"Ugh—ah!"
Kak Dixon staggered back, face deathly pale, barely able to stay on his feet.
So strong...
Now he understood. When the other side said this was "all he had," there really hadn't been any mockery in it at all—it was purely a statement of fact.
In front of this person, he really was nothing more than a piece of free fodder.
This is the power of sword dueling...
"And this is only the tip of the iceberg."
Merlot slowly stepped forward.
"This Card Deck hides a power you people can't even comprehend. Well, it's a pity, but at your level you probably won't ever get to see more of it."
Kak Dixon gritted his teeth, trying hard to stand up, but his lips were trembling nonstop, and his whole body was shaking.
He could only force himself to lift his head.
"What is it... you actually want?" Kak said with effort. "You already got the Card Deck you wanted, didn't you? Why come back? Why still come after our Illusion Association... *cough, cough*..."
"Why?"
Merlot stopped in front of him, the Duel Disc already retracted and turned back into a cane.
He lightly tapped Kak's head with that cane in a mocking way and chuckled.
"As one of the top Professor Cards under the International Fantasy Association, you shouldn't be ignorant of how this world truly runs, right?" Merlot said. "From the moment your Association's Professor Beckas excavated the three-thousand-year-old Duel Monster Stone Tablet in Ancient Egypt all those years ago, the course of this world's fate began to change.
The Duel Monster Card, at first, was nothing more than a Game popular in streets and alleys, but little by little it began to reveal its Extraordinary power.
First came the Divine Artifacts from three thousand years ago, which showed the ability to control minds and destroy the world.
Then came the impact on technology—cards being applied to every conceivable field, letting this world's technology achieve, in just ten short years, a leap that might otherwise have taken decades..."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Kak panted heavily.
Merlot looked at him calmly.
"The point is, the International Fantasy Association only looks like a card-entertainment company on the surface. In reality, over these years it has established deep cooperation with astronomy, physics, military technology—every possible field—and has long since become this world's core enterprise.
If you want a world to truly fall, you have no choice but to start from its heart."
At this point Kak could barely keep his mind clear; all he could see before his eyes was endless light flooding his vision, as if everything in existence were being swallowed by that pure radiance.
Hearing this, he couldn't help but jerk his head up. "You... you're actually... the Light..."
"That's right, it seems your International Fantasy Association was also the first to notice our existence... Not bad. We are precisely the existence you named 'Light Fluctuation.'"
Merlot admitted it openly.
"Takuma Saiou got it wrong from the very beginning. He tried to seek some weapon to wipe out the surface of the earth, but that kind of thing was never going to work.
The International Fantasy Association is the cornerstone of this high-rise—and it will also be the starting point of its collapse."
"That won't happen..." Kak's consciousness was already blurring. "You can't... you're not able to..."
But he never managed to finish the last sentence; his head had already drooped down.
"Of course I can. And you're going to help me do it."
Merlot said calmly.
"Now, I need you to do me a small favor. Take me to see Beckas J. Croverdo."
A few seconds of silence.
Then Kak Dixon slowly lifted his head again. In the blink of an eye, his hair had turned pure white, and white light was gleaming in his eyes.
"No problem."
...
...
Gentle waves of the sea embraced the island, ringed on all sides by unbroken emerald green. A luxurious castle rested at the island's center, and within it stood a lavish yet tasteful villa. Sunlight streamed through a staggered glass dome, spilling into every corner, as if illuminating this palace upon the sea.
The villa's backyard lay right against a stretch of fine, soft private beach, and a crystal-clear private pool lay inset among it like a gigantic sapphire. The water was limpid to the bottom, the edges paved with gleaming white pebbles. A faint fragrance of flowers and sea-salt hung in the air.
Beckas J. Croverdo lay lazily on a wide white wicker lounger, dressed in a soft gray-white bathrobe, the front half open. In his hand was a glass of crystal-clear red wine, the deep-crimson liquid reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun with a tempting sheen.
This was once the place where a legend began—the island where the First Generation Duel Kingdom tournament had been held. It was on this island that Muto Yuugi defeated him, the Father of Duel Monsters, and claimed the title of Duel King for the first time.
But that was already ten years ago. Those memories were like smoke in the wind. Now, even when Beckas thought back on that duel where he'd been dragged down from his divine pedestal by that boy, on how he'd lost the Thousand-Year Eye and failed to save his wife, he could only smile in acceptance.
He'd long since retired, long since let go. Now, apart from matters like the previous search for the Ultimate D card that contained the Power of Destruction and endangered the world's safety, he had handed off all routine affairs entirely to his two adopted sons.
Not long ago came the news that the Light of Destruction which had resided in Takuma Saiou had been defeated by the current Duel King, Yugen, and that the Ultimate D which had been missing for ten years had supposedly been retrieved by the Duel King as well. That matter could be considered wrapped up.
"The younger generation really is fearsome."
Beckas sipped his wine, basking in the sun, eyes narrowing.
Duel King Yugen—though he hadn't crossed paths with him much, he felt like an interesting man.
For some reason, from the indirect bits he'd learned about this person, Beckas couldn't help but be reminded of the First Generation Duel King, Muto Yuugi back then... but not the Dark Game Pharaoh whom the world at large talked about, rather the personality of this world.
As someone who had duelled deeply with the First Generation Duel King as the First Generation BOSS, Beckas knew better than anyone the difference between those two personalities. They looked like the same person, but their Duel styles—and even the feeling they gave off just by standing there—were completely different.
The dark personality he first faced all those years ago carried a King's aura just by appearing, exerting an invisible pressure on opponents in a Duel.
Whereas that other personality, so easily overlooked, had at first made Beckas think he was nothing more than a vessel for the King, an utterly ordinary weakling. Only later did he realize that even that frail exterior was part of the Trap—just like his Duel itself. By the time you noticed, you were already caught in a chain of pits, sinking deeper and deeper, unable to extricate yourself...
"If someday I introduced Game Boy to Yugen Boy, that would definitely be interesting." The retired old man Beckas muttered to himself, unable to help but laugh.
Then a voice sounded from behind him.
"A meeting between two generations of Duel Kings, huh? That would indeed be an interesting idea, but Mr. Beckas, for now you'd better worry about your own affairs first."
Beckas frowned and turned toward the voice. He saw Merlot walk slowly into his private courtyard, come to the poolside, and meet his gaze with a smile.
"You?" Beckas said coldly. "Why are you here?"
"Nothing special." Merlot shrugged and narrowed his eyes. "Just borrowing your throne for a while."