For a brief moment, the Shadow of the King was shaken by the sudden surge of Kaiba's aura. Beneath the mask, his facial expression twisted slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Oh? How interesting. After abandoning dueling for so long, you still dare to face me directly?"
"You called yourself a king?" Kaiba, who had once heard about the Nine Realm Kings from Kaiba Man, questioned him. "So which are you, exactly—a king, or a shadow?"
"You may call me a king, or you may call me a shadow."
Removing his mask, the man revealed an aged face. It was not the young Shadow of the King—Loptr—who had appeared at the academy the night before.
However, the elderly face hidden beneath the mask bore a faint resemblance to the younger Loptr.
"I am the one who creates the shadows… yet I am also the shadow itself. You may call me King Harr of the Roaring Realm—one of the Kings of the Nine Realms."
"Hmph. Whether you're a king or a shadow doesn't matter!"
Brushing past him, who stood blocking the doorway, Kaiba walked out of the president's office.
"Come to the rooftop. There's plenty of space there—more than enough for me to beat the hell out of you!"
"A king is magnanimous," Harr replied calmly. "At the very least, I will allow you to choose the place where you will die."
After exchanging a round of harsh words, the two men headed toward the top floor of Kaiba Entertainment Group's headquarters.
"Brother…?" Mokuba hurried after him, looking worriedly at Kaiba's left eye and right arm, both covered in pale blue AR light.
No one knew better than Mokuba how long it had been since Kaiba had last dueled in person.
Five whole years.
Ever since his defeat in the duel against Hoshino, Kaiba had never picked up a deck again.
Kaiba Entertainment Group — Rooftop
After years of rapid expansion, the entire Kaiba Corporation building had been completely renovated. Only the rooftop helipad remained unchanged.
More precisely, Kaiba himself had ordered that it not be altered.
The most iconic feature of the rooftop was still there—the massive cracks in the ground created when Hoshino and Kaiba fought the Evil God, where two divine weapons had once been driven into the earth.
Even now, the fractures remained beneath their feet.
"No time to waste. Let's begin!"
Harr unfolded his Duel Disk. As the ruler of the Spellcaster race, he also possessed one of the greatest strategic minds among the Nine Realm Kings. Treating the invasion of humanity as a full-scale war, he had devised a plan in a single night to crush all human duelists.
"Bring out your deck, Seto Kaiba!"
"My deck? I no longer need something like that."
Activating his AR Duel Disk and connecting it to the Duel Links network, countless blue virtual cards instantly materialized around Kaiba.
"Cards logged into Duel Links through the Duel Disk—a total of 534,542,796 cards! And these… will be the chips I use to defeat you!"
Drawing as many of the floating cards as possible into the AR Duel Disk on his arm, Kaiba made his declaration.
Mokuba looked on in confusion.
"Brother… Duel Links was created so that people from every nation, race, background, and status could connect through the consciousness of duelists—using cards as the only weapon. And now… you're going to fight like this?"
By gathering all the cards in the world into his Duel Disk, Kaiba appeared calm on the surface.
But in reality, this action meant linking his own mind to the dueling consciousness of every duelist in the world.
The mental burden it caused was immeasurable. The pressure on his mind could tear his consciousness apart—brain death could occur at any moment.
Under such a load that exceeded the limits of the human body, selecting and constructing a proper deck from hundreds of millions of cards was completely impossible.
In other words, the Duel Disk Kaiba held now was nothing more than a random pile of cards drawn from an endless sea of possibilities.
Even so, this was the only method of battle left to Kaiba.
Unable to use Duel Monsters normally. Unable to physically touch a deck. Unable to directly access the power of cards.
The belief Kaiba clung to was to break through this curse placed upon him using the power of science he trusted.
"I… will seize the future!!"
[Seto Kaiba — LP 8000]
VS
[King Harr — LP 8000]
"Draw!"
The long-forgotten thrill of drawing a card made Kaiba's body tremble. The overwhelming mental pain caused by the strain on his consciousness was completely forgotten.
