Athena and Fram hurried to the location they had received from Mirka. The place was around the eastern edge of the residential district.
“Hey, hey! Is Yuri really in a place like this!?”
“...At the very least, that’s where his Proof says he is. There’s no mistaking that.” Riding on Athena’s back, Fram restlessly took in her surroundings.
A coastline spread out right before their eyes, a forest behind, and nothing else of note.
They had strayed quite far from where the houses ended. With no human presence around, only the crash of the waves and the rustle of the leaves reached their ears.
Athena noisily sniffed around and shifted her ears. “Uuuuurgh... All I can smell and hear is the sea, I just don’t know...!”
“Stop acting like a dog, and start searching seriously.”
“I’m a fox, I shouldn’t be too far off—ah, I picked up Yuri’s scent!”
“...Fine, then dog it is.”
Ignoring Fram’s off-hand remarks, Athena scampered toward the coast. Her eyes soon locked onto Yuri’s form, sitting on the sandy beach, his black hair swaying in the salty sea breeze.
“Yuriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!! Found yoooooooooooooooouuuuu!!”
“Hm? Athena—wait, waaaaaaaaaah!?”
Her sudden lunge pushed him down into the sand. His entire body became covered in grit, and he lightly shook his head to remove some of the sticking sand grains.
“Hac, hac! Wh-What’s gotten into you!?” he cried.
“...That should be my line.” Fram, who had been flung face-first into the beach, spat up sand and glared at Athena before turning back to Yuri. “You suddenly disappeared... We were quite worried.”
“That’s right! We thought you were going to quit as a duelist!”
“Err, why would I have to give up as a duelist?”
“I mean...my brother said terrible things to you.”
Her ears apologetically drooped. However, the mention of Elias only caused Yuri to shoot up.
“Right, Mr. Elias! He was really strong! The Beast Tribe’s Release is strong in its simplicity, just like Master taught me! To actually see it up close was a good experience!”
Seeing Yuri’s eyes sparkle as he sung Elias’s praise, Athena and Fram exchanged a look and tilted their heads.
“Umm... Yuri, weren’t you depressed because you lost?” Fram asked.
“It’s extremely irritating, but I’m feeling motivated now! When I was lying on the bed, I was thinking of nothing but how to beat Elias, and I just couldn’t sit still anymore!!”
“...Then what did you come here to do?”
“I wanted to train and see how my body was holding up.”
He swung around his arms and flexed his biceps.
“Death is pretty amazing, isn’t it!? It hurts like my body is being torn apart, and I’m filled with this sensation like nothing in the world matters, and I just hate everything!”
“Yes, well...when you die, it normally takes three days before you can move again...?”
“Does it really? Don’t tell me there’s an even stronger super-death out there!?”
“I-I don’t think so...?”
As Yuri closed in with glee, Athena pulled back ever so slightly. It didn’t look like he was bluffing. He had lost to Elias, but his will to fight hadn’t been crushed.
“I lost this time...but I’ll definitely beat Mr. Elias in the next duel! No matter how harsh it is, I’ll never give up until I win!” he proudly proclaimed, even having seen the overwhelming gap in strength.
His will would never bend. However, his sentiment only invited a bitter look from Fram.
“...But you’re a mix-blood.”
Tribe Skills were an absolute power in duels. Without that power on his side, Yuri would surely meet his limit.
“You should understand that better than anyone.”
Surely Yuri knew he could never reach beyond it. But Yuri shook his head.
“I understand it, but I don’t accept it!”
“...What do you mean?”
“I mean, who’s the one who decided a mix-blood can’t win?” Yuri asked back with unwavering eyes. “The other duelists? The people who watch them? Don’t tell me it’s god? Just because they haven’t gotten results so far, a mix-blood absolutely has to fall behind all the other duelists?”
Yuri continued to line up infantile words. And yet, his eyes were overflowing with confidence and conviction.
“This is the Duel City Babel—where battle is everything. No matter what others say, no matter how wrong they say I am, I just have to win to set things right.”
This was the absolute rule of the duel city. This was why Yuri had obtained his power.
“The physical capabilities of the Beast Tribe; the endurance of the Dragon Tribe; the technique of the Elf Tribe; the technology of the Dwarf Tribe; the resourcefulness of the Demon Tribe; the faith of the Angel Tribe; the magic of the Spirit Tribe... I just have to surpass all of them, and even I can win!”
It was idiotic idealism. So, in order to make that hopeless ideal a reality, he had tried out all sorts of means under his master. He had built up the Human Tribe’s feeble body, and put in the effort to exceed his limits.
“Whether I win or not—is up to me to decide!”
His words were simple to no end. But, in their sheer simplicity, they expressed the root of Yuri Eniastar as a human being. It’s fun to win and irritating to lose. That was why he wouldn’t spare any effort to win, and he would carefully study so as not to lose.
Despite understanding the impossibility, he continued moving forward to surpass it. And by this point—it had reached the realm of madness. The pure and utter insanity within Yuri forced his body and soul to move.
“Just knowing how fun it will be to win the next fight, there’s nothing I can’t do!”
And those words were presumably from the heart. Yuri would do anything to win and enjoy a battle. Every part of his being gave off that feeling.
Before either of the girls could respond, a giant pillar of water rose from the sea. The tower of white foam climbed high into the sky, causing the three to turn to face it.
“—Da ha hah! See? There’s no way the strongest is gonna lose to some sharks!!”
The large man who appeared from the pillar approached with a grand laugh. After shaking his head to snap off any excess moisture, his black hair began to sway in the wind.
“It’s been ten years, mix-blood brat.”
He lobbed the giant shark he held under his arm onto the beach and directed his words at Yuri.
There wasn’t a duelist who didn’t know him. A man who had slaughtered countless challengers at the Babel Roulette. The strongest of the Human Tribe—
Administrator Velt Helrik gave a toothy grin. “I came all the way out here to meet Reilly’s stupid apprentice!!”