Chapter 123: Was This All Part of Your Plan Too, JoJo?!

"Well then, let the gorgeous counterattack begin!"

Camula said, giving a careless wave of her hand.

"I activate Vampire's Curse's special effect. When this card is destroyed, I can pay 500 Life Points, and at the start of my next turn, Special Summon it back from the Graveyard! Its ATK also rises permanently by 500!"

Camula's Life Points dropped from 3000 down by 500, ticking to 2500.

"Huh?!" Professor Crowler blinked, utterly caught off guard.

"T-there was an effect like that?"

"Hey now, Professor Crowler, don't tell me you didn't even know that."

Chazz said, twisting the knife with open suspicion.

"Uh... everything's proceeding exactly as I calculated."

Inside, Professor Crowler was cursing up a storm, but on the outside he forced the words out, stubborn to the last.

"Yeah, sure I believe you..." Rowan's eye twitched as he watched, unable to hold back the jab.

Judging by the mushroom-head professor's reaction, he'd probably never even laid eyes on that rare Vampire's Curse before.

Was that part of your calculations too, JoJo?

"Pfft." Standing nearby, Alexis Rhodes caught his muttered jab and couldn't help letting out a small laugh.

Professor Crowler's situation looked grim, but a certain someone's commentary still managed to tickle her.

Then, to be on the safe side, Professor Crowler set another card face-down onto his Duel Disk.

"I'll also lay a card face-down. Turn end."

With a heavy thud, the looming shadow of a giant face-down card materialized on the field before him.

"Alright, my turn now. Draw!"

Camula drew a card from the top of her deck, glanced at it, and immediately raised her hand in a gesture.

"Through my Standby Phase, rise again, Vampire's Curse!"

"Heh heh...!"

Amid a low, sinister chuckle and a swirl of dark energy sweeping across the faint glow on the field before her, the blue-haired, crimson-eyed vampire monster rose into view once more, its attack ticking upward from its original 2000, climbing by 500 to reach 2500.

"Even at 2500 ATK, it's still 500 short of my Ancient Gear Golem!"

Professor Crowler said, forcing bravado into his voice.

"Hmph, we'll see about that."

Camula gave a light scoff, smiling as she raised the Duel Disk on her left wrist, unfolding the Field Spell Zone above it.

Then she placed the card she'd just drawn onto it.

"From my hand, I activate the Field Spell, Infernalvania!"

"RUMBLE!!"

The instant Camula's words fell, the ground all around began to shake violently, and in the blink of an eye a sinister, ancient castle rose into being, along with a scattering of grim, attendant fortresses springing up around it.

"That's... Infernalvania?! A Field Spell that's already been banned!"

Professor Crowler's face changed color at once.

He was going to report this!

This vampire woman, one of the Seven Stars' Shadow Duelists, was using one of the vanishingly rare, explicitly forbidden cards in the game, banned outright for being simply too powerful.

"Exactly. But this happens to be a Shadow Duel, a fight where it's either live or die. There's no room here for the childish forbidden card rules of your ordinary world."

Camula said with a mocking laugh.

"The treasured card of my vampire clan, Infernalvania's special effect. I discard one Zombie-Type monster from my hand, and destroy every monster on the field!"

"Guess that's why it's been a perma-banned card for years... the effect really is a bit much, relatively speaking."

Rowan said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he watched.

Alexis, along with Kaiser Zane Truesdale, Jaden Yuki, and the others present, all felt their expressions shift at the words as well.

"But that means every monster on your own field gets destroyed too! And as the price for Infernalvania's drawback, you won't be able to Normal Summon a monster this turn!"

Professor Crowler said, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his face.

He only had one card left in hand at this point.

"Which just goes to show you still have plenty left to learn, Professor Crowler."

Camula said, the corner of her mouth curling with satisfaction.

"Have you forgotten already? My Vampire's Curse on the field has an undying body, one that can come back to life even after being destroyed by battle or by an effect!"

With that, she revealed one of the three cards remaining in her hand, a monster card, and slid it into the Graveyard slot of her Duel Disk.

"I discard the Zombie-Type monster card Vampire Lord from my hand, activating Infernalvania's effect. Destroy every monster on the field!"

"The power of the Undead Kingdom!"

"Bzzzzz!!"

A wave of dark crimson energy surged forth from the sinister ancient castle behind her, and from the grounds all around, washing over every monster on the field in an instant.

"ROOAR!!"

The ancient mechanical giant on the field before Professor Crowler let out a cry of pain and shattered into particles in an instant, vanishing from sight.

The werewolf monster and the vampire monster standing on the field before Camula herself let out muffled groans as they too broke apart into particles and disappeared.

"By paying 500 Life Points, Vampire's Curse will come back to life at the start of my next turn."

Camula went on. Her Life Points, sitting at 2500, ticked down once more as the cost of another 500 was paid, dropping her to 2000.

"Still, this means she shouldn't be able to attack Professor Crowler this turn, right?"

Bastion Misawa said, watching the scene unfold.

"After all, Vampire's Curse won't revive until her own next turn comes around, and thanks to Infernalvania's drawback, she can't make a Normal Summon this turn either."

"Which means, if Professor Crowler can summon a monster with more than 2000 ATK on his own turn, he can attack straight through since she'll have no monster on the field, and win it right there."

Jaden said, nodding along with a grin of agreement. Everyone else nodded along in agreement as well.

"Are you guys forgetting something..." Rowan couldn't help but cut in, his expression a little strange.

He pointed out that while she might not be able to make a Normal Summon this turn, there was nothing stopping her from Special Summoning a monster instead.