Yu-Gi-Oh!: Phobic Peptide Mad Dragon Executioner Dragon

After nearly a thousand years of "enlightenment," humanity, having broken free from ignorance, officially entered the halls of science. It was at this time that the flame of civilization called "humanity" gradually grew stronger and shone in the universe.

In the century before the war, human technology experienced explosive growth. One hypothesis after another was confirmed, and one scientific breakthrough after another was achieved... Human civilization reached an unprecedented peak, known as the "Age of Miracles".

After the war, humanity's technological level regressed rapidly. If not for the blessing of "intelligence," civilization might have even experienced a break in its continuity.

Humans at that time used cutting-edge technologies that are unimaginable in modern times, but had no corresponding knowledge or theories, which is known as the "Age of Foolishness".

Unable to maintain, malfunctioning... humanity, having lost its knowledge, could only watch helplessly as the technological achievements left by previous generations gradually perished, entering the darkest "Age of Wisdom," where human civilization was once back to the early stages of the Age of Miracles or even the more backward Enlightenment.

But in the long night, someone will always raise a stick and light a glimmer of light.

Countless people began searching for the "ancient books" left over from the Age of Miracles, exploring the "relics" of their predecessors, and attempting to recreate the glory of the past.

This period is historically known as the "Age of Enlightenment".

History, physics, mathematics, astronomy... the wheels that had stopped started turning again, moving forward haltingly along the tracks of the old era.

"No, no! The ancient texts are wrong! The stars are falling, the world is moving, and we are... floating? We are... floating!"

This passage is recorded in the diary of an astronomer, and was found by his students after his suicide, while sorting through his belongings. Later scholars, based on his experimental data and equipment, conducted numerous observations of the universe, and their conclusions were consistent with ancient records. Therefore, it is speculated that the astronomer suffered from mental problems, experienced hallucinations, and ultimately committed suicide due to mental deterioration and confusion.

However, one of his students firmly believed that his teacher was not mistaken, that there was more to the suicide than met the eye, and tried to investigate the truth behind the "floating" incident.

Why did my teacher commit suicide?

"As he asked, I showed him the 'truth' of the world."

"...Could you, could you let me also take a look at that so-called truth?"

Even if it causes you to have a mental breakdown?

Even if it causes me to have a mental breakdown.

"So, here, at this moment, the curtain of [Illusion] rises. Please enjoy this chaotic drama from beyond the heavens."

The stars dimmed, the light dimmed, and a corner of "disorder" slowly unfolded before it.

"The teacher is not wrong, we really are rising..."

The world has lost one person who chased after the stars.

But there was one more: a devout believer.

"Praise the true ancestor."

"Praise be to the true ancestor."

……

Xing Liang didn't return until the evening of the second day.

He didn't explain what he had done, and ignored Mai's subtle inquiries about whether the destruction of the stone tablet was related to him. Apart from going to the card shop once, he locked himself in his room the whole time, and even his meals were delivered to him by Xing Ya.

Sera and Xing Ya were worried that something might have happened, but seeing that Xing Liang looked normal and seemed fine, they stopped asking.

It wasn't until three days later, on the opening day of the exchange competition, that Xing Liang finally appeared before everyone.

"Let's go and meet your opponents."

In the center of a massive building shaped like the ancient Roman Colosseum, teams from 16 academies gathered, listening to the eloquent speech of the principal of the Royal City Duel Academy on the high platform.

Excitement, anticipation, nervousness... The slightly immature faces in the queue showed different expressions. Some listened carefully to the principal's speech, afraid of missing a single word; some looked around curiously; while others were not interested, yawning and wondering what to eat after the event.

Sera: What kind of people will I meet...?

Loi: Will the teacher with the Dragon Crystal Magic Card come today?

A chubby kid: I'm so hungry. I'll go to the docks later and get some fries. But why does a perfectly good fried chicken shop have to be called a dock? There's no sea around the royal city.

