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Chapter 604: Raviel is Still Chasing Me, TMD
According to Rafael's account, the reason he unaccountably ended up with Hayato and Valon was purely a "whim."
This was a lie, a pure lie.
Even without a mind-reading ability, Hayato could guess why Rafael appeared here. It was simply to have him and Valon team up first and see if he would reveal any flaws when accompanied by only one Companion. Rafael, hidden nearby, was the best surveillance.
Although it was an old trick, it was precisely because of this that it was particularly effective.
Valon, who rarely shied away from trouble and instead proactively requested Dartz to deal with Joey Wheeler, needed someone to help him restrain the others accompanying Joey Wheeler, or at least restrain most of them for a period of time, to create an environment for him to duel Joey Wheeler one-on-one.
When Valon brought this up at the Doma base, the first person he considered for help wasn't Hayato but Alister. However, Alister said he had collected records of a cross-ocean flying application from a jet plane owned by Kaiba and planned to intercept Kaiba, so he couldn't help Valon.
Then Valon thought of Rafael. After all, Rafael's quest's goal, the Nameless Pharaoh, who was Yugi, was acting together with Joey Wheeler. The two of them could complete the quests together.
But at that time, Rafael said he had other quests to prioritize before dealing with the Nameless Pharaoh and also refused Valon. That's why Valon ultimately could only act with Hayato, the sole person who agreed to him.
The "other quests" Rafael mentioned at that time were likely "following behind Hayato and Valon to see if Hayato would expose problems when he only had one teammate."
It was just like playing "Among Us" and deliberately hiding behind a pair of players who team up to see if either of them was the imposter. Truly a veteran schemer's tactic.
Hayato had originally planned to first slightly delay Yugi and the others as Valon requested, then find a suitable opportunity to briefly explain his current situation and future plans to Téa and Yugi, asking them to cooperate with his act later.
This was both for Hayato to reassure his friends and to minimize the flaws when he did something that looked like an antagonist's action but actually didn't cause any harm.
As for why he didn't tell Joey Wheeler, Tristan, and Rex? It wasn't that Hayato was treating them differently; it was mainly because none of them seemed like people who could keep a secret, no matter how you looked at it. Hayato felt that if he told Joey Wheeler that his "betrayal" was fake, Joey Wheeler might inadvertently blurt it out right after being told.
He still wanted to "play" in Doma for a while longer. Moreover, the "gift" for Dartz was still being prepared and wasn't finished.
However, this plan was directly aborted due to Rafael's existence, leaving Hayato exceptionally annoyed, his face dark.
Rafael didn't know Hayato's idea at this moment. Despite monitoring Hayato, on the surface, he still maintained an attitude of "I trust you greatly and consider you a Companion." He asked Hayato, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly thought of something interesting." The annoyed Hayato suddenly gave a sinister smile, drew a card, and said to Rafael, "The unwillingness felt when suddenly and forcibly separated from Companions, upon finally reuniting with them, transforms into an exceptionally strong joy."
"I'm truly curious, how will this joy evolve into despair when one discovers they have fallen into an extremely dangerous situation?"
As Hayato placed the card in his hand on his Duel Disk, surging spirit power was released, and a giant blue monster manifested within the layers of the Labyrinth Wall. It was none other than **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, one of the Sacred Beasts!
Its name is derived from a variation of the name of the famous mythology figure, the Angel "Raphael." Coincidentally, the name of Rafael, who was beside Hayato, is also a variation of the name "Raphael." Rounding up, it's the person himself.
After returning to the Human World from the Spirit World, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** and the others were initially restless. After all, they had previously obediently submitted to Hayato purely because Hayato had too many "Gods" in his hand, constantly suppressing them, so they didn't dare to rebel.
But when Hayato first returned to the Human World, the power of the "Gods" in his hand was at its weakest state, giving the Sacred Beasts hope of rebelling and regaining their freedom.
However, when they actually had the idea of taking action against Hayato, they were directly chased and beaten by **The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form**, which had been hiding inside **The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode**, and were almost eliminated on the spot.
Who could have imagined that even though **The Winged Dragon of Ra's** card was lost in the Human World along with the other two Three Egyptian Gods cards by Hayato, **The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form** was actually hiding inside the egg? Both master and servant are veteran schemers!
So now, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, under Hayato's arrangement, could only obediently appear and act as the "monster" in the Labyrinth, without the slightest idea of resistance.
