As his voice fell, a purple summoning circle rose from the Graveyard.
Chamber Dragonmaid appeared once again on Jaden Yuki's field.
"Well, even though he quite rudely used me as Link material, my Lord Supreme King is still gentle enough to summon me back," Chamber Dragonmaid muttered. She took a defensive stance in front of Jaden, stealing a quick glance behind her.
"Due to the effect of Dragonmaid Hospitality, I can send one 'Dragonmaid' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard with the same Attribute as the Special Summoned monster, but a different Level," Jaden explained, his eyes narrowing slightly. "However, since Chamber Dragonmaid doesn't have her higher dragon form available yet, I cannot activate this effect."
"But," Jaden continued, "I shall use Chamber Dragonmaid and Striker Dragon on my field once more to perform a Link Summon!"
"Eh?" Chamber Dragonmaid, who had only been happy for a moment, was stunned.
Before she could say another word, her body and Striker Dragon's both dissolved into beams of light that transformed into arrows, etching themselves into the Extra Monster Zone.
Ding!
Two arrows lit up in the Extra Monster Zone.
Under the astonished gazes of the onlookers, Jaden pulled another blue card from his Extra Deck.
"I use the Link-1 Striker Dragon and one Dragon-Type monster as Link material! Link Summon!"
"Link-2! Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres!"
A glowing red orb of light manifested in the Extra Monster Zone.
"A second Link Monster... Has Jaden already completely mastered this summoning technique even though this is the first time he's used it?" Chazz Princeton asked, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"It's truly breath-taking. I thought that with my talent, I would be able to catch up to Jaden's pace quickly. But to think... Jaden has already surpassed the realm of Fusion Summoning and entered a whole new dimension," Bastion Misawa remarked with a sigh, a faint sense of frustration rising within him.
"It's because Jaden's strength is so unreachable that we can only chase after his shadow," Alexis Rhodes added with a soft sigh. "To be honest, I still haven't quite figured out how this Link Summoning works."
Her words were met with nods of agreement from the others.
While everyone else was still trying to wrap their heads around this new concept, Jaden was already so familiar with Link Summoning that he could use it at will. At this point, the gap between them had grown nearly impossible to bridge.
[Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres]
[Dragon-Type]
[Link Arrows: ↙↘]
[ATK: 0 / Link-2]
Camula stared blankly at the new monster on Jaden's field for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! And here I was wondering what kind of monster you were going to bring out. In the end, it's just a piece of trash with 0 Attack Power!"
"What's more, Link Monsters cannot be changed to Defense Position. Next turn, I'm going to crush this monster of yours!" Camula sneered, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"Is that so?" Jaden's lips curled upward. "Then I'll end my turn right here."
"Turn end?"
Everyone was shocked by Jaden's declaration.
"No way... He only has one monster with 0 Attack on the field, and he's just ending the turn?"
"Even if Link Summoning is new and innovative, having 0 Attack is just too..."
Chazz and Bastion couldn't understand why Jaden would make such a bold decision. Furthermore, Jaden still had four cards remaining in his hand.
"Let's just believe in Jaden. He must have his own reasons," Alexis said, shaking her head as she chose to trust Jaden's judgment unconditionally.
"Yes, that's all we can do... Given Jaden's dueling skills, if he dares to make such a move, it's definitely because he has something special in his hand, or that card has some hidden effect," Professor Banner said, his eyes squinting as he spoke.
Seeing Jaden end his turn, Camula immediately drew a card from her deck without hesitation.
"Since you underestimate me so much, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"My turn! Draw!"
She glanced at the card she drew, and a cruel smile spread across her face.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, Vampire Domain!"
Behind Camula, a crimson blood moon rose into the sky. The light effect of the Spell Card materialized in front of Jaden, and an invisible bloody mist began to shroud the surrounding darkness.
"That... that's a card Camula has never used before."
"Does that mean she was hiding her true strength until now?" Chazz and Bastion were startled.
"By paying 500 Life Points, this card allows me to perform one additional Normal Summon of a 'Vampire' monster this turn!"
As she spoke, Camula was enveloped in a red glow. Her Life Points began to drop under the light.
[Camula: LP 4000 → 3500]
"I summon Vampire Lady from my hand! Then, I'll use Vampire Lady as a Tribute to Tribute Summon Vampire Lord from my hand!"
A flash of bloody light erupted. Vampire Lady quickly left the field, replaced by a white-haired vampire who appeared with a chilling laugh.
"It's not over yet! I banish Vampire Lord from the game to Special Summon Vampire Genesis from my hand!"
"Roar!" A giant, purple-skinned vampire materialized on Camula's field.
[Vampire Genesis]
[Level: 8]
[Zombie-Type]
[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2100]
"Three thousand Attack... this is bad. Jaden's monster only has 0 Attack..." Even though Alexis believed in Jaden, her heart couldn't help but tighten at the sight of such a massive power gap.
"Vampire Genesis, attack Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres!" Camula immediately entered her Battle Phase. "And thanks to Vampire Domain, whenever a Vampire monster deals battle damage to the opponent, I recover Life Points equal to that amount!"
"Life Point recovery?"
"That's truly the style of a vampire..."
The onlookers swallowed hard.
"I told you, never underestimate a monster with 0 Attack Power," Jaden said with a slight smirk. "I activate the effect of Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres!"
"Once per turn, during the opponent's turn, while this card is in the Extra Monster Zone, I can Tribute one Dragon-Type monster from my field or hand to target one face-up card on the field and return it to the owner's hand!"
"What?!" Camula gasped.
"I Tribute the Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres on my field to return your Vampire Genesis to your hand!" Jaden shouted.
The orb of light on Jaden's field instantly dissolved into shimmering motes. Simultaneously, under the brilliance of that fading light, Vampire Genesis let out a final roar before vanishing back into Camula's hand.
"No..." Camula gritted her teeth. Before she could process the loss, she noticed that the light on Jaden's field hadn't fully dissipated.
The motes of light converged once more. A red-haired girl dressed in a maid uniform and an apron appeared on Jaden's field with a smile.
"When Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres is Tributed, I can Special Summon one Dragon-Type monster from my hand or Deck, but its Attack and Defense become 0."
Jaden took a card from his deck and placed it on the Duel Disk.
"I choose Kitchen Dragonmaid!"
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