Chapter 601 The Path of Radiance
Valon swung his right hand towards Joey Wheeler, and radiance bloomed on his Trap Burst Armor.
Meeting Valon's fist, Joey Wheeler also swung his fist back, and black flames burned on his dragon-claw-like armor.
This was not a battle of "justice" and "evil," nor a clash of ideals. The two men exchanging blows with their bodies were simply dueling, a duel between men.
Under the gaze of the sole audience member, Mai Valentine, Valon's fist landed on Joey Wheeler's face, and Joey Wheeler's fist likewise struck Valon's face. Even with the obstruction of the armor, both were sent flying back several steps.
However, due to the effect of Trap Burst Armor, although its ATK was only a mere 500 points even with the support of the Seal of Orichalcos, Valon did not suffer any counter damage.
[Valon: 3600 → 3600 LP]
Meanwhile, a crack appeared on the armor covering Joey Wheeler's cheek.
"The opponent's monster attacked by Trap Burst Armor is destroyed after damage calculation, inflicting 500 points of damage to you, Joey Wheeler!" Raising his right hand towards Joey Wheeler, Valon's Trap Burst Armor was also full of cracks, but he still raised his thumb and said, "This is the final blow, Joey Wheeler!"
Saying this, he completed the motion of pressing his thumb down.
"Click~"
"Boom!"
Following Valon's action, the armor on Joey Wheeler's body suddenly burst, and the firelight swallowed Joey Wheeler whole!
"Joey Wheeler!" Off-field, Mai Valentine anxiously pounded on the domain before her, but the Seal of Orichalcos was so sturdy that she couldn't get close to the two of them. She could only watch helplessly as Joey Wheeler was swallowed by the flames.
But the next second, under the gaze of both Valon and Mai Valentine, the flames enveloping Joey Wheeler suddenly began to retract, revealing Joey Wheeler himself completely unharmed!?
However, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword on him had already dispersed, replaced by a set card in his Spell/Trap Zone being flipped face-up.
"Quick-Play Spell Card Mystical Wok. Rather than letting you destroy Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword and inflict damage to me, I might as well stir-fry it and eat it beforehand." Joey Wheeler had a proud expression. "I'm not that easy to defeat, Valon. Also, I'm actually a little happy that you're so worried about me, Mai."
Saying this, Joey Wheeler even gave a peace sign to Mai Valentine off-field.
"Who's worried about you!"
Seeing that Joey Wheeler was fine, Mai Valentine was also happy and said with a slight tsundere tone. But Valon, who was Joey Wheeler's opponent, smiled even more happily than Mai Valentine.
"Hahaha, I knew it wouldn't be that easy to defeat you, Joey Wheeler. Mystical Wok, huh? I have to say, Hayato Kobayashi's strategy is sometimes really useful."
[Joey Wheeler: 400 → 2800 LP]
Because of the effect of Mystical Wok, Joey Wheeler tributed Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword before it was destroyed, recovering life points equal to its high ATK value, while also avoiding the effect damage from Trap Burst Armor.
Not only that, after Joey Wheeler's life points absorbed the surrounding flames and recovered, a stray line of fire even scattered and struck Valon's left hand Dark Hole Armor and leg Beyond the Speed Armor, shattering them to pieces.
"Whether it's me or you, Valon, when either player activates a spell, trap, or monster effect, Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword's effect can activate. It can choose one monster card to destroy, and this effect is before Mystical Wok."
"Furthermore, although the Armor monsters placed in the Spell & Trap Zone surpass the usual quantity restriction, they also have the flaw of being treated as spell/trap cards. Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword can chain to Trap Burst Armor's effect and also destroy one spell/trap card. And this effect is not the same as the previous effect; it can appear in the same chain."
Valon moved his left hand and leg, which were somewhat hot from the burning. A pair of spare armguards were equipped onto his left and right hands again: "You really don't want to suffer any loss. Even after entering the Graveyard, you still want to destroy my cards."
"Dueling you, Joey Wheeler, is so exhilarating. I'm starting to get addicted to this feeling."
Looking at the Trap Burst Armor with 0 ATK in attack position on his Front Row, Valon, just in case, moved it to the Spell/Trap Zone. Although Joey Wheeler wasn't that kind of duelist, it would be bad if he first found a way to take down his front row monster, destroy Trap Burst Armor, and then throw out a Mirror Force.
It was safer to keep it in the Spell/Trap Zone.
"Due to the effect of Seal of Orichalcos, I will move the Trap Burst Armor from the Front Row to the Spell/Trap Zone. Then, my turn ends."
[Valon: 3600 LP, Hand 3]
[Armor] X7 (omitted)
Field: Seal of Orichalcos
Unlike the Armor Gravitation used before, which summoned a fixed number of monsters, Full Armor Gravitation, although it required flipping the top of the deck to test luck and reducing ten cards at once was already a considerable side effect, its biggest advantage was that the special summoned monsters would not be destroyed at the end phase, allowing the total of seven Armor monsters on Valon's field to remain.
But Joey Wheeler wasn't going to be scared by this level. He also smiled and responded to Valon: "Same here, Valon, it really gets my whole body excited. This is 'dueling'!"
"My turn, the counterattack begins! Draw a card!"
"Next is the spell card Pot of Greed. Draw two cards from the deck."
After drawing the cards, Joey Wheeler took out one of them and activated it: "Activate the spell card Monster Reborn. Select one monster from either player's Graveyard and special summon it. My will is immortal!"
"Revive, Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!"
Instead of specifically choosing powerful monsters with higher ATK like Fiend Dragon - Dark Black Dragon or Meteor Black Dragon that were sent to Graveyard in the previous battle, Joey Wheeler's choice was Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, whose battle style was close to Valon's Armor deck.
This was not going easy, or some kind of obsession. It was simply Joey Wheeler also acknowledging the surging duelist spirit in Valon, and thus responding in this way.
Under the power of Monster Reborn, the pitch-black armor of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword was once again equipped onto Joey Wheeler's body. The fully armored Joey Wheeler and the fully armored Valon looked at each other, both with smiles on their faces, making Mai Valentine off-field suddenly feel like she was redundant.
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword] [ATK 2400]
However, there was another reason why Joey Wheeler wanted to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, and that was—
"With Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword on the field, I activate the set card in my Spell/Trap Zone, Jar of Greed. Choose five cards from my Graveyard and return them to the deck, then draw one card. But before its effect takes effect, chain the effect of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!"
Joey Wheeler pointed a finger at the Armor among all of Valon's Armor that posed the biggest threat to him. "Although I don't know the specific effect, in short, I will destroy the Double Cross Armor on you, Valon!"
Among all the Armor monsters, the rest were mainly blue-toned and mostly Level 4 or lower monsters. Only Double Cross Armor was not only red but also a Level 6 higher-level monster, naturally attracting Joey Wheeler's attention at first glance.
The black dragon flames were thrown out by Joey Wheeler, shattering the armor on Valon. The remaining Armor monsters numbered six, and Joey Wheeler also chose five cards from the Graveyard to return to the deck and shuffle, then drew one card.
Unfortunately, the card he drew at this moment, like the other card in his hand, was a trap card that couldn't be used temporarily.
"Destroyed the most threatening Double Cross Armor at first glance, huh? Amazing intuition, Joey Wheeler." Valon sent another Armor monster to the Graveyard. Watching Joey Wheeler put away the two cards in his hand, he assumed an attack stance. "But you haven't forgotten, have you? Just destroying my Armor monsters one by one like this is useless. It won't work without a more intense battle."
"You only have one monster on your field. Even if you attack, I can still transfer its attack!"
