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Chapter 503: Kaiba: I Smell the Aura of Blue-Eyes
As Paradox's Life Points were depleted, the Sun God's flames, shooting straight into the sky, tore apart the Malefic World.
The remnants of the shattered Malefic World fell like glass shards from a giant mirror, gradually dispersing into crystalline light points as they plummeted, reflecting the history of Duel Monsters contained within them.
Speaking in a "bird language" that even Hayato only half-understood, like "Can other God Cards do that?", "Just being able to appear in a duel like this means I've already won big," and "The real Tamashii is me, Winged Dragon!", Ra retracted its solar flames with a satisfied expression and returned to its card.
Beside the Shinri-go D-Wheel, which had crashed to the ground and seemed unusable, lay Paradox, separated from **Malefic Truth Dragon**, flat on his back.
Hayato's final blow didn't need to kill Paradox; it merely destroyed **Malefic Truth Dragon**, which had fused with Paradox. However, being an attack from Ra, the top-tier God Card even among the Three Egyptian Gods, the molten-gold, severed-iron solar flames severely damaged the artificial skin covering a large area of Paradox's body, exposing the mechanical structure beneath.
Furthermore, Paradox had lost his entire lower body. With only half of his face still relatively intact, he looked up at the sky. From a distance, he heard the sound of helicopter propellers from above.
Was it Pegasus? Paradox wasn't sure, but he no longer needed to find out the answer.
A lifeless arm appeared in Paradox's left eye's line of sight. The Duel King, who had just moments ago arrogantly commanded a deity to deliver judgment, was now squatting beside him, grabbing the wrist where he wore his Duel Disk and fiddling with it, trying to remove it.
However, because the Duel Disk Paradox used was a future model, although it looked similar to the classic original Duel Disk, the structural details were different. Even Hayato, who was quite skilled at "borrowing" Duel Disks from others, took a while to remove it, and while he was at it, he also took some unnecessary things.
"Ah, sorry, here you go." Hayato, who was no ordinary office worker, wasn't very interested in Paradox's hand, which he'd accidentally pulled off. He placed it back on Paradox's chest and then took out the deck from Paradox's Duel Disk.
"How do you feel?"
"Hmm, probably couldn't be any worse," Paradox replied subconsciously, a difficult smile forming at the corner of his mouth, sparking with electricity. "However, I truly witnessed an incredible view. If all humans could be like you, the future wouldn't have been destroyed..."
"That's impossible, isn't it? Humans aren't a hive mind. It's precisely because of the countless differences between countless individuals that humanity has infinite possibilities."
Hayato stood up, holding the deck, and looked down at Paradox again.
"It's truly a shame that Duel Monsters has a future that brings destruction to the world, but to deny Duel Monsters for that reason would be too much of a pity."
"Bullets made of gunpowder have brought sadness to the world, but you can't deny the smiles that fireworks in the night sky bring to people's faces."
"Try to believe that we can guide the world towards a different future, Savior from the Doomsday."
Paradox tilted his head, his intact half of the face pressed against the ground. Looking at Hayato, he closed his eye.
"Full of pretty words, Duel King. However, as a loser, I can only choose to believe you."
"Everything I have, take it as spoils if you want it, although you've already taken most of it," Paradox's voice was weak. "I hope it truly can, as you say, change the destroyed fut..."
Doomsday Future, last survivor, Paradox, function ceased.
"Is he... dead?" Hayato was silent for a moment, then bent down, supporting Paradox's neck and turning his head to the side, revealing his intact half. "At least, he ended as a human."
The solemn atmosphere didn't last long. Hayato picked up Paradox's deck, looking at **Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit**, **Maxx "C"**, and other cards in Paradox's deck that he hadn't used but which even Hayato coveted. Tears of sentimentality flowed uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.
Behind Hayato, Judai watched Hayato collecting spoils with a look of embarrassment. "As expected of Mr. Hayato. So he already had this habit back then?"
"Hayato kept this habit all the way into the future?" Dark Yugi and Yugi Mutou swapped back after the duel, like magical girls de-transforming. Yugi was a little helpless that Judai, who came from ten years in the future, also knew about Hayato's habit.
