Chapter 309: You Don't Want Big Thunder Rotting in the Wasteland Either, Do You
"Chiaki senpai, quit teasing her already. Just tell us the solution."
Amano Rei had already guessed where this was heading halfway through Kaiba Chiaki's speech.
Knowing Kaiba Chiaki the way he did, sure, the CEO came across as unusually forceful most of the time, but she wasn't the type of woman who was actually cruel deep down.
If Celestia's situation genuinely had no way out, Chiaki wouldn't be delivering the news to her in this detached, icy tone, like she was reading out a death sentence.
Kaiba Chiaki crossed her arms, one eyebrow lifting slightly. "Oh, did I ever say I could solve it? Or were you planning to leave Kaiba Corporation for this woman, even knowing it's already a lost cause? Let me say this up front: I won't allow that."
If the only issue was Kaiba Chiaki refusing to let him quit, that would have been simple enough to work around; worst case, he could always force his way out of the labor contract through a duel.
The real problem was that Eden's system enforced a fixed fifteen-day resignation process, and there was no way to speed that up with a duel either, since it wasn't as if he could challenge Eva herself to one.
And on top of that, fifteen days happened to land in an especially awkward window.
The debt deadline was seven days at most. Even if the debt got passed along, say, Celestia used an infinite Overkill on Kikawayu on the very last day, even if Kikawayu waited until her own final day, which would be day fourteen, she still wouldn't be able to marry Amano Rei in time.
Kaiba Chiaki turned her gaze down at Celestia again. "So what exactly were you planning to do about it?"
"I, I don't want to die yet." Celestia's head drooped almost all the way down to her chest.
Was this what people meant by "there's always someone who can put you in your place"?
Celestia, with all her considerable assets, had always carried herself with total confidence no matter who she was facing, and in a duel, that wild, untamed nature of hers as a dark-skinned beauty came out in full force.
But in front of Kaiba Chiaki, Celestia's meek, submissive display genuinely caught Amano Rei off guard.
Well, to be fair, Kaiba Chiaki wasn't exactly lacking in that department either. Sure, she didn't quite reach Celestia's G-cup level, but she was absolutely still in the Big Thunder tier.
And on top of that, Chiaki's height put her almost exactly level with Amano Rei, which, on a woman, only made her presence that much more overwhelming.
Most importantly of all, Chiaki currently held Celestia's entire life in the palm of her hand.
Which just went to show how much sheer authority Chiaki senpai carried. She'd barely even walked in and already had the Winged Dragon of Ra's own heir completely under her thumb.
And if you went purely by age, Kaiba Chiaki was actually a few years younger than Celestia too.
"As long as I don't get exiled from Eden, I'll, I'll do anything! You're the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, surely you must have a way!"
Thoroughly cowed, Celestia looked about ready to wrap herself around Kaiba Chiaki's legs and beg for her life.
"You want me to stop you from getting exiled from Eden? Even I can't do something like that," Kaiba Chiaki answered.
"Huh?" Celestia, still clutching at Chiaki's legs, froze completely, her golden eyes going blank, clearly not sure how to react.
If even President Kaiba herself couldn't do it, wasn't she just doomed?
"You really can't do anything, Chiaki senpai?" Amano Rei felt like something was off.
"Oh, are you doubting me? Think I'm lying to you?" Kaiba Chiaki's gaze swept over to Amano Rei, just as icy as before.
What struck Amano Rei as the strangest part of all this was actually Kaiba Chiaki's overall attitude, especially toward him specifically. It carried an objectively noticeable extra edge of coldness, and, was that... anger?
What had he done to make her mad at him this time?
"Regardless, Celestia, there's no changing the outcome where you get exiled from the Tower."
"Ah, this..."
"I can't stop Eva from exiling you. But I do have a way to bring you back from outside the Tower."
"Ah, this!!!"
Just a moment ago, Celestia had been sinking deeper and deeper into despair, but with one sentence from Kaiba Chiaki, hope flared back up in her all at once, the sparkle even returning to her golden eyes.
Finesse suddenly caught on. "Oh, right! Exterior exploration is one of Kaiba Corporation's core businesses. That's a perfect match for the job!"
Sure, getting brought back in from outside after being exiled would come with its own headaches, gaps in official identity records and the like, but that was a problem for later. Getting her back alive in the first place, keeping Celestia from just dying out there, was what actually mattered right now.
"That's wonderful, that's wonderful!"
