Thetrueazure: Hey guys, sorry I haven't been able to upload any chapters, spring semester started and my classes kept me busy. Not only that, but my Great Uncle Cecil passed away. Let's get this chapter going.

"I don't care, if it's to save Yuzuki and Krad, I'll do anything!" Ritsu yelled.

Belial nodded. "Then I need to ask everyone to stand back please."Everyone did as they were told and took a few steps back. Belial began to chant something as a circle appeared around Ritsu.

Ritsu felt as if he was set on fire, he fell to his knees, trying his best not to scream in pain. Belial began to turn into an orb of shadows and enter Ritsu's body. "I feel like I'm walking through fire!"

"You must endure it."Belial said as Ritsu opened his eyes, his right eye began to turn crimson red rather than azure blue. "We are finished."The circle disappeared as Ritsu was breathing heavily.

"I-Is it done?"

"Yes, as of right now, Ritsu is now the wielder of light and shadows."Belial declared as Ritsu looked at them with his red and blue eyes.

Ch.67 The Sacred Shadow Dragon

Ritsu was in his room looking at his deck, he was preparing to duel his former friend Krad Kenshin who is being controlled by Apollyon.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Belial asked Ritsu who placed Belials card in his extra deck.

"Only one way to find out." Ritsu left his room and went to the infirmary where Yuzuki was sleeping. The poison from Krad's arrow put her into a coma and if Ritsu can't beat Krad, then Yuzuki will die in three days. Ritsu placed his hand on Yuzuki's. "I'm going now Yuzuki, don't worry, I will save you." Ritsu gave Yuzuki a kiss before leaving. As soon as he made it to his runner he heard a whistle, Ritsu turned to see Satoshi and everyone else waiting.

"Yo." Satoshi said with a wave.

"Guys, why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kuraki asked with a smile. "We're here to help you."

"What?"

Nami sighed. "You know Ritsu, ever since we were kids; we always looked out for each other." Nami smiled. "You and Kurogasa are like older brothers to me, I can't imagine what would happen if I lost one of you."

"I'm with Nami on this." Kurogasa said and threw a punch at Ritsu who caught the fist. "That was payback from last time."

"What're we waiting for?" Terra said and started his runner. "We've got friends to save!"

"Alright!"

At the Duel Park

Everyone made it to what use to be a duel park, only to become a barren wasteland after Krad faced Satellizer. Krad told Ritsu to meet him at the area where they had their first duel, when they made it there; they looked around to find him.

"Where is he?" Akira asked while looking around.

"I don't know." Kurogasa said. "But keep your guard up."

"Welcome." Everyone looked up at a charred tree to see Krad in his demonic armor. "I'm surprised you showed up; I was sure you'd stay with your girlfriend for her final days."

"Enough of your game!" Ritsu yelled at his former friend. "Fix Yuzuki now!"

A bolt of purple lightning struck behind Krad as he vanished, Ritsu then felt a claw on his right shoulder, Ritsu turned his head slightly to see Krads face as he leaned towards his ear.

"Fast." Kurogasa thought in shock. "We barely saw him move."

"Like I told you before." Krads ice cold voice sent a chill down Ritsu's spine. "The only way for you to remove the poison is to beat me." Krad chuckled before his demonic hand became enveloped in black flames, setting part of Ritsu's jacket ablaze, Ritsu snuffed the flames out as quickly as possible before ditching his jacket. He looked to see that Krad reappeared across the field.

"Ritsu! Are you okay?" Nami asked in a worried tone.

"I'll live, my jacket on the other hand." Ritsu looked at his charred jacket on the ground. Ritsu walked towards Krad with his duel disk on his right arm while Krad walked towards Ritsu with his demonic disk. "Krad, I know your still in there, you need to break free from Apollyon! I don't want to duel you!"

Krad chuckled darkly. "Will you shut up with that 'come back to us' speech and begin the duel." Krad's demonic duel disk glowed a ominous green color. "I don't know how you escaped the netherworld, but I can assure you that after this, my master won't worry about you anymore."

"Krad…" Belial uttered, Krad then shot him an extremely hateful glare.

"I don't have the patience right now, so come on and-"

"I won't duel you." Ritsu cut Krad off.

"Excuse me?" Krad asked in a dark tone.

"I won't duel you! I will not harm my friends or help with Apollyons scheme!" Ritsu yelled at Krad.

Krad's expression started to darken itself and when he looked again towards Ritsu, Ritsu almost stepped back as he looked at Krad. Krad's face was torn with anger, he revealed his teeth which were actually fangs, baring them in fury, the iris in his eyes narrowed like itself like a snake and he glared, no, scowled in total rage towards Ritsu. For one second, Ritsu thought he was looking towards a humanoid version of Apollyon, but his brain told him that this was Krad.

Or what was left of him…

"You don't get it do you. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! NOW EITHER YOU DUEL ME OR YOU'LL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" Krad yelled as his voice mixed with Apollyons while he slammed his fist on the ground and created a barrier of black flames, only it didn't just surround the two duelists, it surrounded the entire group.

"No, Krad, you wouldn't!" Ritsu looked at Krad who placed a card on his duel disk as a demonic glaive covered in runes and the poison green flame appeared in his hand. He grasped the glaive and swirled it around in the air, each time its blade streaked the ground, causing a great portion of the ground was torn out.

Krad gave a malicious grin and jumped towards Ritsu ready to bring the glaive down with both of his hands.

"DIE!" Krad roared and brought the glaive down onto Ritsu, only for it to be blocked by Kurogasa carrying Haos Sieges staff.

"Kurogasa!" Kuraki yelled in shock.

Krad just chuckled at Kurogasa's attempt to protect Ritsu. "DO YOU REALLY THINK A MERE HUMAN CAN STOP ME!? DIE ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE!" Krad laughed and to mock Kurogasa, he let go of the glaive leaving only his demonic hand on his weapon and forced Kurogasa on one knee.

"T-Too strong!" Kurogasa was trying his best to keep the glaive from cutting him in two. He had no idea that he was just toying with him.

"Enough of this." Krad said in a normal voice, in one fluid motion, he cut the staff in two and slashed Kurogasa while the green flames covered his shoulder.

Kurogasa screamed in the pain as the flames were eating away at his skin while everyone else tried to put out the flames on his body, but Krad raised his glaive again.

"Die."

"ENOUGH!" Ritsu roared as Krad was sent clear across the arena by a shock wave.

"I see." Krad stood up straight as his glaive vanished as well as the flames on Kurogasa.

"I'll duel you, but on one condition." Ritsu said, causing Krad to smirk.

"I get it, just you and me, nobody else." Ritsu nodded as Krad snapped his fingers, causing the barrier to open, giving the group enough time to get Kurogasa out of there.

"You better not lose Ritsu!" Satoshi yelled as Ritsu gave him a thumbs up

"Hehehehe, finally! We will have our re-match and this time I will defeat you with the power my master gave to me!" Krad laughed evil and held his duel arm up into the air.

The golden eye of on his duel disk glowed viciously while the darkness and the clouds above started to gather over Krad. Krad's eyes started to turn into Apollyons and he grew fangs from the edge of his mouth. Krad glanced toward Ritsu, his eyes were hungering, hungering for battle. Even his hair slowly started to color itself black again like with Shinken, but this time, it was Apollyon who was giving him that power. If Ritsu had chose, he'd rather prefer Shinken possessing Krad over Apollyon.

Krad swung his Duel arm to the side and it shot a blade out of his forearm, forming itself to a spiked surface with card fields. Krad then placed his deck into his duel disk. Ritsu activated his elements and duel disk and placed his deck in it. He then reached into his pocket and placed an additional card in it.

"It's time we decided who has the right to live and who doesn't!" Krad and Ritsu drew their opening hands

Krad/Ritsu: DUEL!

Krad: 4000
Ritsu: 4000

"Time to begin the festival of blood! I draw!" Krad bellowed and ripped his top card literally from the top of his deck and added it quickly to his hand (H-6). His eyes glanced quickly towards Ritsu, a evil smile was upon his face. "Lets start things off by activating a continuous spell known as Dark Runic Amulet of Desolation!" Krad inserted said card right into his duel disk. The ground next to him erupted once more and flames spread out of it quickly, forming a pitch black amulet with a skull engraved on its surface and the ornament wrapped itself around KRad's neck.

"Something tells me that card is going to be trouble." Ritsu thought.

"Then I summon forth my first monster, Dark Runic Spirit – Dagger of Traitors!" Krad said and placed his next card onto his duel disk. Green flames started to envelop Krad's right hand, he grunted in pain as the flames took shape and shaped themselves into a white dagger without any guard in the palm of his hand. A slim, curved and long blade shot out of the top of the weapon and its blade shone in the red moon light. (3/500/0)

"Why would he summon that?" Satoshi asked in confusion. "It has only 500 attack points."

"It's only to deceive you." Apollo said as the other dragons nodded. "Let's just hope Ritsu figures it out."

"Then I finally set these two cards face-down and end my turn! Now bring it on, Light user and don't you dare thinking of holding back! Remember what is at stake here!" Krad exclaimed and two more face-down cards appeared before him

Before Ritsu could draw his next card, he looked at his former friend, with the full intention of killing him. He bit onto his bottom lip and drew his next card.

"So be it! I draw!" Ritsu quickly glanced at his drawn card and placed it quickly onto his duel disk "I summon my Axe Dragonute (4/2000/1200) in attack mode!"

His axe-wielding dragon appeared before him, gripping his weapon tightly as he recognized the enemy before him and growled in anger.

"I don't know, what that thing does, but the sooner it's off the field, the better!" Ritsu thought and pointed at the dagger. "I attack your Dagger of Traitors with my Axe Dragonute!" Ristu announced, shocking his friends behind the barrier

"What are you doing Ritsu!?" Akira yelled. "Don't just attack recklessly! Think your move through!"

