"Wait a moment." Kaiba interrupted, squinting his eyes and folding his arms as he studied Ishizu, "You gave me Obelisk the Tormentor, tasked me with rooting out the Ghouls Group and defeating them. Now you're personally participating in this elimination match. What is your purpose?"
Ishizu glanced at Kaiba, her tone peaceful and slow as she explained, "I simply followed destiny's guidance. Everything that has happened so far is inevitable."
"Explain it in words I can understand." Kaiba said coldly.
The president's meaning was straightforward—plainly put, speak in layman's terms.
Ishizu exhaled a long breath, her gaze shifting to Marik beside her.
"The Ghouls Group, which has been active in the shadows globally, attacking duelists everywhere and committing unforgivable crimes... Their commander, Marik Ishtar, is my biological brother."
Everyone showed expressions of astonishment, turning their eyes to Marik beside him.
The latter snorted softly, pursing his lips and looking elsewhere.
"You say Marik is your biological brother?" Kaiba squinted his eyes.
"Yes." Ishizu said slowly, "It is precisely for this reason that I asked you to organize this tournament, Seto. I must personally put an end to my brother's crimes, even if it means sacrificing myself."
She lowered her head, her slender fingers gently stroking the golden pendant on her neck.
"The Millennium Necklace has the power to reveal the future." she said, "I followed the guidance of the Divine Artifact to come here, and saw the faint possibility of saving my brother."
As she spoke, her gaze returned to the duelist Youyu in front of her.
Youyu remembered that the animation seemed to have explained it before.
The Millennium Necklace can show the future, but it only sees some vague images and impressions.
Also, there isn't just one future—the impending future holds different possibilities. However, the holder of the Millennium Necklace can see a variety of possibilities and steer reality toward a particular possibility based on their choices.
That's why she said there is a "faint possibility" of saving Marik. Perhaps in the future shown to her by the Millennium Necklace, there are very few endings where she successfully saves her brother, while more endings are tragic.
... Of course, the president always scoffs at this kind of thing.
"Boring!" President Kaiba shouted, waving his hand and turning to Youyu, "The true duelist roads are created by oneself, the future is an illusion!
Youyu! If you are considered a true duelist, then shatter the so-called future she spoke of and advance for me to see!"
Youyu: "..."
President, your FLAG-setting greatly pressures me.
Youyu wanted to say that he wasn't a cheat like you, isolated without any Divine Artifact or priest reincarnation...
"Master, go for it!" At this moment, the Dark Magician Girl spirit floated out, clenching her little fists to cheer him on, "You can definitely win!"
Youyu smiled at her.
Oh right, he had a spirit.
That reminds me, in the animation, when Kaiba faced off against Ishizu, he seemed to have used Obelisk the Tormentor as a sacrifice to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, breaking Ishizu's prophecy about the future?
Then... Let's try mimicking that here by using Osiris the Infiltrating Dragon as a sacrifice to summon the Dark Magician Girl?
Youyu thought, instinctively looking at the girl beside him. The magical girl unintentionally let the wide brim of her hat slip down to cover her eyes, exclaiming "Ah!" as she quickly adjusted her little hat.
... It feels not very reliable.
"Go for it, Youyu-san~!" Xue Lang shouted and waved furiously below.
Seeing this, Yue Hua hurriedly refused to be outdone, shouting loudly, "Go for it, Youyu!"
"Darn it, I'm so jealous!" Honda, who was also watching from below, clenched his fist, "Receiving cheers from beautiful girls!"
"But speaking of which, that brother is indeed quite handsome." Shizuka whispered.
Jonouchi nodded slightly, resting his chin: "Hmm, he's quite nice too. His dueling is really impressive, giving off quite a reliable vibe."
Honda: "!!"
Do you siblings have to have that conquered look?!
Determined to win over his brother's sister, Honda has silently marked Youyu on stage as his potential number one enemy!
"Duel!" x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Ishizu, LP 4000]
"You're going first." Ishizu said calmly with her eyes softly closed.
According to tournament rules, the order of taking turns is randomly decided by both Duel Discs. But for Ishizu, everything that happens next is inevitable; nothing is random.
