Chapter 631: What the hell are you talking about? Who said I died?
It must be said that the helicopter hijacked by Alister arrived just in time. Since neither wanted to cause further trouble or conflict, Hayato and Rafael retreated to the helicopter immediately.
"Can't bring yourself to lay a hand on your former friend, Hayato Kobayashi?"
Hearing Rafael's words, Hayato let out a scornful laugh. "Don't make me laugh, Rafael. How can a human be friends with bread?"
"Rather, you, after finally defeating Yugi, why did you seal such a thing?" Saying this, Hayato raised his hand, revealing a card. It was none other than the Seal of Orichalcos card that Rafael had abandoned on the Ground earlier, which had sealed Weevil's soul. "Furthermore, are you really willing to leave without sealing Yugi's soul?"
"Who knows where that soul came from," Rafael said, frowning, seeing that Hayato had actually picked up the card he had planned to discard. "You can do whatever you want with that card. Throw it away, tear it up, it doesn't matter."
"As for the Nameless Pharaoh, there's nothing left to fear. I've already found a way to make the 'Legendary Dragon' abandon the Nameless Pharaoh according to Lord Dartz's will. The task is complete. Even if he managed to escape with his life, he won't be a threat."
Boarding the helicopter, Rafael and Hayato sat in the back of the Aircraft Cabin. As soon as he entered the Cabin, Hayato saw Keipei sitting in the front passenger seat, tied up hand and foot, with a helpless expression.
Even without Alister and Keipei saying anything, Hayato could guess what was going on with this helicopter. It seemed that with Grandpa Solomon absent, Keipei-san had naturally taken over the position of the Millennium Hostage.
"Wait a minute! Don't think you can get away!"
On the Rooftop, watching Hayato and Rafael get into the helicopter which was about to lift off, Marik anxiously swung the Millennium Rod in his hand. The phantom of Lava Golem instantly manifested, reached out towards the helicopter, as if trying to grab them and prevent the three from leaving.
He wanted Hayato to give him, or rather, Ishizu, an explanation. However, before the Lava Golem's lava giant hand could reach the helicopter, it was cleaved by a sword swung by Guardian Eatos.
Sitting in the Aircraft Cabin and watching the agitated Marik on the Rooftop, Hayato arrogantly said, "Remember this day, Marik, because on this day you almost caught the famous Hayato Kobayashi. Now, I'm making my escape~"
Although Kaiba and the others still wanted to give pursuit, they were hesitant, considering Keipei was still in the helicopter and it had already begun to ascend. They were somewhat constrained.
With a moment of free time, Hayato finally turned his head and greeted Alister, who was sitting in the pilot's seat. "You're too slow, Alister. Did it really take you that long to deal with a child like Naruto (Keipei: Who's that!)?"
Alister, in the pilot's seat, heard Hayato's complaint and said helplessly, "I finally waited for a suitable moment to jump into the helicopter circling below, alright? This isn't easy work. If you think you can do better, you can try next time."
As he spoke, Alister pulled the helicopter's control stick with one hand, making the helicopter ascend to a certain height.
After ascending slightly, Alister looked at Keipei beside him and said gently, "Although I do feel a bit sorry for taking you as a Hostage, Keipei, you don't need to worry. I won't hurt you."
Although his words were gentle, Alister was actually planning to push Keipei out of the helicopter's passenger seat and return him to Kaiba. The helicopter was only about five or six meters above the Rooftop at the moment. Although it might sound a bit strange, Alister had great confidence in Kaiba's heart to protect Keipei and his strong physical fitness.
However, considering Alister was currently the helicopter's controller, and despite Keipei having been quite well-behaved and not struggling much until now, just in case, Hayato, who was sitting in the back, took over the task of throwing Keipei down.
Carried from the front seat to the back by Hayato, Keipei looked at the man before him and let out a helpless sigh. "Brother Hayato, are you really..."
"Answering the same question so many times, even I would get impatient, Lambo." Pulling out a piece of chocolate from somewhere, Hayato stuffed it into Keipei's mouth, making him close it just in time, then patted Keipei's shoulder. "But no matter how many times you ask, I only have one answer."
"That is, for greater Power."
As Hayato's magnetic voice sounded in Keipei's ear, Keipei felt something else being stuffed into his clothes pocket. Then his body was suddenly lifted, and Hayato carried him by the waist to the outside of the Aircraft Cabin.
"Seto, catch!"
The feeling of falling came and went quickly. Keipei was soon caught by Kaiba, who had been waiting for a long time, and suffered no damage whatsoever. After Kaiba caught Keipei, the helicopter carrying Rafael, Hayato, and Alister quickly ascended to an uninterceptable height, and everyone could only watch as the three flew away.
Marik suffered a slight backlash after his Lava Golem was destroyed by Rafael's Guardian Eatos. Although this damage was merely a drizzle for ordinary duelists, Marik's body was not in good condition to begin with, and he could only stand with Rishid's support at the moment.
However, more than the physical discomfort, Marik's heart was filled with anger, dissatisfaction, and disappointment.
For Marik, he was never a person who would stand on the side of justice. He had always been a self-interested person. Although the birth of the Dark Marik personality was somewhat guided by the Millennium Rod, it ultimately originated from Marik himself. Even without the existence of the dark personality, Marik could be considered a villain worthy of the name.
However, even villains have their aesthetics. For Marik, who had almost died once, Rishid who was like a Brother, Ishizu who was forced to bear his burden, and Hayato who saved his life, these were the only important people in Marik's heart now.
He wasn't upset about Hayato joining Doma. He was upset that Hayato, who clearly hadn't disappeared during the "Pyramid of Light" incident at that time, had kept this message hidden until now, not letting him know, even though he didn't look like he had just returned recently.
It's like you consider someone your best friend, but that person doesn't consider you their best friend. Even when something good worth sharing happens, the first person they share the good news with isn't you.
Besides this emotion, although Hayato always called him a "Three-year-old" who was even worse than his dark personality "Six-Year-Old", Marik wasn't an idiot. After his emotions calmed down slightly, he connected the message that "Hayato is still alive" with the various incidents over the past period, and looked at Ishizu with a rather strange expression.
If based on the logic that "Hayato died, and Ishizu refused to accept the fact and kept using the Millennium Necklace," Ishizu's actions over the past period were somewhat reasonable, but the occasional relaxed mood she showed seemed completely wrong, unless you added "Ishizu went crazy" to the basic logic to barely make sense of it.
However, looking at it from another perspective, "Although Hayato disappeared, he's actually fine." Based on the premise that Ishizu knew this information, her behavior instantly became exceptionally reasonable.
"Older Sister, tell me honestly, did you already..." Marik frowned, looking at Ishizu, and received a nod of confirmation as an answer from his Older Sister. This made Marik instantly feel a bit awkward.
Although Marik felt his aura was cool just now when he questioned Hayato about "Do you know how worried Older Sister was about you?", if Ishizu hadn't actually worried about Hayato's safety at all, even Marik couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
More importantly, he also noticed something.
Even after knowing that Hayato had joined Doma, Ishizu still didn't have any excessive reaction just now. This meant that Ishizu had most likely already seen some fragments of the future. Although Marik knew that the troublesome interference ability of the Millennium Ring meant Ishizu wouldn't see too much too clearly, she could at least touch upon a considerable part of the truth.
Combining Hayato's dark humor, that guy joining Doma... could it be—
Marik, who was gradually approaching the truth through wild guesses, thought of this, and the corner of his mouth curved up. Instead, he felt somewhat relieved and began to look forward to the reaction of the two Organization Doma members who had acted with Hayato just now when they discovered Hayato's true face.
