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Chapter 784: Karim's Death (Bottom)
"Ka-Karim?"
"What are you doing, Karim!"
Seeing Karim, who had lost an arm, Malik said in a panic, "Your arm... to save someone like me..."
Before, he had merely helped Karim up when he almost fell; it was by no means a great achievement, and Karim had never owed him anything. But now, Karim had lost an arm just to save his life!
"What kind of expression is that, Marik Ishtar?" Karim forced a smile, "I am Priest Karim of the Millennium Scale under the Pharaoh. Protecting others is my mission. It's just an arm; I'm gambling it on the Future!"
"Idiot, stop acting tough!" Kaiba supported Karim, who was swaying from speaking too excitedly, but Karim stubbornly pushed him away. Helplessly, Kaiba stood beside Karim and looked around.
After its previous attack, that special Skull Servant stopped moving and remained still, gathering a large amount of visible dark power around it, seemingly charging. And as that special Skull Servant suddenly attacked, the other Skull Servants also stopped their human wave tactics, guarding around that "Skull Servant" as if to prevent Kaiba and the others from approaching and interrupting its charge.
It looks like that "Skull Servant" doesn't inherently possess such strength, but rather accumulates it slowly before being able to unleash such a powerful attack in one go. For now, the group doesn't need to worry about a second attack coming immediately. However, if they don't find a way to interrupt that "Skull Servant"'s charge, they still won't be able to escape this calamity, and they shouldn't even think about escaping from here.
"That monster isn't a Skull Servant; it's almost like the 'King' of the other Skull Servants." Kaiba confirmed that the surrounding Skull Servants were only surrounding them but not approaching further. He frowned and looked at that special "Skull Servant". "Let's call it 'King of the Skull Servants' for now."
"Before escaping the Village, it is the last obstacle we must face!"
As he spoke, Kaiba subconsciously clenched his fist. Just now, because his nerves were constantly tense, he had ignored the feeling in his hand. It wasn't until something happened to Karim and he relaxed slightly that he noticed the pain coming from his palm.
"Even if you say that." Getting up from the ground, Malik glanced at the situation of the others around him. Kaiba's hand was trembling, Isis's soul value on the Duel Arena was already near rock bottom because the Stone Tablet Monster Agido had been destroyed, not to mention Karim. "How can a few Small Fry like us fight against such a powerful monster?"
"The opponent doesn't look like someone who can be held back by leaving one person behind either."
"King of the Skull Servants, a very fitting name." Glancing at Kaiba, Karim hesitated slightly, then made up his mind and said firmly, "Life is unpredictable, but life and death have their order."
"Everyone, you go first; I'll hold them back."
Karim's calm tone made Malik freeze for a moment, then he said with difficulty, "What are you thinking, you idiot? Didn't you hear me just say that guy isn't someone you can hold back by leaving one person behind, let alone in your current state—"
"I know, that's why I'm staying." Karim raised his sole remaining left arm. Fortunately, he had used his right hand to push Malik away just now. Although the Millennium Scale he was holding in his right hand was blasted away during the King of the Skull Servants's attack just now, the Duel Arena was still on his left arm, and he could still summon Stone Tablet Monsters.
Sharp-eyed Karim saw that one of the Skull Servants had picked up his dropped Millennium Scale and brought it to the King of the Skull Servants.
Two more Thunder Dragon appeared in front of Karim. With each one that appeared, Karim's expression became paler. The only thing to be thankful for at this moment was that the King of the Skull Servants's previous attack was so thorough that Karim's wound immediately became necrotic, preventing him from fainting from excessive blood loss.
But in this state, how long could he persist? The damage caused by Diabound's previous attack had not yet fully healed, and after the King of the Skull Servants's attack, he had summoned three Thunder Dragons again. It was almost a miracle that Karim was still standing.
Malik wanted to persuade Karim a few more times, but Kaiba pressed his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Do as he says, we don't have time."
Saying this, regardless of Malik's will, he helped up Isis and pulled Malik to leave. Karim's Thunder Dragons also exerted their full power, clearing a passage for them towards the exit.