"Heh heh, Is that so, Valon?"
However, Valon's reminder only received a confident response from Joey Wheeler. Putting away the two cards in his hand, Joey Wheeler assumed a battle stance and said with a laugh: "Enter my battle phase! Then I will attack the Mental Headgear on your field!"
Saying this, Joey Wheeler repeated the previous method, leaping into the air and assuming a flying kick posture.
Although he was boiling with fighting spirit from dueling Joey Wheeler, Valon was not someone who would go easy because of it. On the contrary, he put in even more full power:
"In that case, I will transfer the attack—"
While speaking, Valon wanted to move his limbs and use other parts of his Armor to substitute for Mental Headgear to take the attack and perform a defense block, but it was only at this moment that he was surprised to discover something, "No, I can't transfer it!?"
"Not only that, I can't move right now!"
"Red Kick!"
Accompanied by the flames, Joey Wheeler, wearing Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, kicked the immobile Valon with a flying kick. The powerful kick directly shattered the helmet that took the attack and kicked him out, slamming him against the Seal of Orichalcos!
"Uwah!"
[Valon: 3600 → 1700 LP]
The field spell card Seal of Orichalcos increased the original attack of Mental Headgear, which was 0, by 500 points. But after being hit by Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, a high 1900 points of battle damage was still inflicted upon Valon.
Getting up from the ground, watching Joey Wheeler stand back in place, Valon glanced at his duel disk before belatedly realizing what had just happened.
Because of the effect of Seal of Orichalcos, when Valon used Full Armor Gravitation earlier, he special summoned a total of nine monsters at once, occupying all ten zones in his Front Row and Spell/Trap Zone.
And because Seal of Orichalcos, while having the ability to actively move monsters from the Monster Zone to the Spell & Trap Zone, cannot actively move monsters from the Spell & Trap Zone to the Monster Zone, even though Valon lost three Armor monsters last turn, freeing up space in the Front Row, he could only move Trap Burst Armor to the Spell/Trap Zone.
And Joey Wheeler noticed this, realizing that Valon's Spell/Trap Zone was still full, but in the Front Row, there were only Mental Headgear and Double Cross Armor left. He thus came up with this battle strategy.
He had learned from Grimo's duel with Yugi that the characteristic of Seal of Orichalcos meant he couldn't attack the monsters in the Spell/Trap Zone unless he destroyed all the monsters in Valon's Front Row. This was a powerful effect, but at the same time, Joey Wheeler also seized upon a vulnerability.
Armor monsters could freely transfer the attack target of Joey Wheeler's monsters, but the premise was that the target had to be attackable. This meant that when Valon's Front Row only had Mental Headgear left, Valon couldn't transfer the attack target to the other Armor monsters "protected" in the Spell/Trap Zone.
Specifically reviving Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword instead of other more powerful Red-Eyes monsters was precisely because of this strategy that had to be kept secret until the end.
"Set two cards from my hand. My turn ends."
Setting the two trap cards from his hand, Joey Wheeler ended his turn, looking at Valon.
[Joey Wheeler: 2800 LP, Hand 0]
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword] [ATK 2400]
[Set Card] X2
Another turn passed, and Joey Wheeler successfully caused Valon's life points, which hadn't moved for a long time, to decrease again. With just one more attack like the one just now, he could achieve victory!
Valon also wiped the corner of his mouth slightly, removing the crimson, his fighting spirit becoming even more intense: "That's it, Joey Wheeler. Not just reckless attacks driven by hot blood, but a carefully calculated strategy full of planning. Your purity as a duelist is truly high!"
"In that case, I must also bring out commensurate power!"
With his finger on the only two cards remaining in his deck, Valon showed a confident smile.
"My turn, draw!"
"Then, enter battle phase!"
Not only did he not activate the effect of Mental Headgear in the Graveyard during the standby phase to special summon it to the field, Valon didn't even activate any cards during main phase 1, but instead directly entered battle phase!?
This wasn't Valon being impatient to battle Joey Wheeler to the point of losing his head. On the contrary, he knew it would be foolish to continue summoning monsters to the Front Row.
Using the effect of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, Joey Wheeler could continuously destroy the small number of Armor monsters in his Front Row, keeping their number at one, and then in the next turn, he could once again attack with Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword with an untransferable attack target, reducing his life points.
However, if the number was not one or more, but 0, then even Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword would have no monster to destroy. In the next turn, even if he attacked, he could only attack the Armors in the Spell/Trap Zone, at which point Valon could freely transfer the attack target again.
Furthermore, even if he were to set up his field and summon monsters, wouldn't it be better to wait until the troublesome monster Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword was dealt with before setting up? It would save him from having his monsters destroyed repeatedly.
Hearing Valon directly enter battle phase, Joey Wheeler, who was originally planning to observe, immediately pressed the activate set card button: "At the moment of entering battle phase, I activate my set card Red-Eyes Spirit! Special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon in attack position from the Graveyard!"
"Then, chain the effect of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword! Destroy the Trap Burst Armor in your Spell/Trap Zone!"
"Finally, come forth, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
The flames of the black dragon armor surged up, striking the Trap Burst Armor on Valon. Although it was an effect triggered by the trap card Red-Eyes Spirit, it was ultimately the power of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword. Trap Burst Armor, which had absolute resistance to trap cards, was thus sent to Graveyard by a trap card.
But seeing this, Valon instead smiled: "I see. If I'm not mistaken, Joey Wheeler, your other set card should also be a trap card, right? You're planning to chain it to my attack declaration, aren't you? Is it Magic Cylinder or Mirror Force?"
"For that, the existence of Trap Burst Armor had to be resolved. But it doesn't matter if it's destroyed, because you fell for it!"
The moment Trap Burst Armor was destroyed, Valon slapped a card from his hand onto the blank space above his duel disk. "During the battle phase, I can freely activate quick-play spell cards from my hand! This is my true path to claiming victory!"
"What?!" Joey Wheeler was startled.
To some extent, Valon guessed correctly. One of his set cards was indeed a trap card that could only be activated at a specific timing, and he did relax when he saw Valon skip main phase 1. He was just thinking he couldn't waste the effect of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword and randomly destroyed a card.
He thought Valon was on the first floor and he himself was on the second, but he didn't expect that Valon was actually on the third floor!
"Quick-Play Spell Card Forbidden Dress! Decrease Jet Gauntlet's ATK by 600 points, making it unaffected by card effects and preventing it from being destroyed by card effects!"
"This way, no matter what card you have in your Spell/Trap Zone, it cannot affect this card. Not even the effect of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword can destroy it or prevent this attack!"
[Jet Gauntlet] [ATK 500 → 0]
The boost from Seal of Orichalcos was blocked by the donned sacred garment, returning the ATK of the Jet Gauntlet on his right arm to its original 0. Valon raised his right hand: "Here I come, Joey Wheeler! I will use Jet Gauntlet to attack your Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!"
"Jet Machine Gun!"
A large amount of airflow sprayed from the armguard, accelerating Valon's punch. A fleeting blue phantom flashed by, and Valon's heavy punch fiercely slammed towards Joey Wheeler's chest area!
Joey Wheeler naturally wouldn't suffer a loss and also swung his fist to intercept.
Their iron fists collided and were locked in a stalemate. The aftermath of the punch alone easily crushed the surrounding ground, sending shattered stones flying!
However, neither Valon nor Joey Wheeler felt damage during the punch.
This was natural, after all, Jet Gauntlet's ATK was only 0.
But in the next moment, Joey Wheeler saw that the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword armor on his body and Jet Gauntlet were cracking simultaneously!?