"Hayato." Looking at the departing helicopter, Joey Wheeler murmured Hayato's Name, his clenched fist helplessly loosening.
Meeting him again and again had made Joey Wheeler completely clear on one thing: the current Hayato had truly stood on their opposite side and was working for Doma. Bringing Hayato back through conversation was completely impossible now.
However, this didn't mean Joey Wheeler had the idea of giving up on Hayato. On the contrary, it only strengthened his resolve.
Just as summoning an invincible monster in Duel Monsters doesn't mean the Duelist is invincible, if he couldn't bring Hayato back, then he would just eliminate all of Doma first. At that time, the "Brainwash" on Hayato would surely be dispelled as well.
"I will definitely stop you, Hayato, even if I have to bet my life!"
Just then, Joey Wheeler also heard Tristan and Téa 's voices from behind him. "Yugi? Yugi is awake!"
Straining to open his eyes, Yugi had just woken up and saw the circle of people around him. Still a bit slow to react, he sat up from the Ground in a daze. "I, this is..."
"Thank goodness, you're okay, Yugi." Téa helped Yugi up, saying with concern, "We were so worried when we saw you collapsed on the Ground. We thought you had lost the duel against that Organization Doma person."
Seeing his friend safe and sound, Tristan also smiled with relief. "How could that happen? Yugi is perfectly fine right here. Didn't that Seal of Orichalcos from Organization Doma seal the soul of the loser into a card?"
Honda spoke without thinking, but Yugi, hearing his words, trembled. He suddenly recalled everything that had happened after his defeat in the duel just now, and his drooping hands clenched tightly.
And Joey Wheeler also noticed this. "Are you okay, Yugi?"
Although he wasn't a smart person, Joey Wheeler vaguely felt that something was wrong with the Yugi in front of him now.
Then, he suddenly remembered that the feeling Yugi gave off at this moment was not the gentle and kind Yugi Mutou they were most familiar with in his normal state, but rather Dark Yugi, who usually only appeared from the Millennium Puzzle during duels?
"I, I'm fine..." Tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes. Dark Yugi, who always seemed strong, now looked at the Ground, speaking as if unable to accept the truth. "Why am I fine!"
"Wait, Yugi, you—" Although a step slower than the intuition-driven Joey Wheeler , Tristan also realized that the Yugi in front of him wasn't Yugi Mutou but Dark Yugi. And upon hearing Yugi's words, his pupil shrank. "That... could it be!"
"Yugi, you... Yugi, he..." Téa couldn't help but raise her hand to cover her mouth.
"Aibo... he took my place, before the Seal of Orichalcos sealed my soul!" Dark Yugi, whose memory stopped at the moment Yugi Mutou pushed him out of the Seal of Orichalcos, could no longer maintain his expression. With a sorrowful face, he looked up at the sky. "Aibo! Aibo!!"
'What's wrong, The Other Me?'
Because of Dark Yugi's heartbroken and hoarse cries, the atmosphere in the Outside World was somewhat sorrowful at this moment. Dark Yugi, immersed in this atmosphere, was feeling down, when he heard Yugi Mutou's voice.
'Ai... Aibo?!' Dark Yugi's eyes widened. He hadn't even had time to wipe away the tears on his face, revealing an expression of disbelief. 'Your soul wasn't sealed? You... you didn't die?'
'?'
Yugi Mutou in the Millennium Puzzle hadn't been awake for long either. As soon as he woke up, he heard the The Other Self's cries from outside. He spoke up, wanting to ask what had happened, only to hear the The Other Self say that he had died.
'What the hell are you talking about? Who said I died?' Those words were spoken by Jiang Wen. Yugi Mutou, of course, wouldn't say such a thing. He just said with considerable helplessness, "Well... Although I did have the idea of taking your place, The Other Me, a lot happened after I pushed you out. It's a bit hard to explain all at once."
Yugi Mutou was a bit unsure how to explain what had happened inside the Seal of Orichalcos before, but just knowing that Aibo wasn't dead made Dark Yugi incredibly excited.
'It's good that you're okay, Aibo. You can tell me what happened later. For now, let's switch back.'
However, what Dark Yugi didn't expect was that when he tried to switch places with Yugi Mutou, he failed.
'Sorry, The Other Me, I might not be able to come out right now.' Yugi Mutou in the Millennium Puzzle had a helpless expression. 'Although I avoided having my soul sealed, I heard him say that if I appear, the Seal of Orichalcos will activate again and seal me. So, I'll have to trouble The Other Me to continue acting outside for a while.'
Chapter 632
"He?"
Dark Yugi felt confused, not only because Yugi Mutou's soul hadn't been sealed, yet he couldn't return to his body, but also because he keenly noticed that Yugi Mutou had mentioned a so-called "he".
"I don't really understand the specifics either. It's probably that if I were to return to my body right now, the Seal of Orichalcos would reappear. So for now, I can only rely on you, The Other Me, to act outside."
After a pause, Yugi Mutou recalled what had happened inside the Seal of Orichalcos earlier.
The "he" Yugi Mutou referred to was naturally Hayato. In fact, he was quite surprised himself that he could see Hayato inside the Seal of Orichalcos.
At that time, Yugi Mutou had already resolved to die and intended to be sealed in place of Dark Yugi. But just at the critical moment, he found that the speed at which the Seal of Orichalcos was shrinking suddenly decreased. Furthermore, within the **Gaia the Fierce Knight** Card that Hayato had previously left behind in Conflict Town, which he had picked up and kept in his Deck, the figure of the Card Spirit **Gaia** appeared.
Yugi had known for a long time that the **Gaia the Fierce Knight** held by Hayato had a Card Spirit. It was also because he was confused about why Hayato would leave behind **Gaia**, a Card Spirit who had been with him for a long time, that he kept this Card with him to return to Hayato later.
However, since picking up that Card, it was the first time Yugi had seen the Card Spirit of **Gaia the Fierce Knight** appear. And when he appeared, he wasn't empty-handed; he was holding a pendant that looked unusually familiar — an Orichalcos Fragment, a necessary item needed to activate the Seal of Orichalcos and considered standard issue for Organization Doma members.
Although every member of Organization Doma had an Orichalcos Fragment, they were still different from each other. For example, the Orichalcos Fragment held by the Doma Three Swordsmen could not only activate the Seal of Orichalcos but also forcibly dispel the Seal of Orichalcos to negate its negative effects.
However, that was only possible before the duel's outcome was decided. After the duel was decided, even Rafael and Valon's Orichalcos Fragments were powerless against the Seal of Orichalcos which had begun to shrink and seal souls.
And after Hayato accepted Dartz's invitation to join Doma, in addition to obtaining the Seal of Orichalcos, he also received an Orichalcos Fragment. Its strength was consistent with the ones held by Rafael and the others, and it also had the ability to break through the Seal of Orichalcos.
However, since that time in Conflict Town, Hayato had quietly entrusted Weevil's soul along with the Orichalcos Fragment he held to **Gaia**, storing them within the **Gaia the Fierce Knight** Card. And just as Yugi was about to be sealed, he decisively extended a helping hand.
Utilizing the power of the Orichalcos Fragment to interfere with the Seal of Orichalcos, causing the machine-like Seal of Orichalcos to make an error in its understanding of the souls within the domain. Weevil's soul, carried by **Gaia**, was thrown out as bait and swallowed by the Seal of Orichalcos, substituting for Yugi. Thus, a "substitute" was completed by **Gaia** under Yugi's own witnessing.
However, this was not without cost. Although the Orichalcos God was programmed like a machine, it wasn't stupid. While Weevil's soul had indeed been sealed as a substitute for Yugi's soul, if Yugi Mutou's soul were to return to his body, even the most obtuse Orichalcos God would be able to detect the gap between the two souls.
