This one-shot is inspired by a conversation in the #shield-fanfics section of the Shield Hero Discord Server. Along with a rewatch of one of my favorite childhood shows, Yu-Gi-Oh 5d's. I do hope you all enjoy this interesting take on the Sacred Duel between Motoyasu and Naofumi :).

Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero. I also don't own the card based style from Yu-Gi-Oh.

Let's Duel!

"The duel between the Deck of the Spear Hero and the Deck of the Shield Hero is about to begin!"

Naofumi approached the set of double doors, duel disk in hand. 'I guess there's no point in delaying the inevitable.' He thought depressedly.

Ever since he'd been summoned to this world, Naofumi had gone through a lot of crap. At first, he'd been psyched to be in a game like world. Then he realized that this world wasn't like any game he'd played before. Instead of battling with weapons, the people here battled with duel cards. His starter Shield Deck, which he'd had no idea how to play with, had been deemed worthless compared to the other heroes' decks. Motoyasu (the Deck of the Spear), Ren (the Deck of the Sword) and Itsuki (the deck of the Bow). Still, despite that, he'd wanted to make the best of it. He wanted to turn everyone's expectations about him being useless around.

Then, just when he'd thought his luck was turning around after he became tag duel partners with a very beautiful young woman named Myne, she backstabbed him their very first night together by falsely accusing him of rape. He'd been dragged from his room early in the morning, unfairly tried by the King of the country, pronounced guilty, and forced to live as an outcast with no help from the country that had summoned him to fight the Waves. Words couldn't describe how much he hated Myne and the King.

No one wanted to duel alongside him because of the rape accusation. Besides a card maker named Erhard, no one tried to help him learn how dueling duel monsters and people worked. It had all been one big terrible mess. And this was just the next terrible mess he was being thrust into.

'When I first came to this world. I knew nothing about dueling. The other heroes didn't bother to teach me the basics. No one wanted to help me learn. They all just wanted to keep me down…

just like now.' Naofumi thought. 'I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have had to accept this dumb duel…'

"The duel will end only when one of the combatant's Life Points has reached 0 or when one of the duelists admits that he has been defeated!"

Naofumi walked out into the duel arena. A crowd of people cheered up above, but not for him. Opposite him, Motoyasu strolled out into the duel arena. He waved to the cheering crowd, flashing that signature smile of his with his white teeth. His blonde hair held in a ponytail reflecting the torchlight of the arena. He didn't wear armor, but he looked like a true hero to the crowd... Unlike Naofumi.

'I shouldn't have to duel him… I shouldn't have to be here…'

The two stopped inside of two large white rectangles drawn into the ground. Between the two of them was their battlefield. Two rows of five white rectangles on each side with space in the middle to separate their monsters.

"This Duel will take place in the presence of his Majesty, King Aultcray Melromarc, and the Pope. Thus it is legitimate, and official." The announcer for the duel yelled over the din of the people.

Naofumi glanced at the stands up above. On his left was King Aultcray sitting on a throne with several of his knights around him. Aultcray glanced down at him as if he was an insignificant insect that was about to be squashed. On his right in the stands was the Pope of the Decks of the Three Heroes Church, sitting on a similar throne while surrounded by his followers. The Pope watched what was unfolding down below with a curious eye. 'If only Motoyasu hadn't forced me into this.' He thought angrily. 'I don't want to be here! I don't want to be stepped down on again!'

"Sir Motoyasu! Best of luck!" Myne said happily to her favorite hero. Motoyasu gave her a smile and a nod.

'And why does that Bitch have to be down here too? Why did she have to say something to Motoyasu to start this whole freaking mess.' At ground level standing by the left wall was Myne, the Bitch who'd betrayed him. At seeing his glance, she smirked haughtily and pretended that he didn't exist. 'I hate this. I hate this so much!...'

Standing by the right wall was his slave, Raphtalia.

Raphtalia said nothing, but she gave him an encouraging nod and a smile. Her long brown hair, glowing in the torchlight of the arena, framed her beautiful face. He almost got tunnel vision just looking into her warm deep tea-red eyes.

'But I don't have a choice…' He had to force himself to look away. 'Because while everyone else kicked me down... she was there to help me up.'

Raphtalia looked like an 18-year-old demi-human, a person from another race that was looked down upon by the human supremacist people in this country. He wished he could say they met in a local tavern and that life and necessity had brought them to work together. But that wasn't the case. He was her owner, having bought her from a Slave Trader sometime after Myne's betrayal. Since no one wanted to duel with him or teach him the ins and outs of dueling, he'd had no choice but to buy someone who wouldn't betray him to fight at his side.

He didn't regret having done it. He'd been angry with the world back then. He'd been angry at the way everyone treated him. He'd been angry at himself for being so naive. He made his decision to purchase Raphtalia solely so that he could survive...

But... life hadn't worked out that way. Raphtalia ended up doing more than just duel for him. After warming up to his cold attitude, she helped to teach him the basics of dueling. Helped him unlock new cards for his deck by defeating duel monsters. Helped him learn how to use the traps and spells he acquired to turn a bad situation around. And all the while, despite being his slave, he treated her like a person. And she treated him kindly in return…

She'd helped him to find value in his Shield Deck. It was because of her that he'd been able to battle the duel monsters alongside her at the recent Wave of Catastrophe. It was because of her that he'd been able to help others to survive. It was because of her that he was able to fulfill his role as a Hero.

Raphtalia may have started out as his slave because he couldn't trust anyone else, but now she was much more than that… she was someone he could rely on. A pillar he could lean against when the world around him was dark and menacing. He would have called her a friend, but what he had with her seemed like a lot more than friendship. And now, her freedom was on the line. And that was why he couldn't back out of this duel.

After beating the Wave of Catastrophe, Motoyasu learned from Myne that Raphtalia was Naofumi's slave. And, being the womanizer he was, he challenged Naofumi to a duel for her freedom. Naofumi had only been at the party for the reward money he was supposed to receive from helping out during the wave. He'd wanted to refuse. He'd wanted to call Motoyasu an idiot and leave the party with Raphtalia. However, he'd seen how the knights had been positioned. How the King had been watching what had been going on with a steady eye. He'd quickly realized he wouldn't have a choice. Either he had to duel Motoyasu, or watch as the King would take Raphtalia away from him by force.

If he lost, she'd no longer be bound to him as his slave. Even after everything they'd been through together, after all the help she'd given him… as much as he'd come to care for her, he still didn't know if she'd stay with him after her slave crest was removed. His doubts because of Myne's betrayal were that strong. He didn't want to risk losing her now.

…

He circled one of the slave cuffs Raphtalia had given him on his wrist. She'd given it to him for good luck while he was checking his deck and preparing for the duel. She'd also given him a kiss on the cheek for good luck. He still had his doubts… but he was determined to see this through.

He took a deep, calming breath. 'Raphtalia… don't you worry. I'll remember all that you taught me, and somehow, I'll win with this deck.' He thought determinedly.

"Hey Naofumi, in your world, did you ever hear the folktale about the irresistible spear and the immovable shield?" Motoyasu asked.

