Chapter 169

"My turn first! Draw!"

Tania seized the first move again, drawing straight from her own Duel Disk.

She glanced at the card, smirking as she turned to Rowan.

"Let me show you exactly how fast this Courage deck can end things."

"Activating the Quick-Play Spell from my hand, Amazoness Call!"

Tania played the card the instant she drew it. On her field, a Spell Card materialized, showing a fierce-looking Amazoness warrior perched on a tree branch, calling out to something in the distance.

"This card's effect lets me take one card with 'Amazoness' in its name from my deck, other than a second copy of this Quick-Play Spell, and either add it to my hand, or discard it straight to the Graveyard."

"I'll send an Amazoness Swords Woman from my deck to the Graveyard."

As Tania spoke, a soft orange glow flickered from her raised deck, and an Amazoness Swords Woman slid free, landing in the Graveyard slot.

"She deliberately sent an Amazoness Swords Woman to the Graveyard on purpose?!" Watching from the sidelines, Alexis and Chazz both tensed at once.

Something had clicked for them.

"Don't tell me she's got a card in hand that can revive a monster straight from the Graveyard," Professor Crowler said, voicing the thought outright.

"Exactly right. Activating the Spell Card from my hand, Monster Reborn!" Tania laughed, smug, pulling another card from her hand and playing it immediately.

"This card's effect lets me choose one monster from my Graveyard and Special Summon it."

"And obviously, I'm picking the only monster currently sitting in my Graveyard. Amazoness Swords Woman!"

"Hah!"

Tania raised the Duel Disk on her left arm again, and a beam of orange light shot out from her Graveyard slot, landing on the field and taking shape as the familiar, deep purple-haired, powerfully built swordswoman, 1500 ATK, curved blade in hand.

"Special Summoning a monster first, then following it up with a Normal Summon. Looks like she's planning to build up a strong enough field to overwhelm me right out of the gate."

Rowan had already picked up on the plan.

Still, after glancing at his own hand, he settled back to calmly watch her finish her turn.

"Hmph. No reaction at all to my ace monster? Guess I need to put a little more pressure on you first, kid."

Tania's mouth curled into a grin as she slapped another card onto her Duel Disk.

"Next, I'll Summon in Attack Position: Amazoness Paladin!"

"Hah!"

A soft glow rose, and a golden-haired Amazoness warrior appeared, draped in a tattered white cloak, wielding a longsword, letting out a low battle cry as she took her place on Tania's field.

[Amazoness Paladin] [Level: 4] [Attribute: EARTH] [ATK: 1700] [DEF: 300]

"Amazoness Paladin's special effect. For every monster on my field with 'Amazoness' in its name, her ATK increases by 100."

As Tania spoke, the dark-skinned, blond, surprisingly normal-proportioned Amazoness warrior's ATK ticked steadily upward, climbing by 200, landing at 1900.

"And I'll Set two more cards, and end my turn."

Two solid thuds sounded as a pair of massive face-down cards materialized on Tania's field.

Watching from the sidelines, Jaden and Syrus both felt the pressure building.

"She summoned a monster with decent ATK on turn one, plus that Amazoness Swords Woman with the nasty effect."

"And now two more clearly dangerous face-downs on top of it. This field is honestly pretty intimidating."

They put themselves in Rowan's position, trying to work out how they'd even begin to answer this, and immediately hit a wall.

Attacking with a similarly powered monster ran the risk of eating a revival trap after destroying hers. Attacking with something stronger just turned it into a free target for one of her frame-job monsters, the exact same trap Bastion had fallen into.

The only real question left was what kind of deck Rowan actually had waiting this time.

Alexis, Chazz, and Professor Crowler all kept their eyes locked on Rowan, waiting to see what he'd do next.

Even Tania, standing calm and confident across the field, watched him with the same quiet curiosity, waiting to see how he'd respond.

"Since you're done with your little performance, I suppose it's my turn now. Draw!"

Rowan drew from his own deck, folding the new card into his hand.

Without even glancing at it, he pulled one card free and set it straight onto his Duel Disk.

"Activating the Spell Card from my hand, Ostinato!"

A Spell Card etched with a spiraling musical staff symbol materialized on his field.

"Os... Ostinato?!"

Even Tania looked thoroughly confused across the arena. Alexis, Professor Crowler, and the rest watching from the sidelines all leaned in, curious.

Rowan really had pulled out yet another card none of them had ever seen before.

"This card's effect. As long as I control no monsters, I can send two monsters needed as Fusion Material for a 'Melodious' Fusion Monster from my hand or deck to the Graveyard, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster directly."

A faint smile crossed Rowan's face as he spoke.

"The catch is, the monster summoned this way gets destroyed at the end of the turn..."