RESPONSE TO REVIEW

Big thanks to tsukikami02, HunterHQ, Ulrich362, lakimen for reviewing the previous chapter.

I'm very sorry for the late update. Many things happened in real-life that left me unmotivated to write, coupled with my work. And I'm sorry but due to a limited time, I can't write down a respond to your review for this chapter. I hope for your understanding.

This is another chapter without a Duel, but I hope you still enjoy reading it.


CHAPTER 11

Hanoi's Return

ハノイの帰還

Hanoi no Kikan


Guest Room – Hibiki Research Facility – Outskirt of Den City

Thanks to Ryuki driving away the intruders, none of the data in the facility was stolen. Because of this attack though, the topic of the discussion that was originally supposed to be about their new product was changed to the increase in the security not only at this facility, but also the other facilities to prevent the same thing from happening again.

When Kazue's father came, they decided to secretly hold an investigation about the hackers. They could've reported it to the police, but that'd attract too much attention. If that happens, the possibility of their joint project would be leaked. This joint project between them is important for both companies and done in the utmost secrecy in accordance with their marketing strategy. They won't give up the details to outsiders, let alone leak it publicly.

It was settled that they would continue their discussion about their joint project for a later time. Due to this incident, everything ended earlier than scheduled. In the afternoon, Matsumoto and the others from SOL Technologies returned to Den City. With their guests gone, Kazue and Kento could finally notify their friends of their own departure.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Kento apologizes to Yusaku and the others who have been holed up in the guest room since morning and not allowed to go out until the SOL Technologies men were gone.

"Never mind us, are you guys, okay? We heard there's an intruder hacking into the system." Ai asks concernedly.

"We're worried when heard the alarm and the staff explained about an intruder." Kusanagi sighs as he recalls the moment when they got startled by the alert and then one of the staff suddenly barged in to explain the situation to them in a hurry.

"We were thinking about helping you out, but Yusaku and Flame stopped us." Takeru turns to his partner in his Duel Disk and then to Yusaku.

After knowing the situation, Takeru and Ai suggested logging into the facility's system to help Kento and Kazue to defend it from the intruder, but Yusaku and Flame were against it. The two of them reminded them of the risk that comes with their interference. Hibiki Enterprise might be suspected by SOL Technologies of having a connection to Playmaker, Soulburner, and Holysaber, which will in turn jeopardize Kento's identity. And so, they reluctantly waited for Kento and Kazue to come.

"Thank you for your wise judgment, Fujiki-kun, Flame." Kazue smiles gratefully at them.

"Of course there's that, but most of all, we know that the two of you are not the type to go down easily. We believe that you'll drive away the intruders without a problem." Flame says confidently.

"The intruder didn't take anything, right?" Yusaku asks. Though he did convince Ai and Takeru not to go to help, Yusaku himself still felt bad for not doing anything even though Kento and Kazue already went out of their way to invite them to this facility to relax.

"Nothing was taken, but... About the two intruders..." Kazue looks at Kento and then to Ai and Saint Kuriboh before finally revealing the encounter.

Kazue tells them that the intruder she fought against was named Chloris. Though she defeated her, Chloris was saved by her partner, Ganymede, the mysterious assailant that she, Holysaber, and Ai encountered in the Cyberse World. The Duelist who uses Mecha Phantom Beast Deck.

"Ganymede... So, the guy who attacked you before appeared again here. And Chloris is his accomplice." Flame repeats what he heard from Kazue, putting a hand on his chin in thought. Not many people knew about the existence of Cyberse World and Ignis. Who and how Ganymede and Chloris and the person behind them found out about them?

"But why? What's their purpose trying to steal the data stored in this facility?" Kusanagi asks the same questions that everyone is thinking.

"That Ganymede guy said that his boss told you to pursue him together with Playmaker if you want to move on from your past. Does this attack have something to do with it?" Yusaku deduces based on the recollection that he heard from Ai when he first met Ganymede.