"When Jet Gauntlet battles an opponent's monster, its effect activates! It directly destroys Jet Gauntlet and that opponent's monster together! This way, your Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword leaves the field again, Joey Wheeler!"
Maintaining the posture of fists colliding, Valon faced Joey Wheeler and said proudly: "As long as the most troublesome Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword is dealt with, this duel is still my victory!"
"Dueling you is truly exhilarating, Joey Wheeler! This is simply the best duel!"
"Me too, Valon!" Looking at the pleased Valon, Joey Wheeler couldn't help but laugh heartily. "This feeling, even I can't help but become immersed in it!"
"But, it's finally coming to an end, even for us!" X2
As their words fell, the armor on both of them exploded simultaneously, sending both of them flying out and onto the ground!
At the point where their fists met, flames soared into the sky.
The first to get up was Valon, still protected by Armor. Through the smoke, he saw that the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword on Joey Wheeler had dispersed and laughed: "Finally, did I take it down, that Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword?"
"Ah, you took down Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword," replied Joey Wheeler, who also got up, but a smile appeared on his lips. "So, this duel is over, Valon!"
"What?!"
Suddenly, Valon noticed something—on Joey Wheeler's duel disk, not only was Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword destroyed and sent to Graveyard, but even the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that was just special summoned was gone?
Where did it go, that Red-Eyes?
Wait, could it be!
Seeing Valon look towards the soaring firelight, Joey Wheeler smiled proudly: "Chaining to the effect of Jet Gauntlet, Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword activated its final effect, destroying one monster on the field!"
"But what it destroyed was not your Armor monster, but the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field that was special summoned by Red-Eyes Spirit!"
"Roar!!"
As Joey Wheeler's words fell, the firelight violently shook, dispelling the surrounding smoke and revealing the cracked Red-Eyes Black Dragon!
Pitch-black flames wrapped around Red-Eyes Black Dragon. It was clear that Red-Eyes Black Dragon would be destroyed soon even if left alone, but at this moment, its aura was stronger than ever before!
"This is!?" Valon looked up at Red-Eyes Black Dragon, not understanding what was happening before him, but he found the answer on the trap card that was flipped face-up in Joey Wheeler's Spell/Trap Zone. "Is it because of that trap card?!"
Joey Wheeler stood up and said loudly: "Valon, just as you said before, I'm not dueling alone! Whether it's Yugi, Mai, or Red-Eyes, there are too many people fighting alongside me."
"Our match is hard to call a winner, but this duel is my victory with the aid of Red-Eyes!"
"Red-Eyes Burn! It can only be activated when a Red-Eyes monster is destroyed by battle or effect! Both players take damage equal to that destroyed monster's original attack value!"
As Joey Wheeler pointed his hand towards the sky, Red-Eyes Black Dragon roared, and suddenly exploded with countless rays of radiance!
"The power of Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword is completely liberated here! Bring me a miracle, Red-Eyes!"
"Boom!"
The pitch-black flames swept across the entire Seal of Orichalcos. Joey Wheeler and Valon were instantly swallowed. The effect damage of 2400 points, the original attack value of Red-Eyes Black Dragon, fell upon both of them, their life points plummeting!
But Joey Wheeler, swallowed by the flames, didn't feel too hot, even feeling somewhat cold.
After a few breaths, the power of Red-Eyes Burn began to fade. Joey Wheeler suddenly discovered that the coldness on his body was actually Valon's Armor that had somehow nested itself onto him!?
"This is!?" Turning his head sharply to look at Valon's position, Joey Wheeler saw Valon pointing towards him, seemingly directing the armor on his body to come here to protect Joey Wheeler before being swallowed by the flames, leaving himself with not even a single piece of defense. "Valon!!"
"Cough, a perfect strategy, Joey Wheeler." His life points value plummeted beside him, Valon's expression was visibly pale, but he forced himself to show a proud smile. "I have to admit, you're stronger right now."
[Joey Wheeler: 2800 → 400 LP]
[Valon: 1700 LP → 0]
As his life points were reduced to zero, Valon stumbled, almost falling down, but still stood stubbornly.
"Valon..." Joey Wheeler wanted to step forward, but after the Armor on his body dispersed, the suppressed pain surged through his body. He directly knelt down on one knee, unable to move, and could only watch Valon gasping for breath.
"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that, Joey Wheeler. Don't forget we're opponents," Valon said with a smile, looking at Joey Wheeler. At the same time, the Seal of Orichalcos that had expanded earlier began to shrink.
Valon knew this was the Seal of Orichalcos beginning to recycle the souls of the defeated. The "Orichalcos Fragment" on his finger flashed with radiance, causing the domain's shrinking speed to pause for a moment. While supporting the domain, Valon took off his duel disk and took a deck from his body, throwing it towards Joey Wheeler.
"Hey, Joey Wheeler, catch."
Joey Wheeler subconsciously reached out his hand and barely caught the duel disk and deck Valon threw. However, he didn't understand what Valon was doing this for.
"As the winner, it wouldn't do to have no prize. Unfortunately, these are all I can offer." After throwing the duel disk, Valon's body stiffened, and the domain, which had slowed its shrinking speed earlier, began to accelerate its retraction again. "Although you might not think much of it, it's my feelings. Feel free to use them."
As he spoke, the domain had already swept past Joey Wheeler's feet, enveloping only Valon. Mai Valentine, who had been waiting for a long time, also rushed to Joey Wheeler's side anxiously: "Joey Wheeler!"
Seeing Mai Valentine come to Joey Wheeler's side without hesitation, Valon couldn't help but show a regretful smile. It wasn't about being heartbroken or anything. Through the duel just now, he had somewhat come to terms with his own heart. While it wasn't to say he no longer had affection for Mai Valentine, Valon no longer saw Mai Valentine as a substitute for that nun.
"Thinking about it carefully, before this, I seemed to never know why I was fighting. But thanks to dueling you, I think I've found the direction to move forward."
"So, I am filled with gratitude towards you, Joey Wheeler. Therefore, move forward with your head held high, looking at that path of radiance, the path of radiance you should be moving towards."
A verdant light enveloped Valon's feet, illuminating the thumbs-up he gave Joey Wheeler and the smile on his face.
From the duel disk in Joey Wheeler's hand, the Field Zone expanded, and a card fell out.
One of the Doma Three Swordsmen, Valon, defeated.
----Epilogue----
"Is this, Valon's soul?" At the Doma Headquarters, Dartz watched a green light fly from the horizon and fall into the altar dedicated to the "Orichalcos God". At the same time, a blank space on the wall in front of him appeared out of thin air with a new mural, forming Valon's likeness.
Although the Seal of Orichalcos card itself had the ability to seal the souls of duelists, when a duelist's soul reached a certain strength, a simple card couldn't seal it. In that situation, the "Orichalcos God" would directly remotely extract that power from the card and absorb it.
Even though doing so would consume a portion of the recovered power, overall, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, and it was more convenient.
Not putting too much thought into Valon's soul being sealed, Dartz walked away from the altar casually.
On that wall, the souls of many duelists were sealed—The Bandit Keith Howard, the Paradox Brothers, the Father of Duel Monsters Pegasus J. Crawford, and so on. Their likenesses were also carved onto the wall, signifying that they had become offerings to the "Orichalcos God".
And the moment Dartz turned around, among the hundreds and thousands of souls, several light and shadow forms of different colors faintly flickered, like flashing neon lights.
Subconsciously, Dartz turned back and looked at the wall again, but there was no change on the wall, making him feel as if he had just experienced an illusion.
