Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Yugi glanced around. Malik and Isis were comforting Rishid, who was apologizing for failing to fulfill his duties as a guardian. Jonouchi and Honda were still wrestling in the Temple of Doma, which they were using as a dressing room. Mai stood aside, watching the two of them with a helpless expression. Everyone was safe and sound.

However, there is one thing the game cares about very much.

"Dartz!" Yugi walked towards where Dartz had been knocked down, his face serious. "Where exactly did you take Hayato?!"

Dartz, the leader of the Doma organization that sought to destroy human civilization, has been defeated. The next step is to bring back their important comrade—Hayato, who joined Doma.

After Yami Yugi's duel with Rafael, he received Hayato's help within the shrinking Orichalcos Barrier that sealed his soul. Therefore, he was absolutely certain that Hayato had temporarily joined Doma for the sake of justice.

But even after defeating Dartz, Hayato is still nowhere to be found, which puzzles the game. However, it doesn't matter; Dartz, lying on the ground seemingly lifeless, surely knows where Hayato is.

Dartz, being an old man who has lived for ten thousand years, is incredibly resilient. After taking a sword strike from [Timaeus the Divine Dragon] that was more about venting his anger than killing the enemy, although his score in the Dark Game was basically zero, he didn't die. Hearing the sounds of the game, Dartz struggled to his feet.

“Ha, I don’t think there’s any need to answer that question. Hayato is my hero, the dawn that is necessary for the arrival of the new world.” Her elegant robes were stained with dust from the ground, and a crack appeared in the “Orichalcos fragment” that was embedded in the pendant on Dartz’s forehead as an ornament. “I don’t want you to take him away.”

He is—

"That's enough!"

Before Dartz could finish speaking, they heard a cracking sound coming from an open space not far away. A voice that was very familiar to the game and the others came from that sound.

The space shattered along with the "Orichalcum fragment" on Dartz's forehead, and the next moment, three figures appeared on the previously empty ground!

"It's just a spatial barrier, yet it's surprisingly difficult to break through. But nothing can stop the Great Sage of the Codex!" After much effort, finally breaking through the spatial barrier after the duel between the three gamers and Dartz, allowing Hayato to return to the real world, [Summoner - Aleister] hummed triumphantly, "Aleister's magical skills are unparalleled—!!!"

Before he could finish singing, a hand holding a card pressed down on his head and slapped him into one of his own cards, abruptly stopping his unpleasant voice.

Putting away the [Summoner - Aleister] card, Hayato looked at the bewildered Dartz and said with a smile, "Darts, I'm back!"

Chapter 656 The Eternally Peak Dual-Soul Emperor (Not)

The gamers stared at Hayato, or rather, at the person standing next to him, and their minds went completely blank.

Although their clothes are different, the green-haired man standing next to Hayato looks exactly like Dartz not far away!

"There are two Dartz?" Jonouchi, who had broken free from Honda's embrace, rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Am I seeing things?"

"No, although they look somewhat different, that one is undoubtedly also Dartz."

Kaiba frowned, put down Keihei, and raised the Duel Disk in a wary stance. "What on earth is this...?"

Unlike the first Dartz who wore a long robe, the second Dartz who appeared with Hayato wore a full suit of armor and had a cloak trailing behind him. The difference between the two was like that between a priest and a general.

After appearing here with Hayato, the second Dartz walked in the direction of the first Dartz.

"You bastard, you actually ran out!" Dartz gritted his teeth as he watched Dartz approach.

“Yes, thanks to Hayato-kun.” Compared to Dartz, who was covered in dust and looked disheveled, Dartz appeared relaxed and carefree. “It seems you have been defeated and are on the verge of death.”

“You…” Dartz seemed to want to say something, but the pain from the duel stopped him from speaking. He could only clutch his chest and watch “Dartz” continue to approach him.

"Although we don't know who that guy is, the one we just defeated was Dartz, right?" Jonouchi watched "Darts" continue forward and reached out to call out to him, "Hey, you over there, step back, things are about to get ugly."

However, before he could get a few steps closer, Hayato, who was standing still, raised his hand to stop Jonouchi.

"Hayato?"

"Let that guy go if we want this to really end," Hayato said nonchalantly as he watched Dartz approach.

Hayato appeared not too far from the altar where Dartz was, so while Hayato was blocking the castle, Dartz had already arrived in front of Dartz, who could barely stand.

