Hello all, so I apologise for the long break between chapters. I've been focusing a lot on my novel recently and I have also begun making videos on Youtube (for those interested, just search 'Wyncrer the Sage' on Youtube since I can't post a link here for whatever reason. That shameless self-promotion, I know) ANYWAY, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter, and I do plan on getting out the next chapter relatively soon as I'm sure many of you will be eager to read it. Enjoy!

Chapter 32 – Irene and Seto

"Argh!"

Tanion barely caught Yugi as he collapsed in pain and cradled his head in his arms. No less than two seconds after, the ground began to rumble beneath Tanion's feet, causing him to fall backwards and nearly throwing him down the stairs that they had just come up. Exhausted from the effort and breathing deeply, he was surprised by his own strength as he managed to hold them at the top of the stairs until the rumbling finally stopped.

"What was that?" Tanion asked him.

"That… was a lot of Duel Energy," Yugi managed to push out, moving away from Tanion as he regained control of his senses. "The Conduit must have reached the initialisation phase. We have to hurry."

Having reached the top of the stairwell, Yugi opened the door and they found themselves in what appeared to be a grand office of some sort. There was a fire escape on the far side of the room that contained a large wooden desk with what appeared to be a leather seat behind it. Tanion could only assume that this had been designed for Irene so that she could sit in comfort while her plan finally came into fruition.

"Look, through the windows," Yugi said worriedly, pointing down to the ground below. "The Order has reinforcements coming in from Eravand."

Below, the battle seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Those around the building seemed to be doing alright, but beyond that it was impossible to tell. Bodies littered the battlefield, and with no clear way of telling friend from foe, it was impossible to discern whether or not they were holding out of not.

"There seems to be less monsters used by the Grand Order summoned to the field than otherwise," Yugi said optimistically as they looked out the window. "Hopefully this means that the battle is turning in our favour."

"Don't you realise that doesn't matter anymore?" came a voice from the fire escape.

Yugi didn't seem surprised. "Hello, Seto."

"It's been a while, Yugi," Seto replied. "I must admit, I'm surprised you left your mansion after all this time."

"A matter of importance came up," Yugi muttered. "Tanion, I will deal with Seto. You head up and stall Irene."

"Stall Irene? Him?" Seto asked. "Don't make me laugh. Yusei and Jorann couldn't even stand up to her and I, what chance does he have?"

"Remember Tanion, just stop her from firing the Conduit," Yugi instructed. "Do whatever it takes."

"Of course," Tanion replied nervously.

"I will be there shortly, don't you worry," Yugi assured him.

"Right," Tanion said, hyping himself up. "I'll see you up there."

Seto couldn't hold back a laugh as Tanion ran past him to the fire escape to the roof. "You would send a boy to fight someone even I don't hold a candle to?" Seto asked Yugi. "How stupid have you gotten over the past few years, Yugi?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Seto," Yugi answered. "Joining the Grand Order? Yusei told me everything that you said to him during Theta, but that can't seriously be all there is to it."

"It is, Yugi," Seto retorted. "I am many things, and a businessman is one of them. It was the smartest decision I could've made and I've saved far more lives than I ever could have if I had decided to try and fight the Order."

"You still chose the wrong side, Seto," Yugi pressed. "Do you think others will see it that way? Or will they simply see you as a traitor to your own people?"

"It doesn't matter what other people think, for I know that I made the right choice!" Seto yelled. "Duel me, Yugi. Irene can handle that boy, but you… I will deal with you myself."

"We'll see," Yugi huffed, readying his duel disk.

DUEL!

"I'll start," Yugi said. "I set three cards face-down. Turn over!"

"You aren't even going to summon a monster?" Seto asked surprisingly. "You're out of practise, Yugi!"

"Are you sure about that?" Yugi said with a slight smirk. "Come at me and find out, Seto."

Yugi – 4000 LP

Seto – 4000 LP

"I'll show you how much I've grown in the past years, Yugi! My turn!" Seto bellowed, drawing a card. "This card must first be summoned by revealing one 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' in my hand! As you can see, I have one, and since I do, I can special summon this monster to my field! Come, evolution of my soul, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! (Lvl:8/ATK:3000/DEF:2500)."

"An advanced form of Blue-Eyes?" Yugi gulped as the sleek looking dragon appeared on Seto's field.