Naofumi didn't respond as he turned on his duel disk and let it extend out on his arm. Motoyasu did the same. "Naofumi, be a man and admit defeat!"

Naofumi continued to calmly stare at him. "And have you take Raphtalia from me?" He asked. "Not happening." He pressed a button, shuffling the deck he'd prepared in preparation for dueling Motoyasu.

Motoyasu didn't reply and instead did the same thing. Glaring at Naofumi as if he was the scum of the world. Naofumi glared determinedly back as both of them drew five cards from their shuffled decks at the same time.

"Ready, begin!" The announcer yelled.

"Let's Duel!"

4000 Life Points

"I'll go first! I draw!" Naofumi drew a card from his deck and looked at his hand. "I summon the Light Metal Shield in defense mode!"

A large, blue square shield appeared on Naofumi's side of the field, standing up straight on one of its corners. It was a level 4 monster with 0 attack points and 2000 defense points. "I'll then set 2 cards face down and end my turn!" Two cards appeared facedown in the trap and spell section on Naofumi's side of the field.

"Is that really the best you can do Naofumi!?" Motoyasu mocked from his side of the field. "You do realize you can't win a duel using monsters in defense mode! Or have you forgotten the thrashing I gave you back when we were first summoned to this world and practicing with our decks?"

"Just go already, you blonde idiot!"

"Alright then, you asked for it. I'm up!" Motoyasu drew a card. "And first, I'll summon Normal Spear to the field in attack mode!"

A long white floating spear appeared in one of the monster zones on Motoyasu's side of the field. It was a level 4 monster with 1700 Attack Points and 300 Defense Points.

"Next, I'll help out my Normal Spear by using the spell card, Sharpened Point!"

A glowing blue halo appeared over the tip of the Normal Spear. Making the tip look sharper than it had before. I's attack rating went up from 1700 to 2500. "You see, thanks to this spell card, not only does it raise the attack points of all my monsters by 800 until this turn's End Phase, but when one of my monsters takes out a monster on your side of the field in defense mode, you take the point difference as piercing damage!" Motoyasu said triumphantly. "Go, my Normal Spear, take out his flimsy Light Metal Shield with piercing thrust!"

The normal spear started to spin and moved to attack the Light Metal Shield. "Not so fast, I activate my monster's special ability!" Naofumi yelled. "You see Motoyasu, since you used a spell card this turn, my Light Metal Shield's ability activates during the Damage Phase, giving him an extra defense boost to the tune of 500!"

The Light Metal Shield's Defense Rating changed from 2000 to 2500. The Normal Spear slammed into it several times but didn't manage to destroy the monster. It retreated back to Motoyasu's side of the field.

"Not too bad! I guess the Shield Hero has a few moves!"

"You got that right," Naofumi spoke in a calm voice. "So in this folktale battle of yours between a spear and a Shield." Motoyasu was caught off guard by the calm look on Naofumi's face. "Did you know that the spear actually lost, when it couldn't pierce the shield!" He yelled. "I activate the continuous trap card, Balloon's Playground!" One of Naofumi's trap cards flipped up, revealing an image of several balloons feasting on a merry-go-round.

System: During the Battle Phase, when your opponent fails to destroy one of your Shield Monsters in battle, you may activate the effect of Balloon's Playground and summon one random balloon monster from your deck, hand, or graveyard.

Naofumi's deck started to shuffle itself on his duel disk. "Wait, that's honestly a trap card?!" Motoyasu asked tauntingly while pointing at it. "Those are like, the weakest duel monsters ever, besides your shields!" Motoyasu taunted.

"We'll see about that." Naofumi's deck finished shuffling and a random card stuck out from it. "Now, from my deck, I special summon Yellow Balloon in attack mode!"

A menacing yellow balloon appeared on Naofumi's side next to the Light Metal Shield. It was a level 2 monster with 200 Attack points and 0 Defense points. It chomped its teeth hungrily.

"Hmmm, Naofumi's doing better than I was expecting," Itsuki commented to himself.

"Yeah. He's managed to hold off Motoyasu so far." Ren said while he watched the duel. "But unless Naofumi found some monsters that can dish out some damage, it won't matter how high his monster's defense gets. One way or another, Motoyasu will bring out a high powered monster that will be able to crush whatever Naofumi puts in its way." He said ominously.

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn," Motoyasu said. The attack points of his normal spear dropped from 2500 to 1700 with the turn's end phase.

"Then it's my move!" Naofumi drew a card. "I'm summoning from my hand, Orange Balloon, in Attack Mode!"

An Orange Balloon appeared on the other side of the Light Metal Shield. It bared it's balloon teeth and thrashed them hungrily. It was a level 1 monster with 100 Attack Points and 0 Defense Points.

"Big deal. My Normal Spear has way more attack points than those little things. They'll never be able to damage me." Motoyasu said with a smug smile.

"Actually Motoyasu, they will."

"What do you mean?" Motoyasu said in surprise. 'Is he going to use some trap to wipe my Normal Spear from the field so he can attack me with those things?'

"You see, unlike the duel balloon monsters out in the wild, my balloon monsters come with a special ability. One that allows them to attack you directly even when you have monsters in your field." Naofumi said.

"Wait, what?!"

"However, this ability comes at a cost. Immediately after the Damage Phase, they're destroyed and sent to my graveyard."

"Ha, then that means they're still useless!" Motoyasu responded mockingly.

"Wrong again. Cause without these pests on my field, your only target will be my Light Metal Shield."

Motoyasu looked at the hungry balloon monsters again. He realized that with such low attack points, they would have been easy prey for his spears... But if they were destroyed immediately after they attacked him!-

"Now go, Yellow and Orange Balloons! Unleash your fury on this blonde idiot!"

The two balloon monsters both rushed forward. Ducking under the retaliatory swipe of Motoyasu's Normal Spear before rushing for Motoyasu.

"Wait, stop!" Motoyasu said in fear. "I don't like being bit- AUGH!" The two monsters bit down on Motoyasu's arm and leg. His life points dropped from 4000 to 3700. Then the monsters exploded into balloon fragments, covering Motoyasu with their remains.

"I'll place one card facedown and end my turn," Naofumi said calmly as he laid another facedown on the field.

"Way to go Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia cheered happily on the sideline.

"Step it up Motoyasu!" Myne yelled. "Don't allow that weak Shield Deck of his to rattle you!"

Motoyasu was still grimacing in pain from where the balloons had bitten him. Those bites hadn't felt weak to him. "Face it Motoyasu, you lost the moment your spear couldn't pierce through my shield!" Naofumi yelled tauntingly back. Throwing his folktale about the Spear and the Shield back into his face.

"Urgh! Nobody will ever accept a defeat like that! Including me! I draw!" Motoyasu yelled. "And now, I release my Normal Spear from the field so I can summon Dark Spear!"

A sphere of multicolored light surrounded the normal spear, and then from the light came a larger black colored spear. It was a level 5 monster with 2400 Attack Points and 800 Defense Points. It had a menacing look to it. "Since I'm not using a spell card this round, this should be more than enough to take out your flimsy little shield!" Motoyasu said happily.

"That isn't good," Naofumi said as he observed the attack stat of the new spear monster.

