Chapter 274: The Opponent for the Last Puzzle Card Is...
The essence of the life force absorbed by Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames from the Duel Monsters was, in fact, the passion for Duel Monsters and the power of the Card Spirit. If Hayato hadn't intervened today, Hesiod likely wouldn't have suddenly had a change of heart and returned the power of the Card Spirit he had absorbed.
As a result, Manjoume Shouji would have lost his strong passion for Duel Monsters and entered the business world. Manjoume Jun's Light and Darkness Dragon would also have been unable to awaken its power due to excessive loss before its Card Spirit awakened, leading to Manjoume no longer valuing it. This would indirectly cause Manjoume in the future to not primarily use Dragon-Type Monsters like in the Manga Version, but instead use an Underdog Deck.
Destiny, isn't it wonderful?
————The Last Sacred Beast————
After parting ways with the Manjoume Brothers, Hayato once again walked the Streets of Domino City. As time passed, it had been almost a full day since the start of Duel City. The sky was darkening, and the streetlights along the road began to illuminate.
However, even with the arrival of darkness, the enthusiastic Duelists didn't stop. On the contrary, after exchanging notes on their day's gains with fellow Duelists they knew, they became even more proactive, unwilling to fall behind others.
But after a day, they had finally come to recognize an extremely cruel truth: compared to "Legendary Duelists" like Yugi Mutou, Kobayashi Hayato, and Seto Kaiba, their Strength was simply negligible.
If you see a Kid with starfish hair, a guy who laughs very loudly, or a zombie face wearing an anti-gravity white trench coat, absolutely do not challenge them easily.
Looking at the passersby who avoided him, not daring to accept a Duel, Hayato felt a bit conflicted. During the day, he didn't really want to Duel, but a group of people surrounded him and wouldn't let him leave unless he Dueled. Yet, when his obsessive-compulsive disorder kicked in at night and he wanted to quickly collect all the Puzzle Cards, these Fourth-Rate Duelists started avoiding duels.
Hayato's mood right now was probably like preferring to freeze to death than die of heat in the summer, and preferring to die of heat than freeze to death in the winter.
"I saw so many people during the day, Mai Valentine, Ryuzaki, Mr. Samejima. Why can't I find them at night?" With a curious mind, Hayato picked up the Millennium Ring hanging around his neck and rubbed its golden wheel as if it were a magic lamp.
"Oh, Millennium Ring, Millennium Ring, who is the fairest in the World... bah, help me find the nearest Duelist with a certain level of Strength."
The Millennium Eye emitted a faint light, and five cones floated up out of thin air, all pointing in one direction. Hayato followed the direction indicated by the cones and found they were pointing towards a small alley beside the road.
It was an ordinary-looking alley. At the entrance, two large trash cans were placed for simple waste sorting. One recyclable trash can was full of garbage, while the other kitchen waste trash can seemed to have been emptied this morning, containing only a bag of eggshells.
"I can't believe I actually get a chance to participate in the famous alley plotline! So what kind of situation will I encounter? An alley you can't turn back from, an alley alliance, or a slaughterhouse run by a big brother who plays with vectors?" While muttering to himself, Hayato hesitated before stepping over a garbage bag that had fallen outside the trash can and entering the alley.
Although the Millennium Ring's function was comparable to Google Maps and quite accurate, would there really be a Duelist with a certain level of Strength in such a small alley?
Hayato entered the alley with this doubt in mind.
Not far from Hayato, a Ghouls member wearing a black robe knelt on the ground in terror: "No, Lord Rishid, please spare me, Lord Rishid!"
But the person standing before this Ghouls member was not Marik, but Rishid, who had taken off his hood, revealing a shiny bald head. He looked at the Ghouls member prostrating himself and begging for mercy on the ground, and inwardly asked Marik, with whom he maintained a mental link: "Master Marik..."
"I've told you, Rishid, you don't have to consult me on everything. You are free, just make your own decisions." Far away in the Underground Base, Marik was flipping through his Deck one Card at a time, holding the Millennium Rod in one hand to maintain the connection. "I must figure out a way to Defeat Kobayashi Hayato and get The Winged Dragon of Ra back."
"Therefore, I will maintain a minimum level of mental link with you to stay in contact. During this time, you will be in charge of the Ghouls."
Saying this, Marik closed his eyes again, recalling the composition of the Deck he had just finished building. In his mind, his hypothetical opponents were the Ojama Monsters that switch Attack and Defense, the single-target explosive XYZ, the group-annihilating Armed Dragon, and the Performapal with complex effects used in group combat.
