Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Logically, the priests are generally equal in status, and none can command the others unless given special permission by the Pharaoh. Otherwise, Aknadi has no reason to help Set. However, just as Shada was willing to help Set use the power of the Millennium Key out of friendship, Aknadi was also willing to lend a helping hand to Set's request, and did so willingly.

"Yes, I'll help, Seth."

Aknadi nodded to Set, “Although the doctor said that I need to avoid stimulation recently and cannot use the power of the Millennium Eye on monsters of a certain strength as I used to, it is not a problem to help Priest Shada unlock the lock of her heart and awaken the spirit.”

“That’s wonderful, thank you so much for your help, Lord Aknadi,” Set said happily. “I plan to report this to the Pharaoh tomorrow morning, and then awaken Shada’s spirit in the palace in front of the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh’s witness is more convincing than any other evidence.”

Hearing that Seth had told him before telling the Pharaoh, Aknadi felt a little happy, but also a little curious: "By the way, Seth, speaking of which, can't you also awaken the spirit within you? Why didn't you ask Priest Shada to help you use the power of the Millennium Key after witnessing Kobayashi Hayato's success today?"

When Aknadi asked about this, Seth's smile froze. He hesitated, unsure whether he should tell Aknadi, who regarded him as his own son and whom he had always respected as a mentor, what had happened afterward.

After much hesitation, Set ultimately decided not to speak out. He apologized to Aknadi on the altar, saying, "I'm sorry, Lord Aknadi, there are reasons for this that are difficult to explain, and it's not something that can be understood simply by talking about it."

Aknadi looked at the hesitation on Seth's face. Why would Seth, who was always so determined, even stubborn, show such a rare expression? Although he was very curious, Aknadi waved his hand and said, "No, it's nothing. I'm just a little curious. Older people naturally tend to be a little gossipy. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

After bowing to Aknadi and finishing his business, Set did not disturb Aknadi any further. He left the stone temple and walked slowly towards his residence near the palace, his thoughts drifting into the distance. However, no matter how slowly he walked, because the destination was so close, Set returned to his residence in no time.

As a priest under the Pharaoh, Set's treatment was naturally commensurate with his status. Although the building he lived in was not as luxurious as the mansions that royalty could live in, it was not far off, and the number of his attendants was also quite large.

However, for some reason, Seth deliberately dismissed the maids and servants who were supposed to be serving him in his residence today, leaving the huge house completely dark and without any lights. It wasn't until Seth returned to his residence and lit the oil lamps on the walls that there was some light.

As Seth lit the oil lamp in the bedroom, the light illuminated a bed in the corner of the room, where a woman was lying peacefully asleep!

Seth wasn't surprised to see this woman in his room, since he was the one who had brought her home.

As he walked to the bedside and looked at the woman's beautiful white hair, Seth felt inexplicably unsettled. He subconsciously reached out and stroked the sleeping woman's cheek.

"Why does my heart feel so turbulent just looking at you?" Seth murmured to himself, feeling the soft, sensitive touch of the other person's skin against his fingertips.

Chapter 743 Extraterrestrial Visitors

After watching Set leave his stone slab temple, Aknadi also withdrew his attention and turned back to continue dealing with the stone slabs in his own temple.

Having served as a priest since the time of the previous Pharaoh Akhenaten, Akhenaten naturally possessed a remarkably rich collection of stone tablet monsters.

Furthermore, because the Millennium Item he possesses not only unlocks the mind like the Millennium Key, but also has the ability to reveal the true nature of monsters' power, the Slate Monsters of Aknadi not only meet the required strength, but also possess a variety of other effects.

Having experienced many things, he knew that sometimes the greater the power of the Slate Monster, the better. No one knew when the special abilities of some seemingly weak Slate Monsters would come in handy.

If Aknadi were not an ancient Egyptian from three thousand years ago but a duelist living in modern times, then his Duel Monsters deck, corresponding to the Slate Temple, would surely be filled with all sorts of miscellaneous monster cards.

For example, the reason why Aknadi, whose body was injured by Bakura's counterattack, did not rest at his residence but stayed up all night at the Stone Tablet Temple was not because he was particularly diligent, but because Aknadi remembered that he had once collected Stone Tablet Monsters with the ability to absorb and transfer damage.

Although Aknadi had been able to awaken from his dark slumber due to the collective connection among all the priests when Mahad transformed into a spirit, he knew that the dark power still clung to him and continued to torment him.

This power did not only come from the injuries caused by Bakura, but was actually caused more by the berserk [Millennium Eye] itself.

In his youth, Aknadi committed an irreparable mistake. As Aknadi himself warned Seth, his guilt had created a wound in his heart, which was then permeated by the power of the Millennium Eye, the "evil" of the Millennium Item. Only through Aknadi's personal training over the years had he managed to suppress it and prevent it from erupting.

