Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Upon hearing the game, Atum turned his head, smiled, nodded, and gave a thumbs up: "Ah, I won't forget you guys either!"

As he turned his head, Atum walked forward into the light again, his right thumb still raised beside him, without retracting it.

In that light, Atum's school uniform billowed up and transformed into his cloak, and his attire reverted to its appearance three thousand years ago when he was still alive.

And before him, those who had been waiting for him in the underworld for three thousand years appeared before Atum's eyes: the guardian priests, Priest Simon, Seth, Mahad, Mana, and his father Aknam...

His figure vanished into the light, and the gates of the underworld slowly closed.

"This story originates from Yugi Muto's encounter with the nameless pharaoh in the light when he completed the Millennium Puzzle." Hayato said calmly, watching the door slowly close, seemingly lost in thought. "In the end, Atum's tale also came to an end in the light."

Chapter 933 Malik, Withering!

As she watched the gates of the underworld slowly close, Kyoko couldn't help but take a step in that direction, wanting to follow Atum's disappearing figure.

But Jonouchi stopped her, shook his head, and said nothing.

Watching Atem depart, the atmosphere in the underground temple was extremely somber. Even Kaiba removed the terminal from his ear and remained silent. However, just when everyone else assumed that Kaiba was also grieving Atem's departure...

"No, we can't stay here any longer." With a serious expression, Haima turned to leave. "Too many people have come into this long-term enclosed underground space, and there's not enough oxygen. I'm even hallucinating."

"How could Yugi Muto split into two people? And why is the relief on the stone wall glowing even though there's no power supply? What's even more absurd is that I actually saw another version of myself behind the stone wall. Hmph, was the dream I had recently so vivid that I subconsciously had related hallucinations?"

"You idiot, don't you have any sense of atmosphere?"

Ameruda complained, but Kaiba raised his head confidently and said, "In my life so far, although I have tried to figure out what others are thinking, I have never changed my behavior to accommodate them. My past life has always been about being able to walk straight on my own path!"

“Nobody’s praising you!” Jonouchi looked at Kaiba helplessly, though the sadness brought on by Atem’s departure had eased somewhat. He turned back to look at the closed gates of the underworld and sighed, “He really did leave quite gracefully, Atem…”

"Let us take a break a little longer."

However, almost at the same time that Cheng Nei finished speaking, a small pebble fell from above and swept past Malik's eyes, causing him to subconsciously look up at the sky.

Then, he saw that above the underground temple, dense cracks had appeared all over the ceiling without his noticing. The small pebble that had just fallen was just the beginning; a larger stone followed suit and fell down as well.

"Hey, I'm telling you, let's go outside. This isn't a good place for mourning."

Hearing Malik's words, everyone looked at him and, following Malik's raised head, looked up at the ceiling, noticing the increasing number of cracks that were spreading and expanding.

At the same time, the gates to the underworld that had just been tightly closed began to tremble violently, as if an earthquake had struck, and even the ground beneath our feet began to shake, making the fragile ceiling above us even more dangerous.

"boom!"

A loud bang came from the stone slab containing the [Millennial Artifact] on the altar in front of the gates of the underworld, and everyone turned to look at it again.

"A stone tablet from the underworld?" Jonouchi stared at the stone tablet, unsure of what to do.

The stone slab was covered in cracks, and with a loud crash, it shattered and collapsed completely, causing the remains of the slab and the [Millennial Artifacts] placed on it to fall into the deeper underground.

"【Millennium Puzzle】!"

The game player instinctively wanted to grab the Millennium Puzzle, which was so close at hand, and keep the treasure that was engraved with his deep memories with Atum. However, he remembered that one of Atum's purposes in returning to the Underworld was to seal the Millennium Artifact.

Because of that momentary hesitation, the game merely touched the cold surface of the Millennium Puzzle with its fingertips, then watched it drift further and further away from itself, falling into the depths of the underground.

"Yugi!" Hayato grabbed Yugi, who was lying on the edge of the pit. "Let's go!"

The collapse of the Netherworld Stone Tablets seemed to be a signal, with more stones falling from the ceiling. The current scene indicated that this underground temple would likely collapse and be destroyed soon, just like the Netherworld Stone Tablets. If they didn't leave quickly, they might die here!

"It's dangerous here!" "Everyone, get out of here!"