"You mean, stealing a data from this facility is just an excuse to give Kento a reminder?" Kusanagi summarizes what Yusaku has deduced. Ganymede and Chloris were following their master's order to attack the facility to make sure that Kento was on the track they desired.

"That's a possibility." Takeru agrees. To keep Kento on his track to pursue the one behind Ganymede and Chloris, that's not far-fetched.

"About that...don't you think what he said is odd...?" Kazue raises her hand to get everyone's attention. With the reappearance of Ganymede, she remembered their first encounter with him, and remembering what he said at the end bothers her.

"Odd? How?" Kento blinks, not thinking anything that Ganymede said was particularly weird.

"The person behind Ganymede told Kento to 'pursue them if he wants to move on from his past'. Why pursuing them will help Kento move on?" Kazue points out. Ganymede's master didn't straight up tell Kento to investigate the Lost Incident, but instead told him to look for them together with Playmaker. It's one thing for this person to know about the Lost Incident, but for them to specifically challenge Kento with finding them was like saying...

Kazue's explanation dawned on the guys, hitting them with the possible hidden meaning underneath those words.

"Do you think he is directly involved in the Lost Incident?" Kento can't dismiss that suspicion. It all makes sense if that's the case. No wonder they knew so much about him.

"Could it be Hanoi is behind Ganymede and Chloris?" Takeru guesses. Since Knights of Hanoi were the ones responsible for the Lost Incident, they're the prime suspect.

"No. Revolver is not the type to plot something so convoluted." Yusaku immediately denies Takeru's guess. Revolver felt guilty about what happened to the Lost Incident victims. Yusaku is sure that also applies to Kento. If Revolver already learned Kento's identity as a victim, he would never willingly drag Kento into this battle. And let's say that it is him, he wouldn't do something so complicated as ordering someone else to urge Kento to find out on his own.

"If it's not them, then who?" Takeru has no idea who else could be related to the Lost Incident while also being hostile towards them other than Knights of Hanoi.

Three knocks on the door, breaks them from their thoughts.

"Pardon, Miss Kazue. The car is ready." The person who woke her up this morning said from behind the door.

They were so absorbed in their discussion that they had forgotten that they were supposed to be preparing to go back home. Yusaku and the others hastily packed up their remaining things and ready to go.

"We can think about it again later. It's about time we return." Kento ends their discussion at that.

All five humans and two A.I.s leave the room, ending their short holiday. Though short, it left a strong impression on them, and Flame is particularly excited to do another one, already suggesting where they should be going next time, which Kazue promises that she'll think up a good place for them to have fun. While everyone is having a new discussion about their next hang out spot, Yusaku and Ai are not joining the conversation.

"We'll continue our search for Bohman tomorrow..." Yusaku murmurs. This holiday with his friends has renewed his determination to put an end to this battle as soon as possible. They'll save Kusanagi's younger brother and then return to their peaceful everyday life. He'd make sure of it.

"Yusaku-kun, are you listening?" Kento turns to Yusaku, not hearing his voice among their discussion.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something else. What was it were you saying?" Yusaku snaps out from his thought.

"We're talking about the destination for our next hang out. What do you think?" Kento asks again for his opinion, curious about his interest.

"I never really thought about vacation or holiday. What about you, Ai?" Yusaku shifts the question to Ai. His A.I. partner usually has more ideas than him about this kind of topic. However, to his bewilderment, Ai is not responding to his question. He's unusually quiet. It doesn't even seem like he's listening to any of them.

"Ai!" Yusaku calls the Dark Ignis with louder voice, startling the said Ignis.

"Whoa! Don't shout at me like that! I thought my heart is going to explode!" Ai protests, huffing at his human partner.

"A.I.s don't have a beating heart, you know." Yusaku sighs, flicking a finger at Ai, "I've been calling you, but you didn't listen. It's unlike you getting deep in thought like that."

