Inside a sewer tunnel, everyone regrouped in the damp darkness. Rebecca knelt beside an exposed network cable, her laptop plugged in, the screen flooded with scrolling binary.
"KaibaCorp's security system isn't all that impressive," she said, fingers flying over the keyboard.
Joey stared blankly. "We don't understand a single thing you're doing!"
"Shut it," Téa snapped. "Don't distract her!"
Rebecca snorted. "So this is the kind of encryption you used. President Kaiba, next time just hire me. I'll write you something that actually looks like a real program."
"I'll consider it," Kaiba said coolly. Then he turned. "Cangyi. Pharaoh. Move."
With Rebecca's help, the three of them slipped through the facility without resistance—until they reached a sealed door and stopped.
"I can only interfere with the external security grid," Rebecca warned through the comm. "This room is on an independent circuit. I can't get in."
"That's enough," Kaiba replied.
He entered a long string of codes into the keypad. The heavy door unlocked. The three sprinted down the corridor and burst into a vast chamber lined with massive computer banks and server towers.
Kaiba produced a D-card and slotted it into the console for authentication.
"Retina match confirmed. Welcome, Mr. Seto Kaiba."
Kaiba leaned in, voice sharp. "Voice recognition—activate. Cancel the current system. Switch to the auxiliary system."
"Understood."
As the screens rebooted, Kaiba inserted an external drive. A set of ruin photographs filled the monitors.
"Ruin data—begin analysis," Kaiba ordered.
Only moments later, the images sharpened as the system reconstructed the degraded inscriptions. Kaiba immediately forwarded the restored files back to Rebecca's laptop.
"Grandpa…" Rebecca's voice trembled over the line.
Professor Hopkins stepped forward at once, eyes fixed on the screen as he began translating.
"When the pitch-black serpent devours the sun… crossing ten thousand years of time… a new paradise shall be resurrected."
"A serpent devouring the sun…?"
"A paradise from ten thousand years ago…?"
Cangyi's gaze narrowed. "That 'paradise' is Atlantis."
Kaiba's expression turned hard as he zoomed in on a symbol etched into the stone. "No. This crest—this is Paradius Corporation's emblem."
"Paradius…?" Yugi murmured.
Kaiba's fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up corporate records. "Paradius is a super-conglomerate with its hands in markets across the entire world. People say it can even steer the decisions of major nations."
He hit Enter.
A man's photograph appeared on the display.
"—The one at the top is Dartz."
Cangyi's eyes chilled. "So that's Dartz… the one Rafael mentioned."
Before anyone could speak again—
BOOM!
The entire room erupted.
Kaiba threw himself forward on instinct, shielding Cangyi with his body as the shockwave tore through the chamber. Sparks, smoke, and shattered metal swallowed everything.
Rebecca's connection cut out.
The blast faded… and the world went black.
A pressure like a living shadow wrapped around the three of them. Then, behind them, something enormous shifted—scales scraping reality itself.
A gigantic serpent silhouette rose in the darkness, and atop it stood a man, looking down as if he'd been waiting all along.
"Duel King… Nameless Pharaoh… Seto Kaiba," the man said calmly. "So you finally found me."
Kaiba stepped forward, jaw set. "You're the one pulling the strings behind Doma."
"That's right." The man's smile was almost gentle. "My name is Dartz. Soon, the world will be reborn—guided by Doma's ideal."
"Calling extinction an ideal…" Kaiba spat. "That's not salvation. It's slaughter wrapped in self-righteousness."
Yami Yugi's eyes burned. "What is your true goal?"
"My goal?" Dartz chuckled. "I merely follow my destiny."
"You don't get to decide the world's future and call it destiny," Yami Yugi snapped.
Dartz's gaze sharpened, and the serpent beneath him seemed to breathe. "You know nothing. Nameless Pharaoh. Seto Kaiba. It was your existence that guided me to this future."
"Our existence?" Kaiba demanded. "What does that mean?"