"Stop struggling." Looking at Dartz in front of him, "Dartz" smiled coldly and placed his hand on Dartz's chest. "If you can't even defeat the 'Legendary Dragon,' then you've already lost."

“I won’t lose, I won’t lose to the ‘Legendary Dragon’,” Dartz said grimly, glancing at the [Legendary Knights] who had completely vanished not far from the group in the game. “I just need power, more power…”

“Of course, I understand completely.” Looking at Dartz, Dartz gave a strange smile. “You and I, we were originally one, exactly the same. But you lost me, and I lost you.”

"And now, we are connected by this same feeling."

At this point, "Dazs" forcefully thrust his hand into Dazs's body, and in the next moment, both of their bodies were enveloped by a sudden burst of light!

"What's going on!?" The scene before them caught everyone off guard, leaving them bewildered as to what had happened. Puzzled, they all turned to look at the only person who might know the truth—Hayato, who was calmly organizing his card deck.

Noticing everyone's gaze, Hayato put away his card deck, sighed, and said, "Do you know what dual personality disorder is?"

The so-called dual personality refers to a person having two relatively unique and separate personalities. It may be difficult for ordinary people to understand, but the people present all have some understanding of dual personality because of the two best examples, Yugi and Malik.

From Hayato's words, everyone learned that Dartz also had a dual personality. However, compared to others, Dartz's dual personality was much more abnormal, even splitting to the point of becoming two individuals, namely the "Dartz" and Dartz they had just seen.

Hayato only learned about this matter when he was locked in that separate space by Dartz and watching Yugi and the others duel. He accidentally met "Darts" and the other Dartz said that Hayato could call him Lemuria.

Upon hearing this name, Hayato recalled that he had actually met him once before, back in the Duel Kingdom a long time ago. However, Lemuria's attire at that time was different from Dartz in Hayato's memory, so Hayato never connected the Lemuria he had only met once with Dartz.

The split of multiple personalities mostly stems from external factors, such as traumatic life events, the pressure of adverse environments, and the inability to unify one's identity. Malik's own split personality originated from the subtle influence of the dark forces within the Millennium Scepter and the stimulation of Rishid having his tattoos carved in front of him. According to Lemuria, his situation is also very similar to Malik's.

Ten thousand years ago, the Atlantean civilization obtained the power of Orichalcos. After a period of time, the darkness in the hearts of the people who were expanding their desires activated the magic of Orichalcos and began to gradually transform the bodies of the Atlanteans whose desires were out of control. However, at the beginning, the Atlanteans did not realize that the root of the problem was Orichalcos and thought it was just an isolated case.

One night, Dartz discovered something was wrong with his queen, Ivory, in his palace. First, she had a severe headache, then one of her arms twisted and deformed, her skin turned black and her nails became sharp. Terrified by the strange changes happening to her, Queen Ivory immediately fled from Dartz's side, not wanting Dartz to see her ugly appearance.

At that moment, Dartz was completely unaware of what was happening, nor did she forcefully stop Ivory from leaving. She reacted a beat too late and followed the departing Queen to see what was going on.

But by that slight delay, when Dartz caught up with the departing Ivory, the Ivory that reappeared before him had completely transformed into a twisted monster. It had bat wings on its back, bloodshot eyes, and a mouth that could stretch to its ears, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. The once dignified and elegant queen had turned into a beast in just a few breaths. Even when Dartz found her, she, or rather, it, was still tightly biting a servant's neck.

Sharp teeth pierced the servant's skin, and blood dripped down onto the pendant once worn by Queen Ivory, a finely crafted piece of Orichalcum that Darzine had given her, now emitting an ominous green light.

When his lover turned into a beast before his eyes, and the gentle queen became a demon that wantonly slaughtered living beings, the tormented Dartz killed the monster that Queen Ivory had become.

But Queen Ivory wasn't the only one to turn into a monster. Overnight, the power of Orichalcos began to run rampant, plunging the prosperous civilization of Atlantis into panic and slaughter. For an entire night, Darz, who was looking down on the country under his rule, was bewildered and silent, clutching the Orichalcos fragments he had taken from the dead Ivory, helpless in the face of everything that was happening to the civilization of Atlantis.

It was under these circumstances that, through the Orichalcos fragment in Dartz's hand, the newly awakened "God of Orichalcos" met Dartz. He conveyed to Dartz the reason why the Atlantean civilization had encountered all of this, and showed him the vision of the future.

