Reading settings
# Chapter 443: God?
"Schroeder, and Doma, who I've never heard of before."
"Hmph, just bring it on. If you want to crush KaibaCorp, you'll have to go through me."
Recalling the information he had "overheard" from Hayato, Kaiba leaned back in his chair, looking at the computer screen before him, and picked up his Deck.
Because of Bakura's agreement with Hayato, Hayato couldn't share the information he had gathered with Kaiba. However, Kaiba himself possessed powerful information-gathering abilities, and he had successfully collected quite a bit of information on his own, displayed on the computer screen.
《Schroeder Corporation's New President》
《Paradius Company Board of Directors Reshuffled》
《Kaiba and Schroeder? The Future of the Virtual Projection System》
...
On the other side of this information was the backend program Kaiba had recovered from the Duel Robots at Kaiba Land. He had mostly completed the reverse engineering and successfully located the vulnerability where the Duel Robots were originally invaded and controlled.
As Kaiba stood up and left the office, his computer screen went dark.
Although Kaiba still didn't know when or how Schroeder Corporation planned to make a move against KaibaCorp, and whether Paradius Company had any connection to Doma was merely Kaiba's suspicion, Kaiba's consistent approach was "to meet all changes with no change."
Whatever schemes and plots you plan to use, I will defeat you head-on. This was Kaiba's arrogance.
It was already the fourth day of the KC Cup. The event had reached the third round, with 16 players remaining. After today's Duels, the final Top 8 Duelists would be decided, and tomorrow would be the day to determine the strongest in the group stage.
After that would be the Top 4 showdowns.
According to the original plan, Kaiba intended to have Pegasus, that guy who always freeloaded at Kaiba Land, serve as the Referee for the KC Cup Finals. However, after the KC Cup ended yesterday, Pegasus hurriedly sought out Kaiba, asked him for a copy of the card data for **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon**, and then left, saying he had inspiration for new cards.
Kaiba was initially a bit reluctant, after all, **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** was his ace monster. But Pegasus had an expression like "I'll give you a surprise in three days," and Kaiba didn't make him explain what surprise meant, just copied the data for him.
Anyway, he didn't take the card itself, so giving the data was fine. However, Kaiba didn't think Pegasus could come up with anything new. If he were going to research something, it should be **Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** that was more suitable.
Following his usual practice, Kaiba arranged for Joey Wheeler, that mediocre talent, to go first today, and planned to have him go first every day until he was eliminated. Although he constantly looked down on Joey Wheeler, Kaiba believed that Joey Wheeler could definitely win his way into the Top 4.
For today's Duel, Kaiba arranged Joey Wheeler's opponent to be "Valon," who had registered alongside "Raphael." The result was indeed Joey Wheeler's victory, although his Life Points dropped to 50 LP, a number practically equal to 0. But in the end, the strategy of using **Time Wizard** to flip Heads and then **Graceful Dice** to roll a six was truly Joey Wheeler's style of "doesn't get serious until he's low on Life Points."
What annoyed Kaiba even more was that the other two Duelists in Joey Wheeler's group actually ended in a draw using **Ring of Destruction** during their Duel. This meant that Joey Wheeler's group was left with only him, and he could advance directly to the Top 4 without doing anything else.
There was nothing more absurd luck than this.
Except for Yugi's Duel.
Yugi's opponent today was the guy named "Raphael." Kaiba wanted to see how Yugi would deal with "Raphael," whom he himself couldn't defeat.
Everything started normally, but halfway through the Duel, after Yugi used a **Mirror Force** to counter and destroy "Raphael's" monsters, that guy actually surrendered voluntarily, giving Yugi a "Quick Victory."
Watching the Duel between the two almost reach its climax, even making him feel a bit excited, and then Raphael just surrendered like that?
Right now, Kaiba was in a very bad mood, even a little angry.
And the best way for him to vent the itch to duel that had been stirred up was to immediately go up and play a match.