Unless he wanted to be sealed again, otherwise Yugi Mutou's soul would likely have to remain inside the Millennium Puzzle until he completely defeated the Orichalcos God.
After completing the defense maneuver using Weevil's soul, the Orichalcos Fragment held by **Gaia** was transferred into Yugi's hand. And the instant he received that strange green stone, Yugi also saw the information Hayato had left within the stone, wanting to convey to him.
From being transferred to a Different Dimension due to Anubis's dying counterattack during the Pyramid of Light incident, to seeing the sealed Legendary Dragons in the world of Card Spirits, then appearing before Dartz upon returning to the Real World, and deciding to lie low within Organization Doma after discovering that Dartz was not an existence that could be eliminated by ordinary Dark Games.
With the power of the Card Spirits around him, Hayato left a lot of information in that Orichalcos Fragment to inform Yugi, letting Yugi know that Hayato was indeed still the Hayato they knew, and that joining Doma was for the final victory.
However, Hayato also instructed Yugi in the information left in the Orichalcos Fragment. The reason he told Yugi this information was to reassure him and to be able to cooperate with Hayato at the appropriate time, but for now, it was best to keep it a secret and not tell anyone else.
If they knew that Hayato, who stood opposite them, was not an enemy but still a companion, given Joey Wheeler and the others' personalities, they might not be able to fight him.
Although he felt it was a bit wrong for Hayato to conceal things from Joey Wheeler and the others, Yugi felt that what Hayato said did make some sense. After much thought, he decided to conceal it from Dark Yugi, who he was currently communicating heart to heart with, as well.
While the two Yugis were communicating heart to heart, because they hadn't explained to Joey Wheeler and the others, they all still thought that the current Yugi was silent due to the grief in his heart.
Even Kaiba, who had just caught Keipei, was somewhat influenced by the atmosphere and watched Yugi in silence.
Although he had the dream or rather the ambition of becoming the world's strongest Duelist, this didn't mean Kaiba was someone who would do anything to defeat his opponent. Just like at that time, when he obtained the Pyramid of Light to counter Hayato's Three Egyptian Gods, Kaiba had the ability to somewhat voluntarily discard such power that did not belong to him.
He wanted to defeat Yugi and Hayato, the two stronger Duelists he acknowledged, and then stand fair and square in the position of "strongest". The premise for this was that Hayato and Yugi were defeated by Kaiba at their peak. Defeating an opponent only when they were at a low point held absolutely no meaning of victory for Kaiba.
And at this moment, Yugi's low will made Kaiba feel annoyed no matter how he looked at it. Not believing in "souls", he didn't believe Yugi's saying about "being sealed". He thought Yugi had simply been defeated once by someone from Organization Doma, and becoming so dejected because of it was simply too pathetic.
But supposing that "being sealed" or whatever was true, and then putting himself in the position of having lost Keipei, Kaiba could somewhat empathize with that kind of sadness.
Of course, the premise of this assumption fundamentally didn't exist. How could something like soul sealing possibly be real?
However, although Yugi's duel with Rafael had ended, the group's goal in coming to Paradius Tower had not yet been achieved.
It wasn't that Yugi's duel with Rafael wasn't important, but relatively speaking, exposing Doma's true face, finding their base of operations, and going straight to the heart to destroy the entire organization was much more important.
Although Rafael had dispersed all the employees beforehand, resulting in only Rafael and a bunch of troublesome Orichalcos Soldiers remaining in Paradius Tower and even the entire Paradis Industrial Park, Yugi and the others had no one they could ask for information.
But for the Kaiba Brothers, who were proficient in hacking technology, machines with at most some access restrictions were much easier to deal with than people who would lie and provide inaccurate information. Leaving the Rooftop, following the floor plan inside Paradius Tower, everyone took the Elevator to the Data Center within Paradius Tower.
It must be said, although upon entering the First Floor Lobby they had already marveled at the gap between Industrial Illusions and KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions, it wasn't until they reached a place like the Data Center, which could truly reflect a company's strength, that everyone understood the true significance of Paradius Company, the so-called strongest group globally.
A full five Floors in height, all opened up and combined into one Floor for placing servers and storing data. Although it wasn't a group specializing in the network and electronic fields, Industrial Illusions's Data Center was built in a way that made even Kaiba widen his eyes in astonishment.
Following the walkways between the towering, City Wall-like servers, they reached the very center of the Data Center. What appeared before everyone was a central server. Below a huge display screen were hundreds, even thousands, of buttons and indicator lights that made one dizzy just looking at them. An ordinary person, even with an instruction manual, would probably spend half the day just looking for a button.
And that was indeed the case. Joey Wheeler, who could charge forward bravely even when facing life and death crisis, was completely stunned by the dense array of buttons. "So many buttons, which one do we press to find the information about Organization Doma that we're looking for?"
Hearing Joey Wheeler's words, Kaiba curled his lip in disdain. "You really manage to lower my understanding of idiots again and again, Commoner. What do you think this is, a fully automatic washing machine?"
"Accessing internal data first requires obtaining the access qualification of Industrial Illusions's internal Staff, and the authority must also be increased to an administrator level sufficient to obtain important data. Furthermore, the information about Organization Doma will definitely not be data placed out in the open; it must be encrypted, and we'll have to find a way to break through it."
After rambling on and on, Kaiba looked at Joey Wheeler, whom he had successfully scared, and showed an arrogant smile. "However, I am Kaiba Seto. Keipei!"
Calling out to Keipei, Kaiba walked forward on his own, skillfully pressed a few buttons, and quickly typed on a pop-up keyboard. Although he had just experienced freefall, the excitement of jumping from an airplane was nothing to Keipei, who had seen many storms. There wasn't even a need to adjust his mindset. He also followed Kaiba to the control panel to assist him.
Kaiba's pride naturally had capital. Although he had always been suppressed by Hayato and Yugi in the domain of Duel Monsters, he had always held a dominant status in other domains. And Keipei was even slightly stronger than Kaiba in the hacking domain. The two Brothers together launched an intrusion into Industrial Illusions's Data Center. After only a few minutes, accompanied by a few lines of garbled text flashing across the lit screen, a pop-up window appeared on the big screen.
The pop-up window clearly displayed a Hexagram Emblem of the Seal of Orichalcos. As expected, there were clues about Organization Doma within Industrial Illusions!
"Hmph, I've found your flaw, Doma."
Looking at the change that appeared on the screen, Kaiba said coldly. He was about to begin breaking through the information about Organization Doma that he had finally found from the vast ocean of data, but at this moment, Keipei's expression suddenly changed because he noticed a piece of extremely obscure data:
"Wait, Brother, this is—"
But Keipei's words were a step too slow. Kaiba had already used the administrator identity he had fabricated after hacking into Industrial Illusions's internal network to access the data in front of him. Although he hadn't even started breaking through the password, the next instant the file automatically opened, and a Green-haired Man wearing a purple suit appeared on the screen.
Joey Wheeler looked at the Kaiba Brothers, whose hands had left the keyboard, and said, "You just said it was very difficult, but you actually finished breaking through so quickly? Kaiba, you really are amazing."
But Kaiba didn't accept Joey Wheeler's rare praise. Instead, he frowned and said, "Idiot, I didn't break through this video. My fabricated administrator identity was recognized by the file, and then it automatically opened."
"I recognize this guy. His name is Dartz, and he's the chairman of Industrial Illusions. If there are no accidents, he's probably also part of Organization Doma, right?" Tristan looked up at Dartz on the screen, sitting in a chair and looking at the screen as if observing everyone through it. He couldn't help but rub his arms. "It's already strange enough that the file unlocked itself, but being stared at like this by this guy is really creepy."