"N-nothing! I'm just thinking about that Ganymede guy!" Ai shakes his head and hands like it's no big deal. "But yeah, like Kento said, I'll only fry my brain if thinking too much."

"A.I.s don't have a brain to begin with." Yusaku response with his usual logical jab, causing Ai to laugh softly.

Yusaku and Ai join in on the discussion about their next hang out spot. However, even though Ai seems like he's listening to the discussion, his thought is once again on somewhere else. The discussion they had in the room before their departure is something that bothers him too much to put aside right away. He can't help himself to keep thinking about the identity of the person behind Ganymede and Chloris.

Someone directly involved with the Lost Incident, someone who knows Kento's identity, and someone who wants him to fight to overcome his past.

Someone who'd fit all those criteria...

"Could it be..."


Knights of Hanoi Domain – LINK VRAINS - Next Day

It has been three months since the last time they had a meeting in this place. With the destruction of the Tower of Hanoi and Dr. Kogami's death, their plan to annihilate the Ignis went back to square one. Though Ryoken had insisted on carrying out his father's will, Spectre and the lieutenants knew that he needed time to mourn for his father. With Baira's imprisonment and observing their enemies as excuses, they managed to convince their leader to take some time until they were ready to strike again.

Since then, they were busy with their preparations to free their comrade, Baira, from prison. Kyoko Taki – the woman behind Baira, is imprisoned in a state-of-the-art prison dedicated to big-time criminals. It runs on an auto-lock computer system. They say escape is impossible from the world's toughest prison. But for Knights of Hanoi, that facility is full of holes. Freeing Baira would be no different from a walk in the park.

With the recent events pertaining Playmaker and the Ignis, however, they must hold an important discussion. Hence, their presence at this moment in Hanoi's fortress.

"An Ignis who named itself Flame." Spectre says while showing a digital screen that shows the photo of the said Fire Ignis.

"And its duelist, Soulburner." Dr. Genome switches the screen to show the photo of Soulburner.

"So, there's a new Playmaker." Faust states as he looks at Soulburner's photo. Just like how Playmaker appeared before them with Dark Ignis, this time Soulburner appeared with Fire Ignis as his partner.

"Not just him. There's also Holysaber, a Duelist who uses the Divine Deck belonging to the Divine Ignis." Spectre reminds, now showing the photo of the Olympios Stratos user during his Duel against Blood Shepherd.

"While we were creating the Tower of Hanoi, someone destroyed the Cyberse World." Faust recalls their finding following the tower's destruction. They were shocked when they found the Cyberse World, only to see it had become a ghost world.

"How unexpected. Someone other than us wants to destroy the Cyberse? Did that person take the Ignis?" Spectre deduces. The Cyberse World was destroyed and there was no sign of one Ignis in that world when they checked the place. It won't be strange that whoever attacked the Cyberse World has the Ignis in their possession, if not destroying them as well.

"Not necessarily," Faust disagrees, looking at the photos of Soulburner and Flame. "The Duelist named Soulburner has the Fire Ignis. It's likely the Ignis we want to kill have scattered."

"Oh? How troublesome." Dr. Genome says in an amused tone as opposed to the words that came out from his mouth a second ago. Though their mission is to eradicate the Ignis, and if whoever destroyed the Cyberse World destroyed the Ignis would do them a favor, Dr. Genome very much prefer to witness the destruction of the Ignis with his own eyes or even better destroyed them with his own hands.

Spectre frowns as he looks at Soulburner and Holysaber's photos "The Duelist working with the Fire Ignis and the Duelist who is using the Divine Deck must be like me, a Lost–"

"I've already checked them out."

Spectre is cut off when Revolver walks into the room, turning all three's attention to him and they bow down in respect to their leader.

"Soulburner's real name is Takeru Homura. Holysaber's real name is Kento Hijiri. They are Lost Incident victims." Revolver confirms Spectre's suspicion and then turns to Flame's photo, "The Fire Ignis escaped from the Cyberse World and went to the person it's based on."

