nina attempted all she could to rouse them up, but their wounds were too severe.
"Damn it! Please, someone, help me! Please!" Nina screamed, but there was no response. Her Zero Watch was broken, and her phone had been entirely wrecked, but she was too exhausted to continue.
"... just wake up..." She checked to see whether they were still alive, which they were, but in critical condition.
"Somebody! Please!!!"
Nina was still scared as a figure appeared from the side. It looked to be Yujiro, and Nina's eyes widened in surprise.
"S-Stand back! D-Don't get any closer!" Yujiro, on the other hand, took several steps forward and, strangely, a tear appeared to be pouring down his right eye.
"Y-You're crying...?"
Nina instantly tightened her grip on each of the females. "That's not going to trick me! G-Get out of here! Please refrain from touching or injuring them any longer!" While Yujiro opened his mouth, Nina began weeping.
"...Nina..." Her dread made her eyes tremble. "H-how did you-"
"Get them out of here!"
"What do you mean?!" Nina exclaimed.
"Hurry! You're can't stay here! Now!" However, as Nina attempted to grab them, the floor began to swell like the sea. "No! DAMN IT !" Yujiro took a step forward but couldn't keep his balance, and the earth began to rise.
"Jump! Come on, Nina!"
But all hope was lost as a gateway formed behind the floating and a guy clad in red stood in front of the three ladies, quickly chaining them together with a floating chain.
"Leave them alone!" Yujiro tried to move, but it was impossible; instead, one of the walls slammed into him, squashing him against the wall.
"Y-Yujiro!" Nina screamed frantically in an attempt to get free, but it was in failure.
After carefully kneeling close to the three girls, the man chuckled.
Yujiro slammed against the wall and leaped out, hurt. "Damn bastard!"
Yujiro reached forward with his left arm, attempting to burst the scorching flames, but the earth prevented him, and Yujiro shielded himself from the flames.
He returned his gaze to the man, who grabbed for Ayuka's exposed bra and began to gently take it down. "... 'Yujiro,' I'm so pleased you made things so much simpler for me..." It was Genpaku, who was laughing.
Nina's eyes were wide open and she was trembling as she tried to talk after watching Ayuka being undressed. "Let go of her clothes!" Yujiro screamed angrily, but Genpaku kept laughing.
"... Such a beautiful beauty... A Goddess in her own right, a body that hardly ever changes. I can't believe she's never gotten any uglier..." He carefully moved his fingers up Ayuka's breast up to her neck by playing with her bra, virtually undressing it.
"I told you to let her go!" Genpaku, on the other hand, carefully approached Ayuka's chin, elevating it while honing his nail into metal.
Nina continued to try to scream, but it was futile, and Genpaku finally released and chuckled, straightening up.
He thrust his hand forward, unleashing a powerful wind that began to blow Yujiro's clothing away and eventually unhooded him.
"Stop!" Nina's eyes trembled in astonishment as Yujiro's face was exposed after shouting.
All four of them walked through the portal in the blink of an eye.
"No!" The quiet increased as Yujiro stretched his arm forward.
"GET BACK HERE!!!"
Yujiro's voice repeated again, and those were the final words.
- Enrokonai City (Legacy Consortium), Saturday, 10:00 am -
When Codey was cooking his favorite food, bagels, he got a notification on his Zero Watch.
When he looked at it, he got alarmed. "... You've got to be kidding...!" When Kylin, Iva, and Elliot got scared, Codey screamed. "Relax, whoa. What went wrong?"
Codey dashed to the closet to change his clothing. "W-Where are you going?" Elliot inquired as he chewed on his sandwich.
"Do me a favor and don't go after me. I simply need to double-check a few things. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone! See you later!" Without wasting any more time, Codey dashed through the consortium's hallways and out into the city.
"Well... He's an oddball. It's not a big deal. Do you want to party late at night, girls?" Elliot grinned, his mind on something else.
"For a change, just shut up!" Kylin stood up from her seat took the plate and walked over to the dishwasher.