Although as a Phantasm, it has the ability to absorb surrounding spirit power, would **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** dare to absorb the spirit power of the people around it? Yugi, Rex, and Hayato himself—**Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** felt that if it dared to take action, Hayato would very likely have **The Winged Dragon of Ra** tear it apart the next second.
Huh? Too cowardly? Absolutely not.
Being Hayato's dog is the greatest honor!
**Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, shamelessly taking pride in this, began to move within the Labyrinth.
At this time, within the Labyrinth, Yugi utilized the numerous Card Spirits he possessed. At every fork in the road, he sent them in different directions to scout, saving time. Soon, he found his first scattered partner— Téa, who was overjoyed upon seeing Yugi's appearance.
"Yugi!" "Téa!"
Because she had no self-preservation ability, Téa, after the Labyrinth's field setup, was forced to move a certain distance by the moving walls. However, she then consciously stayed put and didn't wander around randomly.
After all, no one knew where the danger in the Labyrinth might appear, and Téa believed Yugi would definitely find her.
And indeed, Yugi's first find was Téa, who had stayed at a crossroad and hadn't left randomly. What surprised Yugi even more was that the figures of Rex and Tristan, who should have been separated, also appeared from the other two paths.
This was natural. In reality, Hayato hadn't designed the Labyrinth very well. Although the approach was complicated, it was actually incredibly simple, as it was completed hastily just to deal with Rafael.
However, compared to Rex, who was somewhat surprised to find the group again so quickly, Tristan, who was running wildly, anxiously shouted, "Yugi, Téa, Rex! Escape!"
While running, Tristan glanced behind him: "Raviel is still chasing me! TMD!"
A giant blue monster appeared before everyone!
Immediately, Yugi deployed his Duel Disk and summoned **Dark Magician** again to attack. But, just like his previous action of attacking the Labyrinth Wall, **Dark Magician's** power, which should have been invincible, suffered a setback again and returned as useless effort. **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, revealed a ferocious smile and approached the group!
Seeing that **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** couldn't even be dealt with by **Dark Magician's** power, Yugi and the others immediately thought of escaping to create some distance before figuring out a countermeasure. But upon turning around, they saw the fork in the road Yugi had taken to get there was blocked by a moving wall!
"Damn it, is it a trap!" Rex pounded the wall, but the heavy stone wall didn't budge. He could only helplessly give up on the useless effort and looked back at Yugi, who was directly facing the blue demon.
As a Duel Monster, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, had an ATK of 4000 points. Outside of Duel Monsters, it was the strongest among the Sacred Beasts, rivaling the Three Egyptian Gods. Ordinary Duel Monsters, let alone confronting it, were already very strong just to maintain existence without being absorbed by it.
But facing the approaching **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, Yugi's gaze was very firm. He resolutely stepped forward, commanding **Dark Magician** to continuously attack **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**.
Even if the gap in power was vast, his important friends were behind him. He absolutely could not, and would not, give up!
Holding this conviction, Yugi played another card, the nameless fake card, **Eye of Timaeus**.
The power of the **Legendary Dragon** possessed **Dark Magician**, and then it surprisingly transformed into the appearance of Joey Wheeler's **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**, which wasn't even here!
Then, the ultimate soul card that had manifested and defeated Hayato, the Fusion Monster that was the symbol of friendship between Joey Wheeler and Yugi—**Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon**—appeared!
The instant it appeared, even **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, felt a threat for a moment. It immediately used its power to create avatars and intended to absorb the avatars' power to quickly defeat this monster before it.
However, **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** swung the weapon in its hand. An astonishing slash destroyed **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, along with the Labyrinth Wall that was trapping Yugi and the others!
The sudden incident was something even Hayato hadn't expected: "What?!"
"It seems your plan has failed," Rafael said, looking at **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** that appeared beside Yugi with a shocked expression, his brows furrowed with seriousness.
As the sole audience of that top-level duel at Industrial Illusions, Rafael was well aware of how powerful, even monstrously powerful, this monster was—almost like a fake card.
He had thought that for this monster to appear, Katsuya Jounouchi's **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** was a necessary existence. It would be somewhat easier for him to deal with the Nameless Pharaoh after Valon dealt with Katsuya Jounouchi. But now he saw **Dark Magician** directly transform into this form under the power of the **Legendary Dragon**.
Although they weren't in a duel right now, no one could guarantee that the **Legendary Dragon** couldn't replicate the current scene in a formal duel. Rather, Rafael felt that such a situation would absolutely happen again!
To defeat the Nameless Pharaoh, the existence of **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** could not be bypassed. And to deal with this monster, it was indeed necessary to prioritize handling the troublesome **Legendary Dragon**!
