Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 318 Together Against the Darkness!

How easy it must be to unite against a darkness like the one in this comic. So unambiguously shitty for everyone except the dark forces, without any slow integration into every part of life through seductive sales pitches. The dark power thief!Bakura seeks isn't already part of the status quo, built into the very infrastructure of the country. It's not offering any convenience to your everyday Joe who is reluctant to consider a transition to a lighter alternative because it might be a little bumpy for a moment. It's just as straightforwardly evil as it's possible to be, so the people in charge aren't arguing about how to make it profitable to defeat thief!Bakura.

Meanwhile, in reality, it took our leadership a ridiculously long time to pass lukewarm legislation to boost renewable energy a little, because rich people addicted to profit are fighting tooth and nail to roast our whole planet for another buck. I long for the simplicity of fiction. 

Look at these guys being all on the same page. Shit, that's enviable.

We're reminded that the two-ka fusion Duos Dragon is facing down Diabound (lots of "d" alliteration here), which is REALLY irritating thief!Bakura, if I can judge by his scowl. Kalim launches into a somewhat lengthy explanation of how this works; each scale contains a piece of his and Priest Seto's ba, and the scales are in balance, which allows their two ka to come together. He says this this the power of the Millennium Items, a power of unity that thief!Bakura will never have. 

And, well, we already know how conflicted I feel about THIS theme.

Wait, what happened to Mana/DMG? Was she actually the one to give HER power to the Magus? This seems to be the case, because Yami says that Mahado's attack power will now double from what it was. I had to go back and check the previous chapter and see if I had read the dialog incorrectly, and it turns out I did INDEED do that! Due to a speech bubble placed over Mahado instead of Mana, I read it as HIS dialog instead of a continuation of hers. Apologies for the confusion, folks!

Thief!Bakura is grinning again as he promises to show them that it doesn't matter how many of them there are when they're against Diabound, but Priest Seto doesn't really pay attention to this, declaring their intent to attack. Diabound appears to be the one moving, though, thrashing around its snake-headed tail to hiss at them. Duos Dragon opens its mouth to show its collection of energy in its jaws, what its owners call Dragon Flame. The shot is fired off, and thief!Bakura admits he COULD block it with his ghost shield, but he wants to fight fire with fire instead.

We got ourselves a classic stalemate, guys! Yami doesn't appear to appreciate how prolific this tension-maker appears in these sorts of narratives, because he expresses some shock that the attacks met right in the middle like that. Thief!Bakura too seems alarmed, even a little PAINED, which suggests his magic power has been affected a little by the match in power. Priest Seto grinds his teeth at the equal attacks, and how Diabound's didn't even BUDGE. 

Thief!Bakura laughs at this "equal" word that Priest Seto has used; he says that if they're going to fuse their ka, then it seems only fair that he should also fuse his attacks. What he calls a "fusion" of attacks is just the cobra-headed tail shooting its own attack from its mouth as well, much to Yami's disbelief. 

Lesson: next time you fuse your ka, try to create chimera with multiple orifices from which it can vomit death.

It's doing the trick, too. Yami observes with concern that Duos Dragon is being pushed back. In fact, it appears the Duos Dragon's blast is starting to accordion back into its face. Thief!Bakura encourages it to swallow its own attack and die, while Priest Seto sweats over being blown away in the near future. With the blowback of Dragon Flame getting worse, he realizes there's no more time, holding up the Millennium Rod to command the Duos side of their equation and its Aura Sword. The ethereal blade appears from its fist.

I mean, if it works... Though it DOES look to be taking a lot out of Priest Seto, whose eyes bulge a little as he grunts in the effort it takes. Thief!Bakura wonders smugly how long Priest Seto can managed to keep using a sword for a shield, and there's no question Duos Dragon is struggling a bit against the stream of energy pouring toward it. Priest Seto calls to Kalim that they have no choice, and instructs him to attack Diabound the moment he sacrifices their combined monster's arm. 

Kalim only has time to shout Priest Seto's name in alarm before the blast overcomes Duos Dragon and its arm is blown straight through. Priest Seto claws at his own right arm, groaning in agony, but he stutters out to Kalim that now is the time as he's doubled over. Kalim yells out the Dragon Flame order, and Duos Dragon projects another stream of fire at Diabound. 

But thief!Bakura orders the ghosts to protect him, and they once again form a shield around Diabound for the fire to rush past. Kalim is sweating too, in disbelief over their combined attack STILL not being enough. Thief!Bakura cackles at him, telling the priests to go ahead and weep for their useless unity. Yami insists that they not give up, though, and that thief!Bakura can't stop them if their hearts beat as one. I don't know, dude, I feel like everything that's happened so far has kind of served as evidence AGAINST this idea.

