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Chapter 803: Countdown to the Opening of the Gate of the Underworld
Thief Village Underground.
Duos slashed at the seal left by **Dark Magician** sword by sword. Although **Dark Magician** had estimated the seal could last for at least a few days when he left it, external factors were not within **Dark Magician's** predictions at that time.
The pyramid-shaped seal only lasted for a few hours before being destroyed by Duos' continuous attacks, which were enhanced by dark energy, revealing the Millennium Stone Tablet within the seal.
As for the monster that had been relentlessly pursuing Hayato and his party earlier, Bakura recalled it after attempting a few unsuccessful attacks from within the barrier. He could tell that even if he didn't attack, the barrier would disappear in about a day, and even attacking with full power would only break it open two or three hours earlier.
The benefit from the effort wasn't great enough, so Bakura chose to just give up and do nothing.
However, since Seto had brought the **Millennium Necklace** to him, that was another matter entirely.
"The Millennium Stone Tablet," looking at the tablet before him, which was already embedded with six **Millennium Items**, Seto glanced at the **Millennium Necklace** in his hand, then raised his other hand and made a grasping motion. "As long as I embed the **Millennium Necklace**, I can obtain power..."
Hearing Seto's words, Bakura controlled the Millennium Stone Tablet to release dark power again. However, this time, what converged and took shape was not the monster from before, but Bakura's figure wearing a blue and white striped shirt.
"This is truly unexpected, that it would be you who brought the **Millennium Necklace** to me. This is slightly different from the past I know, Priest Seto." Sitting on the Millennium Stone Tablet with a feeling of relief, Bakura looked at Seto and said.
Although he didn't understand what Bakura meant by "past," Seto corrected him with a cold face: "Priest? No, I am not a priest, I am the Pharaoh."
"It's clear that you really want to be the Pharaoh, but you haven't dealt with the previous Pharaoh blocking your way yet, have you?" Bakura smiled and shrugged indifferently. "I'm almost getting used to the feeling of familiar history being messed up and chaotic. In this regard, that guy Hayato Kobayashi and the **Ojama** monsters really give me the same annoying impression."
"But whatever. I wonder if anyone has told you that by assembling the seven **Millennium Items**, you can obtain wishing power? Although you wouldn't think in that direction, I still need to explain that this isn't like the Seven O Balls where you can just wish for anything to happen. Rather, if you assemble the seven **Millennium Items** for me, I can give you the ability sufficient to realize your own wish."
"Pitiful Bakura hated the Royal Family, so I gave him the power to challenge the Pharaoh, enough to trample the Royal Family's dignity underfoot; your father Aknadin wanted you to become Pharaoh, so I gave him the power to help you clear away obstructions. Thinking about it this way, even though they didn't assemble the **Millennium Items**, I was willing to grant their wishes. Indeed, there's no one more loving than me."
"So, are you tempted? Come, tell me your wish, Se~to~"
Bakura's tone was full of temptation, like a demon corrupting hearts. But in Seto's view, even walking with a demon was fine; he came for this very reason.
"Power, give me more power."
Bakura, sitting on the tablet, spread his hands: "You're really easy to understand. The thirst for power even extended to three thousand years later. But it's also thanks to this that you could become my aid."
"Then, I'll satisfy you."
Not in a hurry to take the **Millennium Necklace** from Seto's hand, Bakura reached out and pointed at Seto. The magic power from the Millennium Stone Tablet, using him as a relay, violently injected into Seto's body!
"Hmph, hmph! Ugh, ahhhhh, ahhhhh!"
Miracles and magic aren't free. Great power is often accompanied by great risk. As the dark magic power flooded into Seto's body, because his body was eroded and transformed by this power, even Seto couldn't help but cry out in pain.
Meanwhile, Bakura crossed his legs and continued to sit on the tablet, enjoying Seto's pain, closing his eyes comfortably.
Before Seto, he had also injected dark magic power into Bakura and Aknadin to enhance them. But at that time, in order not to let Bakura lose control, Bakura held back and only gave him a small amount of magic power. But the result was that Bakura was ultimately defeated by Hayato and died in Necrovalley.
