"Hikaru Amagi, seeing you back in class truly makes me happy—nya," Professor Banner beamed as he welcomed Hikaru back to the classroom on a new school day. "Is your body feeling better?"
"I'm fine now, Professor!" Hikaru replied casually.
"Then let's not waste time. Come, Hikaru-kun." Banner gestured to the front. "We're doing a pulverization experiment today—nya. You'll be demonstrating for the class."
In front of the entire class, Professor Banner immediately altered the lesson plan to give Hikaru a hands-on opportunity, personally guiding him—clearly giving him special treatment.
One of the core principles of alchemy was destruction and rebirth: breaking down raw materials to their base form and refining them—via distillation, grinding, and other processes—into something new.
Most students were already used to this kind of scene. Aside from Misawa, who was still diligently memorizing his textbooks, the rest had long since given up on mastering alchemy. Watching Professor Banner and Hikaru tinker with bizarre "chemistry" projects was far more entertaining than trying to understand the real thing.
School life appeared to carry on as usual. The catastrophe Jaden feared—losing classmates and friends due to Shadow Duels—hadn't happened.
At least… not yet.
Even in the original series, the appearances of the Shadow Riders (Seven Stars) were spaced apart. No strict schedule was ever followed.
During class breaks, Hikaru paid a visit to Professor Crowler, requesting a new copy of Ancient Gear Golem. His reasoning? "My old one randomly evolved into Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem somehow."
Normally, Crowler would never entertain anything so absurd or supernatural. But after being ambushed by Gem-Knights in another dimension, hearing about the Sacred Beast cards from Chancellor Sheppard, and learning about the Shadow Duel from Alexis, he was more willing to keep an open mind.
Besides, thanks to Hikaru, Crowler had earned a lot of favor with the Chancellor. Backing the school's most promising duelist had paid off.
And since the school had discovered more copies of Ancient Gears in the alternate dimension, giving one away as an "Outstanding Student Reward" was easy.
Of course, Hikaru wasn't just freeloading. In exchange for that card and Crowler's continued support as the future "advisor" for the new Fusion Department, Hikaru handed over a rare Ancient Gear Fusion card.
Card trading and collecting—it was still a card game at heart.
That day...
"Hey, did you hear?!" A few students gossiped excitedly. "Something popped up on the west side of the island, by the lake!"
"What is it? What showed up?"
"A Western-style mansion! No one knows how or when, but it just appeared overnight! I heard students are already planning to explore it!"
"Maybe there's a handsome vampire lord inside!"
"Please, I heard some students have already fallen unconscious recently…"
Apparently, vampire dramas were popular lately, and the girls were loving it.
"Wait—!" Jaden, overhearing the conversation, suddenly snapped to attention. His instincts screamed danger. After what happened to Hikaru, he couldn't ignore potential signs of another enemy.
Grabbing Syrus and Chazz, he rushed to the Chancellor's office.
After discussing with Chancellor Sheppard and the other Key-holders, it was clear:
A new enemy had arrived.
The group made their way to the lake. Fog now blanketed the surface, and at its center sat an enormous Western-style mansion, shrouded in shadow.
As they approached the shore, a long, regal red carpet unrolled itself across the water from the mansion, reaching the land without explanation.
"Is this… an invitation?" The students stared at the velvet carpet with wary expressions.
Hikaru instinctively stepped forward—but Jaden yanked him back. "Wait, Hikaru! You just got out of the infirmary! You can't take part in another duel like this!"
"He's right," added Alexis. "Let me—"
Clack.
Unexpectedly, Professor Crowler had already stepped onto the carpet.
The students stared, wide-eyed.
The only teacher present, Crowler stood tall and adjusted his posture with a dramatic cough. "Ahem! As the only faculty member here, I'll be the one to handle this duel!"
"Professor?!" Misawa and Chazz looked shocked.
Even Zane's eyes widened slightly.
Crowler? This wasn't how his character usually acted…
Wasn't he usually cowardly and petty?
"Wow, he's amazing!""Truly a model teacher!""So brave!"
"Of course!" Crowler coughed again, turning dramatically to face them. "This red carpet is meant for nobles! For a descendant of aristocracy such as myself! And I'll never allow unknown riffraff to endanger my students!"
Hikaru clapped enthusiastically.
Recently, several students had reportedly been attacked and left unconscious by a vampire. Crowler's resolve to stand up like this made sense.
And looking at the mansion… it matched the one in his memories perfectly.
So this was it.
The next enemy: Camula, the Vampire Duelist, one of the Seven Stars.
In the original, she had easily defeated Crowler by peeking at his deck and hand beforehand. She also possessed a terrifying card—The Seal of Orichalcos (here Phantom Gate)—which could erase all opposing monsters and seal the loser's soul if she was defeated.
Camula used her vampiric power to enthrall Syrus and turn him into a sacrificial pawn. Forced into a no-win scenario, Zane gave up the duel and was turned into a doll.
Hikaru felt a little thrill at the thought.
Scheming types were the best.
That meant he could go all out with Super Polymerization, force-feed it the Shadow energy, and walk away with a new Fusion card.
While he mused on that, several figures emerged down the red carpet—pale-skinned, bat-winged servants dressed as butlers and maids. They bowed respectfully to the students.
And behind them walked a green-haired beauty, elegant and confident.
"So, you're the ones guarding the Keys?"
"Yes, I am!" Crowler answered, standing straight. "And you're the one behind the recent attacks, aren't you?!"
"…You must be the one I'm dueling?" Camula frowned, ignoring his question and scanning the others—especially Zane and Hikaru. "Couldn't they have at least sent someone pleasant to look at?"
"Eh?"
"I won't let someone like you sully my lady's sight," one of the maids muttered, indignant.
Lady?
"I am Camula, the Vampire," she hissed, suddenly baring fangs. Her face twisted grotesquely, tongue flicking like a serpent. "Come, humans. If you want to disturb my lady's slumber, you'll have to defeat me first!
If I win, send me your prettiest boy as tribute. If I lose, I'll release the students I've drained!"
"Hmph. With pleasure!"
The two of them wasted no time—right there in front of the crowd, they activated their Duel Disks and the Duel began.
Hikaru stood off to the side, blinking.
Wait a second…
Camula isn't one of the Shadow Riders!?