The shock of knowledge, the pain in his heart, and the power of Orichalcos caused Dartz's heart to split from that moment on. The gentle Atlantean prince Dartz and the persistent Atlantean emperor Dartz separated, and Dartz's pupils became heterochromatic, one green and one yellow.

In the beginning, Darz's personality, which wanted to destroy the world, gained the upper hand. The Atlantean civilization had no future because it was too deeply tainted by the power of Orichalcos. He chose to completely bury the Atlantean civilization as the energy source for the "Orichalcos God" to destroy and recreate the world. That collection of energy was the collection of the darkness in the hearts of the Atlanteans—[Serpent God-Yi].

However, not everyone in the Atlantean civilization agreed with Dartz's actions. For example, Dartz's father, the former emperor Iinhardt, was unwilling to see Atlantis destroyed and took Dartz's sister Chris to the Elven world to seek help. What followed was the conflict between the "Legendary Dragon" and the "Orichalcos" that the game's characters knew.

Ten thousand years after the war, the "Legendary Dragon" who fought across worlds and the "Orichalcos" who had just awakened both fell into a deep sleep. Dartz's plan to destroy the world was thwarted, and taking advantage of this opportunity, the suppressed Dartz began to launch a counterattack. The two personalities were locked in a stalemate, and neither could gain complete control of the body.

And so, the struggle between the two Dartz lasted for seven thousand years. During these seven thousand years, human civilization, which had been shattered by the great war, was rebuilt. And because the power of the elves in the real world had been scattered to all parts of the world and sealed in stone tablets to sleep, without coexisting with the elves, human civilization gradually went in a direction completely different from that of Atlantis.

This allowed the gentle Dartz to gradually suppress the stubborn Dartz. With one side gaining the upper hand, Dartz resumed his movement, observing the human world from different guises. Until three thousand years ago, he came to ancient Egypt and witnessed a priest of the Pharaoh, in order to resist the invasion of an enemy country, use an evil spell to create seven artifacts at the cost of the lives of an entire village, awakening the spirit power within the stone tablets.

Those are indeed the seven [Millennium Items].

Driven by dark forces, the elven power fell into human hands, and the same events that he had experienced seven thousand years ago were presented before his eyes once again. This time, Dartz, who had been suppressed, turned the tables and took back control of his body from Dartz, who had only watched the development of humanity.

He could not accept the tragedy of Atlantis repeating itself, so he had to guide human civilization to avoid its destruction.

And so, "Doma" was born. And because humans began to walk with elves again, Dartz, who was pessimistic about the future of human civilization, also began to collect human souls again in preparation for awakening "Orichalcos".

And so another three thousand years passed, and Dorma spread its branches and took root in the depths of human civilization all over the world.

Out of curiosity about Pegasus, who created the new vessel for the spirits—the Duel Monsters cards—Dartz decided to see what kind of person he was before destroying humanity. He used Doma's influence to join the "Duel Kingdom." However, his first impression of Pegasus was terrible because he discovered that Pegasus was completely controlled by the dark power of the Millennium Eye and had no right to be taken seriously.

Disappointed, Dartz intended to leave and finish collecting souls as soon as possible to destroy human civilization. However, unexpectedly, during a demonstration duel showcasing the new Duel Monster rules used by the Duel Kingdom, he saw Hayato appear.

Unlike any human he had ever seen before, Hayato at that time was shrouded in a dark power that only Dartz could observe, due to Pegasus's "Millennium Eye." However, this did not prevent Dartz from seeing the pure white in Hayato's heart and the soul that shone like the sun.

Dartz, who had no interest in the new world and only wanted to destroy everything, was overthrown by another Dartz personality that had been suppressed for three thousand years. Hayato's appearance rekindled his hope for the new world. With Hayato around, it wasn't impossible for humanity in the new world to escape its doomed future!

Using the alias "Lemuria," Dartz observed Hayato's performance in the Duel Kingdom, watching him gradually acquire items like the Millennium Wisdom Ring, slowly dispelling the darkness around him and growing stronger. After watching Hayato defeat Keith in a duel, Dartz gave Hayato a card and then left.

He was filled with hope for Hayato's existence, which strengthened his resolve to destroy all existing humanity and usher in a new world. However, before that, he decided to create a space to separate the other personality that he had managed to suppress into it, so as not to hinder his subsequent actions.