Unfortunately, even if Kaiba wanted to manipulate the Duel grouping, he had to prepare it a day in advance. Kaiba had arranged himself to go last. The Duel about to start now was Hayato's, and his opponent was a kid named "Rayne Wilson."
Right now, Kaiba could at most go watch Hayato to see what new tricks that guy would try, so he could guard against them later.
----Meanwhile, in the Player Waiting Room----
"Daitokuji, Amnael."
"Alright, Daitokuji."
Looking at the man standing before him, whose body was covered by a cloak and who coughed occasionally, Hayato couldn't help but think to himself about whether everyone was into wearing cloaks these days. He then introduced himself, "My name is Dan Kuroto, 33 years old, living in the Villa Area of Domino City, Japan, unmarried. Ah, I think I got my lines mixed up."
"But, this is the Player Waiting Room, how did you get in?"
"As the winner of the previous match, plus a little trick." "Daitokuji Amnael," whose face was hidden by the cloak, extended a slightly withered finger from beneath the cloak, covering his mouth and nose as he coughed. "Also, my name is Amnael."
"Alright, Daitokuji."
Although the other party looked like he was dying, as if he would cough up blood any second, Hayato, who already knew the other party's identity, completely ignored the true name he reported and continued to call him by the nickname he was more familiar with.
"My name is, cough cough cough. Forget it, just call me Daitokuji. That name sounds pretty good." Although he didn't know why the other party was calling him by that name, "Daitokuji Amnael" was easygoing and readily accepted the address. "Mr. Dan Kuroto, I'd like to confirm, you should also be an alchemist, right?"
"Alchemy? No, I'm not an alchemist." Under Daitokuji's expectant gaze, Hayato shook his head and shrugged, indicating that he knew nothing about alchemy.
However, Hayato did remember that he possessed something that alchemists considered their ultimate pursuit. He reached out and took out that card from the Card Box at his waist.
Looking at the perfect sphere on the card in Hayato's hand, Daitokuji seemed quite excited: "Indeed, indeed it's possible! Alchemy isn't without a future!"
"That's great, to be able to see its existence, I *pfft*—!!"
"Hey, don't suddenly spit blood!"
----Three minutes later----
Rayne Wilson, who had been waiting on the Duel Platform for a long time, finally saw Dan Kuroto appear before him.
Because he had arrived at the Duel Field early, he naturally noticed that a large group of medical personnel who were on standby at the venue had just entered the Player Waiting Room on the opposite side, proving that they were useful even on the field.
When the commotion occurred, Rayne was a little worried if something had happened to his opponent for this match. However, upon seeing Dan Kuroto walk up strutting like an idiot, he felt relieved.
Although his itch wasn't as strong as Kaiba's, it would still be regrettable if the Duel he had prepared for a while ended so abruptly.
"Rayne Wilson, right?" Raising his Duel Disk and inserting his Deck, Hayato temporarily kept what Daitokuji had said before being carried away in mind. He showed a healthy smile to Rayne on the opposite field. "Sorry to keep you waiting, young man!"
"Ah, actually it's fine, I didn't wait too long."
The shy Rayne Wilson also raised his Duel Disk. "Yes, I am Rayne Wilson."
As he spoke, Rayne, who was using a pseudonym, felt a little unsure of himself. Although it wasn't the first time he had entered a match using a pseudonym, using a pseudonym was one thing, calling himself by the pseudonym was another.
But Hayato didn't pay attention to Rayne's expression. Instead, he gave his Deck a slightly meaningful glance.
The Referee confirmed that both sides were ready and announced the start of the match.
"Duel!"
"Duel."
【Rayne: 4000 LP】
【Dan Kuroto: 4000 LP】
Compared to Hayato, Rayne's voice was slightly smaller, but his action when drawing a card was not slow at all. "I'll take the first turn, draw a card."
"I Attack Position Summon **Iron Knight** to my field, then I Set three cards in my Spell/Trap Zone. I End Turn."
After Attack Position Summoning a monster to the field, Rayne ended his turn.
Although it was also called **Iron Knight**, the monster that appeared on Rayne's field was not Joey Wheeler's **Gearfried the Iron Knight**, but another monster. It was riding a tall steed, holding a long lance in its hand, looking mighty and impressive.
