第一章　前兆　～オーメン～
Chapter 1: The Omen

Are you familiar with the game known as “Duel Monsters”? Competitors referred to as Duelists ready a stack of forty or more cards referred to as a Deck. A deck is chosen from the countless number of cards that exist to assure victory. Battle alternates with the opponent.
Turn Sequence—players take turns and draw cards from their deck and adds it to their hand. A player taking their turn can summon monsters, activate magic, and set traps. And of course, they can also wage battle with their opponent.
Reducing your opponent’s Life Points while protecting your own are the fundamentals of battle. If you summon a monster stronger than your opponent’s, their monster is nothing to fear.
However, monsters have attributes and effects, so if you pick just cards strong in their numerical values, called attack and defense power, that doesn’t make your deck strong. By using these cards in combination, you can create powerful effects not possible with a single card. That is a combo.
Combos created by the unity of cards together, a Duelist’s knowledge, and luck are important elements to a duel. Commanding various kinds of monsters, magic, and trap cards, defeating enemy monsters, and reducing your opponent’s Life Points to 0 is what a Duel Monsters card battle is about.
Currently, a single king has been born from the Duel Monsters world. He is Yugi Mutou. First, he defeated the father of Duel Monsters, Pegasus J. Crawford. Next, in Battle City, he beat the best in the world that were there, his eternal rival, Seto Kaiba, and an assassin from the darkness, Malik Ishtar, and became Duel King. And then, the three God cards, which all Duelists aspire for, were all with Yugi.
In an era of information, this fact was distributed across the entire world. The name Yugi Mutou became the object of both envy and jealously of Duelists all over the world practically overnight. But the one who is most unaware of this might be Yugi Mutou himself. By contrast, the one most aware of that occurrence at the time was Yugi’s eternal rival, Seto Kaiba.

The Kaiba Corporation Main Headquarters, a towering skyscraper in Domino City. In one of its rooms, Kaiba and Yugi face one another with stern expressions on their faces, equipped with the wing-like Duel Disk Systems on their left arms.
The monitor displays the Life Points as Kaiba with 1300 and Yugi with 2200. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is on Kaiba’s field, while the Three Mythic Gods, The Saint Dragon of Osiris, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and The God of Obelisk have been gathered on Yugi’s field.
“It’s my turn…” Kaiba draws a card from his deck to find it is ‘Fusion.’ “There cannot be creation without destruction! I will destroy the Three Mythic Gods and forge new history! I activate the Fusion card from my hand!!”
The three emerged Blue-Eyes White Dragons swirled together and fused themselves into a single monster. Letting out its cry, the three-headed dragon, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, appeared. Multi-headed dragons, without even mentioning the eight-headed Yamata no Orochi, are harbingers of misfortune.
“Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! And the Equipment Magic, Giant Growth, its attack power will double!” Ultimate’s parameters instantly rose to 9000. “Now, Ultimate surpasses your Gods!”
“God of Obelisk, show him your true ultimate power!” Yugi, taking a long look at the skies above, called in a loud voice.
Kaiba looks on, dubiously, and says, “What!?”
The God of Obelisk on Yugi’s field spreads both of its bulky arms out and saddles The Saint Dragon of Osiris and The Winged Dragon of Ra on either side. The God of Obelisk absorbs Ra and Osiris, both of which turning into collective masses of light.
“Soul Energy MAX! By sacrificing two of my Gods, Obelisk has now attained infinite power!”
“What?! Are you telling me that your God sacrificed your other Gods!?”
“Feel my God’s mighty blow! God Hand Impact!!”
“What?! Super Ultimate Burst!!”
Doooom! The two energies collide with one another. The God of Obelisk’s infinite power overpowers Ultimate Dragon’s burst. Graaaaah! When Ultimate Dragon let out its last throes, gray scan lines ran through the air. Even Kaiba and Dark Yugi distorted as everything disappeared in a white light. All of it was Virtual Reality made by the Solid Vision System.
The computer controlling the system strikes off sparks. The engineers make adjustments in a mad rush as the monitor displays the results of the simulation. Power, Defense, Offense, Balance, Speed, Power: Yugi dominated in terms of deck power.
“W-What is this? From our calculations, Ultimate’s destructive power should have prevailed over the Three Mythic Gods…” One of the engineers said in confusion. “I'm positive we can beat the Three Mythic Gods in the next simulation…”
“How dare you fail in your analysis of the God cards and then run a simulation! Scram! I don’t want to see any of your faces!”
The engineers were frightened by Kaiba’s threatening demeanor.
“Master Kaiba! Please give us just one more chance.”
“There was only one thing true in the farce you all created. And that was only that the future cannot be created unless the past is destroyed! There cannot be a future unless those three God cards are surpassed…” Kaiba, with a furious expression on his face, left the system room. (My deck as it is now doesn’t come close to the power Yugi’s deck has. But, I’m sure that a card to fill this gap in power exists…)
Yugi and his three God cards were locked in Kaiba’s mind. It seemed if he didn’t even catch sight of Mokuba, who stares at his older brother, right by his side.

