Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

What a coincidence! I'm going there too.

Ameruda was quite excited about this, and his initial reluctance was completely forgotten. Upon arriving on the island, the efficient Ameruda immediately had the Doma organization members who accompanied him take over the management personnel who were originally stationed on the island.

Whether it was the security captain, Saruwatari, who had betrayed the Kaiba Group, then the International Illusion Society, then the Five Old Men, and then sheepishly returned to the International Illusion Society, and wanted to return to the people of Dorma when he met them, or the butler, Crogates, who was loyal to Pegasus, they were all driven out by the people of Dorma onto a cruise ship that was not fully fueled.

Ameruda felt that he had already done a great service by sparing the lives of these people instead of killing them all, but in reality, the fuel on the cruise ship was only enough for the people on board to travel from the island to the nearest city, San Francisco, and there was no fresh water or food on board except for fuel.

However, whether they survive or not is none of Ameruda's business. He only wants to wait for the seahorse to arrive, and for this he has even driven away the people of Doma, leaving only himself in the huge castle on this isolated island at sea.

This time, he was determined to kill Seto Kaiba; nothing could possibly stand in his way.

"Hurry up, Seto Kaiba, I can't wait to reap your soul." Leaning against the balcony, Amelda clenched her fist, but her thoughts drifted involuntarily to the past.

He came from Italy and once lived with his family in a beautiful village. He had a father who was not handsome but very reliable, a mother who was not beautiful but very gentle, and the most important person that Ameluda regarded as his spiritual pillar—his younger brother, Miluko.

One day, a green-haired traveler came to the village. He seemed to be traveling around the world. Even though foreigners were a rare sight in that small village, let alone green-haired ones, Ameluda was not interested in him at the time. Rather than watching foreigners, Ameluda preferred to play robot battle games with her younger brother Milco.

However, the stranger approached Ameruda and said things that were hard to understand, such as "Death always comes unexpectedly," "The world's suffering will move toward the center," and "Humanity will eventually face trials."

Ameruda didn't take those words to heart. And a few days later, the stranger also left quickly.

With her father working in a factory, her mother working in a bakery, and the innocent and adorable Milco who loved robots, Ameluda thought her life would continue forever, remaining the same. Little did she know that life then was far more beautiful than the suffering that followed.

The Oyashi Corporation, or more precisely, the Oyashi Arms Group, the arms company then under the control of Gosaburo Kaiba, selected a site requiring a sufficient number of lives for its newly developed weapons testing. Of course, the Oyashi Corporation didn't act directly; instead, it orchestrated a conflict between militants and the Italian government, simultaneously providing weapons to both sides to collect data and generate profit.

The hired militants were eventually driven away from Italy with their money. The then-president of the Italian government gained some political achievements and prestige, the Haima Group got the money and data, and the only casualties were the village where Ameruda was located, which was chosen.

Clear rivers dried up, lush forests burned to ashes, fields turned to scorched earth, and houses and buildings became ruins.

Ameruda is the only survivor of the village, which may be a miracle or a curse, because sometimes the living suffer more than the dead.

In this war, Ameruda lost both her parents and her beloved younger brother Miluko. She only found her brother's favorite robot toy in the hands of a charred corpse that was barely recognizable as human.

The incident was later exposed by Haima Group, but then-president Gosaburo Haima claimed that the selection of the test site was handled by a temporary worker, thus easily escaping punishment by sending the obvious scapegoat to court.

It's like a joke.

It seems someone once said that all it takes to ruin a person is a bad day and a bad joke.

Miluko's toy robot was blackened by the flames, and the plastic was twisted and deformed due to the high temperature. Ameluda's mind was also tainted with darkness and twisted.

That day, the stranger who had left returned and approached Ameruda once more. He said that Gosaburo Kaiba was the culprit behind the war, but Ameruda needed power to take revenge, and he could provide that power.

He said his name was Darz, and when he looked at Ameruda, his eyes seemed to be looking at a piece of rough jade that could finally be obtained. He had an extremely handsome, angelic face, but Ameruda saw a malicious smile on his face, just as Mephistopheles had finally waited for the soul of Faust.

“Sometimes the devil’s whispers sound like the voice of an angel,” Dartz’s voice was full of seduction.

But Ameruda didn't care. As long as he could truly avenge himself against the Seahorse Group, he didn't care even if Dartz was a demon.

Dartz certainly didn't lie to Ameruda; he truly gave Ameruda immense power, so powerful that it was among the best even within the Doma organization. This immense power allowed Ameruda to see the possibility of taking revenge on Gosaburo Kaiba.

However, just before he took action, a piece of news made international headlines: the death of Gosaburo Kaiba and the fact that his adopted son, Seto Kaiba, had inherited the Kaiba Weapons Group.

Gosaburo Kaiba's death felt so unreal. That guy just died like that, before I even had a chance to vent a single bit of my anger?

