CHAPTER 446: CHAPTER 445: THE FALL OF THE SNAKE GOD (BONUS)

The sky seemed to be gently parted by an unseen force. The clouds slowly retreated, revealing the long-lost clear blue sky and a blazing golden sun hanging high above.

But soon, everyone realized—it wasn’t the sun.

Because it was slowly descending.

At the center of the light, a giant golden sphere appeared among the clouds. The dazzling brilliance enveloped the world in a warm golden glow, like the first sunrise illuminating the earth.

Then, the golden sphere began to transform.

As if life flowed across its surface, the golden light gradually outlined the shape of a divine bird. The god-bird of the sun opened its massive wings, revealing a body seemingly forged from gold. It soared high, tearing through the sky, golden storms swirling from its wings, bathing the world below in its radiance.

The chief of the God Cards, the Winged Dragon of Ra, summoned!

"You again!" the Snake God shrieked. "Wretched Pharaoh, accursed God!"

Ra also let out a thunderous cry, flying directly toward the God of Orichalcos. As it swept past, a burning trail of fire was left across the heavens, as if even the clouds were ignited.

"You three gods had to join forces to defeat me before," the Snake God raged. "And now you think you alone can stand against me?"

It lunged.

Ra’s eyes flared red, roaring even more furiously.

Kira couldn’t understand what Ra was saying, but he imagined it was something like, "Last time, that Divine Soldier and that pit dragon just got in the way—if I’d fought you one-on-one, I’d have crushed you."

The golden god and the pitch-black snake god clashed, sunlight and darkness colliding, their domains intertwined in a titanic struggle.

Beasts battling in midair, rising ever higher. On the ground, everyone looked up to see thunderclouds churning, black lightning striking down. Storms raged across the surrounding sea, waves crashing higher and higher. Explosions of golden light intermittently burst forth, the spectacle terrifying.

Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon roared, flapping its wings to join the fray. Black Luster Soldier also raised his sword, though at this level he was clearly struggling to keep up, but he refused to stand aside—at least he could provide support.

Blue-Eyes was said to be a god-level monster, but in duels, victory often depended on the duelist’s skill, so it was hard to judge who was stronger between it and the God Cards.

But in this spirit battle, as Blue-Eyes fought the Snake God, it truly displayed some of the old godly power. In the righteous beatdown, the already weakened Snake God quickly became overwhelmed, its defeat evident.

At last, the Snake God’s defenses were breached. Ra’s Divine Flame Cannon and Blue-Eyes’ Shining Burst landed in quick succession on its chest and back.

The God of Orichalcos could no longer hold on, letting out a piercing scream as its black body, seemingly aflame, plummeted from the sky, turning to ash before hitting the ground.

The last wisp of black energy returned to the Arbiter’s body. He fell to one knee, face pale, darkness pouring from him like a broken dam, and his body began to dissolve.

Kira and Kaiba stood side by side on the stage, looking down like victors.

The Snake God glared up, eyes full of venomous hatred.

"I lost."

He said it, but ground his teeth, clearly unaccepting. His hateful gaze lingered on both, finally locking onto Kira.

"But I still lost to the wretched Pharaoh," he said coldly.

Kira just nodded, unconcerned. "If you say so."

Perhaps it was true. The artifact’s boost and the power it left Ra were indeed key in this battle.

Without the artifact’s help, Kira might still have won—or maybe he would have lost. But either way, the duel would have gone very differently.

But he didn’t care.

Victory is all that matters in a duel—especially one with your life, or the world, on the line. Only the winner has a future. If he has to rely on some cheats or top-decking to win, so be it.

If he wants to win solely by his own strength, he can work on that after this victory.

The Arbiter was furious, but his body had almost completely collapsed, half of it dissolving into black mist.

He fell to his knees, struggling to speak.

"Don’t think this is over!"

"I told the Pharaoh before, and it hasn’t changed. As long as darkness exists in human hearts, no matter how many times, I will return!"

"And you!"

He glared at Kira.

"One day, you’ll bring about a darkness a hundred times deeper than I ever did—because that’s the kind of person you are!"

"You’ll all regret it!"

His voice faded away.

The Arbiter’s body finally completely disintegrated, dissolving into a puff of black smoke and vanishing.

"Hmph. The wailing of a beaten dog."

Kaiba snorted disdainfully, like he did to every enemy he’d beaten.

But, deep down, there was some regret.

Dartz had been one of the few opponents he’d never beaten. Although the Arbiter wasn’t Dartz reborn, he was the mastermind behind him.

This should have been his chance at a comeback. After so many years, a chance to surpass the obstacle he’d never overcome, and become Duel King again—a perfect opportunity.

But he’d failed.

Who would have thought? The great Kaiba, seen as the number one duelist in the world, defeated by a rookie student.

He turned to look behind him—and was stunned.

Kira had vanished.

Looking around, he saw Kira squatting where the Arbiter had dissolved, picking up the duel disk.

Looting the corpse.

Kaiba: "..."

Well.

For someone newly crowned Duel King, staying true to oneself is admirable.

Kira was quite pleased with the Arbiter.

Not only did he get the deck from the duel disk, the Arbiter also carried several backup decks. Clearly, like himself, he specialized in using multiple decks.

He loved such opponents. Win once, get loads of loot—and all rare cards.

If only every villain were this generous, he’d laugh himself awake in his sleep.