# Chapter 786: Power, More Power
Dark Yugi woke up not long after Hayato left. After he woke up, Yugi and Joey Wheeler, who were waiting by his side, also told him about Hayato's speculation regarding Aknadin before he left.
Out of trust in everyone, especially Aibo, Dark Yugi naturally harbored suspicion towards Aknadin. However, after waking up, before he could put this suspicion into action, a message arrived.
Priest Aknadin, along with a large number of the Garrison within the Royal City, were missing. The two Millennium Items, the Millennium Rod and the Millennium Key, were also nowhere to be found. Furthermore, a large amount of bloodstain and an extremely hidden message were discovered at Priest Aknadin's Residence.
The message conveyed that Aknadin had discovered Bakura sneaking into the Royal Palace again and witnessed him stealing the Millennium Items. As a witness, he was also attacked by Bakura and taken away along with a large number of soldiers from the Royal City. Their destination was Bakura's lair, Kul Elna, the Thief Village.
The Court Magician used the power of magic to attempt to recreate the scene at Priest Aknadin's Residence. They found that besides Priest Aknadin, there was indeed another person with a very strong dark aura who had appeared. The blood on the ground was also confirmed to be Priest Aknadin's.
Logically, the more information there is, the easier it should be to deduce and analyze the truth. However, Dark Yugi was somewhat confused by the situation.
Hayato said that Aknadin wasn't a good person and was plotting something, but in the blink of an eye, Aknadin was directly "sacrificed." Even if Dark Yugi wanted to suspect Aknadin, there was nothing he could do. Aknadin, who claimed to have been abducted by Bakura, had no trace of suspicion on him.
However, hearing that Malik and the others saw the two missing Millennium Items and also saw Priest Aknadin's Millennium Eye, but didn't see Aknadin himself, Dark Yugi's inner thoughts once again grew suspicious, although there was a possibility that Aknadin had already been killed.
He had a premonition that when he found the "Great Dark Priest", he might know the truth and the answer to everything.
Hearing Dark Yugi's words, Mana also nodded obediently and waved the wand in her hand, saying, "Mm, Priest Isis and the others came from that direction just now, right? I felt a very strong dark aura there. I'll go support first, Pharaoh."
Halfway through her sentence, Mana also corrected her title for Dark Yugi in time. The title "Prince" was her exclusive privilege. Although Dark Yugi himself had permitted it, there were so many people here, so it was better to go with the flow and call him "Pharaoh."
As she spoke, Mana rode her horse at the front. As a member of the Court Magicians, Mana's magic skill level was only below the deceased Mahad. She had sufficient strength to ensure her own safety, especially since Mahad's death had spurred her to work hard and train diligently recently, making great progress.
After Hayato, Seto, and Shada had previously figured out a method to awaken the spirit within one's inner thoughts using the Millennium Items, although the spread of spirits was temporarily stopped due to the disappearance of the Millennium Eye and Millennium Key, Mana, who had heard of this method, had made an attempt herself.
Even without the Alchemy Crystal Duel Arena and without the recognition of the Millennium Items, Mana, relying on her attainment in magic, was actually only one step away from awakening her own spirit.
Mana went ahead first. Dark Yugi, who was accompanying her, naturally wouldn't let her go too deep alone and followed after her. Priest Seto also accompanied them to protect the Pharaoh. Seeing this, although he had just finished a long run and didn't have enough strength, Kaiba still stood up, wanting to follow the others back to the Thief Village.
Even though he understood that he had no power, being unable to do anything and doing nothing were two different things. There was a fire bottled up in Kaiba's heart that he couldn't vent.
But just as Kaiba wanted to follow Seto and Dark Yugi, Seto, who was one step behind Dark Yugi, slowed down, glanced at Kaiba, and stopped him. "Enough. What's the use of you following? Without any power, you can't protect anything even if you follow. You'd just be a burden to us."
"Stay here, the guy named Kaiba, if you have even a little self-awareness."
Mana was a Court Magician and could use magic battle. Although the Pharaoh's Millennium Rod was stolen, he could still summon the stone tablet monsters that were transferred from Mahad's Stone Tablet Temple before. And Seto had rich experience in controlling stone tablet monsters in battle.
Clearly, he had just escaped from the pursuit of those monsters, yet now he was acting strong and wanted to go back there. Seto looked at Kaiba, feeling annoyed. However, he also forgot that he himself often acted strong in the eyes of others.
He didn't know if it was an illusion caused by seeing the same face, but when Seto looked at Kaiba, who looked the same as him, he inexplicably saw an extremely familiar pursuit of power in his gaze. Before, when Bakura attacked the Royal Palace and when Mahad was sacrificed, he seemed to have had a similar gaze.
Perhaps when everything ends, Kaiba, with such a gaze, might be able to awaken a decent spirit using the power of the Millennium Key. But Seto had no time to spend on Kaiba, who had no power. After he finished speaking, he chased after Dark Yugi without looking back, no longer caring about Kaiba.
Although Dark Yugi, Seto, and Mana left, they weren't the only three who came to the Thief Village this time. Nearly a hundred people from the Army also accompanied them, advancing in the direction the three had left. However, they also left behind a logistics unit to take care of Malik, Isis, and Kaiba.
Isis received heal and care from the Physician. The Millennium Necklace she was wearing was taken off temporarily and handed over to Isis's younger brother, Malik, to avoid its mystical power interfering with the magic used during medical treatment.