Kaiba led Isis and Malik in their escape. The King of the Skull Servants seemed unwilling to let anyone leave and was about to command the Skull Servants to surround the group, but the Skull Servants sent out were swept back by a beam of lightning that struck halfway.
"Don't think you can pass; your opponent is me!" Commanding the three Thunder Dragons to circle around him, without the Millennium Scale, Karim was temporarily unable to use the power of Polymerization to synthesize his strongest Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. But even so, there wasn't even a trace of fear in his gaze as he looked at the King of the Skull Servants.
"It's strange to say, before today, I never thought there would be a moment when I would sacrifice my life for others. All along, my life plan only involved standing in a higher position and holding greater authority, until I met Mr. Hayato."
"However, rather than saying Mr. Hayato changed my destiny, it's better to say that he was the first to let me see the direction of my own destiny, and for the first time, I decided the view at the end of my destiny myself."
"Perhaps the meeting between people is truly destiny."
Taking a deep breath, Karim looked at the King of the Skull Servants. His pale expression also showed a hint of redness due to his excited mood. He shouted, "Bring it on, King of the Skull Servants!"
The next instant, the King of the Skull Servants's long-charged attack arrived. The pale energy pillar that took Karim's right hand was fired again.
"If you're fully prepared, the Reaper won't come!" Karim waved his sole left arm, staggering forward two steps, and actually started to jog with difficulty. The Thunder Dragons also guarded their master's side and charged towards the Skull Servants surrounding the King of the Skull Servants.
"Thunder Dragons aren't just for show! Just one attack, watch me push it back!"
The Thunder Dragons actively met the King of the Skull Servants's attack. The attack, which was enough to instantly kill a single body, was successfully blocked for an instant by the combined strength of the Thunder Dragons. With a collective burst of power, they deflected this attack, which the King of the Skull Servants had also fired in a hurry, by a few degrees, causing it to blast into the wreckage of a building not far away.
The King of the Skull Servants did not move from its position and began charging again, while also commanding the Skull Servants to attack Karim, who had approached along with the Thunder Dragons. However, without needing to clear a path for a large group, and only needing to protect Karim alone, the Thunder Dragons' burden was much lighter. Within a few breaths, Karim had approached the King of the Skull Servants.
"I will use my life to pioneer a path for the future of the young!"
Losing an arm made it difficult for Karim's body to adapt to the changed balance. Although he couldn't swing his fist like Kaiba, he had a solution. That was to leap up with full power and then kick. The muscles in his legs could exert greater power than his fist, enough to scatter the King of the Skull Servants's body.
Then, the full power attack of the three Thunder Dragons would be enough to completely destroy the opponent's body. As for what result would befall him, falling into the Skull Servant swarm because the Thunder Dragons attacking with full power couldn't also protect him, Karim didn't think about it that much.
But as Karim leaped up and assumed a flying kick posture, looking at the King of the Skull Servants's face, which was just a skeleton, he felt as if the opponent was watching him with a taunting gaze. Immediately after, to Karim's surprise, the King of the Skull Servants, which he thought couldn't move during the charging process, actually moved!
While its skeletal body dodged Karim's attack, it actually completed its attack charge in an instant. A white energy ball gathered in its hand, seemingly ready to be fired at any moment to kill Karim?!
He had been completely fooled. The attack just now was fundamentally just a feint attack by the opponent to lure him closer. The inability to move was just an illusion it presented. Looking again at the positions of the King of the Skull Servants, Karim, and Malik and the others who hadn't escaped too far, it was clearly trying to adjust to the optimal position to wipe out Karim and Malik's group in one go!
If he was lucky enough to predict the firing angle, Karim might have a slight possibility of escaping the King of the Skull Servants's attack, but Malik and the others behind him fundamentally couldn't escape. Therefore, Karim, thinking rapidly, didn't escape at all, but still stood in place.
The Thunder Dragons, which had been charging to destroy the King of the Skull Servants in one go, swooped down and blocked the King of the Skull Servants. The strength of the energy pillar they faced proved that Karim's guess was correct. Compared to the feint attack just now, this was the King of the Skull Servants's truly charged attack.
The Skull Servants approached the unprotected Karim. Just as the King of the Skull Servants thought its scheme had succeeded, it saw through the gap between the Thunder Dragons, which were being pushed back continuously by its attack, that Karim, who had fallen to the ground, propped himself up with one hand and bit onto something with his mouth.