Just as Tristan's words fell, Dartz, who appeared on the screen, revealed a strange smile. "First, let me correct something. I am not a member of Organization Doma. The correct saying is, I created Organization Doma."
Kujaku Mai heard that Dartz actually reacted to Tristan's words and couldn't help but show an expression of astonishment. "Isn't this a video? How can it talk to people!?"
However, Yugi and the others didn't react as strongly as Kujaku Mai. While a trick like a pre-recorded video talking to people could certainly be intimidating the first time it was used, this trick had already been overused by Pegasus and wasn't worth their surprise.
But the second sentence Dartz spoke made everyone present's nerves instantly tense up.
His gaze swept over everyone's faces one by one, and the smile on Dartz's face gradually turned cold. "It looks like Rafael seems to have sealed the wrong target and let you escape, Nameless Pharaoh. And Katsuya Jounouchi and Kaiba Seto, you two users of the 'Legendary Dragons' are indeed not easily dealt with."
"However, it's rare for you all to be together. This is a rare opportunity. You can all be blown sky-high along with this Tower beneath your feet!"
End of Chapter
Chapter 633: Rest in Peace
Dartz's words instantly made everyone tense up, fearing that the ground beneath their feet would be detonated just as Dartz had said.
There were plenty of scenes like this in movies and TV shows: the protagonist group arrives at some important location, accidentally triggers a trap left by the antagonist, and only narrowly escapes with the sacrifice of someone in the team.
However, after Joey Wheeler and Tristan nervously looked around with vigilance, they found that there was no commotion at all. Forget about impenetrable walls descending from the sky to turn this place into a Cell to prevent escape, or dangerous red lights suddenly flashing accompanied by alarms; there was only the buzzing sound of the server running.
Prying Rex's hand off his pant leg, Marik's expression was strange: "Looks like nothing happened?"
"Heh, isn't that obvious, Marik Ishtar? I just wanted to see what interesting expressions you would show when crisis arrives." Dartz had just put on a cold expression, as if he would really press "2887" and make Paradius Tower self-destruct. The next second, a smile full of malicious fun appeared on his face. "Industrial Illusions is an important asset of Organization Doma. How could I possibly bury a bomb here?"
Hearing that no bomb would be detonated, although they were annoyed at being tricked, everyone still felt a little relief and relaxed slightly. Dartz also watched everyone's reactions with great interest.
"You know me, Dartz." Looking at Dartz on the screen, who had a condescending attitude and a gaze like an entomologist observing the behavior patterns of ants moving in a terrarium, Marik frowned.
As the actual control of the former International Crime Organization Rare Hunters, Marik's name wasn't a secret due to being spread among Organization members. However, because of the Millennium Rod's mind control ability and Marik's own nascent homebody attribute from that time, it was actually Rishid who always showed his face using the Name "Marik" as his agent.
On one hand, it was because Marik himself felt that ordinary people weren't qualified to make him, who held two God Cards at the time, take action. On the other hand, compared to Marik, whose appearance was somewhat sickly and delicate, like a kept man, the bald giant Rishid, whose half body was covered in Ancient Egyptian priest script resembling a tattoo, had more of the aura of a Crime Organization Leader.
And the result of having Rishid act as his agent was that Marik didn't realize until he returned to his own body, which had been severely damaged by his dark personality, and received a second life intending to turn over a new leaf, that the "Marik" wanted poster internationally actually showed Rishid's image.
So much so that when Marik initially wanted to turn himself in, something like this happened—
Police (holding Rishid's photo): "Is this photo on the wanted poster you?"
Marik: "It is."
Police: "Is that so?"
Marik: "Yes. At that time, I liked wearing a cloak."
Police: "Then this isn't you."
Marik (pointing at the photo): "You're saying he isn't me?"
Police: "No."
Marik: "I said he isn't me either. This is fundamentally not me!"
———After a long back and forth, the result was that Marik, wearing an ahegao pain shirt with an incredibly embarrassing design, was kicked out by Interpol, who thought he was an otaku driven mad by anime/manga. They even warned him he'd be fined if he obstructed official duties again. This also greatly disappointed Hayato, who had wanted Marik to pull back from the Cliff and reform properly in a Cell.
Even turning himself in and actively admitting he was Marik was useless. However, ever since the faction of Organization Doma began to surface, Marik started to notice that everyone he encountered within Organization Doma could recognize that he was Marik, not Rishid.
Although somewhat touched, Marik also kept wondering why the people in Organization Doma possessed more information than Interpol. Could it be that Interpol agents were just freeloaders who got paid but could only solve cases an Elementary School Student could figure out?
Dartz's slender fingers twirled his green hair. He said casually, "Your information has never been a problem for Doma. Anyone with the power to control a country's government can easily obtain your file, which, although well-concealed by the Tomb Keepers, still remains within the Egyptian Government."
"Malik Ishtar, who could commit the sinful act of patricide, it's not just you. Everyone present here, and indeed every individual in the entire Human Civilization, has actually always been under Doma's watching."
Hearing Dartz's words, Tristan frowned and said, "What kind of crazy talk is that? How could such an organization possibly exist in the World?"
Kaiba, however, said calmly, "Although I don't like to recall the past, I remember Gozaburo Kaiba mentioning it to me during the first lesson aimed at training me into an elite, just after I used a wager to force him to adopt Keipei and me."
"Beneath the peaceful surface of Human Civilization, there has always been an invisible hand pulling the strings. Whether it's ordinary people living mundane lives, capitalists dominating the business world, or even politicians governing great countries, they have actually always had their life and death and destiny manipulated by that invisible hand. At least, Gozaburo discovered the shadow of that hand behind the Kennedy incident."
"After learning of the existence of this hand, Gozaburo, unwilling to be manipulated, had a crazy idea. That was, he would plunge the world into war and disrupt the World Stage, forcing that hand to reveal its true body by becoming the ruler of the World."
Kaiba's words made Dartz smile as if recalling something interesting, but that smile was full of contempt. "Gozaburo Kaiba, one of the few who discovered Doma's existence. I must say, his ambition was indeed quite insane, and he certainly had the action to achieve it. Unfortunately, I had no desire to let his boring ambition be realized."
"So—"
"So, Doma also took action in the rebellion I launched against Gozaburo at that time?" Kaiba's gaze towards Dartz became quite dangerous.
Although the virtual projection system Kaiba invented for his dream of "Kaiba Land" at that time was used by Gozaburo for military purposes, and the rebellion he launched because he felt his dream was tainted by Gozaburo's dirty ambition was entirely out of his own subjective will.
But Doma actually dared to utilize him as a weapon to wield against Gozaburo. If Dartz himself weren't here, Kaiba would have already turned hostile and taken action. Would he still be enduring his temper like this, trying to extract information from Dartz?
Yugi looked up at Dartz on the screen: "I don't understand. How could Doma have such great influence? How could the power of one organization dominate countries?"
Yugi also spoke his inner thoughts casually, but unexpectedly, Dartz answered honestly: "Time. The answer is simply that I have extremely abundant time, time that is longer and more plentiful than anyone, any civilization."
And just as Dartz in the video was describing Organization Doma's tens of thousands of years of unremitting effort and the hardship of guiding civilization's growth to Yugi and the others, the helicopter carrying Hayato, Rafael, and Alister also landed on the Island of the Doma Organization Headquarters.
Although Dartz, who was "communicating" normally with Yugi and the others, looked like he was so normal, it was actually just a video file placed inside the Industrial Illusions Database that Dartz didn't care about at all. Dartz himself was still waiting for Rafael and the others' return in front of the Altar where he usually stayed.