Sure enough, the display on Youyu's Duel Disc showed the words "First Move" immediately.
"Everything about this duel is destined." Ishizu said softly, "Of course, the outcome has already been decided."
The spirit of the Dark Magician Girl hovered nearby, looking worried: "Master..."
"It's alright."
Youyu smiled at her, indicating not to worry, and then focused his attention on the duel: "Then I'll go first, draw a card!"
"I activate the Magic Card - Pot of Greed from my hand, to draw two more cards from the deck!"
Youyu was in luck, starting off directly with a Pot. The greedy and sinister Pot appeared on the field, helping Youyu quickly draw two cards.
"Next, set a monster in defense mode face down." Youyu quickly operated, "And add a Set Card, ending my turn."
"My turn." Ishizu said, "Draw a card."
If she could see the future, then she should know every card he draws and plays.
But seeing it is one thing, being able to respond is another.
After all, a player can only use the initial six cards in their hand in a duel, even if she knows what card is set, her six cards might not have the means to respond.
Unless she doesn't shuffle her deck...
"The monster you set is 'Magician of Faithfulness', when flipped it can add a Magic Card from the graveyard to the hand. You want to add 'Pot of Greed' back to your hand, right?"
Ishizu said calmly, "Then I'll use this card, Magic Card - Nobleman of Crossout. This card can destroy a face-down monster on the field and banish it from the game."
Youyu: "..."
You really... just don't shuffle, huh?
Youyu watched speechlessly as the Magician of Faithfulness set on his field was sliced open, without the chance to trigger its flip effect, then let out a soft whimper as it was banished from the game.
...Okay, I really shouldn't have been hopeful.
According to the system's rating, Ishizu's strength should be at least that of a level 7 Duelist.
Think about it, how could a true Duelist fail to draw the cards they need?
"Using the Magic Card 'Graceful Charity', draw three cards, discarding two of them." Ishizu filtered her cards, "Next, I will summon 'Agido' in attack mode."
Ishizu placed the card in the Monster Zone, transmitting an electronic signal, and through the projection system released a red spherical monster, with silver-white blades for hands and a golden eye in its center.
[Agido, 1500 Attack Points]
This monster was merely a four-star Normal Monster in the anime, but in reality, it was given additional special effects.
Of course, the one Ishizu summoned here was surely the Normal Monster from the anime.
"The card you set is the Trap Card 'Wall of Disruption', right?" Ishizu continued, "If I attack directly with my monster, my monster's attack will be reduced by 800 points for each monster on my side of the field due to the Trap Effect.
Then I'll activate this card... Magic Card - Nobleman of Extermination!
Destroy one set Magic Trap Card on the field and banish it from the game. If the destroyed card is a Trap Card, all copies of it in both players' decks are also banished."
Another sword descended from the air, slicing the set card on Youyu's backrow into two.
As she said, it was indeed "Wall of Disruption".
"No way, can this woman really see the future?" Jonouchi looked in shock at Yugi.
Yugi looked serious: "Yes. If that's the power of the Millennium Item, it's definitely possible."
"How is that fair? Doesn't that mean Youyu can't win?"
Jonouchi seemed even more agitated than Youyu, who was directly involved.
At this time, Kaiba also furrowed his brows, yet still wore a "I believe in science" expression.
"Can she see the future? Hmph." Kaiba stared unblinkingly at Youyu, thinking to himself, "But that won't stop a real Duelist. Boring futures like that, quickly shatter them with your skills!"
For some reason, the President seemed to have more confidence in this duel than Youyu himself...
Youyu shrugged as he looked at the vaporized Trap Card on his field: "Hey, hey, isn't this a bit unfair, sis? You're intentionally 'choosing a future that benefits you', aren't you?"
Ishizu closed her eyes, not denying it.
"Yes, using the power of the Millennium Necklace in a duel to artificially choose a future that benefits oneself is strictly forbidden." She said, "But to save my brother, and to correct the mistakes our clan has made, it's something I must do.
As long as it can put an end to everything, I am prepared to accept any punishment afterwards."