"O Divine-Beast, most sacred as the sun, who grants all wisdom, glory, and great power, please witness my heart, conviction, and authority. Bless me, this is Priest Karim's last battle in life, and the peak of glory."
"As long as I can still feel this instant of glory, I will never fall down into that Abyss of Darkness."
"Please watch, this is my last Polymerization!"
"Millennium Scale, Thunder Dragon, respond to me!"
Accompanied by Karim's shout, Malik, who was being pulled away by Kaiba, successfully escaped the Skull Servants' encirclement with Isis, thanks to Karim's strength. Turning his head, finally having the leisure to look at Karim's situation, he happened to see the image of the Thunder Dragons disappearing in radiance, and the King of the Skull Servants's attack almost engulfing Karim's body.
"Karim!!"
However, miracles are wondrous precisely because they manifest in times of despair. The next instant, just as Malik thought Karim was surely going to die, lightning descended from the sky from Karim's location.
"Boom!"
Unlike the yellow lightning used by Karim's Thunder Dragons and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon before, the lightning descending from the sky at this moment, as if a divine miracle, was a solemn cyan color. Within the lightning, the Skull Servants approaching Karim were crushed into powder the instant they made contact. Even the King of the Skull Servants's attack vanished in an instant.
Kaiba also looked back due to the huge commotion, watching the green flying dragon that had descended lightning and was soaring above Karim's head. "That monster is—"
Opening his eyes, Karim, who had narrowly escaped death, also cast his gaze towards the monster above his head that was closely connected to his heart. He revealed a relieved smile. "My first gamble in life actually let me win. You responded to me, Thunder Dragon."
"No, Thunder Dragon Colossus."
"Well, I guessed pretty accurately, didn't I?"
This was not the immature two-in-one like the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon before. This time, Karim performed a three-body Thunder Dragon Fusion Summon using the Millennium Scale he picked up from the King of the Skull Servants's original position, something he had never successfully done before.
Perhaps the heart of sacrifice allowed Karim to witness a miracle, perhaps the deity truly cast its watch and blessing, or perhaps it was the Thunder Dragons' response to Karim. The three-in-one Thunder Dragons gained the qualification to be granted the name of 'Divine-Beast'. Their power underwent a qualitative change, having already transformed into a completely new realm!
Looking at the authority/dignity-filled Thunder Dragon Colossus, the King of the Skull Servants, which should have had no pain or emotion like the Skull Servants, experienced fear and panic for the first time due to the intelligence granted to it by the Great Dark Priest when he created it, in order to fight better. It completely stopped restraining the Skull Servants' actions, only caring about escape, while continuously throwing attacks towards the Thunder Dragon Colossus behind it.
However, the Thunder Dragon Colossus didn't move at all. It merely soared in the air. The lightning it emitted as it flapped its wings effortlessly annihilated the attacks the King of the Skull Servants desperately threw out in its struggle.
The Skull Servants lost the King of the Skull Servants's restraint and no longer acted in an orderly manner. Lacking intellect and filled with malice towards living beings, they chaotically pursued Kaiba and the others. A group also tried to approach Karim, but with the existence of Thunder Dragon Colossus, they fundamentally couldn't succeed. Instead, Malik and the others were forced to keep moving.
But this time, Kaiba didn't need to pull him. Malik confidently carried Isis on his back and followed Kaiba in their escape, because in his opinion, Karim, who had summoned Thunder Dragon Colossus, had nothing to fear anymore.
And looking at the retreating backs of Malik and the others, Karim also felt relief. 'That's right, Malik, don't stop. As long as you keep moving forward, your future will continue to extend.'
'It's just a bit regrettable...'
His arm was unable to continue supporting his body. Karim fell to the ground when Malik and the others were no longer able to see him in the distance. On the other side, the Thunder Dragon Colossus's lightning descended a second time, completely destroying the King of the Skull Servants, while the split lightning strike also cleared out a group of Skull Servants pursuing Kaiba and the others.
'I, Karim, will make my exit gracefully.'
Lying on the scorched earth of the Thief Village, the exhausted Karim closed his eyes.
