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# Chapter 442: Tragoedia
Hayato, who had left the Duel Field, was unaware of what was happening with Judai and Manjoume. At this moment, he looked at the card in his hand with a serious expression.
Due to the KC Cup format, Hayato hadn't enjoyed the thrill of taking someone's entire Deck after a duel victory for a long time. Today, taking advantage of Tila Muku being unconscious from losing the dark game, he seized the opportunity to take her Deck.
Tila Muku, who should have lost her life due to being harmed by her card spirit, Vampire Fraulein, was now merely unconscious from excessive mental damage. Hayato, who saved her life, also successfully took her Deck. This was what they called a "win-win."
However, after obtaining Tila Muku's Deck, Hayato discovered something quite strange—a faint, eerie aura was attached to every card in Tila Muku's Deck. To Hayato, it felt exactly the same as the feeling given off by the already disappeared **Vampire Fraulein**.
At first, Hayato speculated that this might be left behind by **Vampire Fraulein** when she died. But upon discovering that even using the power of the **Millennium Ring** felt like a weakness when trying to purify this power, Hayato was certain that the source of this power was absolutely not simple, at least not a monster of **Vampire Fraulein**'s level.
This speculation was strongly supported when Hayato found the card with the most concentrated mysterious power in Tila Muku's Deck.
Looking at **The Great Saturn** in his hand, seeing Tenma Tsukihiro's **Splendid Venus** for the first time might have been an accident, but this was already the second one. Hayato's previous guess seemed to be gradually becoming reality.
Whether it was Tila Muku's **The Great Saturn**, which wasn't used in the duel, or the **Splendid Venus** that Hayato had previously defeated, although they had no connection in terms of attribute, type, card name, or effect, they all belonged to the **Planet Series**, named after celestial bodies in the Solar System, including the Sun and Pluto.
Each individual monster in the **Planet Series** itself wasn't too important. What was important was that together, they sealed an evil monster that was born in Ancient Egypt—**Tragoedia**.
Legend said that monster had the ability to control minds. Even after being sealed for thousands of years, it didn't disperse, but instead waited for an opportunity to escape throughout the long years. Putting everything else aside, just this willpower was stronger than Kars, who gave up thinking so easily.
Wait, control minds?
Hayato's finger, which was holding **The Great Saturn**, stopped moving. He began to recall all the information he had gathered during this time.
The accounts of "Night" and Tenma Yexing, Pegasus and Tenma Tsukihiro, the photos collected by Kaiba, plus the **Planet Series** that sealed **Tragoedia**—then there was indeed only one answer.
Although he didn't know how it was done, Hayato had sufficient reason to suspect that **Tragoedia**, after modifying the memories of most people related to "Tenma Yexing," had also deleted most of the data about "Tenma Yexing" on the network.
Hayato even suspected that **Tragoedia** was currently possessing Tenma Yexing. Although he didn't have absolute certainty, the probability was quite high.
"No, let's think about it calmly. If **Tragoedia** had left the seal long ago, things would have escalated significantly. How could it be as simple as 'Tenma Yexing''s existence disappearing from countless people's memories?"
"But strangely, there's no trend of anyone collecting the **Planet Series**, which are the keys to the seal. It's less like preparing to break the seal and more like the seal has already been broken, so there's no longer a need for the **Planet Series**."
"Why is that?"
Just as Hayato was deep in thought, **Rainbow Kuriboh** ran out of the Card Box and perched on Hayato's shoulder.
"Kuriboh~"
"Hmm?" Turning his head, Hayato's gaze met **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s. He found that **Rainbow Kuriboh** was looking at him eagerly, and even pointed a finger at Tila Muku's Deck that Hayato was holding in his other hand.
"You want this, Aibo?"
As he spoke, Hayato raised his hand. But to his surprise, **Rainbow Kuriboh**, who had initially been full of interest in Tila Muku's Deck, seemed to confirm something after getting closer. Like smelling a durian that had been left under the sun for three days and run over by cars five or six times, it fled back as if flying.
"Kuriboh! Kuriri!"
Hayato, who possessed the basic Duelist skill of Kuriboh Language, easily understood **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s meaning.
