He felt his heart race like a galloping horse in his chest.

Even though Yami was carrying him, he couldn't help but feel the strain of the journey himself. However, it was not because of a physical matter—it was a mental one.

As he kept advancing to the hideout of the XYZ Dimension's Duelists, he noticed the increase in the number of Academia soldiers. Not only that; he could also see monsters being summoned in some places. This led him to believe that they had chosen to separate and face their enemies individually.

In his opinion, it was a foolish endeavor, but it was not as if he couldn't understand the logic behind it. After all, the chances of survival were practically null. It was better to distance themselves from one another and hope that at least one can survive. Certainly a sad reality, yet it was their reality. Joachim really thought they should have thought of this at first. That this was a most assured outcome to happen. However, what was done is done. There is no turning back, and now they must face the consequences of their actions.

That didn't mean he liked it, though.

It felt hypocritical. It was hypocritical. After all that he had said about helping them, it was like that for sure. And yet, there was something that he had to check first, and that was Ren's safety. Unfortunately, if he stopped himself to help one, he not only would expose himself, but he would also be delaying helping Ren. As much as he didn't like it, the moment he acted, he had to create a distraction — possibly with the help of a Duel Spirit — and get out of there for good. There was no continued action. It had to be a one-time thing.

As much as it might seem that way, it was not because of selfish reasons. He knew how much that bald guy wanted him considering all the...line-up he brought, so it was obvious that much of the forces here would focus on him the moment he made an appearance, and as much as he would have liked it, Joachim was not confident in taking them all on or even escaping their pursuit once they had locked their sights on him.

Real Spirits were way superior to 'fakes' created by Solid Vision, but he could only keep one of those for a few seconds at most, and even if he used his own Duel Disk to bring his monsters to life, he wouldn't be able to handle literal stampedes of enemy ones. That was why he had to make everything quick and not leave them any moment to think of a strategy to chase him.

Unfortunately, things were not going to be easy in the slightest.

Just as he was trying to formulate plans of escape for when shit hit the fan, he saw something that made all the hairs on his arms stand up in alert.

"Is that... Redoer?" It was a bit difficult to make out due to the speed at which Yami was going and the distance between them, but he definitely saw Ren's monster in the distance; there was no mistaking it.

"Indeed, it is, Sir." Different from Joachim, the Duel Spirit was able to clearly see what was up ahead. Not only that...

"I also sense another powerful entity near him." The golden-haired youth's eyes shot in surprise. He didn't need to be informed about it, the reason being that he was able to see it as well.

"Hurry! There is no time!"

There was no time left.

"Ha...Haha... Nice little thing you have there. It actually reminds me of someone." Ren was wounded. Pretty bad at that, yet despite the fact, he still found the strength to chuckle and try to downplay the state he was in.

If he had to be honest, laughing was better than falling into despair over the fact that he was facing an opponent that seemed overwhelmingly superior to him. That metallic three-headed white dragon really did a number on his person.

"Then that 'someone' better be worth my time more than you. So, have you finished saying your useless last words?" The voice of uninterest and arrogance came from a tall blue-haired boy wearing a dark coat. He was standing there with his arms folded while looking down at Ren as if he were nothing short of a small obstacle that could at most hold him back a little.

"I don't know about that..." Words that were said lightheartedly and with difficulty soon turned serene and grave. "But I do know one thing. Your little tyranny masquerading as an utopian dream will meet its end. Every single one of you. Every single one of you that laughed while we were hunted for some sick pleasure will regret ever invading our dimension."

It might have been a last struggle. A 'final say' so to speak.

And from the look of things, his opponent also believed that.

"For a dog to be threatening it needs to bite. If it only barks then there is nothing to be concerned about. Cyber End Dragon, finish this mutt once and for all! Eternal Evolution Burst!" With his ultimatum said, the metallic beast began to gather energy in its mouth before the eyes of a resigned Ren.

His world slowed down as it got illuminated in white. Any normal person would resent their fate; scream at the unreasonableness of fate. Complain that those that fought for good always met frivolous ends. However, he only had one thing on his mind right now.

'Forgive me. It seems your brother was not strong enough to properly avenge what they did to you. But, don't despair. The torch will be passed down. Maybe what we needed was not a black flame of revenge, but a golden one of hope and rebirth to move forward.'

As the beam reached his location, Ren found the strength to smile one last time. 'I know it's not something that you should have to burden yourself with, but I leave the rest to you.'

Boom!

Without any suspense, without any interruption, and without any hope, the end was decided just like that.

Ren — LP: 250 → 0.

Zane wins!

Steps slowly echoed in the silent space. Like the sound of death approaching, they started to increase in volume with each passing second. The solemnity in the air didn't affect the owner of those steps, though. To him, it was just another day of doing his job.

The man known as Zane Truesdale only thought of completing his mission and nothing else. Intrascendental things were not worth thinking about.

"For someone of your skill, you gave a somewhat decent fight, I will give you that." This was the first time he had praised his opponent since their fight began, though his dull tone really put into question if they were just empty words or not. Regardless, what he had to do didn't change.

