But as the Demon King fell, his heart was filled with grievance.

Yes, grievance. He had dominated his whole life, had faced opponents stronger than himself, and had lost duels before.

But this was the first time he'd ever felt so stifled after a fight.

His Yokai deck was built around graveyard operations. For example, the duo of Gozuki and Mezuki—masters of graveyard milling and revival—could easily pull any powerful yokai from the deck onto the field at a moment's notice.

Or the endlessly revivable Nine-Tailed Fox, and even the low-level monsters he'd just used—Crow Tengu and Onmoraki—all came with powerful effects when revived from the graveyard.

But he never even had a chance. His opponent's Macro Cosmos banished his entire graveyard, erasing it completely. The strength of his yokai never got to shine at any point.

This was also the first time he truly realized that a duel could feel like being thrown in jail.

"You won, Kira!"

Though he hadn't dueled himself, Jaden still diligently jumped out, striking a victory pose to celebrate Kira's win, smiling cheerfully.

"That was such an interesting duel!"

Demon King: "..."

Heh, interesting. Yeah, real interesting.

Whatever you say, he didn't dare object anyway.

As the duel ended, darkness surged all around. The pitch-black chaos seemed to be home to countless beings, all converging toward him.

Demon King's heart skipped a beat.

As an old hand on the streets, he knew exactly what this meant. To lose in a shadow duel could mean eternal damnation—some unlucky ones couldn't even enter the underworld and would wander in darkness forever.

"Wait, wait! What do you want to ask? I'll tell you everything!"

The Demon King cried out in panic.

"Naturally, you don't have the option not to."

Kira nodded, stepping forward to look down at the kneeling Demon King.

"New Doma hired you to deal with me?"

The Demon King nodded like a pecking chicken.

"Then it's simple. Tell me—where's their base?"

The Demon King hesitated.

"Hm? Don't want to say?"

Kira was puzzled. Didn't the winner of the duel get to ask whatever they wanted, and the loser had to answer? Could he actually choose to die rather than talk?

Maybe my darkness isn't strong enough?

Thinking this, the surrounding darkness pressed in even more, as if ready to swallow the Demon King whole.

Terrified, the Demon King quickly said, "It's not that I don't want to, Yellow-robed Lord! I really don't know. See, even though we're allies, I'm not in their inner circle. How could they possibly let an outsider know the location of their base?"

Kira thought for a moment and felt this did make sense.

But what's with this "Yellow-robed Lord"? Has my yellow dorm uniform become my signature look?

No matter. Kira instantly had a new idea.

"Even if you don't know the location, you must have a way to contact them, right?" Kira asked. "They hired you to take me out, so you must have a channel to notify them when the job's done?"

The Demon King nodded helplessly. "That... I do have."

"How do you contact them?"

"There's a dedicated line," the Demon King replied. He couldn't hide anything he knew. Having lost the duel, he could feel a strange force brewing inside him, shackling his soul.

Every word he uttered seemed to be watched by that power. Should he try to lie or hide anything, the shackles would tighten, as if gripping his soul in a vice.

Of course, he had no intention of lying for now.

"Do you contact them, or do they contact you?" Kira pressed.

"I contact them. Once the job is done, they send someone to verify and take something from you—though I don't know what it is. They just said you have something they want."

The Demon King said bitterly.

"After they come and complete the retrieval, then I get my payment. What happens after that has nothing to do with me."

"I see."

Kira nodded in understanding.

"Then it's simple. Contact them now, tell them the task is done, that I've been taken care of, and have them send someone over. Once they arrive, you're off the hook."

The Demon King froze.

Then quickly understood Kira's intent.

"You want me to betray my allies?" He narrowed his eyes.

Though he and New Doma were only surface-level allies, there was still that bond. In their world, loyalty meant everything. If word of this got out, how could he show his face in the underworld again?

"What, you have a problem with that?"

Kira smiled, not annoyed at all—just smiling kindly.

"If you don't want to, I won't force you. I'm a reasonable person."

"No, absolutely not!" the Demon King shouted.

For some reason, when this yellow-robed youth smiled and spoke in such a kind, understanding tone, it only made his hair stand on end.

Especially with the sea of darkness swirling around—a truly chilling sight.

In that instant, all thoughts of loyalty and brotherhood vanished. As the saying goes: "Better him than me." His own life was more important.

He also sensed that if he tried to resist, his fate could be worse than death.

"Fine, fine."

Kira patted his shoulder with a smile.

"It's rare for the great Demon King to see the light and repent. I'll be counting on you."

The Demon King forced a bitter smile.

See the light? Sure, maybe that's what it was. But why did it feel more like he was abandoning the light for the dark?

"Oh, right, one more thing."

Kira's smile faded, and he suddenly became serious.

Scared by the abrupt change, the Demon King held his breath and cautiously asked, "Is there something else, sir?"

"Even if you repent, that doesn't mean your past crimes are forgiven."

Kira said righteously.

"Duel Monsters aren't tools for bullying the weak, nor are they a means to seek profit. Using them to hurt others disqualifies you from being called a duelist!"

The Demon King blinked in confusion.

Huh? Yellow-robed Lord, are you talking about yourself? Because I feel like I'm the one being bullied right now.

"Using cards for evil, stealing lives—can't you hear your cards crying?" Kira continued his questioning.

He really couldn't.

The Demon King muttered silently but bowed his head and listened without daring to protest.

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to be called a duelist. I can't let you hurt more innocents with Duel Monsters."

Kira reached out.

"Hand over your deck."

The Demon King: "..."

PS: 3 Bonus chapters at 2000 PS