"You don't need to know." Dartz's eyes slid past them—then stopped on Cangyi. "But in the future I envisioned, an unstable variable appeared."
Kaiba immediately moved, blocking Cangyi with his body.
Cangyi, however, laughed—softly, almost amused. "An 'unstable variable,' huh?"
Kaiba turned to her, tense. "Cangyi—"
"I'm fine," she said, stepping forward until she stood directly before Dartz. "I'm just laughing at your 'destiny.'"
Her voice sharpened into a blade.
"Dartz—do you really think one person can 'save' the world? Do you think that because there's darkness, the only answer is to destroy everything?"
She lifted her chin, eyes unwavering.
"Where there's light, there will always be darkness. That balance is eternal. Even if you succeed in burning this world to ash—can you guarantee the same darkness won't be born again? Stop hiding behind destiny. You're not a savior."
Her words landed like a verdict.
"You're just a pitiful man devoured by darkness."
Dartz's expression twitched.
"What… did you say?"
The serpent beneath him reacted to his rage, opening its jaws and blasting a wave of black energy straight at Cangyi.
"Cangyi!" Kaiba lunged—
But white light erupted from Cangyi's body.
A brilliant dragon spirit manifested—Blue-Eyes, pure and radiant—answering the threat with a beam of white that collided with the serpent's darkness. The two forces annihilated each other in a violent flash.
Dartz's eyes narrowed with interest. "So you're one who possesses a monster spirit… and it's Blue-Eyes. No wonder you're so strong."
Yami Yugi snapped his Duel Disk open. "Dartz! Release the souls you've stolen!"
Kaiba stepped in front of Cangyi, his own Duel Disk flaring to life. He slammed down a card.
At the same time, Yami Yugi did the same.
Two Legendary Dragons erupted into the air—Timaeus and Critias—facing Dartz's serpent head-on.
Dartz smiled as if greeting an old enemy. "Legendary Dragons… it's been a long time, Timaeus. Does that single eye of yours still ache?"
Timaeus roared—furious—and unleashed blazing fire.
The serpent shattered.
"An illusion…?" Kaiba hissed.
Dartz's body dissolved into darkness, his voice lingering like poison in the air.
"The wheel of destiny is already turning. You'll understand your own helplessness soon enough."
Then he was gone.
At that moment, a deafening crash echoed behind them. The doors were torn apart as monsters poured into the facility—while outside, the KaibaCorp complex was being swarmed from every direction.
"Move!" Kaiba snapped.
The three raced for the elevator and shot up to the rooftop.
They burst out into open air—only to find themselves cornered at the edge. The sky churned with monsters, closing in.
"Yugi—jump back!" Kaiba shouted.
"What—?!" Yami Yugi turned—
A Blue-Eyes-shaped jet hovered behind them, keeping pace just long enough to catch them.
Kaiba didn't hesitate. He scooped Cangyi up in his arms and leapt.
Yami Yugi jumped after them.
Kaiba hit the cockpit, pulling Cangyi close with one arm while taking control with the other. The jet rose—
And instantly got struck, tumbling out of the air.
"Hold on to me!" Kaiba barked.
Cangyi grabbed his coat without thinking, fingers locked tight.
The jet spiraled toward the ground. At the last possible moment, Kaiba kicked the hatch open, jumped with Cangyi in his arms, and hit the ground hard—Yami Yugi landing beside them a split-second later.
Kaiba set Cangyi down, eyes blazing as he stared at the burning ruin of his company.
"KaibaCorp…" His voice shook with fury. "I won't hand it over to anyone."
Yami Yugi suddenly looked up, face tightening.
"That is—!"
High above the city, a massive black serpent coiled through the clouds, circling like an omen.
And the real battle began.
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter260)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter135)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 240
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 280
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 260
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 135
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 91
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 90
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 100
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 90
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 105
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 85
After Maxing Out Every Class 85
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 70
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 55
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 55
From Trilobites to Titans 55
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 66
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 70
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 50
Honkai: The Fire Devil 30
Honkai Transformation Cards 35
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 45
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