Chapter 89: Entertainment—How dare a mere clown act brazenly before the president of this company!
PS: The real title of this chapter—
"Games of Skill: Brazen Mottled Bird, How Dare You Show Off Before the President?!
(0田0)※=o Great Dragon of Might
(⊙口⊙卍}}}˜” Honored Ksitigarbha
｛（>A△ (ノ・_・)ノ Begone! 卍卍卍》
(Ahem, just a little joke)
……
“Hmph~ A mere false god summoned by a copy card dares to attack me, the president?!”
The earlier frown appeared because Yugi hadn’t expected that, even with his specific countermeasures against the Ghouls’ counterfeit cards, a Replica Sun God could still be summoned!
Moreover, with the current plot divergence—both the other two Divine Cards, and the real ones at that, were in his possession—yet even so, this counterfeit Sun God dared to mete out divine punishment against him!
His subsequent composure was born of his faith that, faced with a divine attack from their counterfeit sibling, the Sky Dragon and the Giant Soldier would not simply stand by and watch harm befall their temporary master. Even if the real elder brother were to appear, he would never strike such a spiritual blow against a duelist both of them acknowledged. Yet now, a mere counterfeit feathered bird, not only attacks the one who summoned you—Lishid—but even dares to assault someone recognized by both brothers!
There’s nothing more to say; let’s hasten your destruction—
Thunder Force! (Superconductive Wave: Thunder Cannon)
God Hand Crusher! (Divine Hand Smash)
With two straightforward attacks, the already half-ruined Replica Sun God was blasted into instant oblivion, evaporating from this world.
“……”
Silently observing the two gods destroy the Replica Sun God, Yugi waited until their spiritual power returned to the cards in his deck. Just as he was about to check on the injured Lishid, a sudden voice broke the silence.
“How is it that the ‘Obelisk’ my sister entrusted to Kaiba is now in your deck?”
The clash of the three Divine Beasts had rendered the entire arena silent at that moment, but now, this abrupt voice shattered the calm, drawing everyone’s gaze swiftly and uniformly toward its source.
It was the tan-skinned man known as “Nam.”
“……”
It’s a wrap!
Now, it could be said that Malik had just confessed without even being pressed. What Yugi had pointed out before was now confirmed by Malik himself. In fact, the moment Lishid was struck by the Replica Sun God’s attack, their disguise had already unraveled. But now, having heard it from the man himself, there was not a shadow of doubt left!
With all eyes on him, Malik gradually lowered his head until his face was hidden from view—but in the next instant!
When Malik raised his head again and met everyone’s gaze, it was clear to all that, in that instant, Malik... had changed!
“As expected of the president of Illusions Inc.!”
With a deep voice, his hair now a wild, spiked mane instead of its previous style, Malik looked at Yugi with a broad, smiling mouth, clapping his hands in admiration as he spoke.
“Not only did you win a duel against my other self and gain the Dragon God of the Sky—‘Slifer the Sky Dragon’—but the one my sister entrusted the card to wasn’t Kaiba, but you, the God of Earth—‘Obelisk the Tormentor’!”
Both versions of Malik, Light and Dark, had been outplayed by Yugi! Or perhaps, from the very start, they’d been mistaken—the one their sister entrusted with the card was not Kaiba, but this new president of Illusions Inc.! (Selective amnesia: it was actually Light Malik who had Lishid use the Copy Divine Card.)
“But thanks to your duel with Lishid, I was able to seize control! Now, let me be the one who suppresses the will of the other me and takes command of this body!”
Dark Malik wasn’t wrong: if Yugi hadn’t suddenly challenged Lishid to a duel, and Light Malik hadn’t had Lishid summon the Replica Sun God, Dark Malik wouldn’t have had the opportunity to reemerge and seize control of the body.
“That’s enough!” Yugi cut him off, taking the conversation back.
“To put it simply, you and the previous Malik are what’s called ‘dissociative identity disorder’ in medicine. In layman’s terms—split personality! Neither of your personalities is exactly benevolent, but compared to you, the previous Malik was at least a little better.”
Completely disregarding the feelings of the person involved—or his sister—Yugi bluntly expressed his opinion of Malik’s dual personalities.
“You and Yugi—or more accurately, the other soul within Yugi, the spirit of the Nameless Pharaoh residing in the Millennium Puzzle—are enemies! This is something everyone present is well aware of.”
Wherever Dark Malik’s gaze fell, not a single person looked surprised by Yugi’s words, as if they’d long known what was coming. Even Kaiba, always a man of science, merely crossed his arms without saying a word.
Dark Malik: “……”
“Want revenge? Fine! Then pray that you’re lucky enough to face Yugi as your opponent in the upcoming City Tournament quarterfinals!”
With that, not giving Dark Malik any opportunity to respond, Yugi called Jigano over and asked him to send a few people to take Lishid to the best hospital in Domino City.
Then, together with Kaiba, he gathered Yugi and his friends, boarding the prepared Duel Blimp. This included Anzu, Shizuka, and the rest of Yugi’s close companions.
“Tch!” Yugi’s attitude left Dark Malik fuming, but no matter how frustrated he was, all he could do was glare and follow everyone aboard the blimp. Use the power of the Millennium Rod to start a fight? Not a chance!
As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands—let alone more than four! Not to mention, who could say if his own sister, Ishizu, would even side with him!
Damn it!
……
In the main hall of the Duel Blimp.
Because they’d rushed to the arena as soon as they’d gathered the six different puzzle cards, no one had eaten yet. After a brief rest in their rooms, everyone gathered in the hall at Jigano’s announcement, ready to enjoy the buffet feast prepared by Yugi and Kaiba.
“To have a friend like Yugi—what a blessing earned in a previous life!” Jonouchi shed tears of joy as he enjoyed his meal.
If not for Yugi giving him a set of “Red-Eyes” cards built around his ace monster, the “Red-Eyes Black Dragon,” before the tournament began, his deck wouldn’t have been nearly as strong, and he might not have gotten to taste such delicious food!
Though he was confident that even without Yugi’s cards, he could have clawed his way here on his own, it certainly wouldn’t have been this easy and quick—and his skills were improving rapidly in the City Tournament!
A quarter of an hour later…
Once everyone had eaten their fill, Jigano, at Kaiba’s signal, began the duel assignments.
A bingo machine—clearly designed by Kaiba himself and modeled after “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”—rose slowly from beneath the floor.
“Now, let’s begin the draw for the quarterfinals!”