Of course, Marik didn't forget to include Hayato's Gaia The Fierce Knight, which always seemed to appear in his hand at the right moment, as well as the Earth Spirit God, the Earthbound Immortal, and The Winged Dragon of Ra that he had taken from Marik's hands.
Standing before the constantly begging Ghouls member, who seemed to have realized his mistake, and sensing that Marik on the other end was deep in thought, Rishid silently watched the person kneeling and begging, and sighed helplessly: "This is the last time. Next time, Master Marik won't be so kind as to forgive your mistake."
Although Rishid had followed Marik for a long time, and even helped Marik establish the prototype of the Ghouls criminal organization, he still couldn't bring himself to easily take another person's Life. In the Ghouls, his behavior was quite out of place. If it weren't for his relationship with Marik, he probably would have left the Ghouls long ago.
This person in front of him had embezzled a large sum of money from the Ghouls in Domino City intended for bribing the mayor of Domino City. Marik attributed KaibaCorp's recent crackdown on the Ghouls to this and ordered him to return the money.
But who knew this guy was a Pachinko enthusiast and a Gacha Mobile Game Player? In total, he had embezzled seventy million from selling fake cards and stolen real cards. The key was that he had gained nothing from either Pachinko or the Gacha Mobile Game, and even selling them wouldn't recoup much money.
Marik was also busy adjusting his Deck, and for someone too useless to kill, Marik assigned his most trusted Rishid to temporarily act as the "cleaner".
"Thank you, thank you, Lord Rishid. Thank you very much." The person kneeling and begging for mercy seemed quite surprised to hear that Marik had apparently spared him. He stood up and repeatedly bowed to Rishid in thanks. However, as he spoke his words of gratitude, at a certain moment, his tone suddenly changed.
"I should thank you, Lord Rishid, for trusting me so much." While Rishid wasn't paying attention, he pulled a dagger from his pocket and gripped it, shouting excitedly: "I'm not a Ghouls member anymore, Rishid! I'll use your Blood to commemorate my rebirth!"
Mouthing off words like Dio, if this were the adjacent JoJo setting, perhaps someone would use their one-time Teleport to flash in front of Rishid and take the knife for him. But unfortunately, this is the World of Duelists who don't play fair.
"Splurt!"
The black-robed man stared blankly at the hand holding the dagger he had just thrust out. Right there, a sound like water leaking from a broken pipe suddenly occurred. However, that wasn't the sound of Rishid bleeding from a wound after being stabbed by the dagger; it was the sound of his major artery spurting Blood after his hand was severed out of thin air!
"Ugh, ahhh!!!" Clutching his wrist, which was bleeding profusely, the black-robed man was kicked unconscious by Rishid. Behind Rishid, a tall, blue demonic apparition gradually disappeared.
Looking at the Ghouls Traitor lying on the ground, unconscious and pale from excessive Blood loss, Rishid was annoyed at himself for having the thought of showing mercy just now. He turned his head to look at the demonic apparition fading behind him and sighed.
Perhaps he really wasn't suited for an environment like the Ghouls. Yet, Master Marik was fixated on getting Revenge on the Pharaoh, and neither he nor Lady Ishizu could easily dissuade him. Now, he could only hope that Kobayashi Hayato truly had the ability to make Master Marik let go of his Hatred.
But before that, as long as Marik hadn't left the Darkness, he would continue to exist as his shadow, even if it meant harming others against his own will.
Thinking this, Rishid took out the Card Marik had given him. Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, was one of the three Cards Marik had acquired from the guy named Bakura, and it was said to be the strongest of the three.
Marik although temporarily lost The Winged Dragon of Ra, but still held Slifer the Sky Dragon and didn't care for the Cards Bakura Ryo called the "Three Sacred Beasts". He distributed them among three of his Subordinates to enhance the Ghouls' Strength. The strongest Sacred Beast was naturally given to Marik's most trusted Rishid.
Different from the "Three Egyptian God Cards", the "Three Sacred Beasts" are not very demanding of their users, and there is no penalty like unqualified users being stripped of their Life Force. However, the "Three Sacred Beasts" have a much stronger self-awareness.
This was specifically demonstrated when Rishid was attacked just now; he hadn't reacted at all. The Attack was entirely initiated by Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, which craved Blood and Souls.
If the "Three Egyptian God Cards" were like cars that are difficult to start but easy to drive once started, the "Three Sacred Beasts" are like motorcycles that are easy to start but extremely difficult to Control.
(End of Chapter)