"Hmph. A deck randomly assembled from hundreds of millions of cards," Harr said coldly. With his strategic insight, he immediately saw through Kaiba's situation. "Just as the rumors said. You cannot touch cards directly… so this is the method you chose."
"I summon one monster in face-down Defense Position, then set one card. End turn!"
Kaiba waved his hand, placing two virtual cards in front of him before immediately ending his first turn.
[Kaiba: 4 Hand Cards | 1 Set Card]
"Just as I thought. A pile deck without even the possibility of a proper combo."
"My turn—Draw!"
At the start of his turn, Harr looked at the cards in his hand. His aged face revealed no trace of emotion.
"—I activate the Spell Card Advanced Ritual Art! This card allows me to Special Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand by sending Normal Monsters from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
Displaying the Ritual Monster from his hand, Harr declared:
"The monster I will Ritual Summon is Nekroz of Valkyrus (Level 8). Therefore, I must send Normal Monsters whose total Levels equal 8 from my Deck to the Graveyard."
Without needing to search manually, the Duel Disk automatically presented five cards to fulfill the required materials for the ritual.
"An 8-star Ritual Monster, using five monsters as the ritual materials…?" Mokuba said, sensing something was wrong.
"The monsters I send to the Graveyard are the Level 4 Ancient Sorcerer, and four Level 1 monsters—Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and Left Leg of the Forbidden One—a total of 8 Levels."
Kaiba frowned.
"What?! You sent all four pieces of Exodia to the Graveyard?"
"—Come forth! Ritual Summon! Nekroz of Valkyrus!"
[Nekroz of Valkyrus ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)]
[WATER][Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect]
[ATK 2900 / DEF 1700]
Descended through Advanced Ritual Art, the Level 8 Spellcaster Ritual Monster appeared. With its aged white hair, the figure of Valkyrus strangely matched the appearance of Harr.
"A Ritual Monster with 2900 Attack Points..."
However, a Ritual Monster of this caliber was not what gave Kaiba pause. What mattered was the Exodia sent to the Graveyard via the Ritual Spell.
"And now I Normal Summon in Attack Position — Exodia the Forbidden One!"
[Exodia the Forbidden One ★★★ (Level 3)][DARK][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1000]
Only a single disembodied head had manifested — a laughably pitiful sight, with none of the presence one would expect from the ultimate Duel Monster.
"Are you here to make a joke?" Kaiba sneered.
"Ignorant human. Now, let me unleash the power of the ultimate sealed deity!"
Casting the card bearing Exodia's head into the Graveyard, Harr flung a monster from his hand.
"I Tribute the Forbidden One monster on my field — Special Summon: The Legendary Exodia Incarnate!"
Upon the field, Exodia — his skull wreathed in demonic flame, his colossal form reconstituted from crimson energy — materialized and loomed over the rooftop of Kaiba Corporation.
[The Legendary Exodia Incarnate ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][DARK][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK ?/DEF 0]
[Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing 1 "Forbidden One" monster.]
[Gains 1000 ATK for each "Forbidden One" monster in your GY.]
[Unaffected by other cards' effects.]
"It's huge!" Mokuba craned his neck back in astonishment.
The immense Exodia Incarnate looked as though a single sweep of its palm could reduce the entire Kaiba Corporation tower to rubble.
"Since there are 5 Forbidden One monsters in my Graveyard, Exodia Incarnate gains 5000 ATK!"
[Exodia Incarnate ATK 5000]
"A monster with 5000 Attack Points right out of the gate — this is bad, brother!" Mokuba cried out in panic.
"And now, the Special Effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus—"
[Once per turn: Tribute up to 2 monsters from your hand or field, then draw that many cards.]
"I Tribute the second Exodia the Forbidden One from my hand — drawing 1 card while Exodia Incarnate rises even further!"
[The Legendary Exodia Incarnate ATK 5000 → 6000]
Growing larger still. Turn 1, and already a monster with 6000 ATK, immune to all other card effects, stood on the field. Harr was more troublesome than any opponent Kaiba had ever faced.
