Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Of all the Prana companions who came to the Kaiba Dome, Sera was the only one who had not yet been captured. This was because other Prana companions, upon realizing that the Kaiba Corporation had sent people to capture them, promptly informed the others of their discovery using Prana's abilities, and also because Sera was given a special spare by Hayato.

Otherwise, if the other Prana members also received warnings, why was it that only Serra managed to escape?

Sensing the subtle emergence of "anxiety" and "worry" within the shared fluctuations of the Prana, and knowing how dangerous these inappropriate emotions were to their Prana resonance link, Sera immediately reassured them, "Calm down."

Although tears welled up in her eyes and were about to fall, because the other Prana companions had not seen Sera in person, they could only sense the calm and composed emotion emanating from her: "Next, we still have a chance for 'Dimensional Ascension,' even if we lose the [Quantum Cube] and the Deva who led us."

"Even if the Quantum Cube falls into the hands of the Hikvision Group, Pharaoh Atum will not be able to be resurrected and return to the world so quickly."

As soon as she finished speaking, someone next to Sera suddenly said, "That's true. After all, who knows if Ozymandias actually relayed the message to Atum, or what Atum is thinking? And even if everything goes smoothly, mastering the use of the Quantum Cube will still take some time."

Turning her head sharply to look at her side, Sera saw that Kobayashi Hayato was standing right next to her, nodding in affirmation of her words. "But if we're judging by Kaiba's talent, a year? Three months? A week? I can't say for sure how long that 'dimensional ascent' will last."

"Kobayashi Hayato!" Sera quickly took two steps back to distance herself from Hayato. Although she was still standing here thanks to Hayato for letting her go, she remained wary of him. "How did you get here?!"

Hayato didn't seem to care about Sera's wary look, and casually pointed a short distance behind him with his thumb: "Take the stairs."

"And then your next sentence is, 'I'm not asking how you got here, I'm asking how you knew I was here and what you want to do now,' right?"

“I’m not asking how you got here, I’m asking how you know me—” Sera started to say, then belatedly realized that what she was about to say was exactly what Hayato had predicted. She said with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, “You have the abilities of Prana, which have already grown to this level, so why are you always stopping us? We should be comrades!”

“Well, because people who walk the same path can only be called companions, while those who walk different paths but can move towards the same goal are friends.” Hayato shrugged, glanced at Sera, and scratched his head helplessly. “Although I do have the talent you call ‘Planar,’ which I prefer to call ‘Newtype,’ it’s impossible for us to become companions for that reason.”

"Ultimately, 'dimensional ascension' is not a good thing at all, and I can't convince you with words. You might as well go and see for yourself what the dimensional ascension you're looking for really looks like."

Following Hayato's pointing finger, Sera looked again at the platform where Kaiba was now, but only Kaiba Seto and the Quantum Cube remained on that platform used for dueling...

Hmm!? This looks like a Quantum Cube...!

Sera suddenly noticed that the Quantum Cube, which had turned back into a cube after Blue God's defeat, was now shining with a golden light even though no one was using it, and reliefs that Sera was quite familiar with kept appearing on its six faces.

“The Millennium Key, the Millennium Scales, the Millennium Eye?” How could Sera not recognize those reliefs? Right there in the place where they gathered in Prana, on those seven rock pillars left behind by Lord Shadi, there were reliefs inscribed with the same style. “Millennium Jewelry, Millennium Scepter…”

"And the [Millennial Wisdom Wheel]!" Sera clenched her fists, staring at the final bas-relief of the [Millennial Wisdom Wheel], "What happened? What's going on?!"

"What exactly is Quantum Cube?"

Although it is a cube, the Quantum Cube is missing a corner compared to a regular cube. After the Millennium Wisdom Wheel lights up and a relief of a Millennium Artifact appears on each face, the missing triangle suddenly opens, revealing the interior of the Quantum Cube.

At the same time, a boastful laugh echoed from within the Quantum Cube: "I should have realized this long ago! Why did it take me so long to realize it after arriving here? I should have done this sooner! I finally succeeded! I've successfully found the invincible power!"

"Become a sacrifice, [Obelisk the Titan], and then I will obtain a true 'god' who can guide humanity!"

Chapter 975 Sacrificial Divine Weapon, Heavenly Pit Dragon, and Corpse-Rising Bird

"What is that thing?!" "What on earth happened?!"