Because of the death of his target, Amelda's unvented rage grew increasingly twisted, and he set his sights directly on Seto Kaiba.

You actually stole my chance for revenge! Since you inherited Kaiba Gosaburo's surname and assets, then you shall also inherit my wrath, Seto Kaiba!

"Waaah—"

A deep sound came from the sky. Ameruda looked up and saw a Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet that was already clearly visible approaching.

Seto Kaiba arrived just as Ameluda had predicted.

Ameluda pulled himself out of his memories and took out the toy robot he always carried from the inside pocket of his open trench coat. Looking at his brother Milco's belongings, Ameluda murmured repeatedly, "Weight, the weight of the dead has doubled. I will continue to fight, carrying on Milco's spirit."

Putting away his toys, Ameluda's gaze hardened, and he turned to walk into the castle. He knew why Seto Kaiba had come here, so he needed to go there beforehand to await Kaiba's arrival.

"This is a trial..."

"I believe this is a trial to overcome the past..."

"Only by overcoming the shadows of the past can a person truly grow..."

Muttering to himself, Ameluda's figure left the balcony and entered the sunlight inside the castle, gradually seeping into the darkness of the deserted castle, the madness in his eyes growing stronger.

Outside the castle, the seahorse, having disembarked from the jet, glanced at the castle on the mountain where it had been standing and squinted its eyes.

As he had visited Pegasus's castle before, it was as quiet and deserted as ever. But for some reason, Kaiba had the feeling that the castle, which was still far away, was already filled with murderous intent and even had its blades pointed at him.

"Nissan?"

"Hmph, it's nothing, Keihei." Kaiba said confidently, dismissing Keihei who was accompanying him. "I originally planned to come to this island to collect the data for the virtual projection system I need, as well as some cards that might come in handy, before Pegasus's assets are swallowed up by American capital."

"However, it seems that some scoundrels have already made their move here, unaware of their own mortality."

As he spoke, Kaiba put the Duel Disk on his wrist, flicked his trench coat, and walked forward: "Let's go, Keihei."

"We have plenty of things to do."

Chapter 607 Is that so?

This is not the first time Kaiba has come to Pegasus, or rather, to Pegasus's castle. Whether it was during Duel Kingdom to rescue Keihei who was being held hostage by Pegasus, or not long ago on the eve of the "Pyramid of Light" incident to obtain the cards made by Pegasus.

However, this is the first time I've ventured deep into the castle on my own initiative.

—After all, Kaiba was indeed imprisoned in the castle's dungeon by Pegasus, and was rescued by Hayato, but that incident wasn't in Kaiba's memory.

Having no interest in the antiques, artifacts, or artworks throughout the castle, the seahorse went straight to the data center, a location he had previously scouted out, after entering the castle.

Yes, a data center. Although the castle is old and has a long history, because the tyrannical Pegasus held the "Duel Kingdom" tournament on this island, Pegasus's castle also has a virtual projection system to distribute the data in order to coordinate the data of the dueling arenas and dueling monsters all over the island.

The International Illusion Society has branches in major countries around the world, and the data of the virtual projection system, which is of great significance to Duel Monsters today, is naturally not only stored on the servers in the headquarters building. However, Kaiba is a rather impatient person.

Instead of flying across the ocean to other branches of the International Illusion Society to trace the source and find the data from headquarters, it would be better to come directly to Duel Kingdom Island and use the data center in Pegasus Castle, which has the same access level as the headquarters' server, to find the data.

After discovering the reason why Duel Monsters materialized globally, Kaiba was still thinking about hurrying back to find the Split Action Game team to search for clues and fight the people of Doma together.

It wasn't just because Rafael's sneak attack led to the humiliation of losing the Obelisk Titan; more importantly, it's said that Kobayashi Hayato has now joined Doma.

Even if Jonouchi and Yugi told him this, and even if it was confirmed by Ryuzaki, the only one to wake up from the "Duelist Serial Coma" incident, Kaiba wouldn't believe it.

Hayato is probably playing some silly trick again. That guy with the worst sense of humor is untrustworthy, but he's also worth believing. Kaiba can swear on Jonouchi's luck when it comes to gambling.

Kaiba, who stubbornly believed that Hayato was playing some kind of game, didn't care that Hayato had joined Doma. In fact, it was for the best, because it gave Kaiba a perfect reason to defeat Hayato openly and then take back the "Duel King" title that he had missed out on in Duel City.

On a corridor leading to the data center located underground in the castle, Kaiba stopped in his tracks. Keihei, who was right behind Kaiba, couldn't stop in time and bumped into Kaiba.

"Nii-san, what are you doing?" Keihei complained to Kaiba for suddenly stopping. After regaining his balance, he looked at the corridor Kaiba was facing. "What's wrong over there?"