"You're saying this thing can accelerate the awakening of card spirits?"
"Kuriboh!" **Rainbow Kuriboh** first nodded in affirmation, then shook its head vigorously. "Kuriboh Kuriboh, Kuriboh!"
After a thorough explanation, Hayato was quite surprised to learn from **Rainbow Kuriboh** that the mysterious power in Tila Muku's Deck could not only accelerate the birth of card spirits but also had the ability to make already awakened card spirits grow and fully awakened card spirits gain stronger power.
However, powerful cards often come with risk. Miracles and magic are not free. According to **Rainbow Kuriboh**, this power, while accelerating growth, would also subtly permeate into the card spirits' body, gradually twisting their hearts.
It was just like the hormone used to stimulate growth for harvesting pork prematurely. While it could speed up the process, it would degrade the quality of the harvested pork—the card spirits.
Thinking this way, it's quite possible that **Vampire Fraulein** also received this power. It's even possible that she herself was only a semi-awakened card spirit, and after being stimulated by the "hormone," she successfully awakened while also having her mind twisted by this power, leading to the idea of controlling Tila Muku.
Without this power, although **Vampire Fraulein**'s awakening might have been delayed indefinitely, she would never have become the way she was before.
With **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s answer, Hayato finally resolved his confusion. The scattered **Planet Series** and the power that accelerates spirit birth were not unrelated to the idea of breaking the seal. Rather, this was one of the necessary conditions for breaking the seal, such as "the **Planet Series**, as keys, must have awakened card spirits."
This couldn't help but remind Hayato of a joke he heard before: someone selling pet pigs online and promising that the pet pig would never grow large, only staying at its size from when it was young. If it grew larger, they would offer a 100% refund at the original price.
This wasn't selling pigs; it was clearly getting others to raise pigs for free. The only cost throughout the process was the shipping fee, and someone even prepared the pig farm for him.
Hayato looked at the screen broadcasting the Kaiba Dome Venue.
Even with the stimulation of 'hormones,' the birth of card spirits is inseparable from the fierce clash between duelists' souls. And battles capable of giving birth to card spirits were certainly not lacking within the Kaiba Dome, where the KC Cup was being held.
——————Kaiba the Professional Freeloader——————
"Hmm? This feeling is..."
Slightly furrowing his brow, Pegasus felt a sense of oppression coming from the air and released the joystick he was gripping tightly.
Turning his head, he found that at some point, a man with a white turban wrapped around his head and wearing a pure white robe had appeared in the game room that should have only contained him. One of the man's hands was slowly taking something out of his embrace.
"You are, Shadi?!"
Pegasus naturally recognized the man before him. Wasn't it Shadi, who had forced the **Millennium Eye** onto him when he was traveling in Egypt? Although many years had passed, those vacant eyes were still deeply etched in his memory.
However, he had already lost the **Millennium Eye** now. What did this guy want with him?
The silent Shadi said nothing. He merely took out a scale made of gold from his embrace—the **Millennium Scale**, one of the **Millennium Items**—and placed it on the table closest to him. One end of the two empty trays on the scale pointed in Pegasus's direction.
After swaying back and forth several times, the scale gradually returned to a state of balance. And as if confirming something by this, Shadi finally spoke: "Pegasus, you should have died."
"Heh heh, indeed. I truly walked through the gates of hell." One hand touched the left side of his face. Through the drooping silver hair, Pegasus didn't push the strands aside to reveal the empty eye socket underneath. Instead, he savored the pain of losing the **Millennium Eye**. "Having been with me for so long, suddenly losing the **Millennium Eye**, I'm still not quite used to it even now."
Facing Shadi, whom he still couldn't figure out, Pegasus didn't continue using his strange way of speaking but spoke properly in Japanese. However, it was quite strange to think of Shadi, an Egyptian, and Pegasus, an American, communicating in Japanese.
Shadi heard this but shook his head: "No, I didn't mean you almost died, but that you 'should have died'."
