The approaching footsteps echoed from outside the door, closing in. Meanwhile, Goodwin's body was disintegrating.
Disintegrating, quite literally. It had actually started even as he was speaking earlier; only now had it reached a critical point. Deep cracks spread across his skin like parched earth under the blazing sun, his body collapsing piece by piece. Every fragment that fell to the floor would instantly turn to dust, dissipating in the wind.
He was a Dark Signer, and Dark Signers were, by nature, people who had already died. Now that he'd lost the Duel, the power sustaining his resurrection had faded, and his long-dead body finally began to collapse as it should have.
Goodwin let out a long sigh.
A second chance... He had talked about changing history, about how this time, things would be different...
But in the end, this was even worse than the first time.
He couldn't even call this a failed campaign—he hadn't had the chance to set out at all. Before he could accomplish anything, a demon came out of nowhere and crushed all his ambitions to dust.
Thinking back, his first life, when he faced the Signers led by Yusei Fudo, was at least Simple Mode compared to this. Now, THIS was truly Hell Difficulty.
Can you believe it? To have done absolutely nothing, only to get camped by the final boss right at the front door?
Goodwin's body turned to dust, scattering like smoke in the wind.
"..."
"Director!"
The door burst open.
Lazar barged in anxiously with a squad of Security officers in tow.
What they saw was Goodwin, with hands clasped behind his back, staring out the window. Not until they rushed in did he slowly turn to face them.
Of course, the real Goodwin had already died just seconds earlier.
This was Kira.
In this timeline, the Goodwin of this world had long since died—he'd been replaced by another Goodwin, one from a different time. Now, this counterfeit Goodwin had also disappeared—but his actions had sparked an idea for Kira.
The Sector Security's status in 5D's was extraordinary—it was far more than a mere police station.
Not only did the Security oversee all law enforcement throughout both the city and Satellite Zone, but even the city's heart—the perpetual engine known as "Ener-D"—was managed directly by the Sector Security. In the later story, it's revealed that the Security's headquarters even houses the city's only supercomputer, loaded with top-tier secrets.
To call the Director of the Sector Security an authority who could blot out the sun would not be an exaggeration—the resources and intelligence at his disposal are almost unimaginable. For anyone wishing to operate in this dimension, in this city, it was a tremendous position to hold.
So, Kira transformed himself into Goodwin, taking up the mantle of the now-vanished Director.
He'd used similar shapeshifting and disguise abilities before in the Spirit World, leveraging the power of Spell Cards. However, back then, such powers could only be employed in the Spirit World, where its very laws allowed cards' powers to become reality.
At that time, Kira couldn't wield card powers freely in the real world.
But now, things were different. His own mastery of dark powers had advanced greatly, as had his comprehension of the laws of power. Even more, he had obtained the Three Sacred Beasts, the three Wicked Gods, and the entire Sarcophagus deck from Yugi along with other spirits' blessings. His affinity with dark powers was now on par with Jaden Yuki in the final term of the GX anime.
Thus, even outside the Spirit World, he could now easily manifest the effects of one or two cards.
"Director Goodwin, you're all right!"
Lazar breathed a sigh of relief.
"I heard that all the commotion just now came from your side, Director. I was worried! Glad to see you're unharmed."
Lazar waved a hand, signaling the other security officers to leave—his usual custom when talking privately with Goodwin.
He was particularly skilled at flattery and, as the Vice Director, Goodwin sometimes revealed confidential things to him—but never with others present.
"All the same, it's strange." Lazar shook his head. "Moments ago, I suddenly felt drowsy, like I was about to pass out.
When I came to, I found myself leaning against the hallway wall, still a little dizzy."
Kira understood immediately.
That was likely the instant the Earthbound Immortal was summoned.
Lazar and everyone else in the Sector Security had probably had their souls briefly extracted by the Earthbound Immortal. But only moments after the monster appeared, Goodwin had been instantly obliterated by Kira's game-breaking move.
The stolen souls quickly returned to their bodies; most people just felt like they'd blacked out for a second. And since they'd lost consciousness during the Earthbound Immortal's emergence, they hadn't actually seen it.
Of course, not having seen it themselves didn't mean no one had seen it. The Earthbound Immortal, the size of a giant monster from a Japanese tokusatsu show, had soared above the city center. There was no way such a sight could have gone unnoticed.
No big deal, though. In the early episodes of 5D's, Crimson Dragon had also appeared in the sky during Yusei and Jack's duel, wrecking the city's stadium. The commotion was huge, but the Security's information control was masterful—who would doubt something as simple as "testing the latest holographic system"?
Lazar eyed the Director's office, now a total wreck: windows shattered, the floor pitted and dented, chunks of wall missing as if bandits had stormed through. He carefully inquired, "Director, is this...?"
"It's nothing," Kira replied, mimicking Goodwin's posture with his hands behind his back, calmly gazing out the window.
"You're dismissed."
Lazar nodded, "Yes, Director."
Kira knew well that Lazar had no background or real skill. The reason he'd managed to rise to Vice Director of such a centralized power structure were twofold: his talent for flattery, and his keen understanding of when not to stick his nose where it didn't belong.
In the anime, there had been two Sector Security Directors, both major villains. First Goodwin, then, after his death, the endgame bosses Jakob, Primo, and Lester—the Three Pure Nobles.
These three were even odder, their clothing and behavior suspicious from head to toe. Their orders were bizarre. Through it all, Lazar never asked questions, never tried to learn things he wasn't supposed to know. That was likely why he, as an ordinary person, was pulled into so many major events yet survived till the end.
Having sent off Lazar, Kira squinted and looked around the Director's office. From this high vantage, gazing out over the dazzling city's nightlife, it did feel like he had the entire metropolis in the palm of his hand.
Now that he'd taken Goodwin's position, he intended to make full use of the Sector Security's resources.
For example... starting with checking the Director's card stockpile.
…
…
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