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## Chapter 467: Next Time, Marik's Death
When Hayato and the others finally walked down the long Stairs and reached the bottom floor, they saw Valon panting, bathed in lava. The armor he wore to resist the lava was slowly turning transparent.
"Hehe, you were a good opponent. You were even close to turning the tables, but luckily, I was slightly better."
Facing the dishevelled Valon, Marik stood with his hands on his hips, grinning like a three-year-old, looking every bit the antagonist.
Wait, wasn't Marik already an antagonist?
"Marik, playing with your big toys again? How about taking a break and playing with a standard Deck?" Hayato teased, sizing up Marik, who stood proudly before Valon. He then stepped in front of Marik, turning his back to him, and looked at Valon.
"Hayato Kobayashi, I didn't expect you to be the second group to arrive here..." Valon looked at Yugi and Joey Wheeler walking down the Stairs, a frustrated expression on his face. "Honestly, if I'd known, I would have waited a bit longer. Dueling this annoying white-haired guy wasn't fun at all."
Valon didn't have many grand ambitions in life; he was quite content just living peacefully. His love for Duel Monsters was only average, not particularly fanatical. But if he was going to duel, he wouldn't easily surrender or give up. Instead, he would strive to gain enough passion and ultimately achieve victory in the duel.
For things that weren't important, like eating coarse, unappetizing food or sleeping under a bridge, Valon could completely accept them. Losing the duel against Marik, which he found unsatisfying, was also fine. However, if something truly ignited his passion, Valon might very well unleash all the enthusiasm he had accumulated over the years.
It was just that Valon had never encountered anything that could truly make him burn with passion. Even the close-quarters battle of dueling with his **Armor** Deck was only mildly interesting.
On the other hand, Kujaku Mai, whom he had only met twice, somehow made Valon feel a little concerned about her. This strange feeling was a first for Valon, who had been a bachelor for over twenty years, and it felt completely new.
"Hey, hey, you've said it several times now, who's white-haired?! My hair is clearly light gold, even if it's not very noticeable!" Marik yelled from behind Hayato, full of energy. "And I have a name! Malik Ishtar! Remember it!"
"Call yourself whatever you want, I'm too lazy to remember your name." Valon glared at Marik, annoyed. "In fact, I don't want to see you again. When it comes to disgusting tricks, you're truly rare in this world."
"Who are you calling rare?!"
Marik immediately retorted, "Let me tell you the truth, among the four people in my family, I'm the weakest. There are three others who are even more disgusting to duel against than me."
"Three?"
More than Marik's standard "I'm the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings" line, Hayato found it stranger where the other three people in his family came from. Even counting Rishid, Marik's foster brother, there were only three. Could it be his deceased father, whom Marik had dutifully sent to the grave?
"Me, Malik Ishtar;"
"My foster brother, Rishid Ishtar;"
"My sister, Ishizu Ishtar, and my Brother-in-law, Hayato Kobayashi."
Marik stood with his hands on his hips, smugly placing one hand on Hayato's shoulder. "The waters of Duel Monsters are very deep, you can't handle it. My Brother-in-law is invincible!"
Listening to Marik, who was standing behind him and wildly applying debuffs, Hayato's forehead veins bulged as if to form a "well" character. "So who's your Brother-in-law—"
"Boom!"
Just as Hayato was about to finish his sentence, a sudden loud noise came from the open door not far away, interrupting him.
Everyone's gaze turned towards that direction. Marik's expression became somewhat serious. "Tristan Taylor and Kujaku Mai went through that door just now. What happened?"
"What? Tristan and Mai are in there?!" Joey Wheeler exclaimed, immediately growing anxious. His body moved faster than his thoughts. "Hang in there, Tristan !"
Shouting, Joey Wheeler started running, charging towards the open door.
Because Joey Wheeler was so anxious, he completely forgot he was still holding the rope. Zigfried, who had just come down the long Stairs and hadn't had a chance to catch his breath, looked resistant but was forced to follow, being pulled along.
Seeing this, Yugi also wanted to follow, but he noticed that Hayato and Marik were still standing still. He turned back, looking at Hayato with confusion.
"You go ahead, Yugi." Hayato pointed to Valon, who was standing not far away and hadn't tried to stop Yugi and Joey Wheeler. "At least I need to stop this guy and prevent him from interfering with you."
Marik's hand was still on Hayato's shoulder, and he complained, "That's so mean, Brother-in-law. I already won a duel against him. You're just stealing kills."
Hayato ignored Marik's complaint and gave Yugi a reassuring look. Having great confidence in Hayato's strength, Yugi nodded without further delay. Leaving behind a "Be careful," he also followed Joey Wheeler, who wasn't far ahead.
