Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh

Demon Duelist Legacy-World Tour Arc

Chapter 31: Wrapping up loose ends

The dark smile on Rikuo's face grew deeper. "So that a certain friend of yours could come to a decision. By the way, it's my turn." His arm lifted up to reveal Sestros' duel disk attached to his arm. Drawing the top card of the Torture King's deck, he flicked it aside. "Oh, and last I checked my Attack Redirection Armor was still in play." Right above his head, the demonic suit of steel armor appeared. "And you're still the target."

Eyes wide, Sestros drove his claw down. "Damn you!!!"

Rikuo prayed that he was faster on the draw. "Hellblade, direct attack!" From out of the darkness behind him sprang Sestros' ultimate warrior, which blew right through the Torture King's chest.

Stumbling backwards, Sestros stared at the hole in his chest where his heart had been. ("All of my plans...") He continued to fall backwards, crashing into the ground. While his blood pooled around him, the Torture King managed to mutter something. "Reveal.........Dar...k...ne...s...s...A...b......y......s............s......"

Kilomet Sestros felt the remains of his life drain away, and he knew it was over. His legacy was to die with him.

Standing over the quickly cooling body of his ex-tormentor, Rikuo couldn't stop himself from saying it. "Funny how history repeats itself, eh?" Tossing Sestros' duel disk aside, Rikuo began the slow and painful walk to go and make sure that Ryu was alive.

If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed that right before the holographic representations had shut off, the face-down card that Sestros had set was face-up on the field.

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"Damn it Jourgen, don't touch my leg." Rikuo wanted to yell, but his throat was too sore. He had just channeled huge amounts of dark energy through his body, and now he was paying the price for it. While it may have saved him from immediate death, chances weren't very good that he had much more fight in him for a long time. ("Not that it matters. Sestros is completely dead, and the world is safe.")

Ryu grimaced and continued to support Rikuo while the two of them made their walk up the tunnel. "You know, considering how I helped you and all, maybe you should be nice to me."

"I am being nice," Rikuo muttered dejectedly. "Now shut up and get me to the others. I want to make sure they are okay."

A few minutes passed in silence as the two of them made incredibly slow progress towards the tunnel entrance.

As they passed through the second room, Rikuo thought of something. "So...how exactly did you just appear in the middle of the game? And why are you alive?"

Ryu smirked. "I've had over five thousand years to prepare for situations like this one. Trust me, I'll stay dead when I damn when feel like it."

Rikuo didn't bother asking. "That doesn't explain how you got into the darkness game."

Ryu continued to smirk, though he didn't answer. ("My secrets are not for your ears, my friend.")

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"Get up Daniel; it's time to bring this to a close." A calm voice said.

("What?") Slowly, the half wolf-demon opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He was laying face-first in a small chamber made completely of blue crystal. "Where am I? The last thing I remember..."

"...was when you, as Hellblade, struck down Sestros." The voice said.

Something about the sound of that voice sent shivers down Daniel's spine. Coming to his feet, he sniffed the air and tried to pin-point some kind of smell that he could recognize.

"Don't bother, my friend. In this place, you are nothing more than a spirit, as am I." The voice was so familiar, why couldn't Daniel place it to an owner.

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Narrowing his eyes, Ryu came to a stop.

"What's the hold-up Jourgen!? Let's keep going!" Rikuo wasn't feeling very patient.

("That energy...it's not evil...but it is dark. Now who or what is giving it off?") The dragon demon looked back the way that had come. ("Though I feel no evil in its power, it still sends shivers down my spine. Why?") "I will return shortly." Dropping Rikuo unceremoniously to the ground, Ryu walked back down the tunnel.

Rikuo was too confused as to what just happened to do more than lay in an injured heap on the ground.

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Finally, the owner of the voice appeared in the room. "Greetings Daniel, how have you been?"

