Yugen put away the Duel Disc and clapped his hands.
The opponent was slightly stronger than he initially expected. Mainly, he didn't anticipate them drawing Evil Emperor Gaius—not that just one card would have such a big impact on the duel, but this card housed an elf.
In terms of spirit strength, Evil Emperor Gaius didn't seem weak. Without needing to be summoned, just providing the Destiny Power for the duelist was quite a hassle.
But fortunately, it wasn't too difficult to handle. In the end, he still won quite easily.
"How... could this be..."
The Demon Realm Overlord lay on the ground, breathing faintly, his body beginning to glow with a golden light. Such is the fate of the defeated in duels of the Elf Realm, even their body will disintegrate and vanish.
"I can't believe I lost... with the power of Lord Evil Emperor on my side..."
"Calm down, after all, you weren't the first, nor will you be the last."
Yugen had already dispelled the magic effect and returned to his original form.
"You... you're not... cough cough..."
The Overlord of the Dark Demon Realm widened his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm not."
Yugen straightforwardly admitted.
"You... cough cough... spy... infiltrator..."
"Yeah, yeah, that's me."
Yugen continued to admit candidly, and as he spoke, he leaned down and pulled the card deck out from the Duel Disc of the Demon Realm Overlord.
This action caused the already barely breathing Demon Realm Overlord to cough up blood again.
"You... you... ugh..."
With one final spurt of old blood, the Demon Realm Overlord completely collapsed, eyes wide open, silent.
Then his entire body began to gradually disintegrate, turning into particles of golden light, dissipating into the air.
Yugen took the card deck and continued walking out, flipping through it to find the most critical card.
Evil Emperor Gaius.
A swirl of black fog drifted out, gradually forming a phantasmal image of the Evil God. Those crimson eyes gazed through the churning black mist at Yugen, glaring fiercely, yet carrying a hint of confusion.
"Who on earth... are you?"
Now the Evil Emperor realized. The entire reason he was suppressed during this duel wasn't just because of a few traps.
He could feel it, this person seemed to not even show his true abilities.
Yet, where did this wild warrior come from?
He thought the Demon Realm Overlord seemed ordinary to him, but with his own support, someone shouldn't be able to just bully them. However, this person not only won but suppressed both of them to the point where they had no temper...
The Evil Emperor pondered for a moment.
He was a spirit good at adapting. And partnering with that Demon Realm Overlord was merely an organizational assignment. Now that the guy was gone, and seeing this person took the card deck and seemed to have ideas, the Evil Emperor's thoughts quickly became active.
As a wise spirit, he should strategically seek new opportunities for himself.
But as a dignified Evil Emperor, he still needed to maintain his honor. So he coughed purposely, sinking into the black fog with a mysterious air: "Killing the duelist who possesses me, you sure have some guts, kid..."
Yet before he finished speaking, Yugen interrupted him.
"Shut up first, I'll handle you later."
Yugen directly pressed him back into the card deck and shoved it into his pocket.
Evil Emperor: "..."
He had already reached the outside, but the external scenery was completely different from before.
The pitch-black sky was mercilessly covered like a huge black satin, thick clouds piled layer upon layer, like black waves rising from the abyss, the rolling thunder roared like ancient beasts shaking the earth.
Then intensely, it suddenly exploded from the depths of the clouds, as if a black sword sliced through the world to reveal its true form. But it turned out it wasn't a sword, but a winding giant snake!
The extremely terrifying Snake God, its winding body seemed to stretch across the sky. Its deep, cold eyes reflected the entire land, and its massive open jaws revealed sharp fangs, unleashing a deafening hiss.
God of Orichalcos!
"This thing has already resurrected?" Yugen frowned, looking somewhat grim.
This entity was beaten by the combined force of the Three Phantom Gods back then. Now that they are gone, a complete resurrection might be somewhat troubling.
"No, it's just a remnant image, the true body hasn't broken free of the seal." Chaos Warrior emerged, speaking in a deep voice, "But it's probably coming after us... or, perhaps, after what we just found."
Yugen understood.
The Millennium Puzzle Derivative, indeed...
It's conceivable how the Snake God, after being defeated by the Pharaoh, must have loathed this sealing artifact left behind. Even in its sealed ruined state, it charged here in a wheelchair upon catching the scent.
The large group of minions gathered in the valley were all scared stiff, that Great Monarch of the Witch Lich leading the way, prostrating on the ground shivering, each chanting their master's name, praising his divine might, seemingly thinking if their flattery was loud enough, they might receive protection from their lord.
However, it was all to no avail.
The semi-wrecked Snake God already finding it quite strenuous to manifest in this place. Only to see the Snake God twisting in mid-air, a huge hexagram barrier unfolded, blocking out the sky and sun, below all followers connected to the Orichalcos, their foreheads simultaneously surfaced with hexagram marks, and began to float into the air.
No one could resist, only stare wide-eyed, feeling their souls being slowly dragged from their mouths, until forcibly ejected from their living shells, transforming into streams of green light rushing towards the sky, converging into the whirlpool in mid-air.
Then, soulless husks fell from the sky like puppets with strings cut.
The Snake God inhaled the souls of all present subordinates in one breath, its phantasmal body seemed to somewhat solidify, baring its sharp fangs it roared in the direction of the valley!
"Tch, what a mad god."
Yugen slightly frowned.
Chaos Warrior unsheathed his sword, ready for battle, the Silent Magician also emerged. Artificial Human Soga, though somewhat reluctant, seeing his teammates gearing up, had no choice but to also take up his stance.
However, looking at the super-giant snake that covered the sky and earth in the sky, Soga's mental state was basically written on his face—
—I'm fighting the Snake God? Seriously?
Aren't they even in a wheelchair a completely different league from me?
And at this moment, Yugen felt a warm sensation beneath him.
It was the Divine Artifact he just picked up, the Millennium Puzzle Derivative. The Eye of Horus started to glow.
Yugen's mind stirred.
Is it sensing the Snake God's arrival, an automatic activation of the artifact?
With the sky covered in dark clouds and lightning, a golden beam shot upward from the mark of the eye, breaking through layers of darkness, like the sun's fire erupting from the depths of the earth!
The golden light pierced the clouds, so intense it instantly dispersed the surrounding dark clouds, rising all the way to the same height as the Snake God before it exploded. Originally a rapidly expanding fireball, but soon a form began to appear within those flames.
In the core of the flames, a vague image started to materialize. It was the silhouette of a divine bird, slowly unfurling its enveloped wings, the fiery plumage covering that metallic-like body glistened like the pure gold-crafted physique. Its low-drooping head gradually lifted, its eyes burning with holy fire slowly opened.
The Snake God screamed, half angry, half afraid, half roaring.
Because it recognized this opponent, from ancient mythology, it shouldn't exist in the present world, the god that stands at the pinnacle of Duel Monsters.
The Sun God, Winged Divine Dragon of Ra!