Chapter 146: Things Suddenly Got Dirty

"Impossible! I actually lost!"

The Gravekeeper elder pressed a hand to his chest, still not quite believing it, wincing at the ache left behind by the shockwave from that final explosion.

The moment he fell, the great tawny brown canyon of Necrovalley rumbled and sank back down in an instant, vanishing just as it had come, restoring the platform to its original earthen altar form.

In its place, the group found themselves back atop the altar's raised platform once more.

"Elder, are you all right?"

The masked female assassin in black robes rushed over, worry plain in her voice.

Then, glancing quietly toward Rowan and Alexis, she offered a suggestion to the elder.

"Elder, should we perhaps cancel the next trial?"

It was clear this kindhearted young woman was still hoping to spare the trespassers if she could.

Rowan almost felt a little sheepish watching her try. He had to admit, for someone whose title was Gravekeeper's Assailant, she had a remarkably gentle heart.

"It's nothing but a minor scrape. I'll manage." The elder waved a hand and pushed himself back upright.

He pulled a pendant from somewhere on his person and turned toward Jaden.

"That was a fine duel. You've passed the trial that decides whether your companions live or are buried alive. You're only the second person in a very long time to do so."

"So, in accordance with the Gravekeeper clan's traditions, this half pendant is yours, as a reward for passing the trial."

With that, the elder tossed the broken half pendant across to Jaden, standing on the platform opposite him.

"That pendant... it can't be!" Alexis's expression shifted the moment she caught sight of the broken pendant, a flicker of startled recognition crossing her face.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a matching pair with the other half your brother wears."

Rowan said, glancing at the broken golden pendant Jaden had just caught, recognizing it immediately.

"Jaden and my brother being a pair of something... you're making one of your weird jokes again, aren't you."

Alexis frowned at the mental image that conjured, unable to stop herself from shooting Rowan an exasperated look.

She found she suddenly couldn't look at that pendant, or her brother, quite the same way again.

Rowan wanted very badly to point out that he hadn't meant it that way at all.

Alexis had simply taken it somewhere strange all on her own.

"So the one who passed the trial before was this young lady's brother, the boy standing beside you?"

The Gravekeeper elder, catching wind of the exchange, turned to look at them with interest.

"Before this, someone who called himself Darkness did indeed intrude upon this sacred place and challenge me to the trial, and did succeed in passing it. He was given half of the Gravekeeper clan's dark artifact pendant that I carry, as his reward. He also invited me, in name at least, to join an organization called the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists for a time, and gave me a dark power artifact called a Shadow Charm, in exchange for helping them seize something called the Spirit Key."

"Just as I thought." A knowing look crossed Rowan's face.

He'd sensed that dark power signature, similar to Camula's dark restraints, the moment he'd arrived, and had already suspected as much.

He turned to the elder. "Well then, old man, it sounds like you're one of the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists too, at least in name."

Alexis and Jaden, along with Syrus and the others who'd just been freed from their coffins thanks to Jaden's win, all looked at the white-robed, black-hooded elder in shock at that.

They suddenly remembered that the elder had indeed mentioned the Spirit Key earlier.

"That's correct. Though I never paid this so-called Spirit Key much mind, I did lose that earlier trial and gave my word to him. And as it happens, all of you are trespassers as well, which means you're required to undergo the trial regardless."

The elder nodded, confirming what Rowan had said, then turned to him.

"So then, young man, will it be you or the young lady beside you who steps forward first to face me in the Shadow Duel trial?"

"Rowan, you've already gone through two Shadow Duels in a row. A duel like that puts real strain on the body. Maybe this time you should let me..."

Alexis started to suggest she take his place, but Rowan waved a hand, cutting her off gently before she could finish, silently telling her not to worry.

"There's no reason for you to be the one standing in front during something like this, Alexis. Besides, my new deck's already itching to deliver a little warmth and hospitality to this old Gravekeeper gentleman."

Rowan said with an easy smile, pulling out a deck and slotting it into the Duel Disk freshly strapped onto his left wrist as he looked toward the elder on the distant platform.

He'd known from the very start there'd likely be a duel waiting for him, so he'd had Camula, his vampire servant, carry the Duel Disk along in her bag the whole time.

Free labor was free labor, no reason he should have to lug it around himself.

Rowan, needless to say, never minded going the extra mile to avoid a little hassle.

"Rowan..." Alexis still looked a little worried about his condition and opened her mouth to argue further, but seeing the same easy, unbothered smile on his face as always, she found she didn't have anything left to say.

A strange sense of calm settled over her instead, and she simply nodded at him.

"Just... be careful," she added at last.

Before long, Rowan made his way up onto the altar platform where Jaden and the elder had just dueled.

"You've got this, Rowan!"

Jaden, along with Syrus and Chumley, freshly rescued from their brush with death, immediately took up positions at the edge of the altar to cheer him on.

This duel might finally reveal a little more about whatever mysterious power lies hidden inside Rowan, squinty-eyed Professor Banner thought to himself, cradling his fat cat in his arms.

Given that Rowan had already beaten his star pupil Jaden before, the professor wasn't particularly worried about the possibility of Rowan losing.

If anything, he found himself far more curious about what new Underworld deck Rowan might pull out this time.

Alexis and the others, watching as Rowan and the elder readied their Duel Disks for the match ahead, couldn't help but find themselves wondering the very same thing.