Chapter 521: Acting Alone in a Horror Movie Gets People Killed
Ever since Yugi's vision was filled with the radiance blooming from the mummy, he found himself in a Starry Sky, with nothing beneath his feet, just standing in the void.
Everywhere his gaze reached was filled with countless, unreachable stars. However, Yugi wasn't alone here. Where he could see by looking up, the **Millennium Puzzle** and a Crystal Pyramid, which Yugi had only seen in a newspaper but never in person, were magnified countless times and floated above Yugi.
Although saying "above" was a bit strange in this Starry Sky with no gravity and no distinguishable spatial dimensions, Yugi tentatively created a coordinate system around himself, looking up in surprise at the two massive pyramids, one upright and one inverted, above his head.
"This is...?"
Although they were similar in scale and identical in shape, and both had a golden engraving of the Eye of Wedjat on the side facing Yugi, Yugi was certain that the slightly bluish Crystal Pyramid and the golden **Millennium Puzzle** were completely different existences.
Just by gazing at the scarlet eye part within the Eye of Wedjat on the Crystal Pyramid, Yugi felt his spirit subjected to a continuous pressure like a tide, while a gradually clearer voice sounded in his ears, and images appeared before his eyes.
"...When Light and Dark intersect..."
To Yugi's surprised gaze, two figures appeared before him, facing off. Although they were blurry at first, they quickly became clear, and Yugi realized that the two people facing off were actually The Other Self, Dark Yugi, and Kaiba!?
However, unlike the two Yugi was familiar with, the two appearing before him now were not wearing modern clothes, but rather revealing Egyptian attire, and they were adorned with gold and silver, seemingly not bothered by the weight.
Just as Yugi was confused about why he could see Dark Yugi and Kaiba dressed completely differently from usual, the two facing off simultaneously made sweeping gestures as if commanding a battle, and two heavy tablets appeared before them. From within the tablets, two monsters that Yugi was extremely familiar with flew out.
They were none other than Dark Yugi's trusted servant, **Dark Magician**, and Kaiba's Ace Card, **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**!
As **Dark Magician** and **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** flew out from the tablets depicting their respective forms and clashed, Yugi noticed that the clothes of Dark Yugi and Kaiba facing off changed with the collision of **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** and **Dark Magician**, and even the tablets of **Dark Magician** and **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** gradually turned into cards.
The **Millennium Rod**, which was once held by Marik and later fell into Hayato's hands, disappeared from Kaiba's hand, replaced by a Duel Disk with a technological feel. His white long cape turned into a white long trench coat, and the hat on Kaiba's head also vanished, but only the cold and arrogant expression on Kaiba's face remained unchanged.
And the gold and silver jewelry on Dark Yugi's body also turned into the school uniform shoes and pants Yugi usually wore. The cool blue cape gradually became a blue school uniform jacket draped over his shoulder, and the black hemp rope used to hang the **Millennium Puzzle** around his neck gradually turned into a silver iron chain.
Seeing this, Yugi subconsciously moved his neck. Although using a metal chain to hang the **Millennium Puzzle** was indeed cooler than using a hemp rope, Yugi had recently found his neck constantly sore and swollen, exhausted every day.
When he gets a chance, he would definitely switch back to the rope, even if The Other Self disagreed, he had to switch, he still wanted to grow taller.
Just as Yugi was lost in thought, he heard that voice, coming from who knows where, sound again:
"...When the King of Light buries the Darkness, erasing the King of Darkness..."
As soon as the voice finished, Yugi saw that the balance between Dark Yugi and Kaiba, **Dark Magician** and **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** was broken. **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** gradually suppressed **Dark Magician** with its powerful strength and gained the advantage, while Dark Yugi also seemed to have suffered damage in the battle, half-kneeling down with a painful expression.
"...When filled with Light..."
Seeing Dark Yugi at a disadvantage, Kaiba's face showed a proud smile, but in the next moment, his head was firmly grasped and lifted by a large hand!
"...The King of Destruction is about to revive!"
The jackal-headed being that suddenly appeared behind Kaiba looked at Kaiba, whom he had grabbed, with a look of pleasure, and turned his mocking gaze towards Yugi, who was watching the battle.
Yugi finally realized that the voice that had entered his ears was actually coming from the jackal-headed being before him!
"King of Destruction?!"
Yugi looked slightly panicked at the jackal-headed being, who was holding Kaiba in one hand, bypassing the half-kneeling, painful Dark Yugi, and walking towards him. He repeated the name the opponent had spoken.
Seeing the grinning jackal-headed being reach out to him, Yugi, who had no power to counter at this moment, was so scared he was about to close his eyes, but saw a dazzling golden radiance suddenly light up behind the "King of Destruction".
At this point, the jackal-headed being could no longer continue to attack Yugi. Instead, he turned back nervously to look behind him, watching a dazzling Sun manifest in the void as if facing a formidable enemy.
"...Destruction and the Sun King contended..."
What Yugi didn't expect was that the "King of Destruction" had already turned around to contend with that Sun, but another voice sounded. However, judging by the voice, it wasn't the same person as the jackal-headed being "King of Destruction".
And as the voice narrated, three beams of light flew out from the "Sun" and attacked the "King of Destruction". Although they caused great damage to the "King of Destruction", the King of Destruction waved a hand, and a Crystal Pyramid that Yugi had seen before surprisingly appeared. He then used it to seal the three beams of light released from the "Sun".
However, after the three beams of light were locked up, the "Sun" released three more attacks, hitting the "King of Destruction" once again. But this time, what was released was not "Light", but three streams of blackness.
The jackal-headed being, injured again, seemed like he couldn't withstand this second attack and was knocked down onto the ground.
"...The Sun King will Set Destruction with [ ]..."
Facing the King of Destruction who had fallen, the "Sun" seemed like it was accumulating some power, preparing to deliver a final blow to the "King of Destruction".
However, at this moment, the fallen "King of Destruction" counterattacked in his dying throes, spitting out a red sphere from his mouth that collided with the three streams of blackness that hadn't been withdrawn.
Under the pull of the red sphere, the three streams of blackness seemed to have broken free from the control of the "Sun". Twisting and rotating, they actually transformed into a black portal, crashing towards the "Sun"!
"...But, Destruction also took the Sun with [ ]."
The voice in Yugi's ears gradually weakened, and as he watched, the "Sun"'s final power transformed into a vortex flashing with lightning, successfully crushed and dispersed the "King of Destruction". However, the "Sun" also disappeared into the portal left by the "King of Destruction".
The Crystal Pyramid that had shackled the initial three beams of light shattered, but the light could no longer return to the "Sun".
Everything before Yugi's eyes, along with the shattering of the Crystal Pyramid, suddenly shattered. He abruptly opened his eyes and sat up from the ground.
"Whoa!"
Yugi, who suddenly woke up from the ground, startled Téa greatly. Téa, who had woken up not long before Yugi, quickly looked at Yugi with concern: "Yugi! What's wrong!?"
"Téa? Did you see that—" Yugi, who had cried out, saw Téa and was about to say something, but his consciousness became slightly hazy, and he found that he couldn't remember at all what he had just seen. "That, what was it?"
"Huh?" Téa was a bit confused by Yugi's nonsensical question. "What are you talking about, Yugi? Did you see something?"
"No, nothing." The confused Yugi recalled, although he barely managed to remember the scene up until the voice saying "The King of Destruction is about to revive" sounded and the "King of Destruction" reached out to him, no matter how hard he tried, he had no impression of what happened afterwards.
"What about you, Téa? Did you see anything?"
