Chapter 265: Regulus
"Hmph, two boring guys." Bakura looked at Hayato with disdain. Although the power of the *Millennium Eye* couldn't read Hayato's current thoughts due to the *Millennium Ring*, Hayato's expression had already revealed everything.
"Battle City is quite an interesting tournament, you know. I don't have any intention of settling scores with you two just yet, so feel free to continue enjoying your Duel Monsters game. I'm leaving too." Swallowing the *Millennium Eye* once more, Bakura smiled sinisterly, stepped back, and slowly retreated back into the shadows cast by the nearby large tree.
Quite satisfied with his current body, Dark Bakura temporarily had no intention of inserting the *Millennium Eye* into his eye socket to become a cyclops. To prevent a repeat of Hayato taking his *Millennium Ring* last time, he chose to store the *Millennium Eye* inside his stomach.
While this method was a bit disgusting, it was indeed effective to some extent. Just now, Hayato's first reaction was to think of a physical confrontation, but his second thought was to take the *Millennium Eye* from Bakura. However, after recalling that the *Millennium Eye* had previously been soaked in Pegasus's blood, Bakura's saliva, and gastric acid, Hayato reluctantly gave up.
"You, of all people, are actually leaving so obediently?" Hayato narrowed his eyes. "Did you specifically appear before us just to say all that?"
"Hehehe, of course not, you two idiots." From within the shadows, Bakura raised his hand, flipped his palm, and revealed a card. "Even though Weevil is simply a good-for-nothing whose strength doesn't match his reputation, because his duel opponent was you, Yugi, this card unexpectedly gathered a good amount of duel power."
"As compensation for this power, I, for once, will be kind enough to give you a reminder." Bakura's figure slowly vanished into thin air within the shadows, leaving only a final sentence echoing in Hayato's and Yugi's ears:
"Among the duelists gathered in the current Domino City, an ancient dark force is also eyeing both of you."
Watching Bakura's figure disappear, Yugi frowned. "An ancient dark force?"
"That Bakura, he really played it up." Hayato pulled out his phone, intending to send a message to Kaiba telling him someone had died, while patting Yugi's shoulder. "Although I don't know if what Bakura said is true or false, no matter what organization it is—Celestial Being, Group X, Akatsuki, Shocker, whatever."
"As duelists, we just need to defeat them in a duel. Everything can be dueled; that's the rule of this world."
The message on his phone had barely been sent when Hayato was about to put it away, but he found that Kaiba had replied immediately. Before Hayato could open it to check, the sound of helicopter rotors spinning rapidly came from above his and Yugi's heads, along with Kaiba's voice, which even the rotor's noise couldn't cover.
"Hmph, you've already finished your duel so quickly?"
Wearing a white trench coat that seemed to have become permanently bound to him, Kaiba, holding a safety rope with one hand, jumped directly from the helicopter. After landing swiftly, he released the rope used for cushioning and deceleration, allowing the helicopter, its mission complete, to depart.
"Kaiba." Yugi greeted him.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Kaiba snorted coldly. "Hmph, Hayato, Yugi, you two small fry are gathered together again. What, do you already have a definite grasp on the Top 8 spots for Battle City?"
"More than that, I'm more concerned about your hand. Is it alright?" Hayato glanced at the hand Kaiba held behind his back. "You fast-roped from a helicopter without even wearing gloves. I didn't expect you to be even more ostentatious."
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Kaiba stiffly changed the subject, glancing at Weevil, who lay motionless not far away — or rather, Weevil's corpse — and frowned.
"I assume KaibaCorp, knowing that Rare Hunters use bootleg cards, especially bootleg cards like the Blue-Eyes Green Dragon, will probably add data monitoring to the cards used on Duel Disks, right?"
Hayato said, walking over to Weevil, flipping his body over and moving it aside. First, he picked up the scattered cards on the ground, then pointed at Weevil's upturned eyes and said, "In that case, you should know what kind of card Weevil used, Kaiba?"
"*Uria, Lord of Searing Flames*, in the card database KaibaCorp obtained from Industrial Illusions, this card does not exist, just like your *Performapal* cards, Hayato."