Chapter 602: I'll Be Relying on You From Now On
Watching Valon's body, its soul sealed and only an empty shell remaining, fall to the ground not far away, Joey Wheeler didn't feel much joy from defeating a strong enemy. Instead, he felt more sentiment about life fading before his eyes.
And as he picked up the Seal of Orichalcos card that had dropped before him, Joey Wheeler, in a trance, saw a strange memory that didn't belong to him.
A young boy who grew up alone, without the love of a father or mother;
A nun he saw as family;
Fight after fight for survival and dignity;
A burning Church;
An iron pipe covered in bloodstains;
Meaningless murder;
"Is this... Valon's memory?" The illusion before his eyes slowly faded. Having received this memory, Joey Wheeler lowered his head and glanced at the Deck in his hand, which Valon had thrown to him before.
That was the Gemini Monster Deck Valon had used during the KC Cup, not the Deck Valon used as a killer for the "Doma Three Swordsmen", but as a Duelist. According to Valon's dying words, he hoped this Deck could be Joey Wheeler's power.
"I will make good use of this power, Valon." Looking at Phoenix Gearfried on top of the Deck, Joey Wheeler said firmly. But just as he was about to stand up, he weakly fell again.
But a pair of hands supported him.
"Idiot, just now your Life Points dropped to only 400 points, and more than once at that." Supporting Joey Wheeler to help him stand steadily, Kujaku Mai scolded him. "You should be grateful your body is decent that you didn't just fall right there. Don't move recklessly without knowing your limits."
"Now you know it hurts, huh? Honestly, you suddenly chased after him alone and left us behind, making it hard for me to find you." Although her words were harsh, Kujaku Mai's tone was full of concern. "You don't always have to tough it out alone. Sometimes, relying on me is okay too."
Hearing Kujaku Mai's words, Joey Wheeler was also startled. He stared blankly at Kujaku Mai, who was close by, making her face flush red with embarrassment. "Wh-What are you doing, looking at me with that strange gaze?"
"Hmph, don't forget I'm the All-American Champion now, Joey Wheeler, you eternal fourth-place finisher."
Hearing Kujaku Mai's teasing, Joey Wheeler wasn't angry. "Well, that's true. Whether it was Duelist Kingdom or Battle City, I only made it to the Top 4."
Unusually, Joey Wheeler's mind recalled something Hayato had mentioned when a few of them were tutoring Tristan , who wanted to make a confession to "Little Ribbon", a classmate at School. He held back the phrase "When it comes to Duels, I won't lose" that he instinctively wanted to say, and instead joked with Kujaku Mai:
"In that case, I'll be relying on you to take care of me more from now on, Mai~"
After being stimulated by Valon like that, even someone as dense as Joey Wheeler would start to grow a little.
Kujaku Mai, whose face was clearly red but insisted it was from the sun, helped Joey Wheeler stand up. But Joey Wheeler's thoughts couldn't help but recall the segment of memory he had just now seen, which seemed like Valon's.
He could feel the anger in the memory when Valon saw the Church on fire and heard the cold mockery of the thugs, but Joey Wheeler, as an observer rather than the person involved, was more able to sense that something was wrong with the incident than the Valon in the memory.
Although those thugs hired by the demolition crew had every possibility of starting the fire, since the sooner they finished the demolition the more they would get paid, sometimes the person with the biggest suspicion isn't necessarily the murderer. At least Joey Wheeler felt that the reward for demolishing a small Church wouldn't absolutely compare to the risk of murder and arson.
What happened after Valon killed those thugs and was sent to Prison made Joey Wheeler even more confused.
At that time, Valon himself was in a state of apathy, drifting aimlessly and not caring about anything after losing his goal for living. But Joey Wheeler's intuition felt that Valon seemed like he was guided into a trap by someone, especially since the warden of a Prison actually took the initiative to propose something as strange as letting prisoners go to a small Island overseas to Duel.
Although it's not impossible that the warden was a Duel Monsters enthusiast, wasn't he worried the prisoners would hide on the Island and escape? Where did he get the authority to organize such an action?
And Dartz's appearance suddenly gave Joey Wheeler a guess.
Suppose, just a supposition, if Dartz had detected Valon's inner darkness very early on, was there a possibility that he would set a fire in the Church to maximize the utilization of Valon's power?
Great Detective Joey Wheeler couldn't help but want to slap the table in admiration at the wonderful deduction that suddenly appeared in his mind. Yours Truly is simply too smart!
But just as Joey Wheeler had walked only a couple of steps supported by Kujaku Mai, the sky, which had been clear with the blazing sun just past noon, was suddenly covered by dark clouds from who knew where. Accompanied by a startling thunderclap and roar, Joey Wheeler and Kujaku Mai were astonished to discover that a giant blue figure was standing up somewhere not far away?!
"Obelisk the Tormentor?!" Joey Wheeler saw the shadow of the Giant God Soldier, one of the Three Egyptian Gods that had defeated him before, on the giant blue monster. But the gap in aura between the "Gods" in his impression and that figure filled with evil energy was too great. He immediately rejected his first feeling. "No, that's not a 'God' card!"
"Rather than a 'God', I'd say it's a 'demon'." Kujaku Mai was also greatly surprised by the figure's existence, but after thinking back, she suddenly felt a bad premonition. "Wait a minute, that direction..."
"Isn't that the direction we came from! Yugi and Rex Raptor are still over there!"
"We need to hurry over, give me a hand, Mai!" Just looking at the giant figure, Joey Wheeler's expression was solemn. "What in the world happened over there in just the time it took for one duel?"
"Shouldn't anything bad have happened, right, Yugi!"
Meanwhile.
Valon, whose soul should have been sealed by the Seal of Orichalcos and offered as a tribute to the "Orichalcos God", opened his eyes.
He had always been in contact with the power of the Seal of Orichalcos card, but this was the first time he had experienced a situation like this, where he was sealed by someone else instead of sealing others.
Although it might sound a bit heartless, Valon was actually somewhat curious about what it felt like to have his soul sealed by the Seal of Orichalcos and offered as a tribute to the "Orichalcos God".
He had thought that after opening his eyes, he might see the people he had "killed" before, or the true form of the "Orichalcos God" that was about to absorb him.
Then, he saw a small round ball with a rainbow-like hairstyle on its head and a pair of adorable big eyes looking at him.
Rainbow Kuriboh?
Valon naturally recognized Rainbow Kuriboh, that Duel Monster, but if he remembered correctly, even globally, he had only heard that Hayato Kobayashi possessed one...
Wait a minute, could it be---
To know what happens next, please listen to the next chapter's breakdown.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 603: OMO
Rewinding time to a short while ago.
The sudden sneak attack by what seemed like assassins from Organization Doma startled almost everyone, especially Kujaku Mai and Téa, who were walking at the very back and hadn't even left the convenience store yet when they heard a loud bang outside.
Hurrying out to check the situation, the two of them only saw three figures in black suits trying to escape in a sorry state, and Joey Wheeler chasing after them, his Gearfried the Iron Knight having just dissipated beside him.
"What happened? Who were those guys?" Completely unable to stop Joey Wheeler, Kujaku Mai could only ask Rex and Tristan, who were nearby and might know what happened.
"Not too sure, but looking at the style of their Duel Disk, they were from Organization Doma. It seems like they just tried to attack us," Rex swallowed, his tone slightly showing fear towards Organization Doma.
Although he was now the runner-up of the American Duel Monsters tournament and could even be considered a Spirit User Duelist, Rex's age was a factor. The experience of being defeated by Valon and falling into unconscious darkness had left a considerable shadow in Rex's heart.
"Doma?! Why would they appear here?" Kujaku Mai was startled, her expression turning anxious. "That Joey Wheeler, chasing after them alone? Isn't he afraid of being led into some trap?"
