"Pegasus!"
Kaiba's shout yanked Pegasus back to reality from the shock of his Millennium Eye failing.
A cold Duel Disk flew through the air. Pegasus, seemingly startled, caught it with both hands in an exaggerated manner.
"OH~!"
"Pegasus! We'll duel using this!"
"Hm?"
Pegasus tilted his head in feigned innocence, holding the Duel Disk up before his eyes, turning it left and right as though admiring a new toy.
"This is… for fanning oneself?"
He even gave himself a couple of serious-looking swipes with it.
A sharp vein bulged across Kaiba's forehead, his fist clenching with audible cracks.
"If it is, it's far too heavy…"
Pegasus acted as though he hadn't noticed Kaiba's fury, musing to himself.
"Oh! I've got it!"
His face lit up with an "I understand now" expression.
"It's for rolling?"
Before everyone's eyes, Pegasus actually bent down, set the Duel Disk upright like a toy wheel, and shoved it forward—
Clatter clatter…
The Duel Disk rolled across the bridge.
Two bodyguards ran after it, retrieved it, and brought it back.
"Pegasus! Stop fooling around!!!"
Kaiba's voice had taken on an edge of fury.
Seeing Kaiba truly angry, Pegasus's "innocent" look instantly vanished, replaced with a sly, satisfied smile brimming with cruel amusement.
He gracefully adjusted his collar, resuming his unflappable demeanor.
"Now now, don't get so worked up, Ka↗i↘ba BOY~"
Pegasus clapped his hands lightly, his tone laced with mockery.
"Well then, I suppose I can accept using this… little gadget for our duel. However…"
He deliberately drew out the word, his gaze sweeping over Kaiba's darkening face before clapping his hands again.
"Bring out the little friend who tossed that Duel Disk to me."
The massive door behind him slowly opened once more. A frail figure was dragged in by bodyguards.
His head hung low, his steps stumbling, as if all strength had left him.
It was Mokuba Kaiba.
Albeit he was nothing like the "unharmed" hostage Pegasus had promised.
His young cheeks and wrists were covered in glaring scrapes and bruises.
Worse still—around his neck was a heavy, cold metal collar.
From it trailed a short, thick iron chain, gripped tightly by one of the guards, as if he were leading livestock!
"Mokuba—!!!"
Seeing his beloved younger brother so abused and humiliated, the final thread of Kaiba Seto's reason snapped!
He let out a cry of anguish steeped in boundless fury, his body trembling violently with rage and grief, his bloodshot eyes boring into Pegasus as though he would devour him alive.
Pegasus's lips curved in a cold, satisfied arc.
His goal was achieved.
Overwhelming rage would devour calm and shatter judgment.
The psychological duel had begun not upon entering the hall, but long before.
Now, Seto Kaiba had walked fully into his trap.
"Whaaat? Kaiba Boyyy—"
Pegasus dragged out the syllables, his voice dripping with false concern and naked mockery.
"Aren't you happy to see your precious Mokuba BOY again?"
"Mokuba?! Mokuba! Look at me! It's your brother!"
Kaiba's voice cracked with desperate pleading, trying to reach his brother.
Yet, no matter how he shouted, Mokuba kept his head bowed, his eyes blank like a doll's, unresponsive to his brother's cries.
Then Pegasus elegantly drew a card from his coat.
On its face—an image of Mokuba frozen in terrified struggle!
"Mokuba BOY's soul…"
Pegasus's voice slithered like a serpent.
"I sealed it into this card myself."
"Soul?!"
From the balcony, Mai Valentine gasped, her face filled with disbelief. To her, this was nothing short of impossible.
However, to Yuto, Yugi, and the others—though shaken by Pegasus's cruelty—they were not entirely surprised at the supernatural, only enraged by his methods.
"Heh heh heh…"
Pegasus chuckled darkly, his gaze sweeping over Kaiba's ashen face.
"The Mokuba BOY standing before you is nothing except an empty shell. Now, he'll move only like a puppet on strings, obeying my commands."
Seto Kaiba stood at the arena's edge, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened, nails biting into his palms, his body trembling with fury and grief.
Yuto had no doubt—if not for the guards' holstered guns clearly visible at their waists, Kaiba would already have lunged at Pegasus to tear him apart.
"Kaiba Boy."
Pegasus's voice oozed with devilish temptation.
"The rules are simple. Defeat me in this sacred duel, and Mokuba BOY's soul will be freed from this card, to return to his warm body."
"Pe! Ga! Suuuuus—!!!"
Kaiba's roar seemed torn from the depths of hell, dripping with hatred.
"Now then."
Pegasus gestured toward Mokuba with a tilt of his chin, as if giving an idle command.
"Mokuba Boy, go 'toss' the Duel Disk for me."
The guard shoved the heavy Duel Disk into Mokuba's hands.
He gripped it numbly, moving stiffly toward Kaiba like a programmed machine.
Watching his brother shuffle forward like the walking dead, Duel Disk in hand, Kaiba felt his heart clamped in an icy fist!
He instinctively stepped back half a pace, his eyes clouded with pain and struggle.
"This alone… this, I cannot accept…"
Kaiba's voice was hoarse and low, thick with helplessness.
The thought of dueling his controlled brother was unbearable.
"Whaat~?"
Pegasus cupped a hand to his ear, grinning with infuriating mockery.
"Too soft, Kaiba Boy~ I can't hear your resolve."
"Pegasus!"
Kaiba's head snapped up, his bloodshot eyes locked on the demon before him, his voice booming like thunder.
"I refuse to use the Duel Disk! I demand a one-on-one, pure card duel—with no outside tools!"
Pegasus's smile only deepened.
Slowly crouching, he leaned toward Mokuba's ear, speaking just loudly enough for Kaiba to hear, his tone like a devil's whisper:
"Oh, poor Mokuba Boy Did you hear? Your big brother doesn't seem to want to 'play' this game with you. How sad"
He signaled with his eyes. The guard yanked Mokuba away by the chain, dragging him off the stage like a lifeless doll, vanishing into a side passage.
"Well then."
Pegasus rose, spreading his hands elegantly.
"Let us begin this 'pure' duel, Kaiba Boy~"
The moment his words fell—
The central bridge split apart with a thunderous crash, its massive halves retracting with grinding gears!
Above, the domed ceiling opened slowly!
From it descended a colossal dueling platform of gleaming alloy, suspended steadily by thick mechanical arms.
Spotlights struck it dead center, making it shine like an altar.
The arms lowered it precisely to bridge level.
New platforms extended to connect seamlessly with the arena on both sides.
Pegasus and Kaiba each stepped forward from opposite ends, ascending onto this cold stage of their final duel.
In silence, they slotted their decks into the arena's specialized holders.
"DUEL—!!!"
Anyhow, Yuto, watching from nearby, couldn't help but notice: Kaiba never shuffled his deck.
So it was true… Kaiba really doesn't shuffle?
...
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