The axe wielding dragon roared, before it charged towards his enemy before him. Hurting a former friend was something Ritsu really didn't want to do, but now he doesn't have a choice. And then Krad's next action surprised everyone. Krad dashed head-on towards the dragon warrior, his dagger held tightly in his hand and dodged the striking axe with a swift roll. The impact of the weapon smashed the ground beneath it and Ritsu realized, that the strike might have been lethal to Krad. Krad whirled around the dragon warrior and forced the hideous blade into the shoulder of the dragon warrior, which roared in pain.

"AAAARGH!" Ritsu cried. An explosion filled Ritsu's head and he clutched himself at the same spot, where his monster got hit, but to his great surprise, he didn't see any blood on his hand when he pulled it away. His dragon quickly recovered and without any hesitation, slammed Krad with the staff of his axe. Krad stumbled a few steps backwards, but suddenly erupted in flames and then reappeared back onto his field. He spat black blood to his side and smiled at the sight of the wounded dragon.

Krad: 2500
Ritsu: 4000

"Thanks, Light User, for saving me the trouble of attacking" Krad said mockingly, whipping the blood away from his face.

"Huh?" Satoshi noticed something on Axe Dragonutes back. "Ritsu!"

Ritsu noticed as well, the dagger Krad had was lodged in the dragons shoulder, which was still in the back of his kneeling dragon and he felt his shoulder burn because of it.

"After Axe Dragonute attacks, he switches into defense position. I place this card face-down and en-" Before Ritsu could finish, the amulet Krad had started to glow in an ominous green light and enveloped him in it.

Krad: 4500
Ritsu: 4000

"What? How did your Life Points increase again?" Ritsu asked surprised.

" Dark Runic Amulet of Desolation activates automatically when all my monsters were destroyed during this turn. I select one monster on my opponent's field and increase my life points by that monsters original attack points. So basically you wasted your turn! Thanks for the extra life points you fool!" Krad laughed and Ritsu gritted his teeth to that.

"I set this card face-down and end my turn" Ritsu said and inserted one of his cards into his duel disk. The hologram reappeared behind his wounded Dragon.

"Heh? That's it? Pathetic! Time to show you a real turn! I Draw!" Krad scoffed and drew his next card; it glowed in a vicious purple color. When he glanced at it, his face lit up in dark apprehension and he grinned wickedly towards Ritsu.

"Time to show you the pain! I summon Dark Runic Gauntlet of Savagery (4/500/0) in attack mode!" Krad roared and slammed his newly drawn card onto his duel disk. A dark circle with greenish glowing runes appeared beneath Krad and he punched right into the center of it. Black flames shot out, enveloping Krad's right arm in it. He turned his gaze towards Ritsu, his eyes were filled with great hatred.

"Prepare yourself, Light User! I will give you a taste of hell! With this!" Krad slashed his right arm through the flames, as the fire around his hand faded, revealing a crude gauntlet with skeletal features around its surface, the knuckles were covered with spikes and a red-glowing eye was carved into the wrist of the gauntlet. Krad flexed his hand and smiled towards his new-gained weapon.

"Perfect! I can feel the power coursing through me, the very essence of Apollyon is throbbing through my veins!" Krad said and then looked towards Ritsu "And you will experience it first handed! Try to stay alive if that's possible because now I activate my second face-down card, the continuous trap, Wrathful Immolation!" Krad exclaimed and his next face-down card rose up. It was a trap card depicting soldiers being burned alive, as they charge in total fury against enemy troops. The ground beneath Krad trembled, as blood red cracks spread across the ground and then a massive pillar of flames shot out of the ground, engulfing Krad's entire body in.

"KRAD!" Ritsu yelled, but was pushed backwards by the sheer heat of that fire blaze. Krad screamed of pain as he bathed in the blazing heat, he opened his eyes and faced Ritsu. His eyes were filled with such agony and rage, Ritsu couldn't bear the sight of seeing his friend so much pain.

"Krad!" Keira yelled out and tried to help him, but the barrier sent out a shockwave and knocked her back.

"HIMURO!" Krad roared and then jumped out of the fire pillar, his body was still cladded in flames, the savage gauntlet was covered in flames as well and he dashed right towards Ritsu's dragon warrior, which readied himself for the fiery assault. But he wasn't Krad's target.

Ritsu's eyes widened as Krad just jumped over his dragon into the air and suddenly disappeared into black flames. In the next moment, Krad reappeared before him and punched him with full force into his face. The force of the attack lifted Ritsu from his feet and then…

*BOOM!*

An explosion followed at the side of his face and Ritsu flew backwards towards the walls of the barrier. Upon impact, he spat blood and was repelled by the barrier back into the arena. But before he could react to what just happened, Krad ran towards him and grabbed him by the collar and delivered another punch, this time into his stomach, causing Ritsu to cough up more blood and shattered a few bones in the process.

Krad: 4500
Ritsu: 3000

"Wrathful Immolation doubles all battle damage I inflict to my opponent. Additionally, my new toy can grant me the ability to attack directly once a turn. But I am surprised!" Krad explained and pulled Ritsu's face towards his. Ritsu was coughing up blood, his vision was blurry and he was in a lot of pain. "I never thought that you would drop so quickly after these weak punches!" Krad said in a mocking tone and forced Ritsu towards the wall of the barrier. When his body touched the barrier, a current flowed through Ritsu and Krad and both gritted their teeth in pain, but Krad was gleefully watching how Ritsu was in pain. Krad was just about to deliver another strike, but was stopped by something.

"Let him go!" Nami yelled at Krad who glared at her.

"Try and stop me." Krad growled and was about to throw the punch unitl…

"Krad…please…stop." Keira said as she stared at him. "Let him go."

Krad shifted his eyes towards Keira, seeing her looking at him in total despair. He flinched and released Ritsu from his grip, who landed roughly onto the ground and coughed violently. Ritsu looked up and saw Krad staring towards Keira.

"…Keira…" Krad whispered softly, but was wrapped in flames again and reappeared back on his field. His hand quickly took one of his cards he held and inserted into his duel disk.

"I end my turn with this card face-down and now time to activate the effect of Wrathful Immolation. During each of my End Phases, I lose 2000 Life Points, but I will change that with this! I activate my second face-down card, the continuous trap Stone Skin!" Krad said and the next card rose up, depicting a large warrior having his skin turned into gray stone.

Krad slammed his fist together and then his entire body turned into stone, before his other trap erupted in flames and fired a beam of fire towards Krad. He got hit dead-on and was flung across the field and straight into the barrier. Krad roared in pain as he was electrocuted by black lightning and dropped onto his knees, his stone skin crumbled from his face.

Krad: 3500
Ritsu: 3000

"What!?" Terra said in shock. "How come he took only 1000 points?"

"It's got something to do with that Stone Skin trap." Kurogasa said as he flinched in pain

"Heh, Stone Skin…halves…all damage I receive. Too bad" Krad cracked a grin, as he wheezed and just got up, like he had no pain at all. Ritsu on the other hand…

"Krad…" Ritsu muttered as he forced himself up on his feet. He began to recall some of the memories he had when he met him.

*Flashback*

"Whoa whoa let's just calm down for a sec. First off my name is Krad-Krad Kenshin and second I'm not your enemy, I have an elemental dragon myself" Krad pointed up so Ritsu could see what Krad meant, what he saw was a shadow dragon whose scales were dark purple " That is Belial-The Dragon of The Shadows."

*End Flashback*

"I..DRAW!" Ritsu yelled and drew his next card with all his might.

"Well, finely you get a bit more serious" Krad said unimpressed.

"First off, I activate my Pot of Greed, drawing two more cards from my deck!" the gleeful smiling pot appeared and shattered instantly, as Ritsu drew a new set of cards.

"I activate my face-down continuous spell card Future Fusion and select my Five Headed Dragon as the fusion monster! I send Star Bright Dragon, Abyss Dragon, Magna Drago, Gravi Crush Dragon and Dragon Ice from my deck to the graveyard. Then after my second standby phase after its activation, I can special summon him!" Ritsu said and his deck spat five cards out which he placed in his graveyard.

"You won't live long enough to summon that monster! I will see to that with my own hands!" Krad growled.

Ritsu looked at him, he gathered strength into his hands and drew a card out of his hand.
"That was never my intention! I remove Star Bright Dragon from my graveyard to special summon Darkness Dragon Collarserpent (4/1800/1700) from my hand in attack mode!" Ritsu yelled and a pillar of black fire emerged out of the sky, a mighty roar followed and a dark dragon emerged of the fire pillar.

"Pah! Another of your dragons? It doesn't matter how many will come, they will not survive my wrath!" Krad roared, clenching his fist tightly in anger.

Ritsu wondered, why he was so enraged, but he continued his turn. "I am far from done, because now I summon my Lancer Lindwurm (4/1800/1200) in attack mode!" Ritsu slapped his next card onto his field and a armored dragon appeared on his field, wielding a sharp lance.

"Next up, I remove my Abyss Dragon in my graveyard from play to special summon my Bright White Dragon Wyrbuster (4/1700/1800) in attack mode!" Ritsu pocketed another card out of his grave slot. A portal made of pure light opened and a white dragon appeared onto his field, crying for battle.

"One after another, you are just wasting your time! Be serious! " Krad demanded, Ritsu was nearing his limit, after the previous pounding courtesy of Krad, he could barely stand.

"I am serious, and I'll prove it to you! Darkness Dragon Collarserpent, attack his gauntlet!" Ritsu coughed and his dragon charged its attack and unleashed a fire stream towards Krad's gauntlet. Krad only grinned as his skin turned slowly back into Stone.

"Pathetic.." Krad said and just swatted the fire stream aside and the stream flew towards the group.

"Everyone!" Ritsu turned around and saw to his shock, that the attack he created, almost reached the group.

Terra activated his duel disk. "Golem! Hurry!" The dragon of earth appeared and made a stone barrier that took the blast and shattered.

