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Chapter 785: I Gradually Understood Everything
In the vast Desert, Kaiba and Malik, who was carrying Isis, ran one after the other. Kaiba occasionally urged, "Don't slack off, run faster!"
"You try carrying someone!" Malik immediately rolled his eyes at Kaiba's sarcastic remark, but his pace did indeed quicken slightly. He couldn't afford to be slow; the Bones behind them were still in hot pursuit even after they had left the Thief Village for nearly a kilometer. Malik didn't want to be caught by them.
"Seriously, Karim was helping out a bit at first, but now he's not paying attention to us at all. I wonder what he's doing." Although he seemed to be complaining about Karim, Malik wasn't worried about his safety, though he didn't know Karim's current situation. "But being able to Summon such a powerful Stone Tablet Monster, that guy should be fine."
"Ugh... how much longer do we have to run? I'm almost out of strength!"
"Save your strength, Idiot."
"If you won't even let me complain, how can I keep going?" Malik, carrying Isis on his back, gritted his teeth and muttered incessantly, "Anyone, please, save me! I really can't hold on anymore~"
As he muttered this, Malik suddenly heard Kaiba's voice ring out: "Get down!"
As he spoke, Kaiba suddenly turned around, pressed down on Malik's shoulder, and jumped aside. Then, he held Malik's head down with one hand, controlling his struggle and preventing him from getting up.
The next moment, a purple magic sphere flew from the direction they were originally heading. It didn't touch the three of them but instead blasted directly into the group of Bones.
As the magic blast sent the pursuing group of Bones flying, a voice rang out:
"Direct hit on the target! Mana-chan's big victory, yay!"
Malik looked up and saw a scene where a young girl wearing a Court Mage robe was proudly showing off to someone riding a horse beside her. Malik, who had long presided over the Tomb Keepers remaining in Necrovalley, had never met the Pharaoh. But the moment he saw the youth riding the horse, he instinctively felt that was the Pharaoh.
"Mana the Magician, I just said there were people in front of the monster group. The magic attack you just used was too reckless; you almost hit them!"
Beside the youth whom Malik thought was the Pharaoh, a youth holding a golden scepter in his hand sternly reprimanded the mage girl. That face made Malik instinctively look at Kaiba, who was also lying beside him: "Is that your brother?"
"Hmph, I only have one younger brother."
Malik was given a glare by Kaiba and felt somewhat bewildered. "That's not right, how come he looks like he's older than you?"
"That is Priest Seto."
The one answering Malik wasn't Kaiba, whose attention was completely unfocused and whose eyes were fixed on the Starfish Head on the horse, whom he found unusually familiar. It was Isis, whom he had been carrying on his back and who had finally woken up because of the magic just now.
"Oh, you've finally woken up, Isis." Hearing Isis's voice, Malik also put her down and glanced at the man beside the suspected Pharaoh's Starfish Head who looked exactly like Kaiba. "So that's Priest Seto, huh? He really does look exactly like Kaiba."
"It sounds like you've been paying attention to That Person?" Hearing Malik's words, Kaiba finally turned his head to look at him.
Malik nodded and sighed. "I don't know if you've heard, but among the six Priests holding Millennium Items under the Current Pharaoh, including Priest Mahad who recently passed away, only Priest Seto is from a Commoner background."
"Actually, before Seto underwent the trial and selection for the Millennium Items, the Millennium Rod was allocated to the Tomb Keepers along with the Millennium Necklace. However, unlike Isis, I didn't obtain the recognition of the Millennium Rod at that time, so the one who ultimately became a Priest was Seto, who passed the trial."
Speaking of his past, Malik seemed somewhat relieved. "That's all there is to it. Because of some minor reason, I missed out on a certain position. If it were you, you would naturally pay attention to the person standing in that position, right?"
Kaiba thought for a moment, putting himself in the position of competing for the "Duel King" title in the final battle against Hayato during Battle City. He did somewhat understand why Malik would pay attention to Seto.
