The rolling dark clouds engulfed the sky, the leaden black clouds completely obscuring the noonday sun, not a single ray of light breaking through.
It seemed as though suddenly, darkness was omnipresent. Recklessly released, it expanded without restraint, devouring the azure sky inch by inch with the Royal Capital at its center, until every nook and cranny of the Memory World was shrouded in shadow.
The villains had yet to appear, but as the scene set the atmosphere, the background felt as if it had been dragged straight to the set of an apocalypse movie.
The Royal Palace took the brunt of it, the entire palace trembling. The earthen-colored ground cracked under the violent shaking, and parts of the buildings began to collapse.
No one is unafraid of earthquakes, especially in ancient times. To the ancients, such natural disasters were proof of the heavens' wrath, a way for the gods to indirectly deliver punishment upon the world.
Soldiers and slaves hurriedly fled from the collapsing palace, while some did not flee at all, merely falling to their knees, calling out the names of their deities in faith, praying for protection.
Between heaven and earth echoed... laughter?
The sound was deep and resonant, dully reverberating in the space sealed by the sky and earth. A robust black phantom appeared between heaven and earth, with bright red eyes, sharp teeth, and white bone spurs unique to demons protruding from its mouth.
His size was absurdly large, so massive that even the sky seemed too low and too small for him, causing him to hunch his back as he stood upon the earth.
(A certain Great Evil God: I am not hunched!)
Of course, most noticeable was the majestic black dragon head under him, truly black and long, continuously spewing invisible hellfire...
He emerged from the direction of the palace treasury.
The commotion of Priest Simon's duel with Bakura had long alerted the other people in the palace. Dark Yugi, having dealt with the traitorous Aknadin, was rushing with the priests toward the treasury when the Great Evil God appeared.
On their way, seeing Sok's massive black shadow appear, Dark Yugi was taken aback.
Is this... the true form of the Great Evil God within Bakura?
But didn't he say the victory condition was to gather the seven Millennium Items? Isn't it necessary to have all seven Millennium Items to revive?
Yet the seven Items are still with the Pharaoh and the priests, so why has Bakura managed to summon the true form of the Great Evil God?
Has the victory condition changed?
Dark Yugi was surprised, but the players around him were even more shocked, their focus perhaps a bit peculiar.
—Holy crap! It's so freaking huge!
No wonder it's the Great Evil God, such a dark and massive evil!
The jokers snapped screenshots excitedly, causing yet another tumult on the forums.
Simply absurd!
When they arrived, Priest Simon was no longer there.
The palace treasury was a scene of devastation, the surroundings blackened by explosions, countless precious treasures shattered. Half a wall had collapsed, broken bricks piled all over the ground.
Priest Simon was gone.
Yugi knew clearly, this merely meant that his side lost an NPC in this fictional world. Yet on thinking of this priest's face, identical to Grandpa Sugoroku's, of the interactions days past, of his amiable demeanor, Yugi couldn't help but feel saddened.
Three thousand years ago, did such a thing happen too?
Did the past Priest Simon also sacrifice his life and soul for this country, for himself?
This was the old man's own choice, his final stubbornness.
He exerted his efforts to the utmost, until his death.
Perhaps that's all there is to it.
The towering figure of Great Evil God Sock stood not far from the palace. Upon closer look, his lower body appeared semi-transparent, the body emerging from golden slabs laid on the ground.
He had no physical form, not yet.
Dark Yugi led the way forward.
The Great Evil God seemed to sense his approach, chuckling deeply as scarlet eyes cast two beams of red light onto the ground, shaping into a human form.
It was Dark Bakura, the host of Great Evil God Sock, still draped in his wide red robe, sporting a mocking, even slightly impatient smile.
"I've been waiting for you a long time, Pharaoh," Bakura yawned, "You're so slow."
"Bakura!"
Yugi ignored the priests' attempts to hold him back. He glanced at the massive black figure, furrowing his brow: "What is this about?"
"As you can see, I've decided to show my hand," Bakura sneered coldly, "This is my true form, my real stance!"
Before Yugi could respond, the jokers interrupted.
"Evil God bro, Jie says he's not convinced, wants to duel you."
"Wow, sharp blade no edge, big but simple, if it strikes this giant, couldn't it be cleaved in two with one blow?"
"..."
A "井" character invisibly appeared on Bakura's forehead.
These moronic children again!
As annoying as their master!
But Bakura tried to ignore them, merely snorted coldly.
"As soon as my true form revives, not only will everything in this memory sand tray be destroyed, but I will also awaken in reality, drawing power from this Ultimate Darkness Game!"
"What are you saying?" Yugi furrowed his brow, "Are you saying this Darkness Game we're engaging in will affect the outside world too?"
"Precisely," Bakura smirked complacently, "Very soon, Yugi. I will complete what I couldn't three thousand years ago, I will kill you — this time ensuring your soul disintegrates completely, not leaving a single fragment.
Then, my true form will revive in the real world, turning the entire world into Purgatory, mine to command!"
He paused, patting his forehead, as if recalling something.
"Oh right. And those little friends of yours in the real world, especially that vessel," Bakura grinned sinisterly, "I won't forget to give them special attention."
Yugi's pupils contracted, then he narrowed his eyes, his expression grave, his gaze turning sharp and cold.
"It's over."
Some players had begun to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Betting a packet of spicy sticks, the Great Evil God is already a dead man."
"King speaks: Play it seriously, don't joke about AIBO."
"..."
Yugi remained calm, saying coldly: "But you haven't gathered the Millennium Items, and haven't revived, right?"
This was what Bakura himself explained before; the revival of the true form of Great Evil God Sock requires all seven Millennium Items. Unless the rules have changed, he shouldn't be able to revive.
"Correct," Bakura didn't deny, "Though revival is approaching, I haven't been able to snatch the seven Millennium Items from you, thus can't revive... hehe, but haven't you already gathered the seven Items for me?"
"What?"
At this moment, Yugi realized an issue.
He and his priests, gathered here together... the seven Items they carried, and even the slab that Bakura had dragged out from the treasury, were now assembled.
"The final chapter of the Darkness Game begins!" Bakura leapt from the rocks, opened his alchemy dueling disc, and shouted, "Come, Pharaoh! The final, the last Darkness Game between us, with the wager being the seven Millennium Items!"