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# Chapter 469: It's Already Over
"Where am I?"
Opening his eyes, Tristan sat up from the soft bed, covering his temples, and looked around.
White walls, clean light blue curtains, the arrangement on the bedside table, and a faint smell of disinfectant alcohol lingering in the air. Tristan felt confused as to why he was in a Hospital.
"Honda, you're awake."
Joey Wheeler, who was sitting by Tristan 's bed, saw that Tristan had woken up and quickly stood up and walked towards him. "The doctor said you need to rest properly now. Lie back down obediently."
"Joey Wheeler?"
A confused Tristan was pressed back onto the bed by Joey Wheeler. "I remember before..."
"Ah, right, I remember I wanted to tell you guys to escape back then."
Recalling the situation before, Tristan urgently asked Joey Wheeler, "How are Téa and Keipei?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, everything has been resolved."
Seeing that Tristan seemed a little excited, Joey Wheeler comforted him, "The matter was perfectly resolved by yours truly, Joey Wheeler the Great, along with Yugi and Hayato. Everyone is out of danger. Otherwise, how do you think you ended up lying in a Hospital?"
"It wasn't just Téa and Keipei; many others in the Venue at the time were also saved and escaped danger. Most of them have even recovered. It's just that you were closest to the center of the anomaly at the time, so you were unconscious the longest."
Sitting next to Tristan , Joey Wheeler explained in detail everything that had happened before.
"Ya, Yarou!" Seeing that Hayato had actually used the power of the Sacred Beasts to break into the domain, Bakura was both surprised and angry. But no matter how enraged he was at Hayato, he couldn't reverse the fact that the barrier protecting the Room had been dispelled. "Hayato Kobayashi, you bastard!"
"Hoho, that expression doesn't suit a behind-the-scenes boss, Bakura." Hayato carried the *Millennium Rod* on his shoulder, grinning menacingly as he approached Bakura. As he walked, he twisted his neck, making a "crack, crack" sound.
"So, how about a thrilling and exciting Duel Monsters?"
Hayato raised the Duel Disk on his wrist. His Deck had already been inserted beforehand, and in Hayato's Deck, an unprecedentedly powerful lineup had been gathered. Both the Three Egyptian Gods and the Earthbound Immortals had been added to Hayato's Deck, all for the sake of giving Bakura a grand show.
If Bakura accepted his duel, what he would face was Hayato's full power. Although Hayato wasn't confident about defeating Bakura, or rather, defeating Dark Bakura acting under the identity of "Bakura," he felt he could at least make him behave for a while.
However, unfortunately, compared to those who lacked self-awareness, Bakura had a very clear self-understanding of his strength in Duel Monsters.
"Duel Monsters? Heh, do you take me for an idiot?"
Stepping back, Bakura remained wary of Hayato and Joey Wheeler and Yugi who had followed Hayato into the Room.
"Knowing that your strength is the world's strongest, and that even Mutou Yuugi and Kaiba Seto are not your opponent, I don't have the kind of blind confidence to think I have the strength to contend with you, let alone defeat you."
Although Bakura always liked to use outside-the-duel tactics and preferred using despicable means rather than obtaining what he wanted through Duel Monsters, do you know why that is?
It's unclear when it started, but Bakura has almost no record of defeating others in Duel Monsters. It's as if he's under the curse of Duel Monsters and can never achieve victory.
Knowing he would lose a Duel Monsters duel and still going for it? Bakura didn't like wasting his time on such meaningless things, even though his time wasn't precious.
Hayato, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi formed a triangle formation, pressing closer to Bakura step by step. Watching the three figures getting closer, Bakura gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Damn it, you guys, don't get proud too early!"
"Otherwise? Are you saying you're going to defy us?" Joey Wheeler clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, as he approached Bakura. "Although I don't know why you did it, it's an undeniable fact that you hurt Tristan and Téa."
"I'll take good care of you, Bakura, with my fists!"
Saying this, Joey Wheeler quickened his pace and lunged towards Bakura.
Bakura turned his head and glanced behind him. The card floating in the air was only a few steps away, meaning he didn't have much room to retreat.
