Yu-Gi-Oh!: This is the real duel!

But as torches were lit, they realized that what was approaching was not the enemy, but the Elf Envoy and the guards they had sent out earlier!

Upon receiving Wang Yang's letter, You Che led his men to the scene at breakneck speed.

After the battle, Bakula was seriously injured and lost its main force—the undead army. It should be unable to invade for a while. In this time, everyone needs to redeploy their defenses and prepare for the next plan.

Back at the palace, after a conversation, Youche learned a very important piece of information: Bakura had already used one of his three items.

In the original work, Bakura has three hourglasses, which can reverse time, pause time, and count down for the resurrection of the Great Evil God.

The meaning of the last hourglass remains somewhat unclear, but the abilities of the first two are extraordinary.

Bakura first used the item during a fierce battle with Yugi. At that time, he was powerless and forced into a desperate situation, so he had no choice but to use the item that could rewind time to escape.

The second time he used it was the hourglass that paused time. After his battle with the priests, he used time-stopping to steal the seven Millennium Items and used them to resurrect the Great Evil God.

You Che pondered silently.

In this dark RPG game, Bakura and Yugi can have up to three items, but each item must be unlocked by completing specific tasks.

Functionally, the hourglass that reverses time is the most suitable for escaping, but Bakura used the crucial hourglass that stops time, which means that he probably hasn't obtained any other items yet.

So, the most likely thing Bakula can do right now is to continue completing missions to unlock items or acquire new troops.

If we can find his location, then now is the best time to defeat him!

but……

There is another extremely important thing to consider.

That was the priest Mahad.

Whether it's a real event that happened three thousand years ago or a world of memories that Youche learned from the original work, after the royal city was destroyed, the stubborn priest Mahad would go alone to challenge Bakura and sacrifice himself to become an elf - the Dark Magician.

After becoming a Dark Magician, his power was indeed immense, but this also allowed Bakura, the Thief King, to obtain the Millennium Wisdom Wheel.

The Millennium Wisdom Wheel conceals terrifying dark power, and can also be used to guide all directions. If Bakura were to obtain this artifact, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"No...we can't let Mahad go!" Yu Che's eyes flashed as he firmly told Wang Yang, "Putting up a defensive barrier around the late king's tomb is just an excuse. What he really wants to do is go and fight Bakura alone!!"

Wang Yang frowned slightly and sighed, "I've already told him that Mahad won't be making any moves for the time being. It's just that the current situation is very tense. We can't find Bakula at all, and we don't know what the target of victory is."

"If the way to win is to find the eighth key that seals the Demon King, which is my name, then it seems that we can only rely on the other me..."

"Hey, it's so late, are they still in the Wang Family Library?"

Upon hearing the Pharaoh's question, the guards immediately relayed the order.

Before long, the news came back, and Wang Yang, Yu Che, Honda, and Anzu were all stunned.

"What?!" King Yu exclaimed in shock. "Gone? How could he suddenly disappear? We can't find him anywhere in the entire royal city?!"

“Yes… Pharaoh… there is no trace of him at all…” the guard replied cautiously.

Honda's expression was somewhat grim: "Didn't they leave any message either?"

“No…” the guard continued to reply.

Upon hearing this news, all four of them felt somewhat flustered.

Yugi Muto and the others must have encountered some accident, otherwise they wouldn't have left without saying goodbye.

Just then, two priests entered one after the other: Priest Set, who looked very much like Seto Kaiba, and the oldest and most senior priest, Aknadin.

“Reporting to the Pharaoh,” Priest Seth reported respectfully, “the new fortifications are ready, and tomorrow morning I will lead a search party for even more powerful elves and monsters…”

"Oh, so the Spirit Master has returned as well?"

"I'll split up with the Millennium Treasure and the Spirit Master, and I estimate it won't be long before we find a spirit that can rival Diaband!"

Wang Yang nodded, indicating that he already knew.

Priest Set stepped back first, and then the aged and weathered priest Akhenaten stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Pharaoh, Priest Set and I are preparing to gather the strength for defense."

"Priest Set is responsible for finding new monsters and elves, while I am responsible for selecting from countless monsters."

"Now, some powerful demons have appeared and been sealed in the temple's stone slabs. When the Thief King attacks again, we will surely be able to defeat him!!"

After the report was completed, with the King's permission, the priest Aknadin, who wore the Millennium Eye, also left.

But looking at the old man's back, You Che felt that something was not quite right.

Suddenly, he realized that although in the original story it was indeed the priest Aknadin who selected and tested the monsters, that was after Bakura had infused him with dark power!

Based on the current timeline, Bakula shouldn't have had the opportunity to do such a thing.

So, what did the priest Akhenaten do...?

Has he already turned to the dark side?!

At the dimly lit corner, the priest Aknadin disappeared.

Youche suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

According to the established rules, the moment the successor gains the approval of the Millennium Eye, they can make a wish to the evil god. In the present world, Pegasus made this wish to resurrect his lover.

Priest Akhenaten was the messenger responsible for forging the Millennium Item. Of the seven people who went there, only he survived; the others all died on the way. It was at the moment the Millennium Item was completed that he put on the Millennium Eye.

So it is...

Akhenaten of this world ceased to be the loyal and devoted minister long ago!

From the moment he put on the Millennium Eye, he made his deepest wish and was seduced by the darkness!

His wish was for the priest who had just come with him—Set—to become the new Pharaoh!

Because Seth... was Aknadin's son, but he never mentioned this to outsiders, and even Seth himself didn't know it.

Once only four people remained in the room, You Che shared his earlier conjecture.

Wang Yang was greatly surprised and pondered with a gloomy face.

