The night was like a heavy curtain, with merciless clouds enveloping the entire forest. Exquisite and luxurious furniture lay toppled all around, and the beautifully decorated living room bore signs of damage everywhere. A chilling wind swept through the hall, carrying a biting cold.
But in contrast, the thunder and lightning outside the window had mysteriously stopped.
The clouds slowly drifted across the sky, gradually revealing the moon that had been hidden below. Moonlight streamed through the window and fell upon the gentleman kneeling on the floor in the living room, casting a long shadow.
Kiku Lloyd was in a very bad state right now.
He was someone who had experienced a humiliating defeat, someone who had lost once. Due to the unwillingness to accept that defeat, he had returned from Hell.
The two mountains that stood in front of him during his last defeat were his lifelong enemies, Seto Kaiba and the Duel King at that time, Muto Yuugi.
He lost, but couldn't accept it, so he sacrificed everything for revenge.
As it turns out, this revenge was completely futile.
If anyone were to interview him about his current feelings, it would be two words. Regret, just immense regret.
He should have honestly bought a grave with his remaining fortune and buried himself, instead of instigating such a ridiculous battle for vengeance. As a result, he was still defeated, though somewhat more disgracefully than before.
Although Seto Kaiba won the duel against him, he also revealed all his cards. Not only did XYZ Cannon and Blue-Eyes take turns appearing, but in the end, even the now Forbidden Card, Chaos Emperor Dragon, emerged, contributing the only appearance in the animation by the big brother who's a staple in Chaos Family.
To receive such treatment, as the only one in Yu-Gi-Oh! animation history to face the uncut pinnacle of Chaos Emperor Dragon, this person definitely deserves a place in history.
Now things were different. Today's defeat left him with only Bouncing Turtle in his mind.
Even if he closed his eyes and lay down, all he saw were turtles.
Kiku sighed deeply.
It's said that on the brink of death, one sees their life flashing before their eyes. But he was filled with such deep resentment that in his dying moment all he saw were countless turtles, even the flashing memories were shoved out.
Life's greatest tragedy could be nothing more than this...
"You... cough cough..."
Kneeling on the ground, he might have wanted to curse, but seemed too weak to speak up, only managing a bitter smile.
"There's now a duelist under Seto Kaiba... so strong... and unconstrained. I really shouldn't have come back, I was destined... to lose..."
Keihei softened, understanding this person was his adversary, yet couldn't help but feel pity seeing his state and spoke up.
"Uh, actually there's something you need to know..."
"Hmm?" Kiku struggled to lift his eyes towards him.
"About Yugen."
Keihei stepped forward, gesturing to Yugen beside him, slightly awkwardly.
"Actually... Yugen isn't my brother's subordinate, nor part of our Kaiba Company."
"Ah?"
Kiku blinked, looking bewildered.
"Yugen is this year's newly crowned Duel King. He defeated my brother at Duel City GX and saved the world from the God of Orichalcos, becoming the first new generation Duel King since Yuugi's retirement."
Keihei explained.
"My brother happens to not be in the country at the moment, and we happen to have a good relationship, so I invited him to help..."
"Duel King!?"
Kiku widened his eyes, seeming as shocked as someone in a village just connected to the internet, scrutinizing Yugen.
So he didn't lose to a Kaiba Company subordinate?
But to the Duel King...
Kiku pondered for a few seconds.
Then suddenly lifted his head and erupted into laughter. His long pink hair disheveled, his face devoid of any color, turning as pale as a corpse, reflecting the gradually infiltrating moonlight and appearing even more terrifying.
"Duel King... good, good, another Duel King."
"In the world there have only been two generations of Duel Kings, yet both stand on Kaiba's side to oppose me. Hahaha, very good..."
But as he laughed, the laughter unbeknownst turned into crying. In the laughter mixed with cries, tears flowed profusely, appearing both shocking and bizarre.
In the end, all his words condensed into one sentence.
"You damn well should have told me you weren't Kaiba's man."
"Or else what the hell was I fighting for!???"
Finally, his voice abruptly stopped.
Kiku Lloyd knelt on the ground, his head drooping to one side.
Soon his body seemed to be shrouded by a faint haze. The form began to disintegrate, part of it turning into black mist, part into light spots, gradually breaking down and dissipating.
Until the entire body became transparent, completely vanishing without a trace.
Yugen: "..."
Keihei: "..."
After a few seconds of contemplation, Keihei couldn't resist looking at Yugen: "Did you... was it a Dark Duel that obliterated him?"
Yugen thought for a moment and shook his head.
"I didn't intend to take his life."
Yugen understood the rules of Dark Duel. Even if the opponent initiated the Dark Duel, often he could alter the rules to show mercy as the victor.
Of course, it wasn't always effective. Even the strong King, possessing the Thousand-Year Divine Artifact, could only alter duel stakes when facing individuals with lesser power.
Against stronger foes, even the Millennium Puzzle might not be able to change the stakes of the duel. For instance, when the King battled other holders of Thousand-Year Divine Artifacts, or when he attempted to use the Divine Artifact to forcibly annul Orichalcos's Dark Duel stakes but failed to break through the barrier's power.
"So was he eradicated by the power of his own Dark Duel?" Keihei asked.
Yugen furrowed his brow, thinking but didn't respond.
He vaguely sensed things weren't that simple.
Yugen refrained from replying and walked to the end of the living room, pushing open the tightly closed door.
The door opened, a mix of damp, moldy, and ancient silent atmosphere rushed in, almost suffocating. Moonlight barely penetrated through the forest but failed to dispel the villa's cold and darkness.
Beyond was a long corridor.
Along this dusty and cobweb-strewn corridor, moving forward felt like treading on the dust of ages. Occasionally hints of spiders scurrying away could be caught, their webs covering every corner, as if the villa had long been claimed by them.
"What's that strange smell?"
Advancing a few more steps, Keihei couldn't help but frown and pinched his nose.
It was indeed too foul. The intense stench of decay increased as they moved forward.
Yugen directly kicked open the door, entering the bedroom. The stench reached its peak.
It was the scent of death.
The disfigured bedroom, or rather the old, faded, and dusty bed lay a corpse quietly. The body was severely deformed, skin an unnatural shade of blue, eyes wide open, staring vacantly at the ceiling.
That was Kiku Lloyd.