"Enter Battle Phase! Nekroz of Valkyrus — destroy that face-down Defense Position monster!"
Raising his staff, a burst of magic annihilated Kaiba's set card with contemptuous ease.
[King of the Swamp DEF 1100] Destroyed
"A random deck stuffed with garbage monsters, just as expected… Even so, I will show no mercy!"
Pressing the assault, Harr gathered a raging torrent of flame within Exodia's palm — and in that instant, set the entire sky ablaze.
"—Direct Attack!!!"
"DAMN YOOOOOU!!"
[Kaiba Seto LP 8000 → 2000]
The scorching impact — compounded by the strain of overloaded cognitive processing — made Kaiba grit his teeth in agony. Even the AR luminescence enveloping his body had visibly dimmed.
"You… I'll return this a hundredfold!"
"Stop bluffing." Harr narrowed his aged eyes, cutting through to the truth. "In reality, you don't even have a card worth playing right now, do you?"
Setting down his Duel Disk, Harr—who had summoned the ultimate monster—concluded his turn with unhurried calm.
"At the End Phase, the effect of Exodia Incarnate activates — targeting 1 Forbidden One monster in the Graveyard and returning it to the hand."
Retrieving the head once more. Though merely a secondary effect tethered to Exodia's ultimate win condition, reclaiming the piece also caused his ATK to fall accordingly.
[Exodia Incarnate ATK 6000 → 5000]
[Harr: 3 Hand Cards]
As mortifying as it was to admit, Harr's assessment was entirely accurate: at this moment, Kaiba held not a single card that could be called a fighting force.
"My turn — Draw!"
The randomly drawn virtual cards spread neatly before him. Kaiba's eye twitched ever so slightly as he glimpsed the Spell Card he had pulled this turn.
"Hoshino? To think your card would bail me out at a moment like this… is this fate..."
Dragging the virtual card horizontally onto the field, Kaiba declared:
"This turn, I Normal Summon Baby Dragon in Defense Position!"
[Baby Dragon ★★★ (Level 3)][WIND][Dragon][ATK 1200/DEF 700]
"To think you truly intend to challenge this king with such creatures — you are nothing but a fool, Kaiba Seto!"
"Then let me wipe that smirk off your face entirely! Activate Spell Card — Premonition of Beginnings!"
[Premonition of Beginnings — Spell Card Effect: Discard 1 card; banish 1 Spell Card from your Deck. During your next Standby Phase after this card's activation, add the banished card to your hand.]
A Spell Card commonly used by Hoshino — one of the rare few in the Heroic Spirit deck that required no Heroic Spirit-specific conditions. And among the five hundred quintillion cards in existence, only a single copy had ever been printed.
And yet — by sheer chance — Kaiba had drawn that one-in-five-hundred-quintillion card.
Harr scoffed.
"Even if you search out a Spell Card, do you really think you'll survive to see your next turn, Kaiba Seto?"
With the cognitive load currently bearing down on Kaiba, he had no luxury of browsing through his options. Even his search through the deck was entirely at random.
"What Spell Card I search doesn't matter. What matters is the card I'm discarding as cost — the Ritual Monster, Black Luster Soldier!"
Using the Spell Card's cost to send the Chaos Warrior to the Graveyard, Kaiba had finally opened a path to link his hand together.
"—Activate Spell Card Dragon's Mirror! Banish Black Luster Soldier and King of the Swamp from my Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"
[Dragon's Mirror — Spell Card Effect: Banish Fusion Materials listed on a Dragon-Type Fusion Monster from your field or GY, then Fusion Summon that 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.]
"The effect of King of the Swamp allows it to substitute for 1 Fusion Material. And the material it substitutes for is — Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
On Kaiba's field, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon roared into existence from nothing, merging with Black Luster Soldier — the mirror of dragons shattered — and it burst forth on thundering wings.
"Answer my resolve — Fusion Summon! The ultimate knight — Dragon Master Knight!!"
[Dragon Master Knight ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12)][LIGHT][Dragon/Fusion/Effect][ATK 5000/DEF 5000]
["Black Luster Soldier" + "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon"]