When switching to the second piece, Aknadin, Bakura learned from Bakura's lesson and felt that giving the piece a bit more power shouldn't be a big deal. He injected a large amount of magic power into Aknadin, even making him dye his hair. But the consequence was that Aknadin directly broke free from Bakura's control, making Bakura so angry that he ruthlessly squeezed out his usefulness when he was about to become useless.
After that, Bakura thought that humans were fundamentally unreliable and planned to never use pieces again. He simply decided to inject magic power into Hayato and Seto, who were holding the **Millennium Items** at the time, to mess with them. That amount of magic power at that time was a completely lethal dose. It's a pity that he couldn't successfully scheme against Hayato, and even Seto was timely interrupted by Hayato.
But he didn't expect that precisely because Hayato timely knocked two **Millennium Items** from Seto's hand, the amount of magic power injected into Seto's body at that time was just right, not too much, not too little. Even Bakura himself didn't expect that it would actually happen through such a fortuitous circumstance, converting Seto into his third piece, and putting him to the greatest use at the most suitable time, bringing him the last missing **Millennium Necklace**.
He was never someone who would discard a tool after use; on the contrary, he was quite caring towards the pieces he utilized, whether within the Memory World or outside the World. Of course, Aknadin, who made him angry, doesn't count.
Since Seto satisfied him, he didn't mind helping Seto out and giving him the power he wanted. Although he couldn't completely control him like Bakura, compared to Aknadin, Seto was much easier for Bakura to manipulate. Giving him power could also help Bakura stall better.
Controlling the magic power, he caught the **Millennium Necklace** that Seto was letting go of and about to drop onto the ground. Bakura reached out and took it, then frowned. Even though in his perception, the magic power strength of the **Millennium Necklace** should have been comparable to what he felt before, he always felt that some important part was missing. It was as if that part was damaged and then had been transferred elsewhere.
However, it doesn't matter. The power that the **Millennium Necklace** and the rest of the **Millennium Items** inherently possessed wasn't the key point. The key point was what Bakura could do after assembling them.
He embedded the **Millennium Necklace** into the last blank on the tablet. Bakura waved his hand again, taking the metal plaque from Seto's body through the air, looking at the text on it.
"Golden is blood, silver is bone, the sinful gold born from blood has returned to the gate, defile the king's name, open, Gate of the Underworld!"
"Then, I've finally waited for this moment, hahahaha!"
Amidst Bakura's loud laughter, dark energy continuously emitted from the Millennium Stone Tablet, which was fully embedded with **Millennium Items**. Under his control, it sank into the Underground, leaving behind only the opening leading to the Underground, from which dark power continuously surged outwards.
At the same time, an empty Hourglass also appeared in Bakura's hand. Dark energy poured into it, turning into black sand particles and flowing.
As everyone knows, the Four Heavenly Kings have five members, and a three-person team has four members. So, although Bakura theoretically should only have three GM Items, at this moment after assembling the **Millennium Items**, he obtained the fourth, and also the most important item, the Underworld Hourglass.
Three thousand years ago, the Nameless Pharaoh used his true name and soul to seal the evil will beneath the tablet. And what is necessary to dispel this seal is the seven **Millennium Items** as well as the Pharaoh's true name. However, after assembling all the keys, time is still needed to open the Gate of the Underworld.
The Underworld Hourglass has no ability whatsoever. It is merely used to display how much time is still needed until the Gate of the Underworld opens and Bakura's true form is released. When the last grain of sand falls, that is when Bakura will be completely revived. By then, Bakura will have obtained victory in this Ultimate Dark Game, and can also therefore revive along with it in the Real World outside!
"Before the hourglass runs out, now, Seto, go to the Royal City! Go and obtain the power you've been longing for! Act as the warm-up act before the climax of my revival arrives, hahahahaha!"
Directly crushing the nameplate in his hand that was already useless to him without reluctance, Bakura's figure dispersed and merged into Seto's body. Seto raised his head and looked towards the direction of the Royal City, Kisara's figure reflected in his pitch-black eyes.
---I want to become the world's number one, women are troublesome---
"What do you mean you can't save him?!" Joey Wheeler, hearing the physician's words, reached out with an angry face, wanting to grab the opponent's collar, but his hand passed through his body.
Only then did he remember that it seems there was such a concept: "People in the Memory World cannot see or touch them, the people from the Real World, unless it's a special situation." It's just that because there were simply too many special situations, he almost forgot about this concept.
