Boom!!!
The deafening roar echoed in the sealed chamber, as if a thousand bombs exploded simultaneously. The temple's supporting pillars seemed violently clawed apart by a demon, shattering into pieces on the floor, pulverizing the tiles into dust.
Flames erupted fiercely, engulfed by the whirlwind. Kaiba Seto was blasted into the air by the explosion, his back crashing hard onto the debris-littered floor.
Judging by the impact he endured and the distance he was thrown, an ordinary person would have been out cold long ago. But President Haima, who could jump from a jet without a parachute, was clearly no ordinary person. He took only two seconds to brace himself on his knee and stand up again, gasping heavily amid the choking dust.
The coordinates here are Egypt, depth underground unknown. Kaiba is currently in an ancient underground temple embroiled in a heated duel.
A brand new enemy stands before him. A blue-haired youth with intimidating golden pupils, stepping in round-toed boots. His Duel Disc is composed of glowing cubes, eerily suspended in mid-air.
Kaiba Seto's Life Points are like a candle flickering in the wind, while the youth remains unscathed. The president half-kneels on the ground, glaring at the monstrous creature looming behind the youth, gritting his teeth...
...So how did things develop to this point?
...
An hour ago, after receiving Mokuba's call, President Haima immediately boarded his Blue-Eyes White Dragon and rushed to Egypt.
He received the news he'd been longing to hear for a year—
—The Millennium Pendant fragments have been found!
With the Battle Ceremony concluded, Atem's soul returned to the Netherworld. The indestructible Millenium Tablet, having fulfilled its mission, self-destructed internally, sinking into the abyss along with seven Millennium Items.
Not even the Gravekeeper Race knew where those Divine Artifacts had fallen. The Ishtar siblings thought maybe those seven artifacts returned to the Underworld with the Pharaoh's soul.
But Kaiba didn't care.
Even if the Millennium Pendant sank to the depths of Hell and burned to ashes, he would dig into Hell to piece those ashes back together!
Yu↑gi↓!
Did you think dying would let you escape our duel?
The saying goes, perseverance pays off. After a year of relentless effort, Kaiba managed to excavate the Pendant's fragments one by one.
And it was at this moment that the youth named "Aigami" stood in Kaiba Seto's way.
Kaiba frowned, quickly accessed the company headquarters database for facial recognition information, and retrieved the youth's identity.
"Aigami, is it?" Kaiba spoke.
"Oh, you figured out my identity instantly? As expected of President Haima, controlling all of Domino like a dictator," Aigami remarked with a calm smile.
"Domino is called the 'City of Duels,' I hear registration of a Card Deck is mandatory for residency now, really authoritarian, President Haima."
Kaiba silently observed him without responding.
Mokuba, behind him, pouted.
What does this even mean?
Recently, Kaiba Group has even been negotiating with political figures to draft new legal articles, stipulating that national leader elections can tie to dueling from now on...
It's said that across the ocean, a certain country's election was a fiasco, with accusations of vote fraud and dead people voting, not very reliable.
If disputes between candidates arise again, perhaps it's better for everyone to take out their Duel Discs and duel live to determine the winner, a fair play for all...
Seeing Aigami seemingly wanting to cause trouble, the Kaiba Group's cohort in black suits stepped forward.
You'd think they're about to duel, but surprisingly, these guards drew guns...!
Of course, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, those who draw guns instead of Cards... well, let's just say, their fate isn't favorable.
Sure enough, as Aigami chuckled and snapped his fingers, the bodyguards vanished into thin air amid gasps, evaporating on the spot.
Mokuba was shocked: Where did our bodyguards go?
Aigami laughed: I sent them to the Other Dimension!
Mokuba: ...
Aigami became smug, falling into the villainous habit of patronizing explanations, gleefully explaining the principle of his supernatural ability.
In sum, Aigami and his kind perceive the world as comprised of the consciousness of all living people, their awareness interwoven like a global network.
And Praana possess power surpassing ordinary human consciousness; they can sever someone's connection to everyone else. If no one observes or acknowledges their existence, that person essentially enters the Other Dimension.
To put it simply, it's like pulling the plug on the network. You were playing a game called "Earth Online," Aigami can disconnect your network and kick you off the server, dropping you offline to play solo.
"Vanish under Praana's power, Kaiba Seto!"
Aigami laughed, using his disconnection ability on Kaiba as well.
But the president only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms: "Boring!"
With one word, boring, Aigami was stunned to find his power rapidly waning, the "Dimension Cubic" ability ineffective against this man!
Aigami, in astonishment, looked up only to be more surprised to see President Haima glowing with golden light!
That is the light of materialistic belief in science!
President Haima declared that he believed in science, dismissing Aigami's mumbo jumbo mystical cubics!
Aigami's foolproof disconnection method failed; the only explanation was "Kaiba's personal consciousness is too strong for Praana to overcome."