Looking at Malik's face, Kaiba remembered the "Sunshine Youth" of the future. He also, uncharacteristically, comforted someone: "If you had another chance, perhaps you might also obtain the recognition of the Millennium Rod."
"It's quite unexpected to hear something like that from someone like you." Malik glanced at Kaiba and smiled. "I'll take your good wishes."
The two who had been running for their lives earlier had little strength left. After lying down on the ground, they didn't even bother to sit up. While the two were talking, the people who had saved them from the Bones also approached. Only then did Malik realize that the few people he saw were merely walking at the very front; there were many more people following behind them.
The approaching individuals also saw the appearance of Malik, Isis, and Kaiba. The appearance of Priest Isis and Gravekeeper's Family Leader Malik was understandable, but upon seeing Kaiba's appearance, the three leading individuals were all stunned.
The mage girl Mana instinctively turned her head: "Hey, hey, Priest Seto, is that your younger brother?"
"Hmph, use your brain before speaking, Mana the Magician. I have no brothers."
Seto frowned and glared at Mana. If he hadn't considered that she was the disciple of his deceased old opponent Mahad, a woman favored by the Pharaoh, and that her magic assistance was needed for this trip, he would have already cursed her out.
Looking at Kaiba, whose face was identical to his own, Seto's expression turned cold. He said to Dark Yugi beside him: "Pharaoh, please be careful not to approach. Your Subordinate suspects that he is very likely a Subordinate of Thief Bakura, who disguised himself as your Subordinate and infiltrated the Royal Palace before."
"It's highly possible that the theft of the **Millennium Puzzle** and **Millennium Key** before, as well as the disappearance of Priest Aknadin, were all done by this Person."
"You have only just woken up and have not yet recovered. Your Subordinate suggests capturing him first and subjecting him to torture."
It wasn't that Seto was targeting Kaiba. Anyone who saw someone who looked exactly like themselves would probably find it equally difficult to trust the other person. This wasn't just Seto towards Kaiba; Kaiba felt a similar, subtle rejection towards Seto. In fact, even Hayato's attitude towards Meriamun was also the same.
However, Dark Yugi did not heed Seto's speculation. Instead, he smiled and shook his head: "No, Priest Seto, I know him. He is my friend, someone I can trust."
"Right, Kaiba?"
Hearing Dark Yugi's words, Kaiba was somewhat unexpected. "You, are you Yugi? I thought you were an ancient person who looked like Yugi. Did Hayato Kobayashi actually not lie to me?"
When Kaiba and Hayato met before, Hayato had actually told him many things, including how Dark Yugi and himself were dragged into a Dark Game by Bakura, and that Dark Yugi was originally the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh from three thousand years ago, and this World was the World of the Pharaoh's Memory.
But Hayato had told him those things very seriously, yet Kaiba hadn't believed him at all. He had always scoffed at things like soul and memory. But strangely, the existence who was being respected as the Pharaoh by a group of ancient people right now genuinely showed familiarity towards him. Kaiba realized that Hayato really hadn't made things up; Dark Yugi really was the Pharaoh from three thousand years ago?
However, soul and such...
Suddenly wearing an expression of sudden realization, Kaiba nodded: "I see, I gradually understood everything."
"In this Dark Game, you obtained the identity of the Pharaoh, right? Just like how those idiots, The Big Five, arranged for me to be a tribute to that ugly Dragon-Type monster, **Five-Headed Dragon**, in the Virtual Game before – it's just an identity within the game."
Kaiba had a confident, "Nobody can fool me" expression. "I, who was mistakenly brought into this Dark Game due to 'Quantum Entanglement State', am not a normal Game Player, so it's only natural that I wouldn't be seen by the characters in the game and wouldn't have a basic identity."
"I think I understand now."
No, just from the things you're saying, I can tell you haven't understood anything at all.
Looking at Kaiba, Dark Yugi muttered to himself in his heart.