"Ka-Karim?"
"What are you doing, Karim!"
Seeing Karim, who had lost an arm, Malik said in a panic, "Your arm... to save someone like me..."
Before, he had merely helped Karim up when he almost fell; it was by no means a great achievement, and Karim had never owed him anything. But now, Karim had lost an arm just to save his life!
"What kind of expression is that, Marik Ishtar?" Karim forced a smile, "I am Priest Karim of the Millennium Scale under the Pharaoh. Protecting others is my mission. It's just an arm; I'm gambling it on the Future!"
"Idiot, stop acting tough!" Kaiba supported Karim, who was swaying from speaking too excitedly, but Karim stubbornly pushed him away. Helplessly, Kaiba stood beside Karim and looked around.
After its previous attack, that special Skull Servant stopped moving and remained still, gathering a large amount of visible dark power around it, seemingly charging. And as that special Skull Servant suddenly attacked, the other Skull Servants also stopped their human wave tactics, guarding around that "Skull Servant" as if to prevent Kaiba and the others from approaching and interrupting its charge.
It looks like that "Skull Servant" doesn't inherently possess such strength, but rather accumulates it slowly before being able to unleash such a powerful attack in one go. For now, the group doesn't need to worry about a second attack coming immediately. However, if they don't find a way to interrupt that "Skull Servant"'s charge, they still won't be able to escape this calamity, and they shouldn't even think about escaping from here.
"That monster isn't a Skull Servant; it's almost like the 'King' of the other Skull Servants." Kaiba confirmed that the surrounding Skull Servants were only surrounding them but not approaching further. He frowned and looked at that special "Skull Servant". "Let's call it 'King of the Skull Servants' for now."
"Before escaping the Village, it is the last obstacle we must face!"
As he spoke, Kaiba subconsciously clenched his fist. Just now, because his nerves were constantly tense, he had ignored the feeling in his hand. It wasn't until something happened to Karim and he relaxed slightly that he noticed the pain coming from his palm.
"Even if you say that." Getting up from the ground, Malik glanced at the situation of the others around him. Kaiba's hand was trembling, Isis's soul value on the Duel Arena was already near rock bottom because the Stone Tablet Monster Agido had been destroyed, not to mention Karim. "How can a few Small Fry like us fight against such a powerful monster?"
"The opponent doesn't look like someone who can be held back by leaving one person behind either."
"King of the Skull Servants, a very fitting name." Glancing at Kaiba, Karim hesitated slightly, then made up his mind and said firmly, "Life is unpredictable, but life and death have their order."
"Everyone, you go first; I'll hold them back."
Karim's calm tone made Malik freeze for a moment, then he said with difficulty, "What are you thinking, you idiot? Didn't you hear me just say that guy isn't someone you can hold back by leaving one person behind, let alone in your current state—"
"I know, that's why I'm staying." Karim raised his sole remaining left arm. Fortunately, he had used his right hand to push Malik away just now. Although the Millennium Scale he was holding in his right hand was blasted away during the King of the Skull Servants's attack just now, the Duel Arena was still on his left arm, and he could still summon Stone Tablet Monsters.
Sharp-eyed Karim saw that one of the Skull Servants had picked up his dropped Millennium Scale and brought it to the King of the Skull Servants.
Two more Thunder Dragon appeared in front of Karim. With each one that appeared, Karim's expression became paler. The only thing to be thankful for at this moment was that the King of the Skull Servants's previous attack was so thorough that Karim's wound immediately became necrotic, preventing him from fainting from excessive blood loss.
But in this state, how long could he persist? The damage caused by Diabound's previous attack had not yet fully healed, and after the King of the Skull Servants's attack, he had summoned three Thunder Dragons again. It was almost a miracle that Karim was still standing.
Malik wanted to persuade Karim a few more times, but Kaiba pressed his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Do as he says, we don't have time."
Saying this, regardless of Malik's will, he helped up Isis and pulled Malik to leave. Karim's Thunder Dragons also exerted their full power, clearing a passage for them towards the exit.
Kaiba led Isis and Malik in their escape. The King of the Skull Servants seemed unwilling to let anyone leave and was about to command the Skull Servants to surround the group, but the Skull Servants sent out were swept back by a beam of lightning that struck halfway.