***

The continent of North America, where the Pacific Ocean is sandwiched between Domino City, is still shrouded with the darkness of the night. A white villa on a lake where Himalayan cedars grow thick was shining in moonlight. It is the villa of the company head of Industrial Illusions.
Only Industrial Illusions can release official Duel Monsters cards. Kaiba Corporation is permitted to the division which deals with scanning the information on the IC chips embedded in dueling cards and projecting their image.
Pegasus was once an art student. When his lover died by an illness, he headed to Egypt in chase of legends which say that meeting the deceased is possible. It is there that he obtains the Millennium Eye, one of the Millennium Items. By deciphering the magic words kept hidden in Duel Monsters and converting them into IC chips, Pegasus made an enormous fortune.
Though, if you gain much of something, you will, of course, lose something as well. The Millennium Eye sees everything with its magic powers. After obtaining it in Egypt, Pegasus’ left eye has been gleaming eerily. However, in Duelist Kingdom, Dark Bakura stole the Millennium Eye.
It was a point in time where it was unknown whether he was alive or dead. The fact is that he had trifled with dark powers, was robbed of his strength, and lingered on the verge of death. However, recovering his health with intensive care by the latest medical teams, he immediately worked on releasing new cards. Even the peerless game designer had tried to surpass the Three Mythic Gods and reclaim the title of Duel King.
The deep forest surrounding the villa was absolutely silent. In his luxuriously constructed Medieval European bedroom soaked with blue moonlight, the Prince of the World of Toons lay sleep on silk bedding, peacefully. The lace curtains hanging down from the canopy bed swayed gently. There was an ominous air about.
The presence of someone came gradually closer to the bed. A shadow was cast overtop the sleeping Pegasus’ head. It appeared to be an Ancient Egyptian priest, bare from the waist up, wearing a headdress on his long hair. Both of his giant hands seized Pegasus’ fair-haired capped head.
“Grmmm…” Pegasus groaned unconsciously. The thoughts of the ancient enter the sleeping Pegasus’ brain.

The Saint Dragon of Osiris, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and The God of Obelisk. In front of Pegasus’ gaze, the Three Mythic Gods were afloat, ruling the skies.
“Oh, excellent! Beautiful! Unbelievable! I have never seen beauty so divine.”
“Heh heh heh heh…” A scoffing laugh could be heard from somewhere. It was obviously making light of the Gods.
“Who is laughing at the grandeur of the Gods!?”
“So these are the three sacred beasts that reign over the world of darkness and who can be used by the King of Darkness…They will eventually have to grovel before the light of truth. The time when the Three Mythic Gods are defeated shall come in the not-so-distant future, rest assured.”
Rrm, Rrm, Rrm, Rrm—Pegasus felt his guts churning with a sense of reality unlike any kind of dream. Thousands of millions of particles of light clustered together to create an irradiant pyramid which captured the Three Mythic Gods.
That is where the dream faded away.

(That same dream again…What in the world could it be alluding to…?) Pegasus’ entire body is drenched with a cold sweat. Flinging off his silk pajamas to expose his naked white body, he took a hot shower. (As long as the three God cards, the mightiest of all cards, exist, Yugi’s title as Duel King will probably never budge…so that’s why I had developed card to surpass the God cards since Duelist Kingdom….)
Duel Monsters cards aren’t things that can be developed on a whim. There exists basis-forming text, discovered from ancient ruins, in the monsters which make their home in the cards. New cards, or even yet, the card with the ability to oppose against the Three Mythic Gods, cannot be created in a day.
(The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the only card with enough potential. There are only three Blue-Eyes White Dragons left in the world and they are with Kaiba-boy. With that in mind, I developed a card evolved based on the text of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. However, one new card cannot defeat the Three Mythic Gods. Another card is needed. That’s probably why I had that dream…But, what was that pyramid filled with light? Maybe it’s my brain trying to spark new imaginative ideas. No, it seems almost as an implication of something much more terrifying. Now that I’ve lost the Millennium Eye, I cannot see out anything more than I can now.)
With all the hot showers he took, he couldn’t wash away the sense of foreboding he had from him.