【Iron Knight】【Level 4 / Earth Attribute】
【Warrior Type / Effect】
【1700 ATK / 700 DEF】
Seeing Hayato staring intently at the **Iron Knight** on his field, Rayne couldn't help but say proudly, "My **Iron Knight** is based on the prince from the Fairy Tale 'Iron Hans.' Among Level 4 monsters, it has one of the best battle power and has defeated many enemies for me."
"Is that so? 1700 ATK is indeed not bad, but to say it's one of the best is far from it. At least I have many ways to easily deal with it." Hayato said indifferently, drawing a card from his hand. "But before that, my turn, draw a card!"
"Activate Magic Card, **Change of Heart**! Until the end of the turn, I gain control of the **Iron Knight** on your field. Then I activate Magic Card, **Star Blast**! For every 500 Life Points I pay, I can decrease the Level of one card in my hand by one star. At this moment, I will pay 2000 Life Points to decrease the Level of **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca** in my hand by 4 stars!"
Hayato's Life Points instantly disappeared by a full half, turning into four stars that appeared above his field. The **Iron Knight** that was originally standing on Rayne Wilson's field was also hit by the power of the Magic Card **Change of Heart** and moved to Hayato's field.
Seeing this, Rayne couldn't help but feel troubled.
His **Iron Knight's** ATK wasn't very strong, but what was important was that if **Iron Knight** was destroyed by battle or sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, he could directly add an "Iron Hans" from his Deck to his hand. Its primary purpose was resource gathering, not direct battle.
However, in order to mislead Dan Kuroto, Rayne deliberately acted as if he heavily relied on **Iron Knight**. In reality, he secretly Set **Divine Wrath**, **Sakuretsu Armor**, and **Dimensional Prison** in his Spell/Trap Zone. Among these three cards, **Divine Wrath** has the ability to negate the activation of a monster effect and destroy the monster. **Sakuretsu Armor** and **Dimensional Prison** are Traps activated during an attack declaration.
But, against a card like **Change of Heart**, he really had no way.
But even if it was controlled, it didn't matter. At most, the opponent would just attack with **Iron Knight**, or perhaps use **Iron Knight** to Summon the monster whose Level was decreased by **Star Blast** just now?
In that case, his **Sakuretsu Armor** and **Dimensional Prison** could come in handy.
Thinking this, Rayne suddenly felt a bit tired, as if something had suddenly pressed down on him.
Hayato drew out a card from his hand and activated it: "Activate Magic Card, **Planet Pathfinder**! I add the Field Spell Card **Temple of the Mind's Eye** to my hand, then I activate Field Spell Card, **Temple of the Mind's Eye**!"
Following the activation of the Field Spell Card, a Temple slowly rose from beneath the Duel Field. Standing in the center of the Temple, Hayato's expression was quite serious: "Perhaps I'm overreacting, but this is to be safe."
"Using the **Iron Knight** on my field as Tribute, the stage for the descent is ready. Come forth, **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca**!"
As the figure of **Iron Knight** disappeared from Hayato's field and returned to Rayne Wilson's Graveyard, a huge shadow appeared on Hayato's field.
Only to see a huge purple stone heart suddenly appear at the top of the Temple, constantly beating. After absorbing the **Iron Knight** that left the field, the heart split open, and a giant raptor appeared on the field!
【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】【Level 10 / Dark Attribute → Level 6 / Dark Attribute】
【Winged Beast Type / Effect】
【1 ATK / 1 DEF】
Although its ATK was only 1 point, **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca's** mere appearance made Rayne feel a bit breathless. He widened his eyes, looking at the giant eagle that seemed to almost pierce through the dome of the Kaiba Dome.
"Earthbound Immortal?"
Rayne, his voice a bit stuttering, had never seen a monster with such a heavy sense of oppression, not even the Three Egyptian Gods he had seen on television. It wasn't a gap in power, but that sense of threat.