"Your destiny of 'possessing the power of the **Millennium Eye**' should have ended after the duel with the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh. But the existence of a certain will extended and continued your destiny out of thin air. Along with it, the originally ordered threads of destiny were completely disrupted, even drawing out other buried darkness."
"The ripple disturbing the calm has already spread. Now, even recycling the remaining **Millennium Eye** power on you is useless." Shadi paused. At some point, he was holding an Ankh symbol made of gold in his other hand. One end of the symbol had a shape like a key.
Pegasus couldn't help but become nervous. A faint gold pattern even lit up on his forehead, revealing the symbol of the Eye of Wjat/Udjat.
It wasn't that he was being overly suspicious. The main reason was that the man before him was too mysterious. And no matter how many times they met, he always acted like a Riddler, never explaining things clearly. And most importantly—
Last time in Egypt, when he accidentally stumbled upon his identity, he was distracted by listening to this guy's riddling speech, then controlled by his Subordinates and forced to wear the **Millennium Eye**. It hurt like hell!
Shadi, however, seemed not to notice Pegasus's vigilance, or perhaps he simply didn't take Pegasus, who could only use the residual power of the **Millennium Eye**, seriously. He aimed the Ankh symbol—the **Millennium Key**—at the location of his heart, inserted it forcefully as if harming himself, and then twisted it like unlocking something.
As if a switch had been flipped, a radiance lit up from Shadi's chest. His other hand reached into it, grabbed something, and threw it out. An orb of light was thrown towards Pegasus.
Under Pegasus's gaze, the orb of light slowly floating in mid-air gradually dimmed, revealing the orb of light's true form—a blank Duel Monsters card.
The card stopped in front of Pegasus. Looking at Pegasus, who didn't dare to touch the card at all, Shadi put away the **Millennium Key** and the **Millennium Scale**. His voice, unable to hide its weakness, explained: "This power is a necessary condition to pull chaotic destiny back to its original order."
"To use this power, one must possess the power of 'Prana' that has broken free from dimensional restraint and transcended destiny, as well as the power of the 'Pharaoh' acknowledged by destiny." Under Pegasus's gaze, as if a projector's battery had a poor connection, Shadi's figure flickered, visibly dimming. "You can find someone who can use it, Pegasus."
Although Shadi looked like he was about to die and was giving his last words, Pegasus still didn't relax. He said cautiously, "Then why don't you personally give it to the person who has the ability to use it?"
"Also, what are 'Pharaoh' and 'Prana'?"
Pegasus considered himself quite up-to-date, even though he preferred low-age manga and cartoons. Yet, he couldn't understand the words Shadi was saying.
Could it be some code used in a small circle, or some meaningless abbreviation? For example, AAAAA is the abbreviation for the "Association Against Absurd Abbreviations."
"The power I possess, originating from the 'Pharaoh,' merely relies on an external object, the **Millennium Item**. The power of 'Prana' is also incomplete. Holding this power until now is my limit, and from now on, I can no longer gaze upon the Nameless Pharaoh."
Shadi muttered to himself. His figure had dimmed so much that Pegasus could see the clock on the wall behind his body.
"The key to this power is to fusion summon and then transcend the limit. Only by integrating everything can it exert the power to correct destiny."
Having finished his final riddling speech, Shadi seemed to have said something, yet also seemed to have said nothing, and disappeared from before Pegasus.
"Did he answer my question?" Pegasus frowned and recalled. He confirmed that Shadi indeed hadn't said anything. "This feeling, it's definitely what Hayato boy called a 'Riddler,' isn't it? Talking to people like this is really tiring."
Although he still suspected Shadi might be up to something, after some hesitation, Pegasus still grasped the Duel Monsters card floating before him. From Pegasus's perspective, there was nothing on the card. At most, he could only determine it was a fusion monster card based on the card's background color.
"Fusion summon, and then transcend the limit?" Pegasus recalled Shadi's words, then suddenly thought of something. "That sounds interesting. I think I have an inspiration!"
"Speaking of the limit of fusion monsters, it's definitely that monster!"
Pegasus's gaze fell upon the clock on the wall. It was one of the few decorations in this America Limited Edition Kaiba Land that still retained **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** elements.