"You better believe it! And now, since my Normal Spear was sent to the graveyard outside of the Battle Phase, it's special ability activates! Allowing me to special summon one level 3 or below monster from my hand! And the monster I choose to summon is Small Spear!"

A smaller silver colored spear appeared on his field next to the larger intimidating Dark Spear. It had 1200 Attack Points and 200 Defense Points. 'So he was able to summon another monster from his hand just by sacrificing a monster. Motoyasu might be an idiot, but his monster cards have incredible effects regardless.'

"Now go! Dark Spear! Attack his Light Metal Shield with Chaos Thrust!"

The Dark Spear multiplied into several copies, all of which flew forward and attacked the Light Metal Shield at the same time. It tried to move around quickly to deflect them all, but it cracked under the pressure before shattering into pieces. "And since my Chaos Spear destroyed one of your monsters, it's special ability activates, dealing you with 300 points of direct damage!" Motoyasu yelled angrily.

The shards of the Light Metal Shield flew back into Naofumi. "Urghhhh!" Naofumi clutched at his shoulder as his life points dropped from 4000 to 3700. 'What the hell… this pain feels real... like when I'm fighting duel monsters in the wilderness or during the Waves of Catastrophe… does that mean the same thing applies while dueling against other people?"

"Now, Small Spear, attack Naofumi directly!" Motoyasu yelled, interrupting Naofumi's thoughts. The Small Spear rushed forward, heading on a course to impale Naofumi.

Whether that was the case or not, Naofumi didn't want to feel the pain of being pierced by a Spear. "I activate my trap, Saving Shield!" Naofumi activated the trap he'd just set down the last turn. It turned face up, revealing an image of a crying boy being protected by a large green shield. "You see, when one of your monsters declares a direct attack, I'm allowed to activate this trap and summon one new Shield Monster card from my hand in defense mode. And the monster I choose to summon is Rope Shield!"

A long twirl of rope appeared on the field in front of Naofumi. Before it coagulated on itself and formed a shield made of rope. It was a level 3 monster with 1200 Defense points.

"Small Spear, call off your attack!" Motoyasu grimaced as he called back his small spear before the damage phase. Naofumi's trap card, Balloon Playground was still in effect, and he didn't want to give Naofumi more ammunition to hurt him by being unable to destroy his shield monster in battle. "So you managed to save yourself from a direct attack. Big deal. It's not going to save you when I attack again next turn." Motoyasu said as he laid another facedown on the field.

"We'll see about that. I draw!" Naofumi drew another card. He glanced at it. "I activate the spell card Protector's Fortune!" A spell card with an image of a Pickaxe over three cards appeared face up on Naofumi's side of the field. "Now I get to draw three cards from my deck." He drew three cards. "Then, I get to keep two cards of my choice and send the last one to the graveyard." He discarded a Yellow Balloon Monster Monster to the graveyard.

"Now, I'll sacrifice my Rope Shield in order to summon one of the cards I chose! Go, Two-Headed Dog Shield!"

Blue light surrounded the Rope Shield, and then from it came a large black shield. The eyes on the two black dog heads glowed red, and then the Shield let out a loud howl of anger as it finished summoning to the field. It was a level 6 monster with 0 Attack Points and 3000 Defense Points.

"So you got rid of one weak shield to summon one big shield. Big deal." Motoyasu again said mockingly. Naofumi could summon all the defense he wanted. It wasn't going to stop Motoyasu from taking them down or working around them.

Naofumi was still trying to hide behind his shields just like he had their first night when they'd tried out their decks. Winning this duel was going to be a piece of cake.

"I end my turn," Naofumi said.

"And now I'll finish this!" Motoyasu drew. "I activate my face down, Sacrificial Spear!" One of Motoyasu's facedown's turned face up, revealing an image of a spear being lowered into a fire. "With this trap, I'm allowed to sacrifice one level 4 or below Spear monster on my field so that I can give it's attack points to another monster of my choosing until the end phase of this turn. So I think I'll choose to sacrifice my Small Spear so I can give my Dark Spear the attack power it needs to take your Shield down!"

The trap card burst into flames, and the flames engulfed the small spear, destroying it. The flames then moved over the Dark Spear. Giving it a sinister aura as its attack points went up from 2400 to 3600. "There's more. Sacrificial Spear has a second effect that allows me to attack twice this turn. This means once that Shield of yours is destroyed, not only will you take 300 points of damage from the attack, as an added bonus, I'll be able to attack you directly, taking out the rest of your life points!"

"If you really think that will happen, then come at me," Naofumi said calmly.

"Dark Spear, let's make him fight fair with Chaos Thrust!"

The Dark Spear split into multiple copies again and moved to attack the Two-Headed Dog Shield. Which growled at the approach of the multiple dark spears.

Ren and Itsuki watched. Waiting to see what move Naofumi would pull next.

"I activate my monster's special ability!"

"What, is it going to roll around and cry for mercy, negating my attack?" Motoyasu mocked.

"Actually, you're partly right for once Motoyasu," Naofumi answered. Surprising Motoyasu. The Two-Headed Dog Shield started to hover off the ground and an ominous black glow came off of it. "You see, once a turn when my Two-Headed Dog Shield is chosen as the target of an attack, I can choose to stop that attack and bind the attacking monster to keep it from battling for the rest of this turn." As Naofumi spoke, one of the dog heads elongated to the incoming spear, and then wrapped itself around it, keeping it from attacking.

"What?!" Motoyasu yelled in surprise. "But that was going to finish off!" He said angrily.

"There's more." Naofumi continued. "When my monster manages to successfully negate your monster's attack, the other head gets to extends out, biting you for 200 points of damage!" The other head elongated out, baring sharp fangs as it sped towards Motoyasu.

"Wait, no, not the biting again!- AUGHHHH!" Motoyasu yelled in pain as the dog head bit down hard on his other leg. His life points dropped from 3700 to 3500.

'I thought he was acting before when those balloon monsters bit him. Having taken damage for myself though, I know now how real the pain is.' Naofumi thought, smiling at Motoyasu's pain. The idiot had been the one who challenged Naofumi to this duel in the first place. He was going to make sure this self righteous dolt paid for the way he treated him before. "And since you failed to destroy my monster, Balloon's Playground activates once again, allowing me to summon one random balloon monster from my deck out onto the field."

"Oh come on!" Motoyasu yelled in frustration. He'd attacked because he'd been sure he could destroy Naofumi's Shield Monster this turn!

Naofumi's deck shuffled once more, and then a card stuck out from it. Naofumi checked it and smirked. "Too bad for you. I summon the Red Balloon in Attack Mode!"

A red balloon monster appeared next to the hovering Two-Headed Dog Shield. It grinned maliciously. It was bigger than the other two balloons. It was a level 3 monster with 300 Attack Points and 0 Defense points. "Now I know it's still the middle of your Battle Phase, but my Red Balloon has an additional ability I can activate now. You see, it's far more hungry than it's younger brothers. So hungry in fact, that it can attack you directly even while we're in the middle of your Battle Phase!"

"WHAT?!" Motoyasu looked even more shocked than he had before.