Thinking of something Dartz had instructed them, Rafael had an idea in his heart. But just as he was about to take action now, suddenly, the Orichalcos Fragment gem on his pendant began to radiate green light.
"What is this?" Hayato subtly put away a card, also looked at his pendant, and showed a confused expression. "What's going on?"
Rafael looked at him with a solemn face and said, "This is the phenomenon when the Seal of Orichalcos seals the soul of a powerful Duelist. Valon's duel has probably reached a victory or defeat."
"Let's go find Valon first, take him and withdraw, and then slowly go find the Nameless Pharaoh—"
As Rafael spoke, he was about to take action, but upon seeing Joey Wheeler walking out from the alley in the distance, limping and being supported by Kujaku Mai, he couldn't finish his words.
Undoubtedly, the reaction of the Orichalcos Fragment just now indicated that a duel had just now ended, and someone's soul had been sealed by the Seal of Orichalcos. However, Joey Wheeler walked out alive. Although he looked somewhat weak and disheveled, he was indeed alive.
This meant that the loser of the duel with Joey Wheeler was actually Valon!
That Valon would lose to Joey Wheeler was something Rafael hadn't expected. In his previous observations, although Joey Wheeler's strength was decent, it was just decent. He was only first-rate, not top-tier, and had no special characteristics other than good luck.
Especially in the duel where he and Yugi teamed up against Hayato, compared to Yugi, who could fight back and forth with Hayato, Joey Wheeler was mostly just defensively holding on, lacking the ability to take the offensive.
And Valon, in Rafael's view, was second only to himself and Lord Dartz in Organization Doma, even stronger than Alister. Rafael and Valon had sparred before, resulting in a narrow draw, with Rafael slightly better.
Such a Valon was defeated by that guy Joey Wheeler. Although it seemed like a narrow victory, the victory was a fact. Was it the power of the Legendary Dragon?
Rafael couldn't help but speculate whether Joey Wheeler had used the power of the Legendary Dragon in the duel to defeat Valon, and what kind of power his Legendary Dragon possessed.
However, Rafael was slightly confused. Valon also had an Orichalcos Fragment on him and should have had the ability to forcibly break the Seal of Orichalcos. Why was his soul still sealed?
(End of Chapter)
According to Rafael's account, the reason he unaccountably ended up with Hayato and Valon was purely a "whim."
This was a lie, a pure lie.
Even without a mind-reading ability, Hayato could guess why Rafael appeared here. It was simply to have him and Valon team up first and see if he would reveal any flaws when accompanied by only one Companion. Rafael, hidden nearby, was the best surveillance.
Although it was an old trick, it was precisely because of this that it was particularly effective.
Valon, who rarely shied away from trouble and instead proactively requested Dartz to deal with Joey Wheeler, needed someone to help him restrain the others accompanying Joey Wheeler, or at least restrain most of them for a period of time, to create an environment for him to duel Joey Wheeler one-on-one.
When Valon brought this up at the Doma base, the first person he considered for help wasn't Hayato but Alister. However, Alister said he had collected records of a cross-ocean flying application from a jet plane owned by Kaiba and planned to intercept Kaiba, so he couldn't help Valon.
Then Valon thought of Rafael. After all, Rafael's quest's goal, the Nameless Pharaoh, who was Yugi, was acting together with Joey Wheeler. The two of them could complete the quests together.
But at that time, Rafael said he had other quests to prioritize before dealing with the Nameless Pharaoh and also refused Valon. That's why Valon ultimately could only act with Hayato, the sole person who agreed to him.
The "other quests" Rafael mentioned at that time were likely "following behind Hayato and Valon to see if Hayato would expose problems when he only had one teammate."
It was just like playing "Among Us" and deliberately hiding behind a pair of players who team up to see if either of them was the imposter. Truly a veteran schemer's tactic.
Hayato had originally planned to first slightly delay Yugi and the others as Valon requested, then find a suitable opportunity to briefly explain his current situation and future plans to Téa and Yugi, asking them to cooperate with his act later.
This was both for Hayato to reassure his friends and to minimize the flaws when he did something that looked like an antagonist's action but actually didn't cause any harm.
As for why he didn't tell Joey Wheeler, Tristan, and Rex? It wasn't that Hayato was treating them differently; it was mainly because none of them seemed like people who could keep a secret, no matter how you looked at it. Hayato felt that if he told Joey Wheeler that his "betrayal" was fake, Joey Wheeler might inadvertently blurt it out right after being told.
