Duel Academy had begun to heal.
Repairs were underway, both structural and spiritual. The once fractured halls of Obelisk Blue and Ra Yellow were gradually being restored. Students returned to their dorms, carrying stories of darkness and heroism, uncertainty lingering in the corners of every whispered tale. While the teachers enforced calm, the duelist spirit that bound them all remained alert and restless.
Kaito stood before the cliff overlooking the sea. The wind whipped through his jacket, his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card glowing faintly in his hand. Since the Sigil's destruction, the card had felt different—warmer, heavier. Like it bore a memory.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
"You always end up here when you're thinking," Alexis said, stepping beside him. Her voice was gentle, but the tiredness in her eyes mirrored his own.
"I still can't shake the feeling," Kaito murmured. "Something's coming."
"Kael is gone. The Sigil's shattered. What could be worse?"
"That was a gate," Kaito said, turning to face her. "Not the enemy. Just the key."
Alexis frowned, her arms crossing. "You think someone's behind Kael?"
"I know someone is."
A low roar echoed in the distance, drawing their attention toward the sky. A strange formation of clouds spiraled above Duel Academy Island—dark, unnatural, laced with streaks of violet lightning. It wasn't weather. It was something else.
A presence.
Within the Obsidian Tower—an ancient, sealed structure at the edge of the island long thought to be ruins—something stirred.
Deep beneath the island…
A chamber older than the academy itself thrummed with energy. Runes etched into the walls pulsed with new life. The air shimmered as ghostly images of duel spirits hovered around a central altar. At its heart stood a mirror, dark as pitch and cold as death.
A figure materialized in the reflection.
Clad in crimson robes stitched with void-black thread, the figure's face was obscured by a dragon-like mask. In his hand, he held a card—one not from any deck in existence. Its surface shimmered with a symbol that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"The Sigil is broken," he said, voice hollow yet commanding. "But the seal is not undone. One more must fall."
He reached into the shadows and drew forth three more cards—Dark Synchro Monsters. Ones that had never graced a single duel. With a flick of his wrist, they vanished into the void.
"Send the Harbingers. Begin the trials."
Back at Duel Academy…
In Chancellor Sheppard's office, Kaito stood before a council of the academy's greatest minds—Zane, Bastion, Crowler, and even Pegasus, who had arrived by airship hours ago.
"You're telling me there's another force behind this?" Pegasus asked, arms folded. "Even older than the Sigil?"
Kaito nodded. "Kael opened the door, but he didn't build it. I've been having visions. Dreams. Something from the Duel Spirit world is waking up."
Zane stepped forward. "What do you propose?"
"A scouting mission. I'll go to the Obsidian Tower. If something's awakened beneath the island, we need to know before it reaches the surface."
"I'll go too," Jaden said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Whatever it is, it sounds like it'll make for one heck of a duel."
Crowler groaned. "This is a dangerous and highly irresponsible idea. That place is sealed for a reason!"
"Which is why it's the first place they'll strike," Bastion reasoned. "We need to be proactive."
Pegasus sighed. "Fine. But I want full oversight. No more surprises."
That evening…
Kaito, Jaden, Alexis, and Bastion stood before the sealed gate of the Obsidian Tower. The runes along its doors shimmered, responding to Kaito's presence. Slowly, the stone groaned open.
The darkness inside pulsed with cold wind.
They stepped inside.
As the doors closed behind them, the torches lining the walls ignited with violet flame. They descended slowly, the echoes of their footsteps swallowed by the ancient stone.
A sound—like metal scraping against bone—echoed ahead.
Suddenly, the path split into four.
"Separate paths?" Alexis asked.
Kaito's Blue-Eyes card vibrated.
"It's a test," he said. "A trial. We have to go alone."
Hesitation filled the group, but one by one, they stepped into their chosen corridors, the darkness swallowing them whole.
In the silence that followed, a whisper echoed through the halls.
"Only the worthy shall reach the throne."