Still, Kalim raises his scales once more, despite looking absolutely exhausted. Thief!Bakura asks how many times he has to tell these idiots that it's hopeless, and starts to repeat himself before halting in the middle of his statement in disbelief. 

That's what you get for purchasing cheap, plastic ghosts from Walmart, dude.

Thief!Bakura denies in a panic that this can be happening at all, since the shield is powered by the ghosts' hatred, which he thinks SHOULD be limitless. Never stopped to think about the limitations of the resources needed to maintain it, though, did he?

Kalim is straining to keep up the fire blast, grunting that they can break the barrier and defeat thief!Bakura if they just hold out a little longer. But thief!Bakura already has his grin back and asks if Kalim really thinks so. With a gasp, Kalim realizes a beam of an attack is coming straight for him from the tortoise still covering the mold tablet, right before it shoots straight through his chest. It was something he clearly didn't notice when he came in, because as he's impacted by the blow, Kalim is astonished by the extra ka thief!Bakura has, wondering HOW he has it. 

Kalim pitches forward onto his knees, having dropped the scales, while Yami calls to him and runs to his side. He's reaching for the Millennium Scales again, but wouldn't you know it? Thief!Bakura yells at the ghosts to bring him the item, and they comply. Just like before, he's go a new item in his sweaty palms. Would you guys stop dropping these fucking things???

Not that it gave them too significant an edge to begin with...

Duos Dragon starts to dissolve in swirling wisps before the still shielded Diabound, and Priest Seto points out that it's starting to disappear with alarm. Kalim weakly addresses the pharaoh holding him, but he's passed out as Yami calls his name. Yami yells Kalim's name again, more aggressively and desperate, but Kalim does not respond, just lays there limply in his arms.

Thief!Bakura laughs that their "unity" don't mean shit, and that it's all over now that he's stolen his latest acquisition in the Millennium Collection. He says the only thing left to take care of is to have Diabound slaughter them all one-by-one, something that looks to be a pleasure rather than a chore if his manic grin is anything to go by. Yami starts to stand again, and tells thief!Bakura it won't be THAT easy a little task. Thief!Bakura asks what Yami means, but he's wearing a mocking expression and puts "great pharaoh" in scare-quotes again to emphasize how little he believes this won't be a piece of cake. 

Yami suggests he take a look, and taking this advice puts thief!Bakura back in his earlier state of disbelief. 

Did I say cheap plastic? I meant Styrofoam, lol.

Yami calls the Magus the "Dark Magician" here, which could either be an error on someone's part, or deliberate reference to Yami's memories of the future. Either way I'm a little taken-aback as Yami talks about how DM has been waiting for this opening, chanting his most secret spell all this time. Thief!Bakura, once again, looks pretty perturbed by this change in tide. 

Yami yells at Mahado to take his chance, and he complies, flying up to the hole in Diabound's personal ghost-ozone, and charges up another attack.

This SHOULD feel very final, but I'm wary... Do I dare believe that Diabound is done in this battle?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This chapter gave me more of an impression of a classic duel from the tournaments and such; it had several turns of fortune for both sides, featured a variety of different little modifications of monsters and their effects, and even the "trash talk" is more similar. It more closely resembles the game as it exists in the modern world, which is not a good or a bad thing, just something I noted about the VIBE of the chapter while I was reading. Rather than fighting over Millennium Items, they could very well have been fighting over star chips. 

Which is part of the reason why Yami's use of the modern name of the Magus, "Dark Magician," struck me the way that it did. As I said, it could have just been a translation error, or even KT and his team slipping up a tad to call Mahado what he's been calling him during the majority of the comic. Still, given the shift over this arc from the more organic fantasy magic battle mode to the more GAME-like rule-based system, there really does seem to be a deliberate call-back to actually playing the card game. I don't know if it means anything, or if it's just habit at this point, but it is something interesting to think about.

Either way, I really do hope this particular fight is over. I'm so very weary of Diabound and the ghosts and thief!Bakura's overpowered use of both. Although, I am relieved to see that his view of the "unlimited" power of hate has been cracked a bit. Yes, hate and anger can be a powerful motivator, but you gotta have FUEL to burn in that furnace, and there's just not enough to maintain the kind of long assault that thief!Bakura wanted. We've already learned something similar earlier, that hatred can smolder for a long time, but it can't be expected to sustain you and your aims if you've got a full-on inferno going. 

Not that it's not an understandable mistake to make, thinking that the power one feels when in a rage is inexhaustible. When thief!Bakura is high off his own supply, he can't be expected to think through the true capacity of his irate ghosts logically.