Chapter 273: Light and Darkness Dragon
"Therefore, you can continue to call me by my Rare Hunters codename—'Regulus'. While we aren't enemies just yet, don't think I'll reveal my True Name because of this."
With that, the burly man ignored the crowd, who had all fallen unconscious from the sudden return of a large amount of life force, and departed.
Watching the burly man 'Regulus' leave, Chumley lowered his head, pondering the relevant information.
"First, I can rule out Oma Zi-O. While both pursue a sense of style, this isn't a Kamen Rider set."
"Speaking of 'Regulus', although it's one of the four Royal Stars in Persian astrology, and also one of the fifteen Bethlehem Stars that guide saints, what it's most famous for is its guardian."
"In Catholicism, the archangel of healing, 'Raphael', whose element is Wind, is the guardian of 'Regulus'."
"So, that guy is Raphael? Raphael of the Orichalcos Soldiers? Then, wouldn't 'Dartz' behind him be that immortal Dartz?"
Even Chumley couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous at the thought of Dartz, instinctively biting his fingernails.
He couldn't recall Raphael, one of the Orichalcos Soldiers, appearing in the Battle City storyline. In fact, the Doma arc, featuring Dartz and the Orichalcos Soldiers, was entirely original to the Yu-Gi-Oh Anime and didn't exist in the manga version.
So, what could be the reason for their appearance in Battle City? Is it because they want to seize the Egyptian God Cards, just as before? Or is it due to Chumley, this 'butterfly'?
Information was too scarce; Chumley couldn't deduce anything more. However, setting aside the matter of Raphael and the Orichalcos Soldiers for now, Chumley, without looking back, threw the [Gaia]Card from his hand towards the fallen Hesiod.
"Ding~"
With a crisp sound, [Gaia]and Bakura simultaneously appeared.
"Hmph, as alert as ever, Chumley." Bakura, playfully toying with the [Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder]Card that Hesiod had used earlier, said with a light chuckle, "You almost hit me just now, you know."
"But seriously, your [Gaia]is really impressive. I recall that during Duelist Kingdom, he could only just barely interfere with reality, right?" Bakura said, looking at [Gaia], who had already reached its third stage.
Thanks to the recent Duel, [Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder]had collected a vast amount of life force, but was intercepted by [Quintet Magician]midway to be used for an Attack. Although Hesiod used [Absorption Shield]to Absorb this power into his body, he then completely spewed it out during [Quintet Magician]'s final Attack, returning it to the surroundings.
However, much like water being splashed onto the ground from a great height, although all the life force within Hesiod's body was returned, without a guiding force, the closer one was to the Duel Field, the higher the concentration of returned life force, and the further away, the sparser it became. This was why the observing Duelists suddenly passed out.
Chumley could imagine that after these people awoke, probably more than half of them would awaken the ability to see Duel Monster spirits, and be astonished to discover such magical beings around them.
However, Chumley didn't forget to secure some benefits for himself. He siphoned off some Magical Energy for his Duel Monster Spirits, and [Gaia]directly broke through to its third stage with this external force.
In fact, even if Chumley hadn't thrown the Card just now, it wouldn't have mattered, because [Gaia]could now manifest physically without its Card. It's just that its ATK would be higher if the Card moved with it.
Chumley scoffed, "No, no, your progress is far greater, Bakura. I can clearly see the Magical Energy on you, and even the [Millennium Ring]is vibrating incessantly because of it."
"How many people have you harmed to gain such profound Magical Energy?"
"Do you remember how many rice balls you've eaten?" Bakura chuckled lightly, and seeing Chumley about to step towards him, quickly retreated into the shadows. "I've already got what I wanted, so there's no need for you to see me off; I'll be leaving now."
Watching Bakura quickly disappear into the shadows, Chumley curled his lip in disdain: "This guy really maxed out his escape skills. He truly is the Flying-type King. Too bad I don't have Mean Look."
He bent down, picked up Hesiod's scattered Cards one by one, and tucked them into his pocket. As usual, he sent Kaiba an email, telling him to call the police to handle the aftermath. Chumley was thinking of quickly leaving while the people on the ground were still unconscious, to avoid being cornered into a forced Duel again.
"Ugh…"
One person on the ground let out an unconscious groan, then opened his eyes: "What… what happened?"
"Oh, you're awake." Chumley squatted down in front of the awakened Chazz Princeton. As expected of GX's secondary protagonist (?), this kid's mental fortitude is quite impressive. "You're the most promising among this batch of newcomers."