And the physician who made Joey Wheeler angry, although he didn't know he was almost beaten up by a blond delinquent, quickly added because Dark Yugi was in front of him: "Hayato Kobayashi-sama's wounds, we have already healed with magic. Although it looks very scary, because the rescue was relatively timely, there's no major problem."
"Then what do you mean you can't save him?" Malik frowned and asked.
After Seto left, Hayato couldn't hold on and fell. Only then did the party discover that the toughness he showed before was actually just him pretending to be strong. The attack Seto launched with the **Millennium Necklace** before actually hit Hayato completely, but he pretended to block it with **The Winged Dragon of Ra** to scare Seto away.
As soon as he fell, the party quickly sent him to the Medical Unit here for treatment. But after everyone waited outside the temporary medical room that was set up for a long time, the person in charge of the Medical Unit came out and said that they were powerless regarding Hayato's situation and couldn't save Hayato.
Facing the party's confusion, the physician also quickly explained, stating the situation they diagnosed.
The external injury on Hayato's body was only the stab wound left by Seto. However, because **Psychic Ectoplasm** shifted the wound location, so it wasn't a big problem. The key point was that Seto before interrupted Hayato's resonance with the **Millennium Necklace** that had been enhanced by **Limiter Removal**, and also hit Hayato hard afterwards.
Perhaps Seto's original intention was just to think about venting out a portion of the power within the **Millennium Necklace** that was about to be detonated to save this **Millennium Item**. He indeed succeeded. It's just that during this attack, a certain special power within the **Millennium Necklace** was also injected into Hayato's body along with it.
Although the physicians accompanying the Medical Unit understood some magic, they couldn't compare at all to Court Magicians like Mana. But even Mana's teacher Mahad could only seal it with his own magic power in front of the power of the **Millennium Items**, finding it difficult to contend with it. That's why they were helpless regarding Hayato's situation.
After hearing the physician finish speaking, Dark Yugi said worriedly: "Then what will happen to Hayato now?"
"This, it's also difficult for us to explain to you, Pharaoh." The physician scratched his head and glanced behind him. "We can only ask you, Pharaoh, to come in. If you see it with your own eyes, perhaps you will know."
Under the physician's guidance, the party arrived inside the temporary medical room and saw Hayato lying on the bed, surrounded by physicians. However, after only not seeing Hayato for less than ten minutes, the party discovered that the appearance of Hayato before their eyes had undergone a tremendous change.
It wasn't that he was disfigured or mutated. Hayato, who was using the body of the eight-year-old Meriamun in the Memory World, his body had grown to the appearance of eighteen or nineteen years old in the blink of an eye, becoming the appearance of Hayato Kobayashi, their classmate whom Dark Yugi and the others were familiar with.
But the question was, Hayato's body was still growing rapidly. It was as if he was continuously fast-forwarding towards the Future.
"On Hayato's body, time is continuously accelerating in the direction towards the Future." Among the party present, the one most familiar with the **Millennium Necklace** was none other than Isis. She widened her eyes, looking at Hayato, who seemed to have grown a bit older again in less than a minute. "The power of the **Millennium Necklace** leading to the Future is continuously turning into Reality."
Honda scratched his head and exchanged one glance with Joey Wheeler. Neither of them heard anything wrong. "Is there any question with this? Actually, we've been feeling quite awkward during this time. Hayato always communicated with us in the appearance of a child. There's nothing bad about becoming an adult, right?"
"Idiot! The question is, how much time do you think a person has in total? Especially Hayato, or rather, Meriamun is an ancient person. His lifespan won't be very long, right?" Téa, however, quickly understood the problem on Hayato's body and said with a worried face. "The current Hayato has rapidly grown from childhood to youth, but after that comes middle age and old age. If by that Time we still haven't found a way to solve the problem on Hayato's body, won't he just age to death!?"
Malik heard his older sister's words and also clenched his teeth, but said dejectedly: "But even if we know, what can we do? We can't do anything. We can only watch helplessly as Hayato..."
"That absolutely won't do! How can Hayato die in a place like this?!" Yugi's fist clenched tightly, saying excitedly. "No! If Hayato dies in this Dark Game, he will never be able to return to Reality again!"
"Please, don't die, Hayato! If you fall here, what will Miss Ishizu do?!"
