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"Bang!"

Before Hayato could even realize, a large amount of spirit bodies erupting from the Millennium Stone Tablet blasted him away, as if the tablet was angered by what he had just done.

Fortunately, Hayato quickly summoned Psychic Ectoplasm in mid-air to catch himself, preventing him from being blasted away onto the stone pillars in the Underground Palace. Floating back down to the ground, Hayato looked at the Millennium Stone Tablet, which was continuously spewing out white spirit bodies and surrounding the area it was in.

"Hayato, did you break that tablet!?"

Mana, Dark Yugi, and the others naturally noticed the commotion. Dark Yugi immediately looked at Hayato, who had been tinkering with the Millennium Stone Tablet just now, and asked if he had done something to cause the current scene.

"That's not it at all, okay? I messed with it for a long time and couldn't even chip off a tiny piece of that tablet. Speaking of which, is that thing really stone? It's way too hard." Hayato shook his head, denying that the current anomaly with the tablet was related to him. He pointed to the other side, "If you ask me, that guy over there is more suspicious."

Following the direction of Hayato's finger, Dark Yugi and the others saw Aknadin suspended off the ground, standing in mid-air.

"Is that the Great Dark Priest? No, it's Aknadin!"

Aknadin's long, crimson hair floated up against gravity, revealing his face. Dark Yugi was startled when he first saw Aknadin's face clearly, but then he realized somewhat. "That shield that blocked the first attack, if I'm not mistaken, it should be the Millennium Shield. According to the records, that Stone Tablet Monster should be in the hand of my Father's missing brothers."

"Just now, I was already a bit suspicious as to why the Millennium Shield would appear in the Great Dark Priest's hand, and the Millennium Eye too, embedded in the same left eye." Dark Yugi's brows furrowed tightly. "The Great Dark Priest is Priest Aknadin, or rather, my Father's younger brother who went missing years ago, the Royal Family member Aknadin!"

Aknadin, unnaturally suspended in the air, looked at Dark Yugi and said, "Heh heh, have you remembered a part of your memory, Yugi? Heh heh heh, but as long as you haven't obtained the most important thing, your name, then whatever you remember is meaningless."

Aknadin's voice was still his voice, but his tone when speaking was somewhat different. Hayato was also startled upon hearing this and quickly realized, "This tone of voice... could it be that you are—"

"Heh heh, quick reaction, Hayato. That's right, Aknadin has lost control of this body. The one standing before you and speaking to you now is me—" The abnormal "Aknadin" said with a sinister smile.

"...Big White-Haired Rabbit-Eared Demon King?"

"That's right, I'm the Big White-Haired Rabbit-Eared Demon K— No, I'm Bakura!" Subconsciously, Bakura, who was controlling Aknadin's body, continued Hayato's sentence, but quickly realized and corrected himself, looking annoyed at Hayato's interruption.

Taking a deep breath to calm his mood using Aknadin's body, Bakura continued, "This game piece was left by me before Bakura's death. With the malice from the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Eye, I successfully stirred up the desire and darkness in Aknadin's heart, corrupted him, and turned him into a game piece under my control."

"However, although this guy's goal was partially the same as mine—to kill the Pharaoh, which is you, Yugi—he wasn't willing to destroy the Kingdom or harm other Innocent People, especially Priest Seto. And relying on the magic boost from the dark magic power he obtained, combined with the Millennium Eye, he kept resisting my control, which truly infuriated me."

"But thanks to you guys defeating him, I can now take over control of this guy's body. After all, his action has failed, so it's time for me to activate my last ace card."

As he spoke, the magic power surging from Aknadin increased sharply, rushing madly into the Millennium Stone Tablet. The spirit bodies surrounding the tablet also began to expand outwards, attacking towards everyone!

"Although I don't know what trick you're trying to pull now, Bakura! I won't let you succeed!" Dark Yugi said, raising his Duel Disk. "Come forth, Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!"

Although he wasn't sure what these semi-transparent white spirit bodies were, just in case, Dark Yugi didn't let Mahad, or Dark Magician, step forward. Instead, he chose Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, which had some strength but wasn't overly strong, to test the waters first.

If they encountered a situation like Relinquished, even if Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress was controlled, there would still be time for Dark Magician to destroy it.