"Incredible." Golem panted a little. "To actually break my defense."

"I always hated spectators, they are just so annoying" Krad hissed through his stone lips, seeing his gauntlet being shattered and some of the flames burned away his sleeve.

Krad: 2850
Ritsu: 3000

"Damn you!" Ritsu growled seeing that Krad was really aiming to hurt his friends. A red and blue aura started to surround him as he clenched his fist in anger. Krad noticed this quickly and to Ritsu's surprise, he just grinned.

"So you do have a scary face. Show me that anger! Hate me! Give in to it!" Krad laughed excited, as his skin slowly turned to grey stone again.

"Lance Lindwurm! Bright White Dragon Wyrburster! Attack him directly!" Ritsu didn't hesitate as his two dragons charged into battle, his white dragon unleashed a white stream of energy, which blasted its way into Krad, who blocked the impact with his bare hand and skidded a few steps back due to the blast. His stone skin prevented him from being harmed in any serious way

Krad: 2050
Ritsu: 3000

The lance-armed dragon dashed towards Krad and intended to impale him with the sharp weapon. But before the attack could hit with full strength, Krad intercepted the spear again with just his right hand and avoided of being pierced through the face. The dragon used all his strength to push the lance forward and suddenly, Krad just released the weapon letting him graze his shoulder, shattering more stone armor around his right shoulder.

Krad: 1150
Ritsu: 3000

"Hahaha, you call that anger? Hah! Your anger is so weak; you couldn't even kill an insect with it! Yuzuki will die if you don't hate me more! Or are you too weak for that?" Krad mocked Ritsu who grew more angry.

"Don't let him get to you Ritsu!" Kuraki called out, but it fell on deaf ears.

Bathed in the anger, Ritsu raised his hand and pointed towards Krad. His eyes were filled with anger towards the one who tried to hurt his friends. He looked at his final monster and was about to order the attack, little did he know that Krad was just waiting for that. Keira saw that, she saw the vicious smile forming on Krad's face.

"Ritsu don't!" Keira cried, but Ritsu didnt listen either and was about to order the assault.

"Axe Dragonute, attack him directly, with Dragonic Ax-"

"RITSU! LOOK OUT!"Raikou shouted but it was to late as blood began to drip to the floor.

"RITSU!" The group exclaimed in total surprise in how he got slashed by his own axe wielding dragon. Ritsu took a few steps back with a massive gash across his chest.

Krad: 1150
Ritsu: 1000

He looked up in disbelief and saw to his shock, that his dragon had glowing blue eyes, like he was in trance and was holding the very same dagger, which he destroyed a few rounds ago.

Krad just gleefully chuckled, as Ritsu stared at him, his gaze asking, what just happened to him.

"Seems you've got careless, Light User. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to accept things from strangers? Dark Runic Spirit – Dagger of Traitors effect activates when it's destroyed in a result of battle and equips itself to the monster that destroyed it. If the owner of that creature is so foolish, like you." Krad pointed mockingly towards Ritsu before continuing "to attack me directly, the attack backfires. But do not worry, since you attacked yourself, my Wrathful Immolation has no effect" Krad explained and grinned at Ritsu.

Ritsu mustered all his strength inside his body, but he couldn't move his body. His vision was blurry and tried to speak, but nothing came out of his throat. He heard nearing footsteps and a sudden pain on his head, as Krad grabbed him by his hair and pulled him towards his face. The glowing golden eyes stared into his, laughing at him in his weakness.

"Oi? Are you dying or something? Come on, is that the best you can do? Wake up!" Krad demanded and slammed Ritsu's head to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" Jihl yelled at him

"This is bad, Ritsu doesn't fight back soon he'll be killed." Leviathan said in a worried tone.

Krad teleported himself away just as Ritsu's dragons tried to defend their master, but they failed to hit him. The Axe Dragonute woke up out his trance and looked in horror at what he had done. Krad already reappeared on his field, his stone skin flaked of his body and he wasn't injured in any way visible. Krad tilted his head aside and looked at the grounded Light User. He sighed bored.

"Come on, Himuro, is that really all you can muster? I am not even using a quarter of my true power and you already are on the ground" Krad taunted.

Ritsu however, was trying his very best to get up again, but his body refused to obey him.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! Get up! Get up! Yuzuki's life is at risk for any second I am wasting!" Ritsu thought and looked at the cards in his hand. One caught his attention and he mustered all his willpower to grab it. He slowly struggled to get onto his feet, each time he moved, he heard how his bones were creaking from the strain and he saw stars in his eyes when the pain reminded him of his state. Despite that, he looked at the card and inserted it with shaky fingers into his duel disk.

"I…activate…the…spell….card…Dragon's Call. I…can….now…summon…a dragon…tuner…from my graveyard…. And…I choose… Magna Drago (2/1400/600)" Ritsu wheezed, as a small portal opened and his small red dragon flew out.

"A tuner? Now things are getting interesting" Krad said, as he folded his arms together and continued to watch Ritsu's struggling in dark amusement.

"The second…effect…of Dragon's Call…allows…both..players…to draw one card" Ritsu continued and both duelist drew one more card.

"I…am…not…done…yet! I activate the effect of my removed Abyss Dragon, this allows me to sacrifice a dragon type monster and select a monster of the same type, which has been removed from play and special summon him to my field. I sacrifice my Axe Dragonute and special summon Gravi Crush Dragon (6/2400/1200)!" Ritsu wheezed and his axe wielding dragon shattered along with the wicked dagger.

Ritsu's big fisted dragon appeared onto his field, smashing them together and roared for battle. Krad however didn't show any concern at all.

"Summoning random dragons isn't gonna help you, so try something more useful" Krad reminded arrogantly.

Then Ritsu was being surrounded by a red aura as his eyes slowly colored themselves crimson red. This made Krad interested as he never seen this before.

"What did you do to yourself? You feel different?" Krad asked, preparing himself.

"There might be a chance that you could die from the strain. Controlling the power of Light and Darkness isn't an easy task and not even a strong soul could endure the power"Belial's voice sounded through Ritsu's memory.

"Krad…I will save you…even if I…must risk my own Life!" Ritsu muttered beneath his breath, he stood up-right and reached his hand out.

"I…tune my level 2 Magna Dragon with my level 6 Gravi Crush Dragon!" Ritsu yelled Magna Drago turned into two synchro gates, but these were colored in crimson red. Gravi Crush Dragon jumped through the rings, his entire body turned into a wireframe of itself, revealing six stars within his body.

Krad smiled, as he realized what is about to happen. He felt the huge amount of energy building around Ritsu and the smile turned slowly into a grin.

The power of the shadows will aid us in our war against evil! Become the power that is stronger than darkness itself! Synchro Summon! The dragon of the shadows, Belial-The Dragon of the Shadows (8/2900/2800)!

A loud roar echoed throughout the empty city, as Belial appeared next to Ritsu, his glowing red eyes met Krad's and he growled towards his former master and friend.

"I will not hold back, even if it's you Krad!"Belial declared; his mere presence pushed Krad a few steps back. But to his surprise, Krad wasn't showing any hostility, but actually dark joy at his presence.

"Finally we meet face-to-face again Dragon Lord of Shadows. You are strong, but I hold the power of the very darkness itself!" Krad shouted towards the master of shadows and then looked at Ritsu with a expression mixed with confusion and excitement.

"How did you do that? How did you obtain my powers? Do you now wield both elements, the Light ANDthe shadows?" Krad asked; he was obviously enjoying this.

Ritsu felt strength surging through his body, the pain he felt moments ago was gone and the wounds closed quickly. The power of shadows filled his very being, it felt so different than the pure power of Raikou, tenser and thicker than he's used to, he could even feel the power in the palm of his own hand.

"How does it feel?"

Ritsu looked up, seeing Krad looking at him, his snake-like eyes saw his very aura around him.

"It feels great doesn't it? The power of shadows is amazing isn't it? But can you control it?" Krad asked, a tone of concern was in his voice, but could Ritsu believe it?

"What do you mean with that? I am in control now!" Ritsu declared, earning a chuckle of his opponent "Why are you laughing?" he demanded.

"You will find out by your own, I won't tell you because I'm not going to tell my prey how to survive! Now continue your turn!" Krad responded coldly.

Ritsu looked at his field, with two cards in his hand and no further attack possibilities, he couldn't do anything. With 1000 Life Points on the thread, he shouldn't do anything too risky for now. Also his field was filled with dragons which could handle themselves in battle and now Belial was by his side. "I end my turn with this face-down card" Ritsu said and in that same moment, Krad's amulet blazed up in the green flame and enveloped its owner once more, using Belial's strength as fuel for Krad's Life Points.

Krad: 4050
Ritsu: 1000

"And once more, you are at square one again. I can do this all day; you on the other hand don't have that much time. Poor Yuzuki, but don't worry, I will visit her funeral" Krad said in a mocking tone before laughing in a most cruel way. Keira couldn't bear the sight of Krad, she just saw a devil inside a human skin.

Ritsu narrowed his eyes angry, but the voice of Raikou echoed in his head.

"Ritsu, try to stay calm." Raikou said as Ritsu glared at him

"I am calm Raikou."

"I beg to differ." Belial said and looked at Krad.

"Did enough talk inside your skull? Jeez, must be pretty annoying having now two voices jabbering in there. But that doesn't matter because they will join you when I end you! I draw!" Krad roared and drew his next card. When the card crossed his eye, he looked then quickly towards Ritsu and then to his card. His expression didn't change, which worried Ritsu the most.

"Tsk, not a card I can use this turn. I set it face-down along with this one and end my turn with it" Krad said and inserted his drawn card plus another in his hand into his duel disk.

The cards appeared in green flames next to the other cards, as Wrathful Immolation took its toll. But the stone skin covered Krad's body again, as he bathed in a blazing pillar of fire but didn't show any signs of pain.

