With a crisp electronic beep, the Duel Disk on Nate’s left arm flung open with a low mechanical sound, a sapphire-blue glow lighting up among the trees.
The commotion immediately caught the attention of the few Class 10 students not far off.
One of the boys turned his head, and seeing it was Nate, he let out a sigh of relief.
“I thought it was someone else.
So it’s you, Nate.” With that, he drew a card and slotted it into his Duel Disk.
The next moment, three enormous swords of light descended from the sky, forming the golden barrier of [Swords of Revealing Light], pinning the three roaring, lunging [Goblin Attack Force] firmly in midair.
“Swords of Revealing Light?” Looking at the Spell that had appeared on the field, Nate raised an eyebrow.
He’d meant to help, but from the look of it, it seemed his hand wasn’t needed.
“We’re fine over here.
These green-skinned shorties hit hard, but they switch to Defense Position after attacking, so we can handle them.
Go help Kai, he’s probably run into the Class 5 crowd!” At that, Nate switched off his Duel Disk, brows furrowing slightly.
“Kai?” “Yeah!” the boy who’d spoken continued.
“On our way here just now, we heard people from other classes say Kai found a hidden Ruins!
Word’s gotten out now, and quite a few people have swarmed over, especially that Class 5 bunch.
You know Class 5 has a grudge with our class, they’ll definitely seize the chance to target Kai!
We were going to back him up, but these goblins blocked our path halfway and we can’t shake them off!” Hearing this, Nate wasted no words, asking crisply, “Where’s the Ruins?” “Due east, about two kilometers from here!” Having gotten the exact location, Nate turned without hesitation and sped off into the dense forest to the east.
Wind howled past his ears as Nate darted swiftly through the tree shadows.
But he hadn’t run far when he heard a light, even set of footsteps behind him.
Nate tilted his head slightly.
Rio Kastle, it turned out, had caught up at some point.
Even running through the tangled woodland, her gait remained light, her ice-blue hair lifting in the wind, not even her breathing the slightest bit disordered.
Seeing Nate glance at her, Rio Kastle couldn’t help smiling.
“Please don’t misunderstand, classmate Nate.
I’m not following you.
I’m rather curious about that hidden Ruins myself, and merely intend to take a look along the way.” Nate said nothing, silently drew his gaze back, and quickened his pace once more.
…
The two-kilometer distance passed in the blink of an eye.
After cutting through a dense patch of bushes, the terrain ahead opened up suddenly.
A massive rocky fissure appeared in the ground, with what looked like ancient, hand-carved stone steps at its mouth, leading all the way down into the bottomless underground.
This was the entrance to the Ruins.
Charging swiftly down the stone steps into the underground, the light around them dimmed in an instant.
This was an enormous structure, like an ancient subterranean palace.
Thick obsidian pillars stood all around, the walls carved with savage-faced demons and relief sculptures of twisting lightning.
A damp, oppressive air hung throughout, and faintly, it was as if an exceedingly pure, domineering pulse of darkness lay dormant in the deepest depths of the underground palace, like a sleeping demon god.
Nate had barely stepped into the palace’s outer hall when a violent blast came roaring from the great hall ahead!
“Boom!!” Dark-red flames detonated fiercely within the underground palace.
Along with a piercing beast-roar, the knot-muscled ace monster on Kai’s field, [Rhinotaurus], shattered in an instant within the terrible black flames, dissolving into a sky full of golden light particles.
And in the center of the great hall, a terrifying massive dragon, its body vast, clad head to toe in pitch-black bone armor, eyes like blood-red lanterns, beat its dragon wings and let out a deafening roar!
[B.
Skull Dragon, Level 9, DARK attribute, Dragon / Fusion, ATK: 3200] “Urghaaah!” As the monster was destroyed, the powerful impact from the holographic projection sent Kai’s round body flying outright.
[Kai: LP 700 → 0] He crashed hard onto the cold stone floor with a muffled grunt.
The Duel Disk on his arm automatically folded shut on the loss ruling, and the cards in his Deck scattered across the ground.
“Hahaha!
With skills like that, and you dare come to the Ruins?” At the other end of the field, a boy in a Class 5 uniform came sauntering over.
He looked down at Kai sprawled on the ground, his face full of undisguised contempt.
The boy walked up to Kai, bent down, and picked up the [Rhinotaurus] from the scattered cards.
He held the card between two fingers, waved it in the air, and curved the corner of his mouth into a vicious sneer.
“By the card-wager rules, the winner gets to take one card from the loser.” He glanced at the monster on the card and curled his lip in disdain.
“This is your ace?
A vanilla with a measly 1,800 attack?
Honestly worse than a small fry.” A flicker of malice flashed in the boy’s eyes.
His two fingers suddenly pinched the card’s edge tight, and he sneered.
“Trash like this, leaving it in the world just pollutes the card pool.
I might as well do you a kindness and tear it up for you.” On the ground, Kai’s eyes went red, both fists clenched so hard his nails nearly dug into his palms.
He’d lost the duel and his card was being taken.
However much it hurt, he knew those were the rules.
But seeing the ace that had stood by him humiliated like this, he couldn’t help bellowing in fury.
“Stop!
You won the duel, you can take the card, but you’ve got no right to tear it up!” “The rules never said a card won in a wager can’t be torn up!” The boy scoffed, and his fingers suddenly tensed.
“Hold it.” In that instant, a low, cold voice abruptly echoed through the empty underground palace.
The Class 5 boy’s movement halted, and he instinctively turned to look.
On the ground, Kai too struggled to lift his head, and when he made out the tall, slender figure walking out from the entrance of the palace, the despair in his eyes burst into a light of joyful surprise.
“N-Nate?!” Nate walked out from the shadow of the stone pillar, his expression blank, his deep eyes locked hard on the Class 5 boy’s hand.
At the same time, Rio Kastle walked in after him, and when she saw the cards scattered on the ground and the boy poised to tear one up, her brows knit and a flicker of displeasure crossed her eyes.
Nate paid no mind to the others’ gazes.
He raised his left arm, and the Duel Disk flung open with a low mechanical whir, the sapphire-blue glow casting his eyes in an utterly cold, severe light.
“Put his card down.” Nate stared at the Class 5 boy, not a trace of warmth in his tone.
“Unless you want your cards torn up next!”