Looking at the Millennium Necklace in Malik's hand, and with Seto's scornful words before leaving echoing in his heart, an idea emerged in Kaiba's inner thoughts.
He patted Malik's shoulder and indicated for Malik to walk aside with him. After confirming no one was around, Kaiba told Malik his idea.
"Awakening a spirit using a Millennium Item? Do you really believe the things Hayato Kobayashi said?" Malik raised an eyebrow. "But the question is, this isn't the Millennium Eye or the Millennium Key, and I haven't received the acknowledgement of the Millennium Necklace either."
The Millennium Items seemingly were just golden artifacts, but the mystical power contained within them was fundamentally not like inert metal such as gold; it was extremely active. Compared to the Millennium Items Kaiba knew from three thousand years later, the Millennium Items in this Memory World seemed to have more apparent mystical power.
Perhaps three thousand years of time had caused wear and tear on the power of these Millennium Items, or perhaps they were sealed, causing their mystical power to become dormant?
In short, in this era, the concept was that people who couldn't pass the trial of the Millennium Items didn't even have the qualification to touch them. Just touching them would be extremely painful and cause them to suffer torment. In more serious situations, it could even directly kill the person who touched them.
At that time, Aknadin had once warned Bakura about this, but he didn't expect that Bakura, because of his origin with the birth of the Millennium Items, would directly tear up this concept and ignore it. Of course, considering Bakura as someone who had already passed the trial of the Millennium Items also makes sense.
This was also why the physicians didn't place the Millennium Necklace alone but handed it over to Malik for temporary keeping. As the Gravekeeper's Family Leader who was once almost chosen as a Priest for a Millennium Item but regrettably not chosen, Malik, compared to ordinary people, although still unable to obtain the recognition of the Millennium Items and use their power, could barely manage to touch them without getting injured.
But now, Kaiba told Malik to use the power of the Millennium Necklace to awaken a spirit, and he wanted to help?
Don't let it happen that the power of spirits doesn't awaken, and this guy Kaiba gets directly killed by the mystical power of the Millennium Necklace. Even the relatively milder "good" Millennium Items didn't mean they had no danger. If it was more serious, maybe Malik himself wouldn't have a good outcome because of this.
"Stop joking! Do you know what the consequences will be if someone not qualified attempts to use a Millennium Item?" Looking at Kaiba, Malik extended a finger and poked his chest. "Soul scattered, won't die a good death! Don't think that just because you escaped with me just now means you have any special relationship with me. If you die, I won't feel heartache, and it's even less likely that I will accompany you to gamble with your life."
"I heard before that among the Priests under the Pharaoh, Priest Aknadin had a hobby of collecting stone tablet monsters, and that Seto is the same, he also likes collecting stone tablet monsters. But the difference is that he only pursues those stone tablet monsters with great power."
"You look exactly the same as Priest Seto, and even your idea is the same. For power, is it necessary to gamble with your life?"
Malik's words were merciless, but more than that was helplessness. He could also see that kind of desire for power in Kaiba's gaze, but seeing it didn't mean understanding it. Was power that important, to the point where it was worth Kaiba gambling with his life?
Hearing Malik's words, Kaiba firmly nodded. "Mm, that's right. For power, this is just a necessary sacrifice."
Seeing Malik's expression of disdain after hearing his answer, Kaiba took a deep breath and said, "That kind of situation just now, I don't want to experience it again. That situation once was already enough for me."
What Kaiba was referring to was naturally not the fact that he, the dignified KaibaCorp President, Kaiba Seto, a legendary duelist whose strength ranked among the top three in the whole world, was repeatedly disliked three times as a "burden" in just one day, almost within a few hours—although that matter indeed made Kaiba very angry.
What Kaiba had had enough of was the fact that he had no power to change anything, no power to make resistance, and no power to protect others or extend a helping hand.
His self-esteem was extremely strong, but the actions of Hayato and Karim, who sacrificed themselves to cover the rear, repeatedly frustrated his self-esteem.
The source of everything, in the end, was that he had no power.
If he could summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, even if he died together with Hayato covering the rear, Kaiba wouldn't feel as uncomfortable as he did now. But he couldn't get a response from Blue-Eyes, it was almost like Blue-Eyes hadn't yet formed a sufficient bond with him in this era.
So he thought of a method—Hayato had told him that before, with the help of the power of the Millennium Key, he had awakened the card spirit of Psychic Ectoplasm. Although it wasn't a monster but a spell card that awakened a spirit, which was really a bit too bizarre, this matter gave Kaiba enough inspiration.
"I need power, more power. And since the Millennium Items can unearth the spirit within the human heart, then I will absolutely not let go of this power."
"For power, just take my life! Just give me more power!"
Listening to Kaiba's words, Malik looked at him deeply. Although he was a bit selfish, he wasn't ungrateful. Although he saw the image of Karim summoning Thunder Dragon Colossus when they left before, so much time had passed and Karim hadn't chased out. This made Malik's heart vaguely have an ominous premonition.
Sighing, Malik covered his forehead. "Damn it, I must have been overly frightened today and lost my head, to actually do such a thing."
"Alright, I must admit, I'm actually also a little worried about Priest Karim's situation. So, for the time being, I'll gamble with you, this madman full of power, alright?" Malik said, holding Isis's Millennium Necklace in both hands, and looked at Kaiba seriously. "Let's agree beforehand, if you die, I'm not responsible."
"But if I die, I absolutely won't let you go even when I reach the Underworld!"