He lifted his arm where his Duel Disk rested, observing his unconscious opponent one last time before pressing a button. In the next moment, a bright light shined, encompassing both Duelists. And then...

"Assault Wyvern attack!"

Zane immediately jumped back with surprising agility as soon as he heard that voice.

A robbed man descended instantly into the place he had been just moments ago. He looked a bit sick if the constant coughing was anything to go by. Although not much could be glimpsed since the hood of his rob mysteriously hid his face; it was safe to assume that the person was not that old to be suffering from any health issues.

The blue-haired man then set his sight on the monster in question that seemed to have attacked him. Its yellow eyes were boring into him with apparent hatred, and despite beginning to fade quickly, he couldn't help but find it more...alive than a simple solid vision's byproduct.

However, he swiftly returned his gaze to the one that orchestrated the attack against his person, and the owner of the monster in question. The said person, despite his deplorable condition, was looking frantically left and right. It didn't take long for Zane to figure out what it was that he was searching for.

"Is it this that you want?" The blue-haired man showed the individual in front of him a card with the image of an unconscious brown-haired youth—one that the other person knew too well if the freezing of their body was anything to go by. "It seems you came a bit late. Too bad. A few seconds earlier and you could have prevented his fate."

As strange as it sounded, the Cyberstyle user could feel the air around them stagnate and become oppressive. 'They must be pretty angry.' It was an assumption that he thought without a care in the world or the repercussions of their anger. It was more like a simple observation, yet with just thoughts, nothing would be moving forward.

"Do you want it?" He swayed the card left and right, even folding it a little to watch the reaction of the other person. When he had enough, he continued. "If you want it, you will have to duel me for it. I don't know if you are one of his friends or just a bystander, but you need strength to take the things that you want. If you don't have it, you will just be someone that is mocked by their powerlessness."

As if answering his provocations, the opposite party took a Duel Disk from under his cloak and readily activated it. 'That design...Academia? Is it a deserter? I thought this would be a pretty boring task, but I ended up having some little fun on the side fall from the sky.'

...

Joachim didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know what he was feeling. He didn't know what he was thinking. He didn't know what to do.

He had underestimated the cost of summoning a spirit. Only three seconds and he almost passed out. His head was pounding, his heart was pounding... it was all a big mess. It didn't help that all of that—that all of his efforts were rendered meaningless by the guy before him. He was late, and he also blew out his chance of a safe escape. It was all just so... frustrating.

It was as if the stars had aligned to pain the most unfavorable outcome possible and decided that that was to be his fate.

Nothingness gave way to confusion, confusion gave way to understanding, and understanding gave way to anger.

He didn't hear what he was saying, he just couldn't. Zane's voice was not louder than the ringing in his ears. The youth didn't even question why he was here when he wasn't supposed to actually be in the original show. All of that seemed to disappear into nothing in favor of getting rid of the new feeling he was experiencing. The irrationality didn't let him focus on anything else.

Before he knew it, he had taken out his Duel Disk and activated it to take that condescending attitude out of Zane's face.

Stop it. That is not an opponent you can win against.

'...' There was no reaction to Ra's words. It was as if he hadn't heard them in the first place. Maybe that was the reason. It was something only the man in question knew. No...maybe there was one. It was to select his Deck to fight his opponent.

Stop it, you fool! Your familiarity with me is not as high as with the other one!

From the place he was observing things, the Egyptian God's anger could be felt all around, evidenced by the flames that threatened to consume everything. It was not like he couldn't understand. Rather, it was precisely because he understood that he got this angry.

Despite him having a stronger connection with Joachim than anyone else due to their constant coexistence, the Deck he was attuned to the most was the one possessing the Blue-Eyes simply because it was the one that he had used the most. And yet, the fact that he chose the Deck where he inhabited to fight could only mean one thing.

The youth wanted to use his powers to completely erase that other kid from existence. In other words, he was acting by instinct. However, instinct was the thing that he needed the least at the moment. Clear-headedness was the key to getting out of this situation, but it seemed that it was too much to ask for in his current state.

If he continued on this path, only ruin would follow. He should understand that. No, maybe he did, but since he was not thinking straight right now he couldn't make a logical decision.

Curses... I should have told my Apostle to take him away regardless of the tantrums he would throw afterward. Now we are in this seemingly unsalvagable situation because of it.

As much as he regretted his decision of not having intervened before, now it was not the time to dwell on regrets. If they wanted to have a chance at getting out of this place, then he would have to support him as much as he could. But first, he would have to at least make an attempt to bring him back to his senses, otherwise, the little chance they had would become zero.

"Prepare yourself, brat. The pain you will feel is only the beginning...!"

...!

'That speech pattern... Things just got way more complicated...'

He was not being affected by the 'good' or 'evil' Marik anymore. He was now his original self. To Ra, that was terrible. In the first place, the reason Joachim didn't remember much of how he got here and why he acted like a teenager sometimes when his real age was more akin to a young adult was because of trauma. If what he just experienced caused him to remember things he shouldn't then things would become dire even if they got out of this situation successfully.

"Try it if you can." In response to the robbed man's provocation, Zane raised his own Duel Disk without much fanfare.

"Duel!"