However, Dark Yugi didn't even get the opportunity to execute this strategy that Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress would surely curse him for. Although he tried to use his Duel Disk to summon a Stone Tablet Monster as usual, the Duel Disk showed no commotion, as if its battery was dead.

Even the three wing-shaped pieces that had been folded up didn't unfold to reveal the Zones for summoning Stone Tablet Monsters, let alone light up the mark on them to summon a Stone Tablet Monster.

"What's going on?"

While Dark Yugi was stunned, Hayato also shook his Duel Disk strangely, finding that like Yugi, he couldn't unfold his Duel Disk to summon monsters either.

Seto, who had been blasted away by Aknadin, finally climbed up from the ground. Looking at Hayato and Dark Yugi, who couldn't summon Stone Tablet Monsters, he also attempted to use his Duel Disk, but it also failed to activate. Not only that, he even found that the Millennium Scale and Millennium Rod, the two Millennium Items in his hand, were acting strangely. They had lost their usual golden luster and had become as gray and lightless as rock.

He looked at Bakura, who was controlling Aknadin. "What did you do!"

"Since you asked so sincerely, I shall graciously tell you," Bakura replied, sounding proud. "Both the Millennium Items and the Duel Disk are essentially products of dark alchemy. The power they possess is merely a part that was split off from me."

"Within the domain where this tablet is located, restricting their power is as easy as flipping my hand for me. Now die, Nameless Pharaoh, Hayato!"

The spirit bodies surged towards everyone like a tide. However, accompanied by Bakura's proud laughter, two magic bullets suddenly blasted into the group of spirit bodies, repelling them. Mana, standing side-by-side with Dark Magician Girl, and Dark Magician, guarding Dark Yugi on his left hand and right hand respectively, declared loudly:

"Before you defeat us, don't even think about approaching the Prince by a single step!"

"I will protect the Pharaoh with my life!"

As for Hayato, black liquid surged from beneath his feet, transforming into the figures of Ogdoadic King Aron and Ogdoadic Queen Nunu in front of him. They swallowed all the approaching spirit bodies with a black tide, dragging them into the Underground. However, Hayato hadn't unfolded his Duel Disk, and these two monsters weren't called by him.

"Hmph, constantly restricting yourself with others, how much longer do you plan to lose face, Hayato Kobayashi?"

Beside Hayato, Psychic Ectoplasm suddenly spoke. However, judging by the tone of voice, it was clearly Meriamun. He had actually come out of the Millennium Ring. "Even I can barely stand to look at your pathetic appearance."

"Who told you I'm out of moves? An ace card is meaningless if it's not used at the very last moment." Hayato pouted. "You can actually come out from over there now?"

"Hmph, Idiot, didn't you notice? Ever since that Lightless One opposite you appeared, the aura here has been getting closer and closer to the Underworld. Along with that, the resistance to me appearing within this range has also become smaller and smaller."

"Do you see those spirit bodies? Seems like they are the vengeful spirits who died tragically on this land over ten years ago and were bound to that tablet. This is the evidence that this land is getting closer and closer to the Underworld."

Glancing at the Millennium Ring on Hayato's chest, Meriamun said casually:

"It was already condescending enough for me to temporarily stay in the Millennium Ring. From now on, that is no longer a suitable place for me to stay. Consider this a suggestion, you should remove that thing from your body as soon as possible."

Hayato was startled upon hearing this. Without much thought, he subconsciously followed Meriamun's words and took off the Millennium Ring from his chest, discarding it onto the ground. And just as Hayato discarded the Millennium Ring, an ominous evil energy suddenly surged from the Millennium Ring, which had lost its golden color.

Seeing that Hayato had actually taken off the Millennium Ring, Bakura's voice was somewhat disappointed. "Tsk, your feeling is a bit too sensitive, isn't it? You actually saw through it. I thought I could use it to inject some malice into your body as well."

Hayato also understood. Using Aknadin's alchemy knowledge, the Millennium Stone Tablet, and three Millennium Items, Bakura could not only lock the use of items related to dark alchemy in this vicinity but also inject malice into others through the Millennium Items.

He said, somewhat annoyed, "Hmph, even if you succeeded, it would be useless. What are mere malice and evil compared to me?"