He had originally thought that in front of the guests from the future, they, the veterans and senior figures, should maintain a good image. But looking at Judai's expression, it was clear that Hayato hadn't restrained himself much over the next ten-plus years.
Hayato wasn't deaf. After the duel ended, with the previously fleeing crowd not having returned, the plaza was very quiet, so he naturally heard Yugi and Judai's conversation.
"Don't make me sound like some kind of fiend! I have a serious purpose." Turning around, Hayato held several cards with semi-transparent black borders in his hand. He threw one of the cards towards Yusei Fudo.
Yusei Fudo subconsciously caught it with both hands and looked. The card shattered the instant it touched Yusei Fudo, turning into a stream of light that entered Yusei Fudo's deck. Following its trace, Yusei Fudo found that the card that absorbed the stream of light was his **Stardust Dragon**.
The **Stardust Dragon** card, which had turned blank after being stolen, was restored to its original appearance. Looking at **Stardust Dragon**, recovered after being lost, even Yusei Fudo, who usually didn't show much emotion, revealed a genuine, bright smile.
Looking up, he thanked Hayato, who was distributing cards from his era to Judai. "Thank you very much, Mr. Hayato!"
"Wow, looking now, I didn't expect Paradox to have stolen so many cards!" Looking at the large pile of cards Hayato stuffed into his hands, Judai couldn't help but exclaim. "But even though he stole so many, he didn't use all of them."
"After all, what you rely on in a duel isn't just powerful cards. The duelist's own strength is also a very important aspect," Hayato said. Seeing Judai curiously rubbing the glass-like outer shell of the semi-transparent cards, he reminded him, "Also, if you damage that outer shell, I won't help you deal with the history alteration that might occur, Judai."
"Huh? Will something like that happen?" Hearing this, Judai obediently stopped his hands and properly put the cards into his backpack. While he was at it, he opened a snack bag and fed the orange cat "Pharaoh" who had been sleeping in the backpack.
Although the four of them were fiercely dueling Paradox outside, this guy and Professor Banner, whom he had swallowed, seemed to have had a good sleep.
Just then, Hayato heard the sound of helicopter propellers above the Central Plaza. Although there was still quite a distance from the ground, the airflow blowing towards the ground had already messed up his haircut.
Turning his head, Hayato looked at the clock in the Central Plaza and found that it was still five minutes before the original time Pegasus was supposed to arrive at 12:00. This made Hayato feel a little unexpected. Why did Pegasus arrive early?
But in the next second, a rope was thrown from the descending helicopter. A man in a long white trench coat, without wearing gloves, grabbed the rope and leaped out of the helicopter, rappelling down to the ground!
"Thud."
Pointed leather shoes stepped on the ground. The famous Dragon Enthusiast, Kaiba Seto, ignored the unexpected expressions on the faces of the four people in front of him and said with a cold face, "Twenty minutes ago, KaibaCorp's satellite monitoring detected some duel data."
"To dare to use **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** in Domino City, and it seems you even created other Blue-Eyes without permission. That's truly looking down on me!"
Kaiba's target locked onto Judai, who hadn't finished putting all the cards into his backpack yet. He was still holding two cards in his hand.
The **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** on top, which had a strange border, was instantly ignored by Kaiba. Although **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** was a rare card worth over several million dollars on the market, Kaiba didn't even spare a glance for that cheap card.
However, the card below **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**, although only a corner of the card art and even only a fingertip of the claw were visible due to **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** blocking it and the angle Judai was holding it at,
But!
For Kaiba, who had to stare at **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** for twenty minutes every night before sleeping to get a baby-like sleep until 8 AM, just by this fingertip, he could be sure that card must be **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**!
"You are, Mr. Kaiba Seto!?" Before Hayato and Yugi could say anything, Judai looked up and down at Kaiba with a surprised expression. "You're kidding, right? Why does Mr. Kaiba from ten years ago look exactly the same as Mr. Kaiba from ten years later?"
"This isn't just good at preserving his looks, is it? It's practically like in an anime with a continuous worldview where the main creative staff were too lazy to even draw new designs and just reused characters from the previous work to save trouble!"