Kaiba's gaze towards Hayato seemed to demand an explanation from Hayato about where his cards came from. They clearly didn't exist in any records, yet they could pass the card identification system—the exact opposite of bootleg cards, which were in the database but couldn't be identified.
"You don't need to know that much about Duel Monsters."
Seeing Hayato's evasiveness, Kaiba didn't pay too much attention. He only had a slight interest in *Performapal* cards. What he truly wanted were powerful monsters like the Egyptian God Cards.
"Hmph, then let's skip this question. Although I didn't find any information about *Uria, Lord of Searing Flames* in the Duel Monsters card database, I got my hands on Pegasus's notes from when he first designed Duel Monsters."
"After Pegasus created Duel Monsters based on the Stone Tablets excavated from Ancient Egypt, his inspiration burst forth, leading him to draw parallels, and he began to look at legends beyond Ancient Egypt."
"He referenced the *The Agent* archetype, inspired by planets and Roman mythology, the Machine-Type monsters imagined as future war weapons by science fiction authors, as well as the mythology of the *Bible*, which is one of the most well-known mythologies across the world's many pantheons."
Hayato couldn't help but interject, "You're trying to say that *Uria, Lord of Searing Flames* was designed based on Biblical mythology, right? I already knew that without you saying it. 'Uria' is simply the Japanese pronunciation of 'Uriel' (Uria), one of the four archangels in Biblical mythology."
Kaiba glared at Hayato. "If you're so talkative, you can continue."
"Never mind, you go on, you go on." Hayato waved his hand. "But to design an archangel from the *Bible* as a demonic duel monster, Pegasus really has a lot of malice towards the *Bible*."
"The reason I investigated and found out is that Pegasus once had a childhood sweetheart, his first love, who left the world at the age of 18 due to illness. Her cause of death was euthanasia. In the *Bible*, those who commit suicide cannot ascend to heaven, and Pegasus's girlfriend happened to be a Christian."
"Is that why Pegasus designed and created *Uria, Lord of Searing Flames* as a Demon-Type monster instead of a god beast like the Egyptian God Cards?" Yugi exclaimed. "But Pegasus's story gives such a strong sense of déjà vu. It's practically another 'Vlad the Impaler'."
"No, there's one thing you got wrong."
Kaiba said, "*Uria, Lord of Searing Flames*, and two other monster cards of the same Level—Pegasus designed them, but he never actively created these three cards. These cards, including *Uria, Lord of Searing Flames*, which Pegasus called the '*Sacred Beasts*' and deemed worthy of opposing the Egyptian God Cards, appeared out of thin air in his design studio overnight after he completed their designs!"
Leaving Yugi, Hayato, and Kaiba's conversation by the riverbank aside for a moment.
In an ordinary residential house in Domino City, a black-robed figure pushed open the door and entered the empty room.
First, ensuring that no one was following him, the black-robed figure reached out and gripped a wall lamp, rotating it.
Opposite the wall lamp, a glass display case, originally disguised as a wall of figure models, suddenly slid open to both sides, revealing a passage leading to a Basement.
But the black-robed figure didn't immediately enter. Instead, he pulled the wall lamp three more times. With a 'click' sound, confirming that the second layer of mechanisms at the passage entrance had been disarmed, the black-robed figure then reset the wall lamp and entered the passage.
As he walked, the black robe could barely conceal his tall, muscular physique, revealing dark muscles and spiky yellow hair. However, since no one else was around, no one saw his true face.
Halfway down the underground passage, the black-robed figure suddenly stopped. Before the person who had quietly appeared behind him could speak, he recited the passphrase in advance: "Lord Marik's blessings last forever, and his lifespan rivals heaven and earth."
"Now, don't be so nervous, 'Regulus'." The passphrase is just a formality. I personally recruited you into our organization. How could I not trust you?" The person who had appeared behind 'Regulus' at some point said this, but subtly put away the pistol that had been aimed at 'Regulus''s head.
"Our Rare Hunters have been infiltrated so many times by those two, Hayato and Seto Kaiba. It's right to be cautious, senior." The muscular black-robed figure seemed not to notice the gun that had just been pointed at his head, and calmly looked at the shorter figure who walked in front of him, saying.