The hairs on the half wolf-demon's neck stood up at the sight of a man he could have sworn was dead. "Giovan Garlin!? But you're banished!!!"

Straightening his business suit, Giovan chuckled. "You should know by now that I am very tough to kill."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "But you weren't killed...you were banished. You are not allowed to exist on this plane anymore, so how are you here!?"

"Anxious to know the truth, are we?" The dark-suited man turned to look at one of the crystal walls of the room. "What I am is not Giovan Garlin, or Kilomet Sestros. I am a fragment of Garlin's soul, which found refuge in your soul when he was had control of your mind."

Glancing back at Daniel, the spirit's dark eyes were filled with a calmness that could only come from planning. "And now all of my plans come to fruitation here and now." Lifting his arm, a silver and black duel disk appeared on it. "So, what do you say to one last darkness game, just for old time's sake?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, I refuse. We will not hold another one of these crazy little games. I'm not risking anything."

Chuckling, Giovan motioned to the crystal chamber around them. "Don't you realize where we are? This is the room of your soul, or what is left of it. Besides, the only thing you will be risking is yourself."

"What's the catch? What happens if you were to win?" Daniel had to admit he was curious.

"Simple enough, if I win, then I will be reborn in your body when Rikuo makes his wish. And if you win, then when Rikuo's wish is made, you shall return to the land of the living." Giovan spoke simply, with no malice or deceit in his voice. "And as long as I exist as part of your soul, the wish will be unable to revive you from the dead."

"You're lying," Daniel replied.

"Is it worth risking?" Giovan returned.

Lowering his eyes to the ground, Daniel frowned. "Very well, then it comes down to this. It will be a duel between the two of us, and the winner will live, while the loser will be lost to the darkness." Lifting his arm, he wasn't even surprised to find a duel disk there now. "Before we begin though, I want your promise that despite whatever happens you will leave my family and friends alone."

Giovan nodded. "Very well, I will honor that wish. Unlike Sestros, I do possess honor." He held up his duel disk, which had nothing in its deck slot. "And now, just to spice our battle up, I think it is time to invoke a special set of darkness rules."

"Special set of darkness rules?" Glancing at his own deck slot, Daniel found it empty too. "What's so special about this? How can we play without decks?"

"We have decks, just be warned that you will have to be quick on your feet with them." Throwing a hand into the air, Giovan yelled, "Let the Soul Deck Duel begin!"

"Soul Deck!?" Daniel felt a weak tug on his soul, and then in a flash of blue light a deck had found its way into his duel disk. "What's this? Where did these cards come from?"

"They came from your very soul." Giovan clicked his duel disk into place. "And that deck reflects the very inside of your soul. Many of the cards inside have never existed before, and therefore you will be left wondering exactly what combos, if any, exist."

Daniel clicked his duel disk into place. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? If you mean the Soul Deck System, it's so that neither of us can cheat. We will have to fight using our very souls if we wish to succeed. If you are talking about the challenge itself, it is quite simple." Drawing five cards from the top of his Soul Deck, Giovan fanned them out, though he had yet to look at them. "I do not want to die. There is too much I have never done in my life, because of Sestros."

Daniel understood all to well what Giovan was talking about. "You were his prisoner, weren't you?"

"No, not so much a prisoner as a separate spirit. I cannot say that I do not like torture, for I truly do enjoy it as an art. However, that does not make me like him. I hate to hurt those who do not deserve to suffer, and that is something that Sestros did in spades!" His eyes, while cruel, reflected something besides the blackness that was the entirety of Sestros' form. "I do not want to hurt innocent people, not if I can avoid it. However, he forced me to...I cannot make up for that, but I wish to have a chance to live again! That is why I challenge you to this battle!" Though his voice was the same as Daniel remembered it, Giovan also sounded less angry and dark. "Now, who will begin?"

Drawing five cards, Daniel nodded to the oddity before him. "Show me the power this game holds. Let me see if you truly deserve to live instead of me."

