Kobayashi Hayato!" Hesiod suddenly interrupted Hayato, his widened eyes bloodshot. "You can't do that!"
"Look closely, Kobayashi Hayato! I have the qualification to become the God of Duel Monsters, I can't just lose like this!"
As Hesiod spoke, he raised his hand and pointed behind Hayato. "Before you attack me, look closely at what's happening there!"
Hearing this, Hayato turned his head in confusion.
He wasn't too worried that Hesiod would use some underhanded trick while he was turned, like pulling screws or adding his deck to his hand. They had already reached the final stage; this game had essentially become a Dark Game. If someone cheated in a Dark Game, the only one who would suffer would be Hesiod himself.
However, what Hayato didn't expect was that Hesiod had actually thought of a method that was both a form of cheating and wouldn't be punished by the Dark Game.
After Hayato Summoned Quintet Magician and stopped Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder's draining of life force from the surroundings, many onlookers had entered a state of exhaustion, including the Manjome Brothers.
Among the weakened Duelists, only one burly man in a black cloak remained standing. Unbeknownst to others, he had moved next to the Manjome Brothers, holding a pistol aimed at the defenseless Manjoume Shouji and Manjoume Jun.
"A true Duelist should rationally use information advantage. You might not know this, King of Games, but our Ghouls members often operate in pairs."
"Don't blame me for being despicable. Who told you to gain the upper hand?" Hesiod's eyes were bloodshot, and he spoke with a twisted expression. "If you had just obediently lost to me, nothing would have happened, right?"
"Do you really think I'd hesitate to deliver the final blow just because those two guys became your hostages?" Hayato felt quite annoyed at being threatened, but although he said that, "hostages" truly was his weak point.
For a moment, he really didn't dare to attack Hesiod.
"Then go ahead and attack me, King of Games? If you can be indifferent to the death of your friends, let your Quintet Magician finish the job!" Although Hesiod's mental state had become somewhat frantic due to the influence of Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, he instantly saw the truth—Hayato no longer dared to attack him. "You don't dare to attack, do you?"
"As punishment for offending a god, hey, 'Regulus', take down that kid for me!"
Hayato's gaze locked firmly onto the burly man. At the same time, he quietly took out The Winged Dragon of Ra Card from the card box on his waist and held it in his hand, poised. As soon as the burly man made any move, Hayato would immediately throw the card out.
Although he had always adhered to the principle of not killing, if the burly man named "Regulus" truly followed Hesiod's command and intended to kill the Manjome Brothers, Hayato wouldn't mind breaking his principle.
However, what slightly surprised Hayato was that "Regulus", holding the pistol, did not immediately fire upon hearing Hesiod's command. Instead, he spoke, "Hesiod-senpai, can I understand this as a command or a request from you?"
"Ah, yes, it is. So hurry up and shoot, you idiot!" Hesiod said impatiently. "I am your senior. Are you going to defy me, who possesses Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!"
"Hmm, I think so."
Hesiod froze for a moment. "What did you just say?"
"I said, I refuse your request. I cannot bring myself to follow your command and shoot."
As the burly man spoke, he threw the pistol, which hadn't even had its safety off, aside. From beneath the hood of his cloak, his eyes buried in shadow stared directly at Hesiod. "It's not for some boring reason like not wanting to harm innocent people. Since falling into the dark, my hands have long been stained with countless fresh blood."
"However, Hesiod, the one thing I absolutely cannot tolerate is your behavior of treating Card Monsters as mere tools. It is truly beneath contempt."
"What did you say!" Hesiod seemed extremely angry. "You're defying me for such a pathetic reason? You're betraying me, a god, because of those bizarre Card Spirits!?"
"Unforgivable, unforgivable, you pig!"
"That's enough, Hesiod." Hayato interrupted the impotently raging Hesiod. "It seems the companion you considered your last resort has also betrayed you. I was actually a bit nervous just now."
"In that case, you are now truly and utterly 'out of options', aren't you?"