Unlike the rest of the castle, the wide corridors are not illuminated by classic oil lamps, but by electric lights that have a slightly retro style that do not seem out of place.

For some unknown reason, perhaps the light bulbs had just reached the end of their lifespan, perhaps due to neglect, or perhaps there was a problem with the circuitry, the situation was better in the direction where Haima and Guiping were located. However, the closer one got to the data center, the dimmer the light bulbs became. In the middle, a few lights were still flickering uneasily, and at the end of the corridor, all the lights went out.

The end of the pitch-black corridor was like a vicious beast with its mouth wide open, waiting for its prey to enter.

Amelda, who was hiding in the darkness, looked at Seto Kaiba and Keihei who were standing still and gave them a cold smile.

The malfunction with the light bulb was, of course, caused by him. He made a small adjustment to the circuit, which took less than ten minutes, but the effect was quite good. At least Ameruda felt that the atmosphere he had created was very nice.

In such a dark environment, stepping from light into darkness requires considerable courage, enough to diminish the originally arrogant Seto Kaiba's aura. And when one suddenly appears from the darkness, one can inflict fear upon Seto Kaiba by transforming this heavy atmosphere into fear.

Although it sounds like a scary game for children, Ameluda believed that the duelist's momentum was very important in a duel. If he could suppress Kaiba's momentum, he could also suppress Kaiba's luck in the duel.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Ameruda was about to step out of the darkness and reveal herself. But just then, Keihei, who couldn't see what was in the darkness, casually raised his wristwatch, turning it sideways towards Ameruda, and heard a "click".

A sudden burst of bright light nearly blinded Ameruda, whose eyes had been adjusted to light in the darkness!

"Ugh!" "Ugh!"

Ameruda, who was constantly covering her tearful eyes, and Keihei, who was startled by the sudden appearance of a person in the darkness, shouted in unison!

"What's wrong with this guy? Why is he hiding in that dark place!" Although he had an angry expression, Keihei, who was hiding behind the seahorse with only his head showing, said, "I haven't seen a single person since I entered Pegasus's castle. I thought there was no one here anymore."

"I never expected anyone to just stand there like that, it gave me quite a fright!"

Even Kaiba was somewhat surprised that Amelda, a living person, was hiding in the darkness. However, being a master of disguise, he maintained a calm and even disdainful expression, as if to say, "I knew he was there all along": "Hmph, this kind of rat in the gutter is probably trying to sneak up on people again."

"It's even more disgusting than frog pee."

"Damn, is that true?" Guiping raised an eyebrow. "Nisan, let's go! Beat that son of a bitch up!"

"Guiping, who did you copy that from?"

"Hayato-kun, he said it's a famous quote from a lawyer."

"Don't try to do it again next time."

When Ameluda heard the voice of Seto Kaiba that he "longed for", despite his still painful eyes, he forced them open and glared at Kaiba: "Onore Seto Kaiba!"

It turns out you knew I was here all along, yet you pretended to be unaware and wary, and then you turned around and instructed your younger brother to plot against me. Such cunning scheming and using your own brother as a tool is unforgivable, Seto Kaiba!

"You're so noisy!" Kaiba yelled back, clearly annoyed. Putting aside the fact that he wasn't actually scared and was just pretending, it was clearly Keipai who shone the powerful flashlight attached to his arm at him. Why is he trying to shift the blame onto him?

Seto Kaiba, can I swallow this insult?

"Enough talk, let's duel!"

"Hmph, I don't care, the only winner can be me anyway."

"That's not necessarily true. This is the end of your despair, Seto Kaiba!"

"Duel!" x2

Watching Seto Kaiba and Amelda suddenly raise their duel disks and start a duel without warning, Keibei couldn't help but remark, "Well, they are duelists after all, they really do need to play cards."

Seto Kaiba: 4000 LP

[Ameruda: 4000 LP]

Although the duel started seemingly frivolously, neither Kaiba nor Ameruda found it abrupt.

Ameruda craves revenge and wants to crush and kill Kaiba's pride in the Duel Monsters, which Kaiba excels at.

As for Kaiba, he was also dissatisfied with the result of fighting Ameruda to a draw last time and wanted to win. Moreover, Ameruda was now blocking the only entrance to the data center, so if he didn't defeat him, he could basically forget about moving forward.

'Neither of us is the type to sit down and exchange pleasantries; in that case, we'll just kill each other in a duel!'

The two, who seemed to have nothing in common yet were remarkably similar in some ways, drew the cards from the top of their decks with the same conviction.

"I'll take the first turn. Draw a card!"

It wasn't Ameluda who seized the initiative, but Kaiba. He unusually drew a card without a "high-star starting hand" of three white dragons.

Although he uses the Blue-Eyes deck, that doesn't mean Kaiba is only good at aggressive tactics; in fact, his deck includes a significant number of trap cards. As for who influenced him? It certainly wasn't Hayato, probably.