Chapter 134: Camula: Come Make a Deal with Me

The next morning.

Rowan lounged comfortably on the sofa in the living room of his luxurious little cabin, a touch of laziness in his posture as he looked over the System panel floating before him.

There were no classes at the academy that morning, giving him the perfect chance to relax and calmly tally up everything he'd gained from his duel with Camula.

[Name: Rowan] [Skills: Spirit Vision, Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Head, Superior Still Water Clarity, Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Heart] [Current Decks Owned: Dark Magician Deck, Lava Golem Deck, Stealth Bird Deck, Shadow HERO Deck, Ojama Deck, Buster Blader Deck, Herald of Perfection Deck (Cursed Negation Build)] [Emotion Points: 4100]

After exchanging for the Herald of Perfection deck earlier, he should have had only 1000 Emotion Points left.

Now, after finishing his Shadow Duel with Camula, that number had shot straight up to 4100. A full 3100 points earned in one go.

"Well, would you look at that. The wool I got off Camula almost rivals what that hotblooded idiot Jaden gives me..."

Rowan blinked, muttering the thought to himself.

Still, that only left him with a bit more of a headache over it.

If only Camula hadn't gone and conceded on her own yesterday, how much better would that have been?

He might well have squeezed out another thousand or so Emotion Points out of her.

"Sigh, Shadow Duelists these days really don't have an ounce of perseverance in them."

Rowan tilted his head back with a sigh, looking thoroughly disappointed, like a mentor let down by a promising but ultimately underwhelming student.

After that, he turned his attention to the System's exchange options, set to refresh again that night, and decisively went ahead and exchanged for the skill he hadn't had enough points for before, Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Tail.

"Bzzzz!!"

Almost the instant he made the exchange, that familiar sensation of searing energy and a wash of red light welled up from his wrist once more, slowly taking the shape of a fierce Red Dragon seal, resembling something between a serpent's head and a dragon's tail.

The Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Head and Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Heart he'd exchanged for earlier surfaced right along with it, glowing with their own red light, resonating together with the new seal.

Together, they faintly began forming the ring-like shape Rowan remembered, something reminiscent of an ouroboros.

Except that, for now, aside from the Red Dragon's head and tail, the entire stretch of body in between remained empty, still missing the rest of the Crimson Dragon Marks.

"I wonder just how powerful this'll get once I've collected all six complete Crimson Dragon Marks."

Rowan watched with satisfaction as the Mark of the Crimson Dragon on his wrist, which was steadily starting to look rather cool if he did say so himself, faded back down and vanished from sight.

He couldn't help but feel a little excited about it.

The only thing that still gave him a bit of a headache was that, the moment he exchanged for the Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Tail, his once comfortably plump Emotion Point total dropped right back down to a mere 1100. At this rate, once the System's exchange options refreshed that night, he probably wouldn't have nearly enough left to pick up a new hellish deck.

He'd need to figure out some way to farm more Emotion Points, and fast.

Having thought it all through, Rowan shook his head and set the matter aside for the time being.

Then, as though something had just occurred to him, he pulled a dark card out of his pocket again.

It was, of course, the very card that had sealed Camula away the night before.

Seeing this, the round Kuriboh and the Ojama brothers materialized beside the sofa as well, blinking curiously as they all peered over at the dark card in his hand.

On the card, which had once shown nothing but a sheet of pure darkness, there now appeared a familiar figure: a bewitching woman with dark green hair, dressed in a red gown, her limbs bound in place by four crisscrossing chains.

Even the name line at the top of the card now bore three characters that hadn't been there before: Camula.

Unlike an ordinary card, though, this Camula still retained her own consciousness, much like a fully awakened Duel Spirit.

Only, unlike the round Kuriboh or the Ojama brothers, Camula clearly had no way of stepping outside the card herself.

Seeing Rowan take her card out and look it over, Camula, trapped within the dark card, immediately grew agitated.

Straining against her four chains, she fixed her gaze seriously on Rowan.

"Hey, brat. Since you can see Duel Spirits, you should still be able to hear my voice, right?"

"Let's make a deal."

After enduring an entire night sealed inside this dark card, feeling nothing but its cold and its crushing loneliness, Camula had had more than enough of being trapped in this lightless prison, her power and body bound by chains, utterly unable to do anything at all.

In here, she couldn't even fall into the usual slumber vampires used to pass the time.

Especially last night, tucked away in Rowan's pocket the whole time, where she couldn't even make out much of anything happening in the outside world.

"You're not seriously hoping I'll let you back out, are you?"

Rowan's expression turned faintly wary, raising an eyebrow at Camula on the card in his hand.

"Of course! If you release me from this seal, I'll give you the Bat Amulet, the one hanging around my neck, one of the seven rare Shadow Charms."

Camula said, trying to tempt him at once.

"With this Shadow Charm, you'd be able to actively initiate Shadow Duels with other people, and to some degree, it would let you break through the dark power used by other Seven Stars Shadow Duelists when you face them."

"You really think that if I ever actually needed to initiate a Shadow Duel with someone, I'd need your Shadow Charm for it?"

Rowan gave Camula on the card a weary, deadpan look, and raised his own wrist.

At once, the fierce mark of the Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Tail lit up on it.

Even without Rowan actively channeling any of its power, the faint sense of the Crimson Dragon's overwhelming punishing force radiating from it alone was enough to freeze Camula in place.

This power. It felt like it was on an entirely different level compared to her own Bat Amulet, by a wide margin.