He still wanted to "play" in Doma for a while longer. Moreover, the "gift" for Dartz was still being prepared and wasn't finished.
However, this plan was directly aborted due to Rafael's existence, leaving Hayato exceptionally annoyed, his face dark.
Rafael didn't know Hayato's idea at this moment. Despite monitoring Hayato, on the surface, he still maintained an attitude of "I trust you greatly and consider you a Companion." He asked Hayato, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly thought of something interesting." The annoyed Hayato suddenly gave a sinister smile, drew a card, and said to Rafael, "The unwillingness felt when suddenly and forcibly separated from Companions, upon finally reuniting with them, transforms into an exceptionally strong joy."
"I'm truly curious, how will this joy evolve into despair when one discovers they have fallen into an extremely dangerous situation?"
As Hayato placed the card in his hand on his Duel Disk, surging spirit power was released, and a giant blue monster manifested within the layers of the Labyrinth Wall. It was none other than **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, one of the Sacred Beasts!
Its name is derived from a variation of the name of the famous mythology figure, the Angel "Raphael." Coincidentally, the name of Rafael, who was beside Hayato, is also a variation of the name "Raphael." Rounding up, it's the person himself.
After returning to the Human World from the Spirit World, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** and the others were initially restless. After all, they had previously obediently submitted to Hayato purely because Hayato had too many "Gods" in his hand, constantly suppressing them, so they didn't dare to rebel.
But when Hayato first returned to the Human World, the power of the "Gods" in his hand was at its weakest state, giving the Sacred Beasts hope of rebelling and regaining their freedom.
However, when they actually had the idea of taking action against Hayato, they were directly chased and beaten by **The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form**, which had been hiding inside **The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode**, and were almost eliminated on the spot.
Who could have imagined that even though **The Winged Dragon of Ra's** card was lost in the Human World along with the other two Three Egyptian Gods cards by Hayato, **The Winged Dragon of Ra's True Form** was actually hiding inside the egg? Both master and servant are veteran schemers!
So now, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, under Hayato's arrangement, could only obediently appear and act as the "monster" in the Labyrinth, without the slightest idea of resistance.
Although as a Phantasm, it has the ability to absorb surrounding spirit power, would **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** dare to absorb the spirit power of the people around it? Yugi, Rex, and Hayato himself—**Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** felt that if it dared to take action, Hayato would very likely have **The Winged Dragon of Ra** tear it apart the next second.
Huh? Too cowardly? Absolutely not.
Being Hayato's dog is the greatest honor!
**Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, shamelessly taking pride in this, began to move within the Labyrinth.
At this time, within the Labyrinth, Yugi utilized the numerous Card Spirits he possessed. At every fork in the road, he sent them in different directions to scout, saving time. Soon, he found his first scattered partner— Téa, who was overjoyed upon seeing Yugi's appearance.
"Yugi!" "Téa!"
Because she had no self-preservation ability, Téa, after the Labyrinth's field setup, was forced to move a certain distance by the moving walls. However, she then consciously stayed put and didn't wander around randomly.
After all, no one knew where the danger in the Labyrinth might appear, and Téa believed Yugi would definitely find her.
And indeed, Yugi's first find was Téa, who had stayed at a crossroad and hadn't left randomly. What surprised Yugi even more was that the figures of Rex and Tristan, who should have been separated, also appeared from the other two paths.
This was natural. In reality, Hayato hadn't designed the Labyrinth very well. Although the approach was complicated, it was actually incredibly simple, as it was completed hastily just to deal with Rafael.
However, compared to Rex, who was somewhat surprised to find the group again so quickly, Tristan, who was running wildly, anxiously shouted, "Yugi, Téa, Rex! Escape!"
While running, Tristan glanced behind him: "Raviel is still chasing me! TMD!"
A giant blue monster appeared before everyone!
Immediately, Yugi deployed his Duel Disk and summoned **Dark Magician** again to attack. But, just like his previous action of attacking the Labyrinth Wall, **Dark Magician's** power, which should have been invincible, suffered a setback again and returned as useless effort. **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, revealed a ferocious smile and approached the group!
Seeing that **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms** couldn't even be dealt with by **Dark Magician's** power, Yugi and the others immediately thought of escaping to create some distance before figuring out a countermeasure. But upon turning around, they saw the fork in the road Yugi had taken to get there was blocked by a moving wall!
"Damn it, is it a trap!" Rex pounded the wall, but the heavy stone wall didn't budge. He could only helplessly give up on the useless effort and looked back at Yugi, who was directly facing the blue demon.