Keihei and Muto Soroku, the old man and the young man, moved quickly and, sensing the danger, were already heading towards the exit, while urging the others to follow. Yugi, who was being held back by Hayato, was still somewhat reluctant to let go of the Millennium Puzzle and Atem, but he still caught up with the main group and began to escape.

The falling rocks above were getting bigger and bigger, and several rocks were already bigger than a person. If someone were hit by one, they would be crippled even if they didn't die. Seeing this, all the people could do was try to run as fast as they could.

In order to leave as quickly as possible, Keihei was picked up by Kaiba, and Jonouchi carried Sugoroku on his back. Honda and Otogi each dragged Malik and Bakura, two guys with low physical strength, to help them. Hayato held Isis's hand, and Yugi held Kyoko's hand.

Ameruda, running in the middle of the group, looked left and right. No one needed his help, so he was happy to run alone in peace.

Occasionally, a few rocks that were about to fall and hit people or block their way were blocked and moved aside by the monsters commanded by several card spirits that could materialize, allowing them to successfully enter the stone steps leading to the ground.

However, this passage would also be affected when the underground temple collapsed, so those who had entered the passage continued to flee without stopping. But before leaving, Hayato glanced back.

At the edge of the bottomless pit in front of the gates of the underworld, Shadi, who had disappeared sometime earlier, reappeared, looking at the departing group from afar.

A rock fell and briefly blocked Hayato's view, but when he looked back, Shadi had disappeared once again.

If Hayato remembers correctly, this was exactly what that guy was planning: Atum's return to the Underworld and the Millennium Item falling underground were the results Shadi wanted, and he has succeeded.

However, Hayato did not linger any longer. He pulled Isis along and climbed the long staircase. Together with the others, they finally escaped back to the surface before the underground temple completely collapsed and buried them.

"Phew, why are there such long steps? It reminds me of the painful memories of climbing the steps in front of Pegasus's castle back in the Duel Kingdom." Panting heavily, too exhausted to feel any sadness, Kyoko looked behind her at the collapsed steps buried under rubble with a sense of relief at having escaped death.

The game beside her also looked exhausted. Not only that, Bakura, Malik, Otogi and others were not much different, while Keihei and Muto Soroku were in better condition because they hadn't climbed the stairs much.

But there are also guys who are completely unharmed, like Ameruda, Jonouchi Honda, Kaiba, and Hayato.

"This intensity is alright, but I feel you need to practice more, Game." Jonouchi patted his chest. Despite having just done strenuous exercise, his breathing was still quite steady, as if he had only warmed up. "100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats every day, and then a 10-kilometer run."

"Most importantly, you can't turn on the air conditioner no matter how hot it is in the summer," Honda added. "If you stick to it for about three years, you'll have the same good health as me and Jonouchi."

"That doesn't sound reliable at all." Bakura looked at the blocked passage after managing to calm his breathing. "But it really is dangerous. Why did it suddenly collapse there?"

"Having fulfilled their mission of welcoming back the Pharaoh's soul, the Millennium Artifacts have lost their reason to continue existing in the mortal world. Their final destiny is to be buried deep underground along with the Pharaoh and the gates of the underworld."

Touching her collarbone, which was exposed because she wasn't wearing the [Millennium Jewelry], Isis said easily, "And after this, the gates to the underworld will remain closed for a long time and will never be able to open again. The mission left behind by the tomb guardians for three thousand years has finally come to an end."

“In that case, the burden on your shoulders will disappear, sister.” Malik nodded to himself, then suddenly seemed to think of something, nudged Hayato with his elbow and grinned mischievously, “No, it’s not that there’s no burden at all. Brother-in-law, you should massage your sister’s shoulders to help her relax.”

"boom!"

Malik, with a bump on his head, lay on the ground eating sand, while Hayato lowered his hands, looked at Yugi, and said, "Although Atem's story has ended, our story continues."

"Your story? Hmph, the only important thing from beginning to end is my story, Seto Kaiba's story, and the very beginning of my story is to defeat you and Yugi to become the Duel King, Hayato Kobayashi!" Kaiba said with great momentum after hearing Hayato's words.

"Hmm? So, Kaiba, your card addiction is acting up again?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. "I don't mind using you to farm some more DP... I mean, to practice your dueling skills."

