This chapter is a very short filler duel, probably the last one you guys will get for the rest of this fic. I felt that I needed to give these guys more of a spotlight.

*Chapter 34: Delays*

Sarius was at the shore, feeling very disgusted at himself. He had been too late to cut off the group of duelists, and they had already left on a Ship to the Sunset ten minutes earlier.

"We could follow them…" he muttered. "Hm… should we pursue them? What do you think?"

The Child was, like usual, at Sarius' side. Even when alone, he was usually quiet. Now though, he felt the need to say something. "Iya, Tirran-sama."

"No, huh… ah, of course. Beyond here are lands of ice and snow. I keep forgetting that you refuse to even step into an area that is cold."

"Hai."

Sarius shrugged. "No big deal. We can wait for them to come back. I doubt they will be logging out anyway, so they will have to come back."

"Hai, Tirran-sama."

Raid suddenly snarled.

"What's the matter?"

Raid growled again, this time indicating with his head at someone walking towards them. A person wearing a black cloak.

"Another General of Hell eh?" Sarius sighed. "Hopefully this will be more challenging then that other worthless goon. Magnet Warrior decks can be good, but that guy just banished all thoughts of me using one."

While he was pondering, the General came closer, until he was a few yards away, wisely avoiding Raid.

"Call your Soul Monster off. I wish to talk."

Raid snarled viciously.

"That's enough Raid. Well, make it quick, I don't have all day."

"Neither do I." The General took off the hood of his cloak. Sarius could see his dark brown hair, but that was all. His face was covered with a mask otherwise. It was pitch black, with a red symbol painted on the right cheek. The man's green right eye was uncovered, but the red left eye was painted on the mask.

The Soul Monster that was next to him was a horrifying sight to behold. It has no face that could be seen, and carried a gruesome red staff. There were face-like symbols all over its body, and bone-like structures emerged from its legs. Its arms and legs were in the position of a humans, but no person had such a vicious, long, spiked tail.

"Since we are both busy men, I will be brief. I am Kasm, and my Soul Monster is a Masked Hellraiser, but you can call him Marl. I have been sent to destroy any duelists I meet. Therefore, I will need to duel you. No Life Point conditions, but the loser will die."

"Figures… fine then, I have some time to kill."

Sarius: 8000

Kasm: 8000

"If you do not mind, I will go first," Kasm announced. "And I will use Kasm's ability. If I draw a card with "Mask" in its name, I can draw an extra card. I draw now… and I drew Mask of Weakness. That's one extra card for me. Now, I lay one monster in defense mode, and three cards down. It's your turn."

"I summon Blade Knight. For your information, Raid's ability raises all of my Light and Dark monster's stats by 500 points. (2100/1500) Attack the defense monster!"

"I activate two Mask of Weaknesses. Your monster loses 700 attack power for each until the end of the turn. (700/1500) You also ran into my Melkid Four-Faced Beast. (1500/1200)"

Sarius: 7500

Kasm: 8000

"Fine then… I will lay one additional card."

"I will not risk Marl's effect. You see, if I used his effect and did not draw a card that fit the conditions, then I would not be allowed to use it for the rest of the duel." He drew, and swore. "Should have used it… I summon Sonic Bird. (1400/1000) When summoned, I am allowed to search for one Ritual card from my deck, and add it to my hand. Now I activate it, my Ritual of the Masked Hellraiser!"

"I already know what that does, so don't bother explaining. I will just activate my trap card, Curse of Magic-Sealing. By discarding one card in my hand-my Executioner Makyura in this case-I negate your magic card, and you cannot play any other card with that name for the rest of the duel."

"Damn you! That was one of my most important strategies… but at least you are wide open for an attack. I equip my Sonic Bird with Mask of Atrocities. That raises its attack by 1000, and lowers its defense by the same amount! (2400/0) I also switch my Melkid to attack. Sonic Bird destroys Blade Knight, and Melkid attacks you!"

Sarius: 5700

Kasm: 8000

"Pathetic… I lay summon Magical Reflector Reflect Bounder. (2200/1500) He will attack your Melkid."

"I chain with Magic Cylinder!"

Sarius: 3500

Kasm: 8000

"Hm… I lay one card down, then end."

"I will use Marl's effect… good! I drew Masked Beast Death Guardius, so I draw again. Now, I would have to pay 1000 Life Points to keep Mask of Atrocities out, but I won't. Now, I sacrifice Sonic Bird and Melkid to special summon Death Guardius! (3300/2500) I attack your monster with him!"

"Moron… when Reflect Bounder is attacked, you lose Life Points to the amount of attack that your monster has!"

Sarius: 2400

Kasm: 4700

"What?! DAMN IT ALL! I lay one monster in defense mode!"

"That won't do you much good. I remove Executioner Makyura and Blade Knight from the game to special summon Chaos Soldier-Messenger of Creation! (3500/3000) He will slaughter your defense monster!"

"My Senju God didn't stand a chance… (1400/1000)"

"I will also activate my monster's special ability. Since he destroyed a monster, he can attack again!"

Sarius: 2400

Kasm: 1200

"I will activate Marl's ability… I drew Jar of Greed. While I do lose his effect for the rest of the duel, it does not matter! I play Jar of Greed, then Thunderbolt, eliminating your monster! Then I summon Cursed Gyura! (1500/1200)"

"I will activate Tidal Wave, destroying your monster."

"No! I end…"

Sarius smirked. "I congratulate you on making me lose this many Life Points, but this duel is over. I summon Mad Dog of Darkness, and attack you directly. (2400/1900)"

Sarius: 2400

Kasm: 0

The Mad Dog of Darkness, instead of instantly disappearing, ran up to Marl and jumped on it, slashing and biting, until the Soul Monster faded away. Then it leapt onto the paralyzed Kasm swiping the mask away, and sinking its oversized fangs into him, immediately breaking his neck. Then the monster vanished, leaving the man lying in a pool of his own blood.

Sarius caught a glimpse of the General's face. It had countless scars on it, too horrifying to describe.

"So, he wore that mask for a reason… it's too late to ask why though." Sarius looked up at the position of the sun. "That took longer than I thought. Child, let's go. We will need to catch up with those guys soon."

"Hai, Tirran-sama."

They walked away, leaving the corpse of Kasm behind.

*****

Pain… blood… torture… it was all that was in store for them.

He lay against the glass cylinder he was confined in, too weak to rise. Blood dripped slowly from his back, arms, and legs. His breath came out in small, painful gasps as he tried to ignore the wounds. They would fade with time. They always did.

As difficult as it was to forget about the wounds, it was much harder to block out the screams of pain that he heard from the other room. It hurt him much, much more than any cut that could be inflicted upon him. He would have done anything to put an end to the suffering she endured, but knew that he was helpless to do so. The only way he could help her was to stay alive… to be the only thing that kept her spirit from breaking completely, although it was too close for comfort.

He kept telling her that they would get away from it all, someday… escape from hell, for that was what they were in.

But could he keep that promise?

He clenched his fist, disregarding the cuts his sharp fingernails inflicted, as he heard another sharp cry.

Someday… someday… someday we will be free…

To be continued…