Regarding the fact that neither Alister nor Rafael managed to defeat their respective opponents, Seto Kaiba and Mutou Yuugi, Dartz was somewhat annoyed. After all, at that time, he had specifically sought out Rafael and the other two, training them to grow into the "Doma Three Swordsmen," precisely to deal with Users of the "Legendary Dragon" like Yugi and the others.
However, although they failed to collect powerful souls, Rafael's statement that The Eye of Timaeus had abandoned the Nameless Pharaoh as its User was unequivocally good news. As long as they continued collecting souls in the future, the "Orichalcos God" could still be awakened. But dealing with the "Legendary Dragon" isn't an opportunity that comes around anytime.
Ten thousand years ago, the "Legendary Dragon" went from one to three. Dartz wasn't sure if the three "Legendary Dragons" would combine again under certain circumstances to give him a surprise. But even if they were to combine, they would have to gather the three "Legendary Dragons" in the Real World. Now that the Nameless Pharaoh had been abandoned by one of the "Legendary Dragons," Dartz suddenly felt no threat.
After the three returned to the Doma Headquarters, Dartz, with an attitude of great concern for his subordinates, told Hayato and the others that they were not far from awakening the "Orichalcos God." They would need about five or six more high-quality Duelist souls to gather enough power.
Therefore, Dartz had specifically prepared that video before, precisely to let Yugi and the others know where the Doma Organization Headquarters they were so eager to find was located. This was so they wouldn't run around the World aimlessly anymore but would hurry and come knocking, allowing Rafael and the others to take action one more time and capture them all.
Since they were waiting for Yugi and the others to come to them and fight at their leisure, Rafael and Alister didn't really relax during this rare period of rest. Instead, they returned to their respective resting places to adjust their Decks in preparation for the upcoming decisive battle. Hayato was the same.
After joining Doma Organization, Hayato's frequency of dueling was naturally not low due to hunting Duelist souls. After many duels, he had accumulated quite a few DP Points that he hadn't used, especially after recently participating in many high-quality duels.
Although currently, "as a member of Organization Doma," Hayato was using a pure [Infernoid] Deck and had gradually completed the synergy with the Deck, without the Link Summoning method, which brings a huge boost to Infernoids, the limit of [Infernoid] was set.
While it was sufficient against ordinary Duelists, it was still a bit lacking if the opponent was Dartz.
It was just like when Hayato used pure [Drytron] last time; he never expected Dartz to pull out a [Ko'aki Meiru Doom] with a backhand move. If he were to use [Infernoid] against Dartz, no one would know if Dartz would pull out a counter card like [Statue of Wind - Barrier of the Heavens] again.
Although the DP Points on hand were enough for Hayato to choose one or two powerful UR cards from the Shop that he could use and liked, such as the invincible [Lava Golem], the unstoppable [Thunder King Rai-Oh], or the full power [Inspector Boarder], which would make Hayato's Deck bring more smiles to his opponents.
But, Hayato had a bad habit: he always had a strange confidence in his luck. It was like those unlucky players of gacha mobile games who, despite knowing their luck, still stubbornly spent money on draw attempts, trying to sneak across the border. Hayato chose the affix gacha function in the Shop, planning to draw some powerful cards that would boost his existing Deck based on the few unlocked affixes.
As slow as DP Points were to accumulate, that's how fast Hayato was spending them now. Tens of thousands of DP Points were gone in the blink of an eye, leaving only a mere 500 Points. What appeared in his hand instead was a thick stack of unopened card packs. The affix Hayato chose this time was his old friend—[Gaia].
As the card packs were opened one by one, Hayato's expression visibly darkened. Although he didn't fail to draw usable cards, the cards pulled from the packs were truly not worth the DP Points paid to open them. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the packs were opened, yet not even a single SR level card was pulled. It looked like he was about to lose everything.
However, the system's card pack opening did have a guaranteed draw. Just as he was opening the last pack, the one SR and one UR card guaranteed for every hundred card packs appeared together simultaneously. What surprised Hayato was that it wasn't one UR, but two UR-Rank Cards, instantly making it worth the price.
The five cards in the card pack spread out before Hayato one by one:
[Axe Raider] (R), [The Beginning of Heaven and Earth] (R), [Chaos Form] (SR), [Ritual of the Super Soldier] (UR), [Black Luster Soldier] (UR)
Even though the chosen affix was [Gaia], Hayato didn't expect that he would actually draw a bunch of [Black Luster Soldier] cards.
Although, there is indeed a strong connection between [Gaia The Fierce Knight], a Normal Monster, and [Black Luster Soldier], a Ritual Monster, their system compatibility isn't very high. And honestly, he had always been a pure love faction player, always using a pure [Gaia] Deck. Although pulling two UR-Rank Cards was a small profit, he fundamentally wouldn't possibly use them—
[Ding~ New Quest Activated]
[Side Quest: Pioneering the Future's Ninety-Nine Slashes]
[Task Description: Defeat Dartz using a Deck containing the affixes [Gaia The Fierce Knight], [Black Luster Soldier], and [Double Chance] 0/1]
[Task Reward: [Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning] X1, 1000 DP Points]
———He fundamentally couldn't possibly not use them, could he? He definitely had to use the newly acquired cards!
It wasn't that Hayato's will wasn't firm, it was just that Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning was too tempting.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 634: Chapter 1: Music: You and I are so alike, the openings are the same
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Inside Paradius Tower, deafeningly loud explosions echoed one after another. Yugi and the others ran, escaping down the long, trembling corridor.
"Damn it, it makes me angry just thinking about it! That old bastard Dartz!" Joey Wheeler, with his good physique, still had enough energy to curse while running. "He said 'Industrial Illusions is an important asset of Doma,' but it turns out he actually planted bombs! Telling us information while detonating bombs at the same time is just too malicious!"
Marik panted, following behind Joey Wheeler. Turning a corner, he said, "Stop complaining, Joey Wheeler. That old geezer Dartz didn't leave us much time. We have to get out of here quickly!"
At the Data Center in Paradius Tower, everyone had obtained a lot of needed information from Dartz, who had appeared honest and answered every question. Not only did he explain why Organization Doma was founded and why, but Dartz also spoke about the events from ten thousand years ago without hiding anything. He even revealed Organization Doma Headquarters' location and their goal of reviving the Orichalcos God, revealing everything completely himself.
However, Dartz was never a kind person. He told Yugi and the others so much merely for the sake of seeing the surprised expressions on their faces when they discovered the bombs actually existed and had been unknowingly activated by Dartz during their conversation. It was truly twisted amusement.
Still, Dartz also knew that while not setting a countdown for the bombs could indeed blow up Joey Wheeler and Kaiba, who still possessed the "Legendary Dragon", simply killing a user would have no effect on the "Legendary Dragon".
Although the Eye of Timaeus had already left Yugi's side, Dartz was slightly less wary of the "Legendary Dragon" than before. However, he had never underestimated them. Deeply understanding the principle of "nipping evil in the bud," Dartz couldn't sleep peacefully unless he eliminated the "Legendary Dragon" from Kaiba and Joey Wheeler.
Therefore, the bombs, which should have been directly detonated for maximum effect, were instead treated by Dartz as mere toys for setting off fireworks to play with Yugi and his group. Although this "firework" was the colossal Industrial Illusions in the eyes of outsiders, and it was already dangerous enough for Yugi and the others inside, Dartz truly only saw it as "fireworks" for amusement.
"Boom!"
