Chapter 49: The Crisis of the Dimension

"Beautiful, a perfect ending!"

"So cool, Hikari, Kaiser!"

The battle ended, and Tenjo Hikari exhaled in relief; the next moment, his body went limp, nearly collapsing—Ryo Fujiki stood beside him, quick as a flash, and hurriedly supported him.

They had been in a defensive stance the entire time, only launching a decent counterattack in the final turn; but to complete this counter, Tenjo Hikari deliberately collided three times with the Vampire Princess, and the vampire's counter-damage left wounds all over his body, making him momentarily unsteady on his feet.

"An excellent duel." On the opposite platform, the Vampire Princess's Duel Disk detached from her arm, slowly reshaping in midair until it became an umbrella once more, which she gently caught and draped over herself to shield the moonlight. "I underestimated you, human warriors."

The Vampire Princess's earlier arrogance wasn't baseless; in fact, after becoming a "Seven Stars," she had secretly observed duels by students at this school. She briefly studied them and concluded that the warriors here were truly inferior—she believed even a low-ranking vampire from the Vampire Empire could handle them, so in her eyes, her status as a Seven Star should have been more than sufficient.

Yet she never imagined the gap in skill among the students was this vast.

If she had to do it again, she would never again arrogantly bring along a demoness for a tag duel.

"H-how is this possible? No, absolutely not—how could the young mistress—" Camula's face twisted, looking ready to resort to "physical" action.

"Camula." The Vampire Princess shook her head. "Enough. It's over. Since we lost in the sacred duel ceremony, we must honor our agreement. Don't worry—I'll find another way to revive your people."

As a Duel Monster spirit, the Vampire Princess could not deny the outcome of a duel.

As she spoke, her body began slowly dissolving into golden particles; her broken frame, already as fragile as porcelain, now appeared even more ethereal.

"This… alright…"

"Wait—" Tenjo Hikari noticed the Vampire Princess fading away and quickly interrupted their conversation, shouting, "Wait, Vampire Lady!"

"What is it, human warrior?" The Vampire Princess couldn't help yawning again. "I… I'm afraid I'll soon fall into a long-overdue slumber. Is there something else?"

The rule of this Dark Duel was that the loser would be sealed within a card. Although the Vampire Princess was a card spirit and being sealed wouldn't truly harm her, she would still "sleep" for a period.

Tenjo Hikari wanted to ask her some questions before she was sealed.

"Vampire Lady, you don't seem like a truly evil being. Why did you become a Seven Star? Why did you seek the seal key to the Three Phantom Demons?"

Ah!

Several students only then realized the significance.

Indeed, this was a highly meaningful question.

Tenjo Hikari remembered that in the original story, Camula became a Seven Star because her vampire kin had all been hunted down by humans; she was the last vampire on Earth and sought to use the Phantom Demons' power to destroy humanity and revive her people.

But the Vampire Princess was a Duel Spirit!

The revival of the Phantom Demons should not have been good for her at all!

"…I see. You didn't know." The Vampire Princess, upon hearing this, seemed to regain a bit of interest. "Very well…"

"Camula, tell them."

The next moment, the Vampire Princess's figure fully dissolved into particles, becoming a single card, which the nearby vampire maids swiftly caught and respectfully stored away. Simultaneously, the entire sunlight seemed to lose its color, dimming as if the Vampire Princess's disappearance had drained the world of light. On the other side, the demoness's card flew toward Tenjo and Ryo, who caught it between their fingers. Along with it came another card—a Vampire Princess without a spirit.

"Huh…" Wan Wan Zhangmu sighed slightly.

The pretty girl card was quite lovely—now she was gone.

But he only sighed briefly; right now, he had little desire to get close to spirits.

On the other side, Camula glared at them fiercely, again looking ready to attack—but after much hesitation, she finally spoke slowly.

In her account, the students learned that this Vampire Princess was not an ordinary "Duel Spirit"—she was… from another dimension, the ruler of the "Vampire Empire!"

Of course, she was merely a "proxy" or "temporary regent," because the true ruler, the True Blood Duke, had vanished during that "uprising."

It was said that countless years ago, the Spirit World suddenly erupted in a terrifying civil war, causing severe collapse across the entire spirit realm. Countless factions were split into different worlds. Though connections still existed between these worlds—such as the Light Path and the Dark World maintaining hostility despite being separated by a dimension, or the Sea Emperor and Flame King continuing their prolonged war—the ties between different factions and races of spirits had inevitably weakened.

Several years ago, the Vampire Empire, hidden in darkness, was suddenly attacked by an unknown entity, bringing its entire dimension to the brink of collapse. To uncover the truth, the empire's strongest spirit, the True Blood Duke, personally intervened—but vanished without a trace. Their dimension grew increasingly unstable, until they were forced to follow the example of other alternate dimensions and begin fragmenting their "shattered dimension" to delay the world's collapse and protect their weaker kin.

"Ah, I remember now, Lord Tenjo." While Tenjo Hikari listened, Bai Jing suddenly appeared beside him, drawing Judai's attention and startling Wan Wan Zhangmu immensely.

Does Tenjo Hikari have a spirit?!

"My world… also seems to have been invaded, but only superficially?" Bai Jing hesitated to say.

Indeed, even if there were some evil villain, a glance at DT's spirit world probably wouldn't interest them much—no matter, they'd self-destruct anyway.

"After that, the young mistress began exploring dimensions, searching for His Majesty the True Blood Duke and seeking power to protect the vampires… and then she met me." Camula, rarely showing emotion, finally looked moved. "For me, who had lost all my kin and was like a stray dog, the young mistress didn't care about my origins—she was willing to shelter me. And upon hearing of the Phantom Demons, as a Dark Duel Monster spirit, she immediately decided to help me, hoping only that, afterward, she could use the Phantom Demons' power to uncover the truth of her world."

"Too bad…" she shook her head.

"I didn't expect the young mistress was actually a good spirit!" Xiang sighed, touched. So cute-looking—she must be good.

"A spirit…?" Wan Wan Zhangmu frowned.

"Just one side of the story," Tenjo Hikari shook his head.

Though she acted for her own people, she had sent bats to knock students unconscious and sought to summon the "Phantom Demons" for her world's sake—this was a disaster for the humans and spirits of this world!

She had morals, but not very much.

But that was normal—after all, she was a spirit.

"Humans, even if you've defeated the young mistress, don't think you can rest easy." Camula fixed her gaze on Tenjo Hikari and Ryo Fujiki. "You humans recklessly embark on dimensional travel without preparation, like opening Pandora's box—releasing terrifying entities and making your world increasingly dangerous. One day, you will pay with blood."

After speaking, Tenjo Hikari and the others realized they were standing again on the lake's surface, and the mansion shrouded in thick fog had vanished as if it had never existed. It seemed they had returned to her dimension.

In the air, only a final, drowsy whisper lingered in their ears: "Human warriors, should you ever have the chance, feel free to visit our dimension—I welcome you warmly."

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(End of Chapter)