Kaiba's corner of the mouth slightly turned up. "Hmph, whatever you want. But I won't go to any Underworld. In my future, there has only ever been the path of radiance."
Closing his eyes, Malik calmed down and began to communicate with the Millennium Necklace he was holding in his hand. The power contained within it was slightly triggered and drawn out under Malik's guide. Mystical power, filled with an aura of danger like a bomb ready to explode at any moment, poured out from the Millennium Necklace and rushed into Kaiba's body, who was close at hand.
Before Malik could slightly enjoy for a moment that he had unexpectedly successfully used the power of the Millennium Necklace, the mystical power, which was still relatively well-behaved the previous second, suddenly became violent. It fiercely burst open. A part of it flowed back into the Millennium Necklace, while the rest of the mystical power exploded and burst on the spot, rushing into the bodies of both Malik and Kaiba.
In an instant, the two were blown away by the sudden explosion and fell onto the Sandy Ground. Excruciating pain entered Malik's mind. Mystical power vaguely formed the Mark of the Eye of Wjat/Udjat on his forehead. And before he lost consciousness, he last saw that a ray of white light seemed to have lit up on Kaiba's side, who was also blown away.
# Chapter 787: Thank You For Your Hard Work Today
"Little Mana's Magic Explosion!"
A massive magic bullet was flung out by Mana's wand, blasting into the group of bones. The bones, which had approached after smelling the aura of living people, were sent flying everywhere by the exploding magic bullet.
It seemed to be because their leader, the King of the Skull Servants, had been defeated earlier. The bones now were not only completely undisciplined, but their immortality had also decreased significantly. Many of the bones that were blown apart were defeated instantly the moment their heads fell off, making them much easier to deal with than before.
If Hayato's party had encountered bones of this strength when they first arrived at Thief Village, they probably wouldn't have needed to charge directly underground to find the source of the dark power and confront the Great Dark Priest.
After the King of the Skull Servants, which served as the command center for the bones and the relay station receiving energy from the Great Dark Priest, was defeated, the bones could now be easily cleared and dealt with by Mana alone. Before long, the group arrived near the Village Center.
Malik told them that Hayato and Karim had stayed behind to cover the rear so they could escape. What drew them here, besides the dark aura that was so thick it was uncomfortable, was primarily an emerald green thunder giant dragon crawling on the ground that could be seen from a long distance away.
According to Malik's description, that was the last stone tablet monster Priest Karim had summoned before they left. Leaving aside Dark Yugi, who had lost his memory, even Seto was seeing such a stone tablet monster for the first time.
Around the **Thunder Dragon Colossus** that was lying motionless on the ground, merely lowering its wings filled with lightning to protect what was beneath it, were scattered broken bones. It seemed that the bones didn't even necessitate the **Thunder Dragon Colossus** taking action; they were defeated simply by approaching.
After clearing out the few surviving bones and defeating them, and finishing off the last bone, Mana wiped sweat from her forehead that wasn't there and boasted to Dark Yugi, "Pharaoh, defeating these monsters really took a lot of Mana's strength!"
"Mhm, thank you for your hard work today, Mana." Dark Yugi also indulged Mana's idea, saying to her with a smile, which made Mana inwardly exclaim that the Prince's energy was greatly boosted.
Seto examined the quiet **Thunder Dragon Colossus** and muttered to himself, "Hmm, in terms of color, it's indeed the same as Karim's **Thunder Dragon**. And if it wasn't born with three heads, then only Karim's Millennium Scale should be able to fusion summon monsters to achieve this."
"Although the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon I saw before was a monster that was very ugly and didn't even look like a **Thunder Dragon** at all, my intuition tells me that this monster should indeed have been summoned by Karim."
"That stubborn, old-fashioned, and arrogant Priest Karim... Although I heard from Priest Isis before that he stayed behind to cover the rear so Priest Isis and the others could escape, it's really hard to believe That Person would do something like that."
Mana didn't have a good impression of Karim. If the most popular priest among all the priests was Priest Aknadin, who was the most senior yet also the most approachable, then the least popular was Karim. Mana's relationship with Karim was particularly bad; the lively and energetic Mana was often caught and taught a lesson by Karim when she snuck into the Royal Palace.
Relying on his authority and particularly liking to make a big fuss about Mana's rudeness, Mana couldn't imagine at all that someone like Karim would risk his life for others.
Looking at the **Thunder Dragon Colossus**, Mana also found something particularly strange. "Speaking of which, Priest Seto, you said that spirit was summoned by Priest Karim, but isn't it a bit too quiet right now? We made such a big commotion just now, it's impossible it didn't notice us, right?"
Mana's confusion was also something that puzzled the others. Carefully approaching the lying **Thunder Dragon Colossus**, Seto stopped Dark Yugi, who was reaching out his hand out of curiosity, and stepped forward himself to touch the **Thunder Dragon Colossus**.
Feeling Seto's touch, one of the lying **Thunder Dragon Colossus**'s heads lifted up. It examined the people before it, as if confirming their identity. After seeing the Millennium Rod in Seto's hand and Dark Yugi's uniquely colored Starfish (Nickname for Yugi) hairstyle, it seemed to recognize that they were trustworthy, propping itself up with its claws and moving aside.
However, after the **Thunder Dragon Colossus** moved aside, Dark Yugi and the others saw an unexpected scene. Only to see Karim, missing an arm, lying motionless on the cold ground, facing the sky with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
That smile was as peaceful and calm as if a son were talking with his mother, but Karim's chest, showing no rise and fall, didn't look like he was merely asleep at all.