But to Hayato's surprise, Kaiba refused. Kaiba, who felt uncomfortable if he didn't play cards, actually refused to play cards.

"Hmph, I will defeat you, Hayato Kobayashi, one day, but not now. I'm not as incompetent as some mediocre people who can't see the difference between themselves and others." Kaiba said, turning around. "Although it was an illusion, it really gave me a lot of inspiration. Let's go back, Keihei."

"Huh? Are we leaving already? Sigh, our short, relaxing vacation is over." Guiping sighed, looked at Hayato and the others, and politely said goodbye. "Well then, goodbye, Hayato-nii and everyone else. My brother and I will be leaving now."

A jet appeared on the horizon and flew towards the valley where they were. However, even though the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet owned by Kaiba could take off and land vertically, the distance between the valleys was too short, so the two of them needed to go to a slightly farther place where the plane could land in order to board the plane. They quickly drove away.

"Hahaha, Kaiba must have chickened out. He ran away as soon as he heard he was going to duel Hayato. What a coward." Jonouchi, completely oblivious to the fact that Kaiba had just dissed him—or perhaps he didn't even realize that Kaiba was talking about him—said arrogantly as he watched Kaiba's departing figure.

But after laughing at the seahorse, he turned back to look at the closed passage and whispered to the others, "Let's leave here too. It's all over now."

“Well then, it’s time for me to say goodbye. Witnessing the final resting place of the Pharaoh’s soul has stirred my heart quite a bit.” Ameruda said, walking in the same direction as the seahorse, her back to Hayato and the others, “If I run into Rafael in the future, I wonder what kind of expression he’ll have when he finds out.”

"Well then, goodbye, Yugi Muto, Hayato Kobayashi." With his back to the crowd, Amelda waved goodbye.

The restaurant where Ameruda works was closed for New Year's Day yesterday, so he was actually absent today. However, Ameruda didn't care too much about that and wasn't in a hurry to go back to the restaurant, since it was too late anyway.

Leaving the valley along the road, the group returned to the port where the ship had been moored. The ship, purchased by Pegasus, was still waiting for them. According to Pegasus's plan, if the players needed it, the ship could take them on a continued journey along the Nile.

Before boarding, Hayato noticed that the ship was named "Kanak," a luxury cruise ship on the Nile River—a truly impressive combination. But what amplified this appeal was Hayato's announcement to the captain of their next destination after boarding—

"Abu Simbel temple? That sounds like a person's name. Is that some kind of Egyptian god?" Jonouchi said with some doubt.

"No, Abu Simbel temples. I remember the name comes from a boy who guided Westerners to the temple, but I don't know if that's true." Honda had clearly done a lot of research on Egypt. He looked at Hayato with some curiosity and asked, "But Hayato, why do you suddenly want to go there?"

"Ah, found it." The gamer, who was searching on Google on his phone, showed the Abu Simbel temple description on the screen to everyone. "That temple is part of the Nubian ruins that we didn't have time to see before. It seems to be one of the ninety-nine must-see attractions in Egypt."

"Ninety-nine must-see attractions...that's just a tourist guide written by the attraction staff to sell tickets, isn't it?" Jonouchi scoffed, glancing at the phone screen in the gamer's hand and reading aloud, "Attraction summary: Sun Festival wonders, giant Ramses II cliff carvings..."

"The Sun Festival...it doesn't seem to be here yet. So, I'd like to go see the statue of Ramses II, brother-in-law?" Having never been to the world of Memory of the King, Malik was unaware of Hayato's complicated relationship with Ramses II and casually remarked, "What's so interesting about that cowardly statue of Ramses II—"

"boom!"

A second bump appeared on Malik's head, where the previous bump hadn't yet subsided.

Chapter 934 No one understands Ramses II better than me

The Abu Simbel temples, even in Egypt with its many ruins, are among the most dazzling of countless treasures.

It took a day for the ship to carry everyone along the Nile to the vicinity of this treasure, where the front of the temple and the four giant human statues sitting in meditation could be seen from afar.

"This temple is a creation from three thousand years ago, built by the famous Pharaoh Ramses II, who was also one of the most renowned pharaohs in ancient Egypt. The temple is also known as the 'Temple of Ramses, Favored by the Sun.' However, Miss Isis should know more about this than we do, as should you, Hayato."

