"Brother!"
As Seto Kaiba walked out of the building, Mokuba, who had been waiting outside, rushed to meet him.
"Is it over? Did everything go smoothly?" Mokuba asked anxiously.
"Hmph." Kaiba crossed his arms, head held high. "Naturally."
"That's great." Mokuba let out a long sigh of relief. "With this, our feud with that guy is finally settled, right?"
"Yes." Kaiba nodded.
He turned back for one last look at the massive sign atop the skyscraper: "Abiak." It was "Kaiba" spelled backward in English, a mirror imagea fitting representation of an attack launched from the shadows of his own past.
But nothing could stop him. Not the future, and certainly not the past.
It was all over now.
"Heh, I told you Yugen would be a big help," Mokuba said with a grin.
"Hmph. I suppose he was somewhat useful," Kaiba grunted.
"I want to stay here for two more days before we head back," Mokuba added. "Since we're already here, I should at least pick up some local souvenirs."
Kaiba smiled slightly. "As you wish."
...
The matter reached its conclusion. Within the month, the company known as Abiak was wiped from the face of the earth by the power of KaibaCorp, along with every trace of the mastermind behind it.
The covertly manufactured AIs were all destroyed, without exception. Seto Kaiba personally ensured that the last vestiges of their existence were eradicated, leaving nothing behind.
A month later, the Neo Doma organization collapsed. Kaiba led his forces to raze the Doma headquarters, sealing away the Skinny Snake of Orichalcos once more.
He had accomplished what he failed to do years agothe feat Atem had once achieved.
The Battle City tournament was held successfully. After years of absence from public competition, Kaiba finally made his comeback. He carved a path through the new Battle City to claim the championship, seizing the long-vacant title of King of Games and becoming the new generation's reigning champion.
The following year, KaibaCorp's scientific research achieved a massive breakthrough. The development of cutting-edge technology proved that the future of aerospace and aviation lay hidden within the power of Duel Monsters cards.
Harnessing the power of the cards, KaibaCorp led the world into the Age of the Stars. Space stations were built, new types of spacecraft were launched, and a new Duel City was even established on Mars...
Having achieved these monumental feats, Kaiba was naturally hailed as the greatest figure in human history. His contributions were so profound that they eclipsed all great figures of the past; he was a living legend recognized by the entire world.
The influence of KaibaCorp continued to grow. Eventually, no nation, organization, or individual could survive without Kaiba technology. While pushing the world into a new era, they had become as essential as water and electricityno, they had become the very air the world breathed.
Without KaibaCorp, every institution would instantly paralyze. Kaiba stood at the literal apex of the world.
Yet, having realized all of this, Kaiba sat alone in an empty space station, gazing through the viewport at his accomplishments.
This wasn't right.
He stood up from his seat and walked toward the endless starry void.
None of thisnothing he possessed, not even the pinnacle he stood uponwas real.
"I don't know what kind of boring trick this is, but it ends now!" Kaiba shouted.
In an instant, a burst of white light exploded from him as the center. Even the darkness of the starry sky seemed to be dispelled. The space station, the interstellar city built by his empirethis entire world shattered like a reflection in a broken mirror.
After the world spun, Kaiba found himself in a dark, narrow corridor similar to the one Yugen had faced. It was situated in the middle of chaos, leading into an unknown darkness.
Kaiba frowned and began to walk forward.
Distorted images flickered within the mirror-like darkness on either side of him.
One showed him as a young child, sitting at a massive desk buried under a mountain of books and exam papers. His adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba, stood beside him with his arms crossed.
"Remember this, Seto: a person's future isn't given by others; it is carved out with one's own hands," Gozaburo said sternly. "You won this chance with your own strength, but whether you can reach the end still depends entirely on you."
Kaiba kept his eyes straight ahead, walking past the flickering image with cold indifference.
Soon, a new image emerged from the side.
"Starting today, you will begin handling the affairs of KaibaCorp."
Gozaburo Kaiba leaned back in his chair, his back to the blazing sun. He squinted at the teenage Kaiba standing before him.
"Prove that you are a child of the Kaiba family. Do not disappoint me."
"Yes, Father," the young Kaiba said firmly. "I will not let you down."
...
Kaiba continued walking past the visions without sparing them a second glance. The images twisted and vanished as he passed.
As expected, more fragments appeared in succession. Every scene featured Kaiba at different ages and stages of his life, alongside his adoptive father, Gozaburo.
Yet, from beginning to end, he never looked back.
The final vision to appear was the last time this nominal father and son had seen each other.
The young Kaiba had revealed his fangs like a lion cub for the first time, wearing a winner's cold sneer. The entire board of directors stood behind the boy; before he knew it, Gozaburo was left alone at the other end of the long table.
He had vastly underestimated the boy.
Gozaburo had thought he was the one using Seto, viewing him merely as a pawn. He never imagined that he was facing a player just as dangerous as himself.
Moreover, he never dreamed that a mere sixteen-year-old could win over the entire board under his very nose, stripping him of his power and seizing his corporation outright.
Shortly after that, Gozaburo died.
Undoubtedly, Gozaburo had died harboring a deep hatred for his former adopted son and a bitter resentment for his own blindness to the betrayal.
To his last breath, he believed that Kaiba had hounded him to his death. In his mind, Kaiba was his murderer.
Only at this final scene did Kaiba pause. He crossed his arms and let out a cold sneer.
It was the same mocking sneer the young Kaiba wore in the visiona victor's contempt for the loser.
"What, did you show me all of this just to ask for my thoughts?" Kaiba said icily. "Fine, then. I'll be honest. All I see is a pathetic stray dog, letting out a few useless barks after losing everything."
He turned around and roared.
"Stop these boring games and face me! Gozaburo!"
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