"Good Brother"

Somewhere in the city.

At the end of a narrow, dim alley, though it lay within the city itself, it felt completely cut off from the world.

This was an area only those who knew the right channels could enter.

A bar.

Soft lighting cast mottled shadows across the room. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol and tobacco, along with something murkier and heavier. An old-fashioned gramophone played an eerie melody, each note seeming to melt into the omnipresent shadows.

It was as though invisible darkness shrouded the entire space.

This was a gathering place for Dark Duelists.

But it was far from the only one. Though Dark Duels were still little more than urban legends to ordinary people—even Judai in the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX had once believed in science and refused to accept their existence—many years had passed since the DM era. By now, an Underground Network for Dark Duels had already been established across the globe.

Dark Duelists, meanwhile, were scattered everywhere like assassins who could not operate in the light.

Many were independent operators, taking commissions through the Underground Network and carrying out jobs for money. There were also organizations built around the trade.

This development had been inevitable. After all, Dark Duels were simply too convenient and versatile, leaving traditional assassination and espionage methods in the dust.

With a card game, they could eliminate a target without firing a single bullet or leaving behind any trace. If necessary, they could add extra restrictions when activating a Dark Duel and reduce the victim to dust as well—literally scattering even their ashes into particles, leaving nothing to be found.

And assassination was not all they could do. So long as they won a Life-Gambling Card match against someone in a critical position or with immense power, they could easily pry open anyone's mouth for classified intelligence. Or they could simply use Brain Control, making the target obey their every word and thereby influencing major events in business and even politics.

Of course, where there was a spear, there was a shield. The rise of this dark profession had naturally drawn the attention of high society to the threat it posed. These days, important figures either possessed exceptional dueling skills themselves or kept Duel Bodyguards at their side.

This bar, known as Blood Moon, was precisely one such organization where Dark Duelists gathered.

The bartender was a woman with scarlet eyes and an eye-catching figure at MAX level. She was also extremely generous about displaying her extraordinary gifts to her colleagues.

That was why, during meetings, her colleagues spent ninety percent of their time looking at her—despite her barely saying anything.

A suited man at the bar slowly finished a glass of liquor, set it down, and said leisurely, "One of our colleagues has left us."

"Oh."

"What a shame."

"Tragic."

The colleagues all expressed their regrets, but their eyes never moved away. The beautiful bartender swirled the glass in her hand with graceful expertise. The liquor spun inside, and the movement of her arm made the rest of her body sway as well, drawing a round of "oohs" from below.

The suited man was somewhat displeased. "We lost one of our own. Could you at least pretend to care a little?"

Someone pointed out, "But you've been looking over there the whole time you've been talking too."

The suited man pondered for two seconds, then declared righteously, "I can't help it."

That immediately drew a burst of laughter, and the bar filled with cheerful air.

"But seriously, Onizuka was my good brother," the suited man said gravely. "We knew each other before joining the organization. I can't pretend nothing happened."

The man with the center-parted hair beside him tried to persuade him. "We all work in The Underworld. We all know the rules. Win and you live, lose and you die. So many duels, so many lives and deaths.

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you die. That's just how it is. Onizuka understood that long ago."

"Besides," another person nearby said, "do you even know who did it? Anyone working in The Underworld has at least eight or ten enemies, right?"

"Before Onizuka left headquarters, he was drinking with me the night before. He said he'd heard rumors that the so-called Legendary Duelist Ryuzaki was preparing to return."

The suited man spoke in a low voice.

"Onizuka was very interested. As a dinosaur user himself, he'd always said he wanted to test himself against Ryuzaki."

"Damn, that's a Legendary Duelist," the center-parted man said. "Are you sure you've thought this through, Fujimoto? And Onizuka wasn't weak. If even he couldn't win..."

"Onizuka never beat me, either."

Fujimoto smiled faintly, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, then gazed skyward at a forty-five-degree angle through the curling smoke.

"Every man has a time when he must step forward. Besides, if we duelists are always content with the status quo and dare not challenge the strong, how can we ever improve?"

The center-parted man narrowed his eyes at him. "If you're so ambitious, go challenge Yugi Mutou."

Fujimoto, who had been putting on airs, instantly choked. He held it in for several seconds before speaking in a muffled voice.

".Yugi Mutou is too strong."

After all, he meant challenging the strong and overcoming peaks to improve, not going out to die.

Why would he take on a match with a zero percent win rate? Wouldn't that just be throwing his life away?

Fujimoto let out a faint sigh and began reminiscing about the past.

"Onizuka and I were both abandoned by the Dueling World. We met through Underground Duels. Back then, I promised him that if anything happened to him, I'd take care of his wife and children for him.

But I never expected him to leave so suddenly. He didn't even leave behind any children—only a gentle, beautiful girlfriend waiting for me to take care of her..."

In that case, wouldn't I have to personally figure out the children part for my brother?

At that thought, he could not help shaking his head repeatedly and sighing over how hard life was.

A burly man beside him patted his shoulder. "Big Brother, don't be sad. If Brother Onizuka is watching from heaven and knows he has such a reliable brother as you, he should be able to rest in peace."

"You're right." Fujimoto patted his hand and nodded.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

"Hm? Did you just suddenly feel a cold gust of wind?"

The big man blinked blankly. "No."

"Strange. Could Brother Onizuka be urging me to avenge him?"

Fujimoto raised his head toward the sky, his expression solemn.

"Brother Onizuka, don't worry. I'll soon find that bastard Dinosaur Ryuzaki, drag his soul into darkness too, and avenge you!"

Elsewhere.

After suffering a crushing defeat at the Moonflower Cup, Dinosaur Ryuzaki's comeback had failed. He had returned to seclusion and once again seriously began studying his deck.

He had been brimming with confidence, convinced he would make a huge splash upon emerging from seclusion. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to make such a complete mess of it. The King had failed to return and instead handed a kill to a rookie who had just started out.

Especially since that rookie's record before this tournament had been entirely blank. So it was easy to imagine that whenever that guy showed up in the future, everyone's first reaction would be: Holy shit, isn't that the guy who stomped Ryuzaki?

In other words, the farther that newcomer went and the more often he appeared, the more Ryuzaki would be dragged out and mocked.

Failing to take off after so many years in seclusion would have been bad enough. But becoming a glorified background character in the process—who could stand that?

"Fujiki Kira. Good. I'll remember you."

Ryuzaki muttered darkly.

He had no other choice. He could only find an opportunity to challenge him to a rematch.

Until he beat that brat, he would have to keep carrying this stain, while the joke spread farther and farther.

Just as he was thinking that, his nose suddenly itched for no reason, and he sneezed.

"Strange. Why do I suddenly feel a little cold behind me?"

Ryuzaki rubbed his nose in confusion.

Why did he suddenly feel like someone had their eyes on him?