Since that was the case, it was time to go all out!
"Don't even think about it, **Dark Necrofear**, deal with them!"
Drawing a card from the Duel Disk on his wrist, Bakura slapped the drawn monster card directly onto the unfolded Duel Disk and called its name.
He didn't seem to prepare tributes or special summoning conditions like in a normal duel. The moment Bakura placed the card on the unfolded Duel Disk, a cold blue arm with spherical joints shot out from the shadow beneath his feet, narrowly missing Joey Wheeler's eye.
Feeling the bone-chilling killing intent brush past his nose, cold sweat broke out on Joey Wheeler's head. After running two or three steps, Joey Wheeler, as if possessed, paused halfway. It was this slight gap that saved his life, otherwise, he would have been pierced from bottom to top by this arm that looked extremely dangerous!
"That was, that was close!" Joey Wheeler was so scared he couldn't help but take half a step back. Immediately, this sudden fright combined with his previous dissatisfaction was converted into wrath. "Bakura, you bastard, you actually tried to kill me? In that case, I'm going to make my move too!"
"Come out, **Gilford the Lightning**, **Fiend Dragon - Dark Black Dragon**, and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*!"
In his haste, Joey Wheeler drew three monster cards in one go. Regardless of what he had drawn, he threw them all onto the Duel Disk. Just as Bakura's **Dark Necrofear** crawled out from the shadow, Joey Wheeler's three monsters also manifested before him.
But looking at the appearance of Joey Wheeler's three monsters, Bakura sneered, "What an idiot, Joey Wheeler."
Joey Wheeler heard Bakura's words and hadn't yet understood what he meant when his **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon* attacked **Dark Necrofear**.
**Dark Necrofear**, with only 2200 ATK, was naturally no match for **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*, both with 2800 ATK. With just one encounter, it was defeated by the combined power of the two monsters.
However, as **Dark Necrofear** was destroyed, a strange black mist that looked incredibly eerie drifted out from the monster's wreckage, wrapping around **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*. Joey Wheeler's breathing also became rapid, and his body felt so heavy he almost knelt on the ground.
"This is..."
"That's why I said you're an idiot. You didn't think that Duel Monsters materialized out of thin air had no consumption, did you? If you knew even a little about the law of conservation of energy, you wouldn't have such an idea, idiot Joey Wheeler."
Bakura said proudly. Two red lights glowed in the black mist surrounding him, and then, from the slightly receding black mist, Joey Wheeler's **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon* actually walked out one by one and stood on Bakura's side!?
Seeing this, Hayato wasn't surprised. Since Duel Monsters had materialized into existence in Reality, they naturally couldn't continue to follow the rules of the Duel Monsters game. **Dark Necrofear** itself had the ability to take control of the opponent's monster after being destroyed. It looked like Joey Wheeler's reckless attack had instead fallen into Bakura's trap.
"The life force extracted from those ordinary people, filling the air, is the key for Duel Monsters to manifest as physical entities. However, just for the Duel Monsters to appear has already drained the surrounding life points, and for them to move, the duelist needs to contribute their own power."
Bakura smiled very proudly. "In other words, the monsters sustained by your life force, after destroying my monster, have become tools under my control because of my monster's effect."
"Reap what you sow, Joey Wheeler!"
Waving his hand and ordered the two monsters to attack Joey Wheeler, Bakura looked at Yugi and Hayato with malice. "Go ahead and try to block me, Hayato Kobayashi, Mutou Yuugi. If you attack these two monsters, only Joey Wheeler will be injured."
Hearing this, Yugi said unwillingly, "Damn it, it's this trick again. Using this method every time is too annoying!"
Yugi's negative review instead made Bakura very happy. "No, it's not annoying at all. This is what's called 'a single trick can conquer the world'."
Just like the barrier created using Tristan and the others' life force before, this time Bakura used the same trick with a different twist: "Monsters controlled by Joey Wheeler's life force." It really failed to give anyone a sense of freshness.
But Yugi also had to admit, this move was still very annoying. If what Bakura said was indeed true, then he really couldn't attack the two monsters controlled by Bakura.