It was a pity Chumley didn't like the smell of smoke; otherwise, with a cigarette in his mouth, the cosplay accuracy would have been even higher.
"Chumley, Mr.?" Chazz Princeton sat up from the ground, looking around blankly at the fallen people. If he hadn't clearly seen his brother—Shoji's drool at the corner of his mouth, looking like he was fast asleep—he would have suspected that everyone else was dead.
"What just happened?"
Chumley thought for a moment and decided it would be better not to tell Chazz Princeton that Hesiod was dead.
"You don't need to understand too much about Duel Monsters; it's not something you can grasp just by being told." Chumley, speaking like a seasoned old mystery-man, helped Chazz Princeton to his feet. "To put it simply, I won, and that guy lost."
With that, Chumley revealed the seven Locator Cards he held in his hand. Although two of them were invalid duplicates, the three he'd collected from Hesiod were unique.
Now, Chumley had collected five different Locator Cards. He only needed one more to qualify for the Battle City Top 8.
"But seriously, how did you two brothers end up here, Duelling that guy?" Carrying Shoji, who was sleeping like a log and couldn't be woken, after receiving Kaiba's reply, Chumley took Chazz Princeton and moved to another location while the bystanders were still unconscious, asking incidentally.
"It's all because of this Card." Mentioned by Chumley, Chazz Princeton somewhat unhappily pulled out a Card and showed it to Chumley.
"Because I unexpectedly pulled this Card and then accidentally lost to my brother, his confidence swelled, leading him to provoke people into Duels all over the street, which is how he ran into that guy."
Chumley looked with some surprise at the strange, black-and-white Dragon on the Card Chazz Princeton pulled out. Isn't this the Ace Monster used by Chazz Princeton in the manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh, [Light and Darkness Dragon], nicknamed the 'Panda Dragon'?
"Don't let its Level 8 and whopping 2800 ATK fool you, but Mr. Chumley, this Monster is a huge trap!" Chazz Princeton complained. "While it can Negate Spell, Trap, and Monster Effects, its Effect is forced on both players, and it also has a Cost of reducing its ATK and DEF by 500!"
Chazz Princeton unhappily handed the Card to Chumley: "Anyway, neither my brother nor I have the ability to handle a Monster with such troublesome Effects. Consider it our gratitude for saving us, Mr. Chumley, please take this Card."
Chumley was a bit surprised and paused slightly: "I think it's better if you keep it. It feels a bit inappropriate for me to have it."
"No, it's perfect, absolutely perfect!" Chazz Princeton said with certainty, forcefully pressing the Card into Chumley's Hand. "I've thought things through lately. Not only do I lack the qualification to participate in Battle City now, even if I did, my strength isn't enough to carry me to the Top 8 tournament yet."
"But I'm also unwilling to miss out on this rare grand event. So, Mr. Chumley, I'd like to ask you to take this Card and become the next Duel King. That way, I can at least console myself that even the Duel King needs my Power."
Chumley heard this and gave a wry smile: "You really are a wise-beyond-your-years kid. Do you really want to defeat me, the Duel King?"
"Heh heh, my goal has never changed, Mr. Chumley. 'Defeat you and become the Duel King'—I'm not someone who gives up easily. Also, please call me Mr. Chazz Princeton."
"Since you've put it that way, I'll temporarily accept it. Consider it entrusted to me until you have the ability to challenge me." Under Chazz Princeton's hopeful gaze, Chumley placed the [Light and Darkness Dragon]Card into his Deck. "Is this fine, Mr. Chazz Princeton?"
Chazz Princeton was about to reply, but just as Chumley uttered "Mr. Chazz Princeton", Shoji, who had been soundly asleep until then, suddenly sat up, eyes blazing, and looked at Chumley: "Who called me?!"
"Idiot brother, nobody called you!"
Shoji raised his Hand and, with a disdainful expression, held back Chazz, who was lunging at him: "Huh? My foolish little brother, when someone says 'Mr. Chazz Princeton', they're clearly talking about me, aren't they?"
"Take this, Ora!"
"Heh heh, Muda!"
The Princeton brothers noisily squabbled with full vigor. Chumley smiled, watching their antics, but in his heart, he had a speculation about the events of today.
Regarding the appearance of the Sacred Beasts, he had originally thought it was due to his own 'butterfly effect', which had led to changes in the storyline he was familiar with. However, the Princeton brothers' encounter today made Chumley think that perhaps fate was still on its predetermined path.
(end of chapter)