There are originally four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in the world. Yugi Mutou’s grandfather, Sugoroku, had one of them. However, it was torn up with Seto Kaiba’s own hands. Seto Kaiba tracked down the remaining three cards using the Kaiba Corporation Network and his financial power. However, since no one would relinquish their priceless cards, Kaiba had even resorted to criminal acts to obtain the Blue-Eyes White Dragons.
Kaiba has had a connection between himself and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The reason behind this traces back to the times before Kaiba’s reincarnation, when he was the Priest Seto. Although, he has an extreme hate of the occult and doesn’t believe in anything unscientific. Kaiba himself has never told about his connection with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but his heart displays itself in a different form.
The catapult door atop the Kaiba Corporation rooftop opened. Kaiba’s jet, which surfaced from it, was an exact replica of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. In the cockpit, Kaiba grasped the control stick in a practiced manner.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon spurted pale flames from its boosters and took off. Switching over to auto pilot, Kaiba indulged himself in meditation.
(I want to give me Blue-Eyes White Dragon the power to surpass the Three Mythic Gods…) Kaiba’s mind-set of surpassing the three God cards bared a resemblance to Pegasus. (Still, even though I have the capability and the power of the Kaiba Corporation, I can’t develop new cards…I don’t believe in the myths that say that cards can’t be developed without ancient magic or magic powers. The contents of his black box-based IC chips are still a secret. That man holds the secrets of the development of Duel Monsters in his hands. I’m going to have to meet with that man in order to have a new card developed!)
Far below, the Pacific Ocean was reflecting sunlight.

A sonic boom blared, breaking the winds and the tweeting of small birds. The jet made a nosedive for a section of the white villa. At that time, Pegasus was by his pool, elegantly sipping wine.
Not even a few minutes passed before the figure of a young man emerged from the thicket of Himalayan cedars. Pegasus, standing up, addressed his ambivalent visitor.
“Hi, Kaiba-boy! It’s been too long.”
“I don’t need any of your hellos, Pegasus…” Kaiba spat. “You created three dueling cards that have the power of Gods. But it’s destined that those at the very top can be overcome sooner or later. This is how history has been weaved.”
“What…? Did you come here to lecture me, a Westerner, on history? Maybe the rise and fall of the Roman Empire? Or maybe you’ll teach me about the downfall of Napoleon?”
Pegasus’ single eye fixed on Kaiba’s features, which were quite chiseled for an Oriental.
“I guess you know, then. If you intend on playing dumb, let’s just cut through straight to the point. Pegasus, there isn’t any way that a duelist of your caliber wouldn’t prepare a card which surpasses the three God cards.”
“If that’s the case, we have nothing to discuss. Run along now, Kaiba-boy.”
“So I was right…It’s already completed!”
Pegasus shook his head, regarding it as nonsense. “Oh…No…I’m retired from the forefront.” Pegasus suddenly transferred his gaze from Kaiba to the beautiful environment. The surface of the lake reflected the beautiful forest. “It’s almost like your heart rises to the surface whenever you’re here. I feel ridiculous, having spent half of my life in obsessive pursuit of something. Kaiba-boy, what is your motivation? Your goal in life shouldn’t be just to become Duel King.”
“Hmph! I didn't cross the Pacific here to talk about that! Our information network encompasses the world. There’s no use trying to give me the runaround.”
Pegasus looked at the eyes of the boy from the East once more. The eyes, deep with a color filled with ambition, were sharp, as if they were seeing through to the back of his mind. Pegasus gave up the song and dance.
“The card does indeed exist, but I simply cannot give it to you now.”
“What!?”
“A befitting heart is needed to handle power. Power without heart gives birth to tragedy.” Pegasus stroked his fair hair up without the slightest hesitation and showed the hidden half of his face to Kaiba.
“Guh…” Kaiba took a gasp. The gaping opening in his eye socket was an unsightly reminder of where one of the Millennium Items, the Millennium Eye, had once fit into.
“I first went in hunt for the Millennium Items with desires of meeting my lost lover. It was an act of folly brought on by my innocence which was shameful even to me. Before long, controlled by the Millennium Eye, I sought dark powers. It was no doubt on part of my feeble spirit. Therefore, to serve as a lesson to myself, I won’t put in an artificial eye or hide this unsightly scar.” Pegasus smiled self-mockingly. “This is what those who abuse power eventually look like in the end. Kaiba-boy, you want only power…and that is extremely dangerous.”
“Heh heh heh heh…” Kaiba laughed softly. “Pegasus, I can’t believe someone like you believes in that myth. It’s on part of your own foolishness that made you look like that. As you yourself admit, the weakness of your own heart is to blame.”
Pegasus was listening without refute.
“I am indeed a cold man, but it’s not because I don’t have a heart. It’s because I have a heart stronger than the rest of the crowd! Especially one that’s strong, as a duelist!”
“Is that so? Didn’t you lose to Yugi Mutou? Is that the three God card’s fault? Oh, no…Maybe it’s because of Yugi’s skills? Oh, no…What you lack when it comes to Yugi is that you have a heart of a duelist who is merely convinced he’s strong.”
“Are you telling me I don’t have a heart as a duelist…?” Kaiba’s almond eyes shined unmercifully. “Then make sure of it with a duel!” Kaiba pulled his three Blue-Eyes White Dragon out from his deck case. “A duel using the Ante Rules. I’ll ante up these three cards. These cards that are my very life!”
“O-ho, your three Blue-Eyes…” It was obvious that Pegasus caught word of Kaiba went through any kind of risk to collect his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. “Are you willing to go that far, Kaiba-boy…? Fine, then…I accept your duel using the Ante Rules. However, the outcome is clear.”
“What…?”
“You and me…Allow me to make you remember that not one thing has changed in the balance between our powers since Duelist Kingdom!” Kaiba’s boorish challenge damaged his pride as the creator of Duel Monsters.
Angry ripples formed on the lake’s tranquil surface. A flame was ignited in Pegasus’ heart as a duelist and he forgot about the ominous dream last night. If he had known his dream was an omen of a destructive future, Pegasus would have given up on the duel.