(End of Chapter)
Hayato, who had left the Duel Field, was unaware of what was happening with Judai and Manjoume. At this moment, he looked at the card in his hand with a serious expression.
Due to the KC Cup format, Hayato hadn't enjoyed the thrill of taking someone's entire Deck after a duel victory for a long time. Today, taking advantage of Tila Muku being unconscious from losing the dark game, he seized the opportunity to take her Deck.
Tila Muku, who should have lost her life due to being harmed by her card spirit, Vampire Fraulein, was now merely unconscious from excessive mental damage. Hayato, who saved her life, also successfully took her Deck. This was what they called a "win-win."
However, after obtaining Tila Muku's Deck, Hayato discovered something quite strange—a faint, eerie aura was attached to every card in Tila Muku's Deck. To Hayato, it felt exactly the same as the feeling given off by the already disappeared **Vampire Fraulein**.
At first, Hayato speculated that this might be left behind by **Vampire Fraulein** when she died. But upon discovering that even using the power of the **Millennium Ring** felt like a weakness when trying to purify this power, Hayato was certain that the source of this power was absolutely not simple, at least not a monster of **Vampire Fraulein**'s level.
This speculation was strongly supported when Hayato found the card with the most concentrated mysterious power in Tila Muku's Deck.
Looking at **The Great Saturn** in his hand, seeing Tenma Tsukihiro's **Splendid Venus** for the first time might have been an accident, but this was already the second one. Hayato's previous guess seemed to be gradually becoming reality.
Whether it was Tila Muku's **The Great Saturn**, which wasn't used in the duel, or the **Splendid Venus** that Hayato had previously defeated, although they had no connection in terms of attribute, type, card name, or effect, they all belonged to the **Planet Series**, named after celestial bodies in the Solar System, including the Sun and Pluto.
Each individual monster in the **Planet Series** itself wasn't too important. What was important was that together, they sealed an evil monster that was born in Ancient Egypt—**Tragoedia**.
Legend said that monster had the ability to control minds. Even after being sealed for thousands of years, it didn't disperse, but instead waited for an opportunity to escape throughout the long years. Putting everything else aside, just this willpower was stronger than Kars, who gave up thinking so easily.
Wait, control minds?
Hayato's finger, which was holding **The Great Saturn**, stopped moving. He began to recall all the information he had gathered during this time.
The accounts of "Night" and Tenma Yexing, Pegasus and Tenma Tsukihiro, the photos collected by Kaiba, plus the **Planet Series** that sealed **Tragoedia**—then there was indeed only one answer.
Although he didn't know how it was done, Hayato had sufficient reason to suspect that **Tragoedia**, after modifying the memories of most people related to "Tenma Yexing," had also deleted most of the data about "Tenma Yexing" on the network.
Hayato even suspected that **Tragoedia** was currently possessing Tenma Yexing. Although he didn't have absolute certainty, the probability was quite high.
"No, let's think about it calmly. If **Tragoedia** had left the seal long ago, things would have escalated significantly. How could it be as simple as 'Tenma Yexing''s existence disappearing from countless people's memories?"
"But strangely, there's no trend of anyone collecting the **Planet Series**, which are the keys to the seal. It's less like preparing to break the seal and more like the seal has already been broken, so there's no longer a need for the **Planet Series**."
"Why is that?"
Just as Hayato was deep in thought, **Rainbow Kuriboh** ran out of the Card Box and perched on Hayato's shoulder.
"Kuriboh~"
"Hmm?" Turning his head, Hayato's gaze met **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s. He found that **Rainbow Kuriboh** was looking at him eagerly, and even pointed a finger at Tila Muku's Deck that Hayato was holding in his other hand.
"You want this, Aibo?"
As he spoke, Hayato raised his hand. But to his surprise, **Rainbow Kuriboh**, who had initially been full of interest in Tila Muku's Deck, seemed to confirm something after getting closer. Like smelling a durian that had been left under the sun for three days and run over by cars five or six times, it fled back as if flying.
"Kuriboh! Kuriri!"
Hayato, who possessed the basic Duelist skill of Kuriboh Language, easily understood **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s meaning.