"Next, I play the spell card Polymerisation, fusing two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand together!" Seto proclaimed. "Embodiments of my soul, merge your indomitable power together and call forth your united strength! Blast your enemies into oblivion! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 10! Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon! (ATK:3000/DEF:2500)."

"Both monsters are ones I have not seen before," Yugi commented. "Has your drive only grown stronger under the Grand Order, Seto?"

"Irene knew why I joined the Order, and she was happy for me to do my best to save as many people as I could," Seto replied. "She gave me the ability to do so much more than I could have ever done otherwise, so yes, you could say that my resolve has increased over the years. Seeing the things that men and women on both sides of the war have done… it's only made me want to help those caught in the middle even more. But you wouldn't know that, would you Yugi? How long exactly where you in that mansion for?"

"I was there to protect people," Yugi countered. "Atem returned the God Cards to me, but their anger was too great to unleash upon anyone. So, I hid them away."

Seto studied him for a moment. "You don't have them with you, do you?" he said eventually.

"No," Yugi admitted. "I have them secured safely away from this place until this fight is over. I won't have them harm anyone on my watch."

"You cannot be serious," Seto laughed. "How can you ever expect to defeat me without the God Cards? You are helpless without them, Yugi!"

"I wouldn't call myself helpless, Seto," Yugi countered. "I've picked up a few tricks over the years as well, you know."

"Hmph. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, attack Yugi directly!" Seto commanded. "Destruction Burst!"

"I activate a trap card, Magician Navigation!" Yugi countered. "From my hand, I special summon Dark Magician (Lvl:7/ATK:2500) and then, from my deck, I special summon the Dark Magician Girl! (Lvl:6/ATK:2000). Appear, my magicians!"

"They fall pitifully short of my dragons, Yugi! Alternative White Dragon, attack Yugi's Dark Magician!"

"I activate the Quick-Play spell, Dark Burning Magic!" Yugi countered again, revealing the face-down. "Since I control both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, I destroy all cards on your side of the field!"

"What?!" Seto gasped.

"Go, my magicians!" Yugi ordered. "Destroy those dragons with your magic!"

The duo watched on as the Dark Magician and his apprentice each blasted one dragon with dark magic from their staves. All it took was one well-placed attack as the dragons exploded from the inside out, and when the dust settled, they were gone completely. However, much to Yugi's surprise, Seto's determination had seemingly not faltered at all, his gaze as steely as ever.

"You may have destroyed my dragons, but they are far from finished! Quick-Play spell, Silver's Cry!" Seto announced. "Revive from my grave, Blue-Eyes White Dragon! (Lvl:8/ATK:3000)."

"You knew I'd destroy your dragons, didn't you?" Yugi realised.

"I had no way of knowing for certain, but I was sure to have a back-up plan in case you did. That's why I held back on using it earlier," Seto retorted. "Blue-Eyes, attack his Dark Magician! White Lightning!"
Yugi could do nothing as his magician was destroyed. "I activate a continuous trap, Eternal Soul! With this, I can revive the Dark Magician that you just destroyed! Reappear, Dark Magician! (Lvl:7/ATK:2500)."

"It seems you were prepared for them to be destroyed as well," Seto noted. "I set one card face-down. Turn over!"

Yugi – 3500 LP

Seto – 4000 LP

"My turn then," Yugi noted, drawing a card. Good. A way to surpass his dragon. "This monster can only be special summoned by tributing 2 Level 6 or higher Spellcaster type monsters on my field. Therefore, I tribute Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl in order to special summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic! Come, o great sorcerer! (Lvl:9/ATK:3200/DEF:2800)."

"I remember this," Seto commented. "You can now choose to negate any trap cards that are activated."

"Indeed, but I choose not to negate this one! Using Eternal Soul's effect, I once again revive the Dark Magician (Lvl:7/ATK:2500) from my graveyard!" Yugi announced, as the purple-robed magician joined his similarly black-robed sorcerer on Yugi's field. "Battle! Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Celestial Black Burning!"

"You'll pay for this, Yugi…" Seto swore as his dragon was destroyed.

"Dark Magician, attack Seto's Life Points directly!" Yugi continued. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Seto took the attack with ease, his Life Points dropping to 1300. "You're going to have to do better than that!"

"I'm going just fine, thank you," Yugi retorted. "I set one card face-down. Turn over!"

Yugi – 3500 LP (1 card)

Seto – 1300 LP

"My turn then," Seto said, drawing a card.