Hearing Yugi's words, Joey Wheeler also said to the unconscious Hayato: "Show your usual spirit from before, Hayato! You are the strongest Duel King who has defeated countless enemies! Kaiba, Yugi, and I still want to challenge you after you wake up!"
"If it's you, you can definitely create a miracle!"
Watching the party attempt to send encouragement into the unconscious Hayato's ears, Kaiba merely crossed his arms over his chest, watching with cold eyes: "Hmph, boring. What you're doing is fundamentally meaningless. Hayato Kobayashi is going to die."
Although Kaiba's tone was very cold, Nefertari beside him spoke up: "Seti, no, Mr. Kaiba, your fist is clenched too tightly."
Hearing Nefertari's words, Kaiba lowered his head and saw the wound on his hand that had already been bandaged had reopened because he subconsciously clenched his fist out of inner anger and frustration. Although he acted very indifferent, after experiencing so much, Hayato was no longer merely a target to defeat in Kaiba's heart, but had become a friend that Kaiba would absolutely not acknowledge.
But even though Nefertari pointed out that he was suppressing the emotion in his heart, Kaiba still spoke stubbornly, glancing at Nefertari beside him: "You are Hayato, no, you are Meriamun's friend, right? Your friend is dying, are you just going to watch?"
"Mm, Mr. Kaiba, it seems you didn't say a single thing correctly." Nefertari smiled slightly and walked over towards Hayato. "Hayato, Meriamun, how could I mistake them? They are fundamentally the same person. Furthermore, saying that I am Meriamun's friend or something sounds a bit too distant."
"Also, Meriamun will not die. Before illuminating all of Egypt, how could the sun set?"
As she walked towards Hayato, Nefertari's body became somewhat ethereal. The strange scene made Kaiba widen his eyes: "Hey, what are you doing?!"
The two people's voices also attracted the attention of others. Yugi and the others turned their heads to look, but saw that Nefertari's body also grew rapidly like Hayato's. In just an instant, she became the appearance of around twenty years old.
And seeing Nefertari's appearance, Tristan finally confirmed a guess he had always had: "Indeed, Nefertari, Meriamun, you are indeed---"
Looking at Hayato lying on the bed, Tristan said a name---
(End of Chapter)
Thief Village Underground.
Duos slashed at the seal left by **Dark Magician** sword by sword. Although **Dark Magician** had estimated the seal could last for at least a few days when he left it, external factors were not within **Dark Magician's** predictions at that time.
The pyramid-shaped seal only lasted for a few hours before being destroyed by Duos' continuous attacks, which were enhanced by dark energy, revealing the Millennium Stone Tablet within the seal.
As for the monster that had been relentlessly pursuing Hayato and his party earlier, Bakura recalled it after attempting a few unsuccessful attacks from within the barrier. He could tell that even if he didn't attack, the barrier would disappear in about a day, and even attacking with full power would only break it open two or three hours earlier.
The benefit from the effort wasn't great enough, so Bakura chose to just give up and do nothing.
However, since Seto had brought the **Millennium Necklace** to him, that was another matter entirely.
"The Millennium Stone Tablet," looking at the tablet before him, which was already embedded with six **Millennium Items**, Seto glanced at the **Millennium Necklace** in his hand, then raised his other hand and made a grasping motion. "As long as I embed the **Millennium Necklace**, I can obtain power..."
Hearing Seto's words, Bakura controlled the Millennium Stone Tablet to release dark power again. However, this time, what converged and took shape was not the monster from before, but Bakura's figure wearing a blue and white striped shirt.
"This is truly unexpected, that it would be you who brought the **Millennium Necklace** to me. This is slightly different from the past I know, Priest Seto." Sitting on the Millennium Stone Tablet with a feeling of relief, Bakura looked at Seto and said.
Although he didn't understand what Bakura meant by "past," Seto corrected him with a cold face: "Priest? No, I am not a priest, I am the Pharaoh."
"It's clear that you really want to be the Pharaoh, but you haven't dealt with the previous Pharaoh blocking your way yet, have you?" Bakura smiled and shrugged indifferently. "I'm almost getting used to the feeling of familiar history being messed up and chaotic. In this regard, that guy Hayato Kobayashi and the **Ojama** monsters really give me the same annoying impression."
