Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Baron knew that the [Orichalcos Barrier] was beginning to reclaim the souls of the defeated. The "Orichalcos Fragment" on his finger flashed, causing the barrier's contraction to pause for a moment. Baron supported the barrier while removing his Duel Disk and taking a deck from his person, which he then threw into the castle.

"Hey, Jonouchi, here you go."

Jonouchi instinctively reached out and barely caught the Duel Disk and deck that Baron threw out. However, he didn't understand what Baron was trying to do.

"As the victor, it wouldn't be right to have no prize. Unfortunately, these are all I can offer." After throwing out the Duel Disk, Baron's body stiffened, and the barrier that had slowed its contraction began to shrink back at an accelerated pace. "Although you may not like it, it's still a token of my appreciation. Feel free to use it."

As they spoke, the barrier had already swept past Jonouchi's feet, encircling only Baron. The long-waiting Mai Kongjaku also rushed to Jonouchi's side: "Jonouchi!"

Watching Mai approach Jonouchi without hesitation, Baron couldn't help but smile regretfully. It wasn't heartbreak or anything; the duel just now had helped him somewhat come to terms with his feelings. While it wasn't that he no longer had any affection for Mai, Baron no longer saw her as a replacement for that nun.

"Thinking back on it carefully, I don't think I ever knew why I was fighting before, but thanks to my duel with you, I think I've found my direction."

"Therefore, I am filled with gratitude for you, Jonouchi. So go forward with your head held high, looking toward the path of glory, the path of glory you should follow."

Emerald light enveloped Baron's feet, illuminating his thumbs-up gesture and the smile on his face as he looked at the city.

From Jonouchi's Duel Disk, the arena unfolded, and a card fell.

Baron, one of the "Three Musketeers of Doma", was tasked with the campaign.

----end----

"Is this... Baron's soul?" At the headquarters of Doma, Darz watched as a green light flew from the sky and landed on the altar dedicated to "Orichalcos." At the same time, a new mural appeared out of thin air in an empty space on the wall in front of him, forming the image of Baron.

While the card 【Orichalcos Barrier】 itself has the ability to seal the duelist's soul, when the strength of the duelist's soul reaches a certain limit, the card alone cannot seal it. In that case, "Orichalcos God" will directly extract and absorb that power from the card remotely.

Even though doing so would consume some of the recovery power, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages overall, and it would be more convenient.

Dartz didn't seem to care too much about Baron's soul being sealed away, and casually walked away from the altar.

On that wall, the souls of many duelists are sealed—Keeper Howard the Thief, the Labyrinth Brothers, Pegasus J. Crawford the Father of Duel Monsters, and many others. Their likenesses are also engraved on the wall, signifying that they have become sacrifices to the god Orichalcos.

In the instant that Darz turned around, several lights of different colors flashed among the hundreds of souls, like flickering neon lights.

Subconsciously, Darz turned around and looked at the wall again, but there was no change on the wall, which made him wonder if he had just imagined it.

Please take care of me after Chapter 602.

Looking at the body of Baron, whose soul had been sealed and who was now just an empty shell lying on the ground not far away, Jonouchi felt not much joy at defeating a powerful enemy, but rather a deep sense of sorrow at the loss of life before his eyes.

When Jonouchi picked up the card that had fallen in front of him, he saw a strange memory that did not belong to him.

A teenager growing up alone without the love of a father or mother;

The nuns who were considered family;

Fights fought time and again for survival and dignity;

The burning church;

A blood-stained iron rod;

Meaningless killing;

"Is this... Baron's memory?" The illusion before his eyes finally faded. Having received this memory, Jonouchi looked down at the deck that Baron had thrown to him earlier.

That was the Gemini Monster deck that Baron used during the KC Cup. It wasn't the deck he used as an assassin for the "Doma Three Musketeers," but rather as a duelist. According to Baron's dying words, he hoped this deck could serve as a source of strength for Jonouchi.

"I will make good use of this power, Baron." Looking at the [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] at the top of the deck, Jonouchi said firmly, but just as he was about to stand up, he fell down again due to weakness.

But then, a pair of hands caught him.

"Idiot, your base score just dropped to only 400 points, and more than once." Helping Jonouchi to his feet, Mai scolded him, "You should be grateful you're in good shape for not collapsing on the spot. Don't overestimate your abilities and move around recklessly."

"Now you know how painful it is, right? Honestly, you suddenly chased after us and left us standing there. It took me ages to find you." Although her words were harsh, they were full of concern. "There's no need to always bear it all alone. Sometimes it's okay to rely on me."

