Demon King and the others were faced with a strange enemy that goes by Ziggy. He certainly is a mysterious one, and appears to know a lot about Demon King somehow. Wanting answers, Demon King went after this Ziggy. After a conversation about future events, the two of them found themselves dueling each other. However, Demon King is already in a bind. He has nothing on his field with his life points at 2300. This Ziggy has all of his life points with an Edens Wizard at 1700atk points and Edens Clown at 1500atk points. Ziggy also perfectly anticipated what Demon King was planning last turn. This is already shaping to be a troubling duel for Demon King.
"This is bad. D.K. has nothing on his field." Aoneko said as she was getting concerned. "This Ziggy figured out his strategy and shut it down."
"This is not good. How is it this man has cards like ours?" Eden said.
"I'm not sure, but that's why we have to win this. We need to get answers." Demon King said. "I don't know who he is, but he's using my grandfather's name, and he's a bad guy. I'm not going to let him make a mockery of everything my grandfather stood for!"
"Go ahead and try to fight back, but I already know what you will do before you do it." Ziggy said.
"We'll see about that! It's my turn!" Demon King called as he continued on with the duel. "Witch and Sister might have been no match for your monsters, but this one will be different! I summon Edens Hermit!" He summoned out Hermit to the field with her having 600atk points. "Next, I activate her special ability! I can now summon one monster from my deck that has less than a 1000atk points! I summon Edens Valkyrie!" He summoned out Valkyrie with her having 900atk points.
"And now you plan to use Battle Dress, most likely on Edens Hermit since Valkyrie's ability can double her attack points." Ziggy said. "Go right ahead because I have no way of stopping it."
"He comes out and admits that? Someone must be pretty cocky in their skills." Aoneko said.
"He's clearly done his research on us. He can fully anticipate our moves." Eden said.
"Well, let's not disappoint him!" Demon King said. "I activate my Battle Dress and use it on Edens Hermit!" He activated his spell with Hermit's appearance changing into a rabbit-themed attire. "This means that the monster she attacks will be destroyed, and you'll be the one to take damage! Hermit, attack Edens Wizard with Breakdown Program!" Hermit jumped right at Edens Wizard and placed her hand against it. That caused a program to be uploaded into him and completely destroyed him. That caused Ziggy's life points to drop down to 2900. "Valkyrie, your turn! When she attacks, her attack points double! Soul Blade Assault!" Valkyrie's attack points rose all the way to 1800. When that happened, she formed a series of blades and had them all attacked Clown. Clown was destroyed from the attack and caused Ziggy's life points to drop down to 2600. "With that done, I'm ending my turn."
"Just as I foresaw." Ziggy said.
"Give me a break. If you saw that coming, how come you didn't do anything to prevent that?" Demon King questioned.
"Because it's an acceptable loss." Ziggy claimed. "In order for things to change, there must be acceptable losses. What might seem like a great loss now can help lead to something of an even greater outcome in the future. One must be willing to make sacrifices."
"You mean the loss of your friends is acceptable if it means a better future? How can it be better when you have to sacrifice your friends to obtain it?!" Demon King said. "How about a way where you don't have to sacrifice anyone to have whatever outcome you want?! The future would be better with them than without them!"
"Not when what you desire is far greater than you or them." Ziggy said.
"He can't be talking about the outcome of this duel. What is he talking about?" Aoneko said. She looked around and saw the destroyed city. "Is he referring to something like this?"
"Demon King, you must not get distracted. We can obtain answers as long as we stay focus." Eden advised. He's trying to do that, but it's not easy.
"My turn!" Ziggy said as he drew his next card. "I summon Edens Assailant to the field!" Ziggy said. He summoned out a lean robot with no face, but had 1600atk points. "Next, I play my Armor of Edens spell! This allows me to summon Edens Brigandine!" He summoned out a much larger robot carrying a giant double-sided axe and had 2000atk points. "You should keep in mind that as long as Edens Brigandine is on the field, you won't be able to destroy any of my other monsters."
"You mean we have to destroy the big guy before any of your other monsters?" Demon King said. "That won't be a problem."