"You can still help us, Seto," Yugi pushed. "Tell us how to stop this machine. You needn't do this!"

"Yugi, I don't think you fully understand the situation," Seto replied. "As I am sure was told to both Yusei and Jaden by Erial and Zera, there is simply no stopping this machine. There is no failsafe to stop it. There is no way to override it. There is no control panel to find and try to hack into the system. This will happen, whether you like it or not."

"Seto, surely there's a way to –"

"There is no way, Yugi!" Seto bellowed. "I activate the spell card Dragon's Mirror! By banishing the required materials from my graveyard, I can summon out a Dragon-Type Fusion monster from my Extra Deck!"

"The three Blue-Eyes in his graveyard…" Yugi whispered.

"I banish two copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the Alternative White Dragon from my graveyard in order to perform a Fusion Summon!" Seto cried. "Soul of the White Maiden, release your true power and grace the field with your presence! Release your bonds and lead us toward the path of light! Fusion Summon! Appear, the final manifestation of my passion, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! (Lvl:12/ATK:4500/DEF:3800)."

"The triple Fusion has evolved as well…" Yugi muttered in disbelief. "But you can't defeat me this turn with that, Seto!"

"That's where you're wrong, in fact, I was waiting to summon this dragon out just to defeat you!" Seto revealed. "I activate my face-down card Shrink, which reduces your Sorcerer's ATK to 1600!"

"You could've used that last turn to save your dragon, but wanted to save it for this…" Yugi realised. He must have known he was going to draw Dragon's Mirror. Has his connection with his deck grown that strong?

"Battle! Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack the Sorcerer of Dark Magic! Hyper Ultimate Burst!"

"I activate the trap Magician Defence, and since I have a Spellcaster on the field, I take halved battle damage from this attack!" Yugi countered.

Once the dust had settled and Yugi had lost 1450 Life Points, he looked at Seto and was shocked to see the conviction still in his eyes. "Neo Blue-Eyes' special effect activates," Seto said ominously. "Since it's the only face-up card on my field and it attacked, by sending another 'Blue-Eyes' Fusion monster from my deck to the graveyard in order for it to attack again."

"No way…"

"I send another copy of Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to my graveyard in to attack your Dark Magician! Hyper Ultimate Burst!"

Yugi tried to weather the attack, but the sheer power behind the blast was too much for him. His Dark Magician was wiped away in an instant and he was thrown backwards by the blast, his Life Points dropping to a mere 50 and he took 2000 points of damage. As the dust came to rest, Yugi pushed himself back onto one knee, and he could feel the cold, unforgiving gaze of Seto's eyes on him, something that he still was not used to after all these years.

"This effect of Neo Blue-Eyes can be activated up to twice per turn," Seto said. "I therefore send my final copy of my Ultimate Dragon to the graveyard in order to attack you again. Final Ultimate Burst!"

"I… I activate Eternal Soul's effect, summoning the Dark Magician back from the grave in DEF mode (Lvl:7/DEF:2100)," Yugi managed to say, the black-robed mage appeared between him and the incoming attack.

"Then destroy his magician again, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Seto commanded. "Leave nothing left!"

An involuntary cry escaped from Yugi's lips as the attack hit him, pinning him against the glass window and cracking it. The attack finally relented and his could feel his body drop from the window and hit the floor, but it barely registered through the numbness that he felt. Such conviction… A moment longer and that window might not have held me any longer.

"Ever since we had our last duel all those years ago, I never dreamed that I would face you again," Seto muttered. "With everything that has happened since, with your disappearance into the mountains and the war, I never thought I would get this opportunity. This isn't about what is about to happen. Yugi, I am fighting you because I want to. I am fighting you because, finally, it is my turn to be the victor between us. I won't let anything stand between us in that."

"Yugi!"

The cry came from the stairs that Yugi and Tanion had ascended earlier, and he was thankful to see that Yusei and Jaden were rushing over to him. Seto huffed in disapproval as the two approached their fallen comrade, and judging from the look on their faces, they seemed to be in a hurry.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yusei asked.

"A bit numb, but I'm fine," he reassured them. "Seto and I were just having a duel, weren't we Seto?"

"Yes, and I would like it if you didn't interrupt us while I finish crushing him," Seto snarled. "And don't even think of making for the rooftop. You aren't getting past me."