As a Duel Monster, **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, had an ATK of 4000 points. Outside of Duel Monsters, it was the strongest among the Sacred Beasts, rivaling the Three Egyptian Gods. Ordinary Duel Monsters, let alone confronting it, were already very strong just to maintain existence without being absorbed by it.
But facing the approaching **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, Yugi's gaze was very firm. He resolutely stepped forward, commanding **Dark Magician** to continuously attack **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**.
Even if the gap in power was vast, his important friends were behind him. He absolutely could not, and would not, give up!
Holding this conviction, Yugi played another card, the nameless fake card, **Eye of Timaeus**.
The power of the **Legendary Dragon** possessed **Dark Magician**, and then it surprisingly transformed into the appearance of Joey Wheeler's **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**, which wasn't even here!
Then, the ultimate soul card that had manifested and defeated Hayato, the Fusion Monster that was the symbol of friendship between Joey Wheeler and Yugi—**Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon**—appeared!
The instant it appeared, even **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, felt a threat for a moment. It immediately used its power to create avatars and intended to absorb the avatars' power to quickly defeat this monster before it.
However, **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** swung the weapon in its hand. An astonishing slash destroyed **Raviel, Lord of Phantasms**, along with the Labyrinth Wall that was trapping Yugi and the others!
The sudden incident was something even Hayato hadn't expected: "What?!"
"It seems your plan has failed," Rafael said, looking at **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** that appeared beside Yugi with a shocked expression, his brows furrowed with seriousness.
As the sole audience of that top-level duel at Industrial Illusions, Rafael was well aware of how powerful, even monstrously powerful, this monster was—almost like a fake card.
He had thought that for this monster to appear, Katsuya Jounouchi's **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** was a necessary existence. It would be somewhat easier for him to deal with the Nameless Pharaoh after Valon dealt with Katsuya Jounouchi. But now he saw **Dark Magician** directly transform into this form under the power of the **Legendary Dragon**.
Although they weren't in a duel right now, no one could guarantee that the **Legendary Dragon** couldn't replicate the current scene in a formal duel. Rather, Rafael felt that such a situation would absolutely happen again!
To defeat the Nameless Pharaoh, the existence of **Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon** could not be bypassed. And to deal with this monster, it was indeed necessary to prioritize handling the troublesome **Legendary Dragon**!
Thinking of something Dartz had instructed them, Rafael had an idea in his heart. But just as he was about to take action now, suddenly, the Orichalcos Fragment gem on his pendant began to radiate green light.
"What is this?" Hayato subtly put away a card, also looked at his pendant, and showed a confused expression. "What's going on?"
Rafael looked at him with a solemn face and said, "This is the phenomenon when the Seal of Orichalcos seals the soul of a powerful Duelist. Valon's duel has probably reached a victory or defeat."
"Let's go find Valon first, take him and withdraw, and then slowly go find the Nameless Pharaoh—"
As Rafael spoke, he was about to take action, but upon seeing Joey Wheeler walking out from the alley in the distance, limping and being supported by Kujaku Mai, he couldn't finish his words.
Undoubtedly, the reaction of the Orichalcos Fragment just now indicated that a duel had just now ended, and someone's soul had been sealed by the Seal of Orichalcos. However, Joey Wheeler walked out alive. Although he looked somewhat weak and disheveled, he was indeed alive.
This meant that the loser of the duel with Joey Wheeler was actually Valon!
That Valon would lose to Joey Wheeler was something Rafael hadn't expected. In his previous observations, although Joey Wheeler's strength was decent, it was just decent. He was only first-rate, not top-tier, and had no special characteristics other than good luck.
Especially in the duel where he and Yugi teamed up against Hayato, compared to Yugi, who could fight back and forth with Hayato, Joey Wheeler was mostly just defensively holding on, lacking the ability to take the offensive.
And Valon, in Rafael's view, was second only to himself and Lord Dartz in Organization Doma, even stronger than Alister. Rafael and Valon had sparred before, resulting in a narrow draw, with Rafael slightly better.
Such a Valon was defeated by that guy Joey Wheeler. Although it seemed like a narrow victory, the victory was a fact. Was it the power of the Legendary Dragon?
Rafael couldn't help but speculate whether Joey Wheeler had used the power of the Legendary Dragon in the duel to defeat Valon, and what kind of power his Legendary Dragon possessed.
However, Rafael was slightly confused. Valon also had an Orichalcos Fragment on him and should have had the ability to forcibly break the Seal of Orichalcos. Why was his soul still sealed?
(End of Chapter)