As a large amount of black mist was released from the Quantum Cube on the dueling arena, the audience inside the Seahorse Dome inevitably fell into panic.

The dangerous black mist quickly spread and affected the entire area, much like the red arena that had suddenly opened up before... Hmm? The red arena from before?

"I get it! This must also be part of Haima Group's virtual projection performance!" someone in the crowd suddenly said confidently. "Fantastic! I'm starting to understand everything!"

"Look there!"

Some noticed that in front of the Quantum Cube, the card of Obelisk the Tormentor, which had disappeared along with the Blue God, was floating in mid-air. The figure of Obelisk the Tormentor, which had disappeared, was forcibly reappeared under the light of the Quantum Cube.

"The Duel Monsters cards were projected out. It's obvious that this is the same virtual projection technology as the plane that suddenly crashed before."

Upon hearing the reminder from others, the other audience members suddenly realized, "This is also part of the virtual projection!"

"Wow, the realism is really high. I thought something really bad had happened."

"How is that possible? But didn't we already demonstrate Haima Group's virtual projection technology once as the opening performance for this GeneX competition? Why are we doing it again?"

"Why do you care so much? It's a free show, so why not take it? They didn't ask us to pay extra. Can you even see such a realistic performance in a movie theater?"

"That's true."

Seahorse had no idea why the audience had adapted so quickly to the changes brought about by the Quantum Cube. Although there was a slight disturbance at first, it quickly subsided, and many people were even leisurely eating popcorn as if they were watching a movie.

Seahorse didn't care about those things. He frowned as he looked at the [Quantum Cube] billowing thick smoke: "That voice, is it that guy called Blue God? But why is it coming from that box?"

A possibility dawned on him, and Kaiba's eyes sharpened instantly. "Tch, so that cube is actually a dueling device that also functions as a hacking machine? It used the opportunity of connecting to the virtual projection device inside the Kaiba Egg during a duel to hack into the system, and then created this illusion to escape?"

"Hmph, that explains why the human body just vanished into thin air!"

"Then how do you explain the sound? I'm quite curious how you understand that Blue God's voice came from the [Quantum Cube]."

Suddenly, he heard a sound of something landing behind him. Turning around, he saw Hayato holding a girl in his arms and kneeling on one knee on the elevator platform. It seemed to be the sound of him jumping onto the platform with the girl.

"Hmph, Sera, right? What do you think of Hayato Kobayashi?"

Kaiba glanced at Sera with disdain. He still had a deep impression of this girl who dared to break into the Kaiba Group headquarters building and challenge him to a duel. He also asked about the result of what he had mentioned during their last duel: "You can't understand a person without face-to-face contact."

But he only asked casually and didn't really care about Sera's answer to Hayato's question. Instead, he looked at Hayato to answer his question: "The principle that the sound comes out of that box is too simple. He has already hacked into the virtual projection system. It is not a problem at all for him to transmit his own audio signal to that device using wireless technology."

"As expected of you, Seth." Hayato smiled and put Sera down from his arms. After the incident at the Quantum Cube, Sera, as the only remaining Prana present, or rather, Prana connected to the consciousness of the Blue God, experienced extremely uncomfortable symptoms.

The golden inverted triangle symbolizing Prana appeared and lit up on its own between his eyebrows, and cold sweat kept pouring down his forehead because he felt the evil and terrifying emotions constantly coming from the Blue God. It was because of his weak appearance that Hayato felt he couldn't just leave the other person behind, so he picked up Sera and jumped down from the height to the elevator platform where the seahorse was.

"I won't thank you for this." But Sera was still as difficult to get along with as ever. Even though she looked like she was in a lot of pain, she was still quite resistant to Hayato's kindness. But she still asked Hayato, "Don't your knees hurt? Landing in that kind of posture that has no meaning other than looking cool?"

"Hmph, it's perfectly fine. If you have such worries, it means you don't understand at all. You can't generalize about everyone's physical condition, especially for duelists. Let alone landing in a super-knee-damaging superhero style, jumping out of a plane without any protection is a piece of cake for them. Right, Seth?"

"Hmph, boring."

Just as Hayato and Kaiba were talking, Sera felt a chill run through her body because she could not break the connection with the collective consciousness of Prana. She hugged herself tightly, but still forced herself to move closer to the Quantum Cube.

"Ah, this feeling, is it Sera?"