And seeing the Pharaoh inexplicably gain a new friend, Seto also complained inwardly about how the Pharaoh had so many friends. However, even though Dark Yugi said Kaiba was his friend, Seto didn't give Kaiba a friendly look: "Kaiba? Sounds like a woman's name. So he's a man?"
Before Kaiba could get angry, he turned to look at the two people beside Kaiba: "And you two, Marik Ishtar, as the Gravekeeper's Family Leader, shouldn't you be stationed in Necrovalley? Why are you here with Priest Isis? And Priest Isis, the order the Pharaoh gave you before was just to bury the mummy of the Previous Pharaoh, King Aknamkanon, with Priest Karim, wasn't it? Why did you come here?"
"Before, I thought this guy Kaiba was annoying enough, but do you think you're the Pharaoh? Don't question me!" Malik, who had just narrowly escaped death, glared annoyed at Seto, who was self-righteously questioning them.
He had indeed become relieved about not obtaining the recognition of the Millennium Rod, but he had never said he didn't dislike Seto as a person. Seto's behavior at this moment made Malik even more annoyed.
However, the names Seto mentioned also reminded Malik of something: "Now is not the time to argue about these things with you."
Looking at Dark Yugi, Malik said seriously: "Pharaoh, this is the first time I have met you. Please forgive me for not being able to perform the full ceremony. In short, please send people to rescue the others in the direction we came from. Priest Karim and Hayato Kobayashi, they stayed behind to stall the enemy so we could escape."
Hearing this, Seto also became serious. "You came from Thief Village Creielna, right? As expected, the message Priest Aknadin left before his disappearance was correct; Thief Bakura's Lair is in that place. And to dare to kidnap Priest Aknadin and steal the Pharaoh's and Priest Shada's **Millennium Items**, truly unforgivable, Bakura!"
Seto felt a little strange. Whose name did he almost slip up and say just now?
But hearing Seto's words, Isis said: "No, although I don't know if Kul Elna is Thief Bakura's Lair, Priest Seto, I think the person who stole the **Millennium Scale** and **Millennium Puzzle** shouldn't be Thief Bakura."
"Before, after I was ordered to go to Necrovalley with Priest Karim to bury the mummy of the Previous Pharaoh, King Aknamkanon, I was attacked by Bakura. Fortunately, Hayato Kobayashi arrived in time and saved us. And right there in Necrovalley, we killed Thief Bakura."
"Yes, yes, I can prove it. And the Tomb Keepers there in Necrovalley, I told them to preserve Bakura's corpse before I left." Malik also quickly added, "And the one who made Priest Karim and Hayato Kobayashi stay behind to stall time for us wasn't that Bakura, but another guy who calls himself the 'Great Dark Priest'."
"That guy placed the **Millennium Puzzle** and **Millennium Key** on a tablet he said was connecting to the Underworld, right in front of us. That tablet has a total of seven slots, which just happen to correspond to the seven **Millennium Items**, and after he encountered us, he wanted to seize the **Millennium Items** we were carrying."
Malik paused for a moment and glanced at the **Millennium Rod** Priest Seto was holding in his hand. "Speaking of which, although I didn't see the kidnapped Priest Aknadin appear anywhere, that 'Great Dark Priest' is wearing the **Millennium Eye**. The Priest Aknadin you mentioned most likely also fell into his hands and has already had his eyes taken."
"Counting the **Millennium Rod** in your hand over there, Priest Seto, it seems all seven **Millennium Items** have been assembled here?"
Mana tilted her head and thought for a moment, saying: "The **Millennium Items** were probably made by the Previous Pharaoh using the highest alchemy, right? Is there some special use to assembling all seven? They were always kept in the Royal Palace in the past, and Master's notes also have research records. What is the use of That Person assembling the seven **Millennium Items**?"
Dark Yugi lowered his head, his confused feelings growing. But there wasn't much time left for him to think. Nodding, he said: "In short, without delay, let's set off quickly to rescue people. Not just Hayato and Priest Karim, we also need to find the missing Priest Aknadin and the Soldiers who disappeared with Priest Aknadin."