"But whatever. I wonder if anyone has told you that by assembling the seven **Millennium Items**, you can obtain wishing power? Although you wouldn't think in that direction, I still need to explain that this isn't like the Seven O Balls where you can just wish for anything to happen. Rather, if you assemble the seven **Millennium Items** for me, I can give you the ability sufficient to realize your own wish."
"Pitiful Bakura hated the Royal Family, so I gave him the power to challenge the Pharaoh, enough to trample the Royal Family's dignity underfoot; your father Aknadin wanted you to become Pharaoh, so I gave him the power to help you clear away obstructions. Thinking about it this way, even though they didn't assemble the **Millennium Items**, I was willing to grant their wishes. Indeed, there's no one more loving than me."
"So, are you tempted? Come, tell me your wish, Se~to~"
Bakura's tone was full of temptation, like a demon corrupting hearts. But in Seto's view, even walking with a demon was fine; he came for this very reason.
"Power, give me more power."
Bakura, sitting on the tablet, spread his hands: "You're really easy to understand. The thirst for power even extended to three thousand years later. But it's also thanks to this that you could become my aid."
"Then, I'll satisfy you."
Not in a hurry to take the **Millennium Necklace** from Seto's hand, Bakura reached out and pointed at Seto. The magic power from the Millennium Stone Tablet, using him as a relay, violently injected into Seto's body!
"Hmph, hmph! Ugh, ahhhhh, ahhhhh!"
Miracles and magic aren't free. Great power is often accompanied by great risk. As the dark magic power flooded into Seto's body, because his body was eroded and transformed by this power, even Seto couldn't help but cry out in pain.
Meanwhile, Bakura crossed his legs and continued to sit on the tablet, enjoying Seto's pain, closing his eyes comfortably.
Before Seto, he had also injected dark magic power into Bakura and Aknadin to enhance them. But at that time, in order not to let Bakura lose control, Bakura held back and only gave him a small amount of magic power. But the result was that Bakura was ultimately defeated by Hayato and died in Necrovalley.
When switching to the second piece, Aknadin, Bakura learned from Bakura's lesson and felt that giving the piece a bit more power shouldn't be a big deal. He injected a large amount of magic power into Aknadin, even making him dye his hair. But the consequence was that Aknadin directly broke free from Bakura's control, making Bakura so angry that he ruthlessly squeezed out his usefulness when he was about to become useless.
After that, Bakura thought that humans were fundamentally unreliable and planned to never use pieces again. He simply decided to inject magic power into Hayato and Seto, who were holding the **Millennium Items** at the time, to mess with them. That amount of magic power at that time was a completely lethal dose. It's a pity that he couldn't successfully scheme against Hayato, and even Seto was timely interrupted by Hayato.
But he didn't expect that precisely because Hayato timely knocked two **Millennium Items** from Seto's hand, the amount of magic power injected into Seto's body at that time was just right, not too much, not too little. Even Bakura himself didn't expect that it would actually happen through such a fortuitous circumstance, converting Seto into his third piece, and putting him to the greatest use at the most suitable time, bringing him the last missing **Millennium Necklace**.
He was never someone who would discard a tool after use; on the contrary, he was quite caring towards the pieces he utilized, whether within the Memory World or outside the World. Of course, Aknadin, who made him angry, doesn't count.
Since Seto satisfied him, he didn't mind helping Seto out and giving him the power he wanted. Although he couldn't completely control him like Bakura, compared to Aknadin, Seto was much easier for Bakura to manipulate. Giving him power could also help Bakura stall better.
Controlling the magic power, he caught the **Millennium Necklace** that Seto was letting go of and about to drop onto the ground. Bakura reached out and took it, then frowned. Even though in his perception, the magic power strength of the **Millennium Necklace** should have been comparable to what he felt before, he always felt that some important part was missing. It was as if that part was damaged and then had been transferred elsewhere.
However, it doesn't matter. The power that the **Millennium Necklace** and the rest of the **Millennium Items** inherently possessed wasn't the key point. The key point was what Bakura could do after assembling them.
He embedded the **Millennium Necklace** into the last blank on the tablet. Bakura waved his hand again, taking the metal plaque from Seto's body through the air, looking at the text on it.
"Golden is blood, silver is bone, the sinful gold born from blood has returned to the gate, defile the king's name, open, Gate of the Underworld!"
"Then, I've finally waited for this moment, hahahaha!"
