Chapter 124: You Can Lose HP, but Never Lose Face!

The moment Rowan's warning left his mouth, Professor Crowler, Kaiser Zane Truesdale, Bastion Misawa, and the others all froze for an instant.

After a beat of stunned silence, they snapped back at once, realizing just how bad the situation really was.

"That's right, exactly that."

Across the field from Professor Crowler, Camula laughed with satisfaction at the words.

She lifted one of the two cards left in her hand and flipped it around to reveal it.

"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card exclusive to Zombie-Type monsters, Book of Life! It revives one Zombie-Type monster from my Graveyard, and banishes one monster from my opponent's Graveyard!"

"The one I'm choosing to revive is, of course, the Vampire Lord I just discarded in order to activate Infernalvania's effect! And I'll banish your Ancient Gear Golem from your Graveyard!"

"Rise again, Vampire Lord!"

As Camula's words fell, a faint glow lit up the field before her, and a vampire monster took shape, the same blue hair as before, but instead of bat wings on its back, it wore a crimson cape.

[Vampire Lord] [Level: 5] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 2000] [DEF: 1500]

Meanwhile, a dark crimson glow lit up the Graveyard slot of Professor Crowler's Duel Disk, banishing outright the Ancient Gear Golem that had only just been destroyed and sent there.

"A 2000 ATK monster, and he's lost the powerful monster that had been sitting in his Graveyard as a potential backup as well. If this attack connects, Professor Crowler's Life Points will end up even with hers."

Kaiser Zane Truesdale said, frowning as he broke down the math.

"And next turn, he'll still have to deal with Vampire's Curse coming back with its ATK risen to 3000. The situation looks extremely bad for him."

A fat bead of nervous sweat rolled down Professor Crowler's face.

"Heh heh, I'm not finished yet!"

Camula revealed the very last card remaining in her hand.

"Next, I activate the special effect of Vampire Genesis in my hand. By banishing a Vampire Lord I control, I can Special Summon it directly from my hand!"

"I banish Vampire Lord to Special Summon Vampire Genesis in Attack Position!"

As Camula gestured with a wave of her hand, the Vampire Lord that had only just revived on the field before her vanished at once, swallowed by a swirl of light.

In the blink of an eye, amid a dark crimson glow, it transformed into the towering, corpulent figure of a vampire emperor, its body a deep purple-red, its back spread with a solid mass of dark, clawed bat wings, its face twisted into something monstrous.

[Vampire Genesis] [Level: 8] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 3000] [DEF: 2100]

"A 3000 ATK monster! If that connects, it won't just even out his Life Points with hers, it'll put him massively behind!"

Chazz blurted out, startled.

"No, there's something even scarier than that in a Shadow Duel! If he takes a real hit like that, Professor Crowler might just black out on the spot!"

Jaden immediately thought back to Titan, the Shadow Duelist who had faced off against Rowan before, and to Alexis's older brother.

The massive amounts of real damage they had each taken had, in the end, left both of them unconscious.

"Come and get a proper taste of just how terrifying a Shadow Duel can be! Vampire Genesis, direct attack! Genesis Radiance!"

By then, Camula had already swept her hand toward Vampire Genesis, sending it straight at Professor Crowler.

"ROOAR!!"

The purple-red, monstrous vampire let loose a beam of dark violet energy from its body, roaring as it slammed straight into the mushroom-head professor.

"Ohhh...!!"

Caught in the raging violet beam, Professor Crowler clutched his head with both hands, reflexively shielding his face and his mushroom hairstyle, letting out a pained cry that somehow still managed to look ridiculous.

With a series of tearing sounds, marks that looked like bat bites bloomed across his body.

By the time the attack ended, he could barely hold himself up and sank to one knee, cold sweat from the pain beading on his face.

His Life Points, which had been comfortably ahead at 4000, plummeted by 3000 in an instant, leaving him with only 1000.

"Super mamma mia... Shadow Duels really do exist!"

Professor Crowler's insides screamed in regret. He'd nearly wet himself from the fright.

This kind of pain was nothing like anything a normal duel could ever produce.

If only he hadn't been so worried about saving face earlier...

But if he backed out now, one of the students would have to step in and take his place in the Shadow Duel instead, and that didn't seem like a good option either.

"Don't worry, Professor Crowler, just go ahead and pass out. We'll figure out a way to avenge you afterward."

Just as the mushroom-head professor was grumbling to himself, on the verge of blacking out, he suddenly heard Rowan offer up that backhanded piece of "comfort."

It jolted him wide awake with pure indignation on the spot.

"Huh?! I haven't lost yet, failing student boy! As the professor in charge of Practical Dueling, how could I possibly go down looking this pathetic!"

Professor Crowler forced himself back onto his feet, determined to keep dueling.

He caught the card that popped automatically from the deck slot on his Duel Disk.

"My turn. Draw!"

"Oh my? You can still stand after all that?" Camula said, sounding mildly surprised.

"Here I was trying to spare you some suffering, and you don't even believe me..."

Watching the scene, Rowan muttered under his breath, a little helpless about it.

If it had been Jaden in Crowler's place, that miracle-drawing, hotblooded idiot, Rowan figured there might actually have been a chance of turning things around from behind.

But with Professor Crowler, and given what Rowan knew of the Ancient Gear deck the mushroom-head professor was currently running, there probably wasn't a single opening left for a comeback.

Might as well just accept it, turn into a doll for now, and leave it to the others to come save him later.

That way, he'd end up taking less damage overall.