NOVEL WEB Chapter 452
[Duel Level Assessment Complete. Duelist Nitocris: Duelist Rank B. Victory Reward – Saint Quartz: 45 units. Remaining Saint Quartz: 75 units.]
"This should be enough."
Looking at the freshly acquired Saint Quartz, Hoshino Alter eagerly opened the card shop.
[Special Summon – SR Nitocris: 50 Saint Quartz]
[Confirm Exchange]
A golden light flashed, and Nitocris's card successfully appeared in Hoshino Alter's hand. However, strangely enough, the unconscious Nitocris lying in front of her showed no reaction.
"With this, does it mean her memories should now be linked with the Chaldea version?"
A little uncertain, Hoshino Alter crouched down and shook the Nitocris lying on the floor.
"Wake up, Nitocris! The sun's about to roast your butt~"
Of course, it wasn't—the night sky overhead was still pitch-black. But Nitocris's body trembled slightly, as if the word "sun" had triggered something.
"Ah! Lord Medjed is drowning!"
"—Lord Medjed, I'll save you!"
Nitocris suddenly sprang up with a start, instinctively jumping to her feet—only to collapse again from sheer exhaustion.
"Huh? Master? Why are you...?"
Sitting limply on the floor, Nitocris looked at Hoshino Alter, utterly confused. Her mind clearly hadn't caught up with the flood of memories.
Hoshino Alter let out a long breath. "Thank goodness, Nitocris, you finally remember me~ I was really worried about what I was gonna do next!"
Finally hugging onto this Pharaoh's thigh, the uncertainty of her isekai situation seemed to melt away. At least now she had someone powerful backing her in Egypt.
Still, the fact that she had to use quartz just to restore Nitocris's memory made Hoshino Alter suspect that shady merchant Da Vinci might be scamming for money.
But then again, even a con artist like Da Vinci wouldn't do something that dangerous. At worst, she'd say something like, "Tell her you love her, then roll again."
"I just…" Nitocris slowly began recovering her memories, like a trickle of water returning to the great river of time. As her memories of this world began fusing with her Chaldean self, her face turned bright red—steam practically puffing from her ears.
"This is too shameful, I'd rather die! I've brought disgrace to Pharaohs everywhere with my behavior!"
Hoshino Alter quickly tried to calm her down: "Whoa whoa, chill, Nitocris! Besides, you're technically already dead!"
...Was that supposed to be comforting?
"Not only did I lash out at Master, I even said I'd never heard of the sun! What face do I have left to show Lord Ozymandias?"
"I feel like Ozy wouldn't care about something that minor..." Hoshino Alter helped the utterly defeated Nitocris back to her knees, then glanced at the confused-looking Kaiba and added, "Well, that's assuming you didn't punch his grandpa or anything."
"…Seto is here? No, wait… judging by this time period, he hasn't even become a Pharaoh yet!"
The overlapping memories from both worlds were clearly making Nitocris a little disoriented. After all, the version of her guarding the tomb only had memories up to this point in history, while the Chaldea memories reached all the way into modern times.
"So you really know Pharaohs? That's unbelievable!"
Marlene's jaw practically dropped. She had assumed Hoshino's familiarity with Nitocris earlier was just an act to save herself, but clearly, they were way closer than that.
For a commoner, getting close to a Pharaoh was completely unheard of—much less forming an actual friendship. Now, Marlene couldn't help but wonder if meeting Hoshino and Kaiba in the desert wasn't divine fate, arranged by the God himself.
Meanwhile, finally feeling like he was no longer in danger, Sid tapped on the sarcophagus of the previous Pharaoh and joked, "Didn't think you were that tight with a Pharaoh. And here you are tomb-diving with us. Seriously, you—mmph!"
A cold glint flashed.
A blade pierced through Sid's chest from behind.
The presence that everyone had been afraid of—the one hiding in the shadows—had silently drawn close during the chaos of the battle. No one noticed until it was too late.
"Dammit... I was just about to finish this job and head ba—"
And that's why you never tempt fate. Even though Hoshino Alter had interrupted his death flag earlier, Sid still ended up reactivating it. The worst part? He never even got to finish his sentence.
Drawing out the curved blade drenched in blood, the man stepped out of the darkness, licking the blood off his weapon with a twisted grin.
"This, my friends, is what you call reaping the rewards of others' efforts~"
"Bakura?!" Hoshino Alter and Kaiba exclaimed in unison.
Upon closer inspection, the man was clearly not the same as the Bakura they knew. His skin was dark, marked by savage scars—a man of this era. But his facial features were identical to the Bakura they knew.
"Hehehe, HAHAHAHA! Kaiba, Hoshino, I really should thank you. You took care of that annoying Pharaoh for me. The body of the previous Pharaoh—I, King of Thieves Bakura, will be taking that!"
The unfamiliar title made Hoshino Alter frown. "King of Thieves... Bakura?"
Kicking Sid's body off the sarcophagus, Bakura expertly unrolled a chain from his hand and tightly bound the coffin.
"You bastard!! How dare you kill Sid!!"
Marlene, finally regaining her senses, charged at Bakura with her dagger, fury in her eyes.
The clash of metal rang out. Bakura easily blocked Marlene's attack with his scimitar. The fact that he had made it through the heavily trapped tomb without detection made it clear—his skills far surpassed Marlene.
"Another one looking to die? But I'm in a good mood today. I don't kill women~"
With a swift kick to Marlene's stomach, he sent her flying across the room, then slung the chained coffin over his shoulder.
Truly a man worthy of the King of Thieves title—while most grown men would struggle just to lift the coffin lid, Bakura effortlessly hoisted the entire thing.
"We can't let him escape! The remains of King Aknamkanon contain the power to summon the Spirit Beast. If that falls into the wrong hands, the consequences would be disastrous!"