Watching as the two monsters previously controlled by Joey Wheeler were about to attack Joey Wheeler's last *Fiend Dragon - Dark Black Dragon* in a "suicidal" move, suddenly, two pink lights flew out from the side and landed on **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*.
Seeing Bakura's gaze turn towards him, Hayato shook the card in his hand. "**Change of Heart**. Because this isn't a proper duel anymore, taking control of two monsters at once is nothing."
"Did you forget, Bakura? This is a card you gave me."
"That's clearly a card you bastard snatched from my hand!" How could Bakura not know **Change of Heart**? Including *Spiritual Energy Entity*, several cards Hayato had "borrowed" from Bakura during the Duelist Kingdom era were still being used in his duels to this day.
"Go, Yugi."
Joey Wheeler suffered a setback due to his momentary recklessness, and Hayato was busy controlling the two monsters he had just acquired. Now it was Yugi's turn to make a move. And conveniently, there were no monsters blocking Bakura's path now.
Yugi nodded, drew from the top of his Deck, and without even looking at the drawn card, as if he hadn't done any shuffling, he slapped it directly onto the Duel Disk and shouted their names: "Go, **Dark Magician**, **Dark Magician Girl**!"
"**Dark Burning Attack!!**"
"Onore Hayato Kobayashi!" His plan was perfect, link after link, yet this time it was Hayato Kobayashi again who ruined his plan. Watching Yugi command the **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl**'s magical attack come towards him, Bakura's face was contorted with rage.
However, the ferocity on his face suddenly turned into a cold smile. "You still missed one thing, Hayato Kobayashi. You specifically let Mutou Yuugi deliver the last blow to me!"
"If I remember correctly, Rafael already appeared before you guys and lost to Mutou Yuugi, or rather, you, Mutou Yuugi, the card **Uria, Lord of Searing Flames**!"
"Pity, pity, pity! Anticipating that card would fall into Mutou Yuugi's hands, I already tampered with that card. You're defeated, Mutou Yuugi! No, Nameless Pharaoh!"
"Once I activate the power of the *Millennium Eye* hidden within it, causing **Uria, Lord of Searing Flames**'s mystical power to riot, your *Millennium Puzzle* will be sealed because of it!"
"Now! I've endured to my limit. I'm going to press it!"
Speaking at an extremely fast pace, Bakura, like a time-stopping commentator, said a long passage before Yugi's attack hit him. Then he put his hands on his hips and looked at Yugi expectantly, wanting to see him fall in pain.
But what he didn't expect was that even after the attack from **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl** hit him, Yugi's state remained normal without any change.
It was the barely standing Joey Wheeler, under Bakura's wide-eyed glare of wrath, who pulled out a card from his chest. "That's a pity. Rafael told us about that a long time ago."
"You didn't even choose to help your collaborator. You're a bit of a failure, Bakura!"
"Buga---!!!"
Blasted away by the attack from the **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl**, even spraying a large bloodstain in mid-air, Bakura laughed loudly as he flew backward. "You fell for it, Hayato Kobayashi! This is my escape route!"
Using the momentum of being blasted away, Bakura actually managed to grab the card that was still some distance away from him, and then his entire body was wrapped in shadow. "In terms of strategy, you still can't beat me, Bakura!"
The shadow instantly swallowed Bakura and the Blank Card in his hand. In the next instant, *Gaia the Fierce Knight*'s Lance missed by a hair's breadth, landing in empty space.
And the moment Bakura and the Blank Card disappeared, the figures of the Duel Monsters manifested before Joey Wheeler, Hayato, and Yugi also rapidly faded. Joey Wheeler felt the pressure on his body lighten.
The anomaly, thus, ended.
Amidst Kaiba Seto's busy post-event handling, the first KC Cup was thus terminated. No one obtained the champion position, and no one obtained the qualification to duel the Duel King.
However, what many participants didn't know was that the person named "Dan Kuroto" who blocked their path to rising in the rankings was actually the Duel King himself, whom they wanted to challenge.
"Where am I?"