The afternoon light flows into the dry area’s clerestory on a slant. The basement, whether it has gone unused for a long while, smelled of moist mildew. Placed in the middle of the room was an old Duel Ring measuring seven meters on each side. Switching on the power, the ringed filled with light of the seven prismatic colors. Both Kaiba and Pegasus took their sides on the opposition.
“We will use this Duel Ring for the duel.”
“…The system is pretty antique, but it’ll do…Where is that new card you created to go up against the three God cards. I already told you that I won’t be deceived by my opponents.”
“That’s no problem…” A section of the floor splits open and a steel table rises up from it. The duralumin-steel case atop the table lets off a dull luster. “The newly-developed cards are in that case. Defeat me and take them.”
“You don’t need to state the obvious!”
Both Pegasus and Kaiba shouted “Duel!” at the same time.
“It’s my turn. Draw…” Pegasus looked at his drawn card and put on a grin. “I’m going to make you remember the terror of our battle at Duelist Kingdom. I activate a Magic card from my hand by paying 1000 Life Points,” Pegasus’ Life Points reduced by 1000 to 3000. Kaiba was able to guess what that meant without having to hear Pegasus’ declaration. “Toon World!”
A thick comic book appeared in the space in front of Pegasus and a cartoonish toon city popped from it. “Kyahaha” sounded a bizarre laugh. There were none that didn’t know that Pegasus’ Toon deck was his old standby.
(Imbecile…Setting when I participated in Duelist Kingdom aside…time is moving by the moment, letting me develop even more.) Kaiba stares unshaken and undaunted. “Hmph…You haven’t made any progression and cling on to the past just like this old Duel Ring. Our battle is over, after all…”
“Grrr…” Kaiba’s remark had dyed Pegasus’ white skin red with anger. “I summon Toon Gemini Elf in attack mode!”
“Boring…”
“I also set a reverse card which will end my turn.”
(Kaiba-boy…How far can you keep up your bluff? Still, there’s not an adversary in the world that can defeat me as long as I pull him into my specialty patterns.) Pegasus was already ascertain of his victory.
“I summon X-Head Cannon!” Kaiba declared and played a card from his hand. The holograms of the outdated early type Duel Ring emanated an unsteady shine as it projects the monster. A levitating mecha with giant cannons equipped to both of its shoulders appeared, flickering with scan lines.
With Pegasus using his Toons, the duel was turned toward his favor. Kaiba’s Life Points, having received a direct attack by Gemini Elf, drop from 4000 to 1000 in one whack. In the middle of it, Kaiba fought back with Attack Guidance Armor, but Pegasus’ assault didn’t halt.
“Taking off 500 of my Life Points, I can Normal Summon a different monster! From Blood Compensation’s effect, I offer Toon Gemini Elf as a sacrifice to summon Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. And of course, it’s a Level 8, but Cost Down’s effect treats it as a Level 6 monster, so a single sacrifice suffices.” He continued on. “Also, I summon Toon Demon! I don’t need to explain, but since Cost Down’s effect makes Level 6 monsters be treated as Level 4’s, sacrifices aren’t needed for its summoning.”
Pegasus’ Life Points, from using Blood Compensation’s effect, drops to 1900. However, he was far from dispirited, and his tensions were running high.
“Kya kya kya he he he he!” Toon Black Magician Girl, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Demon—The Toons which Pegasus took pride in, laughing bizarrely and hoping about.
“I hadn’t realized that I’ve gotten immersed in this duel.” Pegasus looks at his own monsters with satisfaction. “My ace Toon monsters are here in full force. This game is all set. Do you see now? I’ll let you keep your Blue-Eyes…Now pack up your cards and hurry along back home.”
However, while being out muscled duel-wise, Kaiba stood firm. “You don’t make any progress at all. A duelist is someone who always looks to the future and makes their way forward. Dwelling upon past glory is the epitome of stupidity…”
“What!?”
“Dueling is an art where the imaginations of duelists who look to the future are born. And the people who cling to things as lame as their past tactics don’t even deserve to be called Duelists.”
