Chapter 160:

"I honestly wasn't fully expecting it either. That Ishizu could partially manifest out here and tap into some of her power as a Duel Spirit."

In answer to Alexis's question, Rowan nodded, looking a little surprised himself.

Up until now, he'd assumed the young Gravekeeper's Assailant existed the same way the round Kuriboh and the Ojama brothers did, a standard, fully invisible Duel Spirit.

He'd figured she wouldn't be able to manifest or use any of her power out here in the real world at all.

Turns out she could pull off a brief, partial manifestation after all, and put some real strength behind it.

"Ishizu...?"

Something about the way Rowan said that name left Alexis with an odd, faint prickle of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy.

She quickly shook the thought away.

Whatever that feeling was, now definitely wasn't the time to be dwelling on it.

Meanwhile, still piled up in a human tower at the top of the stone pillar, trembling, Bastion, Chazz, and Jaden, along with the still-laboring Professor Crowler and the rest of the missing students, were all staring in blank disbelief.

They'd genuinely worried when they'd seen the tiger lunge at Rowan and Alexis's group.

None of them had expected things to turn around quite like this.

If they'd known it would go this smoothly, what exactly had they all just been running for?

"Bass!"

Right then, a rough, husky woman's voice rang out from somewhere in the distance, calling toward the still-wary, growling tiger.

Rowan and the others looked up just in time to see a powerfully built figure, a long, deep purple ponytail trailing behind her, flip cleanly through the air and land right beside the massive tiger.

She raised her left arm, a Duel Disk strapped to it, and gave the injured, giant Amazoness pet tiger a quick, reassuring pat.

"That... man? Woman? Is that the Seven Stars Shadow Duelist?!"

Alexis, along with Bastion and Jaden who'd since climbed back down from the pillar, all stared with equal confusion.

Even Rowan, who'd more or less seen this coming, found himself briefly at a loss for words at the sight of her, all that muscle on full display beneath a skimpy, cool-toned gray half-top.

For a second, he genuinely couldn't tell if he was looking at pecs, or...

A textbook muscle-bound Amazon Barbie, through and through.

And the golden spiked collar around her neck, matched by similar bands on all four limbs, Rowan could only describe as, honestly, remarkably on trend.

"My name is Tania. Queen of the last surviving Amazoness bloodline, and, exactly as you've already guessed, one of the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists."

The tall, striking, purple-ponytailed muscle woman looked over at Rowan's group, the corner of her mouth curling into a wide grin.

"Since the arena's basically finished now, and my opponent's finally shown up, I don't need to keep leaning on my kind volunteers anymore."

Tania turned toward the students who'd just finished hauling the last of the stone blocks, Professor Crowler included, and, smiling brightly, produced a stack of rewards seemingly out of nowhere, handing them out one by one down the line.

"Thanks so much for the help, everyone. This coliseum wouldn't have come together so fast without you."

"Just a little something, think of it as a gift."

"Great work today. This one's yours. Go home and get some proper rest, okay?"

The muscle-bound Amazon Barbie even had a warm, personalized comment for every single person as she handed out their reward.

"Wow, I honestly didn't expect payment for this too."

Finally, it came time for Professor Crowler, hands already stretched out eagerly, beaming, waiting for his turn.

Tania glanced at him once, then simply pocketed the last reward.

And delivered an absolutely devastating line straight to his face.

"Sorry, your face just doesn't cut it. No reward for you."

"..." Professor Crowler froze on the spot with an audible crack, his face instantly going green.

...

He bit down on his own pink collar, practically chewing straight through the fabric in disbelief.

Mamma mia!

Discrimination, on this basis?!

"Pfft...!" Rowan couldn't hold it in, bursting out laughing on the spot.

He supposed that in this world of Duel Monsters, it turned out looks still mattered for something, even outside of actual dueling.

"If you're not planning to leave, then stand aside and behave yourself! I'm about to duel whoever's holding the Spirit Key over there!"

After waving off Professor Crowler, comedy relief personified, back toward Rowan's group, Tania, the Seven Stars' female Shadow Duelist, turned her attention their way once more.

"Let's get started, then. Right here, in this coliseum, we'll wager the Spirit Key in a sacred Shadow Duel."

"Unlike the others, though, losing this duel won't cost you your soul sealed away or anything like that. I've got my own different Shadow Duel terms."

"The only rule is, whoever duels me has to be a real man among men."

"And if you lose, you'll be marrying into the Amazoness bloodline, and leaving this place with me!"

"..." A bead of cold sweat rolled down Rowan's forehead as he took in the full, imposing spectacle of muscle standing before him.

If he genuinely had to choose between having his soul sealed away, or marrying into the Amazoness clan and leaving with their queen...

He had an uncomfortable feeling that getting his soul sealed away might actually be the better deal.

And honestly, even winning didn't sound like it would end well for anyone involved.

"What kind of condition is that supposed to be?!" Alexis was the first to speak up, frowning, clearly unimpressed.

If someone actually won, did that mean they'd end up married to this entire muscle-bound woman, and her equally muscle-bound Amazoness clan?

She was formally the first to object to that particular set of Shadow Duel terms.

"Whoever thinks they qualify as a real man among men, step forward!"

Tania called out, grinning wide, arms crossed, clearly baiting them on purpose.