“I see, I completely understand!” Jonouchi clenched his fist and tapped his palm. “So, the good Dartz and the bad Dartz are now combined into one, right?”

"Does that mean Dartz has given up on destroying the world?"

“No, that’s not true at all,” Hayato rubbed his nose and shrugged. “While the two Dartz have some differences, they share the same point: they have no faith in humans.”

"In other words..." Before he could finish speaking, Hayato turned his head and looked in Dartz's direction.

As the light faded, only Dartz remained before everyone's eyes. He still had heterochromatic eyes, one green and one yellow. Dartz looked at Hayato and smiled.

Chapter 657 You weren't even in Shenyang... I mean Atlantis

"So, what should I call you now? Virgil?" Hayato asked, frowning slightly as he felt a little uncomfortable under Dartz's gaze.

"I am still Dartz, Hayato-kun. Whether I want to destroy the world or create a new one, I am still Dartz." Raising his hands, clenching his fists and then releasing them, Dartz looked at his body with satisfaction.

"Dartz!"

Dartz, who was experiencing a sense of unity within her body that she hadn't felt in nearly ten thousand years, heard the game's voice and turned to look at him: "Nameless Pharaoh, no, is it Yugi Muto? Unfortunately, I'm no longer interested in you."

With a serious expression, Yugi looked at Dartz, who showed no intention of taking action, and, unsure of Dartz's thoughts, asked, "Even if you've merged with another personality, do you still intend to destroy human civilization?"

"Of course, my thoughts have never changed from the beginning."

As Dartz spoke, he raised his hand and grasped a pendant on his chest, which was decorated with the pattern of the "Orichalcos Barrier." "The stubborn me, the delusional me, are all Dartz. Although there are differences in reshaping the world, there is only one view on humanity."

"Humanity, accompanied by the power of the spirits and shrouded in the dark power that you, the nameless pharaoh of ancient Egypt, brought back to the world three thousand years ago, cannot avoid the decline of spiritual civilization that accompanies the development of material civilization. The future is only destruction."

“Therefore,” Dartz’s eyes turned murderous, “I will destroy humanity and reshape a new world!”

“You and Paradox must have a lot in common,” Yugi said, lifting his Duel Disk with a serious expression. “We’ll definitely stop you, Dartz!”

Jonouchi stepped forward to stand beside Yugi: "Looks like one duel isn't enough?"

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. No matter how many times it happens, it will always be my victory," the seahorse said confidently.

But looking at the other players, Dartz smiled mysteriously: "Duel? No, there's no need for that anymore. The duel with you guys before was just my idea to collect as many powerful souls as possible so that 'Orichalcos' could accumulate more power and then awaken."

"However, that's just one of my thoughts."

Dartz's words left Jonouchi somewhat confused: "One of Dartz?"

“In the end, what is ‘Orichalcos’? It is the trial of the planet beneath our feet, the embodiment of the darkness in the human heart. As long as humanity cannot rid itself of the darkness within, ‘Orichalcos’ will never be destroyed.” As she spoke, Dartz took off her pendant and held it above her head. “All it needs to revive is the darkness in people’s hearts.”

"Then let's think about it another way: if we only restore its power without reviving it, wouldn't the number of souls required be greatly reduced?"

The game's eyes widened: "Masaka?!"

“That’s right, I’ve stalled for enough time, nameless pharaoh, and Hayato-kun!” Dartz laughed, clutching the pendant in his hand. “Just now, I activated the hands and feet that had been silently placed on ‘Orichalco’ for ten thousand years, and now it has been revived without its consciousness!”

"It has become a world-destroying weapon that I can use at will!"

As Darz's words fell, a brilliant light erupted from the pendant in his hand. The green light opened a swirling, twisting void behind him, from which a gigantic black shadow leaped out. The shadow's movements were so fast and sudden that before anyone could react, it swallowed Darz whole and retreated back into the void, disappearing without a trace.

Only Dartz's last words before he disappeared echoed in the void: "Prepare for destruction, humankind!"

Hayato was not surprised at all when Dartz was taken away by the shadow and disappeared. In fact, in the space where Dartz's personality was sealed, one of Dartz had already told Hayato his thoughts.

Although Hayato was the catalyst that allowed the gentle Dartz personality to suppress the obsessive Dartz personality, both Dartz personalities actually had the same attitude towards Hayato and neither of them intended to be his enemy.