Having experienced it once before, Yugen was prepared this time, half-crouching to land steadily on the ground.
A pungent smell assaulted him, the air seeming to carry a damp and musty scent. The surrounding walls, eroded by time, were mottled, with patchy water stains spreading across the surface, forming strange, abstract patterns.
The environment was completely different from the verdant, lush forest he had landed in last time.
"Is this the Spirit World too?"
Yugen looked around, and as he turned, he saw Silent Magician, staff in hand, vigilantly guarding him.
So, he felt curious and reached out to try pinching her snow-white cheek.
Hmm, still the same texture.
"It really is the Spirit World again, huh?" Yugen mused.
Silent Magician: "???"
How did my face become test equipment?
She immediately pouted, then in a flash, she darted back into her card.
Spirits can return to their cards even in the Spirit World; it's just that spirits here are normally corporeal. In reality, they can also materialize, but it requires extra energy.
Even a powerful spirit like Jaden's later Ultraman (Neos) only has a few minutes of active time in reality. Hmm, sounds pretty normal, actually.
So Yugen asked Black Luster Soldier again: "Is this still the same Spirit World as before?"
Black Luster Soldier shook his head: "No, this is not the world I am familiar with. But I can sense that the same evil is spreading in this dimension. This world has also been corrupted by the forces of the Wicked God."
"Orichalcos? Here?"
Indeed, the Orichalcos rogue snake has a huge appetite, eyeing not only the real world but also countless spirit dimensions.
"However, the barrier between this dimension and the dimension where you duelists reside has been weakened significantly by the Wicked God's invasion," Black Luster Soldier said. "If necessary, with my power, I can break through the barrier and return to reality at any time."
Yugen felt a little reassured. If he could leave at any time, there was nothing to fear.
After all, Black Luster Soldier is the legendary one who created the world, possessing the power of Dimension Slash; he's reliable. With Black Luster Soldier around, it seems there's no need to worry about getting lost in other dimensions anymore.
He recalled that Yubel, the final boss in the later anime, also had considerable spatial abilities. Even in an incomplete state with only one arm, she could effortlessly drag the entire Duel Academy into another dimension. He wondered if Black Luster Soldier's spatial abilities could contend with hers then.
"Do you want to go?" Black Luster Soldier asked.
"Not yet." Yugen stood up.
Since he was already here.
Moreover, based on the image before the teleportation, although Jaden's two hanging-out roommates were outside the light, Jaden should have been teleported with him. He wasn't sure if it was because only he and Jaden were standing inside the drawing on the floor of that room at the time, or if it was related to them both being duelists with spirit powers.
It's probably best to find out if Jaden is nearby first.
He stood up and had barely taken a few steps when he turned his head and was startled.
He saw corpses.
The bodies of warriors in armor, blood-stained blades discarded to the side. There were also sorcerers, reduced to skeletons in their robes, broken staffs abandoned nearby.
A large pile of corpses was stacked here.
Soon after, human voices came from behind, calling towards this direction.
"Hm? Another fish slipped through the net!"
"Sacrificial offering!" Someone else shouted, "Stop, don't run!"
Two figures thump-thump-thump ran over. Yugen focused, and saw two walking skeletons, clad in armor, wielding swords and shields, with helmets on their heads.
The two skeleton soldiers hurried a few steps, then slowed down as they approached.
Because they realized, this sacrificial offering seemed to have no intention of running at all.
"Sacrificial offering, are you talking about me?" Yugen asked.
"Of course, who else could it be?"
Yugen pondered. If their teleportation drop point wasn't far, then Jaden might be over there.
"Alright, lead the way then. Where's the venue?" Yugen said.
The two skeleton soldiers exchanged glances.
Holy cow, why does today's offering seem so enthusiastic?
But that certainly saved them a lot of trouble. The two skeleton soldiers flanked him, one in front and one behind, seemingly to prevent him from escaping.
However, they quickly found that such worries were unnecessary. The offering not only had no intention of escaping but was even quite talkative.
Yugen casually asked, as if making small talk: "Ritual. Let me guess, is it a sacrifice ritual for the great god Orichalcos?"
The two skeleton soldiers shuddered, turning their heads in unison to look at him in shock.
"You... you why did you say that name?" One of the Skeleton Soldiers exclaimed, "How do you know the great True God's common name?"
Indeed, they were all subordinates of that rogue snake.
The taller Skeleton Soldier was even more startled, looking at his shorter companion: "Big brother, this... this person isn't a believer of my True God, is he?"
"Don't talk nonsense, how could that be?" The shorter skeleton was also filled with doubt, but still waved his hand, "Although I don't know where he learned the True God's common name, there isn't the slightest fluctuation of divine blessing on him."
The tall skeleton nodded, but still looked at Yugen with some suspicion in its eyes.