Krad: 3050
Ritsu: 1000

Ritsu took another deep breath and looked at the top of his deck.

"I hope I draw something good this turn. Whatever that face-down may be, I got to risk it! Yuzuki's life is at stake!"Ritsu thought and placed his fingers onto his card.

"Hey, Himuro!" Krad called over, revealing a grin filled with fangs towards his opponent, before Ritsu drew his next card.

"What is it, Krad?" Ritsu asked back, nervously reading himself.

"I lied about the poison inside Yuzuki. She wont die in the next days, she will die…whenever I see fit" Krad said, shocking everyone.

"WHAT!?" Everyone yelled in shock.

"I control the speed of the venom spreading throughout her body at will. Her life is in the palm of my hands, as they say. I even know wherever she is. Do you want to see her?" Krad asked mockingly and snapped his fingers as a green flame erupted in the palm of his hand, growing larger until Ritsu could see within the flame. He saw to his horror Yuzuki, who was crying of pain as Luna and Crow were sitting next to her, trying their best to ease her pain.

"Hold on, I beg of you! Please hold on!"Ritsu saw within the flame how tears of frustration ran over Luna's face and Crow was holding her hand tightly, which was covered by the glowing lines.

"Don't worry, Ritsu will definitely save you! Just please stay with us! I cant afford to lose you!"Crow held the screaming Yuzuki, his face torn by sorrow of being unable to help his daughter.

"Oh my god." Kuraki covered her mouth in shock as everyone started at the flame.

Yuzuki was biting her bottom lip; blood ran over her face as the green lines spread through her body. Then Krad looked towards Ritsu as his eyes slowly glowed in the greenish flame.
In a blink of an eye Yuzuki's eyes widened as she screamed at the sudden acceleration of the venom spreading through her body. Her face was covered in the green lines and the others around her couldn't do a thing, as they watched helplessly.

"She wont make it another ten minutes with this, so you better-" Before he could finish, a massive outburst of crimson energy poured from Ritsu, both of his eyes were now colored in a deep red, glaring at Krad in rage.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Ritsu roared, as the aura around him exploded, his hair flew wildly and his eyes started to glow while the other elements reacted as well as Kurogasa's mark. "I WILL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!" Ritsu bellowed in absolute rage and grabbed his next card and slashed it from his deck.

"I DRAW!" he shouted and the swing of his arm created such a massive shock wave, it even created cracks on the ground.

"Ritsu! Calm down! Don't lo-"

"SHUT UP! I ACTIVATE BELIAL, THE DRAGON OF SHADOW'S EFFECT! I DISCARD MY ENTIRE HAND AND INCREASE HIS ATTACK BY 400 FOR EVERY CARD I DISCARDED! I HAVE TWO CARDS FOR AN 800 ATTACK BOOST!" Ritsu trashed his cards into his duel disk as Belial's strength grew (2900-3700).

"Ritsu!" Kurogasa yelled "Calm down!"

"BELIAL, ATTACK HIM WITH DARK FLAME STREAM!" Ritsu ordered, as his very aura surrounded Belial, causing him to roar in agony and then he pulled his head back, charging a massive ball of black and crimson flames in its core.

"Ritsu, don't! Attacking blindly is what he wants! His fa-"Raikou tried to reason with him, but Ritsu was so pumped with adrenaline that words didn't reach him. He just wanted to eliminate the target of his anger, the one who dared to hurt Yuzuki!

"ATTACK!" Belial unleashed his stream of fire, dashing towards Krad, whose Stone Skin started to cover him from head to toe.

"Well, you actually do have hatred in ya! But that's not enough! I activate the trap card Storm of Blades! Not only does this card negate the attack, it even destroys all monsters on your field and inflicts 1000 damage for every card I destroyed! Meaning this duel is over!" Krad laughed maniacally and countless swords appeared behind Krad, ready to be unleashed onto Ritsu's dragons.

"THAT WON'T WORK! I ACTIVATE MY TRAP CARD, SHINNING SILVER FORCE! THIS CARD NEGATES A CARD EFFECT WHICH WOULD INFLICT DAMAGE TO ME AND DESTROYES ALL FACE-UP SPELL AND TRAP CARDS YOU CONTROL!" Ritsu bellowed, as the red aura around him started to create a massive barrier of wind, intercepting all the swords before they hit their target. Then a dozen of cutting winds sped towards Krad's face-up cards, but Krad only smiled exicted at that.

"Now we're dueling! I knew you could turn seriously and so do I! I activate my Quick-Play Spell card Emergency Provisions! I send all cards on my field to the graveyard and gain 1000 Life Points for every card sent!" Krad said as his duel disk ejected all his cards, turning them into stardust and covered him in it. The cutting wind dashed past him, slashing up the ground next to him and missing their goal.

Krad: 7050
Ritsu: 1000

In that same moment, Belial's attack collided into Krad, resulting into a gigantic explosion and flung Krad across the field. He slammed into the barrier and he screamed in agony, as he got electrocuted by the barrier. Then he got repelled back into the arena which such force, that his very impact created a crater beneath him.

Krad: 3300
Ritsu: 1000

"Lancer Lindwurm, attack him once more with-" Ritsu ordered and his next dragon dashed towards the grounded Krad, still bathed in anger.

"Don't get so cocky!" a voice bellowed and as the lance wielding dragon was about to stab his grounded enemy, the three pronged claw grabbed its lance and shattered it in two. The dragon roared in surprise, as suddenly a dark light filled the crater, filling the earth around it with countless cracks. The cracks spread all over the field, until they covered the entire duel arena.

"What the?! What is this?!" Ritsu demanded, but heard a chuckle within the crater, slowly turning into a scary laughter. The three pronged claw with the countless runes started to gather more darkness into the palm of its hand or claw and absorbed it more and more. Krad's body then slowly levitated out of the ground.

"N-No way!" Satoshi said in shock. "He actually survived that!"

"I actually felt that. You can actually feel anger, even though you are such a softie… That's good, very good!" Krad's voice was twisted into a darker version of itself. "Thank you dear Light User… for taking care of a pain in my neck, which has been bothering me for some time…" Krad said, flexing himself before glaring towards his opponent "Time for round 2!"

In an instant, Krad's left arm started to erupt into flames, the eye on his duel disk started to emit a horrible laugher, as the flames started to engulf Krad's entire arm, shoulder and his left jaw. Then to everyone's horror, the armor around the gauntlet started to spread around the places, which the green flame has covered. Krad's aura exploded and shot into the sky, tearing a hole into the clouds.

"That doesn't look good." Akira said in a worried tone.

"I have a bad feeling." Nami said as well.

"No! If this continues, then there is no hope of saving Krad at all!" Belial roared.

"What do you mean with that? What's going on?!" Ritsu yelled, as Krads aura kept growing and felt more and more hostile than before. It's as if he was becoming Apollyon.

"That artifact consumes the soul from its user for power. If we don't end it soon, we will lose Krad forever!"Raikou shouted.

"No! Krad! Stop it!" Ritsu screamed, but his words fell on deaf ears as Krad's face slowly was covered by a ebon-white substance, which already claimed his lower face half.

"Why so surprised? You are the one who's forcing me to this step! If you want to stop me, you must kill me! Only if you can!" Krad roared as his arm and shoulder was already covered by the cruel armor, growing into his flesh. The shoulders formed a pauldron, resembling a human face, screaming in agony as his arm was covered by sinister black armor, the surface had the same things engraved into them, screaming faces in agony.

Ritsu couldn't bear the sight, but he had to stop it. He looked at his Lancer Lindwurm, who nodded at his gaze, knowing what to do.

"Attack him, now!" Ritsu demanded as his dragons attacked from all sides, Bright White Dragon Wyrburster and Darkness Dragpm Collarserpent unleashed a stream of their respective element and Lancer Lindwurm charged with his sharp claws towards Krad.

"Too slow! I activate the effect of my Dark Runical Armamental – Raigeki Wrath in my hand! When I am attacked directly, while holding no other cards on my field or hand, I can annihilate all monsters on the field and you take damage to their combined attack points! Take the wrath of the heavens and die!" Krad roared and revealed his last card in his hand.
black lightning struck before him, blocking all attacks instantly and threw all dragons back onto Ritsu's field.

"No! Krad, Belial is still out there! You will kill him with that!" Ritsu exclaimed, as Krad looked towards him, then to Belial and then back.

"That's what I am hoping for! It's time I wipe you and your dragon from the face of the earth, for all eternity!" Krad bellowed and held his hand up. The next moment, a mighty lightning struck into his hand, then another and another! Ritsu flinched each time, one lightning struck Krad. He quickly looked into his grave slot, looking if he had any way of saving his dragons.

Countless bolts struck Krad, but he neither showed any pain or hesitation about his next step. After seconds, he gathered the combined power of hundred bolts, Ritsu stepped back in fright.

In the palm of his hand, Krad has gathered a hand-ball sized sphere of black-red lightning, sparking all over the place. He glanced at Ritsu, his face was torn by utter madness and murdering intent.

He pulled his arm back, in a matter of seconds he would unleash his attack. Ritsu looked back, seeing the group behind him standing, frozen in fright at the colossal amount of energy in that sphere.

"That…That sphere has nearly the strength of a Zero reverse!"Raikou roared in shock and Ritsu gasped at those words.

"Krad, don't do it! You will not only destroy your friends, you will blow the entire city to oblivion!"Belial yelled, but as he looked at Krad, he just froze.

Krad smiled. He saw the willingness in his eyes, the willingness to destroy everything he knew and loved. He remembered how Krad chose the safety of the city as the victory over Apollyon.

Krad crushed the sphere in his fist, a huge amount of energy was released, turning the cracks in the barrier into fissures, as the energy started to go out of control. Krad glanced at his right arm, seeing it being slowly destroyed by the sheer amount of energy he was about to unleash and yet, he grinned.

