Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!

Seeing Kira appear suddenly, Kaiba frowned, saying nothing but feeling a little suspicious inside.

That slippery serpent… could he really be afraid of Kira?

Not afraid of me, Seto Kaiba, but afraid of this kid?

At the thought, Kaiba folded his arms, the corner of his mouth curling in a meaningful, cold smile.

Interesting.

Kira, not knowing what just happened, had no idea what the President was thinking. He just saw Kaiba staring at him with a strange, unreadable smile, which made him uneasy.

"Ahem, what happened just now?" Kira asked.

"It suddenly looked like the end of the world. What's going on?"

"It was the New Doma," Mokuba explained. "Looks like this Duelist Kingdom isn't as simple as we thought. The ones you investigated at the local branch were probably just cannon fodder.

The real enemy has already infiltrated the tournament."

"The real enemy—so, top agents from Doma HQ?"

That matched what Kira had heard before.

"We just fought one of New Doma's 'Three Swordsmen.' Honestly, he was pretty strong," Mokuba said. "He used a 'Worm' deck—endless flip effects, and the more you fight, the more bugs there are.

And there was that last monster, 'Worm Zero,' which didn't fully appear but looked like a real threat."

Worm, huh…

Kira was familiar with the archetype, having a couple cards himself, but he'd never seen a full build.

If he got a chance to duel that Swordsman, he'd love to test himself and talk deckbuilding afterward.

"That guy's name is Luca. He doesn't seem to have competed before, so we have little data on him," Mokuba added.

"I'll send you what info we have, especially about his deck—just be careful if you run into him."

"Thanks," Kira nodded.

Many top duelists rarely appear at public events. The old Doma Three Swordsmen were the same—three top-level duelists who seemed to come out of nowhere, with little fame or public record.

Kaiba still said nothing, lost in thought, perhaps still mulling over the interrupted duel.

The three walked back along the docks. Returning to the city streets, the storm had cleared, but the atmosphere was still heavy. The air smelled of damp earth and rotting leaves.

Sand and rain streaked the windows of tall buildings. Trees leaned, branches broken, roots exposed. Streetlights flickered, casting mottled shadows.

"I've contacted the committee to suspend the tournament," Mokuba sighed.

"With the damage, we can't continue for now. We'll have to pause for a couple of days."

He looked up at the sky. The rift had healed, but Mokuba still felt uneasy glancing that way.

"It was terrifying. That thing just showed its face and caused all this…"

"The Evil God of Orichalcos?" Kira asked.

"That's my guess. Looks like Doma's leader is that thing—or its avatar, calling itself 'the Arbiter.'" Mokuba said.

Kira nodded in understanding.

So that ominous power, the storm, and the thunder were all caused by that slippery serpent.

"Things could have been worse," Mokuba muttered. "If it had fought my brother's Blue-Eyes here, the city would've been devastated.

But it's weird—it suddenly changed its mind, said it would leave the outcome for the finals of Duelist Kingdom. I'm not sure what that means, but at least if we settle things in a duel, we don't have to worry about the city being destroyed."

The serpent's sudden change of heart?

Kira recalled Kaiba's earlier gaze and made a bold guess.

Could it be… that thing is afraid of me?

If it were before, Kira would have scoffed—he was just an ordinary Duel Academy student, while the serpent god was a world-destroying demon lord who didn't even fear Kaiba. Why would it care about him?

But after that incident in the Spirit World, he had a hunch.

It wasn't him the serpent feared—it was the "Sealed Device" he held, the Millennium Puzzle derivative.

Back in its heyday, the serpent was crushed by the Pharaoh's three Egyptian Gods. It must have some trauma. Sensing the presence of the Gods, it quickly made a hasty retreat.

But that said… he didn't actually have any Egyptian God cards.

What came out of the puzzle was just residual power—without a card as a medium, he couldn't control it. Even if he had a card, it was unknown if the Gods would accept him.

God Cards aren't toys. Those unworthy of them can be literally struck by lightning if they try to summon them in a duel.

…

Back at KaibaCorp Tower, Kaiba himself ordered the tournament halted, citing extreme dangerous weather for safety reasons.

But while the official reason was weather, many of the contestants were top-tier duelists. After that bizarre storm and the signs in the sky, they could guess something supernatural was going on.

"The committee's issued a notice. All duels during the suspension won't count for the tournament," Mokuba said, handing Kira a water bottle.

Kira, feeling a bit thirsty, thanked him and gulped down a large mouthful.

"You've been efficient, Kira. You already have six puzzle cards and have qualified for the finals," Mokuba commented, sitting beside him. "So far, only three duelists have assembled all the puzzle cards."

"Oh? Who are the three?" Kira asked casually.

"You, of course. And my brother," Mokuba smiled.

"President Kaiba would never let himself get eliminated."

"And the third?"

"That's another strong seeded duelist, already famous," Mokuba said.

"The world's strongest 'Elemental HERO' user—last year's world champion from America—Koyo Hibiki."

PS: Bonus chapters at 2000 PS.