Amidst Bakura's loud laughter, dark energy continuously emitted from the Millennium Stone Tablet, which was fully embedded with **Millennium Items**. Under his control, it sank into the Underground, leaving behind only the opening leading to the Underground, from which dark power continuously surged outwards.
At the same time, an empty Hourglass also appeared in Bakura's hand. Dark energy poured into it, turning into black sand particles and flowing.
As everyone knows, the Four Heavenly Kings have five members, and a three-person team has four members. So, although Bakura theoretically should only have three GM Items, at this moment after assembling the **Millennium Items**, he obtained the fourth, and also the most important item, the Underworld Hourglass.
Three thousand years ago, the Nameless Pharaoh used his true name and soul to seal the evil will beneath the tablet. And what is necessary to dispel this seal is the seven **Millennium Items** as well as the Pharaoh's true name. However, after assembling all the keys, time is still needed to open the Gate of the Underworld.
The Underworld Hourglass has no ability whatsoever. It is merely used to display how much time is still needed until the Gate of the Underworld opens and Bakura's true form is released. When the last grain of sand falls, that is when Bakura will be completely revived. By then, Bakura will have obtained victory in this Ultimate Dark Game, and can also therefore revive along with it in the Real World outside!
"Before the hourglass runs out, now, Seto, go to the Royal City! Go and obtain the power you've been longing for! Act as the warm-up act before the climax of my revival arrives, hahahahaha!"
Directly crushing the nameplate in his hand that was already useless to him without reluctance, Bakura's figure dispersed and merged into Seto's body. Seto raised his head and looked towards the direction of the Royal City, Kisara's figure reflected in his pitch-black eyes.
---I want to become the world's number one, women are troublesome---
"What do you mean you can't save him?!" Joey Wheeler, hearing the physician's words, reached out with an angry face, wanting to grab the opponent's collar, but his hand passed through his body.
Only then did he remember that it seems there was such a concept: "People in the Memory World cannot see or touch them, the people from the Real World, unless it's a special situation." It's just that because there were simply too many special situations, he almost forgot about this concept.
And the physician who made Joey Wheeler angry, although he didn't know he was almost beaten up by a blond delinquent, quickly added because Dark Yugi was in front of him: "Hayato Kobayashi-sama's wounds, we have already healed with magic. Although it looks very scary, because the rescue was relatively timely, there's no major problem."
"Then what do you mean you can't save him?" Malik frowned and asked.
After Seto left, Hayato couldn't hold on and fell. Only then did the party discover that the toughness he showed before was actually just him pretending to be strong. The attack Seto launched with the **Millennium Necklace** before actually hit Hayato completely, but he pretended to block it with **The Winged Dragon of Ra** to scare Seto away.
As soon as he fell, the party quickly sent him to the Medical Unit here for treatment. But after everyone waited outside the temporary medical room that was set up for a long time, the person in charge of the Medical Unit came out and said that they were powerless regarding Hayato's situation and couldn't save Hayato.
Facing the party's confusion, the physician also quickly explained, stating the situation they diagnosed.
The external injury on Hayato's body was only the stab wound left by Seto. However, because **Psychic Ectoplasm** shifted the wound location, so it wasn't a big problem. The key point was that Seto before interrupted Hayato's resonance with the **Millennium Necklace** that had been enhanced by **Limiter Removal**, and also hit Hayato hard afterwards.
Perhaps Seto's original intention was just to think about venting out a portion of the power within the **Millennium Necklace** that was about to be detonated to save this **Millennium Item**. He indeed succeeded. It's just that during this attack, a certain special power within the **Millennium Necklace** was also injected into Hayato's body along with it.
Although the physicians accompanying the Medical Unit understood some magic, they couldn't compare at all to Court Magicians like Mana. But even Mana's teacher Mahad could only seal it with his own magic power in front of the power of the **Millennium Items**, finding it difficult to contend with it. That's why they were helpless regarding Hayato's situation.
After hearing the physician finish speaking, Dark Yugi said worriedly: "Then what will happen to Hayato now?"
"This, it's also difficult for us to explain to you, Pharaoh." The physician scratched his head and glanced behind him. "We can only ask you, Pharaoh, to come in. If you see it with your own eyes, perhaps you will know."