Giovan chuckled coldly. "You sound like a true demon now. That's very impressive." He drew. "Now, let this final game of darkness begin! Here is where the last battle between us, in all forms, will take place. Ready?"

Smiling, Daniel nodded. "Bring it on......friend."

Giovan returned the smile.

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Ryu stared at the ball of darkness that hung in the center of the arena. "It's a darkness game, but the question in my mind is...who's in there?"

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Giovan took a card from the center of his hand and placed it onto his duel disk. "I set one monster in face-down defense mode." The card appeared on the field in front of him. "And then I set one card face-down on the field." Right behind the monster, another brown-backed card appeared. "And that will be all for now."

Daniel actually bothered to look at his cards now. ("Hmm, very strange. These cards definitely are not normal.") He drew. "Alright, I think I understand what I am dealing with." Taking the card he had drawn, the half wolf-demon slid it into his duel disk. "I begin with the magic card Soul Reversal. This will allow me to take your face-down monster card off of the field and force you to play another four star or below monster card from your hand in its place. Then you pick up the removed card." A white mist appeared around the face-down card. "So take your pick of which card you want to switch your monster out with."

Giovan grasped another card from his hand and placed it onto his duel disk. "I'll set this monster face-down on the field. Then I'll pick up my original face-down monster card and place it back into my hand." Picking up the first creature card, the dark-suited man slid it back amongst his other cards.

Taking another card from his hand, Daniel placed it onto his disk. "Now I summon Edge Knight (1500/1300) in attack mode!" A warrior wearing futuristic silver armor and blade-bracers appeared on his field. "Attack his face-down monster!" The Edge Knight launched across the field and slashed right through the face-down monster card. It came apart to reveal a little green gremlin holding onto a jar, and letting out a little shriek of pain the creature died.

Giovan slid the monster card into his graveyard. "The creature you destroyed was Greed Goblin (300/1200) and when it is destroyed in battle I may draw one card from my deck." Casually he pulled the card off of the top of his deck, adding it to his hand. "Now, anything else you would like to do before I take my turn."

Nodding, Daniel slid a card into his duel disk. "Yeah, I'll set one card face-down on my field. End turn." The card appeared on the field right behind his Edge Knight.

Giovan drew his card. "So there's the soul of a knight in your heart? Interesting indeed..."

Daniel smirked, "It's just as interesting that a goblin is in yours."

Shrugging the insult off, Giovan placed a card onto his disk. "I set a monster down on my field in defense mode, ending my turn."

"You like to play defensively a lot, you know that right?" Daniel wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel so pressured to win. The only thing on the line was his life, and he was fine with that. It was when the end of the world rode on his win that things would get dicey.

Chuckling, Giovan slid his fan of cards closed. "That's enough analysis for now. Let's play."

Daniel drew. "Heh, it looks like I am going to get cracking down on your life points right now. I play the magic card Chrono Jump. This card allows us both to jump ahead three turns, and that means we each draw three cards."

Giovan drew his three new cards and added them to his hand. "Is there any particular reason that you are helping me?"

Drawing his three cards, Daniel winked to his opponent. "Because you're just soooo adorable that I thought I'd give you a present."

The splintered soul laughed gently at that. "I must admit that this is a rather entertaining duel, considering the stakes."

Taking a card from his hand, Daniel placed it onto his disk. "Trust me; it is only to get better. For now I summon Elemental Hero-Burst Lady (1200/800) in attack mode!" There was an explosion of fire next to his Edge Knight, and from within the fire emerged a winged woman in red spandex wearing a mask that concealed her face.

"A superhero?" Giovan chuckled. "I suppose that would be in the soul of young man, wouldn't it? Well then, let her and your knight come, for I am ready for them."

"We'll see. Burst Lady, Fire Blaze attack!" The woman charged up a ball within the palm of her hand. With expert aim she threw it across the field towards Giovan's face-down monster card.