Although Rayne knew his Brother was the mastermind, he followed out of concern.
The only ones left outside were Marik, Hayato, and Valon.
Valon looked at Marik, then at the well-conditioned Hayato, closed his fighting spirit-filled eyes, and sighed helplessly.
Logically, having a rare one-on-one opportunity with the Duel King, Valon should have felt a little happy. But having just finished a duel with an extremely poor gaming experience, he couldn't muster any interest in dueling.
And it wasn't just his emotional state. Marik had used the rules of the Dark Game in that duel. Although Valon didn't fall unconscious or have his soul sealed due to the protection of the Orichalcos Fragment on his chest, the physical fatigue and stamina loss Valon experienced were real.
"Let's make a deal, Duel King. I won't interfere with you." As Valon spoke, seemingly to prove he had no intention of dueling, he retracted the Duel Disk he had deployed earlier, pulled out his Deck, and raised both hands. "If you want to save your companions, go ahead and save them."
"After just having a duel, I really don't have the spirit to battle you right now. A duel where one side isn't in peak condition is very boring."
As he spoke, Valon started moving, walking towards the Stairs. "I'll leave here now, and as a gesture of sincerity to stop fighting, I can also give you some information about what's inside. It's not that I don't want to tell you more, but I was entrusted with this task, and I honestly don't know much more."
Looking at Valon, who didn't act like a Duelist at all, not only avoiding battle and surrendering but even voluntarily offering information, Hayato raised an eyebrow. "You're offering me information just to avoid dueling me? That's a good suggestion, but won't your companions, Alister and Rafael, have an issue with that?"
"This isn't a particularly important plan; no one really cares if it succeeds or not. Oh, wait, Alister seems pretty invested in it."
Valon shrugged indifferently. "Anyway, Doma isn't the leader of the plan, just a participant. Even Rafael himself knows that I wouldn't honestly Guard the door and stop everyone."
Valon continued walking as he spoke, and Hayato and Marik's gazes followed him.
Although the pain of the Dark Game was weakened by the pendant Valon wore, it was still enough to make someone with average willpower faint from the sheer pain. And while Valon looked very weak right after the duel ended, he walked quite normally.
Stepping onto the Stairs, Valon faced Hayato and walked up backwards. The expression on his face was very serious. "The information I got from Rafael is that throughout the Kaiba Dome Venue, there's a domain set up specifically to absorb life force. It seems to be concentrated in a Room behind this door."
"The collected life force seems to be used to boost a certain Duel Monsters card. That card seems to be the objective of the anomaly's leader. It apparently has some sort of mystical power that 'guides the world into darkness'."
"I don't know anything more specific. Anyway, good luck, Duel King. I hope we can have a proper duel next time we meet."
With that, Valon ascended the last Stair, his figure disappearing around the Corner.
After waiting several seconds and not seeing Valon reappear, Marik smugly snorted, "He lost to Marik in a duel and even lost the courage to duel you, Brother-in-law? Youngsters nowadays have such poor mental fortitude, hehehehehe."
Hayato didn't know what Marik was thinking, calling Valon a youngster when Valon was actually older than him.
"How many Soul Hall Elders do you eat for a meal?" Hayato ranted about Marik's new strange catchphrase, glancing at the weight of Marik's hand still on his shoulder. "Oh right, you can fall now."
"Oh yeah." Marik forced a smile, no longer trying to hold on. His body went limp and he fell forward, but Hayato propped him up, preventing him from collapsing completely. His face suddenly turned pale, and even his breathing became heavy and strained.
The characteristic of Valon's **Armor** Deck, besides fighting like someone from that Athena-guarding 'repeater nemesis' scene next door, was that the opponent dueling the **Armor** Deck would suffer vitality damage.
How high was the specific damage? In another timeline, the duel with Valon almost took the life of Joey Wheeler, who was more tenacious than a cockroach, which shows how significant the damage was.
Although Marik only took 2000 life points of damage in his duel with Valon, which was less than the damage taken by Joey Wheeler, that guy who only plays when he's at low HP, and Marik also had the protection of the Millennium Rod compared to Joey Wheeler, who had almost no defense and relied entirely on guts.
But don't forget, Marik's body wasn't as strong as Joey Wheeler's. Not only had his skin turned pale from constantly hiding in dark places, acting mysterious, and not getting sun, but there was also the damage left behind by Dark Marik before he disappeared.
Before getting the Millennium Rod from Hayato, Marik had also had a certain amount of life energy absorbed. After the duel with Valon ended, he was actually just forcing himself to not show any weakness.
