The passage was terribly dark.
Aside from the short stretch near the entrance, where they could barely see the ground with the help of the light behind them, the rest was pitch-black.
Although lighting fixtures had been installed along the ceiling of the entire passage, they had long since lost power and become mere decorations.
As the two continued deeper inside, the tunnel became wholly engulfed in darkness.
Kazumo took out a prepared flashlight from his bag for illumination, while Crow beside him pulled out quite a futuristic-looking phone.
The entire body of the device was transparent; the screen was not limited to the phone itself and could even project outward into the air.
Judging from Crow’s operation, the projected screen somehow even possessed physical touch feedback.
Under Crow’s operation, a flashlight icon appeared on the screen, indicating that the function was currently in use.
“Holy shit, where the hell did you get this thing?!
Next time bring your brother along too!” Kazumo was stunned by the unbelievably high-tech phone.
“Haha, this is a rare item.
It’s already discontinued.” Seeing the envy on Kazumo’s face, the corners of Crow’s mouth curled upward, as though he had finally won a round back.
Showing off further, he continued, “Otherwise, how do you think I managed to sneak into the storage vault of the Public Security Bureau?”
Kazumo could not help sighing inwardly.
Spirit technology really is mind-blowing!
At the same time, he cursed himself.
He had been so obsessed with card games that it never even occurred to him to get himself a phone.
The two continued forward.
Only their footsteps echoed through the empty tunnel until a faint light appeared ahead.
The two immediately switched off their lighting devices and followed the wall toward the source of the light.
After walking another several dozen steps, their view suddenly opened up.
A massive stone chamber appeared before them, illuminated by mining lamps embedded unevenly along the walls.
The chamber itself was totally empty, lacking any facilities or objects whatsoever, forming a stark contrast with the technological tunnel behind them.
Clearly, this was a space that had been excavated anew after the original passage had collapsed; the facilities that had once existed here had likely been destroyed in the explosion.
At the far end of the stone chamber, three more tunnels extended outward, leading to unknown destinations.
Using the leftover facilities as a foundation, they had continued excavating underground passages to create an underground network.
That explained why there had been no traces on the surface.
Kazumo and Crow exchanged a glance before splitting up to inspect the three tunnels.
“I’ve got footprints here.
Someone has been using this tunnel.” Kazumo crouched down and touched the muddy ground, where slight color differences could be seen.
Crow’s voice quickly came from the other side.
“Same here.
These two tunnels also have signs of traffic.”
This stumped the two of them.
“Why would they split the crowd apart?” Crow scratched his head in confusion.
After thinking for a moment, Kazumo arrived at a possibility.
“Crow, you remember what I said before, right?
That there are seven Earthbound Immortals…”
Crow suddenly realized.
The missing people were probably being separated and sent to different locations for sacrificial rituals.
“Now this is troublesome…
So which tunnel do we take?”
“Obviously mine, little rats!”
A booming male voice answered the question for them.
Both of their expressions changed as they looked toward the source of the voice with vigilance.
A suited man slowly walked out from the shadows of the central tunnel, a Duel Disk attached to his arm.
“Hopefully you’ll entertain me more than the last one did.”
So this was how their operation worked.
The two priests would bring the crowd over, after which a third person would arrive to receive them.
Then the three would split the sacrifices apart and escort them away separately.
Although they now understood the situation, they had already been exposed.
The two had expected the possibility of being discovered, but running into the enemy and being exposed this quickly had been beyond their expectations.
Seeing that they had been exposed, Crow immediately tore off the cloak and unfolded his Duel Disk.
“Leave him to me!
I’ve still got a belly full of anger to vent!”
Seeing the teeth-gritting expression on Crow’s face, Kazumo wisely stepped back and gave the two room.
It seemed Crow still had not calmed down about Kazumo “throwing heavy punches at his good brother.”
Now that a strong enemy had appeared, Crow–confident in his own strength–naturally stepped forward, planning to vent his frustration on the opponent.
Kazumo was more than happy to see this.
He only hoped Crow could cool off by beating up this grunt so he would not continue tormenting him later.
He really did not want to face a full-power Blackwing Deck going first again tonight.
[Crow, LP: 8000]
[Suited Man, LP: 8000]
Crow drew his opening five cards and spoke first.
“I’ll take the first turn!”
“As you wish.” The suited man casually adjusted his cuffs as he replied.
“Now let me see how a piece of trash from the lower districts plans to entertain me.”
The suited man’s eyes were filled with mockery and disdain toward Crow taking the first turn.
Over the past few days, every Satellite piece of trash who dared resist him had been the same.
Giving the other side a slight advantage was merely seasoning for his hunt.
Just imagining this piece of trash being torn apart by his power in a moment made a savage grin spread across his face.
“Oh yeah?
Then don’t regret it, you Topsider pig!” Crow immediately shot back without holding back.