Helping Yugi stand up from the ground, Téa shook her head: "Just now, I only remember that terrifying mummy suddenly started glowing, and then everything went black, and I don't remember anything else."
As Yugi and Téa woke up, the others also opened their eyes one after another.
"Ah, an unfamiliar ceiling." Marik opened his eyes with a sour face. Although he was awake, he didn't get up.
Beside his head, Joey Wheeler opened his eyes: "Huh? Why am I lying on the ground?"
"I don't even know where the End of the Universe is, how would I know the answer to your question?" Marik turned his head and glared at Joey Wheeler, who was lying on the ground with a confused expression. "But before you think, get up first, you bastard!"
Hearing this, Joey Wheeler also realized that he had happened to fall right on top of Marik when he fell, which was why Marik hadn't gotten up even though he was awake. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he simply couldn't lift Joey Wheeler, who was pressing down on his shoulder.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I was wondering why the ground wasn't flat." Joey Wheeler got up with a sheepish smile, and helped Marik up as well. Tristan was also helping Grandpa Solomon Muto, who had a bad back, stand up.
Then the few of them realized that they were not beside the glass Exhibition Hall they were watching before, but had been moved to an Open Space a little further away from there. Looking back at the glass Exhibition Hall, they saw the figures of Hayato and Ishizu.
"...And then, that guy ran away, I couldn't catch up to him, or it." As the curious Yugi and the others approached, they heard that Hayato seemed to have just finished saying something to Ishizu, and Hayato also noticed their approach. "Yo, everyone's awake."
"Hayato, Ms. Ishizu." The strange footage he had just seen made Yugi very concerned. He looked at Hayato and Ishizu, who were clearly awake earlier than them, and asked, "Do you know what happened just now?"
"Hayato was the first one to wake up. I seemed to have also woken up a little earlier than Mr. Yugi and the others with his help," Ishizu said, shaking her head in response to Yugi's confused gaze. "I never expected the **Millennium Ring**'s ability to interfere with Dark Power could be used in this way."
"I almost took Hayato's joke about 'You're the one with the best qualities in this batch' seriously."
Hearing Ishizu mention his previous joke, Hayato also shrugged: "Actually, it was my first time using this method too. I just thought I'd try my best to wake you up."
"Also, regarding the question of what happened just now..." He also noticed that Yugi, who was usually very laid-back, now seemed very concerned about the answer to the question. Hayato turned sideways, revealing the coffin that Anubis had overturned and caused to fall onto the ground, as well as the shattered glass all over the floor.
"This is!" Joey Wheeler and the others looked at the vanished mummy with great surprise, and even Marik had an astonished expression. "Could it be that the ancient mummy really revived!?"
As he spoke, Marik quickly reached into his pocket and found that the coin he had joked and bet with the mummy before it revived was missing.
Hayato's finger poked the coin in his pocket deeper inside.
"That kind of thing, it's impossible, right?" Joey Wheeler still didn't seem to believe that a mummy would revive. "Maybe just now a thief used a flashbang to knock us out and stole the mummy."
"Idiot, if it was a flashbang, we wouldn't have recovered so quickly," Tristan retorted.
"Actually, the mummy really did revive. That guy also took a Crystal Pyramid that was placed in the Exhibition Hall before. I even dueled that guy in the form of a Dark Game with our lives on the line."
Hearing Hayato's words, Marik was a little surprised: "Brother-in-law, did you lose?!"
"If I lost, would I still be standing here?" Hayato patted Marik on the shoulder, looking at him with an expression like he was looking at an idiot, and didn't bother to refute Marik's address. Anyway, even if he said something, he wouldn't change. "I won, and that guy was indeed killed by the Dark Game right in front of me."
"But I didn't expect that guy would play dead and then reanimate, taking the Crystal Pyramid and escape when I wasn't paying attention."
Listening to Hayato mention the "Crystal Pyramid", Yugi's thoughts on the side kept reviewing his previous vision.
From the words of Joey Wheeler and the others, he gathered that the others seemed to have simply gone black and fainted, without seeing any vision. Only Yugi, perhaps because he held the Millennium Puzzle, was able to see the vision.
'The mummy reviving, could it correspond to the revival of the King of Destruction? In that case, wouldn't The Other Me be the King of Darkness, and is Kaiba the King of Light?'
Recalling Kaiba's painful expression in his memories, Yugi briefly explained the vision he had seen to Dark Yugi within the Millennium Puzzle, then made up his mind, saying to everyone with a determined gaze:
"Everyone, I'm sorry, there's something I'm very concerned about."
"Right now, I need to go find Kaiba!"
After explaining, Yugi bowed slightly and hurried out of the Exhibition Hall.
'If the prophecy on the coffin is true, the King of Light is very likely to become a sacrifice for the King of Destruction's revival. That means right now...'
The voice of The Other Self came to his ears, and Yugi completed the second half of what Dark Yugi didn't say in his inner thoughts:
'That means right now, Kaiba is in danger!'
Chapter 522: But, This is a Dueling World
KaibaCorp Headquarters Building, Data Center.
A programmer in a white coat pushed up his slightly slipping glasses. Sitting in front of the screen for a long time made his neck feel a bit sore and stiff, so he twisted it left and right.
First, he looked behind him to confirm no one was there. Programmer A, who had started slacking off due to boredom, struck up a conversation with his colleague, Programmer B, next to him: "Are your data organized yet?"
"Huh? Still a long way to go." Programmer B, who was spoken to, also first turned his head to confirm no one was behind him. After making sure no one was watching, he took his hands off the keyboard and replied while stretching his wrist: "Validating the data for the new cards released by Industrial Illusions recently is a huge project."
"Even if I'm only responsible for a small part of it, I'll need to work overtime for at least another week to have any hope of finishing."
It was around ten o'clock at night, and only the two of them were still at the Data Center. Programmer A was on the night shift, while Programmer B chose to enjoy double pay for working overtime due to the excessive workload.
"Ah~ That's really tough." Programmer A, having experienced such massive workloads himself, could really empathize with Programmer B's situation. "And I remember we also have to keep a separate encoding to prevent fake cards, right? It's a really big project."
Programmer B wore a helpless expression: "No way. After all, this kind of work has to be manually inputted card by card. With Industrial Illusions' descriptions of card effects, a difference of just one word can be a world of difference. Didn't someone try to be lazy and use AI for automatic processing last time, and ended up creating a bug where **Fissure** could be treated as a Monster Summon?"
"That was the new employee from the next team, right? I remember, I remember." Programmer A seemed to have also heard about the accident his colleague mentioned. "Even though he graduated from Todai and finally got into the conglomerate, just because of that laziness, his future promotions became difficult."
"That guy was still lucky. At least that bug was controlled before it leaked. Otherwise, the next team, or even our entire department, would probably have had their performance docked."
Programmer B's face showed a helpless expression. "That's why this kind of work can't be done lazily; it has to be done manually. And looking at the current popularity of Duel Monsters, it won't be a problem for it to remain popular for decades. There will definitely be no shortage of card input work in the future. I've already prepared myself mentally."
"You're really optimistic then," Programmer A smiled. "My luck is much better than yours. I just need to save the card data detected on the few Duel Disks that the President specially marked in time. It seems to be Mutou Yuugi, Hayato Kobayashi, and Katsuya Jounouchi? They're all well-known duelists."
"Although there are almost no holidays, the work is very easy. However, relatively speaking, I don't get overtime pay as high as yours."
Programmer B shrugged: "Come on. KaibaCorp's benefits are among the top-tier in all of Japan. Even without overtime pay, your monthly money definitely won't be little. Besides, you're not dating anyway, isn't it enough if your salary is enough?"