"But Master Revolver, no Ignis has come to me." Spectre says. With what happened to Playmaker and Soulburner, it won't be weird to think that the Ignis based on him will approach him.

"Of course not. The Knights of Hanoi want to kill the Ignis. If you're one of us, an Ignis won't come to you." Dr. Genome smirks. Spectre never bothered with hiding his identity online. There's no way that the Ignis based on Spectre doesn't know that Spectre is one of Knights of Hanoi. The Ignis still coming to Spectre despite knowing full well that Spectre is one of them is the same as asking for a death sentence.

"That's true." Spectre smiles in return. The Ignis may be based on him, but he has no attachment whatsoever to the Ignis. Revolver is everything to him, and he wishes for the complete destruction of the Ignis. If that's what Revolver wishes, then Spectre would be more than willing to oblige to help fulfil his goal. He won't let anyone get in the way, whoever it is.

"However, the same also can be said to Holysaber. Unlike Playmaker and Soulburner, Holysaber doesn't have the Ignis based on him. It doesn't look like that the Divine Ignis approached him." Faust points out. Though Holysaber possesses the Divine Deck, there's no sign of Divine Ignis with him.

"Divine Ignis. Five years ago, together with the Dark Ignis, he hid the Cyberse World and went into hiding. Though Dark Ignis had shown himself, Divine Ignis hasn't make his reappearance, nor did he make any attempt to contact Dark Ignis." Revolver is suspicious of Divine Ignis' absence. Based on the data that he learned, he was close with Dark Ignis. But even during the battle three months ago and to this day, Divine Ignis hasn't made an appearance nor attempted contact with Dark ignis.

"Holysaber first appeared ten days ago. It is most likely that Holysaber got his hand on the Divine Deck only recently." Dr. Genome assumes.

"Regardless how long he has it, he couldn't have gotten that Deck without making any contact with Divine Ignis." Faust adds. Though they're watching over the network, there's still a limit to what they can do with the number of people they have. And they haven't found any record of Holysaber meeting with Divine Ignis. It's possible that the record was erased before they could see it, or they met up through other means.

"If they have met, why didn't they team up like Playmaker and Soulburner are with their Ignis?" Spectre wonders. He can't think of a reason why bother giving Holysaber a Deck but not teaming up with him.

"Trying to guess the reason won't get us anywhere. The reason doesn't matter with our goal anyway." Revolver ends the topic. That's right. Whatever the reason they have, it won't change their conviction to annihilate every single Ignis.

"Yusaku Fujiki, Takeru Homura, and Kento Hijiri." Faust says, moving back to their main topic, "We've identified their locations. We should act immediately and take the Ignis and Divine Deck–"

"No!" Revolver says, fiercely, surprising the three Knights."What happens in the network, we take care of in the network! That's how I do things! Stay away from them in the real world!"

"I apologize." Faust bows down apologetically.

"And we know more than anyone that Playmaker won't be easily defeated." Revolver had a hard time tracking him down in real life until he found out from the hidden camera he installed in Kyoko's room. Even if they try to make a move offline, Yusaku Fujiki will certainly find a way to get away from them somehow. But most of all, he had Dueled Playmaker twice and lost on both occasions. He wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't settle it with his own hand. He still has his own pride.

"No need to be impatient. Let's just observe the Ignis for now." Revolver turns and looks down as the photo changes to Ai and then Flame next to Ai. "The two Ignis may contact the other Ignis."

"So let them go on purpose." Spectre understands Revolver's plan now. Let all the seven Ignis gather and then they'll wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"Yes. And I'm more intrigued by the mystery duelist that Playmaker is pursuing."

"Yes. His name is Bohman," Faust changes the picture to the said mysterious Duelist. "Bohman stole consciousness data from Jin – Shoichi Kusanagi's younger brother. Jin Kusanagi is also a victim of the Lost Incident. After the Lost Incident, he was hospitalized in a facility."

