Chapter 144: This Has Officially Become a Legendary Scene

"Hmph, I don't know who taught you that trick, but with the overwhelming advantage I hold right now, don't bother putting on a brave face."

Seeing that hotblooded fool Jaden still grinning despite everything, the Gravekeeper elder let out a scoff and held up a card from his hand.

"I Tribute Gravekeeper's Guard on my field to Summon myself!"

"Summon yourself...?!" Jaden froze at that.

So did Alexis beside Rowan, and Syrus and the others down in the stone coffins, all equally stunned.

None of them had ever seen a move like this before.

"Hummmm!!"

A faint light rose up around the bald, potbellied figure in black robes, and he vanished, consumed as the tribute.

A moment later, that same light flared to life around the elder himself, and in a wash of golden glow, his own form was transported directly onto the field before him.

[Gravekeeper's Chief] [Level: 5] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 1900] [DEF: 1200]

"Well now, that's a scene for the ages."

Rowan's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but comment. I summon myself.jpg, entering the fight in person.

Rowan suddenly realized something. Compared to Camula and the others he'd dealt with before, this Gravekeeper elder had one extra outlet for venting his misery: he could step onto the field himself and fight in person, taking out his frustration directly through combat.

And of course, experiencing the sting of the Underworld's power firsthand while standing on the field himself probably made the demoralization hit that much harder.

"Next, I activate my own special effect!"

Seeing the shocked looks on Jaden's group, the Gravekeeper elder smiled smugly and raised a hand.

"When I am successfully Tribute Summoned, I can revive one monster from my Graveyard whose name contains 'Gravekeeper.'

And as long as I remain on the field, I am unaffected by Necrovalley's Graveyard-sealing effect!"

"And the monster I choose to revive, naturally, is the Gravekeeper's Curse your Elemental HERO Flame Wingman destroyed and sent to the Graveyard earlier!"

"Hmph!"

A faint light rose up on the field beside the Gravekeeper elder, and a figure in black robes with dark skin, wielding a ritual staff, appeared with a low, mocking chuckle.

[Gravekeeper's Curse] [Level: 3] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 800] [DEF: 800]

"You've already had a taste of this card's effect once before, haven't you."

The elder swept a hand toward Jaden, giving his command.

"When Gravekeeper's Curse is successfully Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, it deals 500 points of damage to my opponent. Go, Gravekeeper's Curse, Forbidden Chant!"

The dark-skinned figure in black robes, gripping his curved ritual staff, broke into a cruel grin as he raised the staff in both hands and closed his eyes, chanting.

An orange glow flared to life around him, then shot across the field straight at Jaden.

"Aaah!!"

Under the force of that orange forbidden chant, Jaden clutched his head and cried out in pain.

His Life Points, already down to 2300, ticked down another 500, dropping to 1800 LP.

"Waaugh! The coffin's closing more! There's barely half a face's worth of room left!"

Syrus and squinty-eyed Professor Banner, trapped in their stone coffins down in the canyon, shrieked in alarm along with the rest.

"It looks like once Jaden's Life Points run down to almost nothing, those coffins are going to seal shut completely."

Alexis frowned, watching the scene unfold.

"And now, this ends it."

The Gravekeeper elder let out a mocking chuckle and raised his hand to continue.

"Gravekeeper's Curse, attack directly! And because of Necrovalley's Field Spell effect, every Gravekeeper monster on the field gains 500 attack and defense points!"

As he spoke, Gravekeeper's Curse's attack ticked upward to 1300. An orange burst of energy shot from the tip of the ritual staff, streaking straight toward Jaden.

"Guh!"

Jaden felt another sharp blow to the chest and dropped to one knee, clutching himself.

His Life Points, at 1800, ticked down again, dropping to a mere 500 LP.

"Big bro!"

Syrus and Chumley cried out from below, worry plain in their voices.

At the same time, the stone coffins in front of them sealed shut another notch, leaving barely a hand's width of gap remaining.

There's a stronger power sleeping inside you, Jaden. Don't you dare disappoint me, squinty-eyed Professor Banner thought to himself, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious as he squinted to keep watching.

Then, to his bewilderment, he realized the coffin had closed so much further that he could no longer see the duel at all.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

At the sound of squinty-eyed Professor Banner's ridiculous reaction, Rowan very nearly laughed out loud, though he felt a little bad about it.

Still, there was no denying that hotblooded fool Jaden's situation was genuinely dire right now, even if Rowan didn't think for a second Jaden would actually lose.

"This attack finishes you off! Gravekeeper's Assailant, attack directly! Shadow Backstab!"

The Gravekeeper elder didn't pause for even a moment, raising a hand to point at Jaden once more and give the command.

Thanks to Necrovalley's Field Spell effect, the masked female assassin in black robes, originally at 1500 attack, ticked upward to 2000. She flickered into motion, curved serpent-bladed dagger in hand, vanishing into shadow midair, only to reappear directly behind Jaden, raising her blade for what would be the final blow against the hotblooded fool.

"Trap card, open! Trap: Draining Shield!"

Just then, Jaden quickly gestured toward the single face-down card remaining on his field.

A Trap Card flipped up, its artwork showing a monster's attack being absorbed and neutralized by a green protective barrier.

A glow rose from the card, and a green energy shield sprang up around Jaden, completely absorbing the full force of Gravekeeper's Assailant's blade attack, leaving it without effect.