"Hmph hmph, *sore wa dou kana*?" Programmer A showed a silly grin. "Industrial Illusions seems to be releasing a blind box next month containing female Duel Monsters figures, including **Dark Magician Girl**. I don't have much confidence in my luck, so the more salary I save, the better, in order to pull my wife!"
Looking at his colleague who suddenly became passionate, Programmer B felt slightly embarrassed: "Really, I remember every time they do this blind box thing, aren't there second-hand dealers on the market who directly sell opened blind boxes? Couldn't you just buy **Dark Magician Girl** directly? Although it's more expensive than the normal price, it's still cheaper than you opening many boxes, right?"
"What do you know? Only by opening them box by box myself can I show my deep and devoted love for **Dark Magician Girl**. And I heard that this time, they might also mix in the figures of the new card monsters to be released next time. I really want that too."
Programmer A said righteously.
Just as Programmer B was about to rant about his companion's scumbag remark—saying he was devoted to **Dark Magician Girl** one moment, then immediately "cheating" on a new Duel Monster the next—a voice suddenly sounded behind them, scaring them so much they trembled all over:
"Hey, you two---"
"!" "!"
Because they got into talking and completely forgot to pay attention to what was behind them, the two, A and B, immediately recognized the owner of the voice. Their bodies instantly became stiff, and their hands and feet felt a trace of coldness. Slowly turning their heads, the two who were caught slacking off looked at Kaiba, who had appeared in the Data Center, and said fearfully: "P-President, Kaiba President!"
"What to do when caught red-handed by the President slacking off during work hours? Waiting online, urgent!"
You know, job hunting in Japan is not like in other countries. If you work here, once you join a certain company group, work is generally a lifelong matter. Your entire life is tied to the group you belong to. Even if you resign and look for other jobs, other groups won't give you good treatment because you have resignation experience.
Relatively speaking, general small mistakes within the group you belong to won't make you resign, but they will inevitably affect future promotions. The two programmers also had thoughts of climbing up, so at this moment, they were inevitably extremely nervous in front of Kaiba.
Fortunately, however, Kaiba didn't care that he had caught them slacking off and chatting red-handed earlier.
After getting two cards from Pegasus, Kaiba took his beloved Blue-Eyes Jet back to the KaibaCorp Headquarters Building in Domino City overnight and went straight to the Data Center as soon as he returned.
"You two, each record the data of one card for me," Kaiba ordered the two. While speaking, he walked to an unused computer in the Data Center, took out the cards he had gotten from Pegasus from his pocket earlier, and inserted them into a device similar to a card reader.
The card data was transmitted by Kaiba via the card reader to the computers of the two programmers, waiting for manual processing. Kaiba added, "Also, bring up the data from the previous simulations of my duels against Hayato Kobayashi and Mutou Yuugi."
"Yes!"
Hearing that the President only ordered them to work and didn't scold them, the two scared and worried programmers naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to specially bring up the previous matter again. They quickly started operating and controlled the two previously archived data sets to be projected onto the big screen in the Data Center.
The footage that first appeared in Kaiba's field of vision simulated his duel with Yugi. After a long back and forth, it changed to a scene where his **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon**, empowered by **True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** and having invincible resistance, was dueling against **Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice** on Yugi's Field.
The full resistance granted by **True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** allowed **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** to ignore the **Mirror Force** Yugi activated and attack and destroy **Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice**. Yugi's Life Points were thus reduced to only 200.
Although the destroyed **Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice** Special Summoned **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl** from Yugi's Graveyard, Kaiba also had the invincible **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** with field presence and 2000 Life Points, fully ten times Yugi's.
But under these circumstances, Yugi actually summoned **Catapult Turtle** by Tributing **Dark Magician Girl**, and used **Dark Magic Barrage** to make **Dark Magician's** ATK soar to 4500, blasting himself to death with one shot by Tributing **Dark Magician**!
The familiar finishing blow made Kaiba's face extremely ugly. After all, he had experienced losing in the same way countless times against Hayato. This annoyed aura was like a tangible presence, oppressing the two programmers who were working with their heads down, pretending to be invisible.
Although Kaiba had read some of Hayato's new cards' data, such as **Drytron** and **Dragonmaid**, through a chip planted in Hayato's Duel Disk, in Kaiba's view, Hayato's strongest card was not these, but his most trusted **Gaia** Deck.
Adhering to the idea of defeating an opponent in their strongest state, Kaiba set Hayato's duel data to use a **Gaia** Deck that included the **Three Egyptian Gods**. Although it also included other cards Hayato often had, such as **Rainbow Kuriboh**, the **Ojama** cards that Kaiba disliked the most were specifically removed by him.
In the simulated duel screen, Kaiba gained the upper hand by relying on the power of one **Blue-Eyes** after another. But Hayato also countered by relying on **Gaia's** Special Summon ability and **Super Polymerization**. After a few turns, he even summoned **Obelisk the Tormentor** on the Field, which he had won from Kaiba.
Once taken by Hayato in the Battle City Finals, although Kaiba acknowledged the idea that the winner is king and the loser is vanquished, he was still very angry. Not only was he annoyed that Hayato once again took the victory in the form of a superior, but he was also angry that he had suffered another humiliating defeat.
More importantly, Kaiba really liked **Obelisk the Tormentor**, this God Card. Although Ishizu, Marik, and Hayato, who understood the Three Egyptian Gods deeply, all stated that **The Winged Dragon of Ra** was the strongest card among the Three Egyptian Gods, if Kaiba were to choose, he might be more willing to take **Obelisk**.
It had nothing to do with "sentiment" like it being the first God Card he obtained. It was purely because Kaiba had a certain natural sense of familiarity with **Obelisk**. Although not as much as **Blue-Eyes**, using **Obelisk** was quite handy, so he was also very annoyed after losing it.
On the other hand, because Hayato gained another God Card while he lost one, this change in strength gap was also one of the reasons Kaiba was annoyed.
Looking at **Obelisk's** fists, which activated its special effect by using two monsters as stakes, crushed **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon**, Kaiba silently watched his Life Points on the screen become 0.
Kaiba performed a simple operation to edit his Deck data, incorporating the data of the two cards, and started the simulation once again.
'Although **Obelisk's** power is quite powerful, that kind of power ultimately belongs to the past and is not suitable for me who needs to move towards the future.'
'What is Kaiba Seto's Ace Card? The current me has an undisputed answer, and that is **Blue-Eyes**. My ace card, my glory, my soul, is **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**.'
'However, this doesn't mean I've given up on **Obelisk**. Wait for me to take back **Obelisk** from your hands with a brand new form of **Blue-Eyes**, Hayato!'
Watching himself use the cards he got from Pegasus to banish **Obelisk the Tormentor**, and with another **Blue-Eyes**, took away Hayato's last bit of flickering candle-like Life Points, even Kaiba, who always had a cold face, couldn't help but reveal a satisfied big laugh.
"Hmph hmph, hehe, hahahaha!"
"As expected, this power didn't disappoint me. It seems the time has finally come to end this endlessly entangled destiny!"
Kaiba pulled out the two cards from the card reader, glanced at the cautious two programmers beside him. Because he was in a good mood, he didn't pursue the two's ideas, and just walked towards outside the Data Center proudly: "It's fine now, you can continue work."
While walking, Kaiba also used his personal terminal to bring up the stock transfer agreement he had used before and started editing it again, although some of the details were modified by him.
'I'll use this to make Yugi and Hayato duel me.' Kaiba walked into the elevator going to the top floor, and looked through the glass towards a large industrial park in the distance. A piece of land there was contracted by KaibaCorp, and right on the cliff at the very end, a building extremely similar to the Kaiba Dome during the KC Cup had been completed. 'In that place, I will become the Strongest Duelist!'
