After the duel, Eddie knelt on the ground, his face stiff and pale as a corpse, yet wearing a bizarre smile.
"Not bad, King of this world. With just two cards, you've achieved a level of 'infinity' that most duelists could never reach in their lifetime.
Well, I suppose that's the power worthy of the title 'King.'"
Eddie gave a dry laugh, as if forcibly pulling his facial muscles into a smile rather than genuinely expressing emotion.
"Much more interesting than the Kings I've met before."
Kira looked at him coolly and asked, "Yugi Muto?"
Other than himself, only Yugi had ever been called King.
"Heh, Yugi? I've dealt with him before, but—hehe, he's not who I mean."
Kira felt something odd.
Not Yugi... so who else, besides me?
Wait, he said 'King of this world.' Could he mean someone from another dimension?
Not impossible. Kira often wandered through other dimensions himself.
"Today was just a greeting. I gained a lot from our duel."
Eddie seemed to keep speaking, but his lips never moved—like a loudspeaker in his body, the voice dark and eerie.
"We'll meet again, but don't worry, not just yet."
Eddie's rigid face pulled into another unnatural smile.
"The so-called 'Evil God' of the Advent Church will probably show up soon, and will pay you a visit. Looks like you'll be busy for a while, so I won't bother you.
Let's leave our time together until after you settle those troubles, King~"
He let out another weird laugh.
Then the aura around Eddie instantly vanished, his body collapsing like a marionette with its strings cut.
"He just said, the Advent Church's so-called Evil God..." Eye said, puzzled. "So he's not with the people after you?"
"Sounds like it. But he could also be misleading us."
Kira thought for a moment, snapped a photo of the unconscious Eddie with his communicator, and quickly sent it to a contact within KaibaCorp's internal network.
He had built up quite a network in KaibaCorp after many collaborations.
["Mr. Kira?"]
A polite call came in quickly.
["I received your message. How can I help?"]
"Sorry to bother you this late, Yoshida."
["Haha, not at all. Helping you is my honor. Just let me know."]
"I just sent a photo. I'd like as much info as possible on his identity," Kira said.
["A background check? You've come to the right person. Hold on, this shouldn't take long."]
...
Yoshida wasn't exaggerating. KaibaCorp's reach was almost omnipotent. That very night, Kira got a full report.
Eddie was a dueling archaeology expert, leader of several expeditions to ruins related to ancient Duel Monsters. But records showed he'd been listed as missing for years.
Archaeology is dangerous—especially with dueling monsters. You never know when you'll stumble into a sealed evil god's temple, some ancient king's tomb, or a temperamental spirit. Team members go missing every year.
Eddie's team's last mission ended in a cave-in. Rescuers found the remains of the team—except for Eddie.
The others were all found, but whatever happened under those ruins, none survived.
The common factor: all were found with expressions of utter terror, as if they'd seen something unimaginable before dying.
Autopsies couldn't determine a cause of death; they seemed to have died before the collapse, and wounds appeared post-mortem.
If it was just a lost team member, it wouldn't have drawn much attention—tragic, but not unheard of.
But what made KaibaCorp take notice was the hieroglyphics found in the ruins.
Zorc.
Kira thought for a moment, knelt beside Eddie, and pulled his Deck from the duel disk.
He spread out the cards and scanned them.
Nothing special—just a mishmash like most duelists, with plenty of Ritual support like Manju, Advanced Ritual Art, and Preparation of Rites.
But oddly, there were no Ritual Monsters.
He checked twice, looked around for any dropped cards—nothing.
The "Dark Master - Zorc" card had vanished, as if erased after the duel.
Eye watched with concern.
Kira, sensing her thoughts, looked back.
"You're wondering if that was the Zorc?"
Eye nodded.
"It's possible," Kira said, frowning. "But he said this Zorc was just an empty shell Zorc once inhabited long ago.
If he really was Zorc, wouldn't that be a strange thing to say?"
Eye tilted her head, then nodded, acknowledging the doubt.
At that moment, another call came through Kira's communicator.
This time it was Professor Lyman.
["Are you there, nya?"]
Kira: "Professor, you're really used to being a cat now, huh."
["Cut the chatter, nya," Lyman said. "About the Advent Church you asked me to check—We finally found the location of their headquarters."]
"Oh? You found it?"
["Yes. They're deep in the mountains, very well hidden. I'll send you the address soon."]
Lyman paused.
["So what's your plan this time? Send someone to check it out?"]
But before Kira could answer, Lyman added seriously:
["Just so you know, I am a cat now—don't even think about bringing me along, nya."]
Kira laughed. "Don't worry, Professor. I'll go myself this time."
…