The duel stage faded away, and both duelists deactivated their Duel Disks. Marik and his sister fell silent for a moment.
Marik kept his head bowed for a long time, as if deep in thought, replaying the duel in his mind—or perhaps overwhelmed by defeat, his spirit crushed and faith shattered.
Seeing her brother like this, Ishizu wanted to step forward and offer some words of comfort, but when she opened her mouth, she didn't know what to say.
Truth be told, she had already expected Marik to lose this duel. He probably knew it too. Before the duel started, it was partly to gauge Kira's depths for what lay ahead, and partly out of genuine curiosity about the current Duel King's strength.
But Marik had been in seclusion for years. Even his occasional duels were just internal spars within the clan. He hadn't ventured out much, let alone practiced his cards extensively. He only heard bits and pieces about the outside dueling scene and wasn't fully up to speed. So, losing was inevitable.
What made it sting was being burned to death by Lava Golem—and not just any Lava Golem, but his own, which had been brainwashed, taken from the opponent's field, and turned against him.
She could hardly imagine the psychological trauma her brother was dealing with right now.
"Mr. Marik?"
Kira suddenly asked.
Marik looked up. "Ah? Oh, yeah. I'm here. What is it?"
"Nothing, just noticed you've been spacing out since the duel ended." Kira feigned concern. "You okay?"
Marik gave him a meaningful glance.
Then he let out a long, turbid breath and shook his head. "I'm fine, fine. It was just a friendly spar. What could possibly be wrong? Haha, hahaha!"
Meanwhile, he kept telling himself inwardly: It's just a spar, nothing serious. Don't take it to heart, don't take it to heart.
Marik turned to Ishizu. "Sister, what do you think?"
Ishizu nodded. "Mr. Kira lives up to his title as the current Duel King—his reputation is well-earned. His presence as a duelist and his strategies are top-tier worldwide. No wonder even Kaiba Seto couldn't beat him."
Her words affirmed Kira while also reassuring Marik not to dwell on the loss. If even Kaiba Seto couldn't win, then losing to him was only natural.
Kira, on his end, could sense that Marik's current strength hadn't just stagnated since the DM era—it had actually regressed.
But that wasn't surprising. Darkened villains get a triple power boost; purified, they weaken by a third. Back then, Marik was the antagonist, and most of the time, it was his alter ego doing the dueling. Now that the stand-in was permanently banned, Mr. Marik wasn't like Yugi, hiding behind Atem like a pig pretending to be a tiger. Without the proxy, his true colors showed, and his strength naturally fell short.
Plus, his entire deck back then revolved around Winged Dragon of Ra. It wasn't so much his deck's strength as Winged Dragon of Ra's raw power. Now without Winged Dragon of Ra, most of that power was gone. Among ordinary duelists, he was still a legendary expert, but competing with the gods at the pinnacle? Probably not anymore.
Marik said, "I'm starting to think that if it's you, you might actually have a shot at subduing those Evil Gods."
He held back the second half of his thought: Fight poison with poison, evil with evil. If you weren't such a freakish duelist, those three would never submit.
"I just got lucky," Kira said modestly.
Marik's expression darkened. "If the Pharaoh were still here, he definitely could have..."
But Ishizu interjected, "The Pharaoh wandered for three thousand years to save this world. He's now completed his mission and earned the peace he deserves. What's left is our task as those still in this world. We can't always rely on the achievements of those who came before."
Marik chuckled. "You're right, sister."
He walked over to the ruins of the Battle Ritual altar, now collapsed, and introduced it to Kira. "This incident was never publicized, so few in the dueling world know about it. But back then, right here, the Pharaoh from three thousand years ago dueled the former Duel King, Yugi Muto, in a sacred battle."
"Yugi Muto faced the Pharaoh head-on with mortal flesh against the three Egyptian Gods and defeated that Pharaoh outright, earning the title of true Duel King."
Marik looked up at the now-empty field, lost in memories. Though a decade had passed, the images were still vivid. Before his eyes, it was as if the majestic three Egyptian Gods gathered under the Pharaoh's command and the frail-looking boy who fearlessly challenged them with his slender frame reappeared.
Things had changed, people had moved on, but that earth-shattering duel grew clearer in his heart over the years.
"Yugi's method of defeating the Gods was brilliant, and his tactical mindset as a duelist was crucial. But even more important was his resilient will and the heart of a king."
Kira gazed at the field, respect for his predecessor growing in his eyes.
"To Yugi back then, his 'King' was his closest partner, perhaps even more precious than his own life. To defeat such a companion with his own hands and part ways required resolve and perseverance that already embodied the 'momentum' of a king."
Marik and Ishizu exchanged surprised looks.
The Pharaoh's exploits were never detailed publicly. In the GX anime, even students like Jaden had only heard rumors of the Pharaoh and knew Yugi hosted another soul, but not the full story—especially not the climactic Battle Ritual duel at the end of DM.
Yet this young Duel King, who should have been a kid barely grasping the rules ten years ago, now spoke of Yugi Muto like an old friend they'd known for years. It was bizarre.
If not for their own history with Yugi and the protagonists, they might have thought Kira was one of Yugi's childhood friends.
Marik and Ishizu glanced at each other, both seeing the oddity in the other's eyes.
Marik then asked, "It sounds like you know the Duel King Yugi Muto personally?"
"Not at all," Kira smiled. "I'd love to befriend the original Duel King, but I think nine out of ten duelists in the world feel the same. He's the undisputed pinnacle of this dueling world. Shame there's never been a chance."
"That said, many classmates at the Academy and I idolize him. We often draw inspiration from Mr. Yugi's past feats, so we're pretty familiar."
The siblings thought that public records alone couldn't explain such intimate knowledge. Maybe Kira really did cross paths with Yugi. But since he wasn't elaborating, they didn't press.
…