Dark Magician and Performapal Sky Magician united through the Polymerization Spell Card, recreating The Dark Magicians—who had once defeated Pegasus's Thousand-Eyes Restrict—before the two of them.
However, the Gate Guardian, with its 3750 ATK, was still more powerful than The Dark Magicians' 2800 ATK. But unlike the Gate Guardian, which lacked a controller, Yugi and Chumley could activate cards to provide support.
"Wonder Wand!" "Spellbound Staff!"
Two staves imbued with powerful magical energy fell into the hands of the two mages, causing their ATK to soar, directly surpassing that of Gate Guardian.
The Dark Magicians [ATK 2800 → 4100]
Two beams of magical energy shot towards Gate Guardian. It naturally wouldn't sit idly by. The Suiijin forming its lower body opened its mouth, seemingly wanting to activate its ability to reduce the ATK of The Dark Magicians to zero.
But The Dark Magicians' effect had already activated. A petrifying beam of light burst forth from the Breakthrough Skill in Yugi's hand, sealing and petrifying all three of Gate Guardian's mouths, preventing them from activating their effects.
Without its most troublesome effect, the attack from The Dark Magicians directly hit Gate Guardian, shattering it with ease!
"A-Amazing!"
The "cross-dressing Mokuba" exclaimed in awe, looking at Yugi with an expression of worship.
"Not at all. I couldn't have defeated Gate Guardian on my own," Yugi said humbly.
Chumley's lips curved into a smirk. "Hmph, don't think a memory of the past like this can hold back those of us living in the present!"
"So scary!"
Even though Chumley and Yugi had joined forces to defeat Gate Guardian, the "cross-dressing Mokuba's" attitude towards them was completely different. Towards Yugi, it was an unfounded trust and admiration, but towards Chumley, it was an inexplicably firm resistance and fear.
"Now that we've beaten this gatekeeper, there shouldn't be any more enemies ahead, right?" Mai Valentine glanced behind the fallen Gate Guardian, where a long tunnel stretched into the unknown. "It's pitch black up ahead; I can't see a thing."
As if in response to Mai Valentine's words, just as she finished speaking, a burning flame suddenly lit up in the darkness ahead, like the eye of a giant beast lurking in the shadows. More and more flames appeared, a dense and rather terrifying sight. At the same time, several overlapping voices, somewhat distorted by the tunnel's echo, called out:
"...Princess..."
"...Princess..."
"Princess!"
"Princess Mary!"
"Princess?" Joey looked with confusion at the points of fire approaching them from the darkness, remaining vigilant. "Hey, Chumley, didn't we already get out of the labyrinth? Why are there still monsters up ahead? Besides, we don't have a princess here, do we?"
Mokuba rolled his eyes at Joey. "Idiot, isn't this woman a princess?" As he spoke, he pointed a finger at his cross-dressing self beside him.
The "cross-dressing Mokuba," or "Princess Mary," wasn't the least bit afraid upon hearing the calls from the tunnel. Instead, she responded excitedly, "Nanny, I'm here!"
"Princess Mary!"
The flames in the darkness revealed their true form. They were soldiers holding torches high, and leading them before Chumley's group was an old woman who looked quite advanced in years.
"Princess Mary, it's so good to see you're alright!"
As she spoke, the nanny picked up Mokuba, ignoring his resistance and struggles, and said with a pained expression, "Your Highness, you've truly suffered, having to disguise yourself in such a way."
"That's not it! I'm not the princess!" Mokuba struggled to push away the nanny's mouth, which was getting dangerously close to his face. "That person over there is the princess!"
"Your Highness, you don't have to be afraid anymore. You're safe now." The nanny wasn't listening to Mokuba at all. Just as she was about to kiss him, an indignant voice came from behind her: "Nanny!"
"Huh?"
The nanny turned her head to look behind her and found her own princess standing there, cheeks flushed, calling out to her, "Nanny, I'm over here!"
"Two princesses?!" The nanny was quite confused, looking left and right. It took her a moment to distinguish between Mokuba and Princess Mary. But then she had a new question: "Princess, then who are all these people?"
"Ah, right, I haven't introduced them to you." Princess Mary turned sideways and motioned towards Yugi and the others. "These brave warriors are my saviors. They are the ones who rescued me from the labyrinth."
"Hehe." Shy smiles appeared on their faces.
"Everyone, please come with me to the Duelist Kingdom. I must repay you for saving my life," Princess Mary said, taking Yugi's hand and leading him deeper into the tunnel. The others all followed.
Chumley walked at the very end of the group. Watching Princess Mary walk ahead, the earlier look of disappointment was gone from his face, replaced by deep thought. A suspicion was quietly forming in his mind, but he didn't have enough evidence yet, so for now, he could only bury it deep in his heart.
However, if this guess was true, then this DM World was far too interesting. Especially this Princess Mary; Chumley found it truly difficult not to connect her existence to a certain someone.
After passing through the long tunnel, the group finally emerged from the Giant Rock Temple and saw the light of day again. Looking back, they realized they had passed through the entire mountain range connected to the Giant Rock Temple via the caves, arriving in a vast plain. At the exit, several carriages pulled by "chickens" were waiting to serve as their transportation, as if they had known all along that Chumley and the others would appear.
Princess Mary and the nanny boarded the first carriage, while Chumley's group of five rode in the one behind. The space inside the carriage was quite generous, so they weren't too crowded.
According to Princess Mary, they still had some distance to go to their destination, so the group started chatting in the carriage.
"So, you guys think we can trust that Princess Mary?"
Mai Valentine glanced at Joey, who had asked the question. "Should be fine. No matter how you look at it, Princess Mary seems like a plot-advancing NPC, not some kind of villain. Besides, that character was probably designed based on Mokuba, right?"
Mokuba nodded helplessly. Although he didn't want to admit that a character based on him was female, he couldn't deny that he and Princess Mary looked exactly alike.
"Seto Kaiba would never allow a character with the exact same face as his little brother to be an antagonist in his company's game. That's your reasoning, isn't it, Miss Mai?" Yugi also felt that Princess Mary could be trusted.
Chumley, however, asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Mokuba, is your appearance data also registered in the KaibaCorp database?"
"Yeah, it is. KaibaCorp uses facial recognition for a lot of its high-security areas. Why, Chumley?"
"Nothing, just a random question," Chumley deflected, pointing to the distant view outside the window. "Look over there."
The group all looked out the window and saw, nestled against a high mountain, a white castle built upon its slopes. It was surrounded by clusters of houses like stars around the moon, giving off an epic, sweeping feeling.
Joey exclaimed with emotion, "A castle on a high mountain, heroes receiving a warm welcome... now this feels like a real adventure story!"
Subscriptions have dropped a lot these past two days. Is it because there are no proper duels in the DM Online Game?
Then I'll try to speed up the pacing. We're approaching the final stage soon.
But I wonder if anyone remembers, there's something in the DM Online Game that can connect to 5D's, which is one of the main reasons I'm writing this part of the plot.
(End of Chapter)