Yusei Fudo was also quite surprised. "It's actually that legendary duelist who wields the legendary **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, whose strength is only below the Duel King, Kaiba Seto?"
Yusei Fudo came from several decades in the future. By that time, Duel Monsters had developed for so many years. During that time, quite a few once very famous duelists, along with the cards they used, were forgotten and eliminated by the meta and the era. Only a few people could leave their names.
The Father of Duel Monsters - Pegasus J. Crawford,
The Duel King always accompanied by the Soul of the Nameless Pharaoh - Mutou Yuugi,
The Duel King with a diverse style reigning over the era - Hayato Kobayashi,
The Black Dragon user of Dice and Coin - Katsuya Jounouchi,
And, the strongest below the Duel King, who controls three **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, Kaiba Seto.
Yusei Fudo even knew that his good friend, Jack Atlas, although like most people he really liked the first-generation Duel King Hayato Kobayashi, he greatly admired Kaiba Seto.
Even once before during leisure time, Jack Atlas had unintentionally complained to Yusei Fudo, asking why his Ace Monster, **Red Dragon Archfiend**, which also had 3000 ATK like **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, didn't have a Fusion form of three.
"Humph, you're being too noisy and long-winded." Kaiba gave a cold snort, not taking Yusei Fudo's flattery to heart. For him, the phrase "only second to the Duel King" was completely unnecessary.
Even though the current Kaiba could get along normally with Hayato in everyday life, the goal of defeating Hayato and becoming the truly strongest had never disappeared from his heart, not even for an instant.
However, if Kaiba knew that Yusei Fudo's evaluation of him came from several decades later, and that he never succeeded in his life, Kaiba's expression at that time would surely be very interesting.
Staring straight at Judai, who was holding the backpack with a curious expression, Kaiba frowned. "You, who exactly are you? And what exactly is going on with that **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** of yours?"
"Ah, this **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**? Uh, I say this card is a card a guy who wanted to rewrite history got from ten years later, do you believe it?" Judai said, also extending his thumb and pointing to himself. "Also, my name is Judai Yuki, and I also came from ten years in the future."
Hearing Judai's explanation, not only did the serious expression on Kaiba's face not disappear, but his expression turned even fouler. He even turned his head and glanced at Hayato beside him.
"Judai Yuki? That name, you mentioned it to me before, Hayato Kobayashi. I remember you told me he was an eight-year-old child." Kaiba glared at Hayato. "This is eight years old!?"
"And what's this about people from the future? You guys think I'm an idiot who's easy to fool, huh?!"
"Uh, Kaiba, Yusei Fudo and Judai are both people from the future. They're really not lying to you," Yugi testified for Judai's words. "Judai also really came from ten years in the future."
Hayato was usually not serious, but Yugi had always had the appearance of an honest person. So hearing Yugi's words, even though Kaiba still didn't quite believe it, he also slightly calmed his serious expression. His gaze swept over Jellyfish Head Judai and looked towards Crab-haired Yusei Fudo.
After thinking for a moment about whether Starfish (Nickname for Yugi), who also had a seafood-like hairstyle, also came from the future like the other two, Kaiba asked, "You also came from ten years later?"
"No, Yusei Fudo came from several decades later, although I'm not entirely sure, but at least twenty or thirty years or more."
Judai proactively introduced Yusei Fudo to Kaiba, but didn't notice that Kaiba's expression got even fouler.
"According to what Yusei Fudo said, future Domino City seems to have been rebuilt, and people from the future all ride motorcycles called 'D-Wheels' and duel on the roads—"
"Enough!"
Judai's introduction was interrupted by Kaiba. Kaiba raised the Duel Disk he was wearing on his left hand and said angrily, "That's enough crazy talk. I don't have free time to keep listening to your nonsense."
"Since you keep saying things that are off-topic and stalling for time, then let me defeat you with a duel and then interrogate you about what's going on with that Blue-Eyes in your hand!"
Hayato couldn't help but rant, "As expected, in the end, dueling solves the problem."
"Is this the world of Duelists? A☆da☆zei!"
