"Beautiful, a perfect finish!"
"So cool, Hikaru, Kaiser!"
The battle over, Hikaru let out a breath of relief.
Suddenly, his body gave out, and he nearly collapsed, only to be quickly caught by Zane beside him.
They had mostly been on the defensive, only managing a proper counterattack in the final turn. But to execute that combo, Hikaru had crashed into Vampire Fraulein three times, and the bloody counter-damage left wounds all over his body.
It was no wonder he couldn't stand steadily.
"An impressive Duel."
Across the stage, Vampire Fraulein's Duel Disk detached from her arm, slowly transforming midair until it returned to the form of a parasol. She gently caught it, propping it over her shoulder to shield herself from the moonlight. "I underestimated you, warriors of humanity."
Her earlier arrogance hadn't been baseless.
After becoming one of the Seven Stars, she had secretly observed the Duels of the Academy students. Her rough evaluation had led her to believe their skills were sorely lacking, so lacking, in fact, that even the lower-ranked vampires of the Vampire Kingdom could probably defeat them. From her perspective, she alone should have sufficed.
She hadn't expected the vast difference in skill between students.
If given another chance, Fraulein certainly wouldn't recklessly enter a tag Duel with just a minion.
"No... no way, impossible! There's no way the Mistress could—" Camula's expression twisted, looking ready to resort to violence.
"Camula," Vampire Fraulein shook her head, "Enough. That's enough. Since we lost in the sacred ritual of Dueling, we must honor the agreement. Don't worry. I'll find another way to revive your kin."
As a Duel Monster spirit, Fraulein would never deny the outcome of a Duel.
As she spoke, her body began to turn into golden particles. Her broken form, already as delicate as porcelain, now looked even more elegant.
"Very well, then."
"Wait!" Hikaru noticed her fading and quickly interrupted, raising his voice, "Wait! Miss Vampire!"
"What is it, warrior of humanity?" she asked with a yawn. "I'm about to fall into a long-overdue slumber. Is it important?"
The rules of the Shadow Game dictated that the loser would be sealed in a card. Though Fraulein was a card spirit, and being sealed wouldn't harm her, she would still 'sleep' for some time.
But Hikaru wanted to ask something before that happened.
"Miss Vampire, you don't seem like someone evil. Why did you become a member of the Seven Stars? Why are you trying to obtain the Sacred Beasts' seal keys?"
'Ah!'
Only now did the others realize that was indeed a significant question.
Hikaru remembered that in the original story, Camula had become a Seven Star because her fellow vampires were hunted by humans, leaving her the last of her kind. She sought the power of the Sacred Beasts to destroy humanity and resurrect her kin.
But Vampire Fraulein was a Duel Spirit, and the resurrection of the Sacred Beasts shouldn't be a good thing for her!
"So you didn't know," Fraulein said, showing a bit more interest. "Very well... Camula, explain it to them."
In the next instant, her form completely dissolved into particles, becoming a card one of her vampire servants reverently caught and tucked away.
Simultaneously, the world seemed to dim as if her departure drained the moonlight of its luster. Another card, Vamp's, floated toward Hikaru and Zane. Hikaru caught it between his fingers. Along with it came a non-spirit version of Vampire Fraulein's card.
"Eh..." Chazz muttered, a little disappointed.
That pretty girl card won't be showing up again.
Still, it was just a fleeting sentiment. Lately, he wasn't too keen on spirits.
Camula, on the other hand, glared at them, looking like she wanted to lash out. But after a long internal struggle, she finally opened her mouth.
From her explanation, they learned the truth, Vampire Fraulein wasn't an ordinary Duel Spirit. She was the ruler, or rather, the acting regent of the alternate dimension Vampire Kingdom!
The real sovereign, Lord Zompire, had gone missing during a great upheaval.
Apparently, countless years ago, the Spirit World had been thrown into chaos by a terrifying civil war. The destruction caused by that conflict fractured the spirit realms, scattering them into different worlds.
Although communication between dimensions still existed, Lightsworns and Dark Worlds remained enemies across realms, and Mermails continued their drawn-out war with Fire Kings; overall, contact between different factions and races had greatly diminished.
A few years ago, the Vampire Kingdom, hidden deep in darkness, was suddenly attacked by an unknown force, pushing their dimension to the brink of collapse.
Lord Zompire, their strongest spirit, personally set out to investigate, only to vanish without a trace. Their world grew increasingly unstable, and they were eventually forced to fragment their reality into "Broken Dimensions" to stave off destruction and protect their kin.
"Ah, I remember now, Lord Hikaru." White Crystal Captain appeared beside Hikaru, drawing Jaden's attention and startling Chazz.
'Hikaru has a Spirit too?!'
"My world also seemed to suffer an invasion once, but only briefly," White Crystal said hesitantly.
Indeed, even if a true villain looked into the DT Spirit World, they probably wouldn't be interested. No big deal, they'd self-destruct anyway.
"After that, the Mistress began dimensional exploration, searching for Lord Zompire and a way to protect the vampires. Then... she met me," Camula's expression softened, showing rare emotion.
"Though I'd lost my kin and was a stray, the Mistress never cared about my origins and offered me protection. When she heard about the Sacred Beasts, as a spirit born from darkness, she immediately decided to help me, hoping to use the Sacred Beasts' power to uncover the truth of her world."
"But alas," she shook her head.
"I didn't expect her to be such a good spirit!" Syrus sniffled, moved. She was so cute, of course, she was good!
"A spirit, huh..." Chazz frowned.
"One-sided, if you ask me." Hikaru shook his head.
Yes, she was doing it for her people. But she let Camula send out bats to knock out students and tried to summon the Sacred Beasts for her world's sake. To humans and spirits of this world, it was a disaster!
She had principles, but not too many.
Still, that was expected. She was a spirit, after all.
"Humans, even if you've defeated the Mistress, don't think you can relax." Camula fixed her gaze on Hikaru and Zane. "You humans, dabbling in dimensional travel without preparation, have opened Pandora's Box. You've unleashed horrors, making your world increasingly dangerous. One day, you'll pay the price in blood."
With those final words, Hikaru and the others found themselves back at the lake.
The mansion, cloaked in mist, slowly faded from view as if it had never existed. It seemed they had returned to their own dimension.
In the air, only one final lazy whisper lingered in their ears.
"Warriors of humanity, should you get the chance, feel free to visit our dimension. I would gladly welcome you as guests."