On one of the cards in his arms, an ominous red light lit up, but the other card, as if protecting Kaiba, tried hard to suppress this red light from affecting Kaiba.
# Chapter 523: Kaiba VS Yugi
When Yugi left the Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall alone, although Joey Wheeler and Téa and the others intended to keep him there, Yugi's movements were so fast that they didn't have time to say anything before he left.
When the others also left the Exhibition Hall after Yugi, they found a black luxury sedan leaving from in front of the Exhibition Hall as if it had completed the task of an assassination squad leader, and Yugi's figure was nowhere to be seen.
The sharp-eyed Joey Wheeler noticed a three-dimensional Blue-Eyes White Dragon car emblem on the front of the black luxury sedan before it drove away, with the words "KC" on the base: "That car, is it from KaibaCorp?"
"Could Yugi have gotten into that car? We don't see him anywhere around." Tristan looked around. In front of the Exhibition Hall was a main road, and there were no other cars parked nearby, nowhere to obstruct the view at all.
Téa was a little confused: "But why would Yugi get into a KaibaCorp car? And judging by how hurried he looked just now, and how coincidental it is for a KaibaCorp car to appear here, it's almost like they've been following us and waiting at the entrance for Yugi to get in."
Téa's suspicion was not unfounded. After all, it was well known that Kaiba President was always someone who liked the new and disliked the old. He could burn everything left from Gozaburo's time just because of his personal preference, without any pity even if many of those things held memories from his childhood. He had no interest whatsoever in antiques and cultural relics.
On the top floor of the KaibaCorp Headquarters Building, common decorations found in other company President's Offices, such as classical oil paintings, armor and swords, etc., were completely absent from Kaiba's Office. Instead, there were many high-tech props favored by Kaiba personally, as well as merchandise related to Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Of course, Kaiba's explanation for having Blue-Eyes White Dragon merchandise was to cultivate his aura as a Duelist and live with his Duel Monsters day and night. The credibility of this explanation is debatable.
Although Kaiba's KaibaCorp participated in the "Egyptian Antiquities Traveling Exhibition" activity held by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, where Ishizu worked, in Domino City, and the construction of the Egyptian Antiquities Traveling Exhibition Hall was also completed by KaibaCorp, that was only because it was commercially profitable and Ishizu had given Kaiba a card of Obelisk the Tormentor.
After Battle City ended and Marik was apprehended, achieving Ishizu's goal, the cooperation between Kaiba and Ishizu was considered over. Although the "Egyptian Antiquities Traveling Exhibition" was still ongoing, Kaiba and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization had no further connection. KaibaCorp cars would certainly not pass by this area, as the location of the Egyptian Antiquities Exhibition Hall in Domino City was already considered remote.
Not only Téa, but Marik, Tristan, and Joey Wheeler also had some suspicion towards KaibaCorp.
"Miss Ishizu, I remember that the Millennium Necklace seems to be..." Joey Wheeler suddenly recalled, recalling that Yugi had mentioned the mysterious power of the Millennium Items, and that the Millennium Necklace could foresee the future. His gaze couldn't help but turn towards Ishizu.
However, Ishizu shook her head and looked at Hayato beside her with some helplessness: "I'm sorry, although the Millennium Necklace does have the power to foresee the future, it's a capability I haven't used for a long time. And because of the interference ability of the Millennium Ring on other Millennium Items, I cannot accurately foresee Mr. Mutou Yuugi's situation."
"I think, instead of making wild guesses and deductions here, it would be more convenient for us to go directly to KaibaCorp," said Hayato, who was self-aware of being a humanoid mobile signal jammer, smiling apologetically at Ishizu and offering a suggestion.
Hearing this, Marik proudly pulled out the key he had clipped to his waist and held it up: "I have a motorcycle." As he spoke, he pressed a button on it, and the lights of a red and yellow painted motorcycle not far away lit up. The dazzling lighting effects on the vehicle's body created an effect like flowing lava, extremely conspicuous even in broad daylight.
Looking at Marik's motorcycle, Tristan said with interest: "Isn't this motorcycle a Tristan Gold Wing? And it's even been modified with electronic control and lighting modifications, it looks really good, it's just... why does it look strange?"
Compared to Tristan, who was focused on the vehicle itself, Joey Wheeler recognized at a glance what the modified lights on Marik's motorcycle were.
"Isn't that the pattern of Lava Golem? Why would you put such an ugly monster on your car?" Although slightly different from the classic card art of Industrial Illusions, Joey Wheeler had a deep impression of the image of Lava Golem because Hayato had "gifted" him the Big Baby more than once, and he couldn't forget it at all.
"That kind of thing isn't important, okay? The most important thing right now is to go find Yugi," Téa said, feeling quite speechless towards the two guys whose attention had completely drifted off. "However, a motorcycle can only carry a maximum of two people. There are so many of us here."
"I have the key to the Exhibition Hall's truck. That vehicle can carry many people, but its speed is limited because it's used to transport important items," Ishizu also produced a key and held it in her hand, suggesting, "How about two of us go ahead first, and the others take the truck?"
Hearing Ishizu's suggestion, the group discussed it and decided to have Hayato and Joey Wheeler go ahead on the motorcycle, while Téa, Marik, Ishizu, and Grandpa Solomon (the four 'old, weak, sick, and disabled'), along with Tristan, would take the Exhibition Hall's truck.
"First the mummy revived, and then Yugi suddenly ran off too. I just have a bad feeling..." Grandpa Solomon watched Joey Wheeler and Hayato get on the motorcycle. Joey Wheeler fumbled to put on his helmet and said with a slight worry.
"Don't worry, Master Solomon. Although I don't know what happened, we will definitely protect Yugi from being harmed by that guy Kaiba," Joey Wheeler said, giving a thumbs-up. "I, Yugi, and Hayato, the three of us are invincible!"
"It wouldn't make much difference if you were removed, actually," Tristan, as Joey Wheeler's teasing friend, immediately shot him down. Téa actually had the same feeling as Solomon and looked at Hayato and Joey Wheeler with pleading eyes: "Please, Hayato, Joey Wheeler, please bring Yugi back safely."
"Okay, don't worry," Hayato nodded and put on his helmet.
"It's my motorcycle, Brother-in-law. Be careful when you drive and don't scratch my paint," Marik reluctantly handed the key to Hayato. "But Brother-in-law, how come I never heard you say you learned how to ride a motorcycle?"
"Heh heh, would I tell you that I once trained at the Hawaii Spy Training Center?" The confident Hayato took the key and started the motorcycle. "My riding skill is A+."
Ten minutes later.
"Ugh~"
Joey Wheeler, who got off the motorcycle, squatted by the green belt on the side of the road in Kaiba Industrial Park, his face pale and looking very unwell: "What exactly happened just now!"
"I told you, I trained at the Hawaii Spy Training Center," Hayato was much more composed than Joey Wheeler. He parked the motorcycle in front of a huge building and casually took off the card of Gaia the Fierce Knight that he had attached to the motorcycle before leaving the Exhibition Hall entrance.
This was also a new usage of Card Spirits that Hayato had explored. By having the Card Spirit possess other props, various powerful functions could be achieved. For example, Gaia the Fierce Knight could help Hayato easily drive most 'riding tools,' home appliances attached with Drytron Meteonis Dracodes would become networked smart furniture, and Little Blue could even increase the washing machine's power output to the maximum and burn out the motor...
The last one can be ignored.
