Invitation

The last three men fell as well, and the entire bar had been thoroughly cleared out by the president. Standing at the door, Fujimoto could only tremble at the horrifying sight, thanking his lucky stars that he had switched sides quickly enough.

He had faced three of the Blood Moon Four Heavenly Kings—the strongest members of their organization—at once, and taken all three down in a single turn. Such overwhelming dominance had surpassed everything they had once imagined the so-called "pinnacle of the Dueling World" could be.

Seto Kaiba had not publicly played cards for many years, and there had been all kinds of speculation about his strength. Some rumors even claimed that he had become absorbed in business and making money, let his dueling skills deteriorate, and might now be nothing special in the current environment.

But now Fujimoto truly understood just how ridiculous that claim was.

The dueling environment had evolved over the years, but that did not mean the gap between everyone else and the very best had narrowed. On the contrary, the gap had become even more outrageous than it had been years ago.

This man was not even playing the same game as them.

Kira, on the other hand, remained quite calm.

Fortunately, he still recognized the White Dragon builds the president had used so far. At least Kaiba had not pulled out some build from under the floorboards that Kira had never even seen in his previous life. Their strength was undoubtedly enough to crush ordinary duelists in the modern era, but they had yet to reach the peak of the White Dragon.

After watching these two duels, Kira became increasingly aware that in this world, the strong really could do whatever they wanted under the suppression of Destiny Power. And secondly, he understood even more clearly that having money, a team, and the ability to conduct research and print builds meant one could do even more whatever one wanted.

It seemed that in the future, he would not only need to look for ways to increase his Destiny Power, but also seriously study research and development.

Once the president had finished dueling, the KaibaCorp personnel accompanying him entered as well and began cleaning up the aftermath.

Kaiba walked over to the trio who had been beaten down last.

"You won," Ryosuke of the Three Heavenly Kings said weakly. "We concede wholeheartedly, Seto Kaiba. The Blood Moon is yours to deal with as you please."

Although Kaiba had adjusted the Duel Disk's visual output and spared their lives, the brutal slaughter they had just endured had still left them badly injured.

"I have no interest in an organization of trash," Kaiba said coldly. "The only one I have been interested in from the beginning is 'The Arbiter.'"

The moment the Dark Duelists sprawled all over the room heard that name, they all shuddered, as though they had heard the whisper of a demon.

Aikawa dropped to his knees and stammered with difficulty, "How do you know That Lord's title!?"

"Of course I know. I also know that your so-called organization is nothing more than a group of worthless cannon fodder," Kaiba said indifferently.

The Dark Duelists' faces immediately turned ugly.

"Our knowledge of That Lord is limited to that title alone. We usually do not even dare mention it casually."

The female bartender said this after steadying her ragged breathing.

"Besides, if you have truly heard of That Lord's terrifying nature, then you should understand that even if we did know something, we could never tell you."

"That is not necessarily true," Kaiba said icily. "I naturally have ways to make you talk."

He turned away, no longer wasting words on them, and left the cleanup to his subordinates. The captured Dark Duelists were escorted out one by one, evidently to be questioned slowly after being taken back.

Only after that did Kaiba turn and walk toward the entrance.

Fujimoto, who had completely switched sides and joined the other camp, hurriedly tried to greet him with a broad smile. "President, that was incredible! I never expected a One Turn Triple Kill. You're too strong—"

Before he could reach him, there was a click. His smile froze as he looked down to find a KaibaCorp soldier in uniform ruthlessly snapping a cold silver handcuff around his wrist.

"Huh?"

Fujimoto looked up blankly.

"Big Brother, there's been a mistake, right? I'm one of us!"

No one paid him any attention. Two soldiers escorted him outside.

Even after he was taken through the door, his shouts continued. "I'm one of us! I did the president a service, I showed the president the way! I want to see the president—"

His voice faded beyond the door.

Kaiba turned a deaf ear to the unnecessary noise and walked straight over to Kira.

"Kira. Is that right?"

"Hello, President." Kira shook his hand.

"I heard what happened, and KaibaCorp also extends its thanks," Kaiba said with a nod. "Mokuba told me about his plan, and I have no objection to his arrangements.

"The prize money and cards he arranged will be delivered to you as usual, as thanks."

He paused, narrowing his eyes.

"However, I have one additional condition."

As he spoke, he held a sheet of paper between two fingers and flicked his arm lightly. The paper immediately drifted in a straight line toward Kira.

To be honest, Kira greatly admired the president's card-flicking technique. In the anime, a flick of his fingertips could send cards flying like darts, and they even seemed to pack quite a bit of force. It was hard not to suspect that he had trained in some secret finger-flicking martial art.

Kira caught it and looked it over. It was a card, but not a Duel Monster card. It was a strange card printed with a five-pointed star.

"This is?"

"A Participant Card." Kaiba crossed his arms, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Half a year from now, in Domino City, KaibaCorp will hold Battle City GX."

Kira thought he understood. "You want me to participate?"

There had been more than one Battle City tournament. Apart from the first one in the DM storyline, they had continued to be held over the following years. However, Seto Kaiba himself had never participated again, and the overall quality of the contestants could not compare with the original, so public interest had gradually declined.

Seemingly seeing what he was thinking, Kaiba said flatly, "This one will be different from previous years. I will personally participate, and I will invite the very best duelists to compete."

The president was making a comeback? Kira was somewhat surprised.

Rumors had it that after Yugi retired, President Kaiba had lost all interest in fighting. In all these years, no matter the type or scale of the event, he had never been seen again.

Perhaps he felt that without the opponent he absolutely had to defeat, even beating every other duelist in the world would prove nothing.

And now, it seemed he was showing signs of making a comeback.

Of course, it was also possible that his Dueling Addiction, suppressed for so many years, had simply become impossible to contain.

Duel Academy had originally been founded under the slogan of being "a school established to cultivate the next generation of Duel Kings." When Kira saw that promotional line, he couldn't help imagining it: Atem had returned to the underworld, Yugi Mutou had retired from the scene, and President had looked across the entire dueling world only to find no worthy defeat. Yet his Dueling Addiction kept flaring up, growing harder and harder to suppress, so he had decided to spend a fortune building a premier academy, gathering the most gifted prospects from across the world and pouring every resource into training the next generation of Duel Kings to cure the addiction that had plagued him for years.

"Alright."

Kira nodded and accepted the Participant Card.

Since it was a tournament President was personally entering, the prize money would definitely be substantial, if nothing else.

Back when Pegasus held the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, he had even generously declared that whoever became champion would receive sixty percent of his company's shares. Winning a tournament of that caliber once was enough to achieve lifelong financial freedom.

By then, Kaiba had already stepped outside and grabbed the rope ladder dangling from the helicopter overhead.

As the helicopter rose, he ascended with it, gripping the ladder with one hand. His trench coat snapped like a battle flag beneath the rotor's gale as he looked down from above and gave a cold, amused snort.

"If you are a true duelist, then cut through every thornbush, overcome every wall and obstacle, and come before me in that survival-of-the-fittest Battle City!

I hope you won't disappoint me like that deadweight!"

Kira: "."

So, President, why did you always have to take a shot at Jōno-chi whenever you opened your mouth?