Nitocris forced herself upright, but she had already expended all her energy in the duel and couldn't summon any spirit monsters now.
And Hoshino Alter was in the same state—completely drained of energy, unable to feel even a flicker of spiritual power from her duel disk.
"Dueling... was a mistake... a huge mistake!"
"—Burst Stream of Destruction!"
Just as the opportunistic Bakura was about to drag his spoils away and leave with swagger, Kaiba—still with some strength left—summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon to attack.
Bakura swiftly swung the coffin in his hand to block the sudden Burst Stream of Destruction. With his villainous flair and expert coffin-swinging skills, Hoshino Alter couldn't help but be reminded of that old man back in Chaldea.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, huh? Fighting that thing with just a human body is definitely a hassle. Guess I'll make an exception and show you all something nice!"
Pulling a golden Duel Disk from the bag on his back, Bakura strapped it to his arm and stepped atop the coffin.
Hoshino Alter's eyes widened slightly.
"He actually has a Duel Disk too!?"
Raising the Duel Disk high, Bakura shouted:
"Diabound Kernel! Break the seal of Aknamkanon and answer my call!"
Dark energy surged from the former Pharaoh's coffin, and the gathering mist solidified into two eerie creatures—Diabound Kernel, with humanoid upper bodies and lower halves made of writhing snake heads.
[Diabound Kernel ★★★★★ (Level 5)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK 1800 / DEF 1200]Kaiba nearly burst out laughing.
"So much drama—just to summon this weakling using the Pharaoh's corpse? Don't make me laugh!"
Nitocris urgently warned:
"Be careful! Diabound possesses unfathomable evil powers! That's why King Aknamkanon sealed it within his body!"
"Heh... Diabound's effect: it possesses one of the opponent's monsters and reduces that monster's ATK by the amount of Diabound's ATK!"
The twisted snake-head lower body of Diabound wrapped itself around Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Ignoring its agonized roars, the beast burrowed entirely into Blue-Eyes.
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon ATK 3000 → 1200]
"Finish it off, Diabound!"
One Diabound latched onto Blue-Eyes to weaken it, while the other delivered the finishing blow. The supposedly invincible Blue-Eyes was humiliated once again in a tag-team effort.
"Damn it... Using a trash monster like that to chip away at Blue-Eyes' power..." Kaiba gritted his teeth. The attack had clearly left a mark on him, both physically and spiritually.
The Diabound that had possessed Blue-Eyes returned to Bakura's side.
With a cold smirk, Bakura continued:
"Don't get so worked up, Kaiba. The real show's just beginning! Now comes Diabound's true hidden ability—Limitless Evolution! Hahaha!"
As Bakura's laughter echoed, the Diabound that had possessed Blue-Eyes began to morph. From the gaping maw of its snake body emerged a dragon head—one that resembled Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Kaiba's pupils shrank in shock.
"No way... Blue-Eyes White Dragon got absorbed!?"
Nitocris explained:
"Diabound has the ability to absorb possessed monsters and evolve endlessly. That's why King Aknamkanon chose to seal it within himself—he couldn't stop its eternal growth."
Satisfied with Diabound's new form, Bakura jeered:
"Who would've thought the first prey of Diabound's evolution would be the 'invincible' Blue-Eyes? Kaiba, you've really gifted me a treasure!"
[Diabound Kernel ATK 1800 → 4800]
"You're of no further use to me. All of you, die here! —Burst Stream of Destruction!"
He ordered Diabound to attack. The dragon head protruding from its snake body locked onto Kaiba and White Star.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon isn't so easily defeated! I activate the Spell Card The Flute of Summoning Dragon—come back to my field, Blue-Eyes!"
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon ATK 3000 ×2]
Two summoned Blue-Eyes appeared to block Diabound's incoming strike.
"Futile. Even two Blue-Eyes are no match for Diabound's evolved form!"
The enhanced Burst Stream of Destruction, now far larger than usual, tore through the air—its power far beyond Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, just barely beneath Karna. Even more terrifying: Diabound could continue evolving.
Pointing forward, Kaiba roared:
"Then I'll tear apart your evolution with this! I fuse my two Blue-Eyes White Dragons to summon the roaring miracle of victory—Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"
[Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][LIGHT][Dragon/Fusion/Effect][ATK 3000 / DEF 2500]
With immunity to battle destruction and the ability to banish any monster it fights, Twin Burst Dragon could still hold its ground against the evolved Diabound.
"Double Burst White Lightning!"
The twin dragon heads gathered searing white energy and clashed with Diabound's massive burst, unleashing a shockwave so intense that no one could keep their eyes open.
Nitocris stared in awe.
"How did Lord Seto do that? In this era, fusing Spirit Monsters requires the Millennium Items!"
Not only had Kaiba summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon bare-handed without a Duel Disk—he had even fused them without using a Millennium Item. Clearly, Kaiba and this era's Blue-Eyes White Dragon harbored some unknown secret.
As the light of the impact faded and everyone regained their vision, Bakura was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it, he got away?" Kaiba looked up at the sandy ceiling and the hole slowly caving in.
The old fox had fled. Knowing Diabound still couldn't defeat Twin Burst Dragon, Bakura had used the hole Hoshino Alter had previously burned into the ceiling to make his escape.
"Maybe it's better this way," Hoshino Alter said, seeing Kaiba's trembling hands. "You don't have the strength for a second shot, do you?"
Even if Twin Burst couldn't be destroyed by battle, the massive ATK gap still inflicted damage. That pain was real. After constant fighting, Kaiba's body and soul were both beaten to a pulp.
"I didn't think even Bakura would show up in this era... Something tells me this isn't just a simple time travel story anymore..."
(*****)
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