Celestia hugged Kaiba Chiaki's legs even tighter now, absolutely refusing to let go of this last lifeline.
"Then I'm entrusting my life to you, President Kaiba!"
"But I haven't agreed to actually help you yet. Do you have any idea how massive a resource investment it takes to organize a single exterior exploration mission? Kaiba Corporation's next scheduled expedition was originally set for six months from now."
Kaiba Chiaki had already mentioned this six-months-out exterior exploration to Amano Rei before. It was actually the reason Chiaki had agreed to take Amano Rei along on the expedition in the first place, as thanks for bringing Kaiba Chiha back from District 32.
"Give me a reason to step in and help you."
The reason to help her should, logically, have been directed at Celestia.
But when Kaiba Chiaki said this, her gaze was clearly fixed on Amano Rei instead.
"I can, I can withdraw from the Chosen of the Gods Alliance and become a professional duelist for Kaiba Corporation instead. From now on, the tomb-keeper clan will support Kaiba Corporation unconditionally!"
Someone like Kaiba Chiaki obviously wasn't hurting for money. Celestia had genuinely racked her brain to come up with the best offer of value she could think of for Kaiba Corporation.
But Kaiba Chiaki just stayed silent, and cold sweat started breaking out down Celestia's back.
Kaiba Chiaki, still not saying a word, simply turned her cold stare onto Amano Rei instead.
What was going on? Was the reason to step in and help being asked of him?
Thinking it over, even though it wasn't intentional, this whole infinite Overkill situation really did trace back to Amano Rei in the first place.
And if it weren't for Amano Rei, Kaiba Chiaki wouldn't even be here right now, and there'd have been no reason for her to disrupt Kaiba Corporation's own six-month expedition schedule to clean up Celestia's mess in the first place.
Kaiba Chiaki finally spoke. "What about you, Amano Rei? Are you planning to walk away from this without losing anything at all?"
Well, that word choice, "losing," sounded ominously specific.
"This isn't Amano boy's fault! President Kaiba, if there's anything else you want, come after me directly for it!"
Amano Rei hadn't expected that even with her own life hanging by a thread, Celestia would still step up to take the hit for him. That was genuinely loyal of her.
All that earned her, though, was a look of disdain from Kaiba Chiaki. "Let's be blunt, Celestia. You yourself hold zero value to me. There's nothing about you I actually need."
If Kaiba Chiaki had been a man, Big Thunder might have at least clouded his judgment a little. Unfortunately, Chiaki was a woman CEO.
If Amano Rei really had to name something, the only thing Celestia actually had going for her was the Winged Dragon of Ra, a god card that did hold at least some appeal for Kaiba Chiaki.
But every time Kaiba Chiaki thought back to the two duels she'd witnessed inside a Chronicle, her own ancestor Kaiba Seto had lost the duel every single time he'd Summoned a god card.
Which meant Kaiba Chiaki's own hunger for god cards was nowhere near as obsessive as Kaiba Seto's had ever been.
"Give me a reason to step in and help you. Or rather, what exactly are you willing to pay as the price, Amano Rei?"
If Celestia held zero value to Kaiba Chiaki, then what more did Amano Rei himself actually have to offer than Celestia did?
In the end, Amano Rei pulled out the universal answer formula.
"Chiaki senpai, if you're willing to bring Celestia back from outside the Tower, I'll agree to do one thing for you, whatever it is."
The universal answer formula: whatever you want, just name it.
Of course, this line only worked on a target with a reasonably high moral baseline, like Kaiba Chiaki. If he tried it on a low-integrity target like Kikawayu, the only outcome Amano Rei could picture for himself was ending up soaked to the bone one way or another.
The coldness in her eyes didn't seem to change much, but the corner of Kaiba Chiaki's mouth curved upward with a subtle, telling arc.
"Deal."
Wait, that was it? Deal already?
Celestia blinked, stunned.
Here she'd offered to sell herself to Kaiba Corporation, sworn her loyalty in the name of the tomb-keeper clan, and in the end, none of it had weighed as much as Amano Rei's single line, "I'll agree to do one thing for you."
How could the gap between one person and another end up bigger than the gap between a person and a dog?
"So does that mean I don't have to die anymore?"
"Mm. Come to Kaiba Corporation in six days. My professional team will have everything arranged."
Having gotten Amano Rei's promise, Kaiba Chiaki's mood seemed to lighten up considerably, and when she spoke to Celestia now, the previous iciness had faded quite a bit.
