"Come on, Pharaoh!" Bakura taunted, "With the seven Millennium Items as the stakes, do you have the guts to accept my challenge?"
"Alright!" Yugi agreed without hesitation, appearing eager and excited, quickly activating his Duel Disc.
The two were about to start their duel when suddenly a clear voice interrupted them.
"Hold on a moment!"
Everyone looked up in response to the voice and saw a verdant whirlwind rise up, a bright red scarf fluttering in the air like a flag. The green-armored Masked Hero arrived with Youyu, agile and steady, as if stepping through a world filled with swirling leaves and yellow sand—
—walking through the air!
Youyu landed lightly, half-squatting on the ground, the hem of his black trench coat fluttering in the dusty curtain, exuding a relaxed and elegant aura.
"Youyu-san!" Xue Lang was the first to leap up.
"Like a splendor piercing the sky!"
"Stands and knights are a man's romance! Youyu-san possesses the power of both a Stand and a Knight; equivalence means Youyu-san equals a man's romance!"
"Something seems not quite right..."
"..."
"Youyu!" Dark Yugi showed a hint of joy.
After so many battles together, Youyu had long since earned Yugi's genuine recognition as a dependable and trustworthy partner. With his presence, Yugi felt much more at ease.
However, Yugi was more concerned about another matter: "AIBO?"
"Here!"
Yugi finally caught up, panting, with Mana and the other friends in tow.
"Pharaoh!"
The young girl waved vigorously at Yugi from afar, her chest heaving up and down with the energy of her small arms.
Dark Yugi felt a sharp pain in his heart at her vibrant appearance.
Indeed, she still didn't know that Mahad had...
Yugi shook his head, trying to push these thoughts away for now.
He turned to Youyu: "My name..."
As this question was asked, Bakura perked up his ears, holding his breath waiting for Youyu to reveal the answer.
Even though he had already scraped off the "Name of the King" from the tablet, nothing was certain when it came to the protagonist.
Bakura was now worried that Youyu might suddenly grin and declare he found the "Name of the King," revealing that he is actually Holactie the Creator of Light...
When Youyu took out a card to show Yugi, Bakura nearly swore in shock—
—CNM! So, Holactie, I scraped off the Name of the King, and you simply printed the name on a card?
But Bakura was about to bolt when he realized it wasn't the case.
Because that card was just blank, merely a Non-Effect Card.
Seeing Yugi's puzzled expression after receiving the card, Youyu felt slightly disappointed.
Even the legendary lip-reading master can't decipher the mystery of this blank card?
Is it really just a Non-Effect Card?
But recalling how Yugi once created a "Legend of Heart" on a Non-Effect Card during a duel, he decided to add the blank card to his deck.
Bakura laughed proudly upon seeing this.
"Hahaha, so you couldn't find the source of the 'Name of the King', could you?" He exclaimed smugly, suddenly gaining confidence, no longer planning to escape, "Of course not, because the true 'Name of the King'... has already been destroyed by me!"
"Hahaha! You'll forever remain as a nameless wandering ghost, vanish on my command!"
The skies cleared, the rain stopped, and Sok felt empowered once more.
"Another me..." Yugi hesitated on the side.
Could it be that his other self will never be able to reclaim his true name?
"It's okay." Dark Yugi quickly adjusted, "Even if I can't retrieve the past, I still have the present, and countless partners supporting me. To honor these irreplaceable companions made in the future, I will defeat you here!"
"Alright, Pharaoh." Bakura laughed, "I've been awaiting this moment eagerly too."
Youyu likewise activated his Duel Disc and stepped forward, "I suppose the Evil God wouldn't mind including me in this? Let's settle this together."
Bakura's eyelids twitched, losing some of his bravado.
Holactie? Oh geez...
Without realizing it, Bakura had basically equated Youyu with Holactie, even though logically speaking, the Holactie, like himself, can't resurrect without the ultimate artifact. Yet he still felt intimidated...
Youyu raised an eyebrow, "Are you afraid of me?"
"Afraid... afraid?" Bakura instantly bristled, "Nonsense! Would I be scared? Look at you two, one is a nameless ghost without a name, and the other is a fragment of less than a thousandth of the original power, what is there to fear?"
Youyu: "?"
He had been curious since the last encounter about what kind of setting Sok had created for himself.
Less than a thousandth of the original power as a fragment of a soul? Isn't that referring to Sok himself?
What does that have to do with me?
Having hyped himself up, Bakura waved his hand grandly, saying, "Alright! Since you both are so eager to die, I'll fulfill your wish. Both of you can come at me together!"
His words were bold and thunderous, indeed exuding the fearless aura of the Evil God.
However, he quickly added, "But! You both shall have a shared total of 4000 Life Points, while my Life Points must be doubled, at 8000!"
Youyu: "..."
4000 Life Points were irrelevant, as duelists knew that Life Points only mattered if they led to a qualitative change. Having the opponent 4000 Life Points more could be ignored.
Life Points weren't the focus; the real disadvantage in a one-to-many duel lay in the disparity of resources, commonly known as card advantage.
However, having just boasted of challenging two opponents and then emphasizing doubling your Life Points seemed cowardly...
"Then the duel will use tag team rules, you will have one turn, and then I will have one turn. You must switch every turn!"
Youyu narrowed his eyes, "I suggest, if you're that afraid, how about not having this duel at all and just surrender. As long as you leave behind the Evil God Tablet, Zombie World, Mezuki, Doomking Balerdroch...
...or better yet, leave your entire card deck, I promise to spare your life..."
"Enough talk!" Bakura snapped, "Either duel or keep quiet!"
Youyu: "Wait, wasn't it you who kept babbling..."
The atmosphere somehow shifted into less serious territory. The comedians at the side were particularly amused.
Even though it wasn't clear why, the players seemed to notice Bakura appeared somewhat afraid of Youyu-san.
This made the comedians even more thrilled, with someone heckling from the side: "Youyu-san, leaving behind his life is pointless; Sok fears you'll take his dragon head beneath his crotch..."
"Wow, that's spot on! Truth revealed!"
"..."
Bakura, already anxious, felt somewhat rattled by Youyu. Now heckled by the comedians, he only grew more agitated.
"Shut up!"
He yelled, directly activating the Alchemy Dueling Disc to summon the tablet.
He no longer wanted to talk to Youyu.
Afraid of engaging in more conversation, he might really lose control and start a fight.
And that wasn't the main concern.
If Youyu were actually what he thought, engaging might indeed be his end...
...he might really die.