"No, I'm going after him!"
Saying that, Kujaku Mai immediately ran off in the direction Joey Wheeler had gone.
"Mai!" "Miss Mai!"
Behind her, Yugi and Tristan called out, but couldn't stop her.
Yugi's unease grew stronger. He could feel that something was wrong, but he couldn't find anything specific that was amiss. Even if he wanted to tell Joey Wheeler and Kujaku Mai to stay here and not leave, there was no reason.
But he didn't need to keep thinking about what was happening, because almost the very second Joey Wheeler and Kujaku Mai left, a familiar voice rang out from behind Yugi and the others:
"Yo, everyone, long time no see~"
Honda froze, turning his head in confusion. "That voice is—?"
Just then, in the center of the Town's road, Hayato walked towards them with a swaggering, arrogant stride. As he walked, Hayato seemed about to say something, but his expression suddenly changed slightly and he remained silent, only maintaining an arrogant expression.
"Hayato!?"
"It really is Hayato!" Like Tristan, at the first sight of Hayato, Téa, who hadn't yet understood the current situation, couldn't help but show a joyful expression upon seeing her friend, who she thought was dead, appear safe and sound.
However, Rex and Yugi immediately pulled back Tristan and Téa, who were about to rush forward.
"Yugi?"
Looking at Yugi, who had reached out to stop her, Téa was full of confusion, while Tristan also looked at Rex, who was holding him back, and complained, "What are you doing, Rex?"
"Idiot, I'm saving you two idiots!" Although he was trembling upon seeing Hayato for the first time, knowing what kind of powerful Existence surrounded Hayato due to his awakening of the Ability to see Spirits, Rex still gritted his teeth and forcefully held onto Tristan, stating firmly, "Don't relax your vigilance just because Hayato Kobayashi is someone you know!"
"Don't forget what I said before! That guy has already joined Doma and is collecting Souls everywhere to tribute to something!" As he spoke, Rex also glanced at Yugi, who had a serious expression beside him. "That guy is already an enemy!"
"To achieve his goal, he's someone who can even be ruthless to his own Monsters. Even if you were his friends before, even if they were beloved relatives, close friends, or brothers, I'm afraid..."
As Hayato approached, the Millennium Puzzle on Yugi's chest pulsed with radiance. With a step forward, the two Souls switched, and the Soul of Dark Yugi was revealed.
"Hayato..." Looking at Hayato, who was walking towards them with unhurried steps and composed ease, Yugi asked, "You just saw the Doma people's attack on us, right? Why did you just watch?"
"Hmm? Did I not make myself clear enough last time, Yugi?" Facing Yugi's question, Hayato seemed completely unconcerned. "Compared to continuing the Game of Friendship with you, Doma can indeed bring me stronger Power. I have never betrayed Power."
"W-What are you saying, Hayato!?" Hearing Hayato's heartless reply, Yugi's expression was serious, while Tristan and Téa behind him were full of disbelief. "Could it be that what Joey Wheeler and Yugi said before was all true?"
"Could it be that you really betrayed us!?"
"Ah, that's right. What interesting expressions, Téa and Tristan. Don't you understand yet?" Hayato showed an exaggerated smile. "The real me has always been someone who only pursues Victory and Power. The Game of Friendship with you was just my disguise."
"Ta-da~ This is a shocking revelation that's only being revealed now!"
Seeing the shocked, speechless expressions on their faces, Hayato twisted the knife further: "I can even generously tell you, I just watched you get attacked? No, 'attacking' you was something I arranged entirely. Not only that, this entire Town is even controlled by us Doma. You've been walking into my trap ever since you entered the Town!"
Yugi was startled upon hearing this. "A trap? Could it be Joey Wheeler!"
"Exactly. Luring Joey Wheeler away was also part of the plan. Without Red-Eyes by your side, Yugi, you won't be able to Summon Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon anymore, right? That way, dealing with you will be even easier." Taking out a Card and placing it on his Duel Disk, Hayato laughed loudly. "I was asked to stall you, but dealing with you along the way shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Instead of worrying about Joey Wheeler, think about yourself first, Yugi!"
As Hayato played a Card, the ground rumbled, and then, walls of earth rapidly rose abruptly from the previously flat ground!
Before they could even react, walls several meters high completely separated Tristan, Téa, Rex, and Yugi!
"Téa! Tristan! Rex!" Immediately, the figure of Dark Magician appeared beside Yugi. A blast of magical energy was sent out, attempting to destroy the wall of earth.
But to Yugi's surprise, Dark Magician's Power was actually stopped by a mere wall?
A wall that could block the attack of Dark Magician with 2500 ATK Points, what kind of wall was this?
No, that's not right! This isn't just any ordinary wall!
This is Labyrinth Wall! It's a Duel Monsters Card belonging to the Paradox Brothers!
"Well, the Paradox Brothers were someone I had a hard time defeating, after all. After sealing their Souls, it's only reasonable to take a little spoils, right?" Hayato, who had taken all the money and Decks from the Paradox Brothers after defeating them, said this.
Looking at the anxious Yugi, Hayato spoke again to taunt him: "Since it's the Paradox Brothers' Labyrinth, Yugi, you should also know what kind of things will be in the Labyrinth, right? Hurry and go find Téa and the others."
"However, a sneak attack won't work on me~"
Leaving behind a taunt, Hayato's figure was blocked by a moving wall and disappeared. The sneak attack that Yugi had Dark Magician activate missed.
"Damn it!" He had originally planned to catch Hayato first and make him undo the Labyrinth Wall, but he didn't expect Hayato to anticipate his idea. Yugi clenched his fist. Looking at the dead end in front of him, he reluctantly turned around and advanced along the sole path available.
Labyrinth Wall, as a Duel Monster, had an extremely exaggerated DEF of a full 3000 Points. Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon would find it difficult to break through. Although there were ways to Summon stronger Monsters with ATK higher than that to break through the wall, Yugi didn't think he had the ability to support himself in demolishing all the walls.
Moreover, judging by Hayato's words, there were likely Traps and Monsters in the Labyrinth, so he had to save some strength.
Yugi advanced along the walls of the Labyrinth, while outside the Labyrinth, Hayato stood with an unexpected guy.
"Using Labyrinth Wall to stall the Nameless Pharaoh and the others? Not a bad idea."
"Heh heh, of course not." Hayato looked at Rafael, who he had absolutely no idea would appear here beforehand, and forced a cold expression. "Didn't Dartz say that dealing with Yugi was your job? I have no interest in doing work for others for free."
Damn it, I was originally planning to give Yugi a heads-up after driving away the Doma people. If Arai hadn't discovered that Guardian Aiwass was nearby, I would have almost been caught red-handed by this Rafael guy.
Seriously?! Luckily, yours truly reacted quickly!
Chapter 604: Raviel is Still Chasing Me, TMD
According to Rafael's account, the reason he unaccountably ended up with Hayato and Valon was purely a "whim."
This was a lie, a pure lie.
Even without a mind-reading ability, Hayato could guess why Rafael appeared here. It was simply to have him and Valon team up first and see if he would reveal any flaws when accompanied by only one Companion. Rafael, hidden nearby, was the best surveillance.
Although it was an old trick, it was precisely because of this that it was particularly effective.
Valon, who rarely shied away from trouble and instead proactively requested Dartz to deal with Joey Wheeler, needed someone to help him restrain the others accompanying Joey Wheeler, or at least restrain most of them for a period of time, to create an environment for him to duel Joey Wheeler one-on-one.