"Now go, unleash your insatiable fury Red Balloon!" Naofumi yelled while pointing to Motoyasu. With a gleeful shriek, it zoomed across the battlefield. Dodging around the bound Dark Spear before biting down hard on Motoyasu's crotch.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Motoyasu screamed in pain as he gripped at the balloon biting his crotch. His life points dropped from 3500 to 3200 before the Red Balloon exploded.

"Now, I activate my trap, "Tormenting balloons!" Naofumi's last facedown card flipped up, revealing an image of a Knight covered in chomping balloons while trapped in a large sphere of plates and chains.

"These balloons aren't done with you yet Motoyasu. You see, thanks to this trap, for every balloon monster I have in my graveyard, you take damage for each one multiplied by 200. And since I have four of them resting hungrily in my graveyard, that amounts to 800 points of direct damage to you!" Naofumi yelled happily. It was his highest amount of damage dealt in one turn to date. And it wasn't even his turn!

"No way! You can't!"

"Hope you've prepared yourself Motoyasu! Because these hungry buggers are ready to take a bite out of the main course all over again!"

A green ball of chains and plates appeared around Motoyasu, hiding him from view. "WAIT! WHA- AHHH! OW! WHAT IS WRON- OW! WRONG WITH YOU! AH! NOOOOOO! DON'T BITE ME THERE AGAIN!" Motoyasu yelled from inside his prison. His life points dropped from 3200 to 2400. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"There's no way."

"The Deck of the Shield Hero is actually beating the Deck of the Spear Hero."

Some of the people in the stands up above started to murmur to themselves, seeing how the duel was unfolding.

"Where did Naofumi learn how to duel like that?" Itsuki asked.

"I don't know… I thought his deck was worthless last time we dueled. And now, he just managed to deal over 1000 life points of damage to Motoyasu even though it isn't his turn." Ren said.

"Do you think Naofumi might actually have a chance of winning?" Itsuki asked.

"Motoyasu's spear deck is set up for damaging opponents even if they use defense type monsters… but Naofumi's deck appears to mostly have defense type monsters that not only have high defense but special abilities that make taking them out difficult. He also has some handy traps and spells that can chip away at his opponent's life points." Ren said while observing the battlefield. "Unless Motoyasu finds a way around Naofumi's strategy, it's very likely he could lose."

The crowd didn't seem to agree with Ren.

"Does the lowly Deck of the Shield Hero think he can best the Deck of the Spear Hero?" A lady yelled condescendingly from the crowd.

"He must be cheating!" A man yelled.

"Have you no honor for a duel?!" Another man yelled angrily. More jeers and taunts followed his remarks.

Naofumi grimaced. 'Of course. They'd think I was cheating since their beloved idiot Spear Deck is being trounced by my Shield Deck… they're idiots, the whole lot of them.'

He glanced at Raphtalia. She was smiling really widely for him, letting him know how proud of him she was. For some reason, he smiled back. Even though he could hear the nobles up above trying to yell more discouraging things at him. The fact that Raphtalia was smiling at him made him not care about what was being hurled at him from up above. They didn't matter.

"It's time for you to admit defeat, or do you want more embarrassment tough guy?" Naofumi yelled confidently as he faced Motoyasu again.

At that moment, the prison of chains and plates disappeared. Motoyasu was down on one knee. The silhouettes of the several balloons that had been munching on him from the graveyard faded away. He had bite marks all over his arms and legs. Several of which were lightly bleeding. "And why would I ever surrender now?" He tiredly asked.

Naofumi looked at him with a blank face, seeing determination still shining in Motoyasu's eyes. "Alright I see," Naofumi said. "I guess next time I'll have to have my balloon monsters take aim at that handsome face and that precious manhood of yours if you don't want to give up!" He said, his face taking on a crazed look.

"Uh!" Motoyasu suddenly didn't look so sure about continuing now.

"I might as well since you think of me as a cowardly cheat!" Naofumi raised his arms above him. "By paying 500 life points, instead of sending Balloon's Torment to the graveyard, I'm allowed to set it face down again on the field!" Naofumi's life points dropped from 3700 to 3200, and Balloon's Torment went face down on the field again. "Don't worry, I'm not allowed to activate it until your next Battle Phase. But believe me, when the time comes, if you think I'm going to have mercy on you for challenging me to this farce of a duel, then you've got another thing coming!"

A look of fear went over Motoyasu's face. "Aughhhh! No!" He yelled while he curled in on himself.

"Now, since your turn is over, I draw!" Naofumi yelled as he drew. At his draw, the Two-Headed Dog Shield released the Dark Spear from its grip. The Dark Spear's attack points also lowered from 3600 back to 2400. 'Nice, I almost forgot I had this trap card too. If I lay this card face down, then next turn if he summons another weak spear monster, then I'll win this.' He thought excitedly as he looked out at the duel field. "Now-"

All the trap cards or spell cards that had been faceup or facedown on both sides of the field suddenly shattered. "Wh… What?" Naofumi said in surprise. 'What just happened, my traps, they're gone!' He thought in a panic. Both his Balloon's Playground and Balloon's Torment, the keys to his strategy, were destroyed! Had Motoyasu activated a Trap Card, but he could have sworn Motoyasu's card was still facedown-

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia pointed to the opposite end of the field.

Naofumi looked and saw a smirking Myne. Her duel disk was on. He saw faintly a spell card with two cyclones on it fading away from view.

'But… how did she even interfere!' Naofumi thought angrily. 'I thought that interfering with a one on one duel was supposed to be impossible!'

"Bad move, Naofumi," Motoyasu said confidently.

"What do you mean, that wasn't me-" Naofumi tried to say.

"I activate the effect of the facedown you destroyed! Spear Breaker!" Motoyasu said proudly. The trap card that had been destroyed reappeared as a silhouette on Motoyasu's side of the field.

System: Spear Breaker is a trap card that cannot be activated unless your opponent destroys it. Your opponent's turn immediately ends, and you're allowed to special summon two spear tokens to your side of the field.

Two miniature spears appeared on Motoyasu's side of the field. Both of them were level 2 and had 800 Attack points and 100 Defense Points. At the same time, Naofumi's duel disk alerted him that his turn was over. "What the hell, Motoyasu! Myne just interfered to help you!" Naofumi yelled angrily. "That's cheating!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! But now it's my turn!" Motoyasu drew.

"Wait, did Naofumi play a spell card there?" Itsuki asked, still in shock at what he'd witnessed.

"No, I didn't see him or Motoyasu play anything," Ren said, also looking shocked.

"Why would he do that? He just paid 500 life points to keep that one trap of his on the field. Was he that worried about Motoyasu's face down?" Itsuki asked.

Ren looked from the battle going on to Myne. Who still stood smirking in her spot at the Deck of the Shield Hero's misfortune. Her duel disk was on.

"Itsuki, does Myne have a card inserted into her duel disk?" Ren asked.

Itsuki looked from the duel at where Myne was standing with her duel disk out. He had far better vision than a normal person. His eyes widened. "She has a card inserted into one of her spell slots on her duel disk!"

"I had a feeling Naofumi didn't play a card there," Ren said, his face hardening.