"Karim, this guy couldn't be—" Seto's eyes widened. Looking at Karim, he completely hadn't expected that Karim, who had argued with him almost to the point of fighting just a few days ago, would already be dead when they met again after some time.
In just a few short days, another priest under the Pharaoh's command had sacrificed himself.
"Priest Karim, it seems like he gave his all to protect Isis and the others, burning his soul to battle." Coming to Karim's side, Dark Yugi saw the 'Soul' slot on the Duel Arena he was wearing completely zeroed out, as well as the Millennium Scale that had fallen to the ground and was buried in dust. "The **Thunder Dragon Colossus** is probably the most brilliant radiance Priest Karim radiated with his own life."
"Priest Karim..." Mana also covered her mouth, not expecting Karim to have such an ending.
As they watched the group approach Karim's remains, the **Thunder Dragon Colossus**, which had moved to the side, also couldn't stay standing and lay back down on the ground. At the same time, its body quickly became transparent, and speckles of light dissipated from it.
Dark Yugi and the others now understood why the **Thunder Dragon Colossus** had remained motionless before. It was likely conserving its strength to persist as much as possible in protecting Karim's body from being damaged by the surrounding bones. However, for the **Thunder Dragon Colossus**, summoned by Karim burning his own soul and combining the power of the Millennium Scale and the Duel Arena, to still exist after Karim's sacrifice was already a miracle. Now, it had reached its limit and was about to disappear from here.
Looking at the **Thunder Dragon Colossus**, Dark Yugi patted its lowered head and said, "You did very well. Thank you for your hard work today, **Thunder Dragon Colossus**."
"Wuu..."
The **Thunder Dragon Colossus** let out a low growl, its body turning into dissipating blue electric current that sank into the Earth and disappeared.
Time passed unconsciously, and the darkest moment had already passed. From the horizon, the sun gradually rose, casting its radiance upon the Earth, shining upon the **Thunder Dragon Colossus** that had faded with the wind and Karim's remains.
Just as the group was filled with regret over Karim's sacrifice, suddenly, a wave of vibration came from the ground beneath their feet. The shaking ground almost knocked them over. Seto, who was riding a horse, nearly lost his balance and quickly dismounted, stepping onto the ground to regain stability. Dark Yugi, meanwhile, supported Mana, who had "by coincidence" fallen into his arms.
A beam of energy pillar burst out from under the ground in front of everyone, piercing the surface. Afterwards, due to the continuous shaking and impact, the surrounding ground seemed to have been mostly destroyed. The next moment, the Earth they were standing on split open directly, and without waiting for Dark Yugi and the others to react, they fell underground along the crack!
Mid-air, although he was holding Mana in his arms, Dark Yugi was completely unaffected. Immediately, he swung his left arm, and relying on his extensive experience using Duel Disk, he performed a field setup with his Duel Arena, connecting it to the tablet in the distant Stone Tablet Temple: "Come to my side, **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**!"
Its wide dragon wings spread open and caught the three falling people. Dark Yugi said that what he summoned was the **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**, which would be made into a Duel Monsters card in the future, but was currently a stone tablet monster. Although it was always jokingly called the Winged Dragon that couldn't protect anything, and had the legendary concept of "a 35% chance to avoid enemy attacks," it was quite useful at this moment just for catching the falling people.
However, only Seto, Mana, and Dark Yugi were caught by the **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**. As for the horses that fell with them, Dark Yugi said he was powerless to help, so they should just consider them as having sacrificed themselves for the great cause (a big lie).
Because it was carrying the weight of three people, the **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**, temporarily couldn't flap its wings and ascend to bring them back to the ground as it normally would. However, gliding to slow down and descend was still possible. And during the descent, Dark Yugi, who was gradually being assimilated by someone invisibly, was observing the situation underground.
With just one glance, he noticed the masked person standing in a conspicuous spot below. If he wasn't mistaken, That Person should be the "Great Dark Priest" whom Malik and the others had encountered before. And because the energy pillar launched upwards from below earlier had created many holes on the surface, some light also illuminated part of the Great Dark Priest's mask, and the Millennium Eye in the position of his left eye was reflecting the light.
Not only Dark Yugi, but Seto also noticed the Great Dark Priest. In Ancient Egypt, just having white hair was enough to be considered some ominous existence, not to mention the Great Dark Priest's head of deep red hair like blood. And upon seeing that the Millennium Eye had indeed appeared on the other party, Seto became even more furious.
"Although I heard from Priest Isis that Bakura was already dead, the Millennium Eye was actually taken from Priest Aknadin! That guy is unforgivable!"
In his extreme wrath, Seto unexpectedly took a running start and jumped off the back of the **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**. In mid-air, he also summoned his own stone tablet monster: "Come forth, Duos! Defeat that guy for me!"
Duos, the stone tablet monster deeply trusted by Seto, spread its wings and caught Seto as he jumped out. Bringing Seto along, it dove down from the air, pointing directly at the Great Dark Priest on the ground, swearing to kill him in one blow.
Hearing the commotion in the air, the Great Dark Priest also raised his head.
Upon seeing Dark Yugi and Mana on top of the **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress**, the Great Dark Priest's gaze hidden beneath the mask instantly turned cold. The corner of his mouth curled up, and he was about to have the monster he controlled launch an attack on them. But upon seeing Seto attacking together with Duos and blocking Dark Yugi, his action froze slightly. He hesitated for a moment and changed the order he gave to the monster he controlled.
