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

Chapter 301 A Gathering of Resentment! A Terrifying Demon!

"Oh? So you've been exposed so quickly?" Bakula, far away outside the capital, sensed Aknadin's actions and spat in disappointment, "You really have disappointed me!"

"But that's fine too. I originally planned to snatch the Millennium Wisdom Wheel, but it seems that Mahad has unexpectedly retreated."

“Akenadin, now that you have accomplished what I have arranged, I will grant you the power of darkness as you wish.”

"Now, you can return with the Millennium Eye~~"

Following orders, Aknadin once again activated the Shadow Ghoul's power, disappearing into the shadows and heading towards Bakura outside the royal city.

Standing on the hillside, Bakula, having rested enough, stretched and stood up: "Hehehe~ Perfect~"

"I'll use this time to finish my other plans."

"Seven ancient artifacts are needed to open the gates to the underworld, but an eighth key is needed to seal them."

"After thinking about it for so long, I finally understand. The so-called eighth key is the king's name!!"

"Once the Pharaoh finds his own name, he can seal the gates to the underworld."

"Akenadin just told me using dark power that the vessel has already headed to the Valley of the Kings' Sleep. In that case, I should try to stop them."

"As for the Pharaoh... hehehe! That big thing will keep them busy for a while!!"

The anime and manga differ in their portrayal of Dark Bakura's identity.

This world is closer to the anime version. The person currently playing the Dark Game with Yugi appears to be Dark Bakura or Thief King, but in reality, his true identity is the incarnation of the Great Evil God Zorc.

Bakula's image is merely a substitute, and the Thief King is just a pawn.

The dark energy that Aknadin sees comes from the evil god Zorc. Because of this, Bakura on the sand table can learn everything about him through the dark energy and communicate with or even manipulate him.

"Rumble rumble rumble rumble ——————————————"

As the evil priest Aknadin fled from the royal city, the terrifying monster was also released from the massive stone slab. A section of the palace floor suddenly collapsed, and crimson flames erupted, turning a part of the royal city into a living hell!

"Watch out! The Pharaoh!!"

"Damn it!! What on earth did Aknadin do?!"

"What, what is that thing?!"

Amid the exclamations of the priests, a demon over ten meters tall crawled out of the crimson flames. Its entire body was covered in exaggerated crimson muscles, with ghostly blue flames and blazing red hellfire constantly swirling around it.

After crawling out of that hell, it let out a terrifying roar that could be heard throughout the entire royal city. Suddenly, it opened its eyes and the third eye on its forehead, and at the same time, its chest split open, turning into a huge, upright mouth full of sharp teeth!

"Splash splash ...

The moment the demon appeared, the Scales of Heaven began to shake violently, and the priest cried out in terror, "The evil intent of this demon is immeasurable! There is actually such darkness in this world!!"

Priest Set gritted his teeth and shouted, "Akenadin, in order to train the strongest monsters, imprisoned countless sinners and prisoners together and forced them to fight to the death!!"

"In that hell, the evil thoughts of those desperados grow stronger every day!!"

"Now, the resentment of those people has been gathered together, and it has become this terrible and horrifying thing!!!"

The terrifying demon rose from the chaotic flames, countless wisps of yellow sand tumbling down its powerful body. It stared with malevolent eyes at the priests on the ground, finally locking onto the Pharaoh among the crowd.

This sudden situation brought deep despair to everyone.

The great battle with Bakula had just ended, and everyone was still recovering from their exhaustion when they had to face someone of this caliber...

"There's no other way, we have to go!!" Mahad shouted. "We absolutely cannot let him destroy the royal city, and we absolutely cannot let him harm the Pharaoh!! Summon—Illusionist!!!"

The golden Holy Duel Disk emitted a bright light, and a beam of energy rose from the tip of a distant temple, summoning the monster within the stone slab.

At the same time, Priest Seth and the others wielded the Holy Duel Disk, summoning their most powerful monsters to the battlefield!

Seeing this terrifying scene, Yuzuru, Honda, and Kyoko were all at a loss.

As a spirit user, Youche can naturally summon powerful spirits to fight, but even after leveling up, his mana cannot last long, and he can only provide assistance at crucial moments.

As a support dancer with a halo ability, Kyoko was alright in this situation, but Honda, as a barbarian, was really helpless. He gripped the wooden stick tightly in his hand, unable to move forward or backward, and was extremely embarrassed.

"Tsk... If only I had some extra Holy Duel Disks..." Yu Che thought to himself.

The Holy Duel Disk doesn't consume mana, but soul, a combination of life points and mana points, a more transcendent energy. Youche's mana points aren't much, but his physical body, blessed by Sleeping Giant Gudu, possesses a vitality far beyond that of ordinary people.

If he were given a Holy Duel Disk right now, his soul power would likely surpass that of the priests present. With his understanding of card duels in the mortal world, he would surely be able to turn the tide against the stone tablet monsters in the temple!

but……

There are only eight Sacred Duel Disks!!

Besides the six who were present and the one that Aknadin took away, only the one in the former king's tomb remained.

As the demonic flames surged, a thunderous roar resounded once more. The terrifying crimson demon spread its five fingers and pressed them down onto the crowd on the ground. The flying flames and dark purple demonic flames intertwined, transforming into a swirling storm.

The priests roared in unison, and the summoned spirits and monsters swarmed forward, barely managing to block the attack!

But then, the crimson demon roared again, its eyes widening as a crimson beam shot out, aimed directly at King Yu!