"Your usual work must be quite difficult, the conditions here seem terrible," Yugen continued to chat. "Oh right, did you see another offering? Like me, a Human, in a red jellyfish-headed uniform, who likes to shout when he talks..."
The two skeletons: "..."
Unfortunately, the two skeletons' jawbones couldn't reveal more information. Passing through several doors, they entered a dark, vast, and damp hall, seemingly an entrance to the underworld. Thick moss covered the surrounding walls, and in the center was a huge circular altar, displaying chilling sacrificial items.
Around the altar, complex magic circles were drawn on the ground, each position inlaid with glowing gemstones, emitting a faint, cold light. Several large pillars supported the dome, with ancient runic patterns carved into them.
Many skeleton soldiers similar to the two were arrayed and scattered around. Yugen noticed there were also some captives, all dusty and chained.
And on the central altar, a priest in a dark gray robe stood, under the hood was a chilling Skull Servant. On its arm, a certain kind of apparatus similar to a Duel Disk materialized from black mist.
Opposite it was a blonde warrior in armor, also wearing something akin to a Duel Disk on his arm, half-kneeling on the ground, clutching his chest and spitting blood.
"It ends like this! The soul that loses in the battle ritual will become the god's sustenance!"
That Skull Servant roared.
"I will attack directly! 'King of the Skull Servants' attacks!"
Itself split into a phantom forming a doppelganger. The black-robed Skull Servant soared up, and a towering bone structure abruptly rose from the ground, from which magical power surged forth like a vortex of undead, engulfing the warrior opposite.
"Argh!"
The warrior let out a scream, falling flat on his face. Green light bloomed on the altar, and his soul was extracted from his body, spiraling up into the sky along with the green light.
Only then did Yugen recognize the priest presiding over the ritual. It was King of the Skull Servants!
King of the Skull Servants is a 1-star Zombie-Type monster, belonging to the Skull Servant archetype.
A sacrifice ritual actually has to be carried out through dueling; this is too Yu-Gi-Oh.
This method, upon reflection, seemed a bit risky. What if the duel was lost, and the priest was sacrificed by the offering? Wouldn't that be hilarious?
"Another soul sacrificed to the great god."
The mark of Orichalcos appeared on King of the Skull Servants' forehead, and green light sparked in its empty eye sockets.
"Carry him away, next!"
Another chained warrior was forced onto the stage. Yugen observed that each captive would have their chains removed by the skeleton soldiers before ascending the stage. Once the chains were off, a golden light would condense on their arm, materializing into a form similar to a Duel Disk.
"Be grateful, the gods enjoy consuming the souls of fallen warriors. Therefore, you are all specially granted the opportunity to fight for your survival."
That King of the Skull Servants raised its Duel Disk and said profoundly.
"Of course, the outcome is actually predetermined."
"Damn it, don't be so arrogant."
The warrior gritted his teeth and slapped open his Duel Disk.
After observing a bit longer, Yugen was confident.
That King of the Skull Servants was indeed using its own "Skull Servant" deck.
And the opponents it faced weren't particularly strong. The deck itself was a pile of cards with no real power, and there didn't seem to be any special "destiny force" attributes. Their skill level was probably similar to the average duelist outside, not even as good as Duel Academy students.
If all the opponents were like that, then King of the Skull Servants clearly wasn't going to lose.
However, Yugen observed for a while and felt he had a good grasp of this King of the Skull Servants priest's skill level.
Perhaps it had some minor destiny force ability, but it wasn't particularly strong. And since he already knew what deck the opponent was using, winning should not be too difficult.
In just two or three turns, the second person had already lost, their soul being absorbed into the sky by the soaring green light.
King of the Skull Servants: "Next!"
The two skeleton soldiers, one tall and one short, who were responsible for escorting Yugen, were turning their heads to prepare to bring the offering forward, but they couldn't help but freeze when they looked at his original position.
Where was the offering?
Frozen, they looked up again, and startlingly, they saw that the offering they were responsible for had already voluntarily climbed onto the altar after the previous person was sacrificed.
All the skeletons: "?"
This development left the rigid, devout followers a bit surprised. They couldn't help but collectively cast questioning glances at the two tall and short skeletons. It was as if they were asking, "Where did you find such a highly self-motivated offering?"
The taller skeleton's jaw dropped even further, and after a long while, unable to help himself, he said to the shorter skeleton beside him: "He really is a believer of the True God!"
And for the success of the ritual, he actually went up without hesitation to sacrifice himself...
The tall follower's own spirit was awakened, feeling that he could never hope to match such steadfast faith. In his eyes, Yugen's back on the altar instantly grew much larger.
Even King of the Skull Servants paused for a moment at this sight. It was Yugen who activated his Duel Disk. After waiting a while and seeing no movement from the other side, he became a little impatient: "Dude, are you going to sacrifice or not? If not, I can leave."
King of the Skull Servants: "..."