Yukina and the others went further deep into the lair of their enemies. Along the way, they were faced with Vincent, but he was only interested in dueling Felix. Felix took the challenge while the others went on ahead to take his duel. There's no turning back now.

"Let's see if you're as tough as I hear, Vincent!" Felix said as he made the first move. "I'll start by summoning my Gladiator Beast Darius!" He summoned out his horse warrior as it came out with 1700atk points. "I'm also placing one card facedown and that ends my turn!"

"That's it? You can get more creative than that!" Vincent said as he took his turn. "Such as this! I summon my Pain Painter Red!" He summoned his painter to the field with it having 1000atk points. "When he's summoned to the field, you instantly lose 400LP!" His painter splattered some paint and had it turn to fire as it blazed against Felix and his life points dropped to 3600. "Yes, a good start. Now, let's add some more color to this, shall we? I play Emergency Teleport! This allows me to summon a level three or lower psychic-type monster to the field. I'll go with Pain Painter Yellow!" He summoned out another freaky artist with it wielding a thin brush that had yellow paint on it. It had 900atk points. "Yellow can be so striking because you lose 400LP again!" His artist released more paint and it took the form of lightning with Felix getting shocked and his life points dropped down to 3200. "Yes! That's a very nice piece coming together!"

"You're weird." Felix said.

"I'm artistic! Now watch as I overlay my two level three Pain Painters!" Vincent said as the overlay network opened up and both monsters dived in. "I xyz summon Pain Painter Teal!" He summoned out his artist as it emerged with 2000atk points. "Now let's add some more color! I activate Teal's ability! I just have to use one overlay unit!" He claimed as he used up one of his monster's overlay units.

"That's what I was waiting for! I activate Gladiator Beast War Chariot! This trap negates your monster's effect and destroys it!" Felix said as he played his trap and instantly destroyed Vincent's monster. "What was that you were saying?"

"Not bad, but the creative process is still in the works, and I'm feeling quite inspired." Vincent said as he had something waiting.

...

Diego

As this duel was going on, Diego and Zash were able to watch things unfold.

"How could you send in Vincent to handle the intruders and not me?" Zash said.

"I didn't order him. He's doing this on his own choice." Diego said. "I thought I told him to stand down, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to let his artistic side prosper."

"Why have us stand down and let the others go on ahead?" Zash said. "What are you playing at this time?"

"It's a good way to see what the other Malicious Fiends are capable of." Diego said. "If they are capable of defeating Yukina and her friends, it's a nice bonus for us. The bottom line is that we learn more than we did before, and we gain knowledge we can use for the future. The fools have no idea just how far this all goes. We simply can't be stopped. Our plans could be setback, but never ceasing. They might think they might win, but all is good." Diego wasn't all that worried. He was just sitting back and enjoying the show.

...

Yukina

As for Yukina's group, she and the guys kept on moving. They had to be heading in the right direction and just kept on moving. The four of them just kept on going until Cray suddenly stopped.

"Cray? What is it?" Yukina questioned.

"Something wrong?" Kent said.

"No. I just thought of something." Cray said as he put some thought into what to do next. "Yukina, you and Marcus go on ahead. I'm going to take care of something else. Kent, I might need your help."

"Of course!" Kent said as he's always willing to help Cray. Cray didn't explain what he was thinking and just went on ahead.

"Hey! Where are you two going?!" Marcus called. "Should we really let those two just go off on their own?"

"Don't worry about it. Cray usually does whatever he pleases regardless." Yukina said. "The only thing we can do is to just keep moving." Yukina decided to trust whatever Cray was doing and went on ahead. Marcus followed after with it just being the two of them now.

...

The Duel

"Not bad, but I've got other colors to work with! I place two cards facedown to end my turn." Vincent said.

"My move!" Felix said as he drew his next card. "I'll start by summoning Gladiator Beast Tygerius to the field!" Felix summoned out a white tiger-like gladiator beast with it having 1800atk points. "Tygerius might not be able to fuse like the other Gladiator Beasts, but that's beside the point since Darius and Tygerius are attacking you directly!" He had both of his monsters attacked as they either struck or slashed against Vincent and caused his life points to drop all the way to a mere 500. The fact that it happened had Felix...suspicious. "Okay, what's wrong with this picture? You suppose to be pretty strong, but you lost nearly all your life points. I was expecting more." This wasn't going how Felix thought, but that quickly changed with how Vincent was laughing.