However, because Bakura deflected Aknadi's attack, the power of the Millennium Eye went berserk, and the gap in his mind was instantly widened. Dark magic seeped into Aknadi's body through this gap, and the constant whispers in his ear tormented his nerves.

That is why he came to his temple and sought liberation by relying on the power of the stone spirits.

Aknadi summoned a fleshy, stone-slab-like monster. After confirming that no one was around, Aknadi used the power of the Millennium Eye to transfer his magic power into the monster's body. Like a blood transfusion, the dark power that had been binding him seemed to transfer to the fleshy monster as Aknadi's magic power disappeared.

Under Aknadi's gaze, an eye gradually appeared on the fleshy ball. Upon closer inspection, the green fleshy ball already had dozens of eyeballs, making it look quite eerie.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. Losing a large amount of magic power in one go was a heavy burden for Aknadi, but it was a necessary procedure for healing his injuries. During the period of magic loss, Aknadi was practically powerless, only managing to maintain some vitality while inside this stone temple. This was why Aknadi had soldiers guard the temple entrance to prevent anyone from entering.

On the other hand, if someone unaware of the changes happening to the fleshy, ball-shaped stone monster in front of them were to see what they were doing, they would probably think they were conducting some kind of terrifying and evil modification experiment.

The fleshy stone slab monster touched the eyeballs that had appeared on its body, unconcerned that Aknadi was injecting evil magic into it, and even playfully nudged Aknadi's body.

“The slab monster that can absorb magic comes in handy at times like this. My old habit of collecting slabs has really been a great help.” Aknadi comforted the slab monster, which was like a ball of flesh. “Don’t worry, I need a little time to recover my magic. Let me catch my breath, [Naji].

The name itself reveals that the stone tablet spirit summoned by Aknadi is none other than Pegasus's ace, "Narcissus," who also obtained the "Millennium Eye" three thousand years later. However, compared to Pegasus's distorted "Narcissus," Aknadi's stone tablet spirit, named "Narcissus," is closer to the eyeless "Thousand-Eyed Cult God."

Leaning against the wall to rest, Aknadi recovered his magic while pondering things. Tomorrow morning, Seth said he would report today's events to the Pharaoh, and Aknadi would assist Shada in replicating Kobayashi Hayato's case to awaken the spirit within his heart.

Because it was Seth's request, even if it meant staying up a little later, Aknadi wanted to resolve his own problems, get himself in good shape, and do his best the next day so as not to disappoint Seth. However, despite thinking this, Aknadi was, after all, human, not a machine. The healing of his injuries depended on the speed of his magic recovery, and there was no time to rush it.

However, when it comes to awakened spirits, Aknadi felt that his hobby of collecting stone tablets was about to flare up again. Just listening to Seth's description was not enough to understand the whole story of the spirit that Hayato Kobayashi awakened. He really wanted to see what it looked like for himself.

Thinking of this, even Aknadi, who was already quite old, couldn't help but blush a little. It was because of this quirk that he had been in charge of managing and storing the stone tablets since the time of the previous pharaohs. For more than ten years, he had actually used his position to visit the temples of other priests to see the stone tablets he liked.

If I weren't in this country, but in some remote little village, perhaps I could become a collector...

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Aknadi felt his magic power restored, so he stood up and once again poured his magic power into the [Najiri] before him.

I guess I'm getting old. I've inexplicably started thinking about things that are impossible. Sigh, time waits for no one.

Although I won't be able to see Hayato Kobayashi's spirit, I can see Shada's spirit tomorrow, which is some consolation.

Speaking of which, the Pharaoh and Seth seem to be not much different in age. The Pharaoh has already ascended the throne and is almost ready to start marrying a queen. Shouldn't I also start to persuade Seth to get married and have children sooner?

With his eyes closed, Aknadi transferred magic power into [Naji]'s body, and the whispers in his ears grew quieter and quieter.

However, he forgot one thing.

Although he had made sure there was no one else in the temple the first time, someone secretly sneaked in while he was resting and recovering his magic power. And while he was channeling magic power into the [Sacrifice], they quietly approached Aknadi from behind!

Using the "transparency" power shared by the Millennium Wisdom Wheel, Bakura entered Aknadi's slab temple, which he had already chosen as his destination, while remaining invisible. He immediately saw Aknadi standing on the altar, intently pouring magic into his slab monster.

"Heh, found you, Priest Aknadi." With a ferocious smile on his face, Bakula remained invisible and climbed onto the altar without Aknadi noticing. He slowly approached Aknadi, who had his back to him. "I thought you wouldn't wake up after such severe injuries, but you've exceeded my expectations. I have to admire your will."

As the distance closed, Bakura naturally noticed what Aknadi was doing to [Naji], and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "However, even you have to rely on the power of the elves to transfer the dark power within you? Heh, relying on external forces is not a good habit, but since you like it so much, I'll help you out."