Halfway through Duos's attack, an attack came from behind him. It was launched by **Diabound**, whom the Great Dark Priest had revived. The attack that had just broken the ground and brought Dark Yugi and the others underground was also launched by it. However, due to the previous battle, **Diabound** was currently still some distance away from the Great Dark Priest.
Although **Diabound**'s attack had considerable strength and was locked onto Duos's path, its speed was incredibly slow. It was almost as if it only wanted to force Duos to stop but didn't want to damage Seto, who was with Duos.
But Seto was no ordinary person either. Grabbing Duos's body to stabilize himself, he unexpectedly controlled Duos to make a maneuver to avoid **Diabound**'s attack. After brushing past the "Spiral Wave," Duos continued its dive towards the Great Dark Priest, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.
Towards the Great Dark Priest, Duos thrust out the sword in its hand.
"The Kingdom's safety has been challenged! My comrades sacrificed themselves to resist the darkness, and the person I respect was also taken away!" Looking at the Great Dark Priest, Seto shouted angrily. "Again and again, how many more times will you make me angry? The wrath in my heart is already unbearable!"
"Mahad, Shada, Aknadin, Karim! This sword strike is to avenge them! Take this, you foolish wretch who calls himself the Great Dark Priest!"
Seeing that Seto had actually avoided his attack and was attacking again, the Great Dark Priest frowned. He didn't respond to Seto's roar at all, but instead somewhat helplessly raised the Duel Arena he was wearing. On the Duel Arena where he performed a field setup, besides **Diabound** already occupying the first zone, a stone tablet monster mark also appeared on the second zone.
Just before Duos's attack was about to hit the Great Dark Priest, the stone tablet monster he summoned appeared before him. It was a thin and deformed green monster with only a single eye, which opened and looked towards Duos, who was launching the attack.
Seto paid it no mind at all. He was already this close; even if it was some powerful stone tablet monster, it would be too late to attack and cancel out the damage. But Dark Yugi, who also had to descend quickly because of Seto's action, recognized what that monster was with a single glance and immediately shouted loudly, "Don't approach that monster, Seto!"
Before Seto could understand why Dark Yugi said that, the next moment, the sword thrust out by Duos had already touched the body of the monster the Great Dark Priest summoned.
However, what appeared was not the scene of that monster being cut in half and killed by Duos's sword. That monster's body actually seemed like a swamp, directly swallowing Duos's sword and absorbing it. Even Duos was sucked in in an instant.
If Seto hadn't reacted quickly and jumped away, Seto suspected even he himself would have been sucked in along with it.
Looking at that monster on the ground, Dark Yugi recalled bad memories and said with a serious expression, "That monster is, **Relinquished**!"
Chapter 788: I Am, Leeroy Jenkins!
"Yugi!"
Seeing the arrival of Dark Yugi, Seto, and Mana, Hayato was quite surprised. It wasn't the fact that the unconscious Dark Yugi had woken up; the main point was that now that Bakura was dead, there shouldn't have been any conditions to lead them here.
Unless someone had done something.
Across from Diabound, Hayato glanced at the Great Dark Priest, but couldn't see his expression because of the mask. The other party would likely be happy about the Pharaoh's arrival, as he now had the opportunity to kill the Pharaoh here, but Seto appearing alongside him probably made things difficult for the Great Dark Priest.
"Hayato, are you okay?"
Dark Yugi jumped down from behind the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, greeting Hayato. When he saw the sacrificed Karim earlier, besides grieving his departure, Dark Yugi was also worried about Hayato's safety, who had also stayed behind to hold them off. Seeing that Hayato was still safe and sound, he finally felt a little relieved.
"I'm fine, but you shouldn't have come here," Hayato said, jumping back. A large amount of liquid surged from his shadow, forming a monster that carried him to avoid Diabound's attack. "That Great Dark Priest has sealed the summoning of the Gods. Neither Obelisk the Tormentor, Osiris, nor The Winged Dragon of Ra can battle here, and this guy is also holding Bakura's Diabound."
On Hayato's shoulder, The Winged Dragon of Ra, whose size had shrunk considerably, also whimpered twice in response, personally proving that it couldn't exert much power right now.
With the "voluntary" sacrifice of Ogdoadic Ichor Nuw (Nuw: I'm not voluntary!), Hayato avoided Diabound's attack. He noticed that the opponent was still only pursuing him, just like before, and hadn't transferred its attack target because of Yugi and the others' arrival. This made Hayato slightly relieved.
It seems like the Great Dark Priest was perhaps afraid of accidentally injuring Seto, which is why he specifically brought out the monster Relinquished. Although it was still troublesome, it was better than having Dark Yugi and the others face Diabound.
Hayato pondered briefly and shouted to Dark Yugi from a distance, "Don't worry about me, Yugi! I'll hold off Diabound. You guys use this opportunity to take down the Great Dark Priest!"
As he spoke, black liquid surged around Hayato, transforming into an alligator wearing gold armor—Mementotempa, the Melting Menace. It actively charged towards Diabound, while Hayato himself shouted to attract Diabound's attention, "I am, Leeroy Jenkins!"
