Chapter 166:

"Hah!"

At Tania's command, the second Amazoness Swords Woman let out a matching battle cry, her flame-wreathed curved blade cutting toward Litmus Doom Swordsman, now standing at a full 3000 ATK on Bastion's field.

Just as before, Litmus struck back without effort, his twin curved blades cutting the swordswoman down in a fresh burst of fire and smoke.

And once again, the resulting explosion surged past Tania entirely, slamming straight into Bastion instead. He grunted in pain a second time.

His Life Points, already down to 2500 LP, dropped by another 1500, the exact gap between the two monsters' ATK, leaving him with just 1000 LP.

"Rough as that was, at least Bastion survived it with 1000 LP left. There's still hope here."

Professor Crowler wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, letting out a small sigh of relief on Bastion's behalf.

Jaden, Chazz, and Syrus all relaxed slightly too.

The score currently stood at 2500 LP to 1000 LP. Bastion was clearly behind, but at least he still had that powerful 3000 ATK Litmus Doom Swordsman holding the field.

As long as that Continuous Trap, Spirit Barrier, stayed intact, next turn he'd be able to start chipping away at the muscle-bound Seven Stars Shadow Duelist's Life Points and claw his way back to a win.

"I wouldn't count on it. There's a decent chance Bastion's already lost this."

Rowan shook his head, flatly shooting down the group's optimism.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Alexis, Professor Crowler, and Chazz all turned to him at once, clearly caught off guard, confusion written across their faces.

"She's still got one more face-down card sitting on her field. Nobody throws away two monsters in a row like that on a suicidal attack unless they're already dead certain it's going to pay off."

Rowan spread his hands, matter-of-fact about it.

"Heh. Guess the kid over there really is a cut above, huh."

Catching the drift of Rowan's comment from across the arena, Tania let out a low, amused laugh and raised a hand toward the last face-down card still waiting on her field.

"Activating my set card. Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted!"

The trap flipped open, revealing a dark, shadowed image dotted with gravestones.

"This card's effect. Special Summon one monster straight from my Graveyard."

"Rise again, Amazoness Swords Woman!"

"Hah!"

Tania raised the Duel Disk strapped to her muscular left arm, and a beam of golden light shot up from her Graveyard slot. On the field before her, the same familiar, deep purple-haired, powerfully built warrior materialized once more, curved blade in hand.

"What?!" Bastion's face went white with shock.

A monster Special Summoned through a trap during the Battle Phase could still attack that very turn.

If this Amazoness Swords Woman went after Litmus Doom Swordsman too...

"This is bad!"

Jaden, Chazz, and Syrus all felt the shift in the air immediately, their expressions turning grim.

With no cards left in hand, and no other traps set, there was clearly nothing left for Bastion to fall back on.

"Congratulations. You'll be the very first member of our new bloodline, joining the Amazoness clan."

Tania grinned, pointing toward Litmus Doom Swordsman on Bastion's field.

"Amazoness Swords Woman, attack Litmus Doom Swordsman again! Finish this, dear Bastion!"

Bastion's mind went completely blank with despair.

A single thought echoed through his head. A promising young man in the prime of his life, about to be dragged off by some terrifying, unforeseen force he'd never signed up for.

"Hah!"

An instant later, the charging Amazoness swordswoman was once again cut down effortlessly by Litmus's twin blades, exploding into fire and smoke.

The shockwave from the blast, redirected onto Bastion by Amazoness Swords Woman's own special effect, slammed into his last 1000 LP, ticking it steadily down to zero.

Bastion let out one final, pained grunt before his legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

"Bastion!!"

Jaden, Chazz, and Professor Crowler all cried out at once, startled.

But before any of them could rush over to help him up.

"Bass!"

Tania called out sharply, and the massive, one-eyed, blue-eyed tiger leaped forward, scooping Bastion up in its jaws with ease.

The Spirit Key hanging around Bastion's neck slipped free into Tania's waiting hand, dissolving into a faint glow and vanishing.

Rowan caught a faint glimpse of something else too. Right after the Shadow Duel's loss, two thin lines of what looked like traditional face markings had faintly appeared across Bastion's unconscious face, matching the same style of markings on Tania's own.

Well. Looked like the guy had just been temporarily inducted into the Amazoness clan, then.

Rowan couldn't help the internal commentary.

"Kuri kuri."

The round Kuriboh, perched on his shoulder, let out a warning chirp.

"That friend of yours has apparently been temporarily turned into something closer to a Duel Spirit himself, as a result of losing that Shadow Duel."

Ishizu's voice sounded softly beside Rowan, seemingly out of nowhere.

"If it's left unaddressed for too long, there's a chance he might not be able to change back."