The Atmosphere—one of the only three Sphere monsters ever turned into real cards, and the one that received the most significant boost during the process.
In the original manga, The Atmosphere required three tributes to summon. Unlike Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, which could be Special Summoned, this card needed three tributes for a normal summon—just like the Egyptian Gods. It was quite a hassle.
But once turned into a real card, the summoning requirements were greatly simplified. This card no longer needed three tributes for a normal summon, nor could it be normally summoned at all. Instead, it could only be Special Summoned by banishing two monsters from the field and one from the graveyard.
This made it much easier to meet the summoning conditions, although the resource cost was actually higher since it required banishing rather than tributing.
The original manga effect let The Atmosphere absorb an opponent's monster and gain its ATK/DEF upon summon.
The real card not only retained this effect but upgraded it to "once per turn," meaning it wasn't just a one-off effect anymore but could be reused each turn.
From both the summoning requirement and the actual effect, it was a significant buff—the card felt much better to use than the original.
At this moment, the Society of Light's Frost had the honor of being the first duelist to personally experience this buffed version of The Atmosphere.
But after being hit by the double attack of two Sphere Monster, Frost, having experienced a crisis of faith, actually started to envy Thunder, who got knocked out before him.
He envied how quickly Thunder was defeated—he didn't have to endure the same humiliation.
"Why did the Society of Light target me?"
Kira now stood before Frost. Frost struggled to look up, feeling only that the person before him, standing tall in the dark pipe, looked ominous and sinister under the tunnel's ceiling lights.
"Cough...cough..."
He coughed twice and looked at Kira gloomily.
"Revolver, your good days... cough... are about to end."
"Huh?" Kira raised an eyebrow.
Hearing this from a guy hanging on by a thread had little intimidation value. Rather than a threat, it sounded more like stubborn posturing.
But Frost said no more, simply giving a couple of dry laughs.
"Be prepared, Revolver," Frost said. "Your fate is now intertwined with the Society's."
"And those who stand in the way of the Society's future have only one end—destruction."
"Society of Light, huh?" Kira replied.
"Hahaha, that's right... the fate of light is like... Cough... like an unstoppable chariot, crushing all in its path."
He forced the words out.
"You may have defeated me, but don't get cocky. After the Society's baptism, for us, so-called 'death' is just becoming light itself.
And you... Cough..."
He squinted at Kira.
"You are the darkness that must be defeated. Light will ultimately... prevail..."
With those words, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
For a moment, Kira seemed to see a wave of light released from Frost's body, dispersing as a cloud of glowing particles down the long underground passage.
Kira could tell—he did not collapse because of a Shadow Game, but because of the light just released. That fragment of light had given these Society generals extraordinary powers, but also served as a tool for surveillance and control.
Once defeated, the light fragment would evaporate and dissipate. The member would return to being a normal person, losing the baptism of light and all key memories.
"An interesting insurance policy... But all this talk of light and darkness is a bit much."
Kira frowned.
"Why do they act like they're warriors of light and I'm the dark overlord?"
Today, the Silent Magician in her JK outfit stood quietly beside him, gazing at him wordlessly.
Kira glanced sideways: "Are you saying I am?"
The Silent Magician shrugged innocently, as if to say, "I never said that."
But suddenly, a sly smile appeared on her icy face.
Kira: "..."
Fine, let me be the Demon King then. After all, that's been his character setting all along.
Besides, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, darkness doesn't mean evil.
The setting here is quite the opposite of tradition.
The lore says that the forces of light and darkness have been at war since the dawn of the universe. In most stories, light is associated with justice and darkness with evil—but here, it's the other way around.
Light represents the light of destruction, seeking to swallow all things and turn the once-dark universe into a blank, empty void—leaving nothing behind.
Darkness, on the other hand, stands for all things in the existing universe. The waves of darkness gave birth to the power that opposes the light of destruction. So here, darkness stands for justice and order, representing all things opposed to the Light of Destruction.
Even Pharaoh Atem, called the Dark King, is on the side of justice in the story.
Of course, the Great Evil God Zorc, as the embodiment of darkness, is on the opposite side. Good and evil can't simply be divided by light and dark—it's more about one's actions.
With Frost and Thunder dealt with, Kira picked up his new deck—including the two Monarch cards belonging to Thunder Monarch and Frost Monarch.
Just by holding them, Kira could feel the energy of the spirits bound within gradually dissipating.
It seemed the light's influence wasn't limited to duelists. The two Monarch spirits had also been tainted. That power made them stronger, but also clouded their minds and bound their freedom.
Now, as the light faded, the two Monarch were finally freed.
Naturally, the job of welcoming the newcomers fell to Caius. The Shadow Monarch quickly led the welcome, explaining the benefits of their organization.
Basically, ever since they started following Kira, they've been undefeated, sweeping all opposition. For a spirit, finding such a master was truly the luck of a lifetime.
Though he was originally captured by accident, looking back now, Caius felt that getting caught was the greatest opportunity of his life.
Just as he was bragging and the two newcomers were getting excited, a certain android chimed in:
"Undefeated, sure, but you've only been in a few fights yourself. Most of the time, you're just cheering from the sidelines."
At that, Caius exploded: "You bald cyborg, looking for a fight!?"
Jinzo was unfazed: "Bring it on!"
Everyone had a 2400 ATK stat—who's afraid of who?
The two new Monarch just looked at each other.
What a harmonious and friendly team atmosphere.
But then again...
Did they really board the right pirate ship?