Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

At the beginning, there were only two colors, "light" and "dark," but the attacks unleashed by [Super Magic Warrior - Chaos Ruler] generated countless more colors, even exceeding the limits of human perception of color, as if an entire world had been stuffed into them.

First up are the [Weapon Summoner] and the [Warrior of the Sun], then the [Guardian of the Sun], followed by the [Support Guardian], and finally the [Guardian - Aetos].

Unlike the Seven Orbs, there was no clash of energy. Faced with this world-shaking slash, none of the monsters on Rafael's field survived. They were all driven off the field, just like the World Destroyer that was knocked away by the Emperor Sword.

Regardless of strength or form of representation, even the Guardian - Etos, which is protected by the power of the Guardian and is the most treasured card by Rafael among all his cards, is no exception.

Then, Rafael, with no cards on the field and no cards in his hand, faced the [Super Magician Warrior - Chaos Ruler] and [Dark Magician] on the field.

The outcome was clear. Rafael confirmed the result of the duel; victory undoubtedly belonged to Yugi Muto, even before he had declared his attack.

Rafael glanced at the [Monster Resurrection] card at the top of his deck and sighed. The gap between life and death remained as insurmountable as it had been decades ago.

Rafael didn't feel any resentment, because the attack from the game's [Super Magician Warrior - Chaos Controller] had perfectly demonstrated the game's intentions. From that slash, Rafael also deeply felt the duelist's heart belonging to the game, or rather, the "Nameless Pharaoh".

On a whim, Rafael, seeing that the game had not yet issued an attack command, said, "After attacking and depleting my Life Points, according to the stakes of this duel, I will hand over the card of [God Flame Emperor - Uria], which is one of the core elements of the mutation."

"That was the agreement before the duel, wasn't it?"

Yugi nodded, indicating that Rafael was right. However, he didn't quite understand why Rafael had suddenly brought this up.

Rafael stared at the game: "Although you asked me before whether I had any dignity as a duelist, I answered that I would give up even dignity for that person."

“But as expected, even I can be controlled by my inner impulses.” Rafiru said slowly with a self-deprecating smile on his face, “But, nameless pharaoh, although I don’t know the exact principle, that card is a trap for you.”

"A trap!?" Jonouchi, standing nearby, was quite agitated. "Because of you, we spent so much time dueling with you, and all that trap stuff? Could it be that that card wasn't the core of the mutation at all?!"

"No, [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] is undoubtedly the core of this incident surrounding the Seahorse Dome. All we need to do is take this card to the dungeon underground in the center of the venue to resolve one part of the incident."

Raphael paused: "However, the problem is that this card does not actually belong to me. It was given to me by someone as a trade item. His trade request was to lose this card to Yugi Muto in a duel, which is to say, you, the nameless Pharaoh."

Rafael confessed everything he knew about the deal with Bakura Ryo, from the contacts with the Schreid Group to the arrangements for the Kaiba Dome.

"I don't know what that person wanted from giving you this card, but there's no doubt he harbors some kind of malice towards you, Nameless Pharaoh." Rafiru stared at the game, taking out the card [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] from his person. "Even if you don't know what dangers lie ahead, will you still accept this card, Nameless Pharaoh?"

His response was the game's smile.

"Ah, after all, my friends are still waiting for me." Yugi hadn't forgotten about Kyoko's situation, and firmly waved his hand, giving the order, "Then this is the last one."

"【Super Magic Warrior - Chaos Ruler】, directly attack the opposing duelist!"

Chapter 462 Successfully Stopped Rebecca's Duel

The camera's perspective temporarily shifted, focusing on the backstage area of ​​the Seahorse Dome venue.

As Honda walked down the steps, supporting Kyoko in the middle of the group, he turned to look behind him and asked, "Are you all keeping up?"

"Ah, it's nothing serious."

Following Honda were Rebecca and Mai, and Otogi carrying Keihei like he was carrying rice.

At the head of the group was a very excited Malik. Under his leadership, the group wandered along the backstage passageway into this descending corridor.

"But where exactly is Malik taking us?" Mai asked Honda, glancing at Malik who was leading the way and seemed more familiar with the area than if he were exploring his own backyard.

Because of the change in the world line, Malik never faced Mai in the Duel City tournament, so she never experienced the torment of the Dark Games and didn't harbor much ill will towards Malik.

Her impression of Malik was merely that he was "a former mafia boss who seemed to have had conflicts with Hayato because of his ambiguous relationship with Isis."

“I’m not entirely sure either, but it’s better than staying in the stands, right?” Honda shook his head and looked at Kyoko, whom he was supporting. “Those people in black suits have inexplicably targeted those of us who can move around. I don’t know what they’re up to.”

"But one thing is for sure, we absolutely cannot let those people catch us."

Recalling the man in the suit and his "Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon" from before, Honda couldn't help but feel a chill. If Mai hadn't miraculously summoned the three harpy sisters back then, they would probably be dead by now.