Although they had the name of "God," Earthbound Immortal
"Schroeder, and Doma, who I've never heard of before."
"Hmph, just bring it on. If you want to crush KaibaCorp, you'll have to go through me."
Recalling the information he had "overheard" from Hayato, Kaiba leaned back in his chair, looking at the computer screen before him, and picked up his Deck.
Because of Bakura's agreement with Hayato, Hayato couldn't share the information he had gathered with Kaiba. However, Kaiba himself possessed powerful information-gathering abilities, and he had successfully collected quite a bit of information on his own, displayed on the computer screen.
《Schroeder Corporation's New President》
《Paradius Company Board of Directors Reshuffled》
《Kaiba and Schroeder? The Future of the Virtual Projection System》
...
On the other side of this information was the backend program Kaiba had recovered from the Duel Robots at Kaiba Land. He had mostly completed the reverse engineering and successfully located the vulnerability where the Duel Robots were originally invaded and controlled.
As Kaiba stood up and left the office, his computer screen went dark.
Although Kaiba still didn't know when or how Schroeder Corporation planned to make a move against KaibaCorp, and whether Paradius Company had any connection to Doma was merely Kaiba's suspicion, Kaiba's consistent approach was "to meet all changes with no change."
Whatever schemes and plots you plan to use, I will defeat you head-on. This was Kaiba's arrogance.
It was already the fourth day of the KC Cup. The event had reached the third round, with 16 players remaining. After today's Duels, the final Top 8 Duelists would be decided, and tomorrow would be the day to determine the strongest in the group stage.
After that would be the Top 4 showdowns.
According to the original plan, Kaiba intended to have Pegasus, that guy who always freeloaded at Kaiba Land, serve as the Referee for the KC Cup Finals. However, after the KC Cup ended yesterday, Pegasus hurriedly sought out Kaiba, asked him for a copy of the card data for **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon**, and then left, saying he had inspiration for new cards.
Kaiba was initially a bit reluctant, after all, **Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** was his ace monster. But Pegasus had an expression like "I'll give you a surprise in three days," and Kaiba didn't make him explain what surprise meant, just copied the data for him.
Anyway, he didn't take the card itself, so giving the data was fine. However, Kaiba didn't think Pegasus could come up with anything new. If he were going to research something, it should be **Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon** that was more suitable.
Following his usual practice, Kaiba arranged for Joey Wheeler, that mediocre talent, to go first today, and planned to have him go first every day until he was eliminated. Although he constantly looked down on Joey Wheeler, Kaiba believed that Joey Wheeler could definitely win his way into the Top 4.
For today's Duel, Kaiba arranged Joey Wheeler's opponent to be "Valon," who had registered alongside "Raphael." The result was indeed Joey Wheeler's victory, although his Life Points dropped to 50 LP, a number practically equal to 0. But in the end, the strategy of using **Time Wizard** to flip Heads and then **Graceful Dice** to roll a six was truly Joey Wheeler's style of "doesn't get serious until he's low on Life Points."
What annoyed Kaiba even more was that the other two Duelists in Joey Wheeler's group actually ended in a draw using **Ring of Destruction** during their Duel. This meant that Joey Wheeler's group was left with only him, and he could advance directly to the Top 4 without doing anything else.
There was nothing more absurd luck than this.
Except for Yugi's Duel.
Yugi's opponent today was the guy named "Raphael." Kaiba wanted to see how Yugi would deal with "Raphael," whom he himself couldn't defeat.
Everything started normally, but halfway through the Duel, after Yugi used a **Mirror Force** to counter and destroy "Raphael's" monsters, that guy actually surrendered voluntarily, giving Yugi a "Quick Victory."
Watching the Duel between the two almost reach its climax, even making him feel a bit excited, and then Raphael just surrendered like that?
Right now, Kaiba was in a very bad mood, even a little angry.
And the best way for him to vent the itch to duel that had been stirred up was to immediately go up and play a match.
Unfortunately, even if Kaiba wanted to manipulate the Duel grouping, he had to prepare it a day in advance. Kaiba had arranged himself to go last. The Duel about to start now was Hayato's, and his opponent was a kid named "Rayne Wilson."