"Oh, your awareness is quite high then. In that case, you'll have to work even harder from now on. Maybe it won't be long before you can become an executive of the Rare Hunters, just like me." Saying this, the shorter black-robed figure led the way.
The two arrived at the end of the passage, which was another spacious Basement. If Hayato were here, he would definitely complain that the Rare Hunters were just like rats, so fond of making Basements their hiding places, to the point where Domino City's underground was almost hollowed out by them.
In this underground room, more than a dozen black-robed figures had already gathered. Noticing the shorter figure who had brought the strong man in, several of them nodded and cast their gaze towards a corner of the room. On a few stairs, the only person not wearing a black robe, but revealing his true face, sat in front of a chair, his expression very grim.
Marik stroked the *Millennium Rod* in his hand. His gloomy expression couldn't conceal the weakness between his brows. Clearly, he hadn't yet recovered from his defeat in last night's duel.
It wasn't just the damage from the Shadow Game. More importantly, he had also simultaneously lost one of the two God Cards he possessed. The crucial point was, if he had given the card to someone else and then lost a God Card, he would at least have an outlet for his frustration. But he had personally stepped forward, only to be defeated by Hayato.
Looking at the dozen or so people before him, Marik's fingers gently tapped the armrest of his chair, and he spoke: "These are all of our Rare Hunters in Domino City?"
"Hmph, a bunch of useless good-for-nothings!" The *Millennium Rod* began to glow as Marik's anger flared. In an instant, almost all the black-robed figures cried out in pain, clutching their heads and falling to their knees, including the strong man brought in by the shorter figure.
However, compared to the 'senior' who led him in, who was already drenched in sweat from the pain, the strong man also wore a pained expression, but if one looked directly into his eyes, it would be easy to see—he was faking it. Underneath the strong man's black robe, a crystal-shard-like pendant on his chest emitted a faint, imperceptible green glow.
The 'only' black-robed figure not suffering stood on the stairs before Marik, and bowed respectfully to him, saying, "Lord Marik, please forgive our transgression. They still have their uses."
"Hmph, since Odion has spoken." Marik snorted coldly and snapped his fingers, finally releasing his control over his subordinates, allowing them to finally catch their breath and rest.
"I'll give you one day. Go find Seto Kaiba and Hayato, then use your lives to reclaim the Egyptian God Cards from them!" The bottom of the golden *Millennium Rod* gently tapped the armrest of the chair. Marik waved his hand with a grim expression, dismissing his useless subordinates.
He had specifically summoned his subordinates just to collectively punish them. Marik seemed to be venting his dissatisfaction through such childish methods.
The black-robed figures left in the direction they came from, one by one. As soon as Marik saw the last black-robed figure leave the room, he sighed helplessly and looked at Odion beside him.
But just as he was about to say something, the *Millennium Rod* in his hand began to glow without warning.
Marik didn't feel surprised, but merely looked indifferently at the shadows in the corner of the room: "Well, did you get what you wanted?"
"Hohya, I've been discovered." With his tongue licking the *Millennium Eye* and making a "rerorero" sound, Bakura appeared out of thin air in this hidden basement. "Yugi, or rather, the Pharaoh's dueling will, is truly delicious. Thanks to your subordinates, Marik."
"Hmph, it's just a basic exchange of interests. I've delivered on what I promised, so you'd better keep your word and not pull any tricks."
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm a man of my word." Bakura said, looking in the direction the black-robed figures had left. He smelled an interesting scent.
But tell Marik that there was a special guy among his subordinates? He wouldn't go and spoil an interesting drama.
And among the departing black-robed figures, the shorter one wiped the sweat from his forehead with his black robe, letting out a long breath: "Phew, the leader's aura is really strong. I almost suffocated and passed out just now."
Looking at the strong man beside him, who was also wiping his forehead with his black robe, the shorter one said with a chuckle, "Hehe, were you scared? You'll get used to it later."
"Oh, right, 'Regulus', do you want to come with me to find trouble with that Duel King—Hayato?"
(end of chapter)