For this reason, Kyoko and Keihei were taken along by the group. Although the men in suits seemed uninterested in the vast majority of ordinary people like Kyoko and Keihei who had lost their mobility, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't be attacked if left in the audience, nor could anyone feel comfortable leaving them there.

“Now? Of course, we need to find the ‘ignition point’ that caused this anomaly. Just like the initial source of the plague, I can sense that the starting point of the anomaly is underground in the venue,” Malik said without turning his head as he walked at the front of the group. He seemed to have heard Honda and Mai talking. “Moreover, I can feel that the distance is getting closer and closer.”

As he spoke, Malik stroked the Millennium Scepter, which had returned to his hand.

The familiar weight and feel, along with the dark magic that returned to him, involuntarily brought Malik's thoughts back to Duel City more than half a year ago.

At that time, he was still the leader of Gurus, obsessed with taking revenge on the Pharaoh. His resentment even clouded his familial affection, and he turned a blind eye to Isis's concern for him. He even manipulated Lyshid at one point.

Although the time span was less than a year, it felt like a long time had passed. It wasn't that he had any nostalgia for the past; Malik was simply marveling at the impermanence and unpredictability of life.

If Malik had to choose between his past life and his present life, he would choose the present without hesitation.

but……

Frowning, Malik glanced at the Millennium Scepter in his hand. Along with the dark magic from the scepter returning to him, there was also a genuine sense of weakness, and his breathing was somewhat heavy from walking such a long distance.

According to Malik's own conjecture, the specific method of the mutation seems to be to extract the life force of everyone within the coverage area. However, due to efficiency issues, in the short term it will only manifest as a continuous extraction of people's physical strength, leaving most people weak and powerless.

The duelists seem to be able to continue acting for the time being because of some strange thing called "fighting spirit" or "duelist's soul." However, there are a few exceptions, such as Honda, who is not a duelist but acts normally, and Malik, who is a duelist but is weak and powerless.

Malik wasn't entirely sure what Honda was all about, but he knew exactly what was going on with himself.

As a former dissociative identity disorder patient, Malik even did what many fellow patients could not do—he was the main personality, but his derivative personality drove him out of his body, and then he killed the derivative personality that occupied his body and ran back, comparable to Fang Tangjing who repeatedly jumped back and forth between the inside and outside of the hall.

However, the near-death experience was not without its side effects. As the price for the death of his derivative personality "Dark Malik," Malik's soul was also left with permanent damage.

Unlike physical injuries, damage to the soul, even if it's just a tear, is permanent and irreparable. Malik, however, has lost a part of his soul forever. Even if only a little over six months have passed, or even fifty or sixty years have gone by, the loss of his soul will forever haunt Malik.

That's why, although Malik has been working out recently and has a pretty strong physique, he can attract the attention of both the opposite sex and the same sex when he rides his motorcycle around town. But in reality, Malik's foundation is extremely weak, and he can barely even fight monsters. That's why he gave the Millennium Scepter to Hayato.

However, he is now the only one among them who has been exposed to the Dark Games. Although it was difficult, Malik still stepped forward and picked up the Millennium Scepter again. With the enhancement of his body by dark magic, he was able to move around normally.

It was precisely because of this action that Malik unexpectedly discovered something—this mutation was not only absorbing life force, but also dark magic, showing a rather indiscriminate approach.

Moreover, unlike vitality, Malik could clearly feel which direction his magic was being diverted, much like dripping a large amount of blood into calm water to guide the direction of the undercurrent.

Before my magic can't keep me going any further, I need to at least find these guys a specific location, and then I'm going on strike.

Glancing at the crowd behind him, Malik took a deep breath and continued to lead the way.

After entering the backstage area of ​​the Seahorse Dome venue, they had actually been walking for quite some time. Along the way, they saw many Seahorse Group employees who had been drained of their strength and were lying weakly on the ground. However, rather than taking care of each one they saw, they all knew that resolving the anomaly as soon as possible was the best way to help others.

The descending steps finally came to an end, where a wooden door that didn't fit Haima's aesthetic at all—lacking any technological feel and resembling a classically styled door unearthed from some corner—stood at the bottom.

However, along with the steps, a strangely dressed young man sat cross-legged on the ground, facing the door with his back to them, seemingly lost in thought.

"Balong?"

Although the other person didn't turn around, Kong Quewu recognized who it was at a glance.

It wasn't for any other reason than that Baron's outfit was just too strange. It was even more unusual than the protective gear worn by a stunt motorcycle driver, with elbow pads, gauntlets, and shoulder armor. He looked like he could take a giant sword and go to the next movie set to chop off Sephiroth.

More like a warrior who has traveled from a war-torn Western fantasy world than a modern person.

As a formidable opponent that Kong Quewu encountered in the KC Cup official competition, and also the one who eliminated her, Kong Quewu harbored no resentment or dissatisfaction towards Ba Long, after all, she was simply not as skilled as him.

