Chapter 66: Alexis Rhodes’s Fighting Spirit Is Through the Roof

"It looks like you've already settled on your teams."

Chancellor Sheppard smiled as Rowan's group approached, taking in the arrangement at a glance. Alexis Rhodes had moved to stand directly beside Rowan, while Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale had naturally gravitated together.

The bald chancellor gave Professor Crowler a small nod, signaling that the golden-mop-headed professor could begin.

"We will now commence the Tag Duel, issued as a consequence of certain students trespassing in a restricted area."

Crowler stood at the center of the dueling platform, projecting his voice with practiced authority.

"Please welcome our specially invited guests. Legendary Tag Duel specialists, take the field!"

"Whoosh!! Whoosh!!"

Almost the instant the words left his mouth, two figures exploded upward from beneath the far end of the opposing platform.

Rowan caught them before anyone else did. Dressed in worn robes of earthy yellow and deep forest green, the pair launched into a series of acrobatic flips across the dueling field before landing squarely across from Rowan and Alexis with a synchronized thud.

Both men were completely bald, their heads gleaming with the kind of polish that would have given the chancellor a run for his money.

Written across each of their foreheads, in heavy brushstrokes, was a single bold character. One read "Para."

The other read "Dox."

Together, the two characters completed the name.

They looked virtually identical.

"We are wandering guardians of the duel."

"The Paradox Brothers."

Earth-yellow and forest-green, each brother delivered one line, slow and measured, with an air of absolute gravitas.

So these really are the Paradox Brothers. The ones Yugi wiped the floor with.

Rowan's expression settled into something that said he was completely unsurprised.

That said, there was no denying the brothers' strength in Tag Duels. It was genuine, formidable, possibly exceptional.

Setting everything else aside, just that distinctive "hairstyle" alone... Rowan had to acknowledge it took a certain kind of person to be a serious duelist and still commit to that look this hard.

"The Paradox Brothers?! The actual Paradox Brothers?!"

Alexis, Jaden, and Syrus were all staring at the pair across the field with barely contained shock.

Up in the spectator seats, Bastion and Zane had gone quiet.

Jasmine and Mindy, sitting nearby, wore noticeably more serious expressions than before.

The Paradox Brothers had a reputation that preceded them by a considerable distance.

Rumor had it that even Yugi Muto, the King of Games himself, had hit real trouble against their Tag Duel strategy in the opening stages of their match, and that was not a story that got attached to just anyone.

Even having suspected who the opponents might be once the setup was explained, seeing the brothers in person was still something else.

These were not the kind of people you could ring up on short notice.

"Then, Rowan and Alexis will duel first against the legendary Tag Duel specialists, the Paradox Brothers!"

Seeing that Rowan had already strapped on his Duel Disk, Crowler announced the matchup and promptly fled the platform, crouching at its edge with just the top half of his head peeking over the railing.

He watched Rowan and Alexis with barely restrained anxiety, his inner voice a quiet spiral of desperate prayer.

Mamma mia, please, PLEASE let the delinquent boy and Alexis win.

If Rowan loses and gets expelled, then that photograph he has of me is going straight to...

"Get ready, Rowan."

While Crowler pleaded silently with the universe, Alexis had already slotted her deck into her Duel Disk and locked it into position.

She fixed Rowan with a composed, level look.

"Anytime," Rowan replied with a calm nod.

He turned his gaze toward the Paradox Brothers across the field.

Both of them were smiling, the kind of unhurried, confident smile that came from having done this many times before.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

All four Duel Disks blazed to life simultaneously, red light flaring as they unfolded.

Each duelist drew their opening hand of five.

The Life Point counters materialized.

8000 LP.

Tag Duel rules.

Shared points, double what a standard match would allow.

"I'll go first. Draw!"

Alexis glanced at Rowan.

He gave her a small nod. She drew from the top of her deck and looked at the card.

The corner of her mouth lifted.

First turn, and already... there it was.

The counter trap Rowan had recommended she build into her deck was already sitting in her hand.

Plenty of time to spring that later. For now, the field needed some reinforcement.

She tucked the drawn card into her hand and pulled out three others.

"I activate the Spell Card Polymerization from my hand, fusing Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater!"

"Fusion Summon! Cyber Blader!"

Two figures shimmered into existence before her: a woman with long orange-red hair, and a striking, sharp-featured figure in purple and white.

Both leaped simultaneously into a swirling vortex of yellow, blue, and green light above the field.

From that light, a single silhouette emerged spinning like a cyclone. Long black hair. A deep crimson bodysuit.

A presence that moved like a blade through still air.

She touched down on the field in front of Alexis with a sound like an edge cutting ice.

Cyber Blader Level 7 / EARTH ATK: 2100 / DEF: 800

"Did she forget to shuffle her deck..."

She was his partner, but watching that familiar black-haired figure materialize on the very first turn still prompted a quiet, private observation from Rowan.

Opening hand. Three specific cards. All required for that exact fusion. All present simultaneously. The probability was not trivial.

Then again, considering Alexis's skill level, and the bond she had clearly built with this deck over time, pulling those three cards off the top on turn one was not entirely outside the realm of possibility.

There was a real, meaningful chance she could pull that off consistently.

Which means she came into this duel ready to go all out from the very first move.

The Cyber Blader standing on the field made that much perfectly clear.