"He's a victim of our crime." Revolver frowns. Though he has never visited Jin directly, the report and watching him through the hospital's security camera already tells a lot that the younger of Kusanagi brothers is not in a good condition.

"It's not your fault, Master Revolver." Spectre tries to assure him.

"Jin Kusanagi's brother, Shoichi, is Playmaker's partner. So Playmaker won't stay quiet." Dr. Genome points out.

"Have you learned anything about this man?" Revolver asks.

"Unfortunately, nothing." Faust answers. Despite their efforts, Bohman and his accomplice managed to erase their traces well.

"We do know his avatar is a high-quality program." Dr. Genome supplies.

"Looking at the security footage at Jin Kusanagi's facility, he stole consciousness data directly from his body. His method is superior to Baira's computer virus." Faust shows the photo of when Bohman stole Jin's consciousness. He is both astonished and terrified that someone can create such a method.

"So the one who created this avatar is someone special." Revolver deduces.

"Yes. And we should be most careful about Judgment Arrows." Faust shows the picture of Bohman's Link Spell. "A Spell Card with Link Markers. This card may become a big threat to us."

"I've never seen a card like that before," Spectre says with strong interest at the card. "I'd like to have one myself. Can Bohman be SOL Technologies' assassin?"

"Most likely not." Revolver replies.

"According to SOL Technologies' logs, Bohman escaped through that mysterious gate," Faust shows the map of LINK VRAINS in response, the same map that Kusanagi previously shown. "The gate was located here. But before Bohman went inside, the logs say SOL Technologies' research team entered the gate and faced distress. This has been confirmed by our spy."

"Meaning SOL Technologies can't control this." Dr. Genome reasons.

"And SOL Technologies' bounty hunters, including Go Onizuka, have begun searching for the Ignis. And they didn't know about the gate's existence." Faust continues, showing the picture of Onizuka this time.

Onizuka's involvement comes as a surprise for them. They never expected that Go Onizuka, the famous Charisma Duelist who fought against them together with Playmaker now is hunting down the latter. Though SOL Technologies hired him, they thought that Onizuka would refuse. He's not one to care about prestige or rank, so the most likely reason he accepted the job was because he's looking for a fight against Playmaker.

"He's using a new Deck, but even with that Deck, he's no match for Soulburner." Spectre shows the picture of when Soulburner defeated Onizuka with his Ritual Monster. Onizuka is a strong Duelist. For Soulburner to defeat him speaks loud how strong Soulburner is.

"Though Soulburner is undoubtedly a skilled Duelist, my main concern is Holysaber."

A new voice joins the discussion. Revolver and his Knights turn behind them, welcoming the arrival of their last member.

"Galehaut." Revolver acknowledges him.

"Apologies for my late arrival. I just finished double checking our preparations. There's no problem." Galehaut says with an assuring smile, one that promises certainty.

"Good work." Revolver praises him before asking, "Why are you so concerned about Holysaber?"

"In the Duel against Knight, he summoned the Data Storm on his own. That won't be possible unless he used the Ignis algorithm." Galehaut reveals, showing the photo of Holysaber summoning the Data Storm.

"You're saying that Holysaber cracked the algorithm?" Dr. Genome says with barely concealed surprised tone.

"This is just my conjecture, he hasn't cracked the entire algorithm, only enough to summon the Data Storm." Judging from Holysaber's awe-struck expression when he summoned the Data Storm, that was the first time he ever did it.

"Summoning Data Storm already makes him more than proficient programmer. If he solves the algorithm completely..." Faust feels uneasy. Not only had the number of people on Playmaker's side increased, but they also even have someone who can use Ignis algorithm, as if the Dark Ignis and Fire Ignis weren't enough.

"Playmaker, Soulburner, and Holysaber. And Go Onizuka pursued them. Everyone headed to the mysterious gate. If SOL Technologies were behind this, Bohman wouldn't need to escape through the gate." Faust shifts the topic back to the unknown gate again.