"I would have hoped that you'd have been smarter than that, my friend! Reveal face-down trap card, Chaos Reversal! This will send your monster's attack right back at it!" A wave of multi-colored energy exploded from the card, striking the fireball and sending it back towards Burst Lady. "That was a foolish mistake."

"Was it?" Smirking, Daniel motioned to his face-down card. "Open face-down trap card, Healing Reversal! This will not only send my Burst Lady's attack back to your field, but I will also gain life points equal to her attack total." A golden wave of energy slammed into the fireball and knocked it back over towards Giovan's field, where it slammed right into the face-down monster card, blowing it apart.

Daniel- 5200

Giovan- 4000

Holding up the monster card, Giovan shook his head sadly. "You should know that attacking one of my face-down cards is just asking for trouble though. After all, I am the master of Torture Machines, right?" Sliding the card into his duel disk, he smiled as a metal chair appeared on his field. "You've attacked Torture Machine-Shocker (1200/900) and that spells trouble for your monster." Chains exploded out of the body of the Torture Machine, wrapping around the spandex-clad woman and pulling her into the chair. "Now every turn you monster will be electrified for 1000 points of damage, and so will you."

Grimacing, Daniel pointed at Giovan. "Edge Knight, direct attack!" Launching across the field, the knight slashed right into the man's body, leaving behind huge gashes in his chest.

Daniel- 5200

Giovan- 2500

Giovan didn't seem to mind though. "I will survive all pain, for despite our differences Sestros and I are also the same. Pain is pleasure to us." His smile was oddly calm.

Daniel took two cards from out of his hand and slid them into his duel disk. "Don't think that I'm out of tricks already. For now though, I'll just set two cards face-down on my field and end my turn."

Giovan drew and placed a card from his hand onto his disk. "I think I'm done defending. Now that I have you on the run, I'll begin my assault. I summon Blackheart the Fallen (2000/1900) in attack mode." A huge black demon appeared on his field. "And his special ability won't be a problem for me. You see, he must have something equipped to him or else he cannot attack." Taking a card from his hand, he slid it into his duel disk. "So I'll equip him with the magic card Black Whip of Nightmares!" A jet-black whip appeared in the hands of the demon. "This will raise my creature's attack power by 500 points, as well as force every monster it attacks to go to switch modes! Now, crush his Edge Knight!" The demon roared and charged forwards, its whip held high into the air.

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Ryu had already left the arena behind, knowing that Rikuo was in need of medical attention.

Shortly after he had left though, something within the ball of shadows stirred...

To be continued...

Author's notes:

To Seeker of the Soul: Jourgen is a mystery character when it comes to stuff like that. How he got into the Darkness Game is his (and my) little secret.

To Grisham: It ain't quite over yet. And now for the questions...

Rikuo ended up with Sestros deck mostly as a little irony on his part, it didn't have to do with anything involving the game. It was still Sestros' turn and technically it was also still his battle phase.

Why did Hellblade attack Sestros? Because of Rikuo's trap card which was still in effect. Hellblade was immune to magic and trap effects of its enemy, but that didn't mean that it was immune to Rikuo's effects, because Hellblade and Daniel's soul had been clashing at the activation time of Attack Redirection Armor. Daniel's soul had won out and Hellblade had been affected by the Attack Redirection effect, meaning his new target was Sestros.

As for the predictability of the end of the duel? :P on you. I'm not done yet!

Sestros sensed the energy of the Leap of Faith card, which was a power so holy and pure that it was like a beacon to his senses. Therefore, he was trying to break Rikuo's concentration so that the wolf demon would have drawn Leap of Faith. Thanks to his trust in the light though, Leap of Faith turned into Hope of Faith.

To Falcon Demon General:

Rikuo: You dare to copy me!? I will smite you! MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Daniel: .....................................Don't mind him, he's a depraved soul.......

Rikuo: HEY!