Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Chapter 562 - 562

"Only two days have passed, and already two of the Shadow Riders have been defeated?"

Lying flat inside the life-support pod, the centuries-old man could only maintain his failing bodily functions through the dense oxygen tubes barely keeping him alive.

"Headmistress Chiyuki Hoshino… That Seto Kaiba brat certainly planted a troubleso piece inside this academy."

The man in the white coat, busy adjusting the apparatus, replied respectfully,

"Chairman Kagemaru, even though the forr Duel King has long retired from the professional scene, her strength remains formidable."

The one addressed as Chairman Kagemaru was the frail old man subrged within the life-support machine.

He had once collaborated with KaibaCorp to establish Duel Academy on this island, his true purpose being to seize the three Sacred Beast cards sealed beneath it.

By nurturing duelists with the power to command Duel Spirits, he intended to accelerate the revival of the Three Sacred Beasts—and ultimately use their power to prolong, or even achieve, eternal life.

That was why the wealthy and self-indulgent Kagemaru invested in Duel Academy.

But what Kagemaru never expected was that Seto Kaiba was even more cunning than he was.

Kaiba had already seen through both the danger of the Sacred Beasts and Kagemaru's malicious ambitions. While accepting Kagemaru's funding, he secretly added seven additional layers of seals on top of the original one.

Thus, even when sufficient Power accumulated, the Sacred Beasts could not fully awaken. At best, fragnts of their strength could be manifested through the Shadow Riders.

The white-coated man continued,

"And the most critical issue is that Hoshino is carrying all seven keys needed to release those seals. This shows she is completely confident in defeating all of us by herself."

"Heh… how amusing. A re human attempting to challenge the might of the Sacred Beasts."

From within the life-support device, Kagemaru's decayed body released a chilling, twisted laugh.

"Then command Nightshroud to harness the power of Uria, Lord of Searing Flas, and burn that arrogant girl to ashes."

"Uria, Lord of Searing Flas?"

A flicker of shock flashed in the man's deep eyes. "Forcing a Sacred Beast to manifest in an incomplete state is extrely dangerous."

"No matter. Those pawns were ant to be discarded from the start.

We may as well squeeze out whatever value remains before they break."

(***)

Hot Spring Inn —

"Ahh~ A soak after dinner really is heavenly."

With the starry night overhead, the open-air hot spring felt even more dreamlike and enchanting.

"Soaking three tis in one day… I feel like I've gotten younger."

"If you get any younger, Senpai, you'll revert into a child," Alexis teased.

Every ti she looked at Hoshino's cute, youthful face, she struggled to associate her with a Duel King in her twenties.

Was this the legendary 'ageless beauty'? It was simply too unfair…

"I'm done! You two can keep soaking if you want!"

Barefoot, Akasha hopped across the slippery floor and slipped out of the pool.

"That was only a few minutes…" Alexis blinked. "She was the one begging to co here, and she's the first to run off?"

Hoshino sank lower into the water until only her eyes peeked out like a floating frog. She glanced sideways at Akasha's retreating back.

"Blub—blub—blub. (She probably ate too much at dinner and got dizzy.)"

Her mouth was subrged, so Alexis heard nothing but bubbling nonsense.

Hurriedly slipping on her yukata, Akasha grabbed her phone from the changing basket and ssaged Jaden.

"(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾒ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉ Stick to the plan. Ready, Jaden?"

Waiting outside the hot spring entrance, Jaden checked his vibrating phone.

"Standing by anyti. —Jaden."

"Love is a duel, and this is the card I've set face-down!"

Back in the room, Akasha pulled out her "secret weapon" hidden in the cabinet.

"Since Alexis kissed Hoshino-nee for that reason, I can't fall behind! Jaden, you definitely need to stall Alexis later!"

.

..

...

Walking leisurely out of the bath, her hands tucked into her loose yukata sleeves, Hoshino spoke with anticipation:

"This ti, I'll buy you a bottle of ice-cold milk after the bath, Alexis~"

Strangely enough, this luxurious hot spring inn allowed unlimited fancy dinner refills, yet the traditional post-bath milk still required a coin purchase.

Perhaps it was to preserve the 'authentic hot spring experience'?

Hearing their conversation from the entrance, Jaden seized the mont and boldly charged forward alone.

"I've been waiting for this mont—Alexis, duel !"

"Jaden?"

Both Alexis and Hoshino froze at his sudden appearance and dramatic declaration.

"After watching today's duel, I can't suppress the duelist spirit burning inside !

Co—let's settle this, Alexis!"

"You really are duel-brained…" Hoshino muttered. But knowing Jaden, this wasn't surprising at all.

"A duel with you? Sure."

Having been crushed by Akasha earlier, Alexis also wanted to vent a little.

"But my Deck and Duel Disk are in the room. I'll need to go back and grab them."

"Ah—go back to your room—wait!"

Jaden quickly blocked her path. "Before we duel, let's warm up first! With this inn's specialty—ping-pong!"

"…How is ping-pong supposed to warm you up for a duel?"

"Because when you think of hot spring inns, you think of ping-pong!

Or… is Alexis afraid to face ?"

To help Akasha's plan succeed, Jaden even resorted to such a clumsy taunt.

Alexis's long, elegant eyebrows twitched twice, and the corners of her lips curled upward.

"Oh? Saying that I'm scared? How amusing. Back in grade school, they called the Ping-Pong Princess."

No one expected Jaden's clumsy provocation to work perfectly on Alexis.

Hoshino proudly raised a small hand.

"Ping-pong after a hot spring? That's the true full-course experience! Let join too!"

"Ah, Sensei… could I trouble you to go back to the room first and grab Alexis's Duel Disk and deck?"

Hoshino puffed out her cheeks unhappily.

"(○｀3′○) Eh? You're not letting play? How stingy."

But then she rembered her own ping-pong "skills." She could barely serve straight—and showing that embarrassnt sounded far worse than running an errand.

"All right then. My turn—serve incoming, Alexis!"

"Bring it on, Jaden."

DUEL (Ping-Pong)!!

Far from the heated "battlefield," Hoshino returned to the inn room door and pushed it open.

"Ugh—what's this sll? So sharp!"

With the door tightly shut and even the windows sealed, Akasha sat with her feet soaking in the room's foot bath, giving Hoshino a sultry look.

"Probably so new incense the landlady replaced. Don't mind it—co soak your feet with , Hoshino-nee~"

She eagerly patted the empty space beside her.

"You rushed out of the hot spring earlier, and now you ca back to soak your feet. Akasha, your tastes are really weird… Are you into your own feet or sothing?"

Hoshino shook her head. She was only here to fetch Alexis's Duel Disk and deck anyway. And soaking your feet right after a full hot bath… no matter how she thought about it, it was strange.

"Jaden and Alexis are about to duel. Don't you want to go watch?"

Seeing Hoshino refuse to take the bait, Akasha imdiately grabbed her legs dramatically and wailed:

"ヽ(.>д