While speaking in a way that no one but himself could hear, Bakura, standing behind Aknadi, raised the [Millennial Wisdom Wheel] on his chest, grasped a sharp golden cone hanging from it, and thrust it fiercely into Aknadi's back!

"Ugh!" Aknadi cried out in pain from the sudden attack, but inexplicably, he seemed to be asleep and did not realize that he had just made a sound, continuing to pour his magic power into the [Najiri] in front of him.

As the golden cone of the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel] pierced Aknadi's body, Bakura took the opportunity to inject more evil thoughts and dark power into Aknadi's body. The magic power that could have diluted the power was now completely injected into the [Nasagi Demon]'s body. Aknadi's body was now completely exposed to the extremely high concentration of dark magic power, causing him to suddenly open his closed eyes in the next instant!

"Ughh ...

"That's it. Absorb more, [Millennium Eye]! Absorb the evil thoughts within the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel] and corrupt your host!" Bakura laughed triumphantly. "Let me see what kind of villain this esteemed priest truly is beneath his long-standing disguise, falling into darkness and joining me!"

"Although this point in time may seem a bit delicate, it's just like it was three thousand years ago!"

The power within the [Millennial Wisdom Wheel] was almost entirely poured into Aknadi's body by Bakura. When he opened his right eye, the white of his eye was gradually stained into a deep black, and not a single ray of light could be seen. This spreading evil intention was even injected into [Naji], who was in contact with him.

The stone slab monster, which feeds on magic and can even devour dark power, absorbed all the magic power emanating from Aknadi without restraint. However, it failed to notice that as evil thoughts were injected into it, its eyeballs suddenly grew larger, and its originally round body rapidly shrank and became emaciated, its appearance becoming increasingly similar to the [Naji Demon] three thousand years later!

———The dividing line of the passing night———

"Lord Aknadi?"

The voice in his ear brought Aknadi back to his senses, and he turned to look at Priest Shada, who was staring at him.

"Are you alright, Lord Aknadi?"

Upon hearing Xia Da's words, Aknadi nodded and gave a kind smile: "It's nothing, Xia Da, I was just a little distracted."

"Although it may be presumptuous of me, I still want to say something to you. You actually stayed up all night in the temple without sleeping or resting. Your previous injuries have not yet healed, and what you need most is to rest." Looking at Aknadi, Shada sighed and said, "This morning I went to your residence to look for you, but I found you were not there. I had to go to the Stone Slab Temple to find you sleeping on the altar."

"It's fortunate that there were torches in the temple, otherwise you would probably have caught a cold and fallen ill."

"Hehe, thank you for your concern, Xia Da." Aknadi smiled and glanced around.

Because Isis and Kalim, the two priests, were ordered by the Pharaoh to go to the Valley of the King's Long Sleep to bury the mummies of the previous Pharaohs and to pay respects to Mahad, only Shada, Set, Aknadi, and Simon, the Pharaoh's close attendant priest, remained to discuss the affairs of the kingdom with the Pharaoh today.

Inside the hall at this moment, because it was not yet time, the Pharaoh and Priest Simon had not yet arrived; only Xia Da and herself remained.

When did he arrive at the palace? Aknadi felt a little dizzy, guessing that he must have stayed up too late last night and fallen asleep directly. He was also a little disoriented this morning due to lack of sleep. He was like an old man in his seventies who could fall down the stairs three times while holding onto the handrail, forget his words halfway through a conversation, accidentally lose control of his bladder while chatting, and was unsteady on his bicycle.

However, the effects of staying up all night were quite good. Aknadi felt that the discomfort he had been experiencing for the past few days, caused by being entangled by dark magic, had completely disappeared. The whispers in his ear had also completely disappeared. If he went back to sleep today, he might be completely cured by tomorrow.

However, what concerned Aknadi was that Seth should be waiting for the Pharaoh in the hall at this time. He was always a very punctual person, so why was he late today? He couldn't possibly keep the Pharaoh waiting for him.

Just as Aknadi was thinking this, he saw the Pharaoh and the priest Simon walking out one after the other from the passage leading from the palace to the main hall.

Dark Game walked to the throne and sat down. After the priest Simon stood beside him, ready to receive the pharaoh's instructions, he was about to say something to Shada and Aknadi, who were kneeling respectfully at the bottom of the steps, when he suddenly felt a tremor in his heart, as if he had sensed something.

Rising from the throne he had barely warmed, An Yugi suddenly ran to the window outside the hall, ignoring any explanation to Simon and the others, and stared intently at the sky.

To everyone else, the sky was clear and cloudless, but to Yami Yugi, who could see a section of the Millennium Puzzle hanging from the sky, something seemed to be falling from that section and crashing to the ground!