Another explosion sounded. Tristan, who was carrying Téa on his back, looked back. The place they had just run through was being engulfed by the fire erupting from the wall. If they had been even a fraction of a second slower, he might have been caught in the explosion as well. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he shouted to Kaiba ahead, "How much further, Kaiba!"
Kaiba didn't answer Tristan, but Keipei, whom Kaiba was holding, glanced at the internal layout map of Paradius Tower he had torn from the wall and carried with him. He replied to Tristan, "Almost there, it's not far ahead."
The floor where the Data Center of Paradius Tower was located was roughly in the middle of the entire building, not particularly low. To escape from this position, they first had to rule out the elevator, which was like a moving coffin. But taking the stairs wasn't feasible either. With no other options, everyone could only follow the Kaiba Brothers, who seemed to have been prepared.
And as they turned the last corner, the group finally arrived at their destination. It was an opening in the wall that had been destroyed by the previous explosion, revealing the sky outside. Through the opening, the gale from the high night sky poured into the building's corridor, blowing towards them and sending a chill down their spines.
Marik bent over, supporting his knees, covered in sweat. "Th-this is just a dead end, Kaiba! You're not thinking of jumping out from here, are you!?"
"How could that be possible? You'd definitely fall to your death jumping from here!" Rex's reaction was also strong. Just imagining the scene made his legs feel a little weak.
Rex and Marik were just saying it, not actually thinking Kaiba would jump from there. But to their surprise, Kaiba actually nodded and said, "Of course. The way I said we'd leave from here is by jumping out from here."
"Kaiba's really gone crazy," Joey Wheeler thought, but before he could say it, he saw Kaiba pressing a pair of headphones he was wearing to his ear with one hand, urging, "Hurry up, Isono!"
"We've arrived, President Kaiba!"
The wind pouring in from the opening outside grew stronger. Mixed in with the wind was the voice of Isono, the head of KaibaCorp's Security Troops, who was well-known to Yugi, Joey Wheeler, and the others due to his frequent role as a Duel Referee.
And accompanied by Isono's loud call, a classic Chinook transport helicopter descended from a high place and hovered outside the opening. The gale pouring into the opening was precisely the wind stirred up by the two extremely high power output propellers on the Chinook helicopter.
"Heh heh, although I originally prepared a backup helicopter because I thought Brother might mess things up, now it's just the right time to use it," Keipei said with a proud expression. "Everyone, hurry and get on the helicopter!"
The helicopter's rear Aircraft Cabin door opened. Kaiba and Keipei were the first to jump onto the stairs and enter the Aircraft Cabin. Yugi didn't hesitate either and quickly followed them onto the helicopter. Then came Ishizu, Kujaku Mai, and Téa, followed by Rishid, who also jumped on.
When it was Rex's turn, he nervously swallowed, then gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and rushed out, successfully jumping onto the helicopter.
So now, it was Joey Wheeler, Tristan, and Marik who hesitated before the opening in the wall and the helicopter's Aircraft Cabin door.
"Hey, Commoner, don't waste time!" Seeing Joey Wheeler peek out, look down, and then retreat in fear, not daring to jump onto the helicopter, Kaiba frowned and urged, "Or are you scared to death right now?"
"Wh-who says I'm scared?!"
Even though his legs were trembling just now, seeing Rex and Keipei, who were younger than him, as well as the three ladies, already on the helicopter, and provoked by Kaiba, Joey Wheeler instantly forgot about being scared. He bravely boarded the helicopter.
The result was that Marik and Tristan stared at each other, neither daring to go first.
"Honda, you go first."
"No, Marik, you go first."
"You go first."
"No, you go first."
Kaiba frowned, looking at Marik and Tristan. Just as he was about to urge them, he heard an explosion behind Tristan and Marik. The fire almost reached them.
Startled by the sudden explosion, Tristan and Marik didn't need anyone else to urge them. They suddenly started running. "No, I'll go first!" X2
Better to jump than be blown up!
With a "bang," Marik and Tristan, who had rushed too fast, flew and fell into the Aircraft Cabin, their faces hitting the floor simultaneously. However, Kaiba didn't care about their plight. He immediately turned to the Cockpit and said, "Alright, Isono."
"Understood, Seto Kaiba!"
Seeing that everyone had boarded, Isono in the Cockpit and the co-pilot controlled the helicopter to move, leaving the spot they had just been hovering at. Just a few seconds after they left, the fire rushing out from inside the building completely filled that opening.
"We're saved," Rex sighed with relief, finally out of danger. He sat down on the floor casually.
Meanwhile, Keipei had gotten a tablet from Isono. He inserted the USB drive containing the data copied from Dartz at the Paradius Tower Data Center into the port. A map appeared on the tablet's screen.
"This location is... the Atlantic Ocean?" Looking at the shape around the red dot displayed on the screen, Keipei felt it looked familiar. "I feel like I've seen this location somewhere before..."
Kaiba took the map from the confused Keipei, frowned, and said, "It's Bermuda. That's why it looks familiar."
"Bermuda? That mysterious triangle area!" Even Joey Wheeler, who didn't know much about geography, had heard of the Bermuda Triangle, a globally famous "attraction." Hearing Kaiba say that Organization Doma's location was in the Bermuda Triangle, he said with some understanding, "No wonder there are so many rumors about Bermuda all over the World. If it's Organization Doma Headquarters, then it makes sense."
"But are we really going there? It's not that I believe the rumors or anything, but are we just going to believe what Dartz said so easily?" Tristan sat up from the ground and reminded them, "Don't forget we were just tricked by him once. He said 'Paradius is important' and then blew it up. He's fundamentally a liar."
Hearing Tristan's words, Yugi thought for a moment and said helplessly, "But, all we can do right now is go to this location on the map. Even if we know it might be a trap, we have to go."
"Dartz said the revival of the Orichalcos God is at the last stage, and he only needs a few more souls to awaken the Orichalcos God and destroy Human Civilization. We have to stop him."
Thinking of this, Yugi's eyes revealed a firm conviction, gazing at the distant sky.
After a series of incidents, the night had passed. A slight golden-red radiance lit up the distant Horizon, making the night fade.
"It's not just to stop Dartz's evil plan," Joey Wheeler patted Yugi's shoulder. Seeing Yugi look at him, he gave a thumbs-up and smiled. "We also have to bring back someone important."
Saying this, Joey Wheeler patted Yugi's shoulder again and turned away from the window. Yugi also turned around and looked at everyone in the Aircraft Cabin.
Keipei took the tablet and entered the data into the navigation system of the helicopter below, telling Isono to head to the destination;
'The future of the Kids...'
Rex, whose arm had been scraped against the wall during their escape, was bandaging his wound with a handkerchief, while Marik, who hadn't been injured during the escape but had hit his nose and started bleeding when getting on the helicopter, was taking a tissue from Rishid and stuffing it into his nose;
'The voice of justice...'
Kaiba stood with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall, closing his eyes to rest and prepare for the upcoming decisive battle. Joey Wheeler, who couldn't stand Kaiba being so pretentious, also imitated him and stood leaning against the wall beside Kaiba, but his occasionally opening eyes showed that he wasn't resting at all;
'The end of power...'
Ishizu sat quietly by a window in the Aircraft Cabin, her finger gently stroking the Millennium Necklace around her neck, closing her eyes as if using Future Sight;
'An important oath...'
Téa, Tristan, and Kujaku Mai were holding down the restless Joey Wheeler to prevent him from disturbing Kaiba's rest, discussing something together;
'Precious friend...'
And...
Yugi's finger rested on the Millennium Puzzle. At the same time, Yugi Mutou, who couldn't return for the time being from inside the Millennium Puzzle, also placed his finger on the Millennium Puzzle. The two Yugis were as if reaching out to each other;
'Precious promise...'