But no matter, he still has a trump card.
And that is a Duel!
Of course, he didn't plan to play Kaiba with the rules he was familiar with, but instead directly played their unique "Dimensional Duel" rules that the Prana had.
Aigami's plan might have seemed clever. He might have thought that laying a trap here for a surprise attack on Kaiba would catch him off guard. Kaiba was unaware of the rules of the Dimensional Duel and had no time to adjust his card deck accordingly; he would surely have to pay the dues of being new here.
Yet once the duel started, he discovered something unbelievable: even while completely unaware of the differences in the rules of the Dimensional Duel, Kaiba drew cards like Krystal Dragon, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, and not a single Monster Card below level four—a truly high-star opening hand.
Aigami felt like he was bleeding profusely.
If he hadn't complicated things with this fancy "Dimensional Duel" rule, under normal card rules, Kaiba's monstrous starting hand wouldn't allow him to play a single card—the hand jam would lead straight to his demise!
However, what he didn't understand was that a true Duelist's hand always changes according to the duel rules, even if the Duelist himself doesn't know the rules...
The duel began fiercely in the Underground Divine Hall.
White Dragon Deck faced off against the Cubic Deck, with both sides swapping intense attacks and defenses. The dragon's scorching breath crisscrossed the great hall, while the monstrous Cubic Behemoth unleashed thunder and flames.
The tiles were shattered, and pillars were knocked over one after another. The hall's dome cried out amidst repeated shocks and impacts, scattering broken stones and dust like intermittent rain—making the entire space feel like it could collapse at any moment...
The final turn arrived.
Having no knowledge of the Cubic Deck at first, Kaiba was suppressed throughout the duel. His Life Points now flickered like a candle in the wind, with nothing on the field; meanwhile, Aigami had the 3000-attack "Buster Gundil the Cubic Behemoth" on his field.
It was the final turn, the final draw.
Could Kaiba turn the tables in adversity, everything hinging on this final draw?
"Your field only has three 'Blue-Eyes White Dragons' with 0 attack power, unable to attack or defend. In this situation, how do you expect to recover?" Aigami laughed heartily.
Come on, draw your card, feel free to draw.
Do you think you can print an instant-win card to finish me off?
Kaiba fell silent.
He couldn't lose, especially not here.
He hadn't yet faced that rival he absolutely had to defeat; up to this point, he hadn't secured a single victory in duels against him. How could he possibly lose here?
But what would that guy do in this situation now?
Kaiba fell into reminiscing, countless memories surfaced of Atem narrowly escaping, surviving in desperate moments.
He had reviewed every duel Atem experienced again and again, remembering every single frame clearly.
He recalled what Atem had said to him during the confrontation against the Five-Headed Dragon summoned by "The Big Five".
Kaiba: You actually fused my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and your Black Luster Soldier to create the "Dragon Master Knight"? I've never even heard of that card. Yugi, did you already know of its existence?
Atem: A card responds to a duelist's intentions. When you believe it exists, it will exist.
"..."
And also during Atem's duel against the shameless ancient demon Dartz who printed his own cards.
Atem: Even though this card doesn't specify it, I activate the Magic Card "Legend of Heart"! Even though I don't have these three cards in my deck, according to "Legend of Heart's" effect, I special summon the legendary Three Musketeers!
Dartz: ...
Suddenly, Kaiba understood something.
Right, this is that guy's tomb!
Indeed, after nearly dismantling the entire divine hall, causing earthshaking destruction, President Kaiba finally recalled they were essentially playing cards at the Pharaoh's tomb.
It's just that the tomb was almost completely destroyed...
In a lightning-fast moment, Kaiba's mind quickly ran through a complete deductive formula.
This is the Pharaoh's tomb = There's residual memory data of the King in the tomb = There's residual data of the Three Egyptian God = The Three Egyptian God resides here.
The reasoning process can be confusing, understandable, as only true Duelists like the President can complete such a meticulous deduction.
However, the process isn't important. What's important is...the President abruptly placed his hand on the floor and shouted "Haaaah!"
Aigami: "?"
What's happening? Unable to win the duel, is he digging a hole to escape?
Kaiba's gaze was sharp and his expression resolute.
Yugi↑! Lend me your strength!
If Pharaoh Atem's spirit really still remained, he treated the President quite well. When the President said borrow, he indeed did lend.
"My turn!" Kaiba shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing a card shining with divine brilliance from the floor, "Draw!!"
Aigami: "???"
Wait, where did you draw that card from?
Hey referee, someone's cheating! Are you going to do anything about it?
Izono, the bodyguard that somehow escaped: This duel utilizes Dimensional Duel special rules; according to Dimensional Duel rules, drawing cards from the floor is valid!
Aigami: What the hell...
"Hahaha! Descend, Destroyer!" Kaiba raised the card he drew from the floor high, "Obelisk the Tormentor!!"
Aigami: @#%&