"Yes! Yes! I see the pieces now!" Vincent said. "An artist must be able to convert their emotions into their worked! Thanks to you, I can see the pieces I need for my art!"

"It's official. He's nuts." Felix said.

"Am I? Perhaps my Pain to Art trap will have you think differently!" Vincent claimed. "Your direct attacks didn't do as much damage as you think because this trap replenishes my life points after a direct attack!" He claimed as his life points rose to 2300. "There's more! Pain to Art grants me a paint token, and it's attack points become equal to my life points!" Suddenly, a blob of different colored paint formed on his field and had 2300atk points.

"That's what you were planning! You wanted me to attack to get a powerful monster!" Felix said.

"Yes, but don't worry. Sadly, this is just a mere tool not fit for my art." Vincent claimed. "It's unable to attack, but an artist must be able to think outside the box."

"How about changing the color scheme? Darius' ability! Since it attacked, I can return it to my deck and summon a new Gladiator Beast to the field." Felix said as he brought back Darius. "I don't know what you're planning, so I'll play a little defense by playing Gladiator Beast Hoplomus! It's special ability also changes his defense points to 2400!" He summoned out his rhino warrior with it having 2400def points. "Now let's see if you can make any art now!"

"I be glad to!" Vincent said as he drew his next card. "That's what I like about your deck. Something out you don't like, you are free to change it. You never know what's going to come out next!"

"Just go!" Felix said.

"Patience. That's what art teaches you." Vincent said. "I activate Paint Making! This gives me another paint token to the field if I banish Pain Painter Red from my graveyard." He claimed as another token appeared on the field with 0 attack points. "Now let's change things up a bit. I'll tribute both of my blobs to summon a fiend of culture and pain!"

"Here it comes." Felix told himself as he readied himself for it.

"I tribute summon Malicious Fiend: Ripper!" Vincent called as he traded away both the blobs and brought out his fiend. It rose on the field with 2800atk points.

"That's the card Yukina warned me about!" Felix said.

"And just wait until you see what it can do! His ability allows me to destroy your rhino!" Vincent said. Ripper unleashed a series of daggers that all attacked Hoplomus with destroyed. "And now he can skin your kitty! Attack with Psychopathic Execution!" His monster attacked once again and destroyed Felix's other monster with his life points dropping to 2200. Felix could also feel the impact of the attack cutting against him and his clothes. "Oh yes! I can see you putting up a fight, but that painful expression you have while trying to resist that pain is wonderful! That's what I like to see! I will create a lovely piece of art, the one I couldn't in the finals! I was hoping to make that Raika a piece of my art, and yet he ruined it!"

"Say what?" Felix questioned.

"Yes. He ruined my art, and the whole world was watching! He made me the canvas!" Vincent said. "Can you understand how upsetting, frustrating, and humiliating that had to have felt?"

"Understand your pain?!" Felix shouted. "What about what your buddy did to us?! Can you understand how Kent I felt when we didn't get to be in the finals to begin with?!"

"Uh, no." Vincent said.

"We were trying to win, win the greatest dueling tournament there was!" Felix said. "We fought so hard to get there, but then... Kent and I were taken out before we even had the chance?! Then, when we finally pulled ourselves together, we learned it was already over?! Can you understand how we felt to have worked so hard to get there and not be a part of it?!" Apparently, he couldn't.

"That's ridiculous!" Vincent said. "I wouldn't have cared less if we won or lost! I care about making my art! Besides, you wouldn't have been able to defeat me in the first place!"

"Is that so?! We'll see about that! My turn!" Felix said as he drew his next card. "I'll begin by summoning Gladiator Beast Attorix to the field!" He summoned out his beast with it having 800atk points. "Now that I have her out, I can summon Test Tiger!" He claimed as he summoned out his tiger with it having 600atk points. "I now activate Test Tiger's ability! By tributing it and sending Attorix back to my deck, I can summon another Gladiator Beast to the field and use it's special ability! I choose Gladiator Beast Murmillo!" He exchanged his two monsters and summoned out Murmillo with it having 800atk points. "Murmillo's ability can now destroy Ripper! Your Malicious Fiend is going down!"