When Valon brought this up at the Doma base, the first person he considered for help wasn't Hayato but Alister. However, Alister said he had collected records of a cross-ocean flying application from a jet plane owned by Kaiba and planned to intercept Kaiba, so he couldn't help Valon.
Then Valon thought of Rafael. After all, Rafael's quest's goal, the Nameless Pharaoh, who was Yugi, was acting together with Joey Wheeler. The two of them could complete the quests together.
But at that time, Rafael said he had other quests to prioritize before dealing with the Nameless Pharaoh and also refused Valon. That's why Valon ultimately could only act with Hayato, the sole person who agreed to him.
The "other quests" Rafael mentioned at that time were likely "following behind Hayato and Valon to see if Hayato would expose problems when he only had one teammate."
It was just like playing "Among Us" and deliberately hiding behind a pair of players who team up to see if either of them was the imposter. Truly a veteran schemer's tactic.
Hayato had originally planned to first slightly delay Yugi and the others as Valon requested, then find a suitable opportunity to briefly explain his current situation and future plans to Téa and Yugi, asking them to cooperate with his act later.
This was both for Hayato to reassure his friends and to minimize the flaws when he did something that looked like an antagonist's action but actually didn't cause any harm.
As for why he didn't tell Joey Wheeler, Tristan, and Rex? It wasn't that Hayato was treating them differently; it was mainly because none of them seemed like people who could keep a secret, no matter how you looked at it. Hayato felt that if he told Joey Wheeler that his "betrayal" was fake, Joey Wheeler might inadvertently blurt it out right after being told.
He still wanted to "play" in Doma for a while longer. Moreover, the "gift" for Dartz was still being prepared and wasn't finished.
However, this plan was directly aborted due to Rafael's existence, leaving Hayato exceptionally annoyed, his face dark.
Rafael didn't know Hayato's idea at this moment. Despite monitoring Hayato, on the surface, he still maintained an attitude of "I trust you greatly and consider you a Companion." He asked Hayato, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly thought of something interesting." The annoyed Hayato suddenly gave a sinister smile, drew a card, and said to Rafael, "The unwillingness felt when suddenly and forcibly separated from Companions, upon finally reuniting with them, transforms into an exceptionally strong joy."
"I'm truly curious, how will this joy evolve into despair when one discovers they have fallen into an extremely dangerous situation?"
As Hayato placed the card in his hand on his Duel Disk, surging spirit power was released, and a giant blue monster manifested within the layers of the Labyrinth Wall. It was none other than Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, one of the Sacred Beasts!
Its name is derived from a variation of the name of the famous mythology figure, the Angel "Raphael." Coincidentally, the name of Rafael, who was beside Hayato, is also a variation of the name "Raphael." Rounding up, it's the person himself.
After returning to the Human World from the Spirit World, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms and the others were initially restless. After all, they had previously obediently submitted to Hayato purely because Hayato had too many "Gods" in his hand, constantly suppressing them, so they didn't dare to rebel.
But when Hayato first returned to the Human World, the power of the "Gods" in his hand was at its weakest state, giving the Sacred Beasts hope of rebelling and regaining their freedom.
However, when they actually had the idea of taking action against Hayato, they were directly chased and beaten by The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form, which had been hiding inside The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode, and were almost eliminated on the spot.
Who could have imagined that even though The Winged Dragon of Ra's card was lost in the Human World along with the other two Three Egyptian Gods cards by Hayato, The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form was actually hiding inside the egg? Both master and servant are veteran schemers!
So now, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, under Hayato's arrangement, could only obediently appear and act as the "monster" in the Labyrinth, without the slightest idea of resistance.
Although as a Phantasm, it has the ability to absorb surrounding spirit power, would Raviel, Lord of Phantasms dare to absorb the spirit power of the people around it? Yugi, Rex, and Hayato himself—Raviel, Lord of Phantasms felt that if it dared to take action, Hayato would very likely have The Winged Dragon of Ra tear it apart the next second.
Huh? Too cowardly? Absolutely not.
Being Hayato's dog is the greatest honor!
Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, shamelessly taking pride in this, began to move within the Labyrinth.
At this time, within the Labyrinth, Yugi utilized the numerous Card Spirits he possessed. At every fork in the road, he sent them in different directions to scout, saving time. Soon, he found his first scattered partner— Téa, who was overjoyed upon seeing Yugi's appearance.
"Yugi!" "Téa!"
Because she had no self-preservation ability, Téa, after the Labyrinth's field setup, was forced to move a certain distance by the moving walls. However, she then consciously stayed put and didn't wander around randomly.
After all, no one knew where the danger in the Labyrinth might appear, and Téa believed Yugi would definitely find her.
And indeed, Yugi's first find was Téa, who had stayed at a crossroad and hadn't left randomly. What surprised Yugi even more was that the figures of Rex and Tristan, who should have been separated, also appeared from the other two paths.
This was natural. In reality, Hayato hadn't designed the Labyrinth very well. Although the approach was complicated, it was actually incredibly simple, as it was completed hastily just to deal with Rafael.
However, compared to Rex, who was somewhat surprised to find the group again so quickly, Tristan, who was running wildly, anxiously shouted, "Yugi, Téa, Rex! Escape!"
While running, Tristan glanced behind him: "Raviel is still chasing me! TMD!"
A giant blue monster appeared before everyone!
Immediately, Yugi deployed his Duel Disk and summoned Dark Magician again to attack. But, just like his previous action of attacking the Labyrinth Wall, Dark Magician's power, which should have been invincible, suffered a setback again and returned as useless effort. Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, revealed a ferocious smile and approached the group!
Seeing that Raviel, Lord of Phantasms couldn't even be dealt with by Dark Magician's power, Yugi and the others immediately thought of escaping to create some distance before figuring out a countermeasure. But upon turning around, they saw the fork in the road Yugi had taken to get there was blocked by a moving wall!
"Damn it, is it a trap!" Rex pounded the wall, but the heavy stone wall didn't budge. He could only helplessly give up on the useless effort and looked back at Yugi, who was directly facing the blue demon.
As a Duel Monster, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, had an ATK of 4000 points. Outside of Duel Monsters, it was the strongest among the Sacred Beasts, rivaling the Three Egyptian Gods. Ordinary Duel Monsters, let alone confronting it, were already very strong just to maintain existence without being absorbed by it.
But facing the approaching Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, Yugi's gaze was very firm. He resolutely stepped forward, commanding Dark Magician to continuously attack Raviel, Lord of Phantasms.
Even if the gap in power was vast, his important friends were behind him. He absolutely could not, and would not, give up!
Holding this conviction, Yugi played another card, the nameless fake card, Eye of Timaeus.
The power of the Legendary Dragon possessed Dark Magician, and then it surprisingly transformed into the appearance of Joey Wheeler's Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which wasn't even here!
Then, the ultimate soul card that had manifested and defeated Hayato, the Fusion Monster that was the symbol of friendship between Joey Wheeler and Yugi—Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon—appeared!
The instant it appeared, even Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, felt a threat for a moment. It immediately used its power to create avatars and intended to absorb the avatars' power to quickly defeat this monster before it.
However, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon swung the weapon in its hand. An astonishing slash destroyed Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, along with the Labyrinth Wall that was trapping Yugi and the others!
The sudden incident was something even Hayato hadn't expected: "What?!"
"It seems your plan has failed," Rafael said, looking at Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon that appeared beside Yugi with a shocked expression, his brows furrowed with seriousness.
As the sole audience of that top-level duel at Industrial Illusions, Rafael was well aware of how powerful, even monstrously powerful, this monster was—almost like a fake card.
