“Why would that Sea Horse guy choose this place for a duel?”
Stepping onto the top of the airship’s arena, City went to realize what Sea Horse meant when he said, "Be careful, your body might freeze."
It was literal. Fighting at a thousand meters in the air, the wind was freezing. It would freeze the blood in your veins.
Yu Xuan felt the cold too. The Sky Arena was at least a thousand meters above the ground. The wind was howling. He pulled his clothes tighter.
But the coldness of the wind was nothing compared to the coldness in those two men's hearts.
Yu Xuan looked up at Malik and Lycid as they slowly walked into the Sky Arena, his face full of a pure and innocent smile.
Lycid’s expression was calm, but his heart was already pounding like a drum.
He wasn’t afraid of strong enemies. Even when facing Yugi, he would have no hesitation in crushing him, delivering victory to Lord Malik.
But facing Malik, he was finding it hard to do.
“Lord Malik, are we really going to duel? What if we reveal our identities and preserve our strength? It would be best if we didn’t harm each other.”
Lycid anxiously sent a question to Malik in his mind.
As Malik's sworn brother, he had established a mental connection with him a long time ago, allowing them to have a private chat anytime.
The reason he, Lycid, was disguised as the leader of the Gulzus Group was to allow Lord Malik to disguise himself, making it easier for him to move about.
But if they faced each other in a duel, one of them would lose. Regardless of who loses, it would result in the loss of a valuable fighter, making it pointless.
“No way.”
Malik responded using the power of the Millennium Rod, “Even if we reveal our identities, Sea Horse, the way that guy does things, would very likely maintain the current battle order, and that would be even more meaningless.”
Malik’s brows furrowed. He made Lycid disguise himself as him.
It was to get closer to Sea Horse and control him with the Millennium Rod.
But in this situation, he was having a hard time getting close to Sea Horse, reading his memories, and figuring out the secrets of the stone wall.
Malik even suspected that Sea Horse had figured out their identities and was intentionally making them fight each other.
However, it was a clever scheme, and he had no choice but to accept his fate.
“There’s no way around it, Lycid. You have to sacrifice yourself and allow me to win the Quarter-Finals and advance to the Finals. Then, with Winged Dragon of Ra in my possession, I’ll personally take revenge on the unnamed Pharaoh!”
Malik made up his mind and commanded with his thoughts.
“As you command, I will be the stepping stone to your victory.”
Lycid agreed in his heart, prepared to lose.
“The match begins!”
With the referee, Isano, waving his hand, the duel between Lycid and Malik, a clash within the Gulzus, began.
“I’ll go first. I set one card face down, and my turn is over.”
Lycid decisively went first, but he didn't summon a single monster, opting to set one card and pass.
“Looks like these two have figured out a plan to ensure Malik makes it to the top four.”
Seeing Lycid's move, Yu Xuan instantly understood that these two had already secretly discussed their strategy.
Lycid’s card-playing skills were actually quite good, especially when it came to traps. In his hand, he had six cards and was able to set five of them face down.
In the original story, he completely crushed City.
If it wasn't for Malik suddenly losing his mind and forcing Lycid to use Winged Dragon of Ra, the stolen version,
leading to Lycid being punished by God and becoming dazed, City would have been eliminated in the Quarter-Finals.
Winged Dragon of Ra: I’m a traitor too???
In contrast, Malik’s actual card-playing skills were truly inferior to Lycid’s. He was forced to use Winged Dragon of Ra during his duel with City.
Ultimately, he relied on the god card’s actual damage to exhaust City’s health and won the match in such a shameful way.
However, this duel was clearly different.
Lycid was obviously throwing the match, using only one trap per turn from a hand full of magic and traps, silently waiting for Malik to start his attack.
Malik obviously didn’t want to reveal too much of his strength in this surefire win, so he only used basic monsters like Gill-Gass and Scales, monsters without special effects.
As a result, the battle was incredibly close, and the winner wasn't clear for a while.
Of course, someone determined to lose would eventually lose.
After a few rounds of back-and-forth, Lycid was overwhelmed by Malik’s numerous basic monsters, his life points dwindling, leading to his defeat.
“Ram actually won! The leader of the Gulzus isn't so powerful after all. He's just a big idiot.”
Seeing “Ram” win, City excitedly applauded.
He felt the frustration of being bullied by the Gulzus had eased a little.
Faced with this harsh praise, Malik smiled awkwardly and accepted City’s compliment.
Sea Horse simply snorted and said nothing. Knowing the truth, he was quite entertained watching the two dogs bite each other.
Although Yugi wasn’t reminded by Yu Xuan about Ram’s true identity.
He also noticed during the duel that Lycid hadn’t used his full power.
The Gulzus leader’s strength was not as strong as the puppet he had faced before. He hadn’t even used a god card. How is that possible?
No matter how confused the uninformed were, the match ended with Ram victorious and the Gulzus leader defeated.
Malik, who inexplicably lost his right-hand man, wasn’t very happy either. He didn’t say anything, simply walked off the duel field.
“Hmm? Something’s not right.”
Seeing Malik leave, Yu Xuan remembered something and stopped smiling.
He suddenly realized that he had promised Isis, Malik’s sister, that he would help him fix his brother’s personality.
While Lycid had lost, he hadn’t suffered any real damage and was still in good condition.
Lycid was the key to stabilizing Malik’s emotions.
Without him falling, the dark Malik wouldn’t appear, and how could he fix Malik’s personality?
“Forget it, since Malik has qualified for the top four, as long as I make it to the top four, I’ll have a chance to face him. If I can push him to the brink, maybe the dark personality will appear.”
Yu Xuan thought in his heart, should he use a targeted strategy to force Malik’s hand, or should he use the Giant Soldier of Stone to give him a taste of his own medicine?
Getting hit by a Giant Soldier of Stone with tiny fists should be able to fix any dark personality, right?
After the duel between Malik and Lycid, there was a twenty-minute break.
Of course, Yu Xuan and the others didn’t relax, after all, the Bingo Machine was random, and they could be selected next.
Isano, the referee, also used the Bingo Machine during this break to select the two contestants for the second duel.
“The contestants for the second duel are Bakura and City. Please proceed to the duel field.”