"Don't think you can pass; your opponent is me!" Commanding the three Thunder Dragons to circle around him, without the Millennium Scale, Karim was temporarily unable to use the power of Polymerization to synthesize his strongest Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. But even so, there wasn't even a trace of fear in his gaze as he looked at the King of the Skull Servants.
"It's strange to say, before today, I never thought there would be a moment when I would sacrifice my life for others. All along, my life plan only involved standing in a higher position and holding greater authority, until I met Mr. Hayato."
"However, rather than saying Mr. Hayato changed my destiny, it's better to say that he was the first to let me see the direction of my own destiny, and for the first time, I decided the view at the end of my destiny myself."
"Perhaps the meeting between people is truly destiny."
Taking a deep breath, Karim looked at the King of the Skull Servants. His pale expression also showed a hint of redness due to his excited mood. He shouted, "Bring it on, King of the Skull Servants!"
The next instant, the King of the Skull Servants's long-charged attack arrived. The pale energy pillar that took Karim's right hand was fired again.
"If you're fully prepared, the Reaper won't come!" Karim waved his sole left arm, staggering forward two steps, and actually started to jog with difficulty. The Thunder Dragons also guarded their master's side and charged towards the Skull Servants surrounding the King of the Skull Servants.
"Thunder Dragons aren't just for show! Just one attack, watch me push it back!"
The Thunder Dragons actively met the King of the Skull Servants's attack. The attack, which was enough to instantly kill a single body, was successfully blocked for an instant by the combined strength of the Thunder Dragons. With a collective burst of power, they deflected this attack, which the King of the Skull Servants had also fired in a hurry, by a few degrees, causing it to blast into the wreckage of a building not far away.
The King of the Skull Servants did not move from its position and began charging again, while also commanding the Skull Servants to attack Karim, who had approached along with the Thunder Dragons. However, without needing to clear a path for a large group, and only needing to protect Karim alone, the Thunder Dragons' burden was much lighter. Within a few breaths, Karim had approached the King of the Skull Servants.
"I will use my life to pioneer a path for the future of the young!"
Losing an arm made it difficult for Karim's body to adapt to the changed balance. Although he couldn't swing his fist like Kaiba, he had a solution. That was to leap up with full power and then kick. The muscles in his legs could exert greater power than his fist, enough to scatter the King of the Skull Servants's body.
Then, the full power attack of the three Thunder Dragons would be enough to completely destroy the opponent's body. As for what result would befall him, falling into the Skull Servant swarm because the Thunder Dragons attacking with full power couldn't also protect him, Karim didn't think about it that much.
But as Karim leaped up and assumed a flying kick posture, looking at the King of the Skull Servants's face, which was just a skeleton, he felt as if the opponent was watching him with a taunting gaze. Immediately after, to Karim's surprise, the King of the Skull Servants, which he thought couldn't move during the charging process, actually moved!
While its skeletal body dodged Karim's attack, it actually completed its attack charge in an instant. A white energy ball gathered in its hand, seemingly ready to be fired at any moment to kill Karim?!
He had been completely fooled. The attack just now was fundamentally just a feint attack by the opponent to lure him closer. The inability to move was just an illusion it presented. Looking again at the positions of the King of the Skull Servants, Karim, and Malik and the others who hadn't escaped too far, it was clearly trying to adjust to the optimal position to wipe out Karim and Malik's group in one go!
If he was lucky enough to predict the firing angle, Karim might have a slight possibility of escaping the King of the Skull Servants's attack, but Malik and the others behind him fundamentally couldn't escape. Therefore, Karim, thinking rapidly, didn't escape at all, but still stood in place.
The Thunder Dragons, which had been charging to destroy the King of the Skull Servants in one go, swooped down and blocked the King of the Skull Servants. The strength of the energy pillar they faced proved that Karim's guess was correct. Compared to the feint attack just now, this was the King of the Skull Servants's truly charged attack.
The Skull Servants approached the unprotected Karim. Just as the King of the Skull Servants thought its scheme had succeeded, it saw through the gap between the Thunder Dragons, which were being pushed back continuously by its attack, that Karim, who had fallen to the ground, propped himself up with one hand and bit onto something with his mouth.