End of Chapter
As Paradox's Life Points were depleted, the Sun God's flames, shooting straight into the sky, tore apart the Malefic World.
The remnants of the shattered Malefic World fell like glass shards from a giant mirror, gradually dispersing into crystalline light points as they plummeted, reflecting the history of Duel Monsters contained within them.
Speaking in a "bird language" that even Hayato only half-understood, like "Can other God Cards do that?", "Just being able to appear in a duel like this means I've already won big," and "The real Tamashii is me, Winged Dragon!", Ra retracted its solar flames with a satisfied expression and returned to its card.
Beside the Shinri-go D-Wheel, which had crashed to the ground and seemed unusable, lay Paradox, separated from **Malefic Truth Dragon**, flat on his back.
Hayato's final blow didn't need to kill Paradox; it merely destroyed **Malefic Truth Dragon**, which had fused with Paradox. However, being an attack from Ra, the top-tier God Card even among the Three Egyptian Gods, the molten-gold, severed-iron solar flames severely damaged the artificial skin covering a large area of Paradox's body, exposing the mechanical structure beneath.
Furthermore, Paradox had lost his entire lower body. With only half of his face still relatively intact, he looked up at the sky. From a distance, he heard the sound of helicopter propellers from above.
Was it Pegasus? Paradox wasn't sure, but he no longer needed to find out the answer.
A lifeless arm appeared in Paradox's left eye's line of sight. The Duel King, who had just moments ago arrogantly commanded a deity to deliver judgment, was now squatting beside him, grabbing the wrist where he wore his Duel Disk and fiddling with it, trying to remove it.
However, because the Duel Disk Paradox used was a future model, although it looked similar to the classic original Duel Disk, the structural details were different. Even Hayato, who was quite skilled at "borrowing" Duel Disks from others, took a while to remove it, and while he was at it, he also took some unnecessary things.
"Ah, sorry, here you go." Hayato, who was no ordinary office worker, wasn't very interested in Paradox's hand, which he'd accidentally pulled off. He placed it back on Paradox's chest and then took out the deck from Paradox's Duel Disk.
"How do you feel?"
"Hmm, probably couldn't be any worse," Paradox replied subconsciously, a difficult smile forming at the corner of his mouth, sparking with electricity. "However, I truly witnessed an incredible view. If all humans could be like you, the future wouldn't have been destroyed..."
"That's impossible, isn't it? Humans aren't a hive mind. It's precisely because of the countless differences between countless individuals that humanity has infinite possibilities."
Hayato stood up, holding the deck, and looked down at Paradox again.
"It's truly a shame that Duel Monsters has a future that brings destruction to the world, but to deny Duel Monsters for that reason would be too much of a pity."
"Bullets made of gunpowder have brought sadness to the world, but you can't deny the smiles that fireworks in the night sky bring to people's faces."
"Try to believe that we can guide the world towards a different future, Savior from the Doomsday."
Paradox tilted his head, his intact half of the face pressed against the ground. Looking at Hayato, he closed his eye.
"Full of pretty words, Duel King. However, as a loser, I can only choose to believe you."
"Everything I have, take it as spoils if you want it, although you've already taken most of it," Paradox's voice was weak. "I hope it truly can, as you say, change the destroyed fut..."
Doomsday Future, last survivor, Paradox, function ceased.
"Is he... dead?" Hayato was silent for a moment, then bent down, supporting Paradox's neck and turning his head to the side, revealing his intact half. "At least, he ended as a human."
The solemn atmosphere didn't last long. Hayato picked up Paradox's deck, looking at **Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit**, **Maxx "C"**, and other cards in Paradox's deck that he hadn't used but which even Hayato coveted. Tears of sentimentality flowed uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.
Behind Hayato, Judai watched Hayato collecting spoils with a look of embarrassment. "As expected of Mr. Hayato. So he already had this habit back then?"
"Hayato kept this habit all the way into the future?" Dark Yugi and Yugi Mutou swapped back after the duel, like magical girls de-transforming. Yugi was a little helpless that Judai, who came from ten years in the future, also knew about Hayato's habit.