"I play the fusion spell card, Lightning Summons!" Motoyasu played a spell card with an image of a spear in a magic circle being struck by lightning.

'A fusion monster?!' That definitely wasn't good. "Motoyasu, I'm serious! Myne interfered with our duel!" Naofumi yelled angrily. "Tell me why would I destroy my own trap cards after I paid 500 life points to keep one of them out on the field?!"

"And who's going to attest that I did anything?" Myne mockingly said where she stood. "Ignore him Sir Motoyasu! You have a duel to win!"

"And win it I shall!" Motoyasu said proudly.

'This womanizer is an even bigger idiot than I thought!' Naofumi thought angrily. He wanted to stop the duel and punch Myne in the face. But Motoyasu wasn't even pausing to consider his duel partner had just interfered with their one on one duel. No, he was looking at it as Naofumi making a mistake that left him wide open for retaliation.

"Now, by choosing to sacrifice my two Spear Tokens, I'm allowed to use my Dark Spear on the field as Fusion material, along with a monster card of my choosing from my deck!"

'He can fusion summon with a monster from his deck!?'

"And the monster I choose for my fusion material will be my Nue Spear!" The card poked out from Motoyasu's deck, and he summoned the Nue Spear monster onto the field. It was a level 4 Monster with 2000 Attack Points and 500 Defense Points. "Now, I fuse my Dark Spear with my Nue Spear. Combining their strength together to bring about a spear of great strength and courage!" The Dark Spear and the Nue Spear started to break down into sludge, both of them mixing together on the field.

Naofumi grimaced. 'NO!'

"Prepare yourself for your defeat Naofumi! I fusion summon, Lightning Spear!" A burst of lightning blasted away the sludge, revealing one hell of a large spear, gripped in the hands of a beefy knight. It was a level 9 monster, with 4000 Attack Points and 2000 Defense Points.

'What the hell?!' He'd never seen a monster with such a high attack stat before.

The knight groaned and set the handle of the spear like a staff against the ground. A burst of electricity came out from it, electrifying the field.

"Ughhhhhhh!" Naofumi groaned in pain. His life points dropped from 3200 to 2900. "What the hell was that?" He asked.

"That's just one of my Lightning Spears amazing Special Abilities!" Motoyasu said proudly. "On the turn that it's summoned, it deals you 300 points of direct damage!"

"So you dealt me damage, big deal. I'm still ahead of you since my Two-Headed Dog Shield can negate your monster's attack!"

"Wrong. I'm the one who's going to be ahead of you! I activate my Lightning Spear's other Special Ability!" Motoyasu said while pointing at his knight wielding the large spear. "By skipping my Battle Phase this turn, my Spear monster gets to shock you for 3000 points of direct damage!"

Naofumi's eyes widened. "What?!"

Motoyasu smirked. "You made this duel more interesting I'll admit, but this is the end of the line for you Naofumi! Go, Lightning Thrust!"

The Lightning Spear started to crackle with high amounts of electricity. Then the Knight thrust forward with it, and a wave of electricity flew through the air past the Two-Headed Dog Shield towards Naofumi.

"No, Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia yelled in worry.

The crowd of people up above started to cheer as the high powered card effect approached Naofumi.

"No, if this attack lands!" Ren yelled.

"Naofumi will lose the duel!"

Naofumi grimaced, the card effect coming closer and closer.

"And with this, I seal my victory!" Motoyasu yelled triumphantly.

"Ren, we have to stop this!" Itsuki said angrily. "It's obvious Myne interfered with the duel! We can't just sit back and tolerate this injustice!" Even if he didn't like Naofumi all that much, rigging a duel was not something Itsuki was okay with.

Ren turned on his duel disk. "You're right, we have to." He said.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Rope Shield!" Naofumi yelled. "Since Rope Shield is currently resting in my graveyard, by removing it from play, I'm allowed to summon a Shield Barrier that blocks a thousand points of damage, whether it's from an attacking monster or a card effect."

A large green shield appeared in front of Naofumi. "So you might hang on for another round," Motoyasu said frustratedly. "But you're still going to feel the pain of 2000 points of damage!" Motoyasu yelled, right before the electric beam of energy slammed into Naofumi.

"AGHHHHHHH!" He screamed in pain as his life points dropped from 2900 to 900. The clothes he was wearing steamed under the onslaught.

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia yelled in worry.

The barrage stopped, and Naofumi fell down onto his hands and knees.

"I'll end my turn with two face downs," Motoyasu said smugly.

"Take him down Deck of the Spear Hero!"

"Pound that worthless Shield Deck into the ground!"

"You're so amazing Sir Motoyasu!"

Motoyasu started to wave happily up at the crowd. He looked confident that he would win easily.

"Ren? You ready?" Itsuki looked back at Ren who'd finished attaching his duel disk.

"Come on Itsuki, we're going to stop this." He said before he ran for the back entrance.

Itsuki started to attach his duel disk to his arm as he chased after Ren.

"Give up Naofumi!" Motoyasu yelled as he pointed at the still recovering Naofumi. "There's no way you can win now! Give up while you still have your dignity!"

Naofumi continued to breathe in and out heavily while on the ground. "Yes, do it Sir Motoyasu! He has no chance!" Malty said excitedly. "Beat him so we can save the poor girl from his evil clutches!"

Naofumi growled like a cornered animal. 'I'm going to lose because of Myne!' He thought angrily and in despair.

Motoyasu smirked. 'Myne's right, Naofumi does have no chance. Not with the two face downs I laid.' He thought as he looked down at his field. 'On my left is Mirror Force. If he thinks he can somehow mass summon those balloons to attack me directly again, I can activate this card and destroy all his attack position monsters. And on my right is Spear's Grave. Now I know that Naofumi hasn't summoned any monsters with more than a thousand attack points, but if he somehow does, this trap card will be waiting. Waiting to destroy that monster and inflict him with damage equal to its attack points.' His smirk widened. 'There's no way I can lose this!'

'... That idiot! Why does he trust that Bitch so much?!' Naofumi had honestly never felt so much hate and hopelessness coursing through him before in his life.

The crowd up above continued to cheer for Motoyasu while yelling taunts and insults at Naofumi. So much hate, so much rage, all because of a false accusation… all because he'd had the unfortunate luck of being summoned with the Legendary Shield Deck... He hung his head. 'What's the point… this whole duel was rigged for me to lose. No one would believe Myne interfered, not with Motoyasu vouching for her… hell, it's likely that Trash King was in on this scheme to… that's why she's able to interfere so openly in our duel.'

It had all been staged so that Myne could interfere if she needed to. Because everyone wanted to see the Deck of the Shield Hero fail… they wanted to see him fall. See him lose all hope and give into Despair. He should have realized there was no way he could have won on his own. Not when he had the most worthless deck of all the four Holy Deck Heroes.

'There's no way I can win.' He thought defeatedly. 'I never had a chance...'

…

His hand moved to press the button that would forfeit the duel. 'I'm tired of this. I'm tired of no one believing me. I just want this to end so I can leave and get away from their condescending gazes. I want to leave-' He thought depressedly.

"Master Naofumi."

