Chapter 1023: Chapter 1023: The King’s Fear (II)

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"To be alone with this guy is absolutely impossible!"

Yubel’s tone was firm, decisive and unyielding.

At the same time, her gaze at Kira was full of hostility, mingled with suspicion and a hint of wariness.

No other reason—she’d been beaten too much before.

Yubel had traversed countless worlds and lifetimes, but she’d never seen such a bizarre duelist. Once, she was confident that, in this dimension, she stood at the apex, with few rivals. But after witnessing Kira’s duels more than once, that confidence had all but vanished.

This guy is a monster in human skin!

When Yubel had previously turned dark, she’d thought that once her strength recovered, she’d definitely teach this guy a lesson to vent her anger. But after watching Kira duel the three Wicked Gods, most of those thoughts had faded away.

Now, all she wanted was to stay as far from this guy as possible. She absolutely didn’t want to get caught up with him.

But now, Jaden actually wanted to hand her over to this guy—saying what...to assist with his research?

Research what? Her own body?

God knows what this demon might do to her when Jaden isn’t around!

"Yubel, you don’t understand. Kira’s research skills are really strong!" Jaden insisted. "I’ve seen it myself—many deck archetypes that were once ignored by everyone have been greatly improved after being developed by Kira and his team.

It’s an opportunity that many others could only dream of..."

"No!"

Yubel was resolute.

Crossing her arms and pouting, she said, "Besides, I’m already strong enough. I don’t need any enhancement."

Kira smiled, "Since she’s unwilling, let’s just forget it, Jaden. It’s not something we can force."

He sighed as he spoke, shaking his head with regret.

"What a pity. She’s a really promising seedling. Yubel is special—she was a spirit with tremendous potential, but then was led astray by the Light of Destruction, taking an erroneous evolutionary path.

Now, even though she’s free of control, her potential has inevitably been affected."

Kira spoke as if to himself, pulling a card from somewhere.

"It’s a shame. Back when Yubel is only one arm, I did some research and collected some data, which already gave me important inspiration for her next evolutionary direction.

If I could keep developing...oh well, I’ll just look for another candidate."

Though Yubel had refused firmly, she couldn’t help her curiosity after seeing the card Kira produced. She couldn’t resist and leaned in to take a look.

One glance—and her whole body trembled.

Is this...really me!?

[Spirit of Yubel]

[ATK 0, DEF 0]

[Effect: When your opponent declares an attack, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

When this card is Special Summoned, search your Deck for a Spell/Trap card with "Yubel" in its name, add it to your hand or Set it directly to the field.

This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no battle damage from battles involving it.

If this card is destroyed, Special Summon a "Yubel" from your hand, Deck, Graveyard, or banished zone.]

Yubel’s pupils contracted.

Spirit of Yubel... Could this card really be the direction she was supposed to evolve in?

Though it was faint, she could indeed sense a subtle pull from the card—her own aura was present.

But in reality, the card couldn’t truly be called a "card," at least not one usable in a duel.

That’s because it was just a prototype, not yet complete.

Kira was able to make this card only because he knew that "Spirit of Yubel" truly existed, and he knew the direction. However, the card’s creation was only at the starting stage—it wasn’t ready for use.

When a new card is born, the text on the card is a natural manifestation of its innate power according to the rules of dueling, not whatever the designer wants to write. If it were, anyone could just write whatever broken values they wanted and become invincible.

But this card hadn’t reached the stage where its effect could be fully realized. The effects written were simply what Kira remembered and wrote from memory; it couldn’t be used in a real duel. Its purpose was, first, as a design template, and second—just as now—as bait to lure Yubel in.

Sure enough, Yubel stared at the card, clearly tempted.

"Actually...it’s not entirely impossible," she muttered.

"Hmm?" Kira raised an eyebrow at her.

Yubel looked away, arms crossed: "Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s all for Jaden. Yes! For Jaden, I suppose I can endure a little...help you out a bit. It’s not impossible."

Kira grinned.

It’s clearly a win–win situation, but why does it feel like I’m taking advantage of you?

But Kira didn’t mind. "Alright. I’ll be counting on you from now on."

After agreeing, Kira looked down from the rooftop again, gazing at the island’s endless forest, and beyond, the crashing waves.

There are more worlds beyond this one.

The Wicked Gods were right. There was darkness in Kira’s heart too, with fears that no one knew.

The world saw him as invincible, a legend of the undefeated king, believing that his existence represented the peak of the dueling world. But Kira knew it wasn’t so.

The ocean of Duel Monsters ran deeper than anyone in this world could imagine. Beyond this dimension lay even more, with domains unknown to all. Other-dimensional powerhouses might possess even more advanced summoning methods, scarier deck systems.

He’d seen it—he knew what kind of terrifying systems were out there.

If a mere mortal without destiny’s power held a strong deck, that was nothing to fear. But if someone with protagonist-level destiny, like "Jellyfish Head" (a main character) or a big anime villain, came at him with a top-tier modern deck, honestly, Kira wasn’t sure he could win.

So, even as the invincible king in everyone else’s eyes, he’d never truly felt safe.

He never had that absolute faith that he held the greatest power, unafraid of any challenge.

That’s why he valued Yubel’s development so much. A complete Yubel deck would be top-tier throughout all of Yu-Gi-Oh!’s history—at least in the modern meta, she’d be far from weak.

Plus, those three Wicked Gods kept mentioning worlds beyond this dimension, including that supposedly unique "Supreme Sun" card...

Kira pulled out the three Wicked God cards, pondering.

It was a bit risky, but he felt he really needed to get to the bottom of it with these three.

....