He had originally thought that in front of the guests from the future, they, the veterans and senior figures, should maintain a good image. But looking at Judai's expression, it was clear that Hayato hadn't restrained himself much over the next ten-plus years.
Hayato wasn't deaf. After the duel ended, with the previously fleeing crowd not having returned, the plaza was very quiet, so he naturally heard Yugi and Judai's conversation.
"Don't make me sound like some kind of fiend! I have a serious purpose." Turning around, Hayato held several cards with semi-transparent black borders in his hand. He threw one of the cards towards Yusei Fudo.
Yusei Fudo subconsciously caught it with both hands and looked. The card shattered the instant it touched Yusei Fudo, turning into a stream of light that entered Yusei Fudo's deck. Following its trace, Yusei Fudo found that the card that absorbed the stream of light was his **Stardust Dragon**.
The **Stardust Dragon** card, which had turned blank after being stolen, was restored to its original appearance. Looking at **Stardust Dragon**, recovered after being lost, even Yusei Fudo, who usually didn't show much emotion, revealed a genuine, bright smile.
Looking up, he thanked Hayato, who was distributing cards from his era to Judai. "Thank you very much, Mr. Hayato!"
"Wow, looking now, I didn't expect Paradox to have stolen so many cards!" Looking at the large pile of cards Hayato stuffed into his hands, Judai couldn't help but exclaim. "But even though he stole so many, he didn't use all of them."
"After all, what you rely on in a duel isn't just powerful cards. The duelist's own strength is also a very important aspect," Hayato said. Seeing Judai curiously rubbing the glass-like outer shell of the semi-transparent cards, he reminded him, "Also, if you damage that outer shell, I won't help you deal with the history alteration that might occur, Judai."
"Huh? Will something like that happen?" Hearing this, Judai obediently stopped his hands and properly put the cards into his backpack. While he was at it, he opened a snack bag and fed the orange cat "Pharaoh" who had been sleeping in the backpack.
Although the four of them were fiercely dueling Paradox outside, this guy and Professor Banner, whom he had swallowed, seemed to have had a good sleep.
Just then, Hayato heard the sound of helicopter propellers above the Central Plaza. Although there was still quite a distance from the ground, the airflow blowing towards the ground had already messed up his haircut.
Turning his head, Hayato looked at the clock in the Central Plaza and found that it was still five minutes before the original time Pegasus was supposed to arrive at 12:00. This made Hayato feel a little unexpected. Why did Pegasus arrive early?
But in the next second, a rope was thrown from the descending helicopter. A man in a long white trench coat, without wearing gloves, grabbed the rope and leaped out of the helicopter, rappelling down to the ground!
"Thud."
Pointed leather shoes stepped on the ground. The famous Dragon Enthusiast, Kaiba Seto, ignored the unexpected expressions on the faces of the four people in front of him and said with a cold face, "Twenty minutes ago, KaibaCorp's satellite monitoring detected some duel data."
"To dare to use **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** in Domino City, and it seems you even created other Blue-Eyes without permission. That's truly looking down on me!"
Kaiba's target locked onto Judai, who hadn't finished putting all the cards into his backpack yet. He was still holding two cards in his hand.
The **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** on top, which had a strange border, was instantly ignored by Kaiba. Although **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** was a rare card worth over several million dollars on the market, Kaiba didn't even spare a glance for that cheap card.
However, the card below **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**, although only a corner of the card art and even only a fingertip of the claw were visible due to **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** blocking it and the angle Judai was holding it at,
But!
For Kaiba, who had to stare at **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** for twenty minutes every night before sleeping to get a baby-like sleep until 8 AM, just by this fingertip, he could be sure that card must be **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**!
"You are, Mr. Kaiba Seto!?" Before Hayato and Yugi could say anything, Judai looked up and down at Kaiba with a surprised expression. "You're kidding, right? Why does Mr. Kaiba from ten years ago look exactly the same as Mr. Kaiba from ten years later?"
"This isn't just good at preserving his looks, is it? It's practically like in an anime with a continuous worldview where the main creative staff were too lazy to even draw new designs and just reused characters from the previous work to save trouble!"