Chapter 744 Killing the Chicken...Just to Warn the Monkey

"What is that?" Because he often saw what cards others used from a great distance during Duel Monsters, Yami Yugi's eyesight was pretty good, but it was still too difficult to see what was falling from such a great height.

Even so, Yami Yugi could confirm, based solely on intuition, that it was an extremely important existence that he could not ignore.

Originally, at today's morning meeting, Yami Yugi had planned to discuss with the priests whether there were any problems with the city defense affairs that Priest Set and Priest Shada had been in charge of yesterday. After all, he was very worried about whether Set, whose personality was very similar to that of Kaiba, would act rudely towards the people in order to achieve efficiency.

But now he changed his mind. Upon closer examination, it seemed more important to first confirm what was falling from the Millennium Puzzle in the sky.

Just then, Seth, who was a step late, happened to pass by the window. Yami Yugi lowered his head and called out to him, "Priest Seth!"

"Pharaoh?" Seth looked up at Dark Game and quickly tried to apologize, "I'm late because of personal reasons. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

In ancient Egypt three thousand years ago, Set's behavior this morning, as a subject of the Pharaoh, could be considered a great disrespect to the Pharaoh. If the Pharaoh had been a capricious and tyrannical ruler, he could have used this as an excuse to kill Set. At most, everyone else could only say that the Pharaoh had a bad temper, but they could not criticize the Pharaoh's actions.

Especially in the days leading up to the Pharaoh's coronation, thieves broke into the palace, and earlier, one of the priests, Mahad, had died. This series of events had caused the new Pharaoh to lose face. Punishing the priests who made mistakes could, to some extent, restore some of his authority and at least restore some of the people's awe of the Pharaoh.

In that case, Set was practically the "Jiyin" specifically chosen so that Pharaoh would kill Jiyin as a warning to others.

This is ancient Egypt three thousand years ago, a feudal country where the monarchy was divinely ordained and the pharaoh's authority was even greater than the lives of most people. It was knowing this that Akhenaten was so worried about Set's lateness.

However, although he lived in ancient Egypt three thousand years ago, most of his memories came from modern life. Yami Yugi didn't care much about things like kings and ministers or the majesty of the pharaoh. He was just a little surprised that Seth, who seemed so serious, was late. He didn't have any intention of punishing Seth at all.

“It’s alright, Priest Set, get up. I have something to ask you to do.” After freeing Set from kneeling and allowing him to stand up, Yami Yugi pointed to the direction where the separated objects from the giant Millennium Puzzle had fallen, and said to Set, “It’s roughly in that direction. I want you to take some people to check if any unusual items have appeared.”

Seth, who had looked up, frowned upon hearing Dark Game's words.

"What exactly is the size of this item, Pharaoh? If you cannot provide a specific description, even if I lead a large number of soldiers to search for it, I will probably find nothing."

Given that he was in the wrong first, although theoretically Seth should treat Pharaoh better to avoid Pharaoh changing his mind and deciding to punish him again, he simply didn't have that high emotional intelligence. Always keeping public and private matters separate and not letting emotions affect his work efficiency, he asked Dark Game.

"As for the exact size, even if you asked me, I couldn't really say it." Yami Yugi didn't care about Set's attitude. In fact, Set's attitude was 1000% better than that of the trench coat enthusiast who wouldn't speak properly even after being rescued. "But if you ask me to give a feeling, it's probably the size of a human."

At this moment, Simon, Shada, and Aknadi, who were inside the hall, also came out and saw the Pharaoh looking down at the late Seth, muttering something to him. Seeing that the Pharaoh didn't seem to be holding Seth accountable for being late, but rather had something for him to do, Aknadi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, glad that the Pharaoh's temper seemed to be quite good.

But at the same time, a voice seemed to be speaking in Aknadi's heart: "If we are always controlled by others, Seth's safety will not be guaranteed at all. What if Seth offends the Pharaoh and is tortured? We can't expect the Pharaoh's temper to stay the same forever. People always change."

"Instead of doing that, it would be better to find an opportunity to make the Pharaoh..."

The terrifying thought had just abruptly surfaced in Aknadi's mind when he immediately suppressed it. Aknadi himself didn't understand what was happening; why had such a dangerous idea suddenly arise in his mind?

Recalling what had just fallen from the sky, Yami Yugi, finding it difficult to describe, slammed his fist against his outstretched palm and said, "No, I've thought about it, and I think I should go myself. It seems to be something that can only be found by seeing it with my own eyes; that's my intuition."

"Are you leaving the palace again, Pharaoh?" Hearing that Yami Yugi had changed his mind and planned to leave the palace to find it himself, Set glanced in the direction Yugi had pointed. It seemed to be not too far outside the royal city. Sending a portion of the troops to follow the Pharaoh out of the city should not be a problem, but if it was a round trip, it seemed that there would not be much time left today.

"Before you leave the palace, I would like to show you something."