"You're saying this thing can accelerate the awakening of card spirits?"
"Kuriboh!" **Rainbow Kuriboh** first nodded in affirmation, then shook its head vigorously. "Kuriboh Kuriboh, Kuriboh!"
After a thorough explanation, Hayato was quite surprised to learn from **Rainbow Kuriboh** that the mysterious power in Tila Muku's Deck could not only accelerate the birth of card spirits but also had the ability to make already awakened card spirits grow and fully awakened card spirits gain stronger power.
However, powerful cards often come with risk. Miracles and magic are not free. According to **Rainbow Kuriboh**, this power, while accelerating growth, would also subtly permeate into the card spirits' body, gradually twisting their hearts.
It was just like the hormone used to stimulate growth for harvesting pork prematurely. While it could speed up the process, it would degrade the quality of the harvested pork—the card spirits.
Thinking this way, it's quite possible that **Vampire Fraulein** also received this power. It's even possible that she herself was only a semi-awakened card spirit, and after being stimulated by the "hormone," she successfully awakened while also having her mind twisted by this power, leading to the idea of controlling Tila Muku.
Without this power, although **Vampire Fraulein**'s awakening might have been delayed indefinitely, she would never have become the way she was before.
With **Rainbow Kuriboh**'s answer, Hayato finally resolved his confusion. The scattered **Planet Series** and the power that accelerates spirit birth were not unrelated to the idea of breaking the seal. Rather, this was one of the necessary conditions for breaking the seal, such as "the **Planet Series**, as keys, must have awakened card spirits."
This couldn't help but remind Hayato of a joke he heard before: someone selling pet pigs online and promising that the pet pig would never grow large, only staying at its size from when it was young. If it grew larger, they would offer a 100% refund at the original price.
This wasn't selling pigs; it was clearly getting others to raise pigs for free. The only cost throughout the process was the shipping fee, and someone even prepared the pig farm for him.
Hayato looked at the screen broadcasting the Kaiba Dome Venue.
Even with the stimulation of 'hormones,' the birth of card spirits is inseparable from the fierce clash between duelists' souls. And battles capable of giving birth to card spirits were certainly not lacking within the Kaiba Dome, where the KC Cup was being held.
——————Kaiba the Professional Freeloader——————
"Hmm? This feeling is..."
Slightly furrowing his brow, Pegasus felt a sense of oppression coming from the air and released the joystick he was gripping tightly.
Turning his head, he found that at some point, a man with a white turban wrapped around his head and wearing a pure white robe had appeared in the game room that should have only contained him. One of the man's hands was slowly taking something out of his embrace.
"You are, Shadi?!"
Pegasus naturally recognized the man before him. Wasn't it Shadi, who had forced the **Millennium Eye** onto him when he was traveling in Egypt? Although many years had passed, those vacant eyes were still deeply etched in his memory.
However, he had already lost the **Millennium Eye** now. What did this guy want with him?
The silent Shadi said nothing. He merely took out a scale made of gold from his embrace—the **Millennium Scale**, one of the **Millennium Items**—and placed it on the table closest to him. One end of the two empty trays on the scale pointed in Pegasus's direction.
After swaying back and forth several times, the scale gradually returned to a state of balance. And as if confirming something by this, Shadi finally spoke: "Pegasus, you should have died."
"Heh heh, indeed. I truly walked through the gates of hell." One hand touched the left side of his face. Through the drooping silver hair, Pegasus didn't push the strands aside to reveal the empty eye socket underneath. Instead, he savored the pain of losing the **Millennium Eye**. "Having been with me for so long, suddenly losing the **Millennium Eye**, I'm still not quite used to it even now."
Facing Shadi, whom he still couldn't figure out, Pegasus didn't continue using his strange way of speaking but spoke properly in Japanese. However, it was quite strange to think of Shadi, an Egyptian, and Pegasus, an American, communicating in Japanese.
Shadi heard this but shook his head: "No, I didn't mean you almost died, but that you 'should have died'."