“I activate the effect of Blackwing – Simoon the Poison Wind in my hand!”
Seeing this familiar combo line, Kazumo watching from the side could not help sighing.
These protagonists and bosses really never shuffled their Decks.
Let us skip over the detailed Blackwing combo under a “no hand traps, uninterrupted play” environment–a three-minute video and two thousand words of description–and proceed directly to Crow’s final board.
On the front field were three [Black-Winged Assault Dragon] and one [Bystial Dis Pater].
[Black-Winged Assault Dragon] Level 10│DARK│Dragon│3200 ATK
[Black-Winged Assault Dragon] Level 10│DARK│Dragon│3200 ATK
[Black-Winged Assault Dragon] Level 10│DARK│Dragon│3200 ATK
[Bystial Dis Pater] Level 10│DARK│Dragon│3500 ATK
On the back row were the Continuous Spell Cards Black Whirlwind and Black Feather Whirlwind, along with three mysterious Set cards.
As well as one unused card in hand.
Honestly speaking, if Kazumo himself ran into a board like this while playing Master Duel or YGOPRO without any board breakers in hand, he would surrender at lightning speed.
As for where Crow got that Bystial from, naturally it was sponsored by Kazumo.
As everyone knew, Bystial Dis Pater was basically standard equipment for 5D’s.
After all, this was the “official lore-accurate” build based on the loaner Decks Konami provided for the 5D’s protagonists in the Master Duel’s Duelist Cup.
Crow’s storm-like combo sequence had frightened the opponent as well.
The relaxed expression previously on the suited man’s face was completely gone, though he still forced himself to remain calm as he drew a card.
“They’re nothing more than high-Attack monsters that only look impressive.
Let me show you what a truly noble Deck looks like!”
Faced with this bluffing bravado, Crow merely sneered, crossing his arms as he watched the opponent’s actions with the gaze of someone looking at a dead man.
A short-haired blonde girl in fluttering white robes appeared on the field, holding two white-and-green psychic weapons while blinking playfully.
“I activate Serene Psychic Girl’s effect.
By banishing Psi-Beast from my hand, I can–”
Before he could finish speaking, a violent gale mixed with black feathers swept across the field!
Countless tiny feathers became razor-sharp blades within the storm, granting the target caught inside a special “death by a thousand cuts” experience.
[Suited Man, LP: 8000 → 7300 → 6600 → 5900]
“Black-Winged Assault Dragon’s effect.
Every time you activate a monster effect, you take 700 damage.
Since there are three Black-Winged Assault Dragons on the field, that’s 2100 damage.”
As the violent wind passed, the suited man’s entire suit had already been shredded into strips.
Before the man could even speak, Crow kindly explained his monster’s effect for him.
“Alright then, continue your final three actions, ‘noble Topsider pig.'”
Faced with such humiliation, there was no anger left in the suited man’s eyes… only endless fear.
This was totally different from the holographic projections in ordinary Dueling… the monsters’ effects allowed him to experience real pain!
The opponent was a Spirit Duelist too!
If this Duel continued, he would really die!
The suited man frantically operated his Duel Disk, trying to surrender, but the Duel Disk gave no response whatsoever.
Because this was a “Shadow Duel,” a Duel that could only end once a victor had been decided.
After activation, both sides would suffer real damage from monsters, and their LP would become linked to their actual lives.
And naturally, the initiator had been Crow.
By borrowing one of Kazumo’s cards imbued with spirit power, Crow had successfully initiated this Duel “to the death.”
After all, Crow was still an ordinary human at the moment.
By participating in this spirit war, this counted as a bit of insurance Kazumo had prepared for him.
Unexpectedly, Crow had ended up using it this fast.
“AAAAAHHH!” The suited man broke down.
He no longer cared about appearances at all.
Dropping to his knees without any dignity left, he burst into tears and begged for mercy.
“I’m sorry!
I’m sorry!
Please spare me!
I don’t want to die!”
In an attempt to please the dark-faced Crow, he even raised his hand and continuously slapped himself across the face.
“It was my loose mouth, Lord Spirit Duelist!
Please spare me!
I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”
“Continue your actions.” Crow looked down at the pathetic sight from above, his voice icy cold.
“No!
No!” The suited man sat on the ground while retreating in terror.
Having lost all the will to fight, he even clumsily got up and tried to run away.
However, his negative conduct was judged by the Duel Disk, and his turn was skipped.
The turn returned to Crow once more.
Looking at the miserable figure before him, Crow drew his card and waved his hand in command.
“Black-Winged Assault Dragons!
Attack!”
Three dragon roars rang out simultaneously as a storm of black feathers swept the suited man back up into the air, hurling him high above the stone chamber.
Suspended in the air, he was continuously sliced apart by the countless feathers flying around him.
His screams rang out without pause until the unbearable pain finally robbed him of consciousness.
[Suited Man, LP: 5900 → 0]