Opening his eyes, Tristan sat up from the soft bed, covering his temples, and looked around.
White walls, clean light blue curtains, the arrangement on the bedside table, and a faint smell of disinfectant alcohol lingering in the air. Tristan felt confused as to why he was in a Hospital.
"Honda, you're awake."
Joey Wheeler, who was sitting by Tristan 's bed, saw that Tristan had woken up and quickly stood up and walked towards him. "The doctor said you need to rest properly now. Lie back down obediently."
"Joey Wheeler?"
A confused Tristan was pressed back onto the bed by Joey Wheeler. "I remember before..."
"Ah, right, I remember I wanted to tell you guys to escape back then."
Recalling the situation before, Tristan urgently asked Joey Wheeler, "How are Téa and Keipei?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, everything has been resolved."
Seeing that Tristan seemed a little excited, Joey Wheeler comforted him, "The matter was perfectly resolved by yours truly, Joey Wheeler the Great, along with Yugi and Hayato. Everyone is out of danger. Otherwise, how do you think you ended up lying in a Hospital?"
"It wasn't just Téa and Keipei; many others in the Venue at the time were also saved and escaped danger. Most of them have even recovered. It's just that you were closest to the center of the anomaly at the time, so you were unconscious the longest."
Sitting next to Tristan , Joey Wheeler explained in detail everything that had happened before.
"Ya, Yarou!" Seeing that Hayato had actually used the power of the Sacred Beasts to break into the domain, Bakura was both surprised and angry. But no matter how enraged he was at Hayato, he couldn't reverse the fact that the barrier protecting the Room had been dispelled. "Hayato Kobayashi, you bastard!"
"Hoho, that expression doesn't suit a behind-the-scenes boss, Bakura." Hayato carried the *Millennium Rod* on his shoulder, grinning menacingly as he approached Bakura. As he walked, he twisted his neck, making a "crack, crack" sound.
"So, how about a thrilling and exciting Duel Monsters?"
Hayato raised the Duel Disk on his wrist. His Deck had already been inserted beforehand, and in Hayato's Deck, an unprecedentedly powerful lineup had been gathered. Both the Three Egyptian Gods and the Earthbound Immortals had been added to Hayato's Deck, all for the sake of giving Bakura a grand show.
If Bakura accepted his duel, what he would face was Hayato's full power. Although Hayato wasn't confident about defeating Bakura, or rather, defeating Dark Bakura acting under the identity of "Bakura," he felt he could at least make him behave for a while.
However, unfortunately, compared to those who lacked self-awareness, Bakura had a very clear self-understanding of his strength in Duel Monsters.
"Duel Monsters? Heh, do you take me for an idiot?"
Stepping back, Bakura remained wary of Hayato and Joey Wheeler and Yugi who had followed Hayato into the Room.
"Knowing that your strength is the world's strongest, and that even Mutou Yuugi and Kaiba Seto are not your opponent, I don't have the kind of blind confidence to think I have the strength to contend with you, let alone defeat you."
Although Bakura always liked to use outside-the-duel tactics and preferred using despicable means rather than obtaining what he wanted through Duel Monsters, do you know why that is?
It's unclear when it started, but Bakura has almost no record of defeating others in Duel Monsters. It's as if he's under the curse of Duel Monsters and can never achieve victory.
Knowing he would lose a Duel Monsters duel and still going for it? Bakura didn't like wasting his time on such meaningless things, even though his time wasn't precious.
Hayato, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi formed a triangle formation, pressing closer to Bakura step by step. Watching the three figures getting closer, Bakura gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Damn it, you guys, don't get proud too early!"
"Otherwise? Are you saying you're going to defy us?" Joey Wheeler clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, as he approached Bakura. "Although I don't know why you did it, it's an undeniable fact that you hurt Tristan and Téa."
"I'll take good care of you, Bakura, with my fists!"
Saying this, Joey Wheeler quickened his pace and lunged towards Bakura.
Bakura turned his head and glanced behind him. The card floating in the air was only a few steps away, meaning he didn't have much room to retreat.
Since that was the case, it was time to go all out!