"I see. And SOL Technologies is careless. There's a new gate they can't control, but they conceal its existence and open a new LINK VRAINS." Spectre says in sarcastic tone. There's no end to their foolishness. Then again, that's to be expected from a company that consists of a bunch of money-hungry people.

"The public never knows the truth. There's always an eerie darkness in the shadows." He scowls. Remembering how SOL Technologies inflicted their father with a virus infuriated him. "I'll destroy SOL Technologies to avenge my father. And those obsessed with money!"

"We've been analyzing the gate–" Faust starts but is quickly interrupted by Revolver.

"It's already finished. An Ignis algorithm created the gate." Revolver reveals.

"Ignis? So there's no connection to SOL Technologies at all. No one working there has the skills." Faust says.

"But there's one man that intrigues me," Dr. Genome speaks up, "SOL Technologies hired a man named Blood Shepherd. Among cyber treasure hunters, he's infamous for his excellent hacking techniques and doing whatever it takes to capture his prey."

"Blood Shepherd. I've heard rumors about him." Faust is not really interested in bounty hunters, but Knights of Hanoi is watching over the network to keep gathering new information, and that includes rumors, so it's unavoidable to hear about Blood Shepherd's reputation.

"An A.I. derailed his life. There's no one who hates A.I.s more than him." Dr. Genome muses. It's not difficult to find out Blood Shepherd's identity and learn about his past. It's unfortunate that he is working for SOL Technologies. He could've been useful due to his skill coupled with his hatred for A.I.s, including Ignis.

"I believe we also need to watch out for her." Galehaut changes the picture to Ryuki when she was Dueling in the Hibiki Research Facility's system. "Ryuki. Her real identity is most likely Kazue Hibiki, the daughter of Hibiki Enterprise's CEO."

Galehaut shows the picture of Kazue as he continues with his explanation, "After some investigation, I learned that she is Kento Hijiri's childhood friend. Judging from how she always accompanies him meeting up with Yusaku Fujiki and his friends, there's no doubt that she is Ryuki."

"Correct me if I am wrong, but yesterday, one of Hibiki Enterprise's facilities was attacked by a hacker, right?" Spectre asks.

"Yes. From her Duel against the intruder, it's clear that she's also a strong Duelist. One that we must not underestimate. And the speed of the system's recovery also showed that Kento Hijiri is indeed an adept hacker. No wonder he could partially crack the Ignis algorithm." Galehaut says convicingly.

"But it's unconfirmed whether Holysaber and Blood Shepherd have the intellect and skills that rival Dr. Kogami." Faust points out. Dr. Kogami is a rare genius researcher. He would dare saying that finding someone with a mind as brilliant as Dr. Kogami in the whole world is very difficult, a one in a million chance.

"Only a few can solve an Ignis algorithm. Only my father, me, Holysaber albeit to a limited extent, and the Ignis." Revolver confirms.

"I see, so the ones who made the gate…"

"The Igni." Revolver confirms again.

"So they took Jin Kusanagi's data to lure out Playmaker?" Faust deduces.

"It's too early to reach that conclusion. But they may have formed a secret party on the other side of the gate." That's the only thing that Revolver can think of at the moment.

"Then I'd like to participate in the next party." Spectre smirks, excited at the prospect of fighting against the Ignis.

"If the Ignis begin creating their own world, it'll be a second or third secret Cyberse World. That would make it even harder to find the Ignis." Faust grimaces. It took five years to finally find Dark Ignis. If they had to lose their track again this time, how long it'd take?

"They're evolving faster than my father predicted, they may have already started a new plan. And we must be wary of Playmaker's growth as a Duelist, since he is helping the Ignis." Revolver reminds them. In addition to Link Summoning, Playmaker has mastered a Ritual Summoning that unites with Link Summoning. And he's mastered Fusion Summoning. Playmaker will definitely stand in their way again.