Looking at the distant sky again, Yugi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Because of the radiance radiating on the Horizon, the night was fading more and more.
Connecting all emotions, Human Civilization will absolutely not be cut off by Doma!
Opening his eyes, Yugi's will was more firm than ever before, completely sweeping away the shadow Rafael had left in his inner thoughts not long ago.
The power of conviction will be proven by us Duelists! Prepare to die, Dartz!
In the instant Yugi made up his mind, the card of the Eye of Timaeus on his body, which had turned blank, slightly glowed with color.
Thousands of miles away, before the Altar deep within Organization Doma Headquarters, Dartz sensed something and opened his eyes.
"This feeling of approaching, it's the Legendary Dragon, no mistake." Turning to look east, Dartz's eyes seemed to penetrate everything, seeing Yugi and his group heading towards him in the helicopter. "Ten thousand years. I've waited ten thousand years for this moment. It's finally coming."
Behind Dartz, Rafael saw Dartz start talking to himself and said respectfully, "We will protect you until the last moment, Lord Dartz."
"For you, this time I will definitely seal the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh!"
Hearing Rafael's words, Dartz turned back to look at him. As if he had seen something interesting, he smiled and said, "Then go, Rafael. You will be the first barrier to block the Nameless Pharaoh and the others from advancing towards this Temple. After that, it will be Alister."
"And I will be the last barrier standing before the Altar."
Receiving Dartz's order, the remaining two Doma Three Swordsmen retreated, preparing to set off to intercept Yugi and his group. Watching Rafael and Alister leave, Dartz closed his heterochromatic eyes and turned his head to look at the pitch-black area not illuminated by the fire.
"You haven't forgotten what I said when I decided to join Doma, have you, Dartz?"
In the darkness, a faint light lit up. A golden disk swayed as the wearer walked, and the light gradually grew larger.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. It's just, you still aren't willing to help me, Hayato?" Dartz looked at Hayato walking out of the darkness with a regretful expression.
"What, now that you know I absolutely won't help you, you can only resort to being an assassin?" The Duel Disk Hayato was wearing on his left hand was no longer the Doma style, but his original Keipei custom version. Looking at Dartz on the Altar, he said.
Dartz shook his head. "No, it's just a pity. It would naturally be best to achieve the New World with your assistance, but I never fantasized that everything would go smoothly to achieve my goal."
As Dartz raised a hand, a Duel Disk appeared out of nowhere on his wrist. "I still won't hurt you, Hayato. The birth of the innocent new humans in the New World, you are still a necessary existence."
Hayato gave a cold smile, raised his right hand, and revealed three cards of red, blue, and yellow color. "Don't talk as if you've already won, Dartz. The future of the World will be decided by me."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 635: Kaiba.gif
Rafael and Alister didn't know what happened in the Temple after they left; they simply walked towards the outside in silence.
Rafael walked ahead, while Alister walked behind.
"Speaking of which, Alister, I thought you were dead before," Rafael broke the silence, saying as he walked, "After all, you used a bomber to bomb Duel Kingdom Island, but neither you nor Seto Kaiba died."
After saying this, based on Alister's obsession with revenge against Seto Kaiba that Rafael knew about, he expected Alister to be annoyed about not killing Seto Kaiba and completing his revenge, or even lash out defensively at him for bringing it up.
But hearing Rafael's words, Alister merely smiled it off and said nothing. This made Rafael a little curious. He couldn't help but stop and look back at Alister, watching him walk past him.
Alister, being stared at by Rafael, asked in a confused tone, "What's wrong?"
"No, nothing. I just feel like you're a little different," Rafael couldn't tell if anything was wrong with Alister. He shook his head and walked ahead again.
Alister glanced at Rafael's back and replied casually, "Perhaps it's because I realized that one cannot move towards the future by merely dwelling in the past. It's somewhat ironic, considering I dueled him with the idea of mutual destruction with Seto Kaiba, but it was precisely him who taught me this."
'Moving towards the future...' Rafael's steps paused slightly, but his forward momentum didn't hesitate at all.
If it were just losing his family, it would certainly make Rafael heartbroken, but the reason he insisted on realizing the new world Lord Dartz spoke of now was because of everything he saw after returning from the shipwreck back then.
There is a darkness in the human heart that cannot be eradicated. Without removing this darkness and without the resolve to sacrifice everything for it, humans cannot embrace happiness. Rafael had never seen anyone who could defeat the darkness in their heart. Such humans, even if they moved towards the future, would only fall into darkness and ruin.
Although he didn't agree with Alister's saying, Rafael didn't refute him. Instead, he walked ahead and said, "Indeed, you've changed a lot, Alister. Is it because you escaped death once?"
Hearing Rafael's words, Alister couldn't help but think of the few cards in his Deck that had turned blank. He smiled and said, "Perhaps that's the case."
"However, although Lord Dartz said you would be the first barrier, Rafael, can I go first later? You can watch from the side for a while?" Alister said, catching up to Rafael and walking side-by-side with him, "There's something I absolutely must do."
Turning his head, Rafael met Alister's gaze. He found that Alister's eyes, which were usually shrouded in the haze of hatred, were now clear.
After a brief moment's thought, Rafael nodded. Seeing Rafael agree, Alister also showed a smile.
Although the Temple was not small, it eventually had an end. Rafael and Alister walked out of the long corridor leading from the Temple to the Altar and arrived at the Temple Entrance located high on the Mountain Peak.
Based on the time, the sky outside the Temple should have been brightened by the rising sun, but thick black clouds covered most of the sunshine, making the sky appear gloomy and somewhat dim. From a distance, Rafael and Alister saw a helicopter flying towards them.
The large KC logo on the helicopter made it seem as if they were afraid others wouldn't know it was a KaibaCorp helicopter.
Without any action, Rafael and Alister watched the helicopter approach their Temple and land in the Open Space not far in front of them.
Opening the helicopter cabin door, the first people to step out were Yugi and Kaiba. Seeing Alister and Rafael appear before the Temple Entrance, they weren't surprised. They had already come to the enemy's lair; it would have been stranger if Rafael and Alister hadn't come to meet them.
"You unexpectedly gained a life but don't know how to cherish it, and now you've come to die again, Nameless Pharaoh?" Rafael's gaze swept over Yugi and Joey Wheeler, who followed him out of the helicopter. "For Lord Dartz, the priority is to deal with Joey Wheeler, who holds the 'Legendary Dragon', but dealing with you, the Nameless Pharaoh, who no longer has the 'Legendary Dragon', won't take me too much time either."
"Rafael..." Looking at Rafael, who had previously dealt him a crushing defeat, Yugi's lowered fist tightened.
Although Yugi Mutou, for certain reasons, didn't tell him who had helped him within the Seal of Orichalcos, Dark Yugi was incredibly grateful for That Person's help, as he couldn't imagine what a nightmare it would be if he lost Aibo.
Rafael had said that he and Yugi were very similar. Although Yugi wanted to deny it, he had to admit that if he lost Aibo, he would very likely walk the old path Rafael took after losing his family and fall into darkness.
It's truly good that Aibo is still by my side now.
Thinking this, Yugi's gaze met Rafael's firmly: "This time, I won't lose! I will definitely defeat you!"
Hearing this, Rafael was about to step forward, but he saw Alister, who was standing beside him, take a few steps forward. He remembered what Alister had said to him on the way here and lowered the arm he had raised.
"I will defeat you again and seal your soul, Nameless Pharaoh, but not now," Rafael said, looking at Alister walking forward, "Before your duel and mine begins, it is Alister's battle."
Although Alister didn't explicitly say what he was going to do, Rafael subconsciously felt that he was probably going to duel Kaiba again.