He had thought that for this monster to appear, Katsuya Jounouchi's Red-Eyes Black Dragon was a necessary existence. It would be somewhat easier for him to deal with the Nameless Pharaoh after Valon dealt with Katsuya Jounouchi. But now he saw Dark Magician directly transform into this form under the power of the Legendary Dragon.
Although they weren't in a duel right now, no one could guarantee that the Legendary Dragon couldn't replicate the current scene in a formal duel. Rather, Rafael felt that such a situation would absolutely happen again!
To defeat the Nameless Pharaoh, the existence of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon could not be bypassed. And to deal with this monster, it was indeed necessary to prioritize handling the troublesome Legendary Dragon!
Thinking of something Dartz had instructed them, Rafael had an idea in his heart. But just as he was about to take action now, suddenly, the Orichalcos Fragment gem on his pendant began to radiate green light.
"What is this?" Hayato subtly put away a card, also looked at his pendant, and showed a confused expression. "What's going on?"
Rafael looked at him with a solemn face and said, "This is the phenomenon when the Seal of Orichalcos seals the soul of a powerful Duelist. Valon's duel has probably reached a victory or defeat."
"Let's go find Valon first, take him and withdraw, and then slowly go find the Nameless Pharaoh—"
As Rafael spoke, he was about to take action, but upon seeing Joey Wheeler walking out from the alley in the distance, limping and being supported by Kujaku Mai, he couldn't finish his words.
Undoubtedly, the reaction of the Orichalcos Fragment just now indicated that a duel had just now ended, and someone's soul had been sealed by the Seal of Orichalcos. However, Joey Wheeler walked out alive. Although he looked somewhat weak and disheveled, he was indeed alive.
This meant that the loser of the duel with Joey Wheeler was actually Valon!
That Valon would lose to Joey Wheeler was something Rafael hadn't expected. In his previous observations, although Joey Wheeler's strength was decent, it was just decent. He was only first-rate, not top-tier, and had no special characteristics other than good luck.
Especially in the duel where he and Yugi teamed up against Hayato, compared to Yugi, who could fight back and forth with Hayato, Joey Wheeler was mostly just defensively holding on, lacking the ability to take the offensive.
And Valon, in Rafael's view, was second only to himself and Lord Dartz in Organization Doma, even stronger than Alister. Rafael and Valon had sparred before, resulting in a narrow draw, with Rafael slightly better.
Such a Valon was defeated by that guy Joey Wheeler. Although it seemed like a narrow victory, the victory was a fact. Was it the power of the Legendary Dragon?
Rafael couldn't help but speculate whether Joey Wheeler had used the power of the Legendary Dragon in the duel to defeat Valon, and what kind of power his Legendary Dragon possessed.
However, Rafael was slightly confused. Valon also had an Orichalcos Fragment on him and should have had the ability to forcibly break the Seal of Orichalcos. Why was his soul still sealed?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 605 It's Normal for the Three Swordsmen to Have Four People, Right?
Under the escort of Red-Eyes Dragoon, Yugi and the others successfully broke through the "complex" Labyrinth.
As soon as they emerged, the group of four saw Joey Wheeler and Kujaku Mai walking from a distance, as well as Hayato and Rafael standing not far away.
"Is that person also one of Doma's?"
Téa and Tristan hadn't gone up to the roof with Joey Wheeler and Yugi during the recent battle at Industrial Illusions, but it wasn't the first time they had seen Rafael. At least during the KC Cup, they had seen him as spectators, though their impression was likely not deep.
"Everyone, be careful." Yugi directed Red-Eyes Dragoon to stand in front of him, looking seriously at Hayato and Rafael. "That guy is called Rafael. He's a very powerful Duelist, one of the 'Three Swordsmen' of Organization Doma."
Rex also had a serious expression: "I also have an impression of that guy. He acted together with someone named Valon, and at that time, whether it was Hayato Kobayashi, Valon, or another guy I didn't know named Alister, they all seemed like they were acting under this guy's command."
"Even among the 'Doma Three Swordsmen', that guy's identity seems like it's one of the top few. That means he's also an amazing and dangerous Duelist!"
"Yugi, and everyone!" While Yugi and the others were wary of Hayato and Rafael, Joey Wheeler was also brought nearby by Kujaku Mai. "Nobody's hurt, right? And what was that monster just now?"
"Joey Wheeler! You look like you've been through the wringer." While teasing Joey Wheeler, Tristan proactively took over from Kujaku Mai supporting the exhausted Joey Wheeler, answering him as he did so. "Just now, after you and Mai left, Hayato suddenly attacked us and trapped us in a Labyrinth."
"That monster just now, I remember it was called Raviel, Lord of Phantasms. It was chasing me like crazy in the Labyrinth, and I was almost taken out by it."
Recalling his experience in the Labyrinth before, Tristan felt lingering fear, and wanted to rant a little.
It was clearly a Labyrinth, and while there were many left and right turns, he basically just ran down one path the whole way with no branching paths at all. Also, while Yugi, Téa, and Rex all met up safely, why was he the only one being chased by Raviel, Lord of Phantasms when he found Yugi and the others?!
It was almost like a hastily completed Labyrinth game with insufficient funding, where the paths and enemies along the way weren't seriously designed at all. It was even like they just casually threw the only monster with overpowered strength into the Labyrinth as a perfunctory measure to save resources!
"Hoh hoh, Joey Wheeler, you finally managed to defeat Valon, but you're not cherishing this life you picked up. You actually came back here again." Looking at the six people gathered before him, Hayato took a step forward and said with an arrogant expression.
"Hayato..." Looking at Hayato, who was acting like Dio, Joey Wheeler took a deep breath and calmed his mood. "Even if you've been controlled by the Doma people, to actually try to kill your Companions, I definitely have to give you a good beating!"
"With my duel!"
Propping himself up, Joey Wheeler activated his duel disk.
[Joey Wheeler: 4000 LP]
Looking at Joey Wheeler, who needed Tristan's help just to stand, Hayato sneered: "Joey Wheeler, you don't actually think that after defeating Valon, you have enough confidence to defeat everyone else, do you?"
"Heh heh, I'll tell you the truth. There are three other duelists as powerful as Valon. He's the weakest of the Doma Three Swordsmen."
---Although in reality, the weakest should be Alister, it didn't stop Hayato from bluffing a little. Moreover, the phrase "the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings" was the fourth line Hayato wanted to say most in his life.
Facing the aggressive Hayato, Rex, who had been silent until just now, stepped forward and stood beside Joey Wheeler: "In that case, I'm here too! I'll help as well!"
"Rex?"
Glancing at Joey Wheeler, Rex still had a psychological shadow from Organization Doma. Even just looking at the standard Doma duel disks Hayato and Rafael were wearing made his legs tremble a little, but he still said firmly: "Even as a reward for you avenging me, I won't let you fight alone, Joey Wheeler."
"Besides, I'm 'Tough Guy' Rex. A True Duelist can't be deserting the post!" Saying this, Rex's duel disk was also activated.
[Rex: 4000 LP]
As Rex activated his duel disk, Kujaku Mai showed a helpless smile looking at the two boys standing in front of her: "Honestly, you boys, don't act like you're the only ones who can step forward."
"Mai?"
Seeing Joey Wheeler call her name, Kujaku Mai raised her chin proudly like an arrogant peacock: "Heh heh, that guy Rex is the All-America Duel Monsters Runner-up, and I'm the champion. Don't underestimate me, Joey Wheeler. I'm not just a pretty face."
[Kujaku Mai: 4000 LP]
"Everyone..." Looking at everyone stepping forward one after another, Yugi touched the Millennium Puzzle on his chest. "Partner..."