Although Hayato's commotion was somewhat meaningless, Diabound, which was born from the gathering of resentment, was not a monster with sanity. The order it had received from the very beginning was to kill Hayato. Although it had temporarily blocked Seto under the Great Dark Priest's command just now, since the Great Dark Priest didn't want to use it to attack Seto and the others, Diabound would continue to pursue Hayato even if Hayato didn't attract its attention.
A Spiral Wave instantly killed the alligator monster Mementotempa, the Melting Menace, which looked like it was about to go into a red rage and instantly kill something. It transformed back into a puddle of black liquid and sank into the ground. Diabound pursued Hayato, moving a little further away from the Great Dark Priest.
The Millennium Stone Tablet holding the Millennium Items communicated with the power of the Underworld. Although the Great Dark Priest utilized this to counter the power of the Three Egyptian Gods, Hayato could also use the power of the Underworld to boost the Myutant Monsters, allowing them to regenerate again and again to counter Diabound, and the burden on Hayato was almost non-existent.
Dark Yugi also accepted the arrangement Hayato gave him. He turned around to look at Relinquished, which had completely swallowed Duos and showed its appearance on its bone wings, as well as the Great Dark Priest.
Back during Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus's Relinquished had caused Hayato and Yugi a lot of trouble. Later, when Hayato dealt with Dartz, he also encountered Pegasus's Relinquished that Dartz had taken. Now, Dark Yugi had encountered Relinquished again in the Memory World.
Counting it up, Relinquished, which had appeared three times and was always a villain, probably deserved three times the appearance fee of other Duel Monsters.
However, Dark Yugi would rather not pay this appearance fee. If Relinquished were in the present, due to the ever-changing duel environment, it would have long been outdated along with its User Pegasus, who clung to the old ways. He could easily solve it with his "evolved strongest Dark Magician Deck."
But the environment in the Memory World could be said to have reverted directly to ancient times. This instantly brought the strength of Relinquished, which should have fallen out of use, back up. Dark Yugi couldn't guarantee other abilities, but judging from its absorb of Duos just now, at least the Monster Stealing ability had already appeared.
As for the ability to reflect damage and the attack lock ability of the evolved Thousand-Eyes Restrict, Dark Yugi could only pray they weren't present.
The Stone Tablet Monsters Dark Yugi could use were taken from Mahad's Stone Tablet Temple. If it were just Relinquished, Dark Yugi would have certain victory with some preparation. This was the necessary confidence of a Duelist. But the question was, Seto's strongest Stone Tablet Monster, Duos, had just given Relinquished a free kill.
Mahad had always been able to suppress Seto, mainly because of his own powerful mystical power and his cooperation with Illusion Magician. However, before, due to Bakura, Mahad and Illusion Magician had fused into Dark Magician and had been in slumber ever since. And Mahad's remaining Stone Tablet Monsters were honestly not quite comparable to Seto's monsters.
And the trouble now was that it was known that Mahad's Stone Tablet Monsters were weaker than Seto's Stone Tablet Monsters, and Duos was Seto's strongest Stone Tablet Monster. Now, Relinquished, having absorbed Duos, meant it possessed Duos's power, which also meant that the power of the Stone Tablet Monsters summoned by either Seto or Dark Yugi was basically impossible to exceed Relinquished's.
Can't win, how can I fight this? Dark Yugi, who knew how troublesome Relinquished was, began pondering if he had any Stone Tablet Monsters that could cooperate. Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress had been recalled after use. After all, he couldn't possibly make up an effect for it to have a "35% chance of dodging the opponent's attack" ability.
But it didn't matter, Seto would make a move.
"You actually stole my Duos!?" Although Seto didn't know Relinquished's ability, he knew that he, a Pure Love Warrior, had encountered Monster Stealing.
Seto was angry!
End of Chapter
"Come forth, Minotaur!"
After Pure Love War God Seto summoned the Minotaur holding a sharp axe, he was about to order it to attack Relinquished.
Seeing that Seto had just had a monster taken control of, and in the blink of an eye had summoned another melee attack type monster to essentially sacrifice it to Relinquished, Dark Yugi, although he hadn't come up with a countermeasure yet, quickly stopped Seto: "Wait, Priest Seto, that monster has the ability to absorb the power of other monsters. Don't let it touch it!"
"What? That troublesome ability!" Hearing Dark Yugi's words, Seto also controlled the Minotaur and stopped its advance. The situation was rather difficult, because most of the monsters in Seto's monster reserve were monsters that focused on pure power. Aside from Duos which could unleash some sword slashes for ranged attack, the vast majority were melee attack type monsters.
It wasn't that he had no monsters capable of ranged attack, but the strength of that small portion was really... due to Relinquished's characteristic, Seto's stone tablet monster reserve was practically rendered useless for the most part.
However, although Seto stopped the Minotaur in time, the Great Dark Priest wasn't a wooden stake. Under his control, Relinquished controlled the Duos that appeared on its bone wings, and with a single sword slash, blasted away the Minotaur.
It seemed that if a monster could only perform ranged attack but lacked sufficient strength, it still couldn't deal with Relinquished after it absorbed Duos's power, let alone defeat the Great Dark Priest.
Although helpless, Dark Yugi couldn't just watch Seto fighting alone. He immediately summoned two stone tablet monsters: "Catch the Minotaur, Centaur!"
The monster with the upper body of a person and the lower body of a horse rushed forward to catch the flying Minotaur, and Dark Yugi also came to Seto's side, asking with concern: "Are you alright, Seto?"