"But I thought you said that the machine can't be stopped," Yugi asked. "Why don't you want us going to the roof?"

"Because Irene is there, and she deserves to witness the moment that the machine fires without interruption," Seto answered.

"But you let Tanion go?"
"The boy is most likely dead by now. If he has survived this long, then Irene has been severely holding back."

"Yugi, the machine," Jaden muttered as he and Yusei helped him up. "You were right. It's an energy conduit designed to pierce the veil between Irene's world and ours, allowing her people to come through."

"A way between the worlds," Yugi muttered. "There's so many ways that could fail, don't you realise that Seto? Utilising Duel Energy is such a way… there's no telling how it will affect our two worlds!"

"Why do you think it's taken us so long to finish this project?" Seto countered. "Both sides of this war have been able to send through small groups of people to other worlds before. The process is not an unknown. But performing it on such a large and continuous scale took years of planning and trials. While we were gathering the resources necessary to fire the Conduit, we were taking every precaution to make sure that it would succeed. And it will succeed."

"We will find a way to stop this," Yugi assured him. "If all this is true, then you're messing with the natural order, which is something none of you know anything about. There's a reason why our worlds are separate, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stays that way."

"I'd like to see you try," Seto dared him. "Turn over!"

Yugi – 50 LP

Seto – 1300 LP

"My turn then," Yugi said, drawing. This card… "Seto, I have a question for you."

"I'm listening," Seto said gruffly.

"What happened to Mokuba?"

Seto's attitude shifted noticeably. "He grew up," Seto said. "During the past few years, he's been helping me with the refugee camps at different places across the world. Eventually, he decided he would stay at one of them where he could help out the most. Irene made sure he got the proper training that he needed, and that's something I've always been grateful for. But that was nearly a year ago now. We've been in touch ever since."

"So he's not in danger of any sort?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Seto inquired curiously.

"It means I can do this in the knowledge that there won't be any repercussions for you or for him," Yugi answered. "I activate the effect of Eternal Soul one final time. Revive to my side, my ever-faithful guardian and protector, Dark Magician! (Lvl:7/ATK:2500)."

"What are you planning on doing, Yugi? Dark Magician has 2000 less ATK than my Ultimate Dragon," Seto pointed out.

"Seto, I am aware of the graveyard effect of your Neo Blue-Eyes," Yugi said. "It protects 'Blue-Eyes' monsters you control from being targeted by card effects by banishing itself to negate it. But, it doesn't protect against cards that don't target your monsters!"

Seto's eyes went wide. "You don't mean…"

"I activate the spell card Magical Dimension!" Yugi proclaimed, sealing the Dark Magician inside of the coffin. "I tribute my Magician in order to special summon a Spellcaster from my hand and destroy your Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"You dare…"

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior! (Lvl:4/ATK:1600/DEF:1000). And now, say goodbye to your Ultimate Dragon!"

Seto could only watch on as the hole at the front of the coffin that the Dark Magician had been sealed inside was filled with a yellow energy that then careened towards his dragon and cut it in half. The pieces fell apart before exploding, and he had to raise an arm up to shield his face from it.

"I was so close…" Seto muttered angrily.

"Breaker the Magical Warrior, atta –"

Yugi's voice was cut off as the building began to shake once more. As it did, Yugi could feel something immensely powerful beginning to surge beneath their feet, and he quickly realised what was happening. We're too late…

"Yugi!" Yusei shouted as the man collapsed, unconscious, causing Breaker to disappear from the field. "What is –"

Yusei's voice was cut off as the pillar in the middle of the room erupted and morphed into a pillar of pure white light, streaking through the building and high into the sky. Yusei stared in disbelief as the air became instantly thick with Duel Energy, and he could feel that it was Synchro Energy that made up the vast majority of the energy that now filled the room. Glancing at Seto, he could see the man was fixated on the pillar of white light, a huge smile spread across his face.

"We didn't make it in time," Jaden realised beside him. "The Conduit's fired."

"And now, all of our work will have paid off. It's been ten long years in the making…" Seto whispered in awe.

"Yugi, wake up!" Yusei pleaded, shaking the unconscious man in an effort to rouse him. "Is there any way to stop this thing? Yugi!"

"The Conduit has fired, and the bridge shall be made to Irene's world," Seto proclaimed before turning to them. "The Grand Order has succeeded, gentleman. Welcome to a new world."

Coming Soon - A True Synchro User