Chapter 147: That Smile Instantly Became Much Happier!

"Boy, let me see just how much backbone you're really carrying!"

The Gravekeeper elder settled his own deck back into his Duel Disk, addressing Rowan.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

At the same moment, Rowan and the elder both drew their opening hand of five cards, and their Life Point counters flared to life beside them, each starting at 4000 LP.

"I'll take the first move again. Draw!"

The elder drew a card straight from his deck, clearly intent on washing away the shame of his earlier defeat.

After a glance at his hand, he added the card to it, then slapped another one down onto his Duel Disk.

"I Normal Summon Gravekeeper's Spearman in Attack Position!"

"Hyah!!"

A faint glow rose up, and a warrior in black robes, gripping a long spear, materialized with a low battle cry, appearing on the elder's field before him.

[Gravekeeper's Spearman] [Level: 4] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 1500] [DEF: 1000]

"Next, I activate the Field Spell from my hand, Necrovalley!"

The elder immediately pulled out that familiar card and revealed it.

"BOOM!!"

Almost instantly, the altar and its surrounding terrain shifted once more, a great sun-scorched canyon rising up around them.

The platform where Rowan and the elder stood transformed into two lone stone pillars, suspended above the canyon floor.

"A card game's a card game, did we really need this whole irritating setup."

Rowan's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but grumble. Thankfully the pillar wasn't too dizzying a height, still well within what he could tolerate without much trouble.

Rowan decided right then and there that he'd repay the elder for this "warmth" and "hospitality" in full.

"You already know Necrovalley's effect, don't you, boy!" The elder said with a clenched fist and a grin.

"As long as this field is in play, neither of us can activate any card effect that targets the Graveyard, and every monster on the field with 'Gravekeeper' in its name gains 500 attack and defense. Which means Gravekeeper's Spearman's attack is now 2000!"

Watching from the sidelines, Jaden's expression turned notably serious as he saw Gravekeeper's Spearman's attack tick upward to 2000. This duel between the Gravekeeper elder and Rowan seemed to be starting off even more intense than his own had.

"He's already activated Necrovalley on his very first turn, sealing off the Graveyard and boosting his own monsters at the same time!"

Alexis said, equally startled.

When she and Rowan had arrived earlier, Jaden's duel with the elder had already been nearing its end, so they'd only caught a brief glimpse of how it had played out.

But from what little she'd seen, Alexis could tell that the strength and aggression the elder was bringing to this second duel seemed noticeably greater than before.

The Shadow Charm is unique in that it can grant its user greater dueling strength depending on the strength of their resolve.

I wonder how you'll handle this, Rowan, squinty-eyed Professor Banner thought to himself, clearly having picked up on the same thing.

Having just lost his earlier duel against Jaden, the elder was probably all the more determined to win this one, which meant he was likely drawing on a bit more of that dark artifact's power this time around.

Though the boost probably wasn't too drastic.

Must be the influence of that dark artifact, the Shadow Charm, Rowan mused to himself.

He'd already sensed a more pronounced ripple of dark power radiating from the elder standing across from him.

"Next, I'll set one card face-down. Turn end. Your move, boy."

With a soft thunk, the elder placed a face-down card on his field and turned to Rowan.

"Well then, I won't hold back either. My turn, draw!"

Rowan drew a card from his own deck.

The moment he glanced at what he'd drawn, Alexis and the others watching from the sidelines saw a bright, cheerful smile spread across his face, and every one of them who knew Rowan well felt the exact same thought flash through their minds at once.

He'd drawn something nasty.

Rowan added the drawn card to his hand, then pulled out another and placed it on his Duel Disk.

"I Set one monster face-down in Defense Position. Then I'll set three more cards face-down. Turn end."

As Rowan finished speaking, a series of soft thunks rang out one after another, and four massive face-down card silhouettes materialized on his field in an instant, one horizontal and three vertical.

Four cards face-down right out the gate. Come and get it.

"A monster set face-down in Defense Position. Looks like it's a Flip Effect monster, similar to my own Gravekeeper's Guard."

The elder said, apparently satisfied he'd figured Rowan out. "But even so, setting one lousy monster down isn't going to stop me in this trial!"

"My turn, draw!"

He drew a card swiftly from his deck, then raised a hand to reveal it.

"I Tribute my Gravekeeper's Spearman on the field to Summon myself!"

"Hummmm!!"

A faint glow rose up around the black-robed Gravekeeper's Spearman, and it vanished, consumed as the tribute.

At the same time, that same golden glow flared to life around the elder himself, and in an instant he was transported directly onto the field, taking the Spearman's place.

[Gravekeeper's Chief] [Level: 5] [Attribute: DARK] [ATK: 1900] [DEF: 1200]

"Next, I activate my own special effect. When I'm successfully Tribute Summoned, I revive one Gravekeeper monster from my Graveyard. Rise again, Gravekeeper's Spearman!"

The elder raised his Duel Disk, and a golden glow shot out from the Graveyard slot, taking shape once more as the black-robed spearman, reappearing on the field beside him.

Thanks to Necrovalley's boost, the elder's field now held one monster with 2400 attack and another with 2000.

"Stepping onto the field in person again, are we."

Rowan raised an eyebrow, entirely unconcerned about the coming assault.

He figured the monster he had face-down on his field was more than enough to give this old Gravekeeper gentleman quite the "surprise."