"Yugi!" Jonouchi shouted. "Pharoh or Atem-it doesn't matter. You're Yugi! We'll still be friends a thousand years later!"
He nearly snapped at that. He wasn't under the puzzle's influence now, and he could be angry at them.
How could they act like they were making some great sacrifice? They had wanted him to leave, hadn't they? So they could go on with their own lives.
The Ishtars had lied to them- and if they had bothered to think twice on the matter, the truth would have been obvious. It was only natural that dead souls
passed on to the next life. They didn't need a ceremonial battle to do it. No, the duel had been the Law's reward to him, for his efforts and sacrifice to
keep harmony and balance- a chance to live out his terminated life as it should have been.
But he couldn't stay. After all their talks about friendship, they hadn't even tried to find a way to let him stay in this world. Sure, it wasn't right that someone
already deceased should linger in this world. But they had never given much regard for rules when the rules got in the way of them sticking together. They
smuggled onto the ship to Duelist Kingdom, barged into the castle when they weren't invited. If Mokuba hadn't let them on the Battleship they still would have
found some way.
Since the start of the ceremony he had been free of the puzzle's spell. Free of Yugi's wish to have a friend that would always be with him, never betray him.
The wish that the Millenium items granted their wielders was in fact the price that the Law payed them. The price for becoming the guardians to the gates of
the Realm of Darkness. And since the Law granted it, even he, King as he was, could not go against it. He would have deep affection for Yugi without cause.
What was important to Yugi was important to him, Yugi's friends included. He could never tell him anything might possibly break his dreams. He could never tell him
that he had no powerful bonds here, the precious kinds that had between the king and his friends 3000 years ago. Yugi had appreciated him for the delusion of strength
his presence gave. The others considered him as a friend because he was the other Yugi.
He had been free of all that, but he still couldn't stay. As shallow and delusional as their relationships had been, they really had considered him a friend.
He couldn't betray that. And over time he had found reason to truly appreciate them. And really, there was nothing for him here. 3 of his priests had reincarnated
to fulfill their duties but they had not kept their memories with them, and might as well be strangers to their old king.
So he lost the duel. He hadn't protested when Yugi took some of his important monsters. He'd used all 3 God cards, when he knew the Gods ate up a lot of
the resource of his deck. He wondered when Yugi would realize that he had in truth weakened his deck while making it look stronger. He hoped it wouldn't
be for a while. That the illusion would last long enough for Yugi to find some confidence within himself...
I could never forgive Takahashi Kazuki for not coming up with a proper reason for Yugi being so insistent that Atem leave(Original anime).