"And then there were zero." Satellizer said as she, Hero, Shin and Apollyon watched the duel from afar.

"This is what happens when they go against me."

"Gather around Ritsu! Now!"Belial roared towards the other dragons beside him and in a matter of seconds, they formed a line before Ritsu, Belial as the last line. He turned his head back towards Ritsu.

"You still have a chance to survive! Use the card you discarded in your anger!" Belial shouted towards him.

"But what about you?! Your soul could be destroyed by this mass of energy! Don't be foolish!"Raikou roared towards the shadow dragon.

"It's my fault, that Krad has been captured by Apollyon. Let me try to redeem myself by protecting your master from the same fate!" Belial responded

"GO ALL TO HELL!" Krad shouted and thrusted his arm forward. In the same moment, the sphere released a massive black and red colored stream of negative energy towards the dragons and its user. The blast was huge; it consumed everything in its path, turning everything into dust. Lancer Lindwurm was the first who tried to stop the blast, but was consumed by its force, as it sped without losing any of its strength towards the other dragons. White Bright Wyrburster and Darkness Collarserpent Dragon combined their strength to counter the blast, but even their combined stream of light and dark was overpowered and they also became victims towards the blast.

Belial was the last remaining, he spread his wings as his body erupted into black flames and he took a charging stance. He glanced one more time back at Ritsu and smiled.

"Don't waste your anger at Krad, he is being controlled after all. Besides Raikou," Belial turned his gaze to his comrade.

"Protect Ritsu and the others with all your might"

"BELIAL!"Raikou shouted as Belial roared fearless and charged towards his demise by the hands of his former friend. He collided with the massive energy and was able to slow it down with all his might. But then his entire body was consumed by the blast and he gave out a roar of pain before vanishing.

"This has to be a joke." Apollo said. "I don't sense Belial's presence."

"Don't tell me that blast killed him?" Leviathan said in shock.

"Damn it Belial!" KazeRyu yelled.

The stream of energy continued its path towards Ritsu, who finally remembered one card which would save him. It was the very card he drew, one which saved him once from Krad's assault in the past.

"I activate the effect of my Life Dragon within my graveyard! When I would receive damage through a card effect, I remove him from play, negate the damage and my life points increase instead by the same amount!" Ritsu yelled, ejecting his card out and held it up.

The small dragon appeared and spread its tiny arms out, attempting to shield his master. Then the stream of negative energy collided with it, causing it to scream in agony. But it was determined to stop the massive blast, which devastated the Dragon Lord of Shadows before him and its body started to glow and vanished into the blast.

The entire energy of darkness started to turn into glittering stardust, pouring over Ritsu and his injuries, healing at amazing speed and his life points made a huge jump

Krad: 3300
Ritsu: 9000

"He made it!" Terra said in relief.

"But at what cost." Satoshi said as he remembered Belials last moments.

"One dragon down, five more to go" Krad's voice returned back to normal, his expression remained cold and no pity or remorse was on it.

Ritsu looked at Belial's card and he couldn't feel anything from within it. He bit onto his bottom lip in regret of losing himself in anger. He looked up towards his opponent. Krad's entire arm was now claimed by that disgusting armor, covering his shoulder and his left jaw side with the demonic armor

"Are you satisfied now? Are you happy that you took another one of my comrades?! Apollyon!" Ritsu shouted in anger, but no answer came back.

"Oi! Continue your turn, I don't have all day!" Krad demanded impatiently. Ritsu looked at his side of the field as he had nothing else to do but end his turn.

"Since I hold no other cards in my hand, I end my turn" Ritsu said, seeing that Krad didn't have any other cards in his hand at all.

"If I can make through his turn, I might turn things around! Please Yuzuki, hang on!"Ritsu thought and readied himself. But Krad didn't move he didn't even try to draw a card which made him wonder.

"What's the matter? It's your turn Krad!" Ritsu reminded him, but on second glance, he understood immediately: Krad's entire right arm was covered by countless cracks, even across his fingers and they flaked each time he tried to move them. Ritsu asked himself how Krad intends to continue dueling. His expression grimaced each time he moved it, a sign of horrible pain and he flinched each time. Krad noticed his stare and tried to put up an emotionless face.

"Tst, guess that card was too much for my body to handle and now I can't move this useless arm. This sucks" Krad said in an annoyed tone.

"Allow me to give you a hand!"Apollyons voice sounded throughout the city and startled everyone except Krad.

The barrier around the two duelists started to emit stronger flames and formed another circle around Krad. Then the ground beneath his feet shattered and hooked chains flew out of the ground.

"The chains of the netherworld! He can now use them?!"Raikou growled surprised, as the chains sped towards Krad's right arm. The chains wrapped themselves around his arm, forming an exoskeleton over his hand, elbow and shoulder. The hooks imbedded themselves into his body, at each impact Krad grunted in slight pain.

"What's that?" Kuraki asked.

"Trouble."

Satellizer gave an annoyed sigh. "Why is master Apollyon giving that lowly dragon slayer so much attention? I was the one that beat him."

Krad looked at his arm and then flexed it. Each movement flaked more of his arm and he glanced at the remains, which dissolved in the barrier. But his expression was unreadable to Ritsu.

"Doesn't he care at all?" Ritsu wondered.

"Do not worry my servant. Once you kill the Light User, I shall restore your body and make you far stronger than before"Apollyon promised with a surprisingly nice voice.

"It seems Master has found a new and better familiar." Hero said as Satellizer glared at him.

"You wanna say that again!?"

"Understood my lord. I shall eliminate him soon" Krad said with a monotone voice and placed his flaking hand over his deck.

"I draw" Krad drew his next card; his expression showed surprise and then slowly turned into a grin.

"Looks this duel will go another while. I activate my spell Cards of Sanctity, allowing both players to draw six cards each" Krad said, holding up one of his favorites which he combined always with Belial. The mere thought made Ritsu's heart ache as he and Krad drew a full hand.

"Perfect! I activate the continuous spell Abyssal Chains of Demise!" Krad inserted his next card into his duel disk. A chain wrapped itself around his right arm, moving around his wrist as it was alive and the end of the chain was a small but sharp tip. Looking at another card, he grinned which made Ritsu nervous.

"After that, I summon a very familiar weapon which you are quite familiar with! Dark Runic Crossbow (4/100/100)!" Krad slapped another card onto his duel disk and again, his arm was wrapped in flames. The skeleton crossbow merged with his arm as Krad aimed it towards Ritsu.

Ritsu's eyes widened, the weapon, which could decide Yuzuki's life was right before him. And yet, how come?

"How come is that card so weak?"Ritsu asked Raikou, who growled anxious at the sight of that cruel weapon.

"Out of all of the Dark Runic weapons, this one is a living nightmare"Raikou hissed.

"Time for you to share the pain of your beloved! Since you don't have any monsters to shield yourself, I attack you directly!" Krad announced, aimed his weapon and pulled the trigger.

The buring arrow sped towards Ritsu, who pulled his duel disk up, but the arrow had an mind of its own, as it suddenly changed its course and impaled Ritsu's left shoulder upon impact. Ritsu prepared himself for agonizing pain, but it didn't come.

Krad: 3300
Ritsu: 8900

"What the?" Ritsu muttered and pulled the burning arrow out of his shoulder. He inspected the wound, but to his surprise, he didn't see any wound, just a green dot.

"What did you do?" he asked Krad, who's left claw emitted the same green flame, which he showed Yuzuki in her pain. The flames dashed towards Ritsu, entering his body, without him doing anything.

"You are now connected. You and Yuzuki. Your life is hers and hers is yours" Krad said, lowering his weapon. "The more life points you have, the longer she lives, simple isn't it? But here comes the best part" Krad said, pointing at the dot on Ritsu's shoulder. His weapon started to crack and then shattered to pieces.

"Dark Runic Crossbow has a nasty ability: After a successful direct attack, the damage it inflicted was 100 points. But during each turn, it doubles that damage over and over again. Similar to Dark Snake Syndrom, only it applies especially to you!" KRad chuckled crossed his arms. "I end my turn!" he declared flatly.

"Then it's my turn! I draw!" Ritsu said, as he drew his next card.

And then it happened: The dot on his shoulder erupted into flames as it started to spread like a spiderweb over his body and he felt pain beyond imaginations. He almost dropped to his knees, but held his ground.

Krad: 3300
Ritsu: 8700

Ritsu heard then the whimpering sound of Yuzuki echoing in his head.

"No! Stop this at once! Ritsu yelled, but Krad's face remained cold.

"You want to stop? Then keep your life points high, unless you want Yuzuki to feel unnecceary pain" Krad responded. Ritsu gritted his teeth in anger but tried to calm down.

"This is not Krad! It's Apollyon using him as a puppet! If I destroy that artifact, I will save him!"Ritsu thought before he continued his turn.

"Two turns have passed now and this allows me to Special Summon Five God Dragon (12/5000/5000) from my extra deck to the field! Come forth!" Ritsu bellowed as a multi-colored pillar of energy lit the night and a mighty roar followed.

Krad watched how the five headed monster rose before him, staring down at him and created such a strong wind with its wings, it pushed him a couple of steps back.

"Wow, finally I get to meet the legendary Five Headed Dragon. I can't wait to tear it apart!" Krad said, getting a roar of his giant opponent.

"Ritsu…don't attack" Raikou said inside Ritsu's head, making him look in surprise towards him.

"Why not? I could end this duel in an in-"Ritsu wanted to say, as Raikou cut him short.

"And risk Yuzuki's Life in the process? The previous time, you weren't connected to her, meaning you beared all pain alone. In her condition, every pain is lethal! Think before you attack!"Raikou interrupted harshly.