- Enrokonai City (Dueling Academy), Saturday, 10:10 am -
When Codey arrived at the Dueling Academy, he did so peacefully... Genpaku's earlier entrance looked to have repaired the battlefield as if nothing had happened, trying to hide it from the eyes of the students and professors.
Yujiro, who had his hands in his pockets, was waiting for him. "You stated that we should meet here... What exactly is the issue? Tell me everything that occurred!" Codey yelled fiercely, his left hand clutching his back.
"Would you be able to direct the wormhole to a certain location?"
"Hey... Stop disregarding my inquiry and give me an explanation!" Codey screamed, enraged.
"... If you win a duel against me..." As a result, Codey agreed. "All right... I'll take your challenge..." Codey called out his boomerang as he stretched his arm to the side.
Yujiro, on the other hand, twisted his blade, whirled it, and caught it.
"...This is going to be a test..." Yujiro was the one who spoke out.
- Enrokonai City (Dueling Academy), Saturday, 10:13 am -
Codey was knelt on the floor, taking deep breaths.
"Damn it! I've lost again! This is really aggravating!" When Yujiro put the blade into his scabbard, Codey screamed angrily.
Yujiro took a step in front of Codey, kneeling before him and putting his arm against his knee. "Now... are you going to open the wormhole? This is a critical situation..."
Codey exchanged glances and appeared dejected as a result of his defeat, but he soon got serious. "Fine... Where do you want us to go?"
"Zero Dimension,"
After staring into Yujiro's dark gaze, Codey's eyes shook. "Z-Zero Dimension? You mean the Spiritual Realm, right?"
"I'm sure you've been there before?" When Yujiro assisted Codey in standing up, he nodded. "Then that's our stop point..." Codey's eyes trembled after Yujiro reached for his hood.
The breeze ruffled his white hair, and his blue eyes shone. "It... c-can't be..."
The youngster extended his arms. "If that's the case, then... friend. Let's get going!"
"T-Tim?!"
- Spiritual Realm (Zero Dimension/World), Saturday, 11:50 am -
Tim and Codey both went into the portal when it opened.
"It's been a long time since I've been here!" Tim took a step forward as Codey carried his luggage over his shoulder.
"... Genpaku led them to this location... We need to track them down as quickly as possible..."
"Wait... who did he take?" Codey added, attempting to make sense of it all.
"Nina, Alpha, and Ayuka..." Codey was astonished, and he got serious. "Why didn't you tell me straight away that it's about them?! We would have come a few minutes earlier if I had known!"
"... Didn't I say there was going to be a test? I was checking to see whether you were still the best candidate for this position..." When Codey sighed, he felt irritated. "So, in the end, I actually lost to one of my friends? Who'd have guessed? Tim, you of all people."
"We can't talk all the time here... Let's ought to get going. Who knows what he'll do when he gets his hands on them!"
"Yeah! Gotcha! Let's get underway." Both of them dashed through the Spiritual Realm's Society, expecting to run across some recognizable individuals who could help them locate them.
"Can you tell me why you kept your identity hidden and went by the name 'Yujiro'?" When Tim sighed, he was sprinting in front of him. "My original plan was to go undercover and investigate a girl who requested me to photograph Ayuka and Nina in the cafeteria."
"I believed she was on our side at first, but it turns out she was working for Genpaku and using me to acquire their data. Although I was able to thwart her goals, it looks that she was still able to deliver the information to him..."
"However, while Dueling that female, I was able to obtain some further information regarding Genpaku's whereabouts, and when I believed I could still save Ayuka and Alpha, it ended up in a Duel..."
"I attempted to warn Nina after she woke up, but it was too late... And there was nothing I could do because they were all unconscious... I couldn't carry three of them, so I thought Nina might help me out in the end, but it appears I failed..."
"So, why does Genpaku require all three?" Codey took a deep breath and swallowed.
"To surpass his plan, he needs at least six Elements... There are three of them, and each has a unique skill... That is, he is most likely attempting to siphon off their power and use it for his own gain."
"At the very least, we now know where Genpaku is and can cut those perverted hands off his body."
"I hope you're ready, Codey... Because this isn't going to be simple!"
Codey grew more self-assured and serious.
"I am always ready! Let's reclaim them!"
To be continued...