Bastion, Chazz, and Alexis had no idea what kind of archetype the Dragonmaids were. However, having witnessed Jaden's duels countless times, they knew instinctively that he never made a move without purpose. His constant effort to send Dragonmaid cards to the Graveyard was undoubtedly meant to link with the four low-level Dragonmaids currently on his field.
Slowly but surely, the duelists standing behind Jaden began to understand the meaning behind his plays.
"Battle!" Jaden declared coldly.
"Battle? Are you joking?" Camula sneered. "With those weak monsters on your field, you want to"
Before she could finish her sentence, the Dragonmaids on Jaden's field were suddenly engulfed in a blinding radiance.
Boom!
Four pillars of light shot into the sky. Under Camula's shocked gaze, Jaden's Chamber Dragonmaid, Kitchen Dragonmaid, Parlor Dragonmaid, and Nurse Dragonmaid all returned to his hand.
The phantom images of the four maids hovered briefly beside Jaden. They stood respectfully to the side, wearing standard maid smiles as they gazed at the woman across from them.
In the next heartbeat, the light shattered. Four massive silhouettes stood tall before Camula.
Dragonmaid Lorpar.
Dragonmaid Tinkhec.
Dragonmaid Nudyarl.
Dragonmaid Ernus.
"Let us sweep away everything before us for the Supreme King!"
The four dragons let out a thunderous, coordinated roar. Four beams of concentrated energy instantly locked onto Camula.
Bathed in the pure white light, Camula's face twisted in agony, her eyes wide with disbelief. "No... impossible! Why... why did it turn out like this?!"
Boom!
The light gradually faded. Camula fell to her knees with a heavy thud, her hands propped against the ground as cold sweat poured down her forehead. Her Life Points drained away like water before the four dragons.
[Camula: LP 3500 → 0]
[Jaden Yuki WIN]
The surrounding darkness slowly dissipated. Camula sat paralyzed on the ground, her expression still frozen in shock. She had lost... she had been defeated so utterly, without even the slightest ability to resist. She didn't even understand why she had lost.
Jaden Yuki... who are you exactly?
Just as she tried to look up at him, the surrounding darkness suddenly tightened. Camula felt a wave of suffocation wash over her as all her strengthher vampire powerswere swallowed whole by the encroaching shadows.
"What is happening? My power... my vampire power... no!"
Black smoke billowed from her body. As her power vanished, the doll that was once Zane Truesdale began to return to its original form. Meanwhile, the tiny version of Professor Crowler at Chazz's waist also reverted to normal, his legs still wrapped tightly around Chazz's midsection.
"Ew! Disgusting! You old freak! Get off me right now!" Chazz barked.
"I'm trying, na-no-ne!" Crowler squealed.
Zane stood up from the ground, looking slightly dazed as he watched the two of them bickering, then turned his gaze toward the trembling Camula.
"Is it over... Jaden?" Zane looked up just as Jaden was retracting his Duel Disk and walking downstairs. Zane's lips curled into a slight smile. He had known Jaden could win easily. Zane hadn't thrown his duel just for the sake of the kidnapped students; he had done it because he believed in Jaden's ability. He trusted that Jaden could defeat Camula and return everyone to normal.
"Jaden..." Alexis hurried over as she saw him coming down the stairs. She looked excited, as if she wanted to say a thousand things, but after a moment of hesitation, she simply offered him a warm smile. "Good work."
Walking beside him with her hands behind her back, she beamed at him. Jaden glanced at her, nodded with a small smile, and continued on his way.
Watching them leave, Chazz and Bastion exchanged a look.
"The relationship between those two... seems a bit..." Bastion trailed off.
"No way..." Chazz realized what he meant. He let out a long, dejected sigh, his face full of misery. He had always harbored a crush on Alexis, but with Jaden in the picture, it felt like there was no room for him to step in.
"What's wrong, Chazz? You look like you just swallowed a bug."
"Shut up! None of your business!"
With the loss of Camula's power, the vampire palace gradually reverted to its original state as the Abandoned Dorm. The students she had captured were rescued one by one. Although the group wanted to continue tracking Camula, a search of the area confirmed that the now-powerless Shadow Rider was no longer on the island.
Back at the Obelisk Blue Dorm.
[Congratulations to the Host for defeating the Shadow Riderthe Vampire Camula.]
[Detected that the Host has engaged in a Shadow Duel. Calculating rewards...]
[Link Summoning Level: LV.2 → LV.3 (Link Summoning stability increased; can only be used in Shadow Duels).]
[Reward: 100,000 Duel Points.]
The voice in his head faded. Jaden opened his eyes and looked out the window at the fiery red sunset.
"The plot has drifted," Jaden murmured to himself, feeling a hint of surprise. "Because there wasn't enough time to activate the Illusion Gate, Camula didn't end up being offered as a sacrifice to the Sacred Beasts."
This change was relatively minor. Jaden knew that despite the massive changes he had made over the last decade or so, the general plot of GX was still proceeding steadily.
But... the butterfly's wings had flapped. Future changes were now unavoidable.
It was just like a visual novel. Even if you chose different options, the early stages of the story remained similar. However, each choice eventually led to a drastically different ending. This small deviation was likely already beginning to ripple through the future.
"Will the future world change because of these shifts? And if it does, what will it become?"
Inside his spirit space.
"So you're saying you all went out to play and didn't take me with you?!"
A blue-haired dragon girl dressed in a light purple maid outfit looked at the other four maids with puffed-out cheeks. Seeing the four of them snickering, her eyes welled up with tears of frustration.
"Seriously! All of you! Even the Supreme King! Why won't anyone play with me?!" she wailed. "I want to be in the deck too! I want to be a hero!!!"
Perhaps... this was simply Little Blue's eternal fate.
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