He gasped, being pulled out of his dark thoughts just as he was about to press the button. He looked to the side. Raphtalia was standing close by now, holding her hand over her heart. She no longer looked worried and was smiling at him. Everything else was pushed aside, even the current duel as he focused on her.

"Win or lose, Master Naofumi... I'll always believe in you."

...

The darkness disappeared from Naofumi's mind. 'Raphtalia.' He thought. His finger hovered over the forfeit button. He glanced down at the slave cuff on his right wrist. He had almost forgotten the whole reason he'd been fighting so hard this whole time…

"I'm with you all the way, no matter what." She said with a smile.

'Can I really give up now…'

Ren and Itsuki ran down a stone hallway, running for the duel arena. Strangely enough, Ren didn't want to just help Naofumi. Now, he wanted Naofumi to make a comeback and win this duel.

"Come on Naofumi." He said to himself.

Naofumi stared at Raphtalia for a moment more, and then he nodded. "Thank you, Raphtalia." His hand moved away from his duel's forfeit button. 'I can't lose here. I won't!' He thought determinedly. Not here, not now. Not when everything was on the line. He'd find a way to win! He would win this duel! 'I won't lose Raphtalia and everything else I care about here! I won't let it happen!'

He started to stand back up. "Are you kidding me?! You're still going to fight after receiving that attack?!" Motoyasu asked in disbelief.

Naofumi glared at Motoyasu. "Motoyasu, I have something to say!"

Motoyasu would have mocked Naofumi's statement, but he was caught off guard by the seriousness of Naofumi's gaze. "When I first came to this world, I knew nothing about dueling. I barely understood what a monster card was and how it was used! Did you try to help me back then, no! Even before Myne accused me, you didn't bother to help me understand the rules of dueling! You and everyone else here thought that my deck was worthless, and that teaching me how to duel would be a waste of time!"

"But your deck is worthless!" Motoyasu countered. "How can you win when your shields can't even attack!"

Naofumi glared. "That's where you're wrong! I can win! And because you're so insistent on thinking I can't, I'll prove it here and now! I draw!" He drew a card from his deck.

Motoyasu stared in surprise. 'Does Naofumi really think he can somehow win this?'

'Ha! As if I'd let that happen!' Myne thought haughtily to herself. She still had her spell card in its slot. Ready to activate at a moment's notice in case Naofumi laid a facedown that could turn the duel around. It wouldn't negate the effect of a spell card drawn from his hand, but it would destroy a trap should he set it facedown and wait to activate it next turn.

'... Please... please be something that I can use to turn this duel around.' Naofumi thought. He had no face downs because of Myne's interference. The only monster he had on the field now was useless since Motoyasu's Lightning Spear didn't have to attack it to damage him. And as much as it reminded him of other situations that he'd seen in anime that he'd made fun of before, situations where the protagonist was backed into a corner and then made a miraculous comeback, he found himself hoping he was in such a situation now. He wouldn't make fun of any Anime tropes he found in this world ever again if he could only get the game changer card he needed.

He glanced at the card he drew.

…

Naofumi smirked. "Just what I needed," For once, he found himself grateful to have been caught up in this classic trope. "I play the spell card Helping Shield!" A spell card appeared on Naofumi's side of the field. It had an image of a paladin surrounded by light giving a Small Shield to a knight.

"What does that do?" Motoyasu asked. He'd seen the smirk on Naofumi's face.

"First, due to the effects of this card, Three Shield Tokens are summoned to your side of the field in Defense mode!" Naofumi said confidently. At last, it was time for him to take back control of this duel.

Three Shield Tokens appeared on Motoyasu's side of the field. They were all level 3 and had 0 Attack Points and 1500 Defense Points each. "Wait, why would you do something as stupid as that?!" Motoyasu yelled.

"To do this." Naofumi calmly answered. "I activate the trap card in my hand. Duel Shield Summon!" A trap card appeared face up on Naofumi's side of the field. Its image showed a Small shield being summoned from the duelist's hand and another Small Shield being summoned from the duel deck.

"Wait, you can't activate a trap card from your hand! That's cheating!" Myne yelled angrily.

"I can, thanks to the effect of Helping Shield," Naofumi answered. Much to Myne's frustration. "You see, Helping Shield allows me to help you out, and in return, it helps me out by allowing me to either grab a spell card from my graveyard or activate any trap card I have from my hand!"

"Like that'll help you anyways!" Motoyasu yelled angrily. 'Especially since I can still deal with any monster he summons with more attack points than my Lightning Spear if Naofumi has such a monster.'

"We'll see about that. Now, thanks to this trap, after lowering the level of one of my monsters currently out on the field by two, I'm allowed to special summon two monsters from my hand or deck." The Two-Headed Dog Shield's level lowered from 6 to 4. "From my hand, I summon the Raccoon Shield!" Naofumi summoned the first card he'd unlocked thanks to Raphtalia.

A knotted shield held by a large raccoon appeared on Naofumi's side of the field in defense mode. It was a level 3 monster with 0 Attack Points and 1600 Defense Points. "And from my deck, I summon the Shield Tuner monster, Balloon Shield!" An orange shield with a balloon's face on it appeared between the Raccoon Shield and the Two-Headed Dog Shield. It was a level 1 monster with 0 Attack Points and 100 Defense Points. The face grinned with malice at Motoyasu.

"A tuner monster?!" Motoyasu yelled in shock. "But, but that means-"

"Yes, now, I get to tune my level 4 Two-Headed Dog Shield and my level 3 Raccoon Shield with my level 1 Balloon Shield!" Naofumi said as he raised his hand above him. The Balloon Shield turned into a glowing green ring, and his Two-Headed Dog Shield and Raccoon Shield passed through it. Turning transparent, revealing the balls of energy that indicated the levels resting inside them. He could almost picture the epic music playing in the background.

(The following chant comes from the reviewer Luchux) "When all seems lost! I call upon your protective might! Rise from the depths! Shed your starlight upon my loved ones, and Shield them from the evils of the world!" The shield monsters' figure's disappeared, leaving their levels behind. One green ring, and seven balls of energy.

Ren and Itsuki ran out onto the field. Only to stop in shock at what they were seeing.

"Ren is that-" Itsuki was asking.

"A synchro summon," Ren answered. 'Where did Naofumi learn to synchro summon?' He thought in amazement.

A blast of energy appeared behind Naofumi. Enveloping the green ring and levels. "I Synchro Summon!" He slammed the card from his extra deck onto his duel disk. "The Shield of Hope!"

The energy disappeared, revealing a large glowing blue shield held in the grip of a Paladin. Sparkles like stars came off from it as it appeared over the battlefield. The people in the stands stared at the new monster in awe.

System: Shield of Hope is a level 8 Synchro Monster. With 0 Attack Points, and 4500 Defense Points

Motoyasu took a step back from the monster. The Paladin settled onto the ground in defense mode. "What the?! How the hell did you get a card like that?! Wait, better yet, where did you learn to Synchro Summon!?" He angrily demanded.

"Everything I've done in this duel, every trick, every combo I've used, I've learned thanks to one person," Naofumi said. "Someone amazing, who taught me to find the value of every card in my deck, no matter what the card was."