Let alone driving a mere motorcycle, if Hayato wanted to, he could even use a bicycle that grandpas and grandmas use for grocery shopping to race and win against racing motorcycles with the help of Gaia the Fierce Knight. "'Riding Skill is A+'" was not bragging.
However, it was clear that Joey Wheeler could not adapt to this kind of racing that exceeded the human limit. Although he didn't experience motion sickness, the aftereffects of the adrenaline rush made him feel a bit nauseous now.
Nevertheless, Joey Wheeler's physique was ultimately different from ordinary people, or perhaps his worry for his friend allowed him to overcome the physiological discomfort. Hayato and Joey Wheeler walked into their destination—the latest completed building in the Kaiba Industrial Park, located on the outskirts of Domino City, at the end of the coast—another Kaiba Dome.
"That guy Kaiba actually built another Kaiba Dome here. Is he planning to hold the next KC Cup here?" Joey Wheeler looked around the spacious hall of the Kaiba Dome. "And, did Yugi really come here? Although I did see the car we saw at the Exhibition Hall entrance here."
Just as Joey Wheeler finished speaking, he and Hayato heard Kaiba's voice amplified through the public address system:
"Full Projection System, activate! Footage playback!"
Along with Kaiba's voice, a huge screen in the hall of the Kaiba Dome lit up. A field with no lights on, in darkness, appeared on the screen.
Immediately after, the countless grid areas of the dome above the field, which were divided like a chessboard, lit up one by one with white light, illuminating the field. At the same time, Kaiba's figure standing in front of an entrance was revealed.
"Is that, Kaiba? He's actually here." Joey Wheeler frowned. "In that case, maybe Yugi also..."
The white light on the dome showed some distortion and change, gradually simulating a complete sky. The white clouds floating and changing shape due to airflow, or the occasional bird flying across the azure sky, were all so real. If they hadn't just seen the dome before it was activated, Hayato and Joey Wheeler might have actually believed the sky before them was real.
And on the ground, as Kaiba stepped forward onto the Duel Field, next to him, without any virtual projection device, one Duel Monster phantom after another appeared, and then dispersed behind him as he walked.
[Cyclops], [Dark Clown], [Sangan], [Crush Card Virus], [Lord of D.]...
And, Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Saying there was no virtual projection device wasn't entirely accurate, because all the signs indicated that Kaiba had actually used the entire dome of the Kaiba Dome as a virtual projection device!
By the time Kaiba reached one end of the flat Duel Field, only one Blue-Eyes White Dragon remained behind him, while Kaiba's gaze was focused intently on an entrance opposite him, a smirk on his lips.
Under the gaze of Hayato and Joey Wheeler in front of the screen, and Kaiba inside the field, the imposing Dark Yugi, wearing an unexpanded Duel Disk, walked out from there.
"You've arrived, Yu↑gi↓" Kaiba, who had only given his own entrance special effects and pulled some strings, said with a cold laugh as Yugi calmly walked onto the field opposite him and stood still. "Speaking of which, the last duel I had with you was a long time ago. I haven't had a chance to prove that I'm stronger than you."
"The experience of being defeated by your Exodia back then is still fresh in my memory today. This shame of defeat, I will repay today," Kaiba raised the Duel Disk on his hand. "Consider this a warm-up before defeating Hayato Kobayashi and winning the title of Duel King. I will bring down the whip of complete defeat upon you, Yu↑gi↓!"
"Yugi is dueling Kaiba?!" Joey Wheeler in front of the screen was quite unexpected. "What's going on?"
The one who answered him wasn't Hayato, but Keipei, who had also appeared in the Kaiba Dome Hall at some point: "Brother, yesterday he got two cards from Pegasus that seem powerful enough to even suppress Divine-Beasts."
"Keipei?"
Nodding at Hayato, Keipei's expression was heavy: "After getting those two cards, Brother has been acting very strangely, as if he's being controlled. He's impatient to duel you, Brother Hayato, and Yugi. I couldn't stop him, and coincidentally, Yugi also actively wanted to find Brother."
Meanwhile, inside the Kaiba Dome, facing the fighting spirit-filled Kaiba, Dark Yugi did not immediately expand his Duel Disk to respond.
"Kaiba, this duel is not pure. There is some kind of evil power mixed in," Dark Yugi knew the content of that illusion through Yugi Mutou's retelling. "Even so, do you still want to continue the duel?"
In the illusion, his duel with Kaiba would lead to the revive of an existence called King of Destruction. Although Dark Yugi didn't think he would lose, he felt that conflict should at least be avoided. However, although his initial purpose was to see if Kaiba, who also appeared in the illusion, had encountered any accident, who would have thought that Kaiba had already turned into a red-named monster and wanted to duel anyone he saw.
"Hmph, still talking about such boring things. I don't care about those supernatural things you're talking about," Kaiba's gaze didn't waver in the slightest. "My goal has always been only one, and that is to prove that I am superior to you!"
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 524: Ancient Egyptian Monsters Land in Domino City
"In that case, it wouldn't be good not to go all out."
Just as Kaiba and Yugi stood facing each other on either side of the Duel Field, a voice suddenly rang out, reaching their ears. Along with that voice, two objects whizzed through the air.
The quick-reacting Yugi and Kaiba caught the items "attacking" them in the first instant, but upon catching them and looking, both were stunned. They had actually received the cards for Slifer the Sky Dragon and Obelisk the Tormentor respectively!?
Looking towards the direction the voice came from, Yugi and Kaiba saw Hayato standing on the spectator stands by the Duel Field, still in the motion of throwing the cards. Behind Hayato, Joey Wheeler also followed out.
"Yugi!"
"Joey Wheeler, Hayato?"
Yugi was a little surprised that Hayato and Joey Wheeler were able to find this place, and so quickly. Furthermore, he wasn't quite sure what Hayato's intention was in giving him Slifer the Sky Dragon.
"Hey, Hayato Kobayashi, what's the meaning of this? Are you trying to bestow something upon me?" Kaiba completely ignored Joey Wheeler, glancing at the Obelisk the Tormentor in his hand. His eyes were fixed on Hayato, seemingly demanding an explanation.
"Nothing much, I just thought that if you, Kaiba, want to defeat Yugi going all out, you should at least witness Yugi at his peak, shouldn't you? The Yugi who held Slifer the Sky Dragon during Battle City was someone even I only barely managed to defeat."
"The same logic applies to Obelisk the Tormentor. After all, only an evenly matched Duel can be called spectacular, right?"
Hayato wore a matter-of-fact expression. "Also, don't think of this as charity or anything. I'm just lending you the cards temporarily. If you want to truly obtain Obelisk the Tormentor, you'll have to defeat me first, Kaiba."
"Evenly matched..."
Hayato's words seemed to have moved Kaiba. Kaiba looked at the card in his hand; it was false to say he didn't want it. However, he had just recently come to the realization that he could prove his strength with just Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Accepting Obelisk the Tormentor like this felt a bit like giving in to temptation. Hayato's words mostly served as a way for Kaiba to save face.
"Since that's the case, then prepare to be shocked by my evolved Deck, Hayato Kobayashi. As a spectator to this world's top-tier Duel, you have the qualification, even if an unnecessary mediocre person tagged along."
Ignoring Joey Wheeler's "Who are you calling a bastard?" remark, Kaiba placed the Obelisk the Tormentor card into his Deck. The Duel Disk's automatic shuffle function mixed it into the Deck. He looked at Yugi opposite him with surging fighting spirit, clearly ready.
Meanwhile, Dark Yugi looked at the Slifer the Sky Dragon in his hand with a hint of hesitation. After a moment of thought, he also added it to his Deck and shuffled it, muttering to himself, 'I really don't know if this decision is right or wrong...'