However, there is another reason why the peacock dance left such a deep impression on Balong.

"Miss Wu!?" Hearing someone call his name, Baron turned his head sharply, looking at Kongque Wu who had just come down the steps with a surprised expression. He clearly hadn't expected to see her here. "What are you doing here?!"

"Shouldn't we be the ones asking you this kind of question?"

Rebecca said, sounding somewhat excited.

While Duel Monsters is fun, Kaiba went overboard when building the Kaiba Dome. The virtual projection system wasn't at the usual level; it was at the level of the Duel Tower on Devil's Island, the semi-finals of Duel City. The projection of virtual images of Duel Monsters was taken to the extreme.

In a normal duel, the limit for a Duel Monster is that it can be enlarged to the height of the duelists standing on the platform. However, the Duel Monsters in the Kaiba Dome are the largest in size to be the size of the venue, as was fully demonstrated in the opening match between Jonouchi and Ryuzaki.

Coupled with the panoramic effect of the top-of-the-line sound system in the venue, the audience's sense of presence was quite exaggerated.

For all the reasons mentioned above, although Mr. Sugoroku and Professor Arthur came to watch the match on the first day, considering their age and the fact that Mr. Sugoroku had fainted from being frightened by Kaiba, they did not come to watch the subsequent matches until now.

Therefore, the two elderly people were quite fortunate to have escaped the impact of today's strange event.

Although neither her grandfather nor the grandfather in the game were affected by the anomaly, Rebecca was still extremely angry.

"This strange incident couldn't possibly be the work of you, you weirdo, could it? Do you know how many people have been put in danger because of you?!"

“Hey, I know you guys don’t appreciate my aesthetic sense, but calling me a weirdo is going too far. This is a man’s winning look, it’s really cool.” Baron complained, but he also stood up from the ground and looked at the group of people. “And why do you guys think I’m the mastermind behind this?”

As he spoke, Baron scratched the back of his head in a somewhat troubled manner, seemingly wondering why his appearance, which was designed based on the male protagonist in a shonen manga, was being mistaken for a villain.

"Huh? Isn't it you?"

The peacock dance was somewhat unexpected.

After that duel, Baron had invited her to join his mysterious organization, but said that the organization's name and goals would only be revealed after she joined.

However, Mai refused. Although Baron's promise to help her gain power surpassing Yugi Muto and Hayato Kobayashi was indeed tempting, Mai felt that she didn't need to look that far ahead; surpassing Jonouchi would be enough.

This process of transcending the city is more suitable than relying on external forces or gradually becoming stronger through one's own efforts.

Upon receiving Peacock Dance's rejection, Baron was visibly disappointed, seemingly regretting that Peacock Dance hadn't joined the organization. However, he still indicated that Peacock Dance could change her mind at any time and reminded her to leave the KC Cup as soon as possible.

When Kongque Wu saw that Balong had actually appeared in this extremely remote place, she thought that the organization behind Balong had orchestrated this strange event.

"Of course it wasn't me. The thing inside seems to be using human life force to transform into something that can enhance Duel Monsters, but my personal style has always been to solve problems myself rather than relying on something like that."

Baron shrugged and patted the wooden gate behind him. "However, I'm here because someone asked me to be the gatekeeper and not let anyone through."

"So, let's compromise. I can pretend you were never here and leave with your friends, Miss Wu."

"I refuse to do that kind of thing!"

The first person to speak was Rebecca.

Rebecca has a fairly clear understanding of herself. She knows that she has never been a gentle person who thinks about others or cares about others. If there is something she wants, she will find a way to get it even if she has to be shameless.

But even so, Rebecca knew that hurting others was wrong. Even though most of the victims of this anomaly were strangers who had nothing to do with her, and that annoying woman with big breasts who was always fighting with her for her darling, Rebecca still felt it was necessary to help resolve this anomaly.

After all, she is the North American Duel Monsters Champion. With great power comes great responsibility, and Darling would definitely be happy to know.

Taking a step forward, Rebecca raised her Duel Disk: "Since you won't step aside, I'll take you down!"

Just as Rebecca was about to put the Duel Disk on her wrist, Mai stood in front of her and said, "No, I will be his opponent."

With her eyes fixed on Balong, Kongque Wu took a deep breath: "It would be too unbecoming for us adults to let a little girl fight. Besides, I want to get revenge on this guy. I'm not happy about losing to him before."

"What do you mean? I'm an adult, you know!" But Rebecca didn't appreciate Peacock Mai's words at all. "According to Japanese law, I'm even of marriageable age!"

"Get out of my way, you fat woman with those two rolls of fat hanging off your back!"

"Who's the fat woman! This is the charm of a mature woman!"

"Get out of the way, you fatty meat that's been marinated in perfume!"

"You flat-chested, freckled, short guy!"

Just moments ago, Rebecca and Mai were united in their determination to defeat Baron, but over a few words, they suddenly turned on each other, using the 'art of language' to attack one another.