Chapter 181

"I didn't expect things to stay this quiet for two whole days. Did something go wrong on the Seven Stars' end? Is their next hitter still not here...?"

Sprawled lazily across a lounge chair up on the spacious rooftop, Rowan basked in the sun with the round Kuriboh curled up beside him, sipping fruit juice through a straw and grumbling to himself.

This was already the second day he'd spent doing nothing but sunbathing.

Yesterday, after finishing Atticus Rhodes's "rehabilitation training" and then lounging through the rest of the afternoon in the sun, Rowan had actually expected Titan, the Seven Stars Shadow Duelist (assuming the man was even still alive, and had by now joined their dark faction), to come looking for him that night for revenge.

Or perhaps to target the Spirit Key that Alexis carried, and drag her into a Shadow Duel instead.

But somehow, completely against expectation, the man hadn't shown up at all last night...

It genuinely made Rowan want to sit that unlucky old bastard down and give him a talking to.

Every other Seven Stars duelist so far had shown up like clockwork, one every other day, each marching straight into defeat right behind the last without missing a beat, wave after wave of them throwing themselves at him.

So how had this particular Titan ended up going quiet and hunkering down like some kind of deadbeat?

Even as Rowan let out a sigh of pure exasperation, the kind reserved for watching real potential go to waste, the vampire maid Camula stood not far off, holding a tray of juice and cursing him silently in her heart the entire time. Forced, once again, to sunbathe right along with him.

Making a vampire sunbathe, on the grounds that it was supposedly good for her health... where in the world had this wretched brat even dreamed that up?

And what was wrong with the rest of the Seven Stars, anyway? Down to just two members left, and still nobody had managed to put this brat in his place.

Was she, the last noble scion of a proud vampire bloodline, truly going to spend the rest of her days serving as this scheming little devil's maid...?

As for whatever little schemes were brewing in Camula's head, Rowan wasn't the least bit worried. Once something landed in his pocket, did she really think he'd just let it go? Not a chance. At the very least, he was more than satisfied with how useful this vampire maid had turned out to be.

Soon enough, Rowan set the matter aside and turned to tallying up everything he'd gained over the past few days. He glanced over his system interface.

[Name: Rowan] [Skills: Spirit Vision, Superior Still Water Clarity, Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Head / Dragon's Heart / Dragon's Tail] [Current decks: Dark Magician OTK Deck, Lava Golem Deck, Stealth Bird Deck... Gravekeeper's Deck, Quick-Draw Deck, Amazoness / Melodious Deck] [Emotion Points: 7000]

Rowan remembered that before his duel against Tania two days ago, after redeeming the Amazoness / Melodious Deck for 1500 points and the Quick-Draw Deck for another 500, he'd had exactly 2000 points left.

Now, somehow, that number had ballooned into a downright extravagant 7000.

In other words, in just these past two days, between "King Kong Barbie" Tania and the "rehabilitation training" he'd put Alexis's brother Atticus through, he'd raked in a ridiculous five thousand points.

Rowan couldn't help but grin. At this rate, he figured, he could afford to redeem two Mark of the Crimson Dragon skills in one go if he felt like it.

With a flicker of anticipation, he turned his attention to the four freshly refreshed options on his system menu.

[System Shop (refreshes every two days)]

Today's options:

[Deck: Goblin Deck (original Ra Yellow build)] 500 points. [Deck: Barrier Machine God Deck (Underworld Torment build)] 1500 points. [Deck: Darklord Deck (Underworld Life-or-Death Burn build)] 1500 points. [Skill: Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Claw (the Crimson Dragon's true sight, able to see through a target's good or evil nature)] 3000 points.

"Finally, another piece of the Mark of the Crimson Dragon..." Rowan murmured, a faint smile crossing his face at the sight of the newly revealed Dragon's Claw.

The only thing that left him just a little disappointed was this: the power behind this particular mark felt, to him personally, a bit redundant.

After all, if what he wanted was to know whether someone harbored ill intent toward him, Rowan figured his little Kuriboh companion could already handle that job just fine on its own. And for most people he ran into, he could usually guess what kind of person they were just from memory and context alone.

Still, it was one of the six pieces that made up the complete Mark of the Crimson Dragon, and he couldn't afford to be missing it. So Rowan decided, without much hesitation, to redeem it anyway.

The next instant, a familiar crimson light flared across his wrist, bringing with it a burst of searing heat, and the faint outline of a dragon's claw slowly surfaced on his skin. Then, just as quickly, it faded away and vanished.

"What was that just now...?!" Camula, standing a short distance away, went wide-eyed, staring in astonishment at the spot on Rowan's wrist where the mark had just disappeared.

It was the second time she'd witnessed that crimson mark's power on him. Unlike the first time, back when she'd still been sealed inside a Shadow Card, this time Camula could sense the aura of that power far more clearly.

It felt, strangely, like something out of the old vampire clan records... a divine presence not unlike the Egyptian God Cards.

Had this scheming little devil actually been chosen by some god of this Dueling world?

Had he known what was running through Camula's mind, Rowan would have been more than happy to correct her, with maximum smugness. It wasn't some god who had chosen him. He, Rowan, was the one who had chosen the Crimson Feathered Serpent God.

Granted, he was still two crucial Dragon Marks short of the god's complete power, both still unredeemed...

Not that Rowan paid the least bit of attention to his vampire maid's stunned expression. Having redeemed the Dragon's Claw, he was now fully absorbed in deciding which of the three remaining Underworld decks to pick up next.

All so he could deliver another dose of "warmth" to that unlucky old bastard Titan, the Seven Stars Shadow Duelist, whenever he finally showed his face again. Warmth guaranteed to leave him grimacing through nightmares even while unconscious.