And it wasn't just Rafael who thought this; Kaiba thought so too.
The helicopter landed about twenty meters away from where Rafael was standing. Alister had already walked about halfway there while Rafael was speaking and was still moving forward.
"Hmph, still stubbornly acting for Doma, idiot?" Although he was a little confused as to why Alister was walking perhaps a bit too close, Kaiba first expressed his usual contempt. However, after looking at Alister for a couple more seconds, he frowned again, "You, you seem a little different from before?"
"Hmph, but it doesn't matter. If I've defeated you once, there's no possibility of you posing a threat to me. Get out of my way, Alister, don't obstruct my path!"
Hearing Kaiba's words, Alister shook his head and said, "I can't do that, Seto Kaiba. There's a duel I absolutely must have."
Kaiba heard Alister say this and was already ready to raise his Duel Disk, but what he didn't expect was that Alister only stood firm when the distance between them was only about five meters. Then, he turned around and actually raised his Duel Disk towards Rafael!?
"Duel!"
[Alister: 4000 LP]
The sudden change left not only Yugi and Kaiba confused, but even Rafael hadn't expected Alister to suddenly challenge him to a duel.
"What are you doing, Alister?! Seto Kaiba is standing behind you, you've got the direction wrong!" He frowned, looking at the calm-faced Alister.
Alister held up his Duel Disk, his expression unchanged: "Of course I know Seto Kaiba is behind me, but Rafael, I don't remember saying that the target of my duel was him, did I?"
"You bastard!" Rafael's expression was very unpleasant, "Could it be that you've betrayed Doma?!"
"And didn't you say that your younger brother Milk was killed by KaibaCorp? How could you stand on the side of your enemy!"
Hearing Rafael say the word "enemy", Alister finally showed a smile on his face, but it was a smile that was hard to describe: "Enemy, huh? Indeed, I've been standing on my enemy's side for far too long."
Alister's sudden turning against Rafael left Yugi and the others standing behind him also confused about the situation. Joey Wheeler looked at Tristan next to him in confusion and said, "Alister should be a Doma person, right? Why did he suddenly duel Rafael?"
"I don't even know where the End of the Universe is, how could I possibly know the answer to the question?" Tristan retorted with a rant, "After all, dueling at the drop of a hat is strange in itself."
"You don't need to understand duelists' matters so clearly," Keipei interjected, looking at Alister's back with a strange expression, muttering in a low voice, "Just as I thought, Alister knows about that thing."
"That thing?" Others couldn't hear Keipei's muttering, but Rex, who was standing next to Keipei and wasn't much different in height, heard it clearly. Kaiba also noticed Keipei's expression, which seemed to be concealing something, "Are you concealing something from us, Keipei?"
Keipei hesitated slightly, then nodded and said, "Last night, wasn't I kidnapped by Alister on the helicopter? Actually, before Brother Hayato threw me off the helicopter, he stuffed something into my clothes. At first, I thought it was a hallucination, but after escaping Industrial Illusions by helicopter, I found a note."
"On the note, there was a message left by Brother Hayato, asking me to collect information about a secret plan when KaibaCorp was still the Arms Conglomerate controlled by Gozaburo, which instigated the Rebel Army to battle the Government Army in certain remote areas of Italy to test weapons."
Marik heard Keipei's words and said with some curiosity, "How do you know it was a message left by Brother-in-law? By the handwriting?"
"No, the words on the note were printed, so I couldn't tell the handwriting," Keipei said with some helplessness, "But my name is so easy to remember, only Brother Hayato would call me Takuya Kanbara. That name always gives the illusion of being skilled with FIRE Attribute Dragon Monsters."
"In short, although it was a long time ago and a plan that was considered confidential even within KaibaCorp, because Brother previously arranged for me to rebuild the network after the KaibaCorp network was breached again, I conveniently wrote a data filtering program and easily found the information about that incident, and sent it to the email address Brother Hayato left behind."
Speaking of that time, Keipei couldn't help but look at Alister ahead: "Instigating war to test weapons was undoubtedly one of the countless evil deeds committed by Gozaburo Kaiba, but more importantly, there was also an oversight in the war that was instigated. One area chosen to test the weapon of mass destruction was thought to be No Man's Land, but it was actually a village."
Alister took a deep breath and continued Keipei's words: "That village was my village. On that day, the reaper descended, I lost my family, and under Dartz's guide, I hated Gozaburo Kaiba, who had committed such unforgivable sin."
Hearing Alister say this, Rafael was even more confused: "In that case, shouldn't you be—"
"Rafael, I know what you want to say, but didn't you hear?" Alister's corner of his mouth curved up, "I was 'under Dartz's guide'. While Gozaburo Kaiba was certainly responsible for that tragedy, the fire of hatred that ignited made me dizzy, causing me to simply hate Gozaburo Kaiba and extend that hatred to Seto Kaiba."
"But I completely ignored the mastermind who used Gozaburo Kaiba and KaibaCorp as a tool."
As he spoke, Alister took out a card from his pocket and revealed it to Rafael. Rafael followed Alister's movement and saw that he was holding a The Seal of Orichalcos that had sealed the soul of an unfamiliar stranger. The only thing that could confirm the person's identity was the Standard Issue Duel Disk revealed on his raised arm as he struggled with unwillingness.
"What is that?"
"Outside World reports are ultimately not as detailed as the data stored within KaibaCorp. In the information Hayato helped me get, I learned that the person responsible for choosing the weapon testing area back then—the so-called 'scapegoat' Gozaburo Kaiba blamed afterwards—was this guy. At least before I knew his true identity, I really thought he was a 'scapegoat' and that Gozaburo Kaiba was just passing the buck."
Alister looked at the card in his hand. Although he was smiling, his expression was one of gnashing teeth, "But I didn't expect that the utterly wicked Gozaburo Kaiba was only telling the truth this one time about not passing the buck. Do you know who this guy is? From the very beginning, he was a spy arranged by Dartz to infiltrate KaibaCorp. The 'accident' of that war was never a mistake from beginning to end, but merely Dartz's 'arrangement'!"
"Furthermore, in order to keep the secret, after this spy completed the tasks of my hometown's destruction, Dartz discarded his soul like a useless card and handed it over to the Orichalcos God!" Alister sneered, "Isn't it ridiculous? I walked past the mural where the soul of the true executor who destroyed my hometown was sealed countless times, and pledged loyalty to the mastermind."
"If it weren't for Hayato Kobayashi, I might still be kept in the dark by Dartz and serving him even now!"
Looking at the excited Alister, Rafael finally confirmed that his former Companion was now truly standing on his opposite side. While he could give everything for Dartz's plan, seeing Alister at this moment, it was false to say that Rafael's heart wasn't wavering.
Taking a deep breath, Rafael made an effort to suppress his other emotions and maintain an indifferent expression: "So, you are rebelling against Lord Dartz, obstructing the descent of the new world, and standing on my opposite side to kill me, Alister?"
"So far, I have killed countless people who obstruct Lord Dartz's plan. Humans are ultimately going to welcome the new world. I will clear all obstructions for Lord Dartz, even you, Alister." Saying this, Rafael raised his Duel Disk, "Return your soul to Lord Dartz."
"Duel!"
[Rafael: 4000 LP]
Looking at Rafael who faced the challenge, Alister silently sighed in his heart.
'Kill you, Rafael? No, that's not the reason I'm dueling you here.'
'Having stood side-by-side for so many years, I know better than anyone that you are the most obsessed among the three of us. Words cannot convince you, only by dueling can I.'
'Realize it quickly, Rafael, realize Dartz's true nature!'
End of Chapter