'This is also a token of Hayato's feelings, The Other Me. Although he didn't say it, my Duelist's intuition tells me that Hayato knows something, and he's probably also thinking of preventing the illusion I saw before from appearing.'
The voice of Yugi Mutou, who was inside the Millennium Puzzle, entered Dark Yugi's mind. It had to be said that his Duelist's intuition was quite accurate. 'Slifer the Sky Dragon can also be useful in the upcoming Duel against Kaiba.'
'That kind of thing... maybe.' Dark Yugi also told Yugi Mutou the reason for his hesitation in his mind. 'But Aibo, do you remember the nickname Hayato gave Slifer the Sky Dragon, and how we defeated Dark Marik who held him?'
'I'm a little worried that we might also get trapped by the Traitor Dragon.'
'Uh, you're right...'
It was better that Dark Yugi didn't mention it, but once he did, Yugi Mutou inside the Millennium Puzzle couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.
Slifer the Sky Dragon, as one of the Three Egyptian Gods, was indeed powerful, but powerful cards often came with great risk. Compared to the other two God Cards, Slifer the Sky Dragon's risk was much greater.
Its ability called Thunder Force could effectively counter a field setup, but the forced activation effect made it easy for the opponent to exploit it in reverse, and its ATK being determined by the hand restricted the user to having to keep some cards in hand instead of playing them.
The confident Kaiba and Dark Yugi stood on either side, raising their already deployed Duel Disks in unison and shouting:
"Duel!" X2
Kaiba: 4000 LP
Yugi: 4000 LP
As their Duel Disks activated and they drew their respective five cards, the dome of the Dome seemed to trigger some mechanism, and a faint humming sound entered everyone's ears.
Looking up, they happened to see Keipei sitting inside a spherical mechanical device, ascending along the dome's track to the highest point, while continuously operating some equipment. His voice came through the broadcast system: "Panoramic Projection full activation, Immersive Real-Scene Duel Mode, In to the Vrains!"
As Keipei seemed to activate something, Hayato, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi were surprised to find the ground beneath their feet gradually being replaced before their eyes by a flat Open Space, which looked extremely familiar. The distant scenery even turned into a view from high in the sky!?
With the comparison, Joey Wheeler instantly recalled where he had seen the current scenery: "This is... the airship from Battle City!? Did we teleport?"
"No, this is still the Kaiba Dome." Hayato, however, understood the principle of the anomaly before them. "By using the Virtual Projection System to overlay illusory scenery onto the normal buildings, simulating a real scene. Kaiba's technology has improved again."
"I'll take the first turn! Draw a card!"
Taking advantage of Yugi being surprised by the surrounding scenery, Kaiba slyly snatched the first turn, drawing a card, and then slowly explained, "Rather than improvement, it's more like achieving the original goal I had when I first designed the Virtual Projection System."
"Using this Field that was once used to decide who could challenge the throne of the Duel King as the stage to end the tangled fate between you and me couldn't be more suitable."
While speaking, Kaiba finally checked what card he had drawn. Seeing the card he drew, Kaiba's corner of mouth curved up, revealing a proud smile.
"Spell Card Melody of Awakening Dragon! I discard one card from my hand to activate it. From my Deck, I add to hand two Dragon-Type monsters with ATK 3000 or more and DEF 2500 or less. I choose two Blue-Eyes White Dragons."
After searching for two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and adding them to hand, Kaiba drew another card. "Because Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a Level 8☆ monster, I will activate this Spell Card, Trade-In! I discard the Level 8☆ Blue-Eyes White Dragon and send it to Graveyard, then draw two cards from my Deck."
"Rest in the Graveyard for a while, Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Saying this, Kaiba drew two cards.
Joey Wheeler, watching the Duel, had a surprised expression. "That Kaiba, he would actually voluntarily send Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard?"
In Joey Wheeler's understanding, Kaiba always had the attitude of "Blue-Eyes White Dragon is mine, whoever touches it dies." Normally, let alone transferring control of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, even if it was just weakening or destroying Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard, Kaiba would get angry and instantly power up, then blasted to death his opponent.
Currently, only Hayato had managed to avoid this because Kaiba couldn't defeat him.
But now, Kaiba was voluntarily sending his own Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard? It should be known that Blue-Eyes White Dragon wasn't like Red-Eyes Black Dragon; its strength lay in various forms of beatdown, not reanimation from the Graveyard. Kaiba's operation was too strange.
"Hmph, don't try to guess my strategy with that level of wisdom, mediocre person." Joey Wheeler's voice reached Kaiba's ears. "To create the future, destruction is inevitable. It's what's called 'placing oneself in a desperate situation to survive'."
"Spell Card Dark Factory of Mass Production! This card allows me to add to hand two Normal monsters from my Graveyard. I add to hand the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons that were successively sent to Graveyard by the effects of Melody of Awakening Dragon and Trade-In."
Kaiba retrieved the two cards from his Graveyard. His hand size also increased to seven cards, and three of them were revealed cards: Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
"The card discarded by Melody of Awakening Dragon earlier was also Blue-Eyes White Dragon? In that case, Kaiba has assembled all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons again!?" Joey Wheeler exclaimed in surprise, but after speaking, he also felt a hint of strangeness. "Huh? Why did I say 'again'?"
Hayato casually ranted, "Probably because it would be strange if Kaiba didn't glue the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons together."
After assembling the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in his hand, it was no surprise to anyone that Kaiba played Polymerization.
"Activate the Polymerization Spell Card! I Fusion Summon using all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my hand! Appear now, the evolved strongest dragon!"
"Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons merged into one under the power of Polymerization. The three-headed giant dragon with two legs and two wings descended onto Kaiba's Field!
Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [ATK 4500]
"Since it's the first turn, I cannot conduct a battle. Therefore, I set two cards. My turn ends." After summoning a monster with high attack power to put some pressure on Yugi, Kaiba kept one card in hand and set the other two cards, making his end turn declaration.
Kaiba: 4000 LP, Hand 1
Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [ATK 4500]
Set Card X2
Looking at the Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Kaiba's Field, which had a strong presence and was trying its best to attract everyone's attention, Dark Yugi felt a sense of vigilance.
'The Blue-Eyes White Dragon Deck Kaiba uses primarily focuses on a beatdown strategy, emphasizing suppression of the opponent with high attack power.' Yugi Mutou stated his idea from inside the Millennium Puzzle. 'Logically speaking, using Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which can attack three times, for a beatdown when going second turn would be more in line with Kaiba's style.'
'Kaiba is absolutely not a reckless Duelist who would rush to take the first turn just for the sake of aura advantage without considering the consequences.'
Dark Yugi strongly agreed with Yugi Mutou's idea: 'Furthermore, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is a bit too eye-catching. If he were just using high attack power on the Field, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon would be enough. But this kind of aura now is almost like he's deliberately trying to attract my attention.'
'Kaiba is expecting me to destroy Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and those two cards in the Spell/Trap Zone definitely have a problem!' X2
The two Yugis, with a tacit understanding, came to the same guess at the same time.
"My turn! Draw a card!" After thinking, Yugi drew a card and began to implement the strategy he had conceived. "Activate Spell Card Ancient Rules! I Special Summon one Normal monster with Level 5☆ or higher from my hand."
"Come forth, my most loyal servant, Dark Magician!"
Dark Magician [ATK 2500]
The Spellcaster held a staff imbued with powerful mystical power in his hand. Dark Magician stood before Yugi, facing the towering three-headed Blue-Eyes White Dragon for him, silent and reliable.
And Yugi didn't just have this one card: "Because Dark Magician exists on my Field, I activate the Spell Card Bond Between Teacher and Student."
