Five-Headed Dragon

Ogorou Daimon—who was he?

First, one thing was certain: he did not have a brother or junior who could punch monsters and stomp spirits beneath his feet. He had no brother named Daimon Ei, nor a nephew named Daimon Dai.

As far as the anime setting went, he was the first executive Gozaburo Kaiba had assigned to Seto Kaiba. He was said to have been Seto Kaiba's greatest support in establishing himself within the corporation, helping him build his own career and company before eventually swallowing up Kaiba Corporation itself.

And then... that was it.

Since it was an anime where card games solved every problem, there was naturally no room for so-called corporate warfare. As a result, Yu Ming did not have any particularly deep impression of this character. Anything that could have highlighted his personal abilities existed only in the setting.

As for now... he could only say the man fit the stereotypical image of a "business elite" perfectly.

"Sharp insight. Excellent memory."

Yu Ming could not help looking straight ahead. There, Ogorou Daimon stood with his arms folded, striking Jinzo's classic pose.

"So my guess was correct. You truly are a duelist not to be underestimated."

"So, are you saying that noticing this makes you even more impressive?"

The boy's lips twitched.

"..."

Ogorou Daimon fell silent. With most of his face concealed by machinery, no one could discern his expression.

But Yu Ming did not care. He had seen this sort of thing—this sort of tactic—far too often.

At the end of the day, that was how these so-called elite characters were. They often made these passive-aggressive remarks.

It sounded as if they were praising their opponent, but in truth, they were placing themselves on a higher level, as though they looked down upon everything.

"Arrogant. Selfish."

In the anime, the Big Five were all people like this. From the very beginning, they spoke with an arrogant tone that emphasized themselves, looking down on everyone but Seto Kaiba from start to finish. And Mr. Ogorou Daimon was one of the worst among them.

If Yu Ming remembered correctly, in the anime, he had even looked down on his other four colleagues. He considered himself the strongest of the Big Five, their leader... that should have been right, shouldn't it?

Maybe it had been too long since he had revisited the original anime. For a moment, Yu Ming realized he could no longer remember such trivial details.

But there seemed to be no need to care too much about something like that, right?

"Things have already come this far, anyway..."

Looking up at the murky chaos coiling around them, Yu Ming could not help glancing at the floating stone slab behind Ogorou Daimon.

That abstract relief could hardly be called exquisite. All he could tell was that it depicted something with five heads, with the aesthetic sensibilities of the Stone Age.

"Fine. Enough of this."

After adjusting his helpless mood, Yu Ming sighed.

"Let's get to the point. You didn't bring me to a place like this just to chat, brag, and show off your mysterious sense of superiority, did you?"

"Tch... what a sharp-tongued brat."

Yu Ming's utterly unresponsive attitude, as if he stood outside the situation entirely, made Ogorou Daimon lose his composure at once.

"It seems you don't understand the situation at all!"

The former Kaiba Corporation executive could not help raising his voice.

"You should learn how to respect your elders!"

Even with his arms folded, Yu Ming could still see that he was visibly lifting his head and puffing out his chest.

Then...

"Hmph!"

Nothing happened.

Yu Ming could not help looking around once more. The murky darkness still stretched beyond sight, and beneath the candlelight, the abstract stone slab still stood firmly in place.

And in contrast...

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

When Yu Ming turned back toward Jinzo, he saw him repeatedly lifting his head and puffing out his chest. The motion was like a duck that had spotted a fish in the sky, stretching its neck especially long.

For a moment, Yu Ming could not help asking:

"What exactly are you doing?"

"..."

The instant the words fell, an intense strangeness swiftly enveloped the entire area.

Amid the deep silence, Ogorou Daimon merely stood there like a statue, saying nothing.

Only after quite some time did a cold voice emerge from the cyborg's mechanically covered face:

"To think you could withstand the evil dragon's might. It seems you are stronger than I imagined."

"Huh?"

"If you were given time to grow, perhaps you truly could carve out a place for yourself in this world."

"No..."

"But unfortunately, everything you have will end here."

"Wait a second."

"If you must blame someone, blame the fact that you came at the wrong time."

Yu Ming ultimately fell silent, because he realized there was no point in speaking anymore.

His gaze shifted upward. Behind the red-eyed cyborg, the ancient stone slab was releasing thick black mist.

"Great evil dragon, grant me your power!"

At Ogorou Daimon's shout, the black mist gradually condensed into a phantom—an evil dragon!

But really, what else could the evil dragon representing the Big Five be?

Hint one:

In the setting, it possessed five attributes.

Hint two:

It was one of the monsters with the highest Attack Points.

Hint three:

It had five heads.

A monster with these traits, known as the "evil dragon," was called:

"Five-Headed Dragon!"

The moment its true name was called, Yu Ming felt the dragon's roar, which had always been faint and indistinct, suddenly become clear.

When he came back to his senses, an enormous figure had fully descended from the depths of that murky darkness.

Earth, water, fire, wind, darkness.

Upon its massive body, dragon heads representing the five attributes twisted like long serpents. Every head was incomparably savage, as though ready to devour someone at any moment.

As they faced each other, Yu Ming could feel its breath washing over him with every inhale, as though this tiny speck of a person would be swallowed whole by one of the evil dragon's heads in the next instant.

"You will become its sacrifice!"

As Ogorou Daimon made this declaration, the surrounding shadows seemed to churn as well, radiating a sticky, oppressive force.

"Tch, it really does feel pretty oppressive."

Though he said that, Yu Ming was not flustered. After all, this was not some fantasy world where people started destroying heaven and earth at the slightest disagreement, without a shred of reason.

Click.

Facing the savage evil dragon, Yu Ming openly drew his short gun and fastened it onto his wrist device. The mechanism extended, restoring it to its original form beneath the green indicator light.

And almost at the same moment, Yu Ming felt the voices lingering around his ears vanish.

Looking around, even the candle flames that seemed to exist within that darkness had stopped flickering.

In this moment when even time itself seemed completely frozen, Yu Ming merely looked at the figure that appeared to have been entirely enveloped by the evil dragon.

Ogorou Daimon—the man who appeared in the form of Jinzo—seemed to meet his gaze from on high.

Then...

Duel.

Ogorou Daimon LP: 4000

Yu Ming LP: 4000