To be honest, Kira had long heard of the Tomb Keeper clan's reputation. Even if he hadn't been invited this time, he'd already considered seeking out Marik and his sister someday if the opportunity arose.
The Tomb Keeper possessed no shortage of valuable relics. The Necrovalley he'd previously obtained was a Tomb Keeper's artifact. There was also Marik's treasured item, the Temple of the Kings that Odion used in the last duel, and Ishizu's signature "Exchange of the Spirit," among others.
All told, the Tomb Keeper had quite a few exclusive rare cards. Besides that, back in the day, Marik painstakingly built up Rare Hunters, the world's largest bootleg card syndicate, churning out piles of fake cards to invade Battle City—even the famed Exodia wasn't spared. Though Rare Hunters was now disbanded, the foundation Marik had amassed during that time should still be considerable.
Though most of those cards were knock-offs, there were surely some genuine, long-out-of-print treasures among them.
On Kira's end, the matter with the Advent Church was more or less settled—at least, the evil gods' forces in the present dimension had been dealt a devastating blow.
Kira, back in his Revolver persona, returned to the Knights of Hanoi headquarters, gave a quick rundown of how to handle the remaining cultists, then set off for Domino City.
According to Odion, the Egyptian Archaeological Bureau would be staying in Domino for about two days. He'd mentioned there was something important from Egypt they wanted to show Kira, so Kira decided to join them.
He landed in Domino at 9:10 p.m.
He'd already given Odion his arrival time. Even if Marik and his sister were busy and couldn't come themselves, they should at least have sent someone to greet him. Yet after deplaning and looking around, Kira saw no one who looked like a greeter, which struck him as odd.
Still, Odion had told him which hotel the siblings were staying at. Though Kira found the Tomb Keeper' hospitality strange, he didn't dwell on it. He made his own way to the address.
He hailed a cab, got in the back seat, and gave the address. But after he closed the door, the car didn't move for a while.
Instead, the driver in the front seat didn't turn around, just stared out the window and let out a couple of low chuckles.
"Sir, are you sure that's your destination? Shouldn't you be heading for the paradise ruled by eternal darkness?"
The pretense was dropped. This driver hadn't stated his identity, but his words made his malicious intent clear.
Kira frowned slightly, but before he could respond, the Silent Magician took form inside the car, raising her staff and firing a blast of white light at the front seat.
Crash!
The window shattered, the driver's seat was obliterated, foam and stuffing flew everywhere, mingling with shards of glass.
The blast tore through the seat and windshield, and the driver was right in its path. His body, struck by the magical beam, shattered like water, dissolving into a cloud of black mist—revealing that his body was composed mainly of this dark vapor. The rest of him broke apart into countless dark cards, which scattered out the broken window.
But those cards seemed almost sentient. Once airborne, they veered mid-flight, circling back to the ground and reassembling near the car, merging with the black mist into a human form. The man now stood there, unscathed, smugly pushing his sunglasses up his nose.
Kira got out of the car, frowning.
"Nice to meet you," the man smiled. "At last, Duel King, we meet. I have no name, but you may call me Trueman."
His entrance was mysterious and showy, but Kira showed no respect, bluntly calling him out: "Nightshroud, right?"
Trueman's expression changed slightly.
"How did you know?"
This man represented the very force that was the final boss of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX—the dark lord, Nightshroud, who in the series finale erased all human existence from Earth (except Jaden), fusing them into his eternal world of darkness.
Of course, Kira wasn't facing Nightshroud himself, but rather his one and only subordinate: Trueman.
Trueman's design seemed inspired by Agent Smith from The Matrix—black suit, sunglasses, endless clones, all serving a single will. Though not Nightshroud himself, they acted as his direct representatives.
Kira was puzzled.
In just the short time since the semester began, Yubel, Zorc, the three evil gods—all the major bosses had started showing up. And now, Nightshroud too?
What's with this semester? Are all these bosses gathering here on purpose?
"Fujiki Kira, I thought you were just a troublesome duelist, but since you know about Nightshroud, I can't let you live."
Once again, black mist and countless dark cards gathered in Trueman's hand, forming a Duel Disk.
He stepped forward, voice cold.
"Looks like I'll have to erase you sooner rather than later."
Kira frowned, knowing this duel was inevitable. What he didn't know was whether Trueman's appearance was mere coincidence, or if it was related to the evil gods he and the Tomb Keeper were about to discuss.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Trueman, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw." Kira announced.
Though all Trueman's bodies were servants of Nightshroud, their individual strengths varied greatly. They could wield any deck, with unpredictable tactics.
The first Trueman in the anime used Dark World monsters and Five-Headed Dragon, both defeated rather easily by Jaden. But the Trueman who later appeared in Domino took out Axel, a top MVP candidate—so he couldn't be underestimated.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Graceful Charity'—draw three cards, then discard two."
Kira sent two cards to the graveyard.
"Next, I activate the Equip Spell 'Premature Burial', pay 800 life points, and revive a monster from the graveyard in Attack Position."
He was reviving one of the two cards he'd just discarded.
[Kira, LP 4000 → 3200]
"I revive 'Gigaplant' from the graveyard in Attack Position!"
A vortex opened in the graveyard; before the monster even emerged, green tendrils shot out, followed by a huge, fanged mouth as the carnivorous plant climbed onto the field.
[Gigaplant, ATK 2400]
"Gigaplant is a Gemini monster. While on the field, it can be Normal Summoned again to gain its effect."
Kira continued,
"I Normal Summon Gigaplant a second time, granting it its monster effect, and activate that effect: once per turn, I can Special Summon an Insect or Plant-type monster from my hand or graveyard."
He revealed the other card he'd sent to the grave earlier.
"I Special Summon the Plant-type monster 'World Carrotweight Champion'!"
…