"The great Dark Magician has a disciple. Special Summon her from my Deck! Appear!"
"Dark Magician Girl!"
Following closely behind Dark Magician, the playful female Spellcaster appeared with light steps, cutely posing for Yugi behind her. However, because she wasn't serious at all and lacked the elegance of a Spellcaster, she was tapped on the head by the stoic Dark Magician with his staff.
Dark Magician Girl [ATK 2000]
"The subsequent effect of Bond Between Teacher and Student continues to activate after I Special Summoned Dark Magician Girl." Yugi searched for a total of two cards from his Deck. One was the Dark Magician Girl he just placed on the Field, and the other card was being shown in his hand. "I set Dark Burning Attack in the Spell/Trap Zone."
Although Yugi only stated the card name, Kaiba had an impression of that card. "If I remember correctly, that's a Normal Spell Card that can destroy all monsters on your opponent's Field when Dark Magician Girl exists on your Field, right?"
"Ah, that's correct. Although I could also choose Dark Magic Attack to destroy your Set Cards in the Spell/Trap Zone, doing so would leave me with no way to deal with Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. After weighing the options, I chose Dark Burning Attack."
As Yugi spoke, he activated the card he had just set: "Because it's a Normal Spell Card, Dark Burning Attack can be activated in the turn it's set. I activate this card!"
"Even if you, Kaiba, set cards like De-Fusion in your Spell/Trap Zone, you cannot avoid this! Be destroyed like this, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Dark Magician Girl raised her staff. A magic orb flashing with lightning was thrown out, hitting Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The three-headed Blue-Eyes White Dragon with a high ATK of 4500 was successfully destroyed just like that.
Yugi looked at how easily he had actually destroyed Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Kaiba hadn't even activated his Set Cards. While feeling unreal, he also became vigilant in his heart, because he knew Kaiba was absolutely not an opponent who could be suppressed so easily.
Indeed, seeing his Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon destroyed, Kaiba revealed a proud cold smile.
"Yugi, actually, the options you could have chosen because of Bond Between Teacher and Student just now also included Dark Burning Magic and Dark Magic Barrage, right? To defeat you and Hayato, I remember every single card you've used clearly."
"However, those other two cards are Quick-Play Spell Cards that cannot be used in the same turn they are set. Your eagerness to gain an advantage in this turn was completely within my expectations!"
"Witness the future born from destruction!"
# Chapter 525: The Man-Eating Devil Advances Towards Kaiba Building
"Witness the future born from destruction!"
As Kaiba slammed the card from his Hand onto the Duel Disk, a brilliant radiance suddenly bloomed where the True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, struck by Dark Magician Girl, had been. Five slender, sharp wings extended from the smoke and dust, fanning away the debris and revealing a slender, white Giant Dragon!
"Pure white power hidden in the source of infinite time, raise your wings that tremble in the echoing intersection of souls, and appear from the azure Abyss!"
"Deep-Eyes White Dragon!!"
"Roar!"
[Deep-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK 0]
"When a Blue-Eyes on my Field is Destroyed, Deep-Eyes White Dragon can be Special Summoned from my Hand, and it inherits the Power of the True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon that was just Destroyed in the Graveyard," Kaiba said proudly. "Furthermore, you will suffer the Wrath of the Dragon from the Graveyard!"
"For every Dragon-Type Monster in my Graveyard, you will take 600 points of Damage!"
Joey Wheeler, seeing Deep-Eyes White Dragon for the first time, couldn't help but be startled: "What? That's such a broken Effect!"
"Not only did it foil Yugi's Plan to Destroy a Powerful Monster by Summoning a Monster just as powerful as True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but it even Countered!"
[Deep-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK 0 → 4500]
Blue flames, like souls, ignited on Deep-Eyes White Dragon, which bore five wings. The form of True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which it had Evolved from, was Absorbed by it. In addition to increasing its ATK, it also generated four beams of light, corresponding to the number of Dragon-Type Monsters in Kaiba's Graveyard, that shot towards Yugi!
"Ugh!"
[Yugi: 4000 → 1600 LP]
Seeing Yugi's Life Points drop by more than half in one go, Kaiba sneered: "In front of my Evolved Blue-Eyes, you have no Resistance at all, Yugi. Hmph, it looks like the Victory or Defeat between us can be decided even before the God Card appears."
"Is that so?"
"Nani!?"
Seeing the surprise on Kaiba's face, Yugi smirked: "Kaiba, just as you see me as an Opponent you must Defeat and pay attention to, I also recognize you as my important Opponent. Naturally, I won't forget the Effects of the Cards you've used."
"When I saw you deliberately leave one Card in your Hand, I guessed whether that Card might be Deep-Eyes White Dragon. Now it seems I was right."
"The Disciple's Strategy failed, so now it's the Master's turn. I Activate the Magic Card Thousand Knives from my Hand. If Dark Magician exists on my Field, I Destroy one Monster on the Opponent's Field, which is the Deep-Eyes White Dragon you just Summoned, Kaiba! This is my true Attack Approach, Kaiba!"
Dark Magician raised the Emerald Green Wand in his Hand, releasing black Mystical Power. Behind him, countless sharp knives materialized, aiming directly at the Deep-Eyes White Dragon that had just Damaged his Master.
Even Kaiba hadn't expected that Yugi had two ways to Destroy Monsters. With Thousand Knives already in his Hand, facing the choice of Bond Between Teacher and Student, Yugi still chose Dark Burning Attack to Destroy a Monster instead of Dark Magic Attack to Destroy a Spell/Trap Card! It was as if he had anticipated the appearance of Kaiba's Deep-Eyes White Dragon!
Like the famous game "Blackbeard," the dense knives struck Deep-Eyes White Dragon. Although it was a 10-Star Dragon Type with extremely high ATK, Deep-Eyes White Dragon was easily Destroyed because it had no Resistance, turning into scattered stardust that drifted down, mixed with feathers like a fallen Angel.
Witnessing his White Dragon being Destroyed, Kaiba was unusually devoid of any Angry Expression. He merely sneered: "When you Destroy my Deep-Eyes White Dragon, Deep-Eyes White Dragon will offer its final Power to me, Destroying all Monsters on your Field!"
"Fall into the Abyss with Blue-Eyes. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!"
Kaiba's behavior made Yugi slightly Strange, because just like Joey Wheeler's Understanding of Kaiba, Yugi also knew how much Kaiba cared about Blue-Eyes. But now, Kaiba, despite witnessing his Monster being Destroyed, was Proud because Deep-Eyes White Dragon's Mutual Destruction Effect successfully triggered.
This isn't like Kaiba at all.
Strange as it was, the Duel continued. Yugi Drew a Card from his Hand and played it: "That won't do. I can't bear to let my cherished Monsters be dragged into the Abyss by you like this."
"Chaining to Deep-Eyes White Dragon's Destroy Effect, I Activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Instant Fusion! I use Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on my Field as Material for a Fusion Summon! Come forth, Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice!"
"The Monster Fusion Summoned by this Effect will be Destroyed during the End Phase, but before that, Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice will take on Deep-Eyes White Dragon's Effect!"
Although it was called Fusion, Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on Yugi's Field merely moved slightly closer to each other. After all, the so-called Master and Disciple is just the combination of the two of them.
The Fusion Summoned Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice was enveloped by the stardust and feathers left behind when Deep-Eyes White Dragon Left the Field. Although they were light feathers, the Instant they landed on Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl's shoulders, they suddenly burst into dazzling Radiance, as if to Swallow everything.
The vision of everyone watching the Field was momentarily taken away. When the Radiance dissipated, Yugi's Field was empty.