"Can you really, really guarantee bringing me back from outside the Tower?"
"Our team is professional. We'll issue you a protective suit and an exterior tracking device when the time comes. To put it plainly, if even Kaiba Corporation can't bring you back from outside the Tower, then nobody else in all of Eden could pull it off either."
"Then I trust you, President Kaiba!"
Not that she had much choice. Right now, Kaiba Chiaki was Celestia's very last lifeline.
"Kaiba, what exactly are you making Amano do for you?" Rin Seiya asked, wary.
"What business is that of yours, Rin Seiya?" Kaiba Chiaki shot back without a shred of courtesy.
"You'd better not be asking him to do something that crosses a line and compromises his purity!"
"So what if I did? What exactly would you do about it?"
These two had never gotten along, and it seemed that ever since Rin Seiya had taken over Kaiba Chiaki's old number-two spot in the Academy rankings, her attitude toward Chiaki had gotten even more openly reckless than before.
Speaking of which, Amano Rei remembered his senpai had once privately messaged him on VSN, asking whether Kaiba Corporation might arrange her a job once she graduated.
Given how things currently stood between senpai and Kaiba Chiaki, even if a job did get arranged, it would probably end up being something like polishing the Blue-Eyes White Dragon statue outside company headquarters every single day.
Which honestly fit the treatment reserved for the biggest Blue-Eyes simp of them all.
Kaiba Chiaki turned back to Amano Rei. "As for what I'll have you do, once this Riding Duel wraps up, you'll come back to Kaiba Corporation with me, and I'll explain everything in detail."
Amano Rei genuinely believed that, knowing Kaiba Chiaki's character, there was no way she'd ask him to do anything that crossed any real moral line.
Still, the faint, hard-to-pin-down hint of a smile lingering at the corner of Chiaki senpai's mouth left him more than a little worried anyway.
Amano Rei's final duel of the day, the finals of the New Riding Duel Invitational, where he, as champion, would take on the Riding Emperor himself.
Doing the math, it would be starting in under an hour now.
Right around this time, the sisters Fiona and Fiore arrived in the staging area.
"Fiona senpai, you're here!" As a senior from the Synchro Academy, Rin Seiya still treated Fiona with a good deal of respect.
Fiona, the D-Wheel mechanic, was still dressed in her usual cool, breezy shorts-and-vest work outfit, entirely unbothered by the fact that it was currently winter, since the Riding Duel arena kept a constant twenty-four-hour temperature regardless of season.
"So, Amano Rei. How's your D-Wheel holding up? Want me to take a look?"
"Sure, I'd appreciate that, senpai."
Amano Rei had a good impression of Fiona senpai too; after all, he'd bought his own D-Wheel, Moonlight Butterfly, from her in the first place. And his very first Riding Duel had also had Fiona on comms, providing riding support and personally monitoring his D-Wheel's condition in real time.
As for Fiona's older sister Fiore, Amano Rei's impression of her was even better still.
If it weren't for that Nova Junk Synchron she'd "casually" handed off to him, Amano Rei probably wouldn't have won several of his past duels at all.
She was basically one of Amano Rei's own angel investors, in a manner of speaking.
Fiore was still dressed in that same silver Riding Duel outfit, and Amano Rei could more or less guess her reason for coming here today.
It had to be for her ex-boyfriend, the Emperor.
Fiore had never been able to let go of what happened three years ago: the Emperor's betrayal, getting pulled away by the Nidhogg family, and abandoning the finals without any explanation, causing their team's Riding Duel bid to collapse.
As for the Nidhogg family, Amano Rei had since looked them up through Eva's network. They were an ancient family from the Upper District, holding the inherited legacy of the three polar gods.
Thinking about it, there were probably quite a few ancient families in the Upper District holding onto powerful inherited cards like that. Just off the top of Amano Rei's head, there was the Nidhogg family's three polar gods, and the tomb-keeper clan's sun god and earth angel Tearlaments.
For the past three years, Fiore had kept competing as a professional Riding Duelist on the Riding Duel circuit, all in pursuit of revenge against the Emperor.
Unfortunately, the three polar gods were simply too overwhelming a force within Riding Duels.
According to Nidhogg family tradition, each generation's heirs to the three polar gods were supposed to be three separate people, exactly like in the 5D's anime.
But when it came to the Emperor specifically, something unprecedented had happened.
All three god cards had ended up in the hands of a single person, which was exactly what had let the Emperor establish his nearly unbeatable dominance over the Riding Duel arena.