As they disembarked from the ship and walked towards the Abu Simbel temple, Yugi described the temple to the group, based on what he had seen on the encyclopedia. He then looked at Isis and Hayato, who were walking side by side.

"Actually, we're not heading towards the 'original' Abu Simbel temple right now." Isis, the director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority and the head of the tomb-keeping clan, didn't recite the introduction to the Abu Simbel temple; that's the tour guide's job. "What we're going to now is actually the 'new' Abu Simbel temple."

“Huh? ‘New’?” Jonouchi paused, looking at the temple in the distance with some surprise. “Could it be that the temple was once burned down because of human desires, causing the gods who lived there to leave in anger after resurrecting the lives that died in the fire, and humans built a new tower to call back the gods?”

"Idiot, what you're talking about is the Bell Tower, it's something from the Pokémon movie set next door."

Hayato remarked, "Besides, the Abu Simbel temple is completely different from the temples you saw in Domino City. It wasn't built with earth, stone, or wood; it was carved out of nothing using a mountain next to the Nile as its canvas."

“If we’re talking about a fire, it was the Library of Alexandria that was destroyed. The manuscripts of Homer’s epics, the manuscripts of Archimedes, Aristotle, and Hippocrates, and the first Greek Bible manuscript were all burned to the ground,” Isis said, sighing with regret.

Compared to Jonouchi, Honda had done some research and vaguely remembered Isis's words: "I remember that the Abu Simbel temple was moved, right? The original temple, which was integrated with the mountain, was cut up, moved to our current destination, and then reassembled, and then an artificial mountain was built to cover it."

Isis nodded and said, "That's because dams needed to be built on the Nile River at that time. Although the ancient ruins were very beautiful, people's lives also needed to be guaranteed. If they didn't want to be submerged by the Nile, the relocation of the Abu Simbel temples was necessary."

"However, because it was impossible to emulate the ancient Egyptians' calculations of the starry sky and the changes in the starry sky over the past three thousand years, even though the relocated Abu Simbel temples were perfectly restored, the sunlight that shone into the end of the temple during the annual Sun Festival was off, arriving a day earlier and slightly off."

“The days when the sun shines directly are February 21, the birthday of Ramses II, and October 21, the day of his coronation. At the same time, the light that shines in will only illuminate the three statues at the end of the temple: Amun-Ra, Ramses II, and Harakti, while Ptah will be immersed in darkness for a long time.”

"But after the deviation, on February 20th and October 20th of each year, the sun will shine into the temple, and the Ptah statue will also be illuminated."

Turning her head to look behind them, Isis said softly, "The ruins of the temple, whose stone carvings were removed, have also been submerged beneath the Nile..."

The passage of time and the loss of beautiful things are always saddening, especially for Isis, who works in the field of cultural relic preservation.

Hayato squeezed her hand and changed the subject, saying, "However, it's better than the entire temple being submerged. It allows the world to see more of our achievements. Meliamon, no, Ramses II, that guy won't care about those slight deviations."

“I don’t think so, brother-in-law. Pharaoh Ramses II was, after all, a pharaoh who was high above others. If his subordinates dared to do something wrong, they would be punished. The pharaoh’s dignity was not to be offended, especially since the Abu Simbel temples were one of the temple complexes built for his beloved queen Nefertari.”

Although he left the tomb-guarding family early on, Malik wasn't completely ignorant. Emphasizing this with gestures resembling the accordion, he confidently declared, "No one knows Ramses II better than me!"

The group of people who had been to the Stone Tablet World of the King's Memory first looked at the confident Malik, then at Hayato, and all wore strange smiles on their faces.

Hayato ignored Malik's words and stopped, looking ahead: "We've arrived."

Although they had seen many large buildings, such as the Duel Tower on Devil's Island, which was destroyed by Kaiba once, and Dartz's Temple on Doma Island, the building in front of them was still the most magnificent, even compared to the buildings that Jonouchi and Yugi had seen.

Even after three thousand years of change, and even though the four seated statues of Ramses II on either side of the main entrance are now damaged, with one of them missing most of its body, everyone who sees the Abu Simbel temples can't help but gasp in amazement.

Game: "Ruins preserved from three thousand years ago..."

Anzu: "Are those smaller statues the children of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari? How romantic."