"Nobody is praising you in this aspect, and it's nothing to show off about!" Bakura said, controlling Aknadin to turn his head and look to the other side. "However, although you and Yugi are fine, didn't I still succeed in one case?"

Following the direction Bakura was looking, Hayato finally remembered that he had forgotten someone, and that was Seto, who was holding two Millennium Items!

A large amount of black magic power surged from the Millennium Rod and Millennium Scale simultaneously, flowing into Seto's body along with the parts that were in contact with them. This caused him to stand rooted to the spot, almost unable to move, his body trembling unceasingly. At the same time, a huge dragon-shaped phantom vaguely appeared behind him, flickering on and off amidst Seto's heavy breathing as he endured the pain.

"Oh no, Seto got hit!" Hayato glanced at Meriamun beside him. "Quick, go help!"

"You don't need to tell me that!" Meriamun's movement was also fast. Ogdoadic King Aron immediately charged a path through the tide of spirit bodies and came to Seto's side. With a wave of his scepter, he blasted away both Millennium Items from Seto's hand, causing the magic power surging from Seto's body to subside and the phantom behind him to also disappear.

Seeing Seto saved, Dark Yugi also breathed a sigh of relief. But at the same time, he noticed something strange. "The power of the Millennium Items comes from Bakura? But isn't Bakura a modern person, just like Hayato?"

"Yugi, you should know that Bakura has two personalities. Ryo Bakura is the modern person we know, but Dark Bakura, who is currently engaging in a Dark Game with us, isn't even considered a person." Hayato helped the Seto brought back by Ogdoadic King Aron, coming to Dark Yugi's side to meet up with him, and answering him.

Aknadin also nodded approvingly. "That's right, you know a lot, Hayato. I've been very interested in you for a long time. You always know more than others. It wasn't until I came to this Memory World that I finally understood why you always made me so interested."

"But unfortunately, I have stalled long enough. What will be revealed next is the deep dark truth. Don't blink, Nameless Pharaoh, Hayato! This is the last despair you will be able to see!"

The magic power surging from Aknadin finally reached its limit. Accompanied by a stream of blood spurting from his left eye, the Millennium Eye actually flew out of his eye by itself, flying towards the Millennium Stone Tablet along with the magic power.

Similarly, the other three Millennium Items lying on the ground, emitting dark aura, were also controlled by Bakura and gathered towards the Millennium Stone Tablet.

The Millennium Key, symbolizing "Life," held in the left hand;

The Millennium Rod, symbolizing "Thought," held in the right hand;

The Millennium Eye, symbolizing "True Sight," embedded in the brow;

The Millennium Puzzle, symbolizing "Royal Authority," embedded in the heart;

The Millennium Ring, symbolizing "Wisdom," embedded in the five vital organs;

And the Millennium Scale, symbolizing "Balance," embedded in the feet.

Thus, except for the Millennium Necklace, symbolizing "Future," embedded in the forehead, the other six Millennium Items were all assembled on the Millennium Stone Tablet. The tablet trembled violently, almost shattering, but because it lacked the complete "key," the Gate of the Underworld it sealed remained unopened.

However, this didn't mean that Hayato and the others could rest easy. On the contrary, with the assembly of the six Millennium Items, the dark aura in the Underground Space became increasingly dense. Just standing there caused a stinging sensation on their skin, as if the dense dark power was about to invade their body.

At the same time, the completely useless Aknadin was casually discarded by Bakura, thrown towards Hayato's side. And he also casually threw out important message: "Fifteen years ago, this guy Aknadin used the dark alchemy deciphered from the Millennium Spellbook to communicate with the Underworld and call upon my power, massacred the Thief Village, and created the Millennium Items from their resentment, and sealed me in this Millennium Stone Tablet."

"Stripping power from me to create Millennium Items... Originally, Aknadin should have been killed by me like this to vent my anger, but seeing as he helped me quite a bit in the end, I'll give him back to you guys."

"Make sure you catch him, Priest Seto. After all, he is a great figure who, as the Previous Pharaoh's younger brother, created the Millennium Items to protect the country he had passion for, not hesitating to abandon his Royal Family identity, and even abandoning you and your mother! With such a Father, be proud of your origin, Seto!"

"Ta-da! This is a shocking impact that has only been revealed until now!"

(End of Chapter)

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