"We'll see about that." Ziggy said. "I activate Discharge Disturbance! Since we both have the same number of monsters on the field, this spell allows me to summon a level five or higher monster straight from my deck. In exchange, it can't attack this turn and none of your monsters will be destroyed. I have just the monster. You might find this one very interesting."
"I don't like the sound of that." Demon King claimed.
"I summon the truest ruler of darkness: Edens Dark Demon King!" Ziggy called. In a flash of dark power, he brought out his own version of Demon King's own monster. It looked identical to the original, but the horns were broader with darker armor and clothing. It looked more like a demonic king with it having 2500atk points.
"No way... Another Edens Demon King?" Demon King said as he couldn't believe someone else had another version of his own monster.
"It seems to be a negative equivalent to the one you hold." Eden said.
"How could he have something like that?!" Aoneko said.
"We'll get to him another time. I place one card facedown. Edens Brigandine, attack Edens Hermit!" Ziggy ordered. "Strike with Grand Collision!" His giant robot attacked with its massive weapon and smashed it against Hermit.
"But your Discharge Disturbance won't allow you to destroy our monsters this turn." Eden said.
"That might be, but you're still taking damage." Ziggy said. He was right as the force of the impact smashed against Demon King. Demon King's power dropped all the way to 900.
"That hurt." Demon King said.
"It's about to get worse. You would have 200LP left if I attack your Valkyrie with Assailant, but you'll have even less." Ziggy claimed. "My Edens Assailant can attack you directly if I have his attack points cut in half."
"No way!" Demon King said. That's just what happened. Edens Assailant disappeared, but reappeared right behind Demon King with a weapon in hand. Before Demon King knew it, he felt something attack him in the back and caused his life points to drop down to just 100.
"Only 100LP left!" Aoneko said as this wasn't good.
"I end my turn." Ziggy said.
"This is not good at all." Demon King said. "We can't afford to take another hit, and we don't even know what that new Demon King can do. I just know it's going to be something bad."
"We better hope our next draw is something good." Eden said.
"Right. I draw!" Demon King called as he drew his next card. His next card ended up being his own Edens Demon King. "Perfect. Who better to take this guy out than him, but I better get him some help with my skill."
"No! Don't!" Eden advised.
"Don't use my skill? Why?" Demon King questioned.
"He's been able to predict our moves. It's as if he knows what we're going to do." Eden said. "He's probably expecting us to use our skill right now."
"And you think if we do that, we'll play right into his hands. Does that mean I should just attack?" Demon King questioned.
"We can't afford to make any mistakes now." Eden advised. "We need to prevent Edens Assailant from attacking again since it can deal direct damage, but Edens Brigandine can prevent his other monsters from being destroyed. That means we have to be able to destroy both of them on the same turn."
"But if he can anticipate all of our moves, wouldn't he have something ready for when we attack as well?" Demon King questioned.
"He might already have that." Eden said as she referred to the face-down he had. "His face-down must be the clincher. If it activates, it might cost us the duel."
"But we can't just stand around and do nothing. That gives him the chance he needs to finish us. All he needs is just one good attack." Demon King claimed.
"I'm well aware. At this point, my calculations say there's a great risk no matter what we try." Eden said. It does look rather bleak for them. There doesn't appear to be a way out, but it's not like Demon King to just surrender.
"Well, we'll just have to take the chance." Demon King said as he wasn't going to let the fear stop him. "Since I have two Edens monsters on the field, I can summon this monster without a tribute! The real Edens Demon King!" He brought out his ace monster with it having 2500atk points. It's now a showdown between two mechanical beings. "I'll switch Hermit into defense mode for some protection." He claimed as Hermit did just that. "It's all or nothing. Edens Demon King, attack Edens Brigandine! Gravity Fist!" Edens Demon King compressed gravity around its fist and attacked.
"If this works, not only will they deal some damage, but Valkyrie can destroy Assailant." Aoneko said. "That will deal some significant damage, and Edens Demon King's ability will provide some protection."
"Go!" Demon King called as his monster attempted to attack.