However, in the very next Instant, a Finger Snap suddenly echoed from the empty space. Immediately, a Magic gate opened in the void, and the figures of Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician emerged from it. Dark Magician was calm, while Dark Magician Girl had an Expression of lingering fear, even patting her sturdy chest.
[Dark Magician] [ATK 2500]
[Dark Magician Girl] [ATK 2000]
"When Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice is Destroyed, I can Special Summon one Dark Magician and one Dark Magician Girl from my Hand, Deck, or Graveyard," Yugi explained the current situation on the Field to everyone.
"I see, the Effect that Takes Effect after Super Magician - Dark Magician Apprentice is Destroyed, Deep-Eyes White Dragon's Destroy Effect, and Instant Fusion's Side Effect were all utilized by Yugi. Well done, Yugi!"
Although Joey Wheeler usually acts like an Idiot, and his grades certainly prove he is one, his intelligence regarding Duel Monsters is not low at all. After all, he is no longer the newbie he was at that time who couldn't even remember common Card Effects. Naturally, he easily understood Yugi's Strategy just now.
Even Joey Wheeler understood, let alone everyone else.
"Right, in that case, Kaiba's Field has no Monsters that can act as a Barrier, while Yugi has Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl with a Total ATK of 4500 points," Joey Wheeler's eyes suddenly lit up. "If he Attacks Directly, Yugi can Defeat Kaiba!"
"Hmph, so, will you Attack as the Mediocre Person suggested, Yugi?" Despite having only two unknown Set Cards on his Field, Kaiba was acting Proud, as if he, not Yugi, had the Advantage.
Hearing this, Yugi didn't rush to answer, but first looked at his Hand.
After the series of Attack and Defense just now, Yugi had one Card left in his Hand. After thinking for a moment, Yugi made his Decision: "Then, as you expected, I enter my Battle Phase."
"And now, Dark Magician Girl Attacks Kaiba Directly! Dark Burning Attack!"
Facing the two unknown Set Cards in Kaiba's Spell/Trap Zone, Yugi didn't directly Attack with the Dark Magician, who had higher ATK, but chose to use Dark Magician Girl for a test Attack.
"Hmph, Muda Muda, an Attack of this level is not enough to reach me at all. If you want to Defeat me, at least show me your Full Power when you're Serious, Yugi!" Facing Dark Magician Girl's Direct Attack, Kaiba flipped his Set Card in the Spell/Trap Zone. "Chaining to the Monster's Attack Declaration, I Activate the Set Card Negate Attack!"
"Dark Magician Girl's Attack is Negated, and your Battle Phase ends!"
The playful Dark Magician Girl, whose previous Attack had caused Deep-Eyes White Dragon to Inflict Direct Effect Damage to Yugi, was a Spellcaster this time for her Direct Attack. However, she had enchanted her Staff with over a dozen spells and even cast a bunch of enhancement spells on herself, putting her full effort into trying to land a heavy blow on Kaiba.
However, as Kaiba flipped the Set Card Negate Attack, she, who was Attacking with Full Power, crashed into a momentarily solid Barrier. Not only did she fail to Damage Kaiba in the slightest, but she also hurt her nose, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain.
Having finally Destroyed all the Set Cards on Kaiba's Field, only to encounter an annoying card like Negate Attack that directly ends the Battle Phase, Yugi helplessly entered his Main Phase 2.
Looking down at the Card in his Hand again, Dark Yugi felt a slight Hesitation in his Heart.
'Graceful Charity.' Yugi Mutou in the Millennium Puzzle advised, 'The Other Me, now is not the best opportunity to Activate this Card.'
'Hmm, indeed, if I use Graceful Charity after the Battle Phase, I won't be able to effectively Inflict Damage to Kaiba.'
Dark Yugi responded, but to his surprise, Yugi Mutou's Idea was different from his: 'No, that's not it, The Other Me, that has nothing to do with it.'
'Although there's no Evidence, do you remember? Kaiba said before that he remembers every Card we've used, and we often use Graceful Charity to replenish Cards in our Duels. Kaiba, he definitely has some Strategy to Counter Graceful Charity!'
'A Strategy to Counter Graceful Charity?' Dark Yugi was startled, feeling a slight Hesitation in his Heart, but ultimately chose to listen to Aibo's Suggestion, 'Since Aibo says so, then...'
"Set one Card. My Turn ends."
Although he chose not to Activate Graceful Charity, Yugi slyly chose to Set Graceful Charity as a bait. While he wasn't sure if Kaiba would fall for it, tricking him would still be good.
After all, a Normal Person would absolutely not Set super powerful draw cards like Graceful Charity or Pot of Greed on the Field, right?
[Yugi: 1600 LP, Hand 0]
[Dark Magician] [ATK 2500]
[Dark Magician Girl] [ATK 2000]
[Set Card]
"Then, my Turn, Draw." Hearing Yugi's Turn end, Kaiba immediately Drew a Card. Seeing the Card he Drew, he smiled proudly. "Yugi, your Hand is empty now, and so is mine. Just two Turns of Battle have exhausted our Hands. What an intense Battle."
"But to elevate this Duel, just Drawing one Card at a time is too slow. Let's use this Card to replenish our Hands."
"Magic Card, Graceful Charity! Both Players Draw Cards until they have six in their Hand!"
Saying this, Kaiba was the first to Draw six Cards from his Deck.
Although Yugi was slightly surprised that Kaiba also Drew Graceful Charity, getting it for free from Kaiba instead of using his own made him smile. He also quickly Drew six Cards.
As they each looked at the Cards they had Drawn, both Kaiba and Yugi were slightly startled, then showed almost identical Expressions.
"Looking at your Expression, did you Draw a good Card, Yugi?"
"You too, Kaiba."
Seeing the same feeling in Yugi's eyes as his own, Kaiba guessed that Yugi must have Drawn that Card, since he had too.
In Kaiba's Hand, wasn't it Obelisk the Tormentor? And in Yugi's Hand, there was indeed a Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Because of one Graceful Charity, both players simultaneously Drew a "God". And since it was Kaiba's Turn, he had a great Possibility of Summoning the God this Turn!
As the Apex of Duel Monsters, Obelisk the Tormentor requires Tributing three Monsters for a Normal Summon, and Cards like Mausoleum of the Emperor cannot be used as a substitute for the Tribute. This means Kaiba currently needs to Assemble three Monsters on his Field to Summon the God.
Coincidentally, he actually had Cards in his Hand that could achieve this.
"I Normal Summon Lord of D. from my Hand in Attack Position to the Field. As long as Lord of D. exists in the Monster Zone, neither player can Target Dragon-Type Monsters on the Field with Card Effects."
"Next is the Magic Card The Flute of Summoning Dragon! While Lord of D. is on my Field, I Special Summon two Dragon-Type Monsters from my Hand!"
"Come forth, Diamond Dragon, Emerald Dragon!"
Kaiba Summoned Monsters three times in a row, yet Yugi still showed no intention of activating the unknown Set Card in his Spell/Trap Zone. This led Kaiba to exclude the Possibility that the Card was a Summon Trap Card like Trap Hole.
However, since you still haven't activated that Set Card until now, you won't have another chance now, Yugi!
Kaiba, who had already performed a Normal Summon, played his second to last Card: "Activate the Magic Card Double Summon! I can perform a second Normal Summon this Turn. Then, I will Tribute the three Monsters on my Field—"
'It's coming!'
Just the imposing Aura that enveloped the entire Field as Kaiba raised the Card, and the rare Summon Condition of Tributing three Monsters, Yugi already knew that the God Card with the strongest Destroy Power among the God Cards was about to appear!