"Silent, do you think what I have here is big enough?"
The Silent Magician stood beside Yugen, tilting his head and sizing him up.
Then he made a gesture.
It's big enough, but ugly as hell.
Yugen nodded with satisfaction.
"Ugly is just right."
At the moment, he appeared exactly like the Divine Envoy who was thrashed in Phantom City before, showing his tusks and having a rather burly physique that looked ferocious.
When Yugen first came to the Elf Realm, he realized all the cards he held corresponded to various skills there. As long as he had enough cards, a Duelist in this world could do anything.
For example, the Magic Card "Hero Mask" that he's using now seems to be a transformation magic for disguise.
Two days ago, new content appeared on the task card he seized from that Divine Envoy. A map-like image appeared on the card, with an arrow marking a certain location.
Below the card, a description was revealed. But it was a bunch of hieroglyphics, Yugen couldn't understand.
But that's okay; the leader of the Elf Realm, Chaos Warrior, got the gist and told him to gather at the designated location with the task card.
The mission was to find an artifact called the "Sealing Artifact."
Yugen immediately recalled the information he saw with Keihei a few days ago.
Sealing Artifact, the tool that looks like a reversed triangular version of the Millennium Puzzle.
So could this thing be the Millennium Puzzle?
Yugen had a bold idea.
Take the task card, disguise as a Divine Envoy, join this mission team, and explore the depths of danger.
Walking on the road, Silent kept gesturing with his small hands beside him.
"Do you think it's dangerous to be discovered?" Yugen asked.
Silent nodded continuously.
Although he found it difficult to communicate with Silent at first, he magically discovered it became easier over time, and now he could quickly understand whatever Silent wanted to express.
"No worries, what I just mentioned was Plan A," Yugen said, "Plan A is to blend in with the enemy and gather intelligence through conversation."
Silent tilted his head.
And what about Plan B?
"Plan B is, if my identity is exposed, then beat the enemy and ask directly."
"..."
Silent seemed stunned by this seamless plan and didn't express much for a while.
The task card was quite smart; as Yugen advanced, the card image changed, and the arrow followed winding mountain paths to move forward. Yugen quickly understood it was a metaphysics-style map navigation.
Using the navigation, they soon arrived at the designated location.
The target was located in a small forest. Tall, twisted trunks, shadows intertwined between branches, devoured all light. The air filled with damp, earthy smells mixed with an indescribable stench.
Passing through a thicket, Yugen quickly saw three figures gathered together.
No, saying "people" wouldn't be accurate, there weren't any Humans here. Though he couldn't recognize what card they corresponded to, they mostly looked like Beast Race or Beast Warriors. Their dark bronze muscles appeared like iron, covered with scars and tattoos, wild fur clothing, fitting Yugen's impression of Beastmen.
When the three noticed his arrival, they stood up warily and flashed their task cards.
Yugen understood, mimicking them, displaying his card too. They nodded and sat back down.
Thus, Yugen went forward and sat beside them too.
Great, it looked like Plan A was going smoothly for now.
"The Guiding Lord should arrive any moment," said Beastman A, "We're all old acquaintances serving the great god, no need to be nervous."
Hmm, to think they're acquaintances.
Yugen thought it over and decided to listen to them talk. If they were familiar with the Divine Envoy he's impersonating, speaking too much might reveal flaws.
Luckily, a Beastman raised the question he was most concerned about.
"I've heard that the Divine Cult has finally found some clues about the 'Sealing Artifact' they're looking for?" Beastman B asked, "What exactly is it? Why does even the almighty god need to find it?"
Beastman A's eyes twinkled with brilliance.
"Actually, I heard a bit from friends holding important positions in the organization. However..." he asked mysteriously with a lowered voice, "Are you sure you want to know?"
This question immediately made Beastman B feel uneasy, waving his hand: "If it's not suitable to discuss, then let's not. I know better than to pry into things better left unsaid."
Beastman A laughed loudly: "There's nothing that can't be said. We're all good pals who have worked missions together and had fun together, just don't spread it."
Then he lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I think you all should know? Our great god has only shown a fraction of its divine power.
Its true self is actually still asleep, waiting to be awakened."
Beastman B and C nodded repeatedly.
"But the rumors say it wasn't voluntarily sleeping but was attacked." Beastman A whispered, "Many years ago, a Master of Evil Gods, leading three evil gods controlling the sky, earth, and sun, seized the opportunity when our great True God was in a poor state, ambushed and severely injured our god's eminence..."
Yugen: "..."
If he guessed correctly, could the Master of Evil Gods be... Pharaoh Atom?
And the three evil gods controlling the sky, earth, and sun would be the Three Phantom Gods?
Emmm...
Indeed. Their side calls the Orichalcos Cheating Snake an Evil God, but from the opposite perspective, since the Cheating Snake is the only True God, then the Three Phantom Gods that pummeled the Cheating Snake back then should be evil gods, right?
But this story sounded somewhat artificial the more he listened.
Because as Yugen knew, back then, it was clearly Doma that launched surprise attacks without playing cards. The Three Phantom Gods didn't even retaliate; in Duel City, after winning the Three Phantom God's cards, they were handed over to the task NPC Yugen's grandpa to appreciate.
Then Doma's henchmen suddenly barged in, skipped past the card game, summoned fists to attack directly, and robbed the Three Phantom Gods...
Moreover, the saying "attacking while the True God was in a poor state" was also somewhat intriguing.
During that time, the resurrected God of Orichalcos was at its peak, having absorbed spirits for ten thousand years, and it even drained the Three Phantom Gods' energy, stronger than when it appeared in Atlantis.
It was the Three Phantom Gods that were drained, unable to be summoned, until Atom fought against being consumed by darkness and forcibly pulled them out for overtime.
So, if anything, the Orichalcos Evil God should have been at full strength, while the Three Phantom Gods were weakened.
Yet this henchman somehow exaggerated things, making it seem as if Pharaoh was the attacker...
"...In short, eventually, our god's eminence couldn't overcome temporarily. But the Master of Evil Gods realized our great god was immortal and couldn't be vanquished.
Therefore, he resorted to despicable means, utilizing a powerful artifact to seal our god's eminence. Our current primary task is to find that artifact to unseal, so our god's eminence can return, bringing ultimate darkness to the Ten Thousand Realms!"
"That artifact is..." Beastman B said.
"Indeed, that artifact is the 'Sealing Artifact'," Beastman A said, scratching his head soon after, "Honestly, it's just what I heard from others; I'm not sure myself if that's true..."
Yugen found himself once again lost in organizing and recalling the plot.
During the DM period, it was surely said that the God of Orichalcos represented the dark side of planetary consciousness. As long as the darkness in people's hearts remained, it would return endlessly, impossible to eradicate.
And the answer Atom provided eventually was to use his "Heart's Container" to endure all the darkness in the world and seal it.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what New Doma desperately sought across multiple dimensions, flipping through the Ten Thousand Realms in Elf Dimension...
...could it indeed be the Millennium Puzzle?