077 Hirato the Seahorse—The Man Who Failed to Keep His Promise

“Yahari! You, who know these forbidden secrets, do not belong to this world!”

After a moment of silence, Yuuhi turned to look at Isis. Despite her words, he saw no emotion on her face, only a deep indifference.

“...”

Perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze, but Isis was the first to break the silence. With a slight sigh, she spoke softly:

“That is precisely why I gave up seeking Seto, and instead called you here.”

Was it through the Millennium Necklace—her ancient artifact, worn at her throat, with which she could glimpse the past and foresee the future—that she had learned he, Yuuhi, was not of this world?

Then, for what purpose had she sought out someone who did not belong here?

The answer revealed itself in Isis’s next words and actions.

“If you would, please accept this card.”

Under Yuuhi’s curious gaze, Isis abruptly turned away from him. Hidden from his eyes, a faint blush crept across the bronze skin of her cheeks. She drew from somewhere a card with a blue border.

“This card.”

Isis faced him again. The blush vanished quickly, replaced by her cool composure. She extended her right hand, offering the card.

“Ah, this… Obelisk the Tormentor, the God of Destruction of the Earth?!”

A border of blue, a colossal blue divine beast, a brand new “Divine” attribute, ten stars nearly filling the level frame, and a blank text box.

“Shouldn’t this card be given to Seto Kaiba?”

Though Yuuhi had long known Isis possessed the un-stolen Obelisk, seeing her present it to him now, he couldn’t help but echo the original anime’s plot.

So, it’s true—this woman…

“I believe you know my purpose in handing you this card,” she said, seeing his slight nod. She spoke plainly, explaining why she had chosen not to give Obelisk to Kaiba as in the original story:

“The reason I entrust it to you and not Seto, is because, in the future I saw through the Millennium Necklace, Seto did not fulfill the promise he made to me.”

“Your promise with him? …Ah, I see!”

Recalling the storyline of the Battle City arc, where, in the end, Yugi defeated Dark Marik and gathered all three Egyptian Gods, Yuuhi instantly understood why Isis said Kaiba had failed her.

Isis had offered Obelisk as a reward, hoping Kaiba would defeat her brother Marik’s Ghouls organization in the tournament, and afterwards, free her brother from hatred and his darker self.

And the result? It was Yugi, not Kaiba, who defeated each member of the Ghouls and liberated Marik.

Strictly speaking, it was not Kaiba who fulfilled the promise, but Yugi—the Nameless Pharaoh.

“If that’s so, then why not give it directly to Yugi? Or rather, to the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh residing in the Millennium Puzzle around his neck?”

Isis was one of the last three survivors of the Tomb Keeper clan, and Dark Yugi was the Nameless Pharaoh from three thousand years ago. By that connection, wouldn’t it make more sense to give Obelisk to him than to Yuuhi, an outsider?

Besides, the Battle City arc centered on Yugi collecting the three Egyptian God cards. Giving Obelisk to him now would advance his collection to one out of three, wouldn’t it?

He simply couldn’t understand her reasoning.

“That reason I cannot reveal,” Isis replied this time, choosing not to answer directly. She would never admit, “The reason my brother became what he is now is, to some extent, due to the Nameless Pharaoh. After all, our entire family has been Tomb Keepers, serving the Pharaoh.”

“…Fine, as you wish.”

Since she would not elaborate, Yuuhi respected her silence and accepted Obelisk from her hand.

“I won’t be like Kaiba! Before the quarterfinals of the city tournament, it all depends on luck whether I run into him. But once he enters the top eight, I’ll decide who his opponent will be.”

“You should already know my dueling skills and the strength of my deck.”

With those final words, Yuuhi left the underground chamber.

Left alone, Isis removed the Millennium Necklace from her neck, holding the eye-shaped artifact before her gaze, staring deeply into its ancient surface.

After a long while, her lips parted to whisper, as faint as a mosquito’s hum:

“A man who does not belong to this world… a life shrouded in mystery… In every vision, not once does his future show any ill fate…”

I hope my choice is the right one.

—End of Memory—

“And so, that’s roughly how Obelisk came into my possession.”

Having finished his recollection, Yuuhi, mouth dry, stepped aside to take a few deep breaths.

“Three thousand years ago—the Nameless Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt…”

After hearing Yuuhi’s tale, both Yugi and the Pharaoh accepted it completely.

Before the tournament began, Isis had also summoned them and shown them the two stone tablets Yuuhi described.

“The High Priest who wielded the White Blue-Eyes Dragon…”

Seto Kaiba, too, remembered: on the night he received the newly evolved “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” card from Pegasus, he’d had a dream.

A man dressed in ancient Egyptian garb, bearing a striking resemblance to himself, offered two common Duel Monsters—“Battle Ox” and “Centaur”—as tributes, summoning what he called a “God.”

A white body, blue eyes, a giant dragon with wings—the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

Effortlessly, it destroyed the opponent’s fusion monster, “Imperial Dragon,” which was summoned from “Castle Gate Dragon” and “Fairy Dragon” as materials.

And the moment the Blue-Eyes vanquished Imperial Dragon, the Pharaoh, who had watched from his throne, his face shrouded in shadow, finally stood and cast his gaze—at Kaiba, who observed from the air.

With that single look, Kaiba felt as if he had been laid bare, stripped of all defenses.

It was at that moment that he awoke.

He was not startled awake, nor was it the Pharaoh’s gaze that woke him, but—

“Roar!!”

With a thunderous cry, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon opened its jaws and unleashed a “Burst Stream of Destruction,” banishing Kaiba from that long-buried memory of ancient days.