Upon hearing Mai's words, Jonouchi was also taken aback, staring blankly at Mai, who was standing very close to him, making her blush deeply: "W-what are you doing, giving me that strange look?"

"Hmph, don't forget I'm the national champion now, Jonouchi, you're forever fourth place."

Hearing Mai's teasing, Jonouchi wasn't angry: "Well, that's true. Whether it's Duel Kingdom or Duel City, I've only ever reached the top four."

Unusually, Jonouchi recalled something Hayato had said when they were tutoring Honda, who wanted to confess to "Little Ribbon" at school. He suppressed the urge to say, "I wouldn't lose a duel," and instead joked with Mai:

"In that case, I'll have to ask you to take good care of me from now on, okay, Mai~"

After being provoked by Baron, even someone as dense as Jonouchi would start to sprout ideas.

Despite her flushed face, Peacock Dancer insisted that it was from the sun. She helped Jonouchi to her feet, but Jonouchi's thoughts drifted back to the memory she had just witnessed, which seemed to be of Baron.

He could sense the anger Baron felt when he saw the church on fire and heard the thugs mocking him, but Jonouchi, who was not involved but an observer, was more aware of what was wrong than Baron in his memory.

Although the thugs hired by the demolition team were highly likely to commit arson—after all, the sooner the demolition was completed, the more they would be paid—sometimes the most suspicious person is not necessarily the most likely murderer. At least, Jonouchi felt that the reward he could get for a church that occupied a small area was definitely not worth the risk of murder and arson.

What happened after Baron killed the gang of thugs and was imprisoned was even more perplexing to Jonouchi.

At that time, Baron himself was in a state of despair, having lost his purpose in life and not caring about anything. However, Jonouchi's intuition suggested that Baron was being led into a trap by someone, especially since the warden of a prison had taken the initiative to propose that prisoners go to a small island overseas for a duel.

While it's possible the warden is a Duel Monsters enthusiast, isn't he worried that the prisoners might escape from the island? What gives him the authority to organize such an operation?

Dartz's appearance sparked a sudden speculation within the city.

Hypothetically speaking, just hypothetically speaking, if Dartz had sensed the darkness in Baron's heart long ago, is it possible that he would have set fire to the church in order to make the most of Baron's power?

The famous detective Jonouchi couldn't help but applaud the amazing reasoning that suddenly appeared in his mind. "I'm just too smart!"

But just as Jonouchi and Mai were walking a few steps with the help of Mai, the sky, which had been clear and sunny just past noon, was suddenly covered by dark clouds from nowhere. Accompanied by a clap of thunder and a deafening roar, Jonouchi and Mai were astonished to find a huge blue figure standing up in the distance!

“Obelisk the Tormentor?!” Jonouchi saw the shadow of the Tormentor, one of the Egyptian God Cards that had defeated him, on the huge blue monster. However, the difference between the “god” in his memory and the aura of that sinister figure was too great. He immediately rejected his first impression. “No, that’s not right. That’s not the ‘God’ Card!”

"It's more like a demon than a 'god'," Kong Que Wu exclaimed, equally astonished by the figure's presence. But after a moment's thought, she suddenly sensed something was amiss. "Wait, that direction..."

"Isn't that the direction we came from? Yugi, Ryuzaki, and the others are still over there!"

"We have to get there quickly and help me, Wu!" Just looking at that enormous figure, Jonouchi's expression turned grave. "It was only the time it takes to fight a duel, what exactly happened over there?"

"Nothing should go wrong, right, Game!"

at the same time.

Baron, whose soul should have been sealed by the "Orichalcos Barrier" and sacrificed to the "Orichalcos God," opened his eyes.

He had been in contact with the power of the card "Orichalcos Barrier" for a long time, but this was the first time he had experienced being sealed instead of sealing others.

Although it might sound like he's being carefree, Baron is actually quite curious about what it's like to have your soul sealed by the [Orichalcos Barrier] and sacrificed to the "Orichalcos God".

He had thought that when he opened his eyes, he might see the people he had "killed" before, or the true form of "Orichalcos" who was about to devour him.

Then, he saw a small round ball with a rainbow-colored hairstyle on its head and a pair of cute big eyes looking at him.

【Rainbow Chestnut Balls】?

Baron naturally recognized the Duel Monster Rainbow Kuriboh, but if he remembered correctly, even globally, he had only ever heard of Hayato Kobayashi possessing it...

Wait a minute, could it be that—

Chapter 603 OMO

Let's rewind to a short time ago.