In the vast Desert, Kaiba and Malik, who was carrying Isis, ran one after the other. Kaiba occasionally urged, "Don't slack off, run faster!"
"You try carrying someone!" Malik immediately rolled his eyes at Kaiba's sarcastic remark, but his pace did indeed quicken slightly. He couldn't afford to be slow; the Bones behind them were still in hot pursuit even after they had left the Thief Village for nearly a kilometer. Malik didn't want to be caught by them.
"Seriously, Karim was helping out a bit at first, but now he's not paying attention to us at all. I wonder what he's doing." Although he seemed to be complaining about Karim, Malik wasn't worried about his safety, though he didn't know Karim's current situation. "But being able to Summon such a powerful Stone Tablet Monster, that guy should be fine."
"Ugh... how much longer do we have to run? I'm almost out of strength!"
"Save your strength, Idiot."
"If you won't even let me complain, how can I keep going?" Malik, carrying Isis on his back, gritted his teeth and muttered incessantly, "Anyone, please, save me! I really can't hold on anymore~"
As he muttered this, Malik suddenly heard Kaiba's voice ring out: "Get down!"
As he spoke, Kaiba suddenly turned around, pressed down on Malik's shoulder, and jumped aside. Then, he held Malik's head down with one hand, controlling his struggle and preventing him from getting up.
The next moment, a purple magic sphere flew from the direction they were originally heading. It didn't touch the three of them but instead blasted directly into the group of Bones.
As the magic blast sent the pursuing group of Bones flying, a voice rang out:
"Direct hit on the target! Mana-chan's big victory, yay!"
Malik looked up and saw a scene where a young girl wearing a Court Mage robe was proudly showing off to someone riding a horse beside her. Malik, who had long presided over the Tomb Keepers remaining in Necrovalley, had never met the Pharaoh. But the moment he saw the youth riding the horse, he instinctively felt that was the Pharaoh.
"Mana the Magician, I just said there were people in front of the monster group. The magic attack you just used was too reckless; you almost hit them!"
Beside the youth whom Malik thought was the Pharaoh, a youth holding a golden scepter in his hand sternly reprimanded the mage girl. That face made Malik instinctively look at Kaiba, who was also lying beside him: "Is that your brother?"
"Hmph, I only have one younger brother."
Malik was given a glare by Kaiba and felt somewhat bewildered. "That's not right, how come he looks like he's older than you?"
"That is Priest Seto."
The one answering Malik wasn't Kaiba, whose attention was completely unfocused and whose eyes were fixed on the Starfish Head on the horse, whom he found unusually familiar. It was Isis, whom he had been carrying on his back and who had finally woken up because of the magic just now.
"Oh, you've finally woken up, Isis." Hearing Isis's voice, Malik also put her down and glanced at the man beside the suspected Pharaoh's Starfish Head who looked exactly like Kaiba. "So that's Priest Seto, huh? He really does look exactly like Kaiba."
"It sounds like you've been paying attention to That Person?" Hearing Malik's words, Kaiba finally turned his head to look at him.
Malik nodded and sighed. "I don't know if you've heard, but among the six Priests holding Millennium Items under the Current Pharaoh, including Priest Mahad who recently passed away, only Priest Seto is from a Commoner background."
"Actually, before Seto underwent the trial and selection for the Millennium Items, the Millennium Rod was allocated to the Tomb Keepers along with the Millennium Necklace. However, unlike Isis, I didn't obtain the recognition of the Millennium Rod at that time, so the one who ultimately became a Priest was Seto, who passed the trial."
Speaking of his past, Malik seemed somewhat relieved. "That's all there is to it. Because of some minor reason, I missed out on a certain position. If it were you, you would naturally pay attention to the person standing in that position, right?"
Kaiba thought for a moment, putting himself in the position of competing for the "Duel King" title in the final battle against Hayato during Battle City. He did somewhat understand why Malik would pay attention to Seto.