Although Valon hadn't done anything to stop Tristan and the others before, no one could guarantee that his idea wouldn't change. If he were to fall and Valon were to chase after Tristan and the others
When Hayato and the others finally walked down the long Stairs and reached the bottom floor, they saw Valon panting, bathed in lava. The armor he wore to resist the lava was slowly turning transparent.
"Hehe, you were a good opponent. You were even close to turning the tables, but luckily, I was slightly better."
Facing the dishevelled Valon, Marik stood with his hands on his hips, grinning like a three-year-old, looking every bit the antagonist.
Wait, wasn't Marik already an antagonist?
"Marik, playing with your big toys again? How about taking a break and playing with a standard Deck?" Hayato teased, sizing up Marik, who stood proudly before Valon. He then stepped in front of Marik, turning his back to him, and looked at Valon.
"Hayato Kobayashi, I didn't expect you to be the second group to arrive here..." Valon looked at Yugi and Joey Wheeler walking down the Stairs, a frustrated expression on his face. "Honestly, if I'd known, I would have waited a bit longer. Dueling this annoying white-haired guy wasn't fun at all."
Valon didn't have many grand ambitions in life; he was quite content just living peacefully. His love for Duel Monsters was only average, not particularly fanatical. But if he was going to duel, he wouldn't easily surrender or give up. Instead, he would strive to gain enough passion and ultimately achieve victory in the duel.
For things that weren't important, like eating coarse, unappetizing food or sleeping under a bridge, Valon could completely accept them. Losing the duel against Marik, which he found unsatisfying, was also fine. However, if something truly ignited his passion, Valon might very well unleash all the enthusiasm he had accumulated over the years.
It was just that Valon had never encountered anything that could truly make him burn with passion. Even the close-quarters battle of dueling with his **Armor** Deck was only mildly interesting.
On the other hand, Kujaku Mai, whom he had only met twice, somehow made Valon feel a little concerned about her. This strange feeling was a first for Valon, who had been a bachelor for over twenty years, and it felt completely new.
"Hey, hey, you've said it several times now, who's white-haired?! My hair is clearly light gold, even if it's not very noticeable!" Marik yelled from behind Hayato, full of energy. "And I have a name! Malik Ishtar! Remember it!"
"Call yourself whatever you want, I'm too lazy to remember your name." Valon glared at Marik, annoyed. "In fact, I don't want to see you again. When it comes to disgusting tricks, you're truly rare in this world."
"Who are you calling rare?!"
Marik immediately retorted, "Let me tell you the truth, among the four people in my family, I'm the weakest. There are three others who are even more disgusting to duel against than me."
"Three?"
More than Marik's standard "I'm the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings" line, Hayato found it stranger where the other three people in his family came from. Even counting Rishid, Marik's foster brother, there were only three. Could it be his deceased father, whom Marik had dutifully sent to the grave?
"Me, Malik Ishtar;"
"My foster brother, Rishid Ishtar;"
"My sister, Ishizu Ishtar, and my Brother-in-law, Hayato Kobayashi."
Marik stood with his hands on his hips, smugly placing one hand on Hayato's shoulder. "The waters of Duel Monsters are very deep, you can't handle it. My Brother-in-law is invincible!"
Listening to Marik, who was standing behind him and wildly applying debuffs, Hayato's forehead veins bulged as if to form a "well" character. "So who's your Brother-in-law—"
"Boom!"
Just as Hayato was about to finish his sentence, a sudden loud noise came from the open door not far away, interrupting him.
Everyone's gaze turned towards that direction. Marik's expression became somewhat serious. "Tristan Taylor and Kujaku Mai went through that door just now. What happened?"
"What? Tristan and Mai are in there?!" Joey Wheeler exclaimed, immediately growing anxious. His body moved faster than his thoughts. "Hang in there, Tristan !"
Shouting, Joey Wheeler started running, charging towards the open door.
Because Joey Wheeler was so anxious, he completely forgot he was still holding the rope. Zigfried, who had just come down the long Stairs and hadn't had a chance to catch his breath, looked resistant but was forced to follow, being pulled along.
Seeing this, Yugi also wanted to follow, but he noticed that Hayato and Marik were still standing still. He turned back, looking at Hayato with confusion.
"You go ahead, Yugi." Hayato pointed to Valon, who was standing not far away and hadn't tried to stop Yugi and Joey Wheeler. "At least I need to stop this guy and prevent him from interfering with you."
Marik's hand was still on Hayato's shoulder, and he complained, "That's so mean, Brother-in-law. I already won a duel against him. You're just stealing kills."
Hayato ignored Marik's complaint and gave Yugi a reassuring look. Having great confidence in Hayato's strength, Yugi nodded without further delay. Leaving behind a "Be careful," he also followed Joey Wheeler, who wasn't far ahead.
