Chapter 230: Shadi
Watching Hayato change his clothes expressionlessly, the White-Robed Turban Man said in a flat tone, "Kobayashi Hayato, who exactly are you?"
"Who else could I be, Mr. Shadi? Just a passing Duelist," Hayato replied, putting on his clothes. Using this as a cover, he subtly retrieved his Deck from the system. "Rather, it's you. I just got off the phone with Maximillion Pegasus, and now you've come looking for me."
"My appearance was not intentional; it was fate that brought me here." Shadi glanced at the Millennium Puzzle on Hayato's chest with a hint of apprehension. "You actually seized this item..."
"Seized? That sounds so unpleasant. I obtained this item fair and square by defeating Bakura in a Duel. Why does it sound so bad coming from you?"
With his hands behind his back, Hayato continuously injected Dark Magic into the Cards in his Deck that had already awakened Card Spirits. However, although many Spirits had awakened, the only ones Hayato actually had with significant Combat Power were Gaia the Fierce Knight, Sky Magician, and Rainbow Kuriboh.
The rest either hadn't reached the second stage and had no ability to interfere with reality, or they were useless Normal Monsters like the Ojama brothers who, despite reaching stage two, still had no Combat Power.
Even Hayato, who had some understanding of the DM storyline, couldn't quite figure out Shadi's background. In the plot, he seemed to be outside the main story, yet the three individuals who confronted the protagonist, Yugi Mutou, possessing three dark Millennium Items, were all influenced by Shadi.
Maximillion Pegasus was forcibly given the Millennium Eye, Marik was deceived into believing the Pharaoh killed his father, and even Bakura's Millennium Puzzle was obtained from Shadi.
Of course, the Millennium Puzzle now belonged to Hayato. Even if Dark Bakura came knocking now, he shouldn't expect Hayato to return it, unless Bakura could call out to it and it responded.
Hayato remembered clearly that in the manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Shadi was a cold-blooded individual who had no pity for innocent people and could even turn them into tools in his hands without any guilt.
If Shadi made any unusual moves, Hayato would immediately summon Gaia the Fierce Knight to attack him.
"Kobayashi Hayato, you should understand what I mean. On you, I see only a patchwork." Shadi opened his empty, lifeless eyes. "Prana, Duelist Soul, Spirit Favored, and even the Radiance of the Sun God."
"To be entangled with such a quantity and quality of power without suffering a mental breakdown, in this World, I have never seen an existence like you before."
"Well, now you have," Hayato said, feigning indifference, but his nerves were taut. Shadi's words looked like a final warning before taking action, and Hayato was naturally prepared. As soon as Shadi made a move...
Hayato was astonished to find that Shadi, who was at least ten meters away from him, appeared right in front of him in less than a blink of an eye. In his hand, held like a dagger, was a golden Ankh-shaped key, the Millennium Key, which he thrust towards Hayato's heart!
"Shokudou Purapura!" Hayato only had time to throw the Deck in his hand. As the Cards scattered through the air, several silver streaks shot towards Shadi, while he himself leaned back as much as possible to delay being struck.
Unfortunately, Shadi's movements were too fast. Hayato's upper body leaned back less than 10 degrees before being struck by the Millennium Key, which possessed the Mind Power ability.
The Millennium Puzzle's ability passively activated, but Shadi was also holding a Millennium Scale in addition to the Millennium Key. The Power of Balance precisely intercepted the Millennium Puzzle's Dark Magic, balancing the Magic Power of the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Key, two Millennium Items, one dark and one LIGHT Attribute.
Gaia the Fierce Knight was attached to his True Form Card———Gaia the Fierce Knight. His Lance thrust out along the trajectory of the flying Card, seemingly about to hit Shadi, but at the moment of contact, Gaia the Fierce Knight's Card passed through Shadi's body without any resistance, as if it hadn't touched anything solid, as if Shadi were a Ghost?!
Looking closer, Gaia the Fierce Knight and his companions were dumbfounded—where was Shadi in the room? Besides Hayato, who had suddenly fallen back onto the bed and fallen asleep, the only anomaly in the room was the scattered Deck on the floor.
Where did that guy named Shadi go?
————Boss Xia comes and goes quickly————
"I am the storm that is approaching!!!"
A piece of music that made one want to hit Jackpot three times sounded, and Hayato answered the phone. "Which bastard is disturbing my sleep?!"
After speaking, Hayato suddenly felt a little strange. "Hmm, why do I feel like I just said that?"
"Ah, Hayato-kun, are you still sleeping? Sorry," Yugi's voice came from the phone.
Hayato sat up from the bed, only to find that he was wearing a jacket over his pajamas, which looked quite strange. "Hmm, it's nothing. I just had a dream, dreaming that Maximillion Pegasus called and woke me up. Is something wrong, Yugi?"