"Quintet Magician, final attack, go!"
"Wait, wait, Kobayashi Hayato!" Hesiod panicked, seeing Quintet Magician ready to attack again. "I can't lose this duel! I should become a god! My great mind cannot disappear from the world!"
"Please, please let me go! I'll tell you where the Ghouls' base is, and my deck, I'll give it all to you!"
But his current dishevelled state only earned him a cold laugh from Hayato.
"First, using the power of Duel Monsters to drain life force from others. Second, threatening someone's life during a duel." Hayato extended his palm, bending his little finger and ring finger, leaving the remaining three fingers pointed like a gun. "Even just these two crimes are enough reason to punish you."
"Enjoy the fun of hell. Count your sins."
And Quintet Magician's hand completed its attack charge. Another magic orb passed through five magic circles and struck Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder. "He said, you can go."
[Hesiod: 13000 LP → 0]
Accompanied by a crisp shattering sound like cracking glass, Quintet Magician's attack, with an ATK close to twenty thousand, not only destroyed Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder but also instantly wiped out Hesiod's Life Points. Even if it were a normal duel instead of a Dark Game, 14000 points of Battle Damage would be enough to knock someone unconscious, let alone a Dark Game where the damage directly affects the mind.
Hesiod fell to the ground with a look of terror still on his face. The Duel Disk on his wrist also exploded into scattered fragments with a "bang", having sustained damage beyond its limit.
Hayato did not immediately step forward to pick up the cards scattered around Hesiod. Instead, he turned around and looked at the burly man who had taken off his black cloak to reveal his true appearance. "Are you really one of the Ghouls?"
The burly man silently threw the removed black cloak aside, glanced at Hayato, and said in a deep voice, "Are you doubting my identity, King of Games?"
"Not doubting, just making some guesses. First of all, you look somewhat different from the Ghouls members I know." Hayato sized up the burly man, not immediately recognizing his identity.
Honestly, putting aside the significant differences in character appearance between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds, there were so many characters appearing in just the first part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. Unless someone had a distinctive hairstyle, Hayato couldn't recognize which character was which.
"Most of the Ghouls are just guys who pursue the power of Cards. Even if they aren't so outrageous as to use pirated Cards, they only join the Ghouls to gain powerful Cards without effort, by stealing them from others." Whether it was Hert, Haga, Epimetheus, Pandora, or the recent Hesiod, all the Ghouls members Hayato had met so far were not good people.
After all, the leader of the Ghouls—Marik—was not a benevolent person, so how could one expect the Ghouls' quality to be high?
"To be exposed by such a detail... It doesn't matter. Joining the Ghouls was just a temporary idea anyway." The burly man wasn't very concerned that Hayato had seen through his identity as not being a Ghoul. "But since there's a 'first', there should be a 'second', right, King of Games?"
"Of course. First, you have a visible passion for Duel Monsters, or rather, Card Spirits, that is incompatible with the Ghouls. And second," Hayato pointed to the Millennium Puzzle on his chest. In the center of the golden disk, the Millennium Eye lit up, and the five surrounding cones all pointed towards the burly man.
"Your body is shrouded in a mystery of a quality comparable to the Millennium Items. Although I can't see its true nature, it's definitely not something that guy Marik could impose. It's something much more ancient."
"So, do you think Marik would tolerate someone within the Ghouls possessing this kind of power, capable of rivaling the Millennium Rod and threatening his absolute authority?"
"Based on my observation of that Marik during this time, probably not." The burly man recalled and nodded in agreement.
Looking at Hayato, who had put away his Duel Disk, the burly man said seriously, "Although you've seen that I'm not a member of the Ghouls, King of Games, don't think that I won't be your enemy because of this. If you stand in the way of the great person behind me, no matter how strong you are, I will serve as that person's sword and take you down."
"Therefore, you can continue to call me by my codename in the Ghouls—'Regulus'. Although we are not enemies for now, however, don't expect me to reveal my true name just yet."
(This chapter is finished)