Chapter 134: Soul Vessel - Dark Lasso
In the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, a Dark Duelist organization named the "Shadow Riders" once appeared. Their goal was to seize the Sacred Beasts Cards sealed beneath Duel Academy, conducting Shadow Games to achieve this.
Just like how the "Four Heavenly Kings" can sometimes have five members, the "Shadow Riders" actually had a total of eight members. Excluding the leader of the "Shadow Riders," the remaining seven Shadow Duelists shared a common trait: each possessed a Dark Item imbued with potent Dark Power, seemingly an unspoken homage to the seven Millennium Items.
This Dark Item in Chumley's Inventory, named the Dark Lasso, could be considered related to those seven Dark Items, or entirely unrelated to them.
The reason being, about half an hour prior, while Sheppard's Duel with Camula was still ongoing, this golden necklace was merely an ordinary necklace.
Let's turn back time.
Third Bomb: Bites the Dust!
————Poof, gone in a touch————
In Chumley's room.
"Phew, you're really heavy, I'm exhausted." Placing the person he had been carrying on his back onto his own bed, Chumley panted heavily and sat against the wall, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "You two brothers really owe me big time. I even skipped a Duel for you. Unless you pay me eight or nine hundred million, this debt of gratitude will never be settled."
Fortunately, Yugi and the others were still downstairs in the Duel Arena, watching Sheppard's Duel with Camula. If they were to come to Chumley's room now, they would surely be very surprised, because the Kaiba brothers, whose Souls had previously been stolen by Pegasus and turned into puppets, were lying on Chumley's bed?!
Looking at Kaiba, who lay with open eyes like a dead man, Chumley patted his face, and, as expected, received no reaction. Meanwhile, on Mokuba, the three Ojama brothers, who hadn't appeared for a long time, were proudly boasting to Ojama Red and Ojama Blue about their recent experiences.
"You guys, you're too noisy, be quiet!" Like dusting off clothes, Chumley swept the five Ojamas, who were standing on Mokuba's chest, onto the floor. He then casually took off the Millennium Ring hanging from his own chest, letting the sharp spikes on the golden disc dangle freely over Mokuba's chest.
The Eye of Udjat in the center of the Millennium Ring glowed, and golden light began to emanate from its spikes.
A long time ago, Chumley had wondered something: what exactly were the abilities of the seven Millennium Items?
Looking at their origin, the seven Millennium Items were originally powerful Items crafted through a dark and bloody Ritual. They even had a record of repelling vast invading armies with only seven users.
The Millennium Puzzle, symbolizing royalty; the Millennium Rod, symbolizing mental thought; the Millennium Necklace, symbolizing the future; the Millennium Scale, symbolizing balance; the Millennium Key, symbolizing life; the Millennium Ring, symbolizing direction...
...and the Millennium Eye, now possessed by Pegasus, symbolizing the mind.
As the first Owner of a Millennium Item to appear in Yu-Gi-Oh! other than Yugi, Pegasus's use and development of the Millennium Eye had already surpassed "proficiency." Relying on the most basic ability of True Sight, he continuously developed it, reaching an absurd capability like widespread Mind Stasis.
Although Pegasus's development of his abilities was quite thorough, there was one thing Chumley had always been skeptical about: could Pegasus truly seal others' Souls into Cards?
Chumley, who had already experienced a Shadow Game, knew very well that whether it was his Duel with Yugi or his Duel with Kaiba, Pegasus had not initiated a Shadow Game. Therefore, the possibility of "sealing souls using Shadow Game rules" did not hold up. Furthermore, Pegasus had even directly sealed Mokuba's Soul without a Duel.
So Chumley couldn't help but wonder: were what Pegasus sealed into television sets and Cards truly Souls?
Considering the true nature of the Millennium Eye's power, the answer was obvious: Pegasus never had the ability to "seal souls." He merely manipulated the Spirit World of the Kaiba brothers and Grandpa Muto, stripping away their minds.
It's just that, externally, what remained of Solomon Muto and the Kaiba brothers, after losing the ability to think, truly resembled Soulless walking corpses.
Grandpa Muto's situation was special because his mind was indeed transferred inside a television set. But Chumley felt that, relying on his own Millennium Ring's ability to negate Millennium Items, he might have a chance to awaken the Kaiba brothers prematurely.
After defeating the Labyrinth Brothers who blocked his way, Chumley indeed found the unconscious Kaiba brothers imprisoned in the dungeon. Although he didn't quite understand what Pegasus was plotting by sending people to stop him but not moving the Kaiba brothers, Chumley still took the brothers back to his room.
Carrying them like sacks of cement, during which Kaiba's head was accidentally bumped against the doorframe by Chumley. However, Chumley had asked Kaiba if it hurt, and he didn't answer, so it probably didn't, no, it definitely didn't hurt, right?
Golden light burst forth from the Millennium Ring. Chumley eagerly watched Mokuba lying before him, hoping to awaken the two brothers. But as time passed, minute by minute, the light from the Millennium Ring remained as dazzling as it was at first, yet Mokuba still showed no sign of waking up.
Somewhat bored, he lifted the Millennium Ring and then put it down. The golden disc was like a small light bulb, and Mokuba like a contact-based power source; when the spikes touched Mokuba, the Millennium Ring lit up, but when separated, the golden light instantly extinguished.
Chumley hung the Millennium Ring back around his chest, and propping his chin with one hand, he frowned at the Kaiba brothers sleeping side-by-side: "It has no effect? That's not right. Can the Millennium Ring's ability not even break the seal left by the Millennium Eye?"
"Then wouldn't all that trouble I went through to make a trip out and exhaust myself carrying these two brothers back be for nothing?" Thinking this, Chumley subconsciously rubbed the Millennium Ring hanging on his chest. Suddenly, he paused.
He hadn't noticed before, but now that he had hung the Millennium Ring back on his chest, why did it feel heavier than before?
Gripping the disc, he raised it to his face to examine it. Chumley found that the lowest cone of the Millennium Ring looked somewhat different from before, as if a sponge had soaked up water; its volume had expanded considerably.
"System?" Faced with a dilemma, Chumley called upon the unassuming System.
"[Dark Power detected. Initiate System Self-cleaning Mode? (Note: will consume 500 DP from the Duelist.)]"
"Scram, all you ever do is stare at my Balance," Chumley complained, refusing the System's suggestion. His DP Balance in the System had just barely broken a thousand, accumulated from his Duels with Bandit Keith and the Labyrinth Brothers. He couldn't bear to spend it just like that.
"[Self-cleaning Mode denied.]"
"[Suggestion two: Duelist can export Dark Power onto other objects.]"
Seeing the second hint given by the System, Chumley's gaze involuntarily fell upon the necklace tied around Mokuba's neck. He remembered something: "This idea seems pretty good. I recall having some 'Dark Energy Mass' that needs to be expelled from my body, right?"
Golden light bloomed once more in Chumley's room. When the radiance receded, Chumley weakly slumped onto the sofa, watching the necklace in his hand slowly being dyed golden. The Chain at the end of the necklace also transformed into an embossed design wrapped around it.
Looking at the Eye of Udjat gradually emerging on the front of the necklace, Chumley felt the déjà vu was overwhelmingly strong, and couldn't help but quip, "So, it turns out this is the origin of Dark Items?"
(end of chapter)