Right now, Kaiba could at most go watch Hayato to see what new tricks that guy would try, so he could guard against them later.
----Meanwhile, in the Player Waiting Room----
"Daitokuji, Amnael."
"Alright, Daitokuji."
Looking at the man standing before him, whose body was covered by a cloak and who coughed occasionally, Hayato couldn't help but think to himself about whether everyone was into wearing cloaks these days. He then introduced himself, "My name is Dan Kuroto, 33 years old, living in the Villa Area of Domino City, Japan, unmarried. Ah, I think I got my lines mixed up."
"But, this is the Player Waiting Room, how did you get in?"
"As the winner of the previous match, plus a little trick." "Daitokuji Amnael," whose face was hidden by the cloak, extended a slightly withered finger from beneath the cloak, covering his mouth and nose as he coughed. "Also, my name is Amnael."
"Alright, Daitokuji."
Although the other party looked like he was dying, as if he would cough up blood any second, Hayato, who already knew the other party's identity, completely ignored the true name he reported and continued to call him by the nickname he was more familiar with.
"My name is, cough cough cough. Forget it, just call me Daitokuji. That name sounds pretty good." Although he didn't know why the other party was calling him by that name, "Daitokuji Amnael" was easygoing and readily accepted the address. "Mr. Dan Kuroto, I'd like to confirm, you should also be an alchemist, right?"
"Alchemy? No, I'm not an alchemist." Under Daitokuji's expectant gaze, Hayato shook his head and shrugged, indicating that he knew nothing about alchemy.
However, Hayato did remember that he possessed something that alchemists considered their ultimate pursuit. He reached out and took out that card from the Card Box at his waist.
Looking at the perfect sphere on the card in Hayato's hand, Daitokuji seemed quite excited: "Indeed, indeed it's possible! Alchemy isn't without a future!"
"That's great, to be able to see its existence, I *pfft*—!!"
"Hey, don't suddenly spit blood!"
----Three minutes later----
Rayne Wilson, who had been waiting on the Duel Platform for a long time, finally saw Dan Kuroto appear before him.
Because he had arrived at the Duel Field early, he naturally noticed that a large group of medical personnel who were on standby at the venue had just entered the Player Waiting Room on the opposite side, proving that they were useful even on the field.
When the commotion occurred, Rayne was a little worried if something had happened to his opponent for this match. However, upon seeing Dan Kuroto walk up strutting like an idiot, he felt relieved.
Although his itch wasn't as strong as Kaiba's, it would still be regrettable if the Duel he had prepared for a while ended so abruptly.
"Rayne Wilson, right?" Raising his Duel Disk and inserting his Deck, Hayato temporarily kept what Daitokuji had said before being carried away in mind. He showed a healthy smile to Rayne on the opposite field. "Sorry to keep you waiting, young man!"
"Ah, actually it's fine, I didn't wait too long."
The shy Rayne Wilson also raised his Duel Disk. "Yes, I am Rayne Wilson."
As he spoke, Rayne, who was using a pseudonym, felt a little unsure of himself. Although it wasn't the first time he had entered a match using a pseudonym, using a pseudonym was one thing, calling himself by the pseudonym was another.
But Hayato didn't pay attention to Rayne's expression. Instead, he gave his Deck a slightly meaningful glance.
The Referee confirmed that both sides were ready and announced the start of the match.
"Duel!"
"Duel."
【Rayne: 4000 LP】
【Dan Kuroto: 4000 LP】
Compared to Hayato, Rayne's voice was slightly smaller, but his action when drawing a card was not slow at all. "I'll take the first turn, draw a card."
"I Attack Position Summon **Iron Knight** to my field, then I Set three cards in my Spell/Trap Zone. I End Turn."
After Attack Position Summoning a monster to the field, Rayne ended his turn.
Although it was also called **Iron Knight**, the monster that appeared on Rayne's field was not Joey Wheeler's **Gearfried the Iron Knight**, but another monster. It was riding a tall steed, holding a long lance in its hand, looking mighty and impressive.
