Aknadin's gaze turned cold.
His breathing quickened, and his heartbeat started to race. Those terrifying images that had been buried in the deepest recesses of his memory, untouched for years, yet unforgettable, resurfaced in his mind once again.
It happened in Kruelna Village, the birthplace of the Millennium Items. He buried the entire village, along with everyone in his accompanying army, as sacrifices to summon the slate from the Netherworld and the seven Millennium Items. But the evil ritual brought forth not only the slate and the items.
Along with the summons came the dark incarnation, a terrifying Evil God from the Netherworld.
Aknadin could never forget that scene. The shadow of the Evil God, as black as sin itself, loomed above the slate just summoned from the Netherworld. Beneath it seemed to protrude an unbelievably majestic dragon's head—perhaps a dragon's head, big, thick, and dark, Aknadin couldn't quite see clearly.
The Evil God coerced Aknadin into embedding the seven Divine Artifacts into the slate to open a path to the Netherworld, but Aknadin, quick-witted in the moment, gouged out the Millennium Eyes from the slate and inserted them into his eyes, using the power of the Millennium Items to temporarily drive back the Great Evil God.
Fortunately, the design of the Millennium Eyes was relatively simple, like the Sharingan from the neighboring Ninja Village, easily inserted without the need for sterilization or surgery, just pop it into the eye directly. Otherwise, Aknadin might have met his end right then.
If this Thief King before him is truly a survivor from Kruelna Village, it would be extraordinary. Then, his lineage might indeed be intricately linked with the Millennium Items, and as the sole survivor, his hatred and darkness within must be unimaginable.
As Aknadin was engulfed by a storm of inner turmoil, he suddenly realized Bakura's sinister and cold gaze was fixed on him, making him shiver instinctively.
"Hmph, never mind, let's leave it at that for today. For now, the Millennium Items will remain in your hands," Bakura turned and swaggered out of the palace, "I'll come back for them in a couple of days."
"Wait!"
Dark Yugi gritted his teeth, trying to step forward to block him, but after two steps, a sharp pain surged through his body, everything went dark. If not for Yugi's timely support, he almost stumbled and fell.
He felt as if the energy from his soul had been completely drained. With his current Soul Power, at most, he could only summon a Kuriboh.
Both sides had their Life Points reduced to zero, so in theory, it should have been mutual destruction. However, Great Evil God Sok had no other specialties, except... uh, nothing, his life force was as resilient as a cockroach, indestructible, and just needed a bit of time to recover back to normal.
"Stop him!" Mahad was the first to shout.
This is the Royal Palace, not a public restroom! Come as you please, leave as you please?
The Egyptian soldiers in the palace were essentially just for show; they stood behind, exclaiming "damn," "awesome," highlighting their uselessness during His Majesty's personal duel.
A group of soldiers half-heartedly moved forward to attack from all sides, but Bakura merely shouted "Diaboundo!", summoning a snake-tailed demon with angelic wings. The demon crossed its palms, releasing a light blast at Bakura's feet, exploding on the spot, throwing the surrounding soldiers onto their backs, debris flying.
Amidst the rising smoke, Bakura disappeared from his place.
"Where did that guy go?"
"Mahad?" Aknadin immediately turned to Mahad.
Priest Mahad was the holder of the "Millennium Ring." The Millennium Ring possessed the ability to detect darkness and discern locations, much like an ancient radar; naturally, everyone expected Mahad to identify the opponent's location.
Mahad shook his head, indicating it was beyond his capability, then waved and shouted: "Seal the Royal Palace! Don't let him escape!"
...
The Egyptian Army began to fervently seal off the entire Royal Palace, guarding all entrances and routes.
Meanwhile, Bakura, using the manual smoke bomb provided by Diaboundo for cover, quietly made his way around the palace's base to the pre-prepared escape route.
"Heh, and these stupid priests think they can catch me? Maybe in their next life!" Bakura boasted.
According to the plan, his pawn would have a horse ready for them here to retreat along the pre-determined route.
By the time those foolish priests figured it out, they would be long gone beyond the Royal City.
A seamless Assassin's Creed-like secretive retreat plan.
But now the problem is...
...where the hell is my horse?
Bakura approached their rendezvous spot, bewildered, only to find neither the person nor the horse intended to aid his escape.
Where's my horse? Such a large horse?
Could it be that fool finally betrayed me?
Bakura's expression darkened, but he wasn't unprepared for this possibility.
That fool was, after all, originally from Duel King Youyu's side. Bakura never fully trusted him anyway. Now, being betrayed by him was merely an annoyance, but he had already alternatively planned escape routes.
After all, his current identity was a dignified Thief King, slipping out unnoticed was a trivial matter. By the time those foolish priests recovered, he would already be...
Just as he was contemplating this, Bakura suddenly heard someone shout behind him, "Boss~!"
The voice was loud and friendly, as if it were an old friend waving at him from across the river.
Bakura turned his head, and his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He saw his pawn riding the horse they originally planned to escape on, accompanied by a bunch of other horses, each carrying packs filled beyond capacity.
There were swords and shields, jewelry, gold, and silver treasures... basically all sorts of random items. His pawn was also adorned with various pieces of jewelry, gleaming gold, looking quite flashy and eye-catching.
Even the Thief King was momentarily taken aback by him.
Goodness, did you loot the entire treasury, armory, and stable of Egypt in one go?
But that's not the point.
The point is that at this very moment, a large crowd of Egyptian soldiers were chasing after the fool, hurling curses at his retreating figure.
Faced with this scene, Bakura could only think—
—Don't come over here, please!!!
Which part of "secret retreat" don't you understand!? Who the hell let you lead the enemy right to me!!!
To make matters worse, the fool was cheerfully waving at him while riding over on his horse, proudly displaying an "of course I'm the one who led them here" stance.
Bakura was so furious that he couldn't even speak, and he had no choice but to turn on his heel and run.
Damn it, was this idiot purposefully trying to screw me over?