"O Divine-Beast, most sacred as the sun, who grants all wisdom, glory, and great power, please witness my heart, conviction, and authority. Bless me, this is Priest Karim's last battle in life, and the peak of glory."
"As long as I can still feel this instant of glory, I will never fall down into that Abyss of Darkness."
"Please watch, this is my last Polymerization!"
"Millennium Scale, Thunder Dragon, respond to me!"
Accompanied by Karim's shout, Malik, who was being pulled away by Kaiba, successfully escaped the Skull Servants' encirclement with Isis, thanks to Karim's strength. Turning his head, finally having the leisure to look at Karim's situation, he happened to see the image of the Thunder Dragons disappearing in radiance, and the King of the Skull Servants's attack almost engulfing Karim's body.
"Karim!!"
However, miracles are wondrous precisely because they manifest in times of despair. The next instant, just as Malik thought Karim was surely going to die, lightning descended from the sky from Karim's location.
"Boom!"
Unlike the yellow lightning used by Karim's Thunder Dragons and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon before, the lightning descending from the sky at this moment, as if a divine miracle, was a solemn cyan color. Within the lightning, the Skull Servants approaching Karim were crushed into powder the instant they made contact. Even the King of the Skull Servants's attack vanished in an instant.
Kaiba also looked back due to the huge commotion, watching the green flying dragon that had descended lightning and was soaring above Karim's head. "That monster is—"
Opening his eyes, Karim, who had narrowly escaped death, also cast his gaze towards the monster above his head that was closely connected to his heart. He revealed a relieved smile. "My first gamble in life actually let me win. You responded to me, Thunder Dragon."
"No, Thunder Dragon Colossus."
"Well, I guessed pretty accurately, didn't I?"
This was not the immature two-in-one like the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon before. This time, Karim performed a three-body Thunder Dragon Fusion Summon using the Millennium Scale he picked up from the King of the Skull Servants's original position, something he had never successfully done before.
Perhaps the heart of sacrifice allowed Karim to witness a miracle, perhaps the deity truly cast its watch and blessing, or perhaps it was the Thunder Dragons' response to Karim. The three-in-one Thunder Dragons gained the qualification to be granted the name of 'Divine-Beast'. Their power underwent a qualitative change, having already transformed into a completely new realm!
Looking at the authority/dignity-filled Thunder Dragon Colossus, the King of the Skull Servants, which should have had no pain or emotion like the Skull Servants, experienced fear and panic for the first time due to the intelligence granted to it by the Great Dark Priest when he created it, in order to fight better. It completely stopped restraining the Skull Servants' actions, only caring about escape, while continuously throwing attacks towards the Thunder Dragon Colossus behind it.
However, the Thunder Dragon Colossus didn't move at all. It merely soared in the air. The lightning it emitted as it flapped its wings effortlessly annihilated the attacks the King of the Skull Servants desperately threw out in its struggle.
The Skull Servants lost the King of the Skull Servants's restraint and no longer acted in an orderly manner. Lacking intellect and filled with malice towards living beings, they chaotically pursued Kaiba and the others. A group also tried to approach Karim, but with the existence of Thunder Dragon Colossus, they fundamentally couldn't succeed. Instead, Malik and the others were forced to keep moving.
But this time, Kaiba didn't need to pull him. Malik confidently carried Isis on his back and followed Kaiba in their escape, because in his opinion, Karim, who had summoned Thunder Dragon Colossus, had nothing to fear anymore.
And looking at the retreating backs of Malik and the others, Karim also felt relief. 'That's right, Malik, don't stop. As long as you keep moving forward, your future will continue to extend.'
'It's just a bit regrettable...'
His arm was unable to continue supporting his body. Karim fell to the ground when Malik and the others were no longer able to see him in the distance. On the other side, the Thunder Dragon Colossus's lightning descended a second time, completely destroying the King of the Skull Servants, while the split lightning strike also cleared out a group of Skull Servants pursuing Kaiba and the others.
'I, Karim, will make my exit gracefully.'
Lying on the scorched earth of the Thief Village, the exhausted Karim closed his eyes.