Although Rayne knew his Brother was the mastermind, he followed out of concern.
The only ones left outside were Marik, Hayato, and Valon.
Valon looked at Marik, then at the well-conditioned Hayato, closed his fighting spirit-filled eyes, and sighed helplessly.
Logically, having a rare one-on-one opportunity with the Duel King, Valon should have felt a little happy. But having just finished a duel with an extremely poor gaming experience, he couldn't muster any interest in dueling.
And it wasn't just his emotional state. Marik had used the rules of the Dark Game in that duel. Although Valon didn't fall unconscious or have his soul sealed due to the protection of the Orichalcos Fragment on his chest, the physical fatigue and stamina loss Valon experienced were real.
"Let's make a deal, Duel King. I won't interfere with you." As Valon spoke, seemingly to prove he had no intention of dueling, he retracted the Duel Disk he had deployed earlier, pulled out his Deck, and raised both hands. "If you want to save your companions, go ahead and save them."
"After just having a duel, I really don't have the spirit to battle you right now. A duel where one side isn't in peak condition is very boring."
As he spoke, Valon started moving, walking towards the Stairs. "I'll leave here now, and as a gesture of sincerity to stop fighting, I can also give you some information about what's inside. It's not that I don't want to tell you more, but I was entrusted with this task, and I honestly don't know much more."
Looking at Valon, who didn't act like a Duelist at all, not only avoiding battle and surrendering but even voluntarily offering information, Hayato raised an eyebrow. "You're offering me information just to avoid dueling me? That's a good suggestion, but won't your companions, Alister and Rafael, have an issue with that?"
"This isn't a particularly important plan; no one really cares if it succeeds or not. Oh, wait, Alister seems pretty invested in it."
Valon shrugged indifferently. "Anyway, Doma isn't the leader of the plan, just a participant. Even Rafael himself knows that I wouldn't honestly Guard the door and stop everyone."
Valon continued walking as he spoke, and Hayato and Marik's gazes followed him.
Although the pain of the Dark Game was weakened by the pendant Valon wore, it was still enough to make someone with average willpower faint from the sheer pain. And while Valon looked very weak right after the duel ended, he walked quite normally.
Stepping onto the Stairs, Valon faced Hayato and walked up backwards. The expression on his face was very serious. "The information I got from Rafael is that throughout the Kaiba Dome Venue, there's a domain set up specifically to absorb life force. It seems to be concentrated in a Room behind this door."
"The collected life force seems to be used to boost a certain Duel Monsters card. That card seems to be the objective of the anomaly's leader. It apparently has some sort of mystical power that 'guides the world into darkness'."
"I don't know anything more specific. Anyway, good luck, Duel King. I hope we can have a proper duel next time we meet."
With that, Valon ascended the last Stair, his figure disappearing around the Corner.
After waiting several seconds and not seeing Valon reappear, Marik smugly snorted, "He lost to Marik in a duel and even lost the courage to duel you, Brother-in-law? Youngsters nowadays have such poor mental fortitude, hehehehehe."
Hayato didn't know what Marik was thinking, calling Valon a youngster when Valon was actually older than him.
"How many Soul Hall Elders do you eat for a meal?" Hayato ranted about Marik's new strange catchphrase, glancing at the weight of Marik's hand still on his shoulder. "Oh right, you can fall now."
"Oh yeah." Marik forced a smile, no longer trying to hold on. His body went limp and he fell forward, but Hayato propped him up, preventing him from collapsing completely. His face suddenly turned pale, and even his breathing became heavy and strained.
The characteristic of Valon's **Armor** Deck, besides fighting like someone from that Athena-guarding 'repeater nemesis' scene next door, was that the opponent dueling the **Armor** Deck would suffer vitality damage.
How high was the specific damage? In another timeline, the duel with Valon almost took the life of Joey Wheeler, who was more tenacious than a cockroach, which shows how significant the damage was.
Although Marik only took 2000 life points of damage in his duel with Valon, which was less than the damage taken by Joey Wheeler, that guy who only plays when he's at low HP, and Marik also had the protection of the Millennium Rod compared to Joey Wheeler, who had almost no defense and relied entirely on guts.
But don't forget, Marik's body wasn't as strong as Joey Wheeler's. Not only had his skin turned pale from constantly hiding in dark places, acting mysterious, and not getting sun, but there was also the damage left behind by Dark Marik before he disappeared.
Before getting the Millennium Rod from Hayato, Marik had also had a certain amount of life energy absorbed. After the duel with Valon ended, he was actually just forcing himself to not show any weakness.
Although Valon hadn't done anything to stop Tristan and the others before, no one could guarantee that his idea wouldn't change. If he were to fall and Valon were to chase after Tristan and the others