The Blue God within the [Quantum Cube] seemed to sense Sera's approach and stopped releasing black mist from the triangular position. However, the black mist that had already been released did not dissipate but instead swirled around the [Quantum Cube], radiating an ominous golden light and pulsating like a heart.

As if absorbing nutrients, the black mist released by the Quantum Cube was reabsorbed along the relief of the Millennium Artifact that appeared on the surface of the Quantum Cube. The Quantum Cube, rather than jumping, seemed to be wriggling and growing larger. Tiny golden cubes appeared and sank on its surface like waves.

When the Quantum Cube grew to nearly three meters tall, an eye suddenly appeared in the missing triangle, startling Sera.

At the same time, the light on the Quantum Cube instantly changed from gold to a near-black blood red, giving an increasingly ominous feeling, and a chest was being squeezed out of the Quantum Cube.

“Diva!?” Subconsciously, Sera thought that it was the Blue God who had disappeared in the dimensional battle and returned from the [Quantum Cube], but when she saw the chest clearly, she rejected the idea, because she did not remember that the Blue God’s skin color was such a strange blue-gray.

To clarify, Sera wasn't prejudiced against skin color; rather, the "human" figure that emerged from the Quantum Cube was causing her some physical discomfort. But then, that "human" actually answered her.

"Ah, Sera, I've returned from the other side of the dimension."

As the "person" pulled his head out of the Quantum Cube, Sera saw that above where a human's head should be, the "person's" head was actually made up of several purplish-red cubes, extremely irregular, which would enrage someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

At the same time, Sera also noticed that the other party's hands, which extended from the [Quantum Cube], also had the same purplish-red cubes, which were attached like patches on the skin of a skin disease patient. The fingertips of the hands were abnormally sharp, like some kind of wild beast, and the knees of the legs were bent backward like a dog. It was simply a monster.

Looking at the monster with long, white hair covered in mold-like patterns, a pair of sharply defined purple wings on its back, and a tail made of blocks that looked like it could break at any moment, Sera stared at the eyes on its head that were growing out of blocks, her voice trembling slightly: "Are you... Diva?"

"What on earth happened?!"

“It’s a very pure place, a tranquil white expanse where consciousnesses are interconnected. It’s a place that one longs for.” Hearing Sera’s question, the monster, who had been transformed from a human once named “Diva,” replied in a nostalgic tone, “So, I have returned from the other side of the dimension to lead you in continuing the work of ‘Dimensional Ascent’.”

"I want to help you also enjoy that higher dimension of beauty, in this beautiful form!"

Upon hearing "Blue God's" words, Hayato couldn't help but glance at the other party and retorted, "I think I need to appeal a copyright issue for a certain future Satisfying Reaper. Your appearance is exactly like the [Infernal Fire Death Dragon]. No, that's not quite right either. Saying you look like the [Infernal Fire Death Dragon] is an insult to it."

"Hayato Kobayashi! You're here too..."

Upon hearing Hayato's voice, "Blue God" didn't turn its head. One of its eyes, which was originally on a cube, closed and disappeared. Then, on another cube facing Hayato, it opened an eye, allowing it to look directly at Hayato without turning around. "Although I don't know what the [Eternal Fire Death Dragon] is, I can sense that what you said is completely correct."

"My posture is both beautiful and ugly, but it is the insignificant price that humanity must pay to ascend to a higher dimension, for the human soul is inherently such a beautiful and ugly thing!"

Extending its claw and gripping tightly, "Blue God's" one eye moved to the side, looking at the [Quantum Cube] that had "born" it and was still expanding, already over four meters tall.

"At the moment of defeat in the dimensional duel, I thought I would fall into a lower dimension. However, perhaps because I had not fulfilled my destiny of guiding humanity to salvation, I actually stepped into a higher dimension because of my previous unfinished 'dimensional ascent'. But because of this, I took a wrong step when entering the higher dimension with negative emotions that I should not have, and entered the dark side of the dimension."

"But even if it's the dark side of the dimension, it doesn't matter. From there, I obtained another method to lead humanity to 'dimensional ascension.' Even if I couldn't release the seven Millennium Items, it doesn't matter. Although it's a bit slow, by using the Quantum Cube, I can help everyone gradually enter a higher-dimensional world!"

Upon hearing "Blue God's" words, Sera couldn't help but look at the [Quantum Cube]. It was still expanding and had gradually reached the elevator platform beneath their feet, swallowing up a portion of the ground: "The essence of the [Quantum Cube] is a gateway to the dimensional realm, but it should have been used for dimensional transformation, to escape this filthy world and go to a beautiful new world. Deva, you have gone astray!"