"Your destiny of 'possessing the power of the **Millennium Eye**' should have ended after the duel with the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh. But the existence of a certain will extended and continued your destiny out of thin air. Along with it, the originally ordered threads of destiny were completely disrupted, even drawing out other buried darkness."
"The ripple disturbing the calm has already spread. Now, even recycling the remaining **Millennium Eye** power on you is useless." Shadi paused. At some point, he was holding an Ankh symbol made of gold in his other hand. One end of the symbol had a shape like a key.
Pegasus couldn't help but become nervous. A faint gold pattern even lit up on his forehead, revealing the symbol of the Eye of Wjat/Udjat.
It wasn't that he was being overly suspicious. The main reason was that the man before him was too mysterious. And no matter how many times they met, he always acted like a Riddler, never explaining things clearly. And most importantly—
Last time in Egypt, when he accidentally stumbled upon his identity, he was distracted by listening to this guy's riddling speech, then controlled by his Subordinates and forced to wear the **Millennium Eye**. It hurt like hell!
Shadi, however, seemed not to notice Pegasus's vigilance, or perhaps he simply didn't take Pegasus, who could only use the residual power of the **Millennium Eye**, seriously. He aimed the Ankh symbol—the **Millennium Key**—at the location of his heart, inserted it forcefully as if harming himself, and then twisted it like unlocking something.
As if a switch had been flipped, a radiance lit up from Shadi's chest. His other hand reached into it, grabbed something, and threw it out. An orb of light was thrown towards Pegasus.
Under Pegasus's gaze, the orb of light slowly floating in mid-air gradually dimmed, revealing the orb of light's true form—a blank Duel Monsters card.
The card stopped in front of Pegasus. Looking at Pegasus, who didn't dare to touch the card at all, Shadi put away the **Millennium Key** and the **Millennium Scale**. His voice, unable to hide its weakness, explained: "This power is a necessary condition to pull chaotic destiny back to its original order."
"To use this power, one must possess the power of 'Prana' that has broken free from dimensional restraint and transcended destiny, as well as the power of the 'Pharaoh' acknowledged by destiny." Under Pegasus's gaze, as if a projector's battery had a poor connection, Shadi's figure flickered, visibly dimming. "You can find someone who can use it, Pegasus."
Although Shadi looked like he was about to die and was giving his last words, Pegasus still didn't relax. He said cautiously, "Then why don't you personally give it to the person who has the ability to use it?"
"Also, what are 'Pharaoh' and 'Prana'?"
Pegasus considered himself quite up-to-date, even though he preferred low-age manga and cartoons. Yet, he couldn't understand the words Shadi was saying.
Could it be some code used in a small circle, or some meaningless abbreviation? For example, AAAAA is the abbreviation for the "Association Against Absurd Abbreviations."
"The power I possess, originating from the 'Pharaoh,' merely relies on an external object, the **Millennium Item**. The power of 'Prana' is also incomplete. Holding this power until now is my limit, and from now on, I can no longer gaze upon the Nameless Pharaoh."
Shadi muttered to himself. His figure had dimmed so much that Pegasus could see the clock on the wall behind his body.
"The key to this power is to fusion summon and then transcend the limit. Only by integrating everything can it exert the power to correct destiny."
Having finished his final riddling speech, Shadi seemed to have said something, yet also seemed to have said nothing, and disappeared from before Pegasus.
"Did he answer my question?" Pegasus frowned and recalled. He confirmed that Shadi indeed hadn't said anything. "This feeling, it's definitely what Hayato boy called a 'Riddler,' isn't it? Talking to people like this is really tiring."
Although he still suspected Shadi might be up to something, after some hesitation, Pegasus still grasped the Duel Monsters card floating before him. From Pegasus's perspective, there was nothing on the card. At most, he could only determine it was a fusion monster card based on the card's background color.
"Fusion summon, and then transcend the limit?" Pegasus recalled Shadi's words, then suddenly thought of something. "That sounds interesting. I think I have an inspiration!"
"Speaking of the limit of fusion monsters, it's definitely that monster!"
Pegasus's gaze fell upon the clock on the wall. It was one of the few decorations in this America Limited Edition Kaiba Land that still retained **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** elements.
(End of Chapter)