Ritsu had to agree, attacking blindly cost Belial's life and he still couldn't feel his presence. He looked at Krad, who was calm as ever. Ritsu looked through his cards, seeing a few, which would help him. He picked one of them and quickly put it in his duel disk. "I activate the spell Dragon's Gun Fire! This card inflicts 800 damage to you if I control a Dragon on my side of the field! Sorry Krad, but this might hurt! Fire!" Ritsu said, as his dragon fired a volley of different colored fire balls towards Krad's way and they triggered multiple explosion which made Krad skid a couple of steps back using his right arm as a guard.

Krad: 2500
Ritsu: 8700

"Hmph, instead of attacking me, you use such a tactic. Impressive, you seem to learn from your mistakes" Krad said.

"I set these two cards down" Ritsu inserted two cards, appearing behind his dragon, before he continued. " and then I end my-"

"I DON'T THINK SO! ACTIVATE ABYSSAL CHAIN OF DEMISE ABILITY!" Krad roared and held his arm up.

The chain shot towards the dragon, impaling its chest as it roared in surprise and to everyone's shock, it seemed that Krad was pulling the creature towards himself!

"Abyssal Chains of Demise can force an attack from one of my opponent's monsters, meaning your five-headed lizard is going to engage me directly!" Krad exclaimed and Ritsu had to watch in shock as his dragon was charging his giant blast of the five elements.

"Don't!" Ritsu yelled, but no avail as the dragon fired the attack towards Krad, who picked a card from his hand.

"Thank you, for now I play my Dark Runic Shield of Argul (7/0/0)!" Krad placed his card onto this duel disk, before the blast could hit him and he reached his hand out.

Before the blast impacted, the ground before Krad erupted and a giant wall of flames shot out, enveloping his hand in it and started to shape itself into a form of a massive shield, which was twice Krad's size. The very same one, which deflected Inazuma's lightning spear, the only difference is it had a giant skull decoritng its surface. The skull opened its mouth and consumed the multicolored blast into its core. But it didn't end there.

"Time to take your dragon! Soul Abduction!" Krad yelled, as the eyes of the skull glowed in a bright blue color and created a massive wind, pulling everything towards it. The mighty dragon tried to withstand the suction, but then he was just suddenly sucked into the shield. The skull made a gulping sound as the dragon disappeared into its mouth.

"How?! What did you do to my dragon?!" Ritsu yelled seeing his strongest dragon gone, devoured by that hideous shield before him. The thing seemed to have heard him as it laughed towards him.

"How you ask? Simple, this shield was created to fend of the strongest foes of all by stealing their souls and strengthening its own defense by its life force. In duel terms, it sends an attacking monster to the grave and increases its defense by its original attack. Meaning, that this shield's defense is the same as Five Headed Dragons attack, which is 5000 defense!" Krad explained as his shield continued its hideous laugh, mocking Ritsu (0-5000).

"Damn you!" Ritsu cursed, as yet another attempt of his has been stopped in its tracks.

"Already am! You should consider to surrender, cause you cant get passed this hunk of metal. It can't be destroyed or removed from the field, except through battle! It's the only thing blocking you from attacking me! I will just watch, how you slowly will die from the cursed arrow, just the same as Yuzuki!" Krad announced, enraging Ritsu even further.

"Damn you Apollyon, damn you! How could you turn my friend in such a disgusting monster! When I break your hold on him, you will be sorry to be born!" Ritsu cursed in his mind, remembering the words of Belial.

"Is it really that what you think?" Apollyon's voice surged through the duel disk, catching Ritsu of guard. It seemed, that he heard his thoughts.

"What?!"

"Do you really believe what you think you see? You're not the bright one, as you should, being the holder of light. No the truth is much, much better!" Apollyon laughed.

"What do you mean with that?! Talk clearly instead in riddles!" Ritsu demanded, but one of the chains held by KRad whipped before his feet, slashing a crater.

"Don't waste your breath on words, continue your turn! I don't have all day!" Krad snarled, retracting his chain whip back to his side. When he and Ritsu made eye-contact, Ritsu noticed something oddly.

Krad's eyes were their normal colors again, not the demon like ones as before, but his human ones. A horrifying thought entered his mind.

Keira's eyes widened in shock. "Please don't tell me what I think he saying?"

"Could it be…NO! NO, no, it can't be! Krad never would do that!" Ritsu shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe it and neither did he want to believe it. "It must be some trick of Apollyon, don't fall for it!" Ritsu told himself and looked through his cards swiftly. He hasn't summoned yet and another card caught his eye, one that could turn all around.

"Ritsu! Bring me out! We must fight him!" Raikou said, getting a nod of Ritsu.

"Alright then, time to activate my spell Double Summon! I can now summon my Angel Dragon (2/1000/1000) and my Mirage Dragon (4/1600/600) to my side!" Ritsu said and in the next moment, his mirage dragon and angel winged tuner appeared.

"Oh yeah, now the fun is starting" Krad said, feeling the same aura around Ritsu growing, turning from raging crimson to calming azure and his eyes also turned azure blue. Raikou was coming and Krad couldn't wait for it.

"I activate Angel Dragon's Ability, I can raise his level by one by discarding cards from my hand! I discard my Hidden Dragon and my Treasure Dragon to the grave" Ritsu sent his cards to the grave, as his little dragon gained more level (2-4). But his grave slot lit up again.

"When Treasure Dragon is discarded from my hand, while my entire graveyard contains only dragon monsters, I am allowed to draw once more!" Ritsu drew, his face brightened despite the stinging pain in his shoulder.

His azure aura erupted, as he was clad in it along with his dragons and he raised his hand.

"I tune my level 4 Angel Dragon with my level 4 Mirage dragon!" Ritsu shouted as Angel Dragon roared and exploded into four azure synchro rings, enveloping Mirage Dragon and turning him into a wire-frame of itself. Four stars glowed within and aligned.

When the stars of heaven converge, they unlock the door to a true salvation; become the light that descends from the heavens! Synchro Summon! The Divine Light, Raikou-The Dragon of the Heavens (8/3000/2400)!

Light crushed the clouds above the two and the dragon of light descended next to Ritsu. His mere presence made the flames of the barrier run wild as they were raging at his presence. The Apollyons eye on Krad's duel disk roared in rage, seeing his most hated enemy before him.

"I am sorry to do this, but I will stop at nothing to defeat Apollyon! Even if it means to hurt a former ally like you Krad!" Raikou roared, but Krad was unfazed.

"We'll see about that, Dragon lord of Light, right after I butcher you to pieces!" Krad answered rudely.

"I end my turn with two cards face down" Two more cards appeared behind Raikou, as Ritsu had no other options.

"About time! I draw!" Krad drew next, his swing created such negative energy; it shattered the ground before him.

When he saw what he drew, he smiled darkly and then grabbed after another card in his hand. Ritsu could see that the card Krad was holding was emitting such a dark aura, it frightnend him a bit.

"Since my opponent controls an dragon type synchro monster I can Special Summon this new Armament, Dark Runic Armament – Storms of Blades!(8/2500/0)!" KRad said and placed his newly drawn card to the field.

The same glaive without a tip, which Krad used to attack Kurogase rose from the earth and landed smoothly in his hand. Krad glanced at the wounded signer, smilling at him gleeful.

"Not that!" Kurogasa yelled as he looked at the glaive

"Then I set these two cards face-down and finally end my turn!" Krad said and two more cards appeared next to him. He waggled his finger, trying to provoke the dragon before him.

"I draw!" Ritsu drew his next card. The moment he did, the venom inside his shoulder spread once more and he felt unbearable pain pulsing through his body. Yuzuki's cries echoed in his mind, but he tried not to lose himself in anger again.

Krad: 2500
Ritsu: 8300

"If I don't do something quickly, then this poison will deplete my life points in no time"Ritsu thought, holding his shoulder in pain. The pain wasn't as hard as before, something else was on his mind something far worse and he hoped with his very heart, that it never happened.

"What's wrong? You seem to be upset about something. Is it poor Yuzuki or the slain Belial? Don't worry too much about them, you will join both shortly!" Krad laughed darkly, reading his chains for Raikou.

"He will use those accursed chains to force me into attacking. Either against that colossi of a shield or that wretched spear!"Raikou growled.

"You know that thing?" Ritsu asked.

"Personally not, but I have seen its destructive power: It killed our eldest dragon in a single blow, when I was a pup. Don't ever let it strike you, you've seen what it has done to Kurogasa"Raikou answered, he clearly disliked the memory.

"But we have to attack, we don't have any option, unless…"Ritsu remembered something and smiled slightly. He looked into his graveyard and then he raised his hand, a grin was around his

"Raikou, attack his Shield of Argul with Heaven's Flame!" Ritsu demanded, Raikou already began to charge his divine flames coated in the azure blue aura and then Ritsu held his next card up. "I discard my Red-Eyes from my hand and boost his attack further by 2400 points! Enough to shatter your giant shield!" the image of his red-eyes dragon appeared over him, before merging with Raikou's sphere of flames. (3000-5400)

Krad had other ideas as his chains sped towards Raikou's neck and he forced him to look into his direction.

"I beg to differ, you will fight me instead! Rather Storm of Blades! I activate its ability! If this card battles a dragon-type monster, it gains the attack of its target plus the ability to inflict damage equal to the dragon's original attack points by destroying it! Now time to kill another dragon lord!" Krad yelled and gripped his glaive tighter. The flames around the blade grew wider, as Krad used his chains around Raikous neck to pull himself into the air and faced Raikou in the air.

His glaive started to form countless blades of flames around him, all aimed at Raikou.( 2500-7900) Then he pulled his spear back and hurled it with all his strength into Raikou's direction, followed by the countless blazing blades.

"Die dragon of light! May your light never bother Apollyon again!" Krad roared and unleashed a giant pressure of his own dark aura, one intended to injure Ritsu even more!
Raikou fired his mighty blast towards the incoming hailstorm of flaming swords and the spear. The two attacks collided with each other and struggled for the upper hand. Krad's aura and swords slowly over-powered Raikou's blaze.