"Oh, it's like this. Last night, Kaiba-kun announced that he would be holding the 'Duel City' tournament in Domino City in six days, and Joey Wheeler also wants to participate. However, to participate in the Duel City tournament, you must have the Duel Disk that KaibaCorp just released, so Joey Wheeler plans to go check the price of the Duel Disk."
"I see, so you're asking me to go browse the nearby card shops with you, right?" Hayato said while talking on the phone and changing his clothes. He suddenly noticed his Deck neatly placed on the head of the bed.
"That old schemer Shadi snuck into my room and attacked me. How could I have such a strange dream?" Muttering to himself, Hayato said into the phone, "Give me ten minutes, I'll be at your place right away. See you then."
"Okay, see you then, Hayato-kun."
Hanging up the phone, Hayato glanced at Rainbow Kuriboh, who had popped out of the Deck, and greeted him, "Yo Aibo, nothing strange happened before, right?"
"Kuri, Kurikuri~" Rainbow Kuriboh showed a smile on his face, though it was somewhat forced, but Hayato didn't notice this, and nodded casually. "Hmm, it was a dream after all. But speaking of which, that dream was a bit too real, and why did I dream of Maximillion Pegasus and Shadi? Why not Ms. Ishizu?"
Muttering to himself, Hayato walked towards the washroom. Because of this, he didn't see Ojama Yellow, who had sneaked out of the Deck wanting to report, being physically silenced by Gaia the Fierce Knight, who dragged him back into the Deck along with the other four brothers.
"Sigh, why not tell the Master?" Sky Magician watched the scene from the side with a smile, his eyes narrowed. "Gaia the Fierce Knight-san, you were the first to follow the Master, right?"
"This matter is not the time to inform our Master," Gaia the Fierce Knight rolled his eyes at Sky Magician, who was watching from the side. After stuffing the Ojama brothers back into the Deck, he straightened the Deck, which had been slightly askew from their struggle.
After Hayato's Deck fell to the ground earlier, it was he and Rainbow Kuriboh who picked up each Card one by one from the ground and then organized them. Incidentally, they also helped adjust Hayato's sleeping posture as he lay on the bed.
They witnessed the scene where Shadi disappeared after stabbing Hayato with the Millennium Key, and they also saw Shadi, covered in sweat, emerging from Hayato's body. His originally lifeless eyes unexpectedly showed fear, and that guy Shadi kept muttering words like "Sun" and "Dragon."
Threatened by Gaia the Fierce Knight, who was waiting outside, Shadi reluctantly told Gaia the Fierce Knight and the others the information he knew, but demanded that they, the Card Spirits, not reveal the information to anyone else, especially Hayato himself.
Of course, Gaia the Fierce Knight and the others honestly complied, but the Ojama Monsters, who had also overheard the information, were a bit restless. Always eager to cause trouble, they had surprisingly cooperated just now, and they were just a little bit away from telling Hayato the information.
'Was what that guy Shadi said true?' Looking at Hayato's back, Gaia the Fierce Knight silently returned to his Card. Being a man of few words, he had always helped Hayato with actions, but this time, the action-oriented him chose not to act. 'Fourfold Inner World?'
Meanwhile, Sky Magician sat on a nearby table with a pleased expression, tapping his hand and humming an unknown song. 'Ordinary people only have one Inner World, and even the combination of that nameless Pharaoh and the little guy only has two. My Master, with your fourfold Inner World, what kind of person are you?'
Unaware of the Spirits' individual thoughts, Hayato washed up, took his Deck, and left the house. After walking for a few minutes, he arrived at the Turtle Game Shop. Joey Wheeler and the others were sitting on chairs in front of the door. Seeing Hayato arrive, Joey Wheeler greeted him, "Yo, Hayato, you slept so late, are you a pig or something?"
"It's a rare rest day, the early bird is the fool," Hayato replied with a smile, then raised his left hand to show Joey Wheeler his Duel Disk. "Besides, unlike some people, I already have a Duel Disk."
"You've been showing that off for almost a month now!" Joey Wheeler waved his hand dismissively. "It's just a Duel Disk. Joey Wheeler the Great will get one today too. That trick won't work on me."
"I heard that KaibaCorp is willing to spend even more money than Industrial Illusions this time. The final top 8 matches will have a live broadcast," Yugi said with a smile.
Tristan patted Joey Wheeler's shoulder. "Someone always wanted to be on TV, your chance is here~"
"Hehehe, with the special training from this past month and the large number of card packs I've saved up money to buy, my Deck is no longer what it used to be. This time in Duel City, I'm going to win all the way!" Joey Wheeler fantasized about his heroic figure defeating Kaiba and kicking Maximillion Pegasus in the future, a lewd smile appearing on his face.
In front of the card shop with a seal on it, Hayato looked at the dejected Joey Wheeler and complained, "Yare yare, it seems someone's fantasy of becoming the new King of Games died in its first step."