"Master Naofumi..." Raphtalia looked happy, seeing Naofumi finally succeed in summoning a Synchro monster.

"Raphtalia taught me that no card was worthless when it could be put to good use. And because I decided to learn from every card I unlocked, I learned about tuners from her. And because I learned about tuners, I learned how to synchro summon!" Naofumi yelled.

"You mean you forced Raphtalia to teach you how to-" Motoyasu yelled angrily.

"And because of your ignorance and stupidity, you've already lost this duel!" Naofumi interrupted Motoyasu angrily. "I activate my Shield of Hope's Special Ability! When Shield of Hope is successfully Synchro Summoned to the field, no trap or spell cards can be played from anyone dueling for the rest of my turn!" At his words, a burst of energy spread out from underneath the Synchro Monster. Shaking the field around the spell and trap card zones. Naofumi pointed at Motoyasu. Not even Bitch would be able to interfere with the duel now. "Now, with any spells or traps you were hoping to play out of the way, it's time for you to pay!"

"What do you mean! That hunk of metal doesn't even have any attack points!" Motoyasu angrily said. Spear's Grave couldn't activate. And both it and Mirror Force were worthless since this Shield Monster had 0 Attack Points to fight with! But Naofumi had said he couldn't activate any traps or spells either now. So how could Motoyasu possibly lose?!

"And that's why I'll activate my Shield of Hopes's other Special Ability. An ability that can be played at the start of my Battle Phase for the low cost of 800 Life Points." Naofumi said as his life points dropped from 900 to 100. He grimaced as he felt something drain from him and fly up into the Paladin holding the glowing shield.

"Ha, you better hope this pathetic ability of yours works, because you're on the verge of defeat Naofumi!" Motoyasu said mockingly.

"You know, Motoyasu, for all your talk and duel knowledge, I'm surprised," Naofumi stated calmly.

"And why is that?" Motoyasu asked.

"Because with that statement, you proved you're an even greater fool than I thought for not piecing it together by now. Why would I sacrifice my life points?" Before Motoyasu could answer, Naofumi yelled. "Go, Hope Asunder!" Naofumi pointed at Motoyasu's side of the field.

The Paladin raised the Shield above his head, and the Shield of Hope let out a bright glow that caused the people in the stands to cover their eyes. A sound like a gong being struck rang out from it. Then, one by one, Motoyasu's monsters started to crack on his side. Including his precious Lightning Spear. "Wait, what's going on!" Motoyasu asked in surprise.

"My monster's other special ability," Naofumi answered. "You see, when you have more monsters on your side of the field in defense mode than I do. Shield of Hope is allowed to wipe out all monsters on your side of the field for the low cost of 800 Life Points,"

"Wait, but that's unfair, you can't just!-" One of the Shield tokens shattered. And then the pieces flew and slammed into Motoyasu.

"OWWWWWW!" Motoyasu's life points dropped from 2400 to 1650 as the pieces cut at his fancy clothes.

"That's the other effect of using this ability," Naofumi said with a smirk. "You take damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's defense points. And since you showed no mercy shocking me with your spear last turn, I'll show no mercy in dealing you pain!"

"You- AUGHHHH!" Motoyasu started to scream again as a second token blew up. The explosion from the token engulfed him, and his life points dropped from 1650 to 900.

"Now, for the third!" The third Shield token blew up. And the explosion and shards both slammed into Motoyasu, who screamed again as his life points dropped from 900 to 150. He slumped where he stood.

Myne looked aghast where she stood. Unable to help out.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Itsuki asked.

"No. They're not," Ren said.

Naofumi was about to win.

"Please, stop this," Motoyasu begged. "Naofumi, I'm begging you-"

"No Motoyasu. It's time you learned a lesson!"

Cracks traveled up the sides of the Lightning Spear and the knight wielding it. Bursts of electricity came off, electrifying random parts of the field.

"You assumed early on that my deck is weak and worthless! You challenged me to this duel because you were sure you could win! You didn't think I'd try to fight back! You didn't think I wouldn't sit down and take the pain you wanted to dish out to me! And because you underestimated my strength and resolve to win!"

Motoyasu backed up in fear. The blue glow from Naofumi's paladin surrounded him. 'No, how could this be?!'

"This duel…"

'How could I lose to a noob wielding such a weak deck!-'

"IS OVER!" Naofumi screamed.

The Lightning Spear and Knight shattered into pieces. The electricity from it burst in a huge wave of energy that rose up into the air, before arcing down onto Motoyasu.

"AH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Motoyasu screamed in pain as his life points dropped from 150 to 0. His ripped up clothes steamed from the force of the attack.

"Sir Motoyasu!"

"Spear Hero!"

Dust rose up from the ground Motoyasu, covering him from view.

The attack finally stopped. The crowds in the stands were silent. Watching the slowly settling cloud of dust that obscured their hero, Motoyasu from view.

...

The dust finally cleared, revealing a still standing Motoyasu. He stared at Naofumi in shock for a moment. Then, he groaned before he collapsed spread-eagle onto the ground. Defeated.

"No, Sir Motoyasu…" Bitch said in shock.

The crowd up above was silent. Looking in shock at what had happened.

Naofumi breathed deeply. 'I… did it…' He thought in amazement.

He almost couldn't believe it. 'I won... I won the duel!' He thought happily.

"Master Naofumi!" Naofumi turned just in time to have Raphtalia slam into him for one hell of a bear hug. "You did amazing!"

He smiled and hugged her back. "Of course I did. And it was all because of you." Raphtalia blushed a little bit but continued to embrace Naofumi happily.

The crowd was finally jerked out of their shock and started to jeer and boo in disappointment at Naofumi. Some of the people left the stands, looking upset. 'Like I care what they say now. I beat Motoyasu fair and square.' He thought. And hugging a happy Raphtalia was a far better reward than any crowd approval.

"Naofumi. What was that card?" The two of them turned to see Ren and Itsuki approaching. Then they separated.

"Which card?"

"The big glowing shield that won that duel." Itsuki clarified.

"Oh, that's my new favorite card." He smirked. "Since it beat Motoyasu and roasted him into next week." 'And I did way more damage with it than any other card combo!' He thought happily.

"I didn't realize that Shield Deck of yours would have such useful cards," Ren said almost to himself. "I underestimated you, Naofumi."

"I did too," Itsuki added.

"Believe me, I underestimated myself too," Naofumi said. The two other heroes smiled at that.

"Maybe… we should have a practice duel sometime." Ren suggested. "I like to use Synchro Monsters too."

"... I don't know-" Naofumi started to say unsurely.

"This duel goes to the Spear Hero!"

The group of four looked at Myne, who was approaching with several knights along with the King. Motoyasu was being supported by one of the knights. "Excuse me. I thought his life points hit 0 at the end there, not mine." Naofumi stated.

"It's obvious that the Shield Deck shouldn't be capable of beating the Spear Deck! You cheated by forcing your Slave to put the effect of one of her monsters onto your Synchro as soon as it was summoned to the field!" Myne yelled her accusation.

Naofumi's blood boiled. 'Seriously!? Even after I managed to win despite her interference, this Bitch has the gall to say I was the one that cheated?!'