"Its over!" Krad declared confidently and strengthened his pressure even more to completely destroy Raikou.

"There I have to disagree! I activate the effect of my Hidden Dragon trap card in my graveyard! If a Synchro monster of the dragon type attacks a monster, I can remove one Synchro monster of the same level and type in my graveyard from and until the End Phase add his attack points to Raikou! I choose Belial, the Dragon of Shadows!" Ritsu yelled and his graveyard spat two cards out, Belial and the Hidden Dragon Trap Card, which he both pocketed.

Raikou was slowly enveloped by the powers of his fallen friend and his azure aura mixed itself with the crimson aura of the shadows, giving him the strength to fight back (5400-8300).

"This is for Belial!"Raikou shouted through his counter attack.

He the glaives attack like it was nothing and his attack pressed on, slamming into a pretty surprised Krad and sent him flying towards the ground. He created a huge crater upon impact and he screamed in pain.

Krad:2100
Ritsu: 8300

"With that I end my turn! I won't let you take Raikou!" Ritsu declared as Raikou's strength went back to normal (8300-3000).

The large cut Kurogasa had as well as the green flames disappeared. "Huh?" Kurogasa patted himself down. "My injury, it's gone."

"It probably has something to do with Storm of Blades desctruction." Nami said.

"Not…bad…" Krad coughed, struggling to get back onto his feet and stood for a few seconds.

He coughed up blood and dropped with his shaking body onto his knees. He looked up, showing Ritsu a face filled with pain and anger, but with a certain determination. Ritsu is amazed how he just got up every time he throws at him. But the fact, that Krad is trying to kill him made his heart ache.

"Don't think…this…is…over!" Krad wheezed angry and used the remains of his strength to stand up. He stood on wobbling legs and breathed heavy.

"I draw" Krad drew his next card with his chained hand. Looking at his drawn card, he grinned weakly.

"Perfect! I activate the spell card Abyssal Forge! This allows me to add one Dark Runic Armament card from my deck to my hand" A card ejected itself from his deck and flew into his hand.

"I discard my entire hand and send the top five cards from my Deck to the graveyard to special summon my Dark Runic Armament – Roar of Gorlag (10/0/0)!" Krad yelled and held his next card up.

The ground shook beneath the two as Ritsu held his balance and then another pillar of flames shot out of the ground around Krad.

Ritsu covered instinctively his face, as the hellish heat reached him and he yelped in surprise, as he felt a burning pain on his arm. The air slowly was too hot to even breathe and he was already sweating like crazy.

"A Gorlag! Prepare yourself Ritsu, this will get dangerous!"Raikou warned and used his own body to shield Ritsu from the heat wave.

"Damn right you are! This heat is hotter than Apollo's flames!" Ritsu said as the pillar of fire faded and the two saw their opponent again. They both gasped at the sight.

Krad right hand is completely covered by an in black smoke concealed red gauntlet, the knuckles had small dragon skulls asornaments and the back of his gauntlet had several red runes on its surface. A major aura of heat surrounded the gauntlet, as Krad moved each of his armored fingers and smiled then at Ritsu.

"Time to turn on the heat! I think, I will attack you with it" Krad said and readied himself for a stance.

"How? You have zero attack points!" Ritsu yelled, as Krad then held his duel disk up.

"This pretty thing gains 1000 Attack Points for every Dark Runic Armament in my graveyard and I count eight. A total of 8000 attack points boost!" Krad said and the smoke around his gauntlet turned into blazing flames and sent a massive heat wave towards Raikou's way (0-8000).

"Oh crap, this is going to get damn hot!" Ritsu felt the unbearable heat on his skin, he whinced in pain and not even Raikou could bear the heat without struggle.

"Brace yourself!"Raikou roared and spread his wings to cover Ritsu as much as possible. Ritsu saw through his wings, how Krad pulled his arm back and his entire gauntlet was a blazing in the scorching heat.

"Time to finish you off, Raikou! Have a taste of the flames of hell! DIE!" Krad roared while thrusting his arm forward and he released a massive wall of fire towards Raikou.

"Not so fast! I activate my trap card Dragon's Barrier and protecting him from being destroyed as a result of a battle!" Ritsu said as his card jumped up and created a barrier around Raikou.

"You still take damage! 5000 in total! Burn!" Krad shouted, as his flames charged through Raikou and right towards Ritsu.

"RITSU!"Raikou roared, as the massive flame wall devoured his master and he heard to his horror how Ritsu screamed in pain.

Krad: 2100
Ritsu: 3300

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Ritsu held his ground, as the huge sea of flames constantly swept through him and after seconds, which were like years for him, the blaze finally ended.

Everyone gasped in shock, some turned around in total horror, seeing how Ritsu stood there, his body was totally burned, steam was coming from his body and his skin was burned red. He then started slowly to drop onto his knees, but in that very moment, he stomped his right foot into the charred earth and prevented himself from falling.

"Not…yet…" Ritsu coughed weakly. He couldn't feel Yuzuki, she must have passed out of the pain. Ritsu then pushed a button on his duel disk and one of his face-down cards on his field rose up.

"…I…activate…my…trap…card…Shock Draw…I…lost…5000….Life Points….so I…draw…five" Ritsu's fingers shaked, as he slowly drew his cards.

"He can't take much more of this." Nami said in a worried tone. "If this keeps up he's going to be killed."

Ritsu took another deep breath, he knew, his bod was nearing his limit, if he hasn't already exceeded it.

The flames around Krad's gauntlet died down, as he kept his cold glare towards Ritsu and Raikou.

"Impressive, Light User. That attack should have killed you, even with Raikou's power beating in your veins. You are most impressive, but let me ask you: Why go so far?"Apollyon's voice asked through Krad's duel disk, his iris narrowed as he awaited his opponents answer.

"….why…?" Ritsu repeated and looked up, his eyes glowed so strongly in Raikou's element, Krad had to shield his eyes from him. Ritsu took a very, VERY, deep breath and fury was in his eyes

"WHY? WHY YOU ASK! TO SAVE YUZUKI! TO FREE KRAD! AND TO KILL YOU!" Ritsu roared with all his might and pointed towards Krad.

"I vowed that I will protect everyone! And even if my body should fall apart, my spririt will not and I will save my friend!" Ritsu yelled determined.

"That's right! We will never yield to someone as pitiful as you Apollyon! Using fallen comrades as your puppets are beyond cowardice!"Raikou roared enthuastic.

"That's right!" Akira yelled as well. "We each have something important to protect, and we will protect it, even if it costs us our lives!"

Krad lowered his head and stared down to the ground. When he looked up, Ritsu saw his face smiling. Not a sadistic or dark smile. The warm smile he and everyone remembered of KRad. But then it slowly turned dark and cold again, Krad stared at him as were he a complete stranger.

"I end my turn" he said with his ice-cold voice and crossed his arms. Ritsu then wanted to draw his next card, when he suddenly remembered the wound in his shoulder and how the poison is spreading in his body. Another draw, another turn will result in more pain than he is.

"Do not worry Ritsu. I am here. I will try to burden your pain with you. We have all the cards we need now"Raikou looked at Ritsu's cards and he smiled.

"Yeah…Time to end this…and…save…Yuzuki and Krad…" Ritsu said confident and placed his hand on top of his Deck.

"I draw!" he yelled and drew his sixth card. In that same moment, the web of the poison widened its reach more and more of its venom spread through his body, Ritsu's left cheek was covered in green cracks and the pain followed. It hurt so badly, it took almost his breath, but thanks to Raikou, he was able to bear it. Yuzuki winced inside his head.

Krad: 2100
Ritsu: 2500

"Damn it, I have to end this duel as quickly as possible. I will be done for in latest the third turn from now!" Ritsu thought and held his shoulder. Looking at his cards, he finally had all the cards needed, to evolve his dragons!

"I activate my face-down card, Escape from the Dark Dimension! Now I can special summon Belial, the Dragon of Shadows, who has been removed from play, back to my field! Rise and guide me once more!" Ritsu bellowed and a portal opened next to him. A roar followed and Krad's former signature card rushed out of the tunnel, his were presence made the shadows around everyone run wild.

"Good to have you back old friend"Raikou said and Belial just nodded at that.

"I still have to pay back that blast, he shot at me! Damn that hurt, being blown to bits!" Belial growled.

Both of their auras, crimson and azure, started to blaze wildly and Ritsu could feel the overwhelming strength boiling inside his core. His right eye changed from azure to crimson and he was brimming with the power of his two dragons.

"This turn will change everything! I activate the spell card, Advanced Charge! This card allows me to special summon a warrior-type monster from my hand to the field! I choose Dark Knight Apprentice!" Ritsu shouted and his field opened a portal made completely of shadows. Out of it, Krad's signature tuner jumped out and readied himself to fight his former master.

Krad only frowned at the sight of his tuner, siding with his enemy and he had the nerve to glare at him. But Krad didn't waste any more time on him, but more on Ritsu.

"I also summon my Hope Dragon(3/1500/1000) in attack mode! Join my side! And let's end this!" Ritsu placed his new drawn card and the miniature version of Raikou appeared next to Krad's dark knight.

"So, you intend to summon Kage and Inazuma both at once? Nice idea, using the previous forms of Belial and Raikou, but let me ask you something…" Krad chuckled and then his eyes met Ritsu's."How long do you want to dwell in the past?"

"What?" Ritsu asked confused.

"You intend to save Yuzuki AND me? Hah! You are truly a fool! A damn fool! A fool who doesn't want to accept the true facts! Even though you are looking at them right now!" Krad laughed darkly.

"Stop it! Enough with your lies! I know fully well, that Krad would never betrays us! He hates you to his guts! You sent him to the netherworld!" Ritsu yelled angry back, not towards Krad, but towards Apollyon's gauntlet strapped on his arm.