The sudden attack by assassins suspected to be from the Doma organization startled almost everyone, especially Mai and Kyoko, who were at the very back and hadn't even left the convenience store yet when they heard a loud bang outside.

They hurriedly chased after them to check the situation, and all they saw were three men in black suits trying to escape in a disheveled state, and the Iron Knight - Kia Fried, who had just disappeared and chased after them.

"What happened? Who are those guys?" With no time to stop Jonouchi, Mai only had time to ask Ryuzaki and Honda, who might know what had happened.

"I'm not entirely sure, but judging from the style of that duel disk, it belongs to the Doma organization. They seemed to have been trying to attack us just now." Ryuzaki swallowed, his tone slightly fearful of the Doma organization.

Although he is currently considered the runner-up in the All-American Duel Monsters competition, and can be considered a duelist who can barely be called a Spirit Master, Ryuzaki's age is a factor, and the experience of being defeated by Baron and falling into unconscious darkness has left some shadows in Ryuzaki's heart.

"Doma!? Why is he here?" Mai was startled, her face showing anxiety. "That guy Jonouchi actually chased after her all by himself. Isn't he afraid of being led into some kind of trap?"

"No, I'm going to find him!"

As she spoke, Kongque Wu immediately ran towards the direction she had left into the city.

"Xiao Wu!" "Miss Wu!"

Behind her, Yugi and Honda tried to call out to her, but to no avail.

Yugi's unease deepened. He could sense that something was wrong, but he couldn't find anything amiss. He couldn't even find a reason to call Jonouchi and Mai to stay.

But he no longer needed to think about what had happened, because almost the very next second after Jonouchi and Mai left, a familiar voice rang out from behind the group:

"Hey everyone, long time no see!"

Honda paused, then turned around with a puzzled look: "That voice is—?"

In the middle of the town's road, Hayato swaggered towards them with an arrogant gait. As he walked, Hayato seemed about to say something, but suddenly his expression changed slightly, and he remained silent, only displaying an arrogant look.

"Hayato!?"

"It really is Hayato!" Just like Honda, Kyoko, who hadn't yet grasped the situation, couldn't help but show a joyful expression upon seeing her friend, who was thought to be dead, reappear safely.

However, Ryuzaki and Yugi immediately stopped Honda and Kyoko from stepping forward.

"game?"

Looking at the game that reached out to stop her, Kyoko looked puzzled, while Honda looked at Ryuzaki who was holding onto her tightly and complained, "What are you doing, Ryuzaki?"

"Idiots, I'm saving you two morons!" Despite trembling with fear at the first sight of Hayato because he had awakened his ability to see spirits and knew what powerful beings surrounded him, Ryuzaki gritted his teeth and forcibly pulled Honda back, saying firmly, "Don't let your guard down just because you know Hayato Kobayashi!"

“Don’t forget what I said before, that guy has joined Doma and is collecting souls to sacrifice for something!” As he spoke, Ryuzaki glanced at Yugi, whose face was serious. “That guy is already an enemy!”

"To achieve his goals, he's the kind of guy who'd even ruthlessly harm his own monsters. Even though you were his friends before, I doubt even your closest loved ones, brothers, or sisters would..."

As Hayato approached, the Millennium Puzzle on Yugi's chest flashed with light. With a step, his two souls switched, and the soul of "Dark Yugi" was revealed.

"Hayato..." Yugi asked, watching Hayato walk towards them with unhurried and leisurely steps, "You just saw the attack on us by the people of 'Doma,' right? Why did you just watch?"

"Hmm? Was I not clear enough last time, Yugi?" Hayato replied nonchalantly to Yugi's question. "Compared to continuing our friendship with you, 'Doma' definitely gives me more power. I have never betrayed power."

"W-What are you saying, Hayato!?" Yugi's face turned serious upon hearing Hayato's ruthless reply, while Honda and Kyoko behind him looked on incredulously. "Could it be that what Jonouchi and Yugi said before was true?"

"Could it be that you really betrayed me?!"

“Ah, that’s right, what an interesting expression, Kyoko, and Honda, don’t you understand?” Hayato revealed a funny smile. “The real me has always been someone who only pursues victory and power. The game of friendship with you is just my disguise.”

"Ta-da! This is a shocking fact that has only just been revealed!"

Seeing the shocked and speechless expressions on their faces, Hayato added insult to injury: "I can also tell you frankly that I just watched you being attacked? No, the 'attack' on you was arranged by me. Not only that, this town is even controlled by us, Doma. From the moment you entered the town, you have already walked into my trap!"

Yugi was taken aback: "A trap? Could it be Jonouchi?!"