Looking at Malik's face, Kaiba remembered the "Sunshine Youth" of the future. He also, uncharacteristically, comforted someone: "If you had another chance, perhaps you might also obtain the recognition of the Millennium Rod."
"It's quite unexpected to hear something like that from someone like you." Malik glanced at Kaiba and smiled. "I'll take your good wishes."
The two who had been running for their lives earlier had little strength left. After lying down on the ground, they didn't even bother to sit up. While the two were talking, the people who had saved them from the Bones also approached. Only then did Malik realize that the few people he saw were merely walking at the very front; there were many more people following behind them.
The approaching individuals also saw the appearance of Malik, Isis, and Kaiba. The appearance of Priest Isis and Gravekeeper's Family Leader Malik was understandable, but upon seeing Kaiba's appearance, the three leading individuals were all stunned.
The mage girl Mana instinctively turned her head: "Hey, hey, Priest Seto, is that your younger brother?"
"Hmph, use your brain before speaking, Mana the Magician. I have no brothers."
Seto frowned and glared at Mana. If he hadn't considered that she was the disciple of his deceased old opponent Mahad, a woman favored by the Pharaoh, and that her magic assistance was needed for this trip, he would have already cursed her out.
Looking at Kaiba, whose face was identical to his own, Seto's expression turned cold. He said to Dark Yugi beside him: "Pharaoh, please be careful not to approach. Your Subordinate suspects that he is very likely a Subordinate of Thief Bakura, who disguised himself as your Subordinate and infiltrated the Royal Palace before."
"It's highly possible that the theft of the **Millennium Puzzle** and **Millennium Key** before, as well as the disappearance of Priest Aknadin, were all done by this Person."
"You have only just woken up and have not yet recovered. Your Subordinate suggests capturing him first and subjecting him to torture."
It wasn't that Seto was targeting Kaiba. Anyone who saw someone who looked exactly like themselves would probably find it equally difficult to trust the other person. This wasn't just Seto towards Kaiba; Kaiba felt a similar, subtle rejection towards Seto. In fact, even Hayato's attitude towards Meriamun was also the same.
However, Dark Yugi did not heed Seto's speculation. Instead, he smiled and shook his head: "No, Priest Seto, I know him. He is my friend, someone I can trust."
"Right, Kaiba?"
Hearing Dark Yugi's words, Kaiba was somewhat unexpected. "You, are you Yugi? I thought you were an ancient person who looked like Yugi. Did Hayato Kobayashi actually not lie to me?"
When Kaiba and Hayato met before, Hayato had actually told him many things, including how Dark Yugi and himself were dragged into a Dark Game by Bakura, and that Dark Yugi was originally the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh from three thousand years ago, and this World was the World of the Pharaoh's Memory.
But Hayato had told him those things very seriously, yet Kaiba hadn't believed him at all. He had always scoffed at things like soul and memory. But strangely, the existence who was being respected as the Pharaoh by a group of ancient people right now genuinely showed familiarity towards him. Kaiba realized that Hayato really hadn't made things up; Dark Yugi really was the Pharaoh from three thousand years ago?
However, soul and such...
Suddenly wearing an expression of sudden realization, Kaiba nodded: "I see, I gradually understood everything."
"In this Dark Game, you obtained the identity of the Pharaoh, right? Just like how those idiots, The Big Five, arranged for me to be a tribute to that ugly Dragon-Type monster, **Five-Headed Dragon**, in the Virtual Game before – it's just an identity within the game."
Kaiba had a confident, "Nobody can fool me" expression. "I, who was mistakenly brought into this Dark Game due to 'Quantum Entanglement State', am not a normal Game Player, so it's only natural that I wouldn't be seen by the characters in the game and wouldn't have a basic identity."
"I think I understand now."
No, just from the things you're saying, I can tell you haven't understood anything at all.
Looking at Kaiba, Dark Yugi muttered to himself in his heart.