Honda and Kyoko finally noticed something was wrong at this point.

"Huh? Youche, how do you know so much?" Honda asked, puzzled.

Kyoko also asked, "Could it be... some kind of professional ability of yours?"

You Che didn't have time to explain. Only Wang Yang knew and understood that he was a time traveler. One day he would tell them about his story, but that was definitely not now.

If everything is really as he suspects, then Akhenaten may already be plotting something!

“This… I’ll explain when I have time!” You Che said. “Game, this world is very different from what you experienced three thousand years ago. What I’m saying is just one possibility.”

"The actual course of the game is something neither you nor I can fully predict."

"You are the GM of this game. The decision is yours!"

Wang Yang's mind was in turmoil; he had far too many things to deal with.

Right now, Bakura has fled to an unknown location, Aknadin is suspected of rebellion, and even the whereabouts of Yugi Muto and the others are completely unknown. For a time, he felt immense pressure and didn't know where to start.

Just then, the clumsy Mana ran back from outside the palace, carrying a large, flapping falcon in her arms, with a letter tied to its ankle.

"Prince!! Prince!!" Mana rushed over and held the falcon up in front of everyone. "It's a letter! A secret letter from a magician! Only magicians can ride this kind of falcon. It might have been sent by that companion who looks a lot like you! Oh... sorry, I think I called you the wrong name again. I should call you Pharaoh... hahaha!"

Wang Yang didn't care about any of that. He quickly took down the letter that the falcon had brought. He unfolded the small piece of paper and found that it was indeed Yugi Muto's notebook.

The contents were roughly the same as what Youche had just guessed.

Priest Aknadin did indeed harbor some secrets, and it was he who imprisoned Yugi Muto and the others in the secret chamber beneath the Royal Library.

In his letter, Yugi Muto said that although they could return as long as the King could see this letter, they had already set off for the Valley of the King's Long Sleep in order to find the King's name as soon as possible.

Wang Yang's face turned extremely ugly.

At first, he only had some suspicions about Aknadin, but now that he knows Aknadin did those things simply because Yugi Muto discovered some of the secrets about the Millennium Items, he can conclude that—Priest Aknadin is actually a spy planted by Bakura in the royal city!

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Yang and several others immediately left the palace, taking troops with them to arrest and interrogate the priest Aknadin.

A few minutes later, Aknadin's room was completely surrounded. In the dim firelight, he stood alone against the wall, holding the Holy Duel Disk used to summon monsters.

"Pharaoh, what do you mean by this?" The priest Akhenaten probably knew something, but he still asked.

Wang Yang shouted angrily, "What exactly did you do to my friends? And what secrets are you hiding from the capital?"

Priest Mahad drew his sword and pointed it at Akhenaten: "The Pharaoh is asking you a question! What are you still wearing the Holy Duel Disk for? Put it down immediately!!"

Knowing he had been discovered, the priest Aknadin chuckled a few times, then said coldly, "Now... are you going to punish me? But I was only trying to protect the dynasty!! What crime have I committed?! Isn't the entire royal city more important than the lives of a villager?!"

"What life? What are you talking about!" Priest Set frowned. Since becoming a priest, he had always been under Akhenaten's help and protection, and now he had no idea what had happened. "Lord Akhenaten! Quickly put down the Holy Duel Disk and explain to the Pharaoh! The merciful and wise Pharaoh will surely give you justice!"

However, the priest Aknadin shook his head and sneered, "There's no way to explain it, Seth."

"The Pharaoh clearly already knows everything!"

"Back then, in order to defend against the enemy's invasion, I suggested to the late king that we could use the methods recorded in the Millennium Magic Book to forge a Millennium Artifact!"

"However, creating a millennium-old artifact requires countless lives and blood sacrifices!!"

"Now that the former king has passed away, the new pharaoh will use this to punish me for my crimes..."

"I can't argue, and I don't want to argue. Anyway, I've completed the task that Lord Evil God gave me!!"

"Show yourself!! Monster!! Shadow Ghoul!!!"

"Escape into darkness!!!!!"

Aknadin roared, and the Holy Duel Disk on his arm suddenly lit up, summoning a dark green ghoul. He and the monster then disappeared into the shadows in an instant.

The priests had no idea what was going on. As they watched the priest Aknadin escape, Wang Yang and the others' expressions changed drastically.

Priest Mahad used the Millennium Wisdom Wheel to locate him, only to find that all the pointers on the wheel pointed directly to the ground!

"Why?! Has he already vanished into the earth?!" Priest Mahad asked sternly.

"No!!" Priest Seth immediately realized, "This underground area is Aknadin's training ground for monsters, he's going to... he's going to unleash that incredibly terrifying thing!!!"

Beneath the royal city lies a brutal training ground for monsters.

The priest Aknadin used the power of the Shadow Ghoul to escape here.

Bakura's task for him was to collect as many evil monsters as possible, and then, when the time was right, use a forbidden secret method to fuse them into one!

Arriving at that dark and deep underground, Akhenaten used the dark power of his Millennium Eye to initiate the evil ritual. The villains, suspended from the ceiling in iron cages, screamed in agony as they died one after another, their evil thoughts transforming into demonic creatures that drifted down to the sand at the bottom!

A series of booming sounds rang out, and the arena ground, surrounded by yellow sand, gradually rose. It turned out that it was not an ordinary, huge sandstone, but a sealing stone slab five or six meters long!

Akhenaten combined all the monsters with dark power, and a shrill, ear-piercing roar echoed throughout the underground. Suddenly, the stone slab lit up, and a terrifying monster imbued with immense magical power was summoned!