"Playmaker truly is our greatest enemy." Spectre agrees. He had Dueled Playmaker himself, so he's painfully aware of his skill.

"I wonder." Galehaut muses, "The Divine Deck that Holysaber has is incomplete."

"What do you mean that the Divine Deck is incomplete?" Revolver asks. This is the first time that he heard about it.

"As you had all been told by Dr. Kogami, Divine Ignis is fundamentally different from the other six Ignis. Divine Ignis was created using data he got from remnants of the research file left behind by the late founder of SOL Technology as its core." Galehaut reminds them the time when Dr. Kogami presented them with the data that he said he found when checking what remains of Yukihiro Gotoh's research. Back then, Dr. Kogami looked excited about using the data as part of Hanoi Project.

"And based on that data, Divine Ignis created the Divine monsters based on Greek mythological beings. Its Extra Deck monsters, its main powerhouse, are twelve monsters based on the twelve Olympian Gods. The fact that Holysaber only has Apollo out of twelve in his arsenal, either the remaining monsters are kept by Divine Ignis or they're hiding within the Data Storm." Galehaut remembers when Dr. Kogami explained to him about what he learned about Divine Ignis' Deck. His former head researcher was pleasantly surprised at that time while telling him about it.

"My point is, if Holysaber gains all those twelve monsters, he'd be a far more formidable opponent to deal with. Better not underestimate his growth." Galehaut concludes, warning them to be careful.

"What kind of monsters they are for my father to say so?" Revolver asks, wondering why his father never mentioned this to him before.

"Do not be mistaken. I only knew that it has twelve powerful monsters based on the Olympian Gods. I know not what kind of monsters they are, and Dr. Kogami had warned me to be extremely careful should any of us face against them." Galehaut shakes his head. Dr. Kogami didn't indulge into the details was probably because he himself didn't know much about them.

"If Father said that much, we'll do exactly as he told us." Revolver takes the warning to the heart. He trusts his father.

"We must form a counterplan immediately." Spectre affirms. It's not just Playmaker they must be wary about now, but also Soulburner and Holysaber who are as strong as him. They'd be in trouble if they

"But before that, there's one thing that we must do." Revolver reminds them.

It's time for them to enact their plan.

"Let's go."

Revolver turns his back, followed by his men behind him as they walk out the room together.


Cafe Nagi – Central Plaza – Den City

Returning to their usual school routine after two days off, Kento and Kazue were making their way to the Central Plaza where Kusanagi's food truck was waiting for them. It was already quite late because they had additional class. Yusaku and Takeru already went ahead of them. They were only a few meters away when they received Kusanagi's call, prompting the two of them to hasten their pace.

"Kusanagi-san!" Kento barges into the food truck with Kazue behind them. Yusaku, Ai, Takeru, and Flame are already there with Kusanagi, looking at the screen of the computer.

"What happened?" Kazue asks.

"Look at this." Kusanagi tilts his head to the same computer screen everyone is looking at.

INMATE KYOKO TAKI ESCAPED FROM PRISON!

According to multiple domestic media outlets, Kyoko Taki (30), a prisoner serving time at Northwestern Island Prison, escaped from the prison on the 3rd between 6 PM and 7 PM, and on the 4th, police issued an arrest warrant for the prisoner on suspicion of escape. The prison is surrounded by the sea, and the bridge, which was the only escape route, was fully guarded. As the prisoner is a member of the hacker group Knights of Hanoi, it is suspected that the latest prison escape was also the work of the Knights of Hanoi.

"Baira escaped?!" Kento recognizes the photo of the woman on the article. He had seen her face before in the news as the preparator of the Another case three months ago.

"This is Revolver's doing!" Yusaku says without a shred of doubt. There's nobody but him who could do this. After their last battle, Revolver had made it clear that he wouldn't give up in his pursuit of the Ignis. "Revolver is making his move again."