'Yeah, believe in everyone's power, The Other Me!'
Even though he only called out softly, Yugi Mutou inside the Millennium Puzzle felt and understood Dark Yugi's idea at this moment, and encouraged him, 'I'll always be by your side too.'
The goal of Yugi and the others on this trip was to go to the Paradius Headquarters to find more clues about Organization Doma, and find a way to turn the passive situation into an active one, preferably by directly attacking the enemy's lair and solving the mastermind. Therefore, when facing interceptions along the way, the best course of action was to try hard to escape.
Especially the two people intercepting them now: one was Rafael, with whom Yugi had fought a battle that would have been too close to call if not for the burden of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames; the other was Hayato, whom Yugi and Joey Wheeler had teamed up to challenge but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat against.
Escaping is shameful but useful. Dark Yugi's initial idea was to leave this place with Téa and Tristan. Retreat was the best policy. This was the most suitable approach based on rational thinking, because there was no chance of victory fighting against Hayato and Rafael.
However, under the influence of Joey Wheeler, Rex, and Kujaku Mai, Yugi was touched and felt the will and courage to battle.
"Hayato, and Rafael, we won't surrender!" Walking to the front, Yugi threw off the school uniform he was wearing like a trench coat and raised his duel disk. "Darkness ultimately cannot absorb light. Our gathered will is indestructible!"
[Yugi: 4000 LP]
"The four of us," Joey Wheeler showed a face art smile, "Even if we're covered in wounds,"
Rex's expression was firm: "Even if the chance of victory or defeat is slim,"
"But our three-person team won't escape!" Kujaku Mai shouted boldly, "Come on, Hayato Kobayashi!"
(Joey Wheeler, Rex, Yugi: 'Three-person team?')
Looking at the several people activating their duel disks one after another, Rafael frowned. His hands behind his back subtly made a few gestures. The Organization Doma killers hiding in the houses near the Street received the command and quietly retreated.
According to his understanding of Yugi, or rather, of the Nameless Pharaoh Dark Yugi, although he was a person who valued honor, he was also a person whose rational thinking outweighed his emotions. In this situation, he should choose to escape with his Companions instead of foolishly staying to battle.
Based on this prediction, Rafael had specifically arranged personnel in the nearby houses, preparing to use sniper rifles equipped with riot control tranquilizer rounds to seize the opportunity to leave a few people behind as hostages when Yugi and the others escaped.
In that case, Rafael could use this to threaten the Nameless Pharaoh into acting alone with him, without having to get entangled with Joey Wheeler and the others. Although it was despicable, it was a necessary condition to complete the quests assigned by Lord Dartz.
The quests Dartz assigned to Rafael and the 'Doma Three Swordsmen' was to defeat the Legendary Dragon. Yugi, Joey Wheeler, and Kaiba were the users of the Legendary Dragon, but this didn't mean that defeating Yugi and the others counted as defeating the Legendary Dragon.
Either make the Legendary Dragon dissatisfied with its user and abandon the user;
Or seal the Legendary Dragon and the user's soul together with the Seal of Orichalcos in a duel. This was the method Rafael knew for defeating the Legendary Dragon.
Simply killing the user of the Legendary Dragon was like being afraid of guns and killing the person holding the gun but not confiscating the firearms – it was completely useless effort. The Legendary Dragon could still choose the next user. If it were really useful, Rafael wouldn't have planned so much; he would have just had the Doma personnel in the Town swarm and kill Yugi and Joey Wheeler from the start.
This Town has had Doma's involvement since its establishment hundreds of years ago. It's not an exaggeration to say that America, a country only a few hundred years old, grew directly attached to Doma like a great tree's torso. Even having his Subordinates commit murder was not a big deal for Rafael, it was just useless.
To defeat the Legendary Dragon, Rafael needed to be able to seal them together with the Legendary Dragon using the power of the Seal of Orichalcos when the Legendary Dragon users like Joey Wheeler and Yugi unleashed their maximum power. Otherwise, even if the duelist's soul was sealed, it wouldn't influence the Legendary Dragon.
To achieve this, a one-on-one was very necessary. Otherwise, if more than one opponent covered for each other, it would be difficult for even Rafael to seize the opportunity.
And right now, Yugi and the others had a full four people. Rafael felt that if he let Hayato Kobayashi take on three people to create a one-on-one situation for him with the Nameless Pharaoh, let alone Hayato, he himself would feel it was unreasonable.
But facing two people alone, victory could certainly be achieved, but what was important was never victory but the Legendary Dragon. Only this was the necessary matter that must be completed first.
Rafael was troubled, but Hayato still looked arrogant: "Hoh hoh, not escaping but approaching me, Hayato Kobayashi? Then come closer."
"Kujaku Mai, Rex, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi. Even if there are four of you, what can you do? Nine turns? Eight turns?"
"No! To defeat you, I don't even need five turns!"
Laughing boastfully, Hayato glanced at Rafael beside him and said casually: "How about it, Rafael? You've seemed to be thinking about some question since just now. Are you troubled about which opponent to choose? No problem, take your time to think slowly. I can let you choose first. Anyway, for me, any opponent is the same."
"Do you dare to defy me, who possesses Infernoid?"
The arrogant Hayato laughed with his hands on his hips, but he only saw Rafael, who had finally made up his mind, take a step back: "Let's retreat for now."
"Oh, retreat for now, a good choice. Then I'll choose..."
"Hmm?!"
Hayato raised an eyebrow, looking at Rafael: "What did you just say?! Retreat? Are you humiliating my dignity as an Emperor, Rafael!"
"Yes, I said, retreat, unless you want to face four people alone." Rafael said calmly with an unchanged expression even while being stared at by Hayato. "Perhaps you don't care, but I think it's necessary to first report Valon's death to Lord Dartz, and to retrieve his body."
"Tsk, Dartz must already know about Valon's death. Are you choosing to escape to do such a boring thing?"
Hayato said, closing his duel disk, but inadvertently dropped a card on the ground. He glared at Rafael with an annoyed look, then turned back to Yugi and the others, who were standing ready, and said: "What a pity, everyone. Today's game time is over. Your lives will be spared until next time to be reaped."
Seeing that Hayato and Rafael were about to leave, Joey Wheeler was a little unwilling to let them go just like that and shouted: "Wait—"
However, at the instant Hayato finished speaking, a huge poison dragon manifested behind him. Starving Venom Fusion Dragon fiercely sprayed a sudden blast onto the ground. The explosion "boom" shattered the sandy ground, sending gravel and sand and wind flying, obscuring everyone's view.
Honda, who was supporting Joey Wheeler, immediately let go of Joey Wheeler for the time being and chased in. But when he rushed into the smoke, Hayato and Rafael had already disappeared and vanished.
"Did they escape?"
Joey Wheeler sat on the ground in a sorry state, looking at Tristan walking back shaking his head, and said with a slight disappointment. But Kujaku Mai poked his forehead from the side: "Don't forget your current condition, you idiot. Hayato Kobayashi left, do you want him to come back? Do you really want to achieve mutual destruction with him?"
"No way, I don't believe Hayato really joined Doma. He must have been brainwashed!"
"That's just your intuition, you guy! Don't use something without any evidence as a realistic basis for action!"
While Kujaku Mai and Joey Wheeler, these rivals, were interacting as if arguing, Yugi noticed that a card had been blown towards him from beside Hayato's feet when Starving Venom Fusion Dragon attacked the ground, landing not far away.
Picking it up with a slight confused look, Yugi looked at the monster on the card in his hand and said in surprise: "This is, Gaia the Fierce Knight!?"