"Don't even think about it, **Dark Necrofear**, deal with them!"
Drawing a card from the Duel Disk on his wrist, Bakura slapped the drawn monster card directly onto the unfolded Duel Disk and called its name.
He didn't seem to prepare tributes or special summoning conditions like in a normal duel. The moment Bakura placed the card on the unfolded Duel Disk, a cold blue arm with spherical joints shot out from the shadow beneath his feet, narrowly missing Joey Wheeler's eye.
Feeling the bone-chilling killing intent brush past his nose, cold sweat broke out on Joey Wheeler's head. After running two or three steps, Joey Wheeler, as if possessed, paused halfway. It was this slight gap that saved his life, otherwise, he would have been pierced from bottom to top by this arm that looked extremely dangerous!
"That was, that was close!" Joey Wheeler was so scared he couldn't help but take half a step back. Immediately, this sudden fright combined with his previous dissatisfaction was converted into wrath. "Bakura, you bastard, you actually tried to kill me? In that case, I'm going to make my move too!"
"Come out, **Gilford the Lightning**, **Fiend Dragon - Dark Black Dragon**, and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*!"
In his haste, Joey Wheeler drew three monster cards in one go. Regardless of what he had drawn, he threw them all onto the Duel Disk. Just as Bakura's **Dark Necrofear** crawled out from the shadow, Joey Wheeler's three monsters also manifested before him.
But looking at the appearance of Joey Wheeler's three monsters, Bakura sneered, "What an idiot, Joey Wheeler."
Joey Wheeler heard Bakura's words and hadn't yet understood what he meant when his **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon* attacked **Dark Necrofear**.
**Dark Necrofear**, with only 2200 ATK, was naturally no match for **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*, both with 2800 ATK. With just one encounter, it was defeated by the combined power of the two monsters.
However, as **Dark Necrofear** was destroyed, a strange black mist that looked incredibly eerie drifted out from the monster's wreckage, wrapping around **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*. Joey Wheeler's breathing also became rapid, and his body felt so heavy he almost knelt on the ground.
"This is..."
"That's why I said you're an idiot. You didn't think that Duel Monsters materialized out of thin air had no consumption, did you? If you knew even a little about the law of conservation of energy, you wouldn't have such an idea, idiot Joey Wheeler."
Bakura said proudly. Two red lights glowed in the black mist surrounding him, and then, from the slightly receding black mist, Joey Wheeler's **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon* actually walked out one by one and stood on Bakura's side!?
Seeing this, Hayato wasn't surprised. Since Duel Monsters had materialized into existence in Reality, they naturally couldn't continue to follow the rules of the Duel Monsters game. **Dark Necrofear** itself had the ability to take control of the opponent's monster after being destroyed. It looked like Joey Wheeler's reckless attack had instead fallen into Bakura's trap.
"The life force extracted from those ordinary people, filling the air, is the key for Duel Monsters to manifest as physical entities. However, just for the Duel Monsters to appear has already drained the surrounding life points, and for them to move, the duelist needs to contribute their own power."
Bakura smiled very proudly. "In other words, the monsters sustained by your life force, after destroying my monster, have become tools under my control because of my monster's effect."
"Reap what you sow, Joey Wheeler!"
Waving his hand and ordered the two monsters to attack Joey Wheeler, Bakura looked at Yugi and Hayato with malice. "Go ahead and try to block me, Hayato Kobayashi, Mutou Yuugi. If you attack these two monsters, only Joey Wheeler will be injured."
Hearing this, Yugi said unwillingly, "Damn it, it's this trick again. Using this method every time is too annoying!"
Yugi's negative review instead made Bakura very happy. "No, it's not annoying at all. This is what's called 'a single trick can conquer the world'."
Just like the barrier created using Tristan and the others' life force before, this time Bakura used the same trick with a different twist: "Monsters controlled by Joey Wheeler's life force." It really failed to give anyone a sense of freshness.
But Yugi also had to admit, this move was still very annoying. If what Bakura said was indeed true, then he really couldn't attack the two monsters controlled by Bakura.