"Mm, thank you for your concern, Pharaoh." Seto rubbed his chest, feeling a bit strange. He knew Duos's power better than anyone, yet the damage from the attack Relinquished dealt after absorbing Duos's power was fundamentally negligible, as if it had merely blasted away the Minotaur without intending to harm him.
"I feel like the power that monster can convert is weaker than I expected?"
Hearing Seto's words, Dark Yugi suddenly felt that Relinquished might not be too difficult to deal with after all, since Seto said the monster's power was weaker than expected. Perhaps, unlike in the Future, Relinquished couldn't absorb all the power and could only absorb half?
The gap between these two possibilities was huge. Dark Yugi suddenly felt full of confidence and said: "I feel like we can do it. Let's go together, Priest Seto."
As he spoke, Dark Yugi raised the Millennium Scale he held in his hand, saying, "Let's use the power Priest Karim left us in the last!"
Hearing this, Seto also understood Dark Yugi's meaning and nodded: "Feel free to use my power, Pharaoh!"
Standing side-by-side with Dark Yugi, Seto and Dark Yugi both raised their Duel Arenas:
"Minotaur!" "Centaur!"
"Under the power of the Millennium Scale, Fusion Summon!"
"Minotaur-Centaur!"
The Minotaur holding a sharp axe and the monster beast that was half-human and half-horse combined into one, transforming into a completely new monster with the upper body of a Minotaur and the lower body of a war horse. The sharp axe in its hand was fiercely swung, sending a slash towards Relinquished.
Relinquished, which couldn't absorb monsters from a distance and could only convert a portion of the power of the monsters it absorbed, wasn't something to be afraid of anymore, right? Dark Yugi thought with confidence. As the Pharaoh, he naturally had the qualification to activate the power of the Millennium Scale, and thus the control of the Minotaur-Centaur he summoned was also in his hand.
This result led to...
The Great Dark Priest looked at the Minotaur-Centaur born from the combination of the Minotaur and Centaur's power. Since it wasn't a monster controlled by Seto, he immediately ordered: "Perfect timing, Pharaoh. I'll gladly accept your power!"
"Nani!?"
Dark Yugi was also stunned upon hearing this. Only to see the attack swung by the Minotaur-Centaur was easily dispersed by the Duos on Relinquished's body. Furthermore, black energy was released from Relinquished's body, turning into a vortex that entangled the Minotaur-Centaur. In just an instant, it was dragged into Relinquished's body.
Relinquished could fully utilize the full power of the monsters it absorbed. Not only that, but it could also easily absorb the power of other monsters from a distance!
Just as the Great Dark Priest thought Relinquished would become stronger after absorbing the Minotaur-Centaur's power, Dark Yugi, who had initially shown a surprised face, revealed a knowing smile when he saw the Minotaur-Centaur completely swallowed.
"Hmm, it got eaten."
"Great Dark Priest, although I'm not sure who you truly are, didn't anyone tell you not to randomly use other people's cards?" Dark Yugi raised his Duel Arena. There were two stone tablet monster marks on it. "Let me show you the strategy I learned from Aibo and Hayato!"
The Great Dark Priest hadn't reacted yet to why there was another stone tablet monster mark on the Pharaoh's Duel Arena besides the Minotaur-Centaur. The next moment, the body of the Relinquished in front of him suddenly swelled up strangely, as if something had burst from its interior.
In an instant, the Duos on Relinquished's bone wings broke free from its shackles and escaped along with the Minotaur-Centaur, which had also been absorbed. The Great Dark Priest also saw a sphere with long claws appear from Relinquished's body as the Minotaur-Centaur left.
"Sphere Time Bomb. This is a monster I found inside Mahad's Stone Tablet Temple. Its power is very weak, and its effect is somewhat unclear. Its ability is a simple self-destruct, and it can even drag the stone tablet monster it's equipped to into the self-destruct with it," Dark Yugi explained, looking at the Sphere Time Bomb that was firmly fixed onto Relinquished's body and wouldn't let go.
"But, a Pharaoh has a Pharaoh's talent, and a chef has a chef's talent. There are no useless stone tablet monsters in this world. A True Duelist can even utilize a card's downside," Dark Yugi ordered, pointing a finger at Relinquished. "Self-Destruct, Sphere Time Bomb! This is a necessary sacrifice!"
"Beep, beep, beep beep beep beep!" The red spot on the Sphere Time Bomb flashed rapidly, giving the Great Dark Priest virtually no time to react. It then self-destructed with a roar, dragging Relinquished into destruction with it.
"Boom!"
And the Great Dark Priest, who was controlling Relinquished, had completely failed to anticipate that Dark Yugi could still turn the tide when he had the upper hand. He was struck by the impact from the Sphere Time Bomb.
"Crack!"
"Success! Did we get him?!" Seeing the Great Dark Priest's position surrounded by the explosion's smoke, Seto, who had never heard of "where there's smoke, there's no damage," couldn't help but say excitedly.
(End of Chapter)
# Chapter 790: Invincible Diabound
The smoke gradually dispersed. In Seto's hopeful gaze, he saw not the Great Dark Priest defeated, but a thick shield standing in front of the Great Dark Priest.
The damage caused by the Sphere Time Bomb's ability increases proportionally to the strength of the monster that was detonated. Just now, although Duos and Minotaur-Centaur escaped from Relinquished's body, Relinquished's body should have still contained some of their plundered strength when the Sphere Time Bomb was detonated.