Although it's just the opening ceremony, with the official competition starting tomorrow, an insider revealed that this year's opening ceremony is different from previous years, featuring special program segments. The eagerly anticipated crowd will pack the central open area to capacity.

Of course, team leaders like Xing Liang and some high-ranking officials watched the live broadcast in their respective lounges and did not squeeze into the audience seats with ordinary people.

At this moment, in the lounge of the Orses Duel Academy.

Mai: "The champion of the last exchange tournament was Royal City Duel Academy, and I guess they'll win again this time. I hope we don't run into them in the first round."

(The competition rules are Swiss-system round-robin, so I won't go into detail here.)

Xing Ya: "After all, it's a college in the capital, so its educational resources are definitely incomparable to those of us from small places. I shouldn't be so unlucky as to run into them in the first round."

Xing Liang: "..."

Losing in the first round doesn't necessarily mean elimination, but a crushing defeat at the start could severely damage a trainee's confidence, leading to poor performance and further losses.

Although she said she didn't care about the rankings, Mai still wanted to achieve something during her tenure as principal.

"Teacher Nianzhong, I still feel... how come you fell asleep again?"

Xing Liang started feeling sleepy as soon as he got in the car in the morning. He became silent as soon as he entered the rest room. Mai thought he was thinking about some tactics, but it turned out he had just completely blanked out his mind.

"Huh? Oh, you're calling me? Well, relax, have confidence in your students."

Xing Liang rubbed his eyes and got up from the sofa, looking at the broadcast screen.

"Let me see how far the opening ceremony is... why are they still giving speeches?"

Although the individual card decks of each student are kept secret, some clues can be made based on their academy affiliation.

After all, most of the card players who can participate in the exchange competition are of noble birth. Their bloodline inheritance and family spirit mean that the awakened and resonant spirits of members of the same family are basically from the same series or even have the same name. This makes it possible to deduce the decks they use.

The Royal City Duel Academy, needless to say, uses the four decks corresponding to the four major families and the four heavenly dragons. The decks of the branch family members are also easy to deduce.

Among the students from the last exchange tournament that Orses Duel Academy participated in were Klaus's sister and Nick's brother. In that exchange tournament, the [Witch Magic] even achieved a spectacular victory of defeating five opponents single-handedly.

(The student representatives from both sides first toss a coin to determine the order of attack. Then each side selects one student to duel. The winner does not change their student and will continue to attack and defend in the next round. The loser will have someone else challenge them in the next round. This continues until one side has lost all its students.)

Another half hour passed, and just when everyone was starting to get impatient, the principal of the Royal City Duel Academy finally ended his speech.

"Now, let's announce the matchups for tomorrow's first round!"

On both sides of the large screen on the high platform, the names of different colleges scrolled rapidly before stopping under the gaze of countless people.

Orses Duel Academy VS North Duel Academy

Ocean Duel Academy VS Forrest Duel Academy

Royal City Duel Academy VS Hervens Duel Academy

Rimani Duel Academy VS Grande Duel Academy

Well, although I was the first to go on stage, at least my opponent wasn't from the Royal City Duel Academy.

Just as they were about to leave the lounge to take the children home to discuss tomorrow's tactics, the principal on the platform looked at the speech in his hand and continued with a strange expression:

"Ahem, as an innovative project, this year's exchange competition is different from previous years. An exhibition match has been specially added to the opening ceremony."

An exhibition match?

Xing Liang looked at Mai suspiciously, but she shook her head, indicating that she was unaware of this arrangement.

"The exhibition match will randomly select two teachers from different academies to engage in a performance-style duel. The result of the duel will not affect the grades of their respective academies, and as encouragement, they will receive a reward from the King regardless of whether they win or lose!"

Unlike the excited teachers from other colleges, Xing Liang frowned upon hearing this.

This is going to cause trouble.

The names on both sides of the big screen scrolled again, then quickly stopped.

Orses Duel Academy VS Royal City Duel Academy.