"That's not true. Even the dark side of the dimension doesn't matter. It's as pure as the new world. As long as you leave this world, it's fine!" Completely ignoring Sera's words, "Blue God" waved his hand. "Even Sera, who is also from Prana, and your other companions don't approve of me? It doesn't matter. Anyway, no one can stop me now that I have obtained the power of 'God'!"

"See? This is what happens when you betray me, [Obelisk the Titan]!"

The group witnessed the Obelisk, which had been forcibly summoned at the very beginning of the Quantum Cube's transformation and was already rendered immobile and turned to stone, being enveloped by countless streams of black mist as the "Blue God" waved his hand. Then, as if an insect were emerging from its cocoon, a pair of sharp blades pierced through the Obelisk's body from the inside out, tearing it to pieces and causing it to dissipate!

"Ah, [Obelisk] really can't escape the fate of being a 'sacrifice to the gods' after all," Hayato remarked. "Just like [Osiris] is still a 'sinkhole dragon'."

"And your [Ra's Winged Dragon] has 'come back to life' again, hasn't it? Hmph, I saw it clearly on the surveillance footage." Kaiba glanced at Hayato and added on his behalf. The two of them didn't pay any attention to the new monster that appeared in front of "Blue God" while they were talking.

At the top of the cone-shaped body, which is made entirely of dark purple blocks, is a transparent block the size of a person. Inside is a perfectly round sphere that seems to be its core. From the core extend two smooth, tentacle-like parts that are probably "arms". At the ends of the arms are a round axe and a sharp claw, respectively, which looks quite dangerous.

Even more chilling is that its eyes are not located on the core sphere, but on its shoulders and palms, which is completely unlike what a normal living creature should look like!

"Darkness, darkness, darkness! Devouring the light, plunging the world into darkness! The true God, born from the disobedient gods, who submits to me!"

"【Dark Cube World God - Crimson Nova】!"

Shouting the name of the monster he commanded and bestowing upon it the title of "god," "Blue God" turned his head instead of moving his eyes for the first time, looking at Hayato: "Do you dare to accept this duel in the Dark Realm, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Hmph, you pretentious bastard!" Kaiba said unhappily when he heard that the guy opposite him actually wanted to challenge Hayato. "You think you can scare me by hacking into the virtual projection system and creating such an ugly appearance? I'm the one who should be your opponent."

“But Kaiba, you’re not interested in guys you’ve already beaten once, are you?” Hayato held out his hand to Kaiba. “So, after crushing a noob, you’ve satisfied your card-playing craving a bit, right? Time to hand over the reins, let me play a game of crushing noobs.”

Hearing Hayato say that, Kaiba reluctantly raised his hand to give Hayato a high five, then turned around without hesitation.

Chapter 976 The opponent will definitely have a feather duster as their second move.

Kaiba had no doubt about Hayato's strength. In any case, he had indeed had his fill, just as Hayato had said, and left decisively.

The ever-expanding Quantum Cube has already swallowed part of the elevator platform. The seahorse doesn't want it to cause any further damage to the venue, as they'll be playing cards here later.

"Seriously, wasn't that a bit too much?" Rubbing his slightly numb palms, Hayato didn't look at Kaiba, but turned around, took out his deck, inserted it into the Duel Disk, and looked at Aokiji, saying, "Then, return your life to the heavens."

"Duel!"

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Seeing Hayato's base score stop at 4000 after drawing five cards, Blue God laughed arrogantly as if his scheme had succeeded: "Hahahaha, in that case, the Dark Dimensional Domain Duel begins!"

"Duel!"

The golden cubes gathered in Blue God's hand, forming a duel disk. Then, Hayato's eyes widened as he looked at the numbers displayed on the virtual panel next to Blue God, who didn't seem to care about being shameless at all.

[Blue God: 8000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Dark Cube World God - Crimson Nova] [ATK3000]

"Hahaha, you didn't expect that, did you, Hayato Kobayashi? The starting base score in the Dark Dimensional Domain Duel should be 8000 points, and from the very beginning, I had [Dark Side Kaijin - Crimson Nova] on my field!"

"Not only do I have twice the base score of you, so I don't have to worry about being affected by those nasty effects and losing, but I also have an extra card resource from the start!" Blue God said proudly. "My win rate is 1000%!"