Before the priests could catch their breath, they had to exert all their strength again. A series of booming and explosion sounds rang out as the beam of light slammed into the barrier erected by Priestess Isis. Priests Seth and Mahad shouted in unison, unleashing two powerful attacks that blocked the crimson demon's offensive!

"Tsk... such powerful strength!!"

"This can't go on at all; our souls can't withstand its evil intent!!"

"I'm afraid... only a god could defeat this guy!!"

god……

Wang Yang also longed to summon the three Egyptian God cards.

To summon a god to fight in this world, there are three conditions:

First, the summoner must be a Pharaoh.

Second, the summoner must know the name of the god.

Third, the summoner must possess a soul sufficient to sustain the god.

Wang Yang can meet the first two conditions, but right now, his soul is far from sufficient. He needs to raise it by at least two or three levels to have the power to summon a god!

"What do we do..." Wang Yang looked up at the terrifying demon, a chill running down his spine. "We can't beat this guy at all... If this drags on any longer, we'll all die here..."

"Partner...how are you doing over there..."

"Have you found my name yet...?"

Seeing Wang Yang's expression, You Che knew what he was hoping for. You Che tried to find the key from his memories, but he couldn't.

He knew that the king's name was "Atum," but it was just a transliteration. In this dark game, he had to find the written form of the king's name and pronounce it correctly.

Youche only knows the transliterated Chinese, but cannot remember the actual pronunciation and spelling.

Therefore, the task of finding the king's name can only be entrusted to Yugi Muto and his group.

It was almost dawn.

The Valley of the King's Long Sleep, shrouded in yellow sand.

Yugi Muto, Mai Kongjaku, and Katsuya Jonouchi ride horses through the labyrinthine canyons.

On their way, they encountered a group of bandits. In order to protect themselves and to obtain their mounts, the three of them defeated the villains and leveled up in the process.

The howling sandstorm and the pitch-black night made their search even more difficult.

In the complex valley, they have found three tombs, but without exception, they are all the pyramids of previous pharaohs.

"What should I do... I have absolutely no clue!" Jonouchi took off his stinking veil to get some fresh air, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a mouthful of sand was poured in. "Maybe I should look again during the day... Ugh!! Damn it..."

The slender Yugi Muto gripped the reins tightly, swaying precariously in the fierce wind: "There's no other way, let's take shelter in the cave ahead for a while..."

With that, Yugi Muto raised the level of his Illumination spell by one level, and he and the other two quickly rode into the cave.

As soon as the three of them went inside, their bodies warmed up considerably. Outside the cave, yellow sand filled the air, and the howling wind sounded like the wails of ghosts.

Peacock Dance took out her tools and lit a campfire on the ground, and the three who were almost frozen to death quickly warmed themselves up.

The crackling sound of the flames rang out softly.

Peacock Dance looked outside with some worry: "I'm afraid it will be the same even during the day. There's no way to deal with this level of sandstorm..."

Jonouchi rubbed his hands together and asked, "Yugi, don't you have any better spells?"

“Hmm…” Yugi Muto shook his head. “Even if there were, the range of spells would be very limited. The Valley of Royal Sleep is so vast that it would be difficult to obtain useful information.”

"Ah! If only Grandpa were here too. He did archaeological work in Egypt, maybe he could have found it..." Jonouchi sighed.

Jonouchi's words suddenly reminded Yugi Muto, who abruptly stood up as if he had thought of something.

"What's wrong, the game?" Kong Quewu asked.

Yugi Muto's eyes widened as he kept recalling, "Before coming here, my grandfather told me about his adventure in the Valley of the Kings' Long Sleep!"

Jonouchi asked in confusion, "Um... was Grandpa telling the story of how he obtained the Millennium Puzzle? According to that logic, he did go to the tomb in another game, but did he really remember the exact location?"

Yugi Muto said, "Grandpa didn't go into details, he just mentioned a few landmark buildings. What I just remembered is that I also saw those landmarks on the way Isis brought us here."

“In the present world, we have arrived at the Valley of the King’s Long Sleep. The location of the Millennium Stone Slab is very close to another of my tombs.”

"Although many landforms have changed over three thousand years, since this place is a reflection of another version of my memories, the differences should not be significant!"

"Therefore, as long as we follow the memories and clues from our present life, we should be able to find our destination very soon!!"

"While we were traversing the sandstorm, I vaguely saw a familiar sign. Perhaps we're not far from where we're looking!"

"Really?!" Jonouchi exclaimed in surprise. "Then perhaps the range of the Vision Technique can cover it. Yugi, you should try it out!!"

"Hmm!!" Yugi Muto nodded vigorously, skillfully chanting the spell he had used many times before. A faint glow condensed into an eye mark on his forehead, and his eyes lit up. Everything within a two-kilometer radius of him appeared clearly in his mind.

Yugi Muto searched carefully, but a casual glance revealed something astonishing.

He exclaimed in surprise as his vision spell was interrupted.

Jonouchi and Mai quickly asked, "What's wrong?! Did you find something?"

Yugi Muto stared wide-eyed into the depths of the cave, his voice trembling slightly: "Inside this cave... there's a very mysterious place, which seems to be the tomb of some of the earliest pharaohs!!"

"What?!" Jonouchi exclaimed in surprise, but then quickly added in astonishment, "Wait a minute, isn't it normal to have graves here? We're in the Valley of the King's Long Sleep!"

“No, it’s different…” Yugi Muto frowned. “I can sense that there’s an unusual aura in there. It seems to be a place hidden deep in my memory.”

“Royal cities, palaces… When I encounter these places, I have the same feeling in my heart. They seem very familiar, yet they look completely unfamiliar.”