Pegasus, who was pretending to be calm and ignoring what was being said, was at his final straw and it had been broken.
“How dare you show such disrespect to me, the creator of Duel Monsters! You’re nothing more than an Oriental that can do no more than mock others! You may have created superb electronics and an outstanding virtual system, but you can't understand the true essence of a duel.”
He had let out the emotions he had kept pent up inside of him all at once. Kaiba ignored the outburst and grinned. At this very moment, the two’s situations had changed.
“I’m going to show you a duel that transcends common logic! My turn!” Kaiba drew Black Core from his deck. “I activate a Magic card from my hand! Black Core!”
With a shine of a purple flash, the pitch-darkness suddenly opened up a gaping opening in space.
“Black Core! That is a card that removes one monster on the field from the game by discarding a card from your hand…And Kaiba-boy is after…” Pegasus took another look at his field, and his eyes stop on Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. “It has to be the one with the highest attack power…no…it’s the monster Kaiba-boy most cherishes…Blue-Eyes.”
“You fool, that would mean being confined to common logic!” Kaiba snapped. “I discard Y-Dragon Head from my hand into the cemetery to remove X-Head Cannon from the game!”
“Removing your own monster from the game…What are you planning on doing?”
“Next, the Magic card, Soul Release…This card’s effect will remove the Y-Dragon Head in my cemetery from the game.”
“Removing your X and Y monsters—?”
“I summon a monster, Z-Metal Caterpillar!” The mechanical monster, Z-Metal Caterpillar, appeared on the field.
“And now Z…You couldn’t be!”
“Destroying the past to create the future. To a dweller of the past, the future must be an unthinkable series of events. I pay half of my Life Points to activate Return from the Different Dimension from my field!” Kaiba’s Life Points reduce drastically, leaving them at 1050. The Return from the Different Dimension card whammed into sight.
“Return from the Different Dimension Special Summons as many of my monsters removed from the game that can be summoned on to the field in attack mode!”
X-Head Cannon returned from out of the pitch-darkness, crossing space and being summoned to the field.
It was then that Pegasus realized the gravity of the situation and turned pale.
“XYZ Combination! Come forth, XYZ-Dragon Cannon!” The three mecha hit their jets against the field and soar up above. The mecha combine together, making heavy clanking noises. The fearsome form of the mechanical XYZ-Dragon Cannon appeared before the frozen Pegasus.
“This card destroys one of your cards by discarding one card in my hand.” Kaiba discarded a card in his hand. “Destroy his Toon World, XYZ-Dragon Cannon!”
XYZ-Dragon Cannon’s gigantic turrets are positioned Toon World with a low charging sound.
“Oh no!” Pegasus’ grievous cry vanished in the vicious sound of gunfire. Toon World was thoroughly destroyed instantly. The Toons, having lost the protection of their world, shrieked and turned into light dust.
“Hyper Destruction!” In addition to that, the direct attack coming from XYZ-Dragon Cannon assaulted Pegasus.
“Oh noo-o-o!” Pegasus writhed in pain and yelled maddeningly. His count dropped at a tremendous rate and Pegasus’ Life Points became 0. The duel was over. The mental shock was fed back into his body and Pegasus collapsed on the floor.
Kaiba exits the Duel Ring without even glancing at Pegasus. When he opened the duralumin case, two cards were placed inside there. “As for the Ante Rules…I have won your two cards.” With the duralumin case in hand, he retraced his steps out.
Pegasus, fallen on the ground, desperately reached out for Kaiba. “—Two cards…? T-That cannot be…Wait, Kaiba-boy!”
In place of an answer, Kaiba shut the iron door with a thick thud.
(I only created one new card…Another card…That might be the dark card my dream about the events of the future was clueing me in on…)
The sounds of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet sounded in the distance. Pegasus’ consciousness once again falls into a deep darkness.