Under the physician's guidance, the party arrived inside the temporary medical room and saw Hayato lying on the bed, surrounded by physicians. However, after only not seeing Hayato for less than ten minutes, the party discovered that the appearance of Hayato before their eyes had undergone a tremendous change.
It wasn't that he was disfigured or mutated. Hayato, who was using the body of the eight-year-old Meriamun in the Memory World, his body had grown to the appearance of eighteen or nineteen years old in the blink of an eye, becoming the appearance of Hayato Kobayashi, their classmate whom Dark Yugi and the others were familiar with.
But the question was, Hayato's body was still growing rapidly. It was as if he was continuously fast-forwarding towards the Future.
"On Hayato's body, time is continuously accelerating in the direction towards the Future." Among the party present, the one most familiar with the **Millennium Necklace** was none other than Isis. She widened her eyes, looking at Hayato, who seemed to have grown a bit older again in less than a minute. "The power of the **Millennium Necklace** leading to the Future is continuously turning into Reality."
Honda scratched his head and exchanged one glance with Joey Wheeler. Neither of them heard anything wrong. "Is there any question with this? Actually, we've been feeling quite awkward during this time. Hayato always communicated with us in the appearance of a child. There's nothing bad about becoming an adult, right?"
"Idiot! The question is, how much time do you think a person has in total? Especially Hayato, or rather, Meriamun is an ancient person. His lifespan won't be very long, right?" Téa, however, quickly understood the problem on Hayato's body and said with a worried face. "The current Hayato has rapidly grown from childhood to youth, but after that comes middle age and old age. If by that Time we still haven't found a way to solve the problem on Hayato's body, won't he just age to death!?"
Malik heard his older sister's words and also clenched his teeth, but said dejectedly: "But even if we know, what can we do? We can't do anything. We can only watch helplessly as Hayato..."
"That absolutely won't do! How can Hayato die in a place like this?!" Yugi's fist clenched tightly, saying excitedly. "No! If Hayato dies in this Dark Game, he will never be able to return to Reality again!"
"Please, don't die, Hayato! If you fall here, what will Miss Ishizu do?!"
Hearing Yugi's words, Joey Wheeler also said to the unconscious Hayato: "Show your usual spirit from before, Hayato! You are the strongest Duel King who has defeated countless enemies! Kaiba, Yugi, and I still want to challenge you after you wake up!"
"If it's you, you can definitely create a miracle!"
Watching the party attempt to send encouragement into the unconscious Hayato's ears, Kaiba merely crossed his arms over his chest, watching with cold eyes: "Hmph, boring. What you're doing is fundamentally meaningless. Hayato Kobayashi is going to die."
Although Kaiba's tone was very cold, Nefertari beside him spoke up: "Seti, no, Mr. Kaiba, your fist is clenched too tightly."
Hearing Nefertari's words, Kaiba lowered his head and saw the wound on his hand that had already been bandaged had reopened because he subconsciously clenched his fist out of inner anger and frustration. Although he acted very indifferent, after experiencing so much, Hayato was no longer merely a target to defeat in Kaiba's heart, but had become a friend that Kaiba would absolutely not acknowledge.
But even though Nefertari pointed out that he was suppressing the emotion in his heart, Kaiba still spoke stubbornly, glancing at Nefertari beside him: "You are Hayato, no, you are Meriamun's friend, right? Your friend is dying, are you just going to watch?"
"Mm, Mr. Kaiba, it seems you didn't say a single thing correctly." Nefertari smiled slightly and walked over towards Hayato. "Hayato, Meriamun, how could I mistake them? They are fundamentally the same person. Furthermore, saying that I am Meriamun's friend or something sounds a bit too distant."
"Also, Meriamun will not die. Before illuminating all of Egypt, how could the sun set?"
As she walked towards Hayato, Nefertari's body became somewhat ethereal. The strange scene made Kaiba widen his eyes: "Hey, what are you doing?!"
The two people's voices also attracted the attention of others. Yugi and the others turned their heads to look, but saw that Nefertari's body also grew rapidly like Hayato's. In just an instant, she became the appearance of around twenty years old.
And seeing Nefertari's appearance, Tristan finally confirmed a guess he had always had: "Indeed, Nefertari, Meriamun, you are indeed---"
Looking at Hayato lying on the bed, Tristan said a name---
(End of Chapter)