"Can you win, Amano Rei?" Fiore got straight to the point.
"Hard to say. There's no such thing as a hundred percent guarantee in a duel. Especially not against an opponent like the Riding Emperor."
"True enough. Nobody could promise a win going up against Kai."
Kai must have been the Emperor's old name, one nobody used anymore these days. After he'd married into the Nidhogg family, the name Kai had apparently been discarded entirely; that seemed to be the custom among these old, established families.
So if he himself ever ended up marrying into the tomb-keeper clan, would he have to give up the name Amano too?
Good thing he'd won that duel. If he'd suddenly had to go by something like "Yusei Rei," he really wasn't sure he could get used to giving up "Amano."
Nanami Misaki suddenly cut in. "Amano, why so modest all of a sudden? Didn't you already beat the three polar gods once before? Even if it was during a team Riding Duel."
"???"
Since when had he ever beaten them?
"Misaki, when did the underclassman ever duel the three polar gods in a Riding Duel?"
Caught off guard by the question, Nanami Misaki looked just as baffled herself, clutching her head like she had a headache. "Sorry, I misspoke. I think I just had some kind of weird dream a second ago. Forget I said anything."
Nanami Misaki found it strange too, this sudden, phantom memory of Amano Rei dueling the three polar gods in a Riding Duel. Ever since her affection score had gotten tampered with earlier, she'd been feeling off in general, and she kept finding herself looking at Amano Rei more and more favorably by the minute.
Fiore said firmly, "But I still want you to win, Amano Rei. If there's anything I can help you with, just say the word!"
Maybe hand over a few good cards~
Unfortunately, Fiore ran a "Dragon Knight Brigade" Deck, and the Tuner monsters in that Deck could only be used as Synchro Material for other "Dragon Knight Brigade" Synchro Monsters, which didn't really mesh with Amano Rei's current Deck build.
"Fiore, I wanted to ask, was the betrayal three years ago really just about the Emperor chasing after power?" Amano Rei asked the question that had been on his mind.
In the 5D's anime, the three polar gods were divine figures shouldering the responsibility of saving the world.
Someone chosen by the three polar gods, especially someone like the Emperor, chosen by all three gods at once, shouldn't have needed to be some paragon of virtue exactly, but at the very least, shouldn't have been the kind of petty person who'd betray his own teammates just to chase after power.
And during the Wicked God incident, the Emperor had genuinely stepped in to save the mid-level district from collapse when it was about to come down.
"I honestly don't know what happened three years ago. From our side of it, Kai really did betray the team. At first, we believed he must have had his reasons. But three years have passed now, and he's never given us any kind of explanation."
"Even when you, his girlfriend, asked him, he still wouldn't explain?"
"Ha, I'm just his ex now. The Emperor's already married, the rightful heir of the Nidhogg family. We're basically two different people from two different worlds at this point."
"He's already married?!" Amano Rei was caught off guard. "So then, Fiore, why do you keep challenging him?"
"Maybe it's just obsession at this point. I want to prove that all the power he got by giving up everything else still isn't actually the strongest there is. Maybe if I ever beat him, he'd finally be willing to tell me the truth about what happened three years ago... but that's just naive wishful thinking on my part, I know."
Anywhere else, Amano Rei might have agreed that was a genuinely naive way to think.
But in a worldview built entirely around dueling like the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, the idea that winning a duel could actually get you the truth was, frankly, extremely plausible.
You beat me fair and square in a duel, and you think I'd still try to hide the truth from you? I couldn't do that even if I wanted to.
That was probably how the majority of people in this world's headspace worked.
"All done, underclassman!" In the brief span of their conversation, Fiona had already finished servicing Moonlight Butterfly. "No major issues to speak of. You can tell you've been taking good care of it this past month."
Moonlight Butterfly, even after going through something like a Dark Game Riding Duel, was still holding up in fine condition, no surprise for a relic from an ancient predecessor.
Once she'd finished servicing Moonlight Butterfly, Fiona handed Amano Rei a small wireless earpiece.
"Put this on, underclassman. For this Riding Duel, just like your very first one, I'll be providing support and monitoring your D-Wheel's condition. And this time, my sister will be joining in as your Riding Duel support too."
Getting support from both sisters at once. Challenging the Emperor definitely came with some nice perks.
"When it comes to experience dueling the three polar gods, nobody dares claim they're better than my sister, second place at best. It should help you avoid stepping into any unnecessary traps during your duel with the Emperor."