【Iron Knight】【Level 4 / Earth Attribute】
【Warrior Type / Effect】
【1700 ATK / 700 DEF】
Seeing Hayato staring intently at the **Iron Knight** on his field, Rayne couldn't help but say proudly, "My **Iron Knight** is based on the prince from the Fairy Tale 'Iron Hans.' Among Level 4 monsters, it has one of the best battle power and has defeated many enemies for me."
"Is that so? 1700 ATK is indeed not bad, but to say it's one of the best is far from it. At least I have many ways to easily deal with it." Hayato said indifferently, drawing a card from his hand. "But before that, my turn, draw a card!"
"Activate Magic Card, **Change of Heart**! Until the end of the turn, I gain control of the **Iron Knight** on your field. Then I activate Magic Card, **Star Blast**! For every 500 Life Points I pay, I can decrease the Level of one card in my hand by one star. At this moment, I will pay 2000 Life Points to decrease the Level of **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca** in my hand by 4 stars!"
Hayato's Life Points instantly disappeared by a full half, turning into four stars that appeared above his field. The **Iron Knight** that was originally standing on Rayne Wilson's field was also hit by the power of the Magic Card **Change of Heart** and moved to Hayato's field.
Seeing this, Rayne couldn't help but feel troubled.
His **Iron Knight's** ATK wasn't very strong, but what was important was that if **Iron Knight** was destroyed by battle or sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, he could directly add an "Iron Hans" from his Deck to his hand. Its primary purpose was resource gathering, not direct battle.
However, in order to mislead Dan Kuroto, Rayne deliberately acted as if he heavily relied on **Iron Knight**. In reality, he secretly Set **Divine Wrath**, **Sakuretsu Armor**, and **Dimensional Prison** in his Spell/Trap Zone. Among these three cards, **Divine Wrath** has the ability to negate the activation of a monster effect and destroy the monster. **Sakuretsu Armor** and **Dimensional Prison** are Traps activated during an attack declaration.
But, against a card like **Change of Heart**, he really had no way.
But even if it was controlled, it didn't matter. At most, the opponent would just attack with **Iron Knight**, or perhaps use **Iron Knight** to Summon the monster whose Level was decreased by **Star Blast** just now?
In that case, his **Sakuretsu Armor** and **Dimensional Prison** could come in handy.
Thinking this, Rayne suddenly felt a bit tired, as if something had suddenly pressed down on him.
Hayato drew out a card from his hand and activated it: "Activate Magic Card, **Planet Pathfinder**! I add the Field Spell Card **Temple of the Mind's Eye** to my hand, then I activate Field Spell Card, **Temple of the Mind's Eye**!"
Following the activation of the Field Spell Card, a Temple slowly rose from beneath the Duel Field. Standing in the center of the Temple, Hayato's expression was quite serious: "Perhaps I'm overreacting, but this is to be safe."
"Using the **Iron Knight** on my field as Tribute, the stage for the descent is ready. Come forth, **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca**!"
As the figure of **Iron Knight** disappeared from Hayato's field and returned to Rayne Wilson's Graveyard, a huge shadow appeared on Hayato's field.
Only to see a huge purple stone heart suddenly appear at the top of the Temple, constantly beating. After absorbing the **Iron Knight** that left the field, the heart split open, and a giant raptor appeared on the field!
【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】【Level 10 / Dark Attribute → Level 6 / Dark Attribute】
【Winged Beast Type / Effect】
【1 ATK / 1 DEF】
Although its ATK was only 1 point, **Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca's** mere appearance made Rayne feel a bit breathless. He widened his eyes, looking at the giant eagle that seemed to almost pierce through the dome of the Kaiba Dome.
"Earthbound Immortal?"
Rayne, his voice a bit stuttering, had never seen a monster with such a heavy sense of oppression, not even the Three Egyptian Gods he had seen on television. It wasn't a gap in power, but that sense of threat.
Although they had the name of "God," Earthbound Immortal