But an explosion of this strength was blocked by such a shield. Looking at the shield standing in front of the Great Dark Priest, Dark Yugi frowned. He felt as if he had seen that shield somewhere before. It looked very serious, especially since it even had the Eye of Udjat mark on it.
"As expected of the Nameless Pharaoh, you easily accomplished something others couldn't. If I were your subordinate, I would probably be excited and moved right now."
But just as Dark Yugi was trying to identify that shield, the Great Dark Priest who summoned it withdrew it and walked out from behind the shield. "Pity, Pharaoh, you were just that close to defeating me, but it was just that close."
He looked completely unharmed, and there was no visible damage to his clothes, but only the mask on his face showed a few cracks, as if the "crack" sound just now came from the mask.
Even though the Relinquished he summoned was defeated by Dark Yugi and Seto, according to common sense, the person who summoned it should also have suffered some damage. But judging by the Great Dark Priest's performance, he didn't seem to be affected at all.
However, even the annoying and strong Relinquished just now has been taken care of. There is no need to hesitate anymore. Now is the time to defeat the Great Dark Priest before he summons other monsters!
"Minotaur-Centaur!"
"Duos!"
Without any communication, Seto and Dark Yugi had the exact same idea, commanding their monsters, who had just escaped, to attack the Great Dark Priest.
But the moment the two monsters arrived near the Great Dark Priest, a pair of strong arms were extended, gripping the weapons swung by the two monsters tightly, preventing them from advancing even an inch. Looking at the monster that suddenly appeared, Seto was startled and subconsciously said the opponent's name: "Diabound Kernel!? Why is it here?"
The monster blocking the Great Dark Priest was clearly the Diabound Kernel that Hayato had just lured away. Hayato's battle hadn't ended yet, and Hayato, who was controlling Myutant monsters, was still entangled with Diabound Kernel. How did a second Diabound Kernel appear?
As if seeing Seto and Dark Yugi's confusion, the Great Dark Priest explained with composure: "Diabound Kernel is a gathering of resentment and malice, possessing the ability to continuously grow and develop new power. Using it for infinite power growth to become the 'Strongest' is not wrong usage, but it can only be considered the usage of an idiot."
While explaining, the Great Dark Priest didn't even forget to diss Bakura, the previous User of Diabound Kernel, his words full of contempt for him.
"Nameless Pharaoh, I actually agree with something you said just now. There are no useless Stone Tablet monsters in the world. Every type of Stone Tablet monster has its unique use." Opening his arms, the Great Dark Priest said proudly, "Integrate the power of various Stone Tablet monsters with different effects, gaining great power to deal with any situation while increasing power. This is the approach I chose for Diabound Kernel's growth!"
"Not 'Strongest', but 'Invincible'!"
Along with the Great Dark Priest's words, Diabound Kernel didn't so much "smash" Duos as "pushed" it away. Without harming it, he also removed this trouble. Diabound Kernel grabbed the Minotaur-Centaur controlled by Dark Yugi with one hand and lifted it into the air. The other hand, which was free, struck without holding back, directly blasted away the Minotaur-Centaur in mid-air!
"Ugh!"
Feeling pain, Dark Yugi couldn't help but cover his chest. The Soul Points on the Duel Arena on his wrist also decreased significantly.
After several turns of battle, Dark Yugi didn't know if it was his illusion, but it seemed that whenever Seto attacked, the Great Dark Priest would go easy, focusing on repelling rather than harming. But as soon as it was his turn, the Great Dark Priest would attack without holding back again.
"Harpie Lady is one of the many Stone Tablet monsters that Diabound Kernel absorbed. It possesses the ability to divide itself into three phantoms with the same strength. This is the truth of the second Diabound Kernel that appeared before you!"
The Great Dark Priest waved a hand, "But knowing that is also meaningless. Diabound Kernel is Invincible!"
"Die, Pharaoh!"
With no Stone Tablet monsters protecting him, Diabound Kernel was about to attack again to kill Dark Yugi. Seeing this scene, Seto wanted to control Duos to come and protect him, but because Diabound Kernel had blasted away Duos just now, he was truly willing but powerless. He could only shout: "Pharaoh, run!"
"Prince!" Mana also didn't care about anything else, shouting Dark Yugi's name and rushing towards him. Using any magic from this distance was useless; there was fundamentally no time to cast it. Mana could only pray that her usual body training would have some use and that she could arrive in front of the Prince before that monster's attack came, acting as a shield with her body.
Master had left. Even if she died because of this, she would absolutely not let the Prince die!
Beside Mana as she ran, an afterimage vaguely appeared. A young girl wearing a mage robe, identical in appearance to Mana, separated from her body. The mystical power within Mana's body also surged, making her run faster.
But just as Mana was only a few steps away from Dark Yugi, Diabound Kernel's attack had already been launched, blasting towards Dark Yugi's location in the blink of an eye. The impact directly blasted away Mana, who had just managed to arrive, making her further and further away from Dark Yugi.
"Prince!"
Mana's retreating figure was caught by the young girl beside her who looked exactly like her, but she had no time to think about where this young girl came from. Looking at Dark Yugi's location, her eyes were full of despair.
Not only Mana, but Seto also felt that Dark Yugi, having taken Diabound Kernel's attack, was probably certain to die. Even Dark Yugi himself felt the same way.
However, after waiting for a long time, Dark Yugi didn't feel any injury. Opening his eyes, he saw a back figure wearing a black-purple mage robe.
"Sorry, I'm late, Pharaoh."
End of Chapter