"Fool! I activate Edens Dark Demon King's ability! An ability that allows me to use another monster to intercept your attack!" Ziggy call. "Edens Dark Demon King can now make Edens Assailant the target of your attack! Gravity Submission!" The darker version of that monster used its powers over gravity and moved Assailant to be the target.
"But Brigandine's ability prevents it from being destroyed." Eden said.
"But that's like using your friends as shields!" Demon King said as he couldn't believe that would happen.
"That's the least of your worries. I activate Dimension Wall! This deflects all the damage to you!" Ziggy said as his trap did end up being the one to end this duel.
"No!" Demon King called. The attack connected, but the shockwaves traveled over to Demon King and smashed right into him with all of his life points dropping to zero and knocked him right off the board. He lost this duel.
"D.K.!" Aoneko called as she raced down and was able to catch him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but what about him?" Demon King said. They all watched as he just flew off. Ziggy didn't even say anything. He just disappeared and they have no idea to where. Ziggy got away and they're no closer to any answers.
...
Wiseman
Wiseman and Piratetress stayed behind to try and deal with the robotic soldiers that Ziggy left behind, but they were surrounded and outnumbered. They put up a good fight, but they can't keep it up.
"This looks bad." Wiseman said.
"Indeed. There's just too many of them. I think it might be best that we leave." Piratetress said.
"Good idea. I hope the others are doing okay." Wiseman said, but that's only because he doesn't know what happened just yet. Both of them were able to log out of there, but none of them have really accomplished anything here.
...
The Real World
After returning to the real world, Shiki told the others everything that happened back there. It was all a little hard to believe, but at least it was making more sense to their situation.
"That's unbelievable." Homura said.
"Those are a few of the most wanted criminals in Duel Links." Kris said. "If they're joining forces, it's not going to lead anything good. That alone should mean that this will all be trouble."
"Do you think any of what Poseidon Nero said is true? Can they really start a brand new digital era by having people live in the virtual world?" Kleen questioned.
"Nothing seems to have really stopped them so far." Laguna claimed.
"It might sound abnormal, but it is certainly possible with modern technology." Eden claimed.
"The one that has me the most concern is this Ziggy." Aoneko said. "Shiki, there must be some sort of connection between you and him. Not even Poseidon Nero trusts him, and they're working together. Everything we've seen about him can't be just coincidence."
"He might be using my grandfather's name, but that's about it." Shiki said. "I've got no clue as to who he could really be."
"True, and one can design their avatar however they like." Weisz claimed. "It could really be anyone, but I don't know how he could have gotten a hold of cards that the same as Shiki's. Not to mention that he claims to have been the one to teach Shura how to use Gravity Call. How could he have any of that?"
"I don't know. I do believe he will be the most troubling." Eden said. "The duel alone tells me he will be dangerous. Look at how the last turn went."
"What do you mean?" Shiki questioned.
"He could have activated Dimension Wall right when he attacked, but he chose to use Edens Dark Demon King's ability first." Eden said. "That move served no purpose other than dealing more damage to us when he really didn't have to do that."
"You're right, but why did he do that?" Shiki questioned.
"Maybe just to toy with us." Eden said. "I hate to say it, but he was in complete control of the duel all along. It was easy for him to outplay us because he fully anticipated everything we would try." Shiki didn't like this at all. It was starting to get rather depressing. This Ziggy, whoever he is, is quite cunning and methodical. He played everything quite well and Shiki couldn't do a thing about it. He probably beat Shiki without really trying.
"So, what do we do now?" Aoneko said.
"We keep our guard up. I doubt this is going to be the last we see of these guys. They'll be back." Weisz claimed.
"And as things stand right now, we're the only ones that know what's happening, other than Piratetress." Homura said.
"Shouldn't we go to the authorities about this?" Kleene questioned.
"You really think they're going to believe us?" Laguna claimed.
"That means we have to be the ones to try and stop this before it's too late." Eden said. All of them could agree on that much, but can they barely managed to defeat their opponents the last time they got caught up in a mess like this. These new guys are on a much different level. Can they really win this time?