Scientific Dark Duel

What lay before him was undoubtedly a Dark Duel, but as far as Kira knew, Ryuzaki might not have been much of a person, yet aside from being duped by Doma during the Orichalcos Arc, he was generally a proper duelist. He normally did not touch Life-Gambling Cards like this.

The two of them looked like they had been at it for quite some time already. Both fields were completely empty. Neither had much Life Points left, and both were covered in dust and grime, barely holding themselves up as they panted heavily.

Ryuzaki, LP 700

Fujimoto, LP 300

Dark Duelist Fujimoto caught his breath for a moment, then said in a low voice, "As expected of a Legendary Duelist. You actually managed to push things this far. You've got some skill."

Then his tone shifted as he declared loudly, "But I swore that I would use your soul to honor my dead brother! I will not fall in a place like this!"

"I keep telling you, I've never even met that guy of yours whose name is Oni-whatever!" Ryuzaki roared.

Being forced to risk his life for someone he had never even heard of, he felt more devastated than he had ever been in his life.

"His name is Onizuka Genichiro. Remember it!" Fujimoto shouted. "Because you're about to go to hell and repent to him!"

"I said I've never met him!" Ryuzaki said gloomily.

Was this guy sick in the head? He had come up shouting about revenge and refused to listen to a word anyone said.

If he lost his life over a pointless duel like this, Ryuzaki felt he would never rest in peace.

Kira fell silent when he heard that.

Onizuka Genichiro. That name sounded familiar.

Come to think of it, the guy who had stopped him that night and insisted on dueling him had seemed to say that he had originally intended to challenge Ryuzaki, but changed his mind after seeing Ryuzaki get crushed in a match...

It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?

Just then, a roar came from above, followed by swirling dust and a fierce gust of wind that swept into his face. Kira instinctively raised an arm to shield himself and looked up toward the sound, only to see a white helicopter passing overhead and descending toward the nearest block by the mouth of the alley.

The rotor blades tore through the air, generating a violent storm, the wind fierce and powerful as though a dragon were churning through the sky. Before the helicopter had even landed, its cabin door was yanked open with a clatter, and a figure leaped down, his trench coat billowing behind him like a cape.

The newcomer made a flashy superhero landing, touching down in a crouch before rising with his arms folded across his chest, his trench coat flapping wildly in the hurricane-like gusts from the rotor blades.

Even the two men in the middle of their life-or-death duel were drawn to such an exaggerated entrance, both staring in surprise.

Ryuzaki: "You!?"

Fujimoto's face went pale. "The Legendary Duelist... Seto Kaiba!?"

Kira: "..."

There really was no one else who could make an entrance in a card game scene like a superhero. And his super-soldier-level physique, letting him jump from that height without a scratch, was equally baffling.

Could playing cards really build your body and turn you into a superhuman?

"Brother!"

Mokuba quickly came up behind his brother and pointed at Fujimoto in the field.

"That guy! The sensors show that he's the source of the Dark Duel!"

Fujimoto: "..."

At that moment, he desperately wanted to say, It wasn't me. I didn't do anything. You've got the wrong person. But having been caught red-handed like this, he seemingly had little room to argue.

"This foolish duel ends here."

Kaiba stepped forward and spoke coldly.

"Bullying trash proves nothing. If you want to play, I'll accompany you."

Ryuzaki snapped, "Who are you calling trash!?"

But Kaiba completely ignored him.

Fujimoto swallowed.

They were both called Legendary Duelists, but challenging Ryuzaki was one thing. Facing Seto Kaiba was another matter entirely.

Everyone knew that Kaiba's main force was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but it had been many years since his last public duel. The world had not seen him make a move in years, yet everyone knew he had the finest research team working day and night to develop new forms for Blue-Eyes. Who knew how terrifyingly far his card printing had progressed by now?

"Heh heh heh."

Fujimoto decided to stall for time first.

"Fine, fine. I've long wanted to witness the power of Blue-Eyes myself. But once a Dark Duel begins, it cannot be stopped. Let me deal with Ryuzaki first."

"No need."

Kaiba abruptly raised the Duel Disk on his arm.

Only then did everyone notice that the Duel Disk he wore was not a standard model, but some clearly more advanced, high-end device—a premium custom product that had not been released to the public.

That pose, along with the design of that Duel Disk, suddenly made Kira realize that this scene seemed familiar.

In the movie The Dark Side of Dimensions, the boss, Aigami, had tried to use his divine artifact to skip the card game entirely and send Kaiba himself to the Different Dimension. Back then, Kaiba had raised his Duel Disk in the exact same pose, saying that it amplified his self-awareness through the Duel Disk, allowing him to use the power of technology to neutralize the other side's supernatural ability...

The Duel Disk in Kaiba's hand now looked somewhat similar to that one, and it too was radiating a dazzling glow.

Fujimoto frowned. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but I told you, once a Dark Duel begins, it cannot be stopped. Unless...

"Nani!?"

The Dark Duelist's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in an instant.

What did he just see?

The barrier of the Dark Duel had actually dissolved beneath that light?

"Impossible! No way!"

Fujimoto was completely thrown into disarray.

He was a man who wielded Dark Power!

Wasn't it supposed to be that times had changed, mysticism reigned supreme, and science had been phased out?

So why could something like this still happen?

It was Kira's first time seeing a scene like this as well, but he remained calm.

Although the World of Yu-Gi-Oh! treated card games as the one supreme law, that did not mean technology had been eliminated. The final boss in 5DS, for instance, came from the Technology Side and proved that science could also materialize Duel Monsters, creating effects similar to a Dark Duel. It could even achieve Time Travel and destroy the world.

President Kaiba had suffered from supernatural forces eight years ago. Even in DM, he had never given up trying to use technology to unravel mysticism. It was perfectly normal for him to have made breakthroughs after another eight years.

"This is KaibaCorp's newest Duel Disk. It can greatly amplify a duelist's mental energy and was developed specifically to deal with people like you."

Kaiba sneered.

"And it can do this, too."

An even more dazzling blue radiance erupted from the Duel Disk. Vast amounts of data spread out like azure currents, swiftly engulfing the entire area.

The ground beneath their feet and the stone walls on both sides of the alley all vanished, replaced by a Dueling Field glowing with a faint blue light, with nothing around it.

"The Solid Vision Duel Arena. It may be projection, but the monsters and impacts we summon during the duel will gain actual mass!"

That display and Kaiba's domineering presence had already begun to intimidate Fujimoto.

No one would believe him if he said it, but he felt like he had stumbled into a scientific Dark Duel today.