News of the Battle City tournament spread through the dueling scene like wildfire—so fast that even people outside the community had heard the rumors.
Kisaragi Aoi hadn't just claimed the title of Duel King; she had also obtained the three legendary God Cards. And thanks to the spotlight shining on her, Kaiba Entertainment Group's revenue and stock price were surging at an absurd rate.
Plenty of duelists, greedy for the God Cards, wanted to challenge her—yet none dared make a reckless move with Kaiba Entertainment's influence looming in the background.
In the garden of Kaiba's villa, Aoi lay stretched out on a long sun lounger, soaking up the sunlight.
"Honestly… ever since Battle City ended, Seto's gotten busier and busier," she muttered to herself. "I barely see him in the daytime anymore. What on earth is he even doing?"
She sighed, then added with a hint of guilt, "And he won't even let me go to the company. He's working himself half to death while I'm lounging around enjoying life… I feel kind of bad."
Despite those words, she casually picked up the juice beside her and took a long sip.
A servant approached and bowed. "Miss Kisaragi. You asked that we bring Mr. Mutou's group here. They've arrived."
"I know," Aoi replied. "Bring them in."
"Whoa—this is Kaiba's villa? This place is insane!" Joey's voice rang out as soon as they entered.
"Joey, you're embarrassing yourself. Calm down," Mai scolded.
"This way, please. Miss Kisaragi is in the garden," the servant said.
Aoi immediately stood up when she saw them.
"Yugi—and everyone. You're here," she greeted, smiling.
"Yeah," Yugi said. "Aoi… thank you for being willing to lend me the God Cards."
"Don't be so formal," Aoi laughed.
"By the way," Joey asked, "where's Kaiba?"
Aoi waved her hand helplessly. "Since the tournament ended, he's been so busy he practically sleeps at the company. There's no way he'd be here at this hour."
"That's only natural," Téa said with a smile. "Kaiba Entertainment's jumped to a whole new level because of you. As president, Kaiba's going to be swamped."
Mai let out a dramatic sigh. "Seriously… Aoi's young, she's the Duel King, she's got a boyfriend who's basically a walking fortune, and she gets to relax in a mansion like this every day. And then there's me—working all the time, while my boyfriend still has to go to school. Life's unfair."
Joey instantly realized she was taking a shot at him and forced a grin. "Mai, I'll do well in school, become a first-rate duelist, and once I'm working I'll take care of you properly!"
"Hmph. I'll believe it when I see it," Mai replied, turning away with a scoff.
Aoi clapped her hands once, refocusing everyone. "Alright. Let's go to the museum. Yugi—your memories are tied to that stone tablet."
"Right!" everyone agreed.
They drove to the museum together.
In the same exhibition hall as before, the group stood before the tablet.
"So this is the tablet you were talking about…" Tristan said.
"Yeah—look at it. It's basically Yugi," Joey added.
Aoi handed the three God Cards to Yugi.
"Now it's your turn," she said quietly.
Yami Yugi took a breath. "The moment has finally come. When I raise these three God Cards to the tablet… the path to my lost memories will open."
He lifted the three cards high.
A golden light burst from them, and the symbol of the Millennium Puzzle carved at the top of the tablet began to glow in response.
But then—
The entire tablet suddenly frosted over, sealed in ice.
Dark smoke-like energy curled around the God Cards in Yugi's hand as if something was forcibly suppressing them. A stabbing pain shot through his arm.
"Ah—!"
"Yugi!" Téa and the others rushed to steady him.
"I can feel it," Yami Yugi said, grimacing. "A powerful force is interfering. It's preventing me from opening the door to my memories."
A pale white glow flared from Aoi's body, and the pressure on Yami Yugi eased.
"Are you alright?" Aoi asked.
"…Yeah. I'm okay."
Aoi's eyes narrowed. "Looks like we've got a new enemy."
"A new enemy…?"
Aoi didn't answer directly. She simply held out her hand. "Yugi—give me the God Cards for now. I'll keep them at Kaiba Entertainment Group. With their security, they can protect them properly. Whoever's behind this will almost certainly be targeting the three Gods—so I'm more comfortable placing them somewhere Seto can lock down."
"I understand," Yami Yugi said, returning the cards.
"Let's go," Aoi said. "They'll come to us sooner or later."
"…Alright."
The moment they walked out of the museum, the street scene made everyone freeze.
All around them, Duel Monsters—solid, moving, rampaging—were roaming openly through the city.
"What the hell…?" Tristan breathed.
"Is this someone's prank?" Joey asked, staring wide-eyed.
"No," Aoi said sharply. "The duel monster data is managed by Kaiba Entertainment's central system. Something like this shouldn't be possible. I'm going back to Kaiba Entertainment. You all get somewhere safe and head home."
With that, she got into the car and told the driver to go straight to Kaiba Entertainment Group.
Kaiba Entertainment Group had descended into chaos.
A swarm of reporters blocked the main entrance, shouting questions over one another.
"Please comment on the incident!""Is it true the Solid Vision system has malfunctioned?!""We've heard rumors the holograms are out of control—what's your response?!"
Aoi avoided the crowd, entering through a side door.
Inside, staff were running in every direction, panicked and frantic. Yet the moment they noticed her, they instinctively cleared a path—though from somewhere in the shadows, a pair of eyes tracked her every step.
Aoi ignored the commotion and took Kaiba's private elevator straight to the president's office.
Kaiba wasn't there.
"Isono," she asked as soon as she saw him, "where's Seto?"
"President Kaiba is holding a press conference," Isono replied. "He should return shortly. Please wait here, Miss Kisaragi."
"Got it. You can go."
"Yes." Isono bowed and left.
Aoi switched on the TV and sat on the reception sofa, watching Kaiba's press conference.
"Regarding this incident," Kaiba said calmly on-screen, "it has nothing to do with our company's systems. After the event began, we shut down our system and performed maintenance—yet during that time, the monsters continued to appear."
He narrowed his eyes. "Which means the monsters are being materialized by a system outside Kaiba Entertainment Group."
Aoi turned the TV off and exhaled. "So it really is him…"
The office door opened. Kaiba stepped in and paused when he saw Aoi waiting.
"You came?" he asked, faint surprise in his eyes.
"With something this big happening, how could I not?" Aoi replied.
Kaiba shrugged, utterly unbothered. "Monsters causing trouble worldwide isn't that big of a deal."
Aoi's mouth twitched. Then what counts as a big deal to you? she thought.
She set the three God Cards on the table between them. "I'm putting these in the company vault for now. Whoever's behind this is probably aiming for them, and I trust your security more than anything else."
Kaiba's gaze sharpened. "Understood. Let's go. Only I can open that vault."
He stood and led her toward the restricted secure room deep inside Kaiba Entertainment Group.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
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TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
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Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
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Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
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Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
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A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
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The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
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I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
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No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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