"I don't think so!" Vincent called. "By sending Pain Painter White from my hand to the graveyard, my monsters can't be destroyed by your effects!" He discarded his card and Felix's monster turned completely white with it's abilities being negated. "Fine. I end my turn."

"Ha! It's just as I said! You couldn't beat me!" Vincent said. "In fact, you should be grateful to the one that took your place because things would have ended the same! My turn, and time to end this!" He claimed as he drew his card. "I use Ripper's ability to destroy your Murmillo!" Ripper unleashed a series of daggers once again and destroyed Felix's only monster. "It's over! Time for the final touch! Attack!" Ripper attacked once again at a defenseless Felix.

"I activate Gladiator Beast's Noxious effect from my hand! Since I'm being attacked directly, I can summon it to take the attack, and it can't be destroyed in this battle!" Felix said as he summoned out another beast with it having 1000def points. It jumped in the way of the attack and was able to block it. "It's not over yet!"

"Good! That means I can create more!" Vincent said. "I activate Beautiful Mix! By banishing a Pain Painter xyz monster from my graveyard, I can summon another one from an extra deck!" He said as he removed Pain Painter Teal. "I summon Pain Painter Burgundy!" He summoned out a new painter in black robes with him having long burgundy hair and a gigantic brush. It also had 2400atk points. "My trap also turns into an overlay unit, but he doesn't need it to destroy your cat!" Pain Painter Burgundy took the giant brush and slashed it down with great might. Felix's only monster was destroyed and he was left defenseless now. "The good news is that you are allowed to draw one card after he destroys a monster." Felix drew his card, but he was in a tough situation. "It's just as I said. You couldn't beat me, so you should be glad you weren't in the finals. The end is almost here, and my beautiful art will shine!"

"Don't count on it! I'm not going to lose to the likes of you!" Felix said as he drew his next card. "I activate Gladiator Beast's Respite! By sending two Gladiator Beasts from my hand to my deck, I can draw three cards!" He sent the only two cards he had left in his deck and drew three cards. "I activate Gladiator Beasts Unite! Now I can summon a fusion monster by sending the needed monsters to my deck! So, I return Murmillo and Noxious with Vespasius in my hand and summon my mightiest beast!" He claimed as three different colored energies began mixing together.

"What's this?!" Vincent said.

"As an artist, understand that I'm going to use the power of my emotions to defeat you! I summon Gladiator Beast Domitanius!" Felix called as he summoned out his best beast with it having 3500atk points. "Here we go, Vincent! No matter how this plays out, this is where it ends! I can feel it!"

"You're right about that because your beast isn't staying!" Vincent said. "Time to see the look of shock and despair on your face! I use Burgundy's overlay unit to drop all your monster's attack points to zero, and you must attack!" He claimed as one overlay unit entered the brush and it unleashed a dark light! That means you're about to lose!"

"Not quite! I use Domitanius' ability to negate that ability and destroy it!" Felix called. His beast fired a beam from its weapon and destroyed Vincent's monster. "Now that a monster was destroyed by an effect, I can activate Burning Ambition! Since one monster was destroyed by an effect this turn, it's attack points are added to another!" Domitanius was surrounded by a blazing aura that matched the raw emotional power Felix holds with his attack points rising to 5900.

"What?! That can't be?!" Vincent said.

"It is! Domitanius, attack and end this duel!" Felix called. Domitanius attacked as it shot its trident forward and smashed right into Ripper. Ripper was instantly destroyed and the explosion blew Vincent back so hard that he hit the wall and was knocked out with all of his life points dropping to zero. "I understand you like seeing your opponents like this and call it art. Talk about being one with it." With that, Felix managed to win against Vincent. An artist channels their emotions into their art, but Felix did that through his dueling.

...

Yukina and Marcus

Marcus and Yukina were on their own now. They kept going through the basement halls to try and find the mysterious power or Persephone.

"Up ahead, I can see a light!" Yukina said. Both of them hurried to where that light was coming from. Once they got in, they were surprised to see what was in front of them. They could see it was Malicious Fiend: The Void, towering right over them in all of it's horror. "It's The Void!"

"That means..." Marcus looked around for her until they saw The Void disappear and could see Persephone on a stand right on the wall. "Dana!" They finally found her, but how can they save her from Diego's hold?