Yusei Fudo was also quite surprised. "It's actually that legendary duelist who wields the legendary **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, whose strength is only below the Duel King, Kaiba Seto?"
Yusei Fudo came from several decades in the future. By that time, Duel Monsters had developed for so many years. During that time, quite a few once very famous duelists, along with the cards they used, were forgotten and eliminated by the meta and the era. Only a few people could leave their names.
The Father of Duel Monsters - Pegasus J. Crawford,
The Duel King always accompanied by the Soul of the Nameless Pharaoh - Mutou Yuugi,
The Duel King with a diverse style reigning over the era - Hayato Kobayashi,
The Black Dragon user of Dice and Coin - Katsuya Jounouchi,
And, the strongest below the Duel King, who controls three **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, Kaiba Seto.
Yusei Fudo even knew that his good friend, Jack Atlas, although like most people he really liked the first-generation Duel King Hayato Kobayashi, he greatly admired Kaiba Seto.
Even once before during leisure time, Jack Atlas had unintentionally complained to Yusei Fudo, asking why his Ace Monster, **Red Dragon Archfiend**, which also had 3000 ATK like **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**, didn't have a Fusion form of three.
"Humph, you're being too noisy and long-winded." Kaiba gave a cold snort, not taking Yusei Fudo's flattery to heart. For him, the phrase "only second to the Duel King" was completely unnecessary.
Even though the current Kaiba could get along normally with Hayato in everyday life, the goal of defeating Hayato and becoming the truly strongest had never disappeared from his heart, not even for an instant.
However, if Kaiba knew that Yusei Fudo's evaluation of him came from several decades later, and that he never succeeded in his life, Kaiba's expression at that time would surely be very interesting.
Staring straight at Judai, who was holding the backpack with a curious expression, Kaiba frowned. "You, who exactly are you? And what exactly is going on with that **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** of yours?"
"Ah, this **Blue-Eyes White Dragon**? Uh, I say this card is a card a guy who wanted to rewrite history got from ten years later, do you believe it?" Judai said, also extending his thumb and pointing to himself. "Also, my name is Judai Yuki, and I also came from ten years in the future."
Hearing Judai's explanation, not only did the serious expression on Kaiba's face not disappear, but his expression turned even fouler. He even turned his head and glanced at Hayato beside him.
"Judai Yuki? That name, you mentioned it to me before, Hayato Kobayashi. I remember you told me he was an eight-year-old child." Kaiba glared at Hayato. "This is eight years old!?"
"And what's this about people from the future? You guys think I'm an idiot who's easy to fool, huh?!"
"Uh, Kaiba, Yusei Fudo and Judai are both people from the future. They're really not lying to you," Yugi testified for Judai's words. "Judai also really came from ten years in the future."
Hayato was usually not serious, but Yugi had always had the appearance of an honest person. So hearing Yugi's words, even though Kaiba still didn't quite believe it, he also slightly calmed his serious expression. His gaze swept over Jellyfish Head Judai and looked towards Crab-haired Yusei Fudo.
After thinking for a moment about whether Starfish (Nickname for Yugi), who also had a seafood-like hairstyle, also came from the future like the other two, Kaiba asked, "You also came from ten years later?"
"No, Yusei Fudo came from several decades later, although I'm not entirely sure, but at least twenty or thirty years or more."
Judai proactively introduced Yusei Fudo to Kaiba, but didn't notice that Kaiba's expression got even fouler.
"According to what Yusei Fudo said, future Domino City seems to have been rebuilt, and people from the future all ride motorcycles called 'D-Wheels' and duel on the roads—"
"Enough!"
Judai's introduction was interrupted by Kaiba. Kaiba raised the Duel Disk he was wearing on his left hand and said angrily, "That's enough crazy talk. I don't have free time to keep listening to your nonsense."
"Since you keep saying things that are off-topic and stalling for time, then let me defeat you with a duel and then interrogate you about what's going on with that Blue-Eyes in your hand!"
Hayato couldn't help but rant, "As expected, in the end, dueling solves the problem."
"Is this the world of Duelists? A☆da☆zei!"
End of Chapter