"We're already the target of three enemies." Kusanagi states, "Bohman, Go Onizuka, and Blood Shepherd. Now add the Knights of Hanoi."

"I think we should also add Chloris and Ganymede." Kento adds the two unknown Duelists, "That makes ten enemies in total for us."

Yusaku narrows his gaze. The number of enemies they must face against have increased beyond their expectations.

"The next fight will be a tough one."


Knights of Hanoi Domain – LINK VRAINS

Galehaut wonders what kind of idiots would send a member from an exceptionally skilled organization of cyber hackers to a prison that runs on a computer system. Did they really think they are expert enough to stop the Hanoi's hacking?

Master Ryoken and the others just needed time to rewrite the system. Since the Tower of Hanoi, it took three whole months. Security updates didn't detect them during these three months thanks to the powerful virus that they've sent to the station in charge to act as a dummy. The station officers were super busy dealing with it.

The security cameras' blind spots and the guards' patrol routes have also already been prepared in advance. All Galehaut needed was to hack the Bluetooth of a prison officer and enter the officer's computer system via the cop car's dedicated cellular connection it. He spoofed the cop car's Bluetooth connection to his keyboard and made the laptop believe that his keyboard was actually the cop's keyboard, he controlled the cop's laptop and got inside its system. Once inside, he stole the prison's layout, guards' patrol routes, and the rest.

Thanks to the data he had stolen, Master Ryoken , Spectre, Asou, and Dr. Genome could enter the prison without a problem, while Galehaut set up the dummy footage played on all the security cameras from outside while also securing their escape route. By the time the prison guards learned that Kyoko had escaped, she had already boarded the boat in the middle of the sea together with them. Once they had Kyoko with them, they escorted him back to the coast of Den City so he could continue his undercover mission to spy on SOL Technologies tomorrow.

However, once he arrived at his house, he logged in again. This place is empty now because Master Ryoken and everyone else decided to take a break after rescuing Baira. Galehaut is sure that right now they're explaining things to her about what happened for these three months while she was in captivity. Galehaut already told the information he had collected so far, so his presence is no longer necessary.

He opens one of the data they've saved from ten years ago, specifically the one pertaining the Ignis. Picking one of them, a digital screen appears and shows a video recording.

It shows Dr. Kogami looking down at a Duel Disk placed on his desk next to the computer. Both his hands were on the desk with his fists clenched. He was looking at his Duel Disk so intently, as if expecting something to happen to the Duel Disk. The Duel Disk was the older model that was commonly used back then before the creation of the current model that doesn't need physical cards to be inserted, the same model that Playmaker, Soulburner, and Holysaber are still using.

Then, from the Duel Disk, something comes out.

Something humanoid in pure white with silver markings.

Its arctic blue diamond-shape eyes looked up, meeting with Kogami's awe-stricken gaze.

"You are my creator, correct?"


NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW

Chapter 12: Growing Doubt – Haru starts to feel uneasy whenever he's spending time with Bohman and questions himself. Kazue learns that Aoi is investigating Playmaker's real identity, so she considers trying to win over Blue Girl and Ghost Girl to their side to help them face the increasing numbers of their enemies.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

This chapter serves as bits of explanation about Divine Ignis and Divine Deck as well as the fourth Knight of Hanoi, Galehaut. Personally, Galehaut is one of the original characters that I had the most fun coming up with. I hope you'll like him as you get to know him later on in the story.

I'm sorry if this chapter is shorter compared to the usual ones that I wrote. I wanted to write more, but that would delay this chapter even more, and I'd be very busy again after I uploaded this chapter, so I don't know when I'd have the time to upload the next chapter. That's why I decided to write the chapter like this.

Starting from the next chapter, the plot will move on again. And expect the girls to get more spotlight and victories.

Please do not forget to review this chapter.


TRIVIA

1. The news article about Baira's escape is the text I translated directly from the news article shown by Kusanagi in anime episode 59.