Watching as the two monsters previously controlled by Joey Wheeler were about to attack Joey Wheeler's last *Fiend Dragon - Dark Black Dragon* in a "suicidal" move, suddenly, two pink lights flew out from the side and landed on **Gilford the Lightning** and *Red-Eyes Black Sword Dragon*.
Seeing Bakura's gaze turn towards him, Hayato shook the card in his hand. "**Change of Heart**. Because this isn't a proper duel anymore, taking control of two monsters at once is nothing."
"Did you forget, Bakura? This is a card you gave me."
"That's clearly a card you bastard snatched from my hand!" How could Bakura not know **Change of Heart**? Including *Spiritual Energy Entity*, several cards Hayato had "borrowed" from Bakura during the Duelist Kingdom era were still being used in his duels to this day.
"Go, Yugi."
Joey Wheeler suffered a setback due to his momentary recklessness, and Hayato was busy controlling the two monsters he had just acquired. Now it was Yugi's turn to make a move. And conveniently, there were no monsters blocking Bakura's path now.
Yugi nodded, drew from the top of his Deck, and without even looking at the drawn card, as if he hadn't done any shuffling, he slapped it directly onto the Duel Disk and shouted their names: "Go, **Dark Magician**, **Dark Magician Girl**!"
"**Dark Burning Attack!!**"
"Onore Hayato Kobayashi!" His plan was perfect, link after link, yet this time it was Hayato Kobayashi again who ruined his plan. Watching Yugi command the **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl**'s magical attack come towards him, Bakura's face was contorted with rage.
However, the ferocity on his face suddenly turned into a cold smile. "You still missed one thing, Hayato Kobayashi. You specifically let Mutou Yuugi deliver the last blow to me!"
"If I remember correctly, Rafael already appeared before you guys and lost to Mutou Yuugi, or rather, you, Mutou Yuugi, the card **Uria, Lord of Searing Flames**!"
"Pity, pity, pity! Anticipating that card would fall into Mutou Yuugi's hands, I already tampered with that card. You're defeated, Mutou Yuugi! No, Nameless Pharaoh!"
"Once I activate the power of the *Millennium Eye* hidden within it, causing **Uria, Lord of Searing Flames**'s mystical power to riot, your *Millennium Puzzle* will be sealed because of it!"
"Now! I've endured to my limit. I'm going to press it!"
Speaking at an extremely fast pace, Bakura, like a time-stopping commentator, said a long passage before Yugi's attack hit him. Then he put his hands on his hips and looked at Yugi expectantly, wanting to see him fall in pain.
But what he didn't expect was that even after the attack from **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl** hit him, Yugi's state remained normal without any change.
It was the barely standing Joey Wheeler, under Bakura's wide-eyed glare of wrath, who pulled out a card from his chest. "That's a pity. Rafael told us about that a long time ago."
"You didn't even choose to help your collaborator. You're a bit of a failure, Bakura!"
"Buga---!!!"
Blasted away by the attack from the **Dark Magician** and **Dark Magician Girl**, even spraying a large bloodstain in mid-air, Bakura laughed loudly as he flew backward. "You fell for it, Hayato Kobayashi! This is my escape route!"
Using the momentum of being blasted away, Bakura actually managed to grab the card that was still some distance away from him, and then his entire body was wrapped in shadow. "In terms of strategy, you still can't beat me, Bakura!"
The shadow instantly swallowed Bakura and the Blank Card in his hand. In the next instant, *Gaia the Fierce Knight*'s Lance missed by a hair's breadth, landing in empty space.
And the moment Bakura and the Blank Card disappeared, the figures of the Duel Monsters manifested before Joey Wheeler, Hayato, and Yugi also rapidly faded. Joey Wheeler felt the pressure on his body lighten.
The anomaly, thus, ended.
Amidst Kaiba Seto's busy post-event handling, the first KC Cup was thus terminated. No one obtained the champion position, and no one obtained the qualification to duel the Duel King.
However, what many participants didn't know was that the person named "Dan Kuroto" who blocked their path to rising in the rankings was actually the Duel King himself, whom they wanted to challenge.