"Then go ahead and prove me wrong!"Apollyon roared and Krad's gauntlet of fire bursted into flames again. He was ready for the next onslaught!

"Your words of deception won't fool me again! I will defeat you and I prove it right now!" Ritsu shouted and glanced towards Belial, his right crimson eye bursted into a blazing flame.

"You ready?" he asked him, as his crimson aura nearly exploded and fused with Belial and Dark Knight Apprentice.

"I was born ready! Let's go!" Belial roared and emerged into the air and unleashed a massive shock-wave of crimson energy.

"Raikou! Time to go!" Ritsu yelled, as his left azure eye shot out a blue flame out of its core, surrounding Raikou with a azure aura.

"You don't even need to ask!" Raikou flew up into the air and both of the dragons unleashed a loud roar, which blew away all clouds around them.
Ritsu then looked towards Dark Knight Apprentice and his dragons, both emitted a pillar of their respective elements. Inside the pillars, the two tuner shattered into stars, the dark pillar opened two synchro gates, while the white opened three.

"Time for a double Tune-Up! Go!" Ritsu roared and then the two dragons dove towards the pillars.

"I'll race ya!" Belial jested and sped forward, Raikou right behind him.

"You certainly didn't lose your humor!"Raikou laughed and caught up with him.

The two pillars dashed towards the two dragons and encircled them inside their synchro rings. Raikou's body became a white wireframe of himself and revealed his eight stars in his body. Belial passed through his two rings and in that same moment, all others element reacted violently.

"They're coming." Satoshi said. "Let's hope he can control them."

When the stars of heaven converge, they open the door to a new power. Become that power that light the way to our future! Synchro Summon! Divinity's Resolve, Inazuma - Dragon of the Divine light (11/3200/2700)!

The true nightmare has yet to begun. Watch as the shadows truly spread their wings! Synchro Summon! The Great Nightmare, Kage - the Dragon of Nightmares (10/3100/2300)

As Ritsu finished his chants, two massive explosions of light and darkness flooded the barrier. Krad skidded a few steps back, as he looked towards Ritsu's field.
He saw the knight-armored dragon of nightmares wielding a huge sword of absolute darkness in his hands and four wings releasing a strong wind towards him. He also noticed the golden dragon standing side by side with his dragon friend, also spreading his four wings and his entire body was releasing electricity. Inazuma opened his hand and a spear of lightning appeared in it.

"Yeah! Time to cause some havoc! Let me at him!"Kage roared blood-thirsty and his sword just bursted into crimson flames.

"Let's see you block my attack this time, you miserable dragon slayer!"Inazuma added, gripping his lightning tighter.

"Inazuma and Kage!" Terra said in relief.

"But, something's off with them." Nami said while she stared at the two dragons.

"You noticed it too?" Akira asked. "They seem way too cocky."

Ritsu panted heavily as the two auras pressured him, forcing him onto one knee.

"So this is the power of Light and Shadows combined." Ritsu thought. "It's…it's…incredible."

Krad readied his gauntlet, emitting a large aura of the hellish heat towards the two dragons, but it just was brushed aside by a single wing-beat of the two.

"Hey Inazuma, check this runt out! Trying to attack us with a candle!" Kage laughed and with a swing of his arm, he generated a shock wave, pushing KRad a couple of steps back.

Ritsu, who got back onto his feet and to everyone's shock, he grinned maliciously towards Krad.

"Now I am unstoppable! I will win this! This time I will blow you to Oblivion, Apollyon! Then Krad will be finally free!" Ritsu yelled and his mixed aura just kept pouring out. The walls of the barrier started to crack and the cracks spread.

"Impressive! So this is the power of the primar form of Raikou and Belial!"Apollyon said through the gauntlet and Krad went into position, his focus went towards Ritsu.

"Not bad, buddy, not bad! Your power is incredible! It even succeeds Apollyon's by far!" Krad said, getting a snort from Apollyon's voice. "However, try to get past my defense! Even together, both of you will fall prey to my gauntlet!" Krad yelled, unfazed, that he is facing two dragons on the zenith of their power.

"Your gauntlet won't be a problem any longer! Cause now I activate Inazuma's true power! Lightning of Heaven!" Ritsu yelled.

Inazuma pulled his lightning spear back and hurled it towards Krad. The lightning struck Krad and he was sent flying towards the barrier again, as his gauntlet shattered into countless pieces.

"I removed Raikou the Dragon of the Heavens from my graveyard and successfully shattered your gauntlet! Also, Inazuma gains half of his attack points, if the removed card was a dragon-type! A total of 1500 points!" Inazuma absorbe Raikou's strength into his own and he was brimming with electricity, forming a much larger lightning in his hand.(3200-4700).

"It's still not enough! You will just shatter once more against my shield!" Krad reminded, but Ritsu held his next card up.

"I beg to differ again! I activate my spell card Dragon Determination! Now I send my Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, my Light Pulsar Dragon and my Darkblaze Dragon to give 500 points each to Kage!" Ritsu said, as the Dragon of shadows grew in strength and he roared in joy. (3100-4600)

"That all you got?! Come on, you can do better than that!" Krad taunted, annoying Ritsu further.

"This is bad." Kurogasa thought and looked at Ritsu. "He's starting to get drunk on the power."

"No way am I done now! Not without activating Kage's effect! I can remove 1 or more Dark monsters in my graveyard, to give him 500 Attack points for each one! I remove Dark Knight Apprentice and Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from play and give him 1000 attack points!" Ritsu's duel disk ejected two cards, which were engulfed into black flames and Kage absorbed them (4600-5600).

Krad stepped back, he gulped nervously. Ritsu didn't fail to notice that and started to laugh.

"Now that's a change! You are afraid? I would be too! Now I activate my final face-down, Synchro Prominence! You take 2000 points of damage since I control two synchro monsters!" Ritsu's last face-down emerged from the ground and fired a crimson and azure blast towards Krad. Krad got hit dead-on and stumbled backwards onto his behind.

Krad: 100
Ritsu: 2500

Krad groaned as he slowly got up, Ritsu being clearly in the lead.

"Something's not right." Jihl said. "It's as if Krad is letting those attacks go through."

"He must be planning something." Satoshi said

"Time to tear down that shield and free my five-god dragon inside! Kage, destroy his Shield of Argul!" Ritsu demanded.

"Time to chop that hunk of scrap-metal into pieces! Take this!"Kage bellowed and dashed right towards the massive shield and shattered it without any great effort. Now Krad was wide open.

"Alright, time to destroy you and save Krad and Apollyon! Inazuma, end this duel! With Vortex of Heaven!" Ritsu almost screamed and Inazuma rushed towards Krad. The smoke which was created by Kage's attack, revealed Krad's expression and the group behind Ritsu saw something bad.

Krad grinned darkly again

"Ritsu! Call off the attack!" Akira yelled, but it was too late.

"Jeez, you just don't learn! Time to show you the card of your demise! I activate my face-down card, Forced Oath of the Wicked!" Krad yelled and the ground beneath him broke open. Countless chains shot out of it, wrapping themselves around Inazumas entire body, as he roared in surprise. Kage shared the same fate; chains wrapped around his wings, arms and legs and pulled him towards Krad.

"No! Kage! Inazuma!" Ritsu shouted, seeing his two dragons trapped in the chains.

"HeheheHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU FELL FOR IT! I CANT BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR IT! NOW THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES AND THE DIVINE LIGHT BELONG TO ME!"Apollyon laughed out loudly, as Kage and Inazuma were forced to turn towards Ritsu. As soon the two dragons moved towards Krad, Ritsu felt how a huge burden lifted itself from his shoulder and he could think clear again. Analyzing the scene, he saw in horror how Kage and Inazuma were on Krad's side.

"UUUUOOOOOOOHHH! The power! Of LIGHT AND DARKNESS! ITS OVERFLOWING!"Krad and Apollyon's voice intertwined and roared, as he bathed in the mixed aura, turning the crimson into obsidian black and the azure into death-white energy. His eyes were filled with the darkness and light, both eyes emitted a flame from their core. His hair levitated in the air and Ritsu saw, how his half of his hair was white , while the other became pitch black. His aura levitated particles of the ground into the air, as he grinned wickedly towards Ritsu.

"But how!?" Kuraki asked

"Why that's simple! Forced Oath of the Wicked can only be activated, if all my monsters are destroyed, while my opponent controls 2 monsters with 3000 or more attack points! This allows me to take control of them! Now they belong to me!"Apollyon laughed.

"Damnit! Damnit!" Ritsu cursed, seeing how he fell for such a cheap trick. But he cursed the fact more that he was such a fool! He lost himself in power!

"You should have known from the beginning that you couldn't win! You were close though, I give you that! And because you fought so admirably, I'll tell you a little secret, involving your dragon slayer friend"Apollyon laughed through the gauntlet and dark energy flowed into Kage and Inazuma. The stream flowed into their head and both of them roared in agony. But then, their eyes were filled with realization and shock.

"No…"Inazuma muttered and stared down in disbelief. Kage turned his eyes in total rage towards Krad.

"YOU TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU!"Kage roared, trying to break free from his chains, but no avail.

"Traitor? Wait, you don't mean-"

Krad turned his eyes towards Ritsu, then to Satoshi, Terra, Akira, Nami, Kurogasa, Kuraki and Keira and back to Ritsu. His eyes were still brown as his human eyes, even as they were in the core of the flames.

"That's right. I joined Apollyon on my own free will" Krad announced.

Krad: 100
Ritsu: 2500

To Be Continued.

Ch.67 END

Thetrueazure: I would like to thank Agion for helping me with this chapter. I've got nothing to add, soooooo…stay tuned.

Ritsu: Krad joined of his own free will, no! I won't accept that! But, what if he's telling the truth?

Next Time: Yugioh 5D's Power of the Six Elements; The Sacred Shadow Dragon pt.2

"You're going to regret messing with my friends!"