And seeing the Pharaoh inexplicably gain a new friend, Seto also complained inwardly about how the Pharaoh had so many friends. However, even though Dark Yugi said Kaiba was his friend, Seto didn't give Kaiba a friendly look: "Kaiba? Sounds like a woman's name. So he's a man?"
Before Kaiba could get angry, he turned to look at the two people beside Kaiba: "And you two, Marik Ishtar, as the Gravekeeper's Family Leader, shouldn't you be stationed in Necrovalley? Why are you here with Priest Isis? And Priest Isis, the order the Pharaoh gave you before was just to bury the mummy of the Previous Pharaoh, King Aknamkanon, with Priest Karim, wasn't it? Why did you come here?"
"Before, I thought this guy Kaiba was annoying enough, but do you think you're the Pharaoh? Don't question me!" Malik, who had just narrowly escaped death, glared annoyed at Seto, who was self-righteously questioning them.
He had indeed become relieved about not obtaining the recognition of the Millennium Rod, but he had never said he didn't dislike Seto as a person. Seto's behavior at this moment made Malik even more annoyed.
However, the names Seto mentioned also reminded Malik of something: "Now is not the time to argue about these things with you."
Looking at Dark Yugi, Malik said seriously: "Pharaoh, this is the first time I have met you. Please forgive me for not being able to perform the full ceremony. In short, please send people to rescue the others in the direction we came from. Priest Karim and Hayato Kobayashi, they stayed behind to stall the enemy so we could escape."
Hearing this, Seto also became serious. "You came from Thief Village Creielna, right? As expected, the message Priest Aknadin left before his disappearance was correct; Thief Bakura's Lair is in that place. And to dare to kidnap Priest Aknadin and steal the Pharaoh's and Priest Shada's **Millennium Items**, truly unforgivable, Bakura!"
Seto felt a little strange. Whose name did he almost slip up and say just now?
But hearing Seto's words, Isis said: "No, although I don't know if Kul Elna is Thief Bakura's Lair, Priest Seto, I think the person who stole the **Millennium Scale** and **Millennium Puzzle** shouldn't be Thief Bakura."
"Before, after I was ordered to go to Necrovalley with Priest Karim to bury the mummy of the Previous Pharaoh, King Aknamkanon, I was attacked by Bakura. Fortunately, Hayato Kobayashi arrived in time and saved us. And right there in Necrovalley, we killed Thief Bakura."
"Yes, yes, I can prove it. And the Tomb Keepers there in Necrovalley, I told them to preserve Bakura's corpse before I left." Malik also quickly added, "And the one who made Priest Karim and Hayato Kobayashi stay behind to stall time for us wasn't that Bakura, but another guy who calls himself the 'Great Dark Priest'."
"That guy placed the **Millennium Puzzle** and **Millennium Key** on a tablet he said was connecting to the Underworld, right in front of us. That tablet has a total of seven slots, which just happen to correspond to the seven **Millennium Items**, and after he encountered us, he wanted to seize the **Millennium Items** we were carrying."
Malik paused for a moment and glanced at the **Millennium Rod** Priest Seto was holding in his hand. "Speaking of which, although I didn't see the kidnapped Priest Aknadin appear anywhere, that 'Great Dark Priest' is wearing the **Millennium Eye**. The Priest Aknadin you mentioned most likely also fell into his hands and has already had his eyes taken."
"Counting the **Millennium Rod** in your hand over there, Priest Seto, it seems all seven **Millennium Items** have been assembled here?"
Mana tilted her head and thought for a moment, saying: "The **Millennium Items** were probably made by the Previous Pharaoh using the highest alchemy, right? Is there some special use to assembling all seven? They were always kept in the Royal Palace in the past, and Master's notes also have research records. What is the use of That Person assembling the seven **Millennium Items**?"
Dark Yugi lowered his head, his confused feelings growing. But there wasn't much time left for him to think. Nodding, he said: "In short, without delay, let's set off quickly to rescue people. Not just Hayato and Priest Karim, we also need to find the missing Priest Aknadin and the Soldiers who disappeared with Priest Aknadin."