"Sure, I appreciate it."
Riding support like this was a fully sanctioned, standard part of Riding Duels.
Just like in the 5D's Riding Duels, where Yusei Fudo, the core strategist of Team 5D's, could always draw on his own deep knowledge of the card pool to analyze the opponent's tactical intentions from behind the scenes and relay that information to Jack and Crow.
Having mounted Moonlight Butterfly, freshly serviced and looking better than ever, Amano Rei fitted the support earpiece into his helmet, and amid his friends' cheers of encouragement, charged toward the starting line of the Riding Duel track.
By now, the Emperor's own luxurious D-Wheel was already in position.
From the surrounding stands, a tidal wave of cheers rose up, all of them chanting the same single name.
"Emperor!"
"Emperor!"
"Emperor!"
It was easy to see just how immensely popular the Emperor, who ruled over the entire Riding Duel scene, was among the crowd.
If Amano Rei had to rate it, it was every bit as intense as the adoration a whole crowd of ten thousand had once shown KING Jack Atlas back during the height of the Fortune Cup.
The Emperor's tone stayed calm and even. "Amano Rei. To have this kind of terrifying dueling ability at your age, your future really does have no ceiling."
"I appreciate the compliment, Emperor. Though I'm here today because someone asked me to come beat you."
"Fiore!" A noticeable crack appeared in the Emperor's usual calm, even tone. "What's your relationship with her?"
Ever since Amano Rei had seen the Emperor get sent flying by a wrench Fiore had thrown at him in front of the D-Wheel shop, he'd already had a pretty good guess.
Married or not, this guy still couldn't let her go, huh.
Amano Rei didn't really expect this kind of pre-duel trash talk to genuinely rattle the Emperor's mental state during the actual duel, but if it could make him even a little uncomfortable, that counted as a small act of revenge on Fiore's behalf.
The Emperor: "I will absolutely not let you win."
Amano Rei: "I'm going to win."
New Speed World 2 activated!
As the countdown lights along the track gradually lit up, the signal declaring the start of the duel burst out in the final instant.
"Riding duel, acceleration!"
Both D-Wheels shot out at a speed that broke every reasonable expectation, simultaneously.
"That's fast!" This was the first time, after having taken the first move so many times in his Riding Duels, that Amano Rei had actually been caught off guard by an opponent's speed.
Through the earpiece, Fiona's voice came through. "The Emperor's D-Wheel is Eden's top-of-the-line configuration, and it's equipped with the latest launch-burst acceleration system too. His first-move rate is basically a hundred percent. Even Moonlight Butterfly is going to have a hard time keeping up."
Amano Rei: "Could I get one of those burst acceleration systems too?"
Fiona: "Not possible. Like I told you before, with my skill level, I can't actually modify Moonlight Butterfly. The most I can do is service and repair it for you."
Guess there was no getting around it. For the first time in a Riding Duel, Amano Rei had genuinely, actually lost the right to take the first turn on a corner.
"My turn, draw!"
Having drifted through the first corner ahead, the Emperor drew his opening card for the turn.
"I Normal Summon Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant from my hand!"
[Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant] [Level 2 / LIGHT]
[Fairy / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 400] [DEF: 800]
The Valkyries, daughters of Odin from Norse mythology, spread their radiant, shimmering angelic wings, flying alongside the Emperor's high-speed D-Wheel.
"Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant's effect, activate!"
[When this card is successfully Summoned: You can send 2 cards from your hand to the Graveyard to activate this effect. Special Summon 2 "Einherjar Tokens" (Warrior/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) in Defense Position on your field.]
"I discard 2 cards, then Summon 2 Level 4 Einherjar Tokens!"
In the space of a single instant at the very start of the duel, the Emperor had already assembled a Level 2 Tuner and 8 Levels' worth of non-Tuner monsters on his field.
Through the earpiece, Fiore's voice came through. "Here it comes, Amano, brace yourself!"
Riding at full speed, the Emperor swept his arm out wide, awakening the Synchro starlight storm of the polar gods.
"O sovereign of the northern heavens, presiding over all knowledge and power! Reveal your majesty now to the gods of the starry realm you rule over!"
"Synchro Summon! The supreme god who governs heaven, earth, and all divinity!"
"Odin, Father of the Aesir!"
Bringing out the strongest of all the ruling gods of Norse mythology on the very first move.
Nothing at all like the order in the anime, where it went from Thor to Loki, and only then, finally, Odin.
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