"I agree with my daughter." The King said.

'... … did he just say... that Bitch… is his daughter?!'

"I have been informed by my historians that such a card like the one you used has never existed in any previous Shield Deck before. Therefore, I have to conclude that-" The King was saying while Myne watched triumphantly. Naofumi was so angry though that he could hardly focus. Things that had happened before made a lot more sense now. His unfair trial. This duel. Everything! It was because of this Trash King! He almost wanted to scream, actually, screw that, he was going to deck this piece of Trash so hard in the face that-

"If Naofumi cheated, then how about you explain your daughter's interference earlier on in the duel!" Itsuki demanded. Stepping in front of Naofumi.

The King stopped speaking, looking surprised that Itsuki was standing up for Naofumi. "What are you talking about-" Myne was demanding.

"Don't play dumb." Ren stepped beside Itsuki in front of Naofumi. "The spell card you used to interfere is still in your duel disk."

Myne tried to hide her astonishment and her still activated duel disk behind her back. But Itsuki deftly threw a card from his deck, hitting the button that dispelled her card from its holder out onto the ground. Sure enough, it was a spell card. The name of it was Wind Slash. "If I remember correctly. That spell card allows someone to destroy all spell and trap cards on either side of the field." Ren stated calmly as Itsuki epically caught his card back out of the air. "And based on the way you left it in, I'd say you were planning on using it again if Naofumi tried to lay another facedown at the end of his turn."

A look of shock, and then a look of hate appeared on Myne's face. Oddly enough, Naofumi felt happy seeing her look angry at being caught. Apparently, the King also looked surprised at seeing the spell card. "Myne, is it true-" Motoyasu was asking.

"We can't allow the Deck of the Shield Hero to abuse his slave any longer like he tried to do to me!" Myne angrily said. Switching the subject off of her. "She has to be freed!"

"... Yeah, that's right!" Motoyasu agreed, before grimacing in pain from the wounds he'd sustained from the battle.

"But... Master Naofumi doesn't abuse me." Raphtalia said. "He hasn't done so even once-"

"Even now the Wielder of the Shield Deck is forcing his slave to protect him using her slave crest." Myne loudly accused again.

'Seriously!? What is her deal?!' Naofumi again thought angrily. Did Myne only exist to cause him pain and misery?! Her beloved Motoyasu had lost the duel, then it'd been successfully shown that she had interfered with the duel. And yet the accusations continued!

"But Master Naofumi isn't forcing me to say or do anything!" Raphtalia said.

"Oh, my poor dear." The King said sympathetically. Seemingly forgetting about his daughter interfering with the duel for the moment. "Please, holders of the Sword and Bow Decks, help me to free this poor girl from her curse-"

"I already said Master Naofumi isn't forcing me to say anything!" Raphtalia angrily said.

"How could you Naofumi!" Motoyasu angrily demanded while pointing an accusing finger at Naofumi. "How could you make poor Raphtalia defend you like this?!-" He was continuing to accuse him.

"That does it! Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia cut off Motoyasu and turned to Naofumi. "Check to make sure my crest will cause me pain if I lie to anyone and not just you!" She demanded.

...

The other heroes looked at Raphtalia.

"Can a slave crest really do that?" Itsuki asked skeptically.

"Of course it can't!" Myne said frustratedly. "The Wielder of the Shield Deck is only forcing her to say that so we'll think it's true!"

Naofumi looked in surprise at Raphtalia. "You mean, I can set the crest to do that?"

"Yes! I've had several other masters before you who set it that way, so I know that is one of the settings of a slave crest! And if everyone else wants to keep on thinking you're forcing me to do things, then I'm going to prove them wrong right here and now under an authority that keeps me from lying to anyone!" She stated fiercely.

'... holy hell…' He'd never seen her look so angry before. He also realized that, if what she said was true, then he could have avoided this whole duel by having her speak the truth at the celebration party… then again, giving Motoyasu some well-deserved payback had felt pretty good. And with the way Bitch was embarrassing herself… at least he was learning about it now after having beaten the snot out of Motoyasu.

Using his HUD, he pulled up the Slave Crest that binded Raphtalia to him. Focusing on it, he found the list of rules and conditions along with the associated penalties for each one. It took a minute since he hadn't accessed this menu since he'd bought Raphtalia, but then he found the clause stated on lying. "Okay. It's set to cause you pain based on the severity of the lie you tell to anybody and not just me."

"How can we be sure Naofumi isn't lying though?!" Motoyasu demanded. Remembering Myne's accusation.

"That's simple Motoyasu. We ask her a question." Ren turned to Raphtalia. "Tell me. Is your name Raphtalia?" He asked.

"No, it's not Raphtalia, it's-" Immediately, Raphtalia gripped at her shirt as her crest glowed purple underneath and caused her visible pain. "Yes, my name is Raphtalia." She admitted. Just as quickly, the pain disappeared and the crest stopped glowing.

"Well, I'm convinced that it works," Ren said.

"Me too," Itsuki said. Both of them stepped aside.

Motoyasu looked unsure, but he forced himself to stand on his own two feet without support from any knight. It was time for interrogation.

"Be honest, Naofumi is abusing you, isn't he!?" Motoyasu immediately demanded. So much for interrogation.

"Master Naofumi has never abused me. Not even once." Raphtalia immediately answered.

Her slave crest didn't react.

Motoyasu looked caught off guard that her slave crest wasn't activating. "... well… But Naofumi forced you to interfere with our duel, didn't he-" Motoyasu then tried to say.

"I did not interfere with your duel with Master Naofumi. That was a valid Synchro Monster he summoned." Raphtalia stated calmly. "The only interference I saw was when the Princess played her little spell card," Raphtalia said, pointing at Myne.

Again, her crest didn't activate.

"She's lying! Her crest has to be broken or something!" Myne immediately said.

'Is that Bitch incapable of speaking the truth or something!' Naofumi angrily thought. She could give a pathological liar a run for his/her money.

"You know, I have a very high opinion of you Princess Malty-" Raphtalia was saying to Myne, and then her crest activated, causing Raphtalia to fall to one knee because of how severely she was lying. The crest also glowed very visibly through the material of her uniform. "Actually, I don't have a high opinion of you. In fact, I have a higher opinion for pigs rolling around in the mud than for a two-faced princess like you." Raphtalia said. Immediately, her crest stopped causing her pain.

Naofumi stared at Raphtalia in surprise. He realized she'd willingly caused herself a lot of pain to show that her crest still worked, and she had insulted the damn Bitch at the same time. 'Raphtalia's even more awesome than I thought!' He thought with glee. How could he stay mad after witnessing that?

Myne looked very indignant at that. "How dare you speak to me in such a way you filthy damn demi-human!" She yelled, not even trying to hide the anger on her face.

"But now we know her Slave Crest is still working." Ren calmly stated. "And because of that, we know your accusation and the King's historians are both wrong."

Myne sputtered. The King looked to be having second thoughts about having started this confrontation.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Motoyasu yelled. He never could find it in himself to doubt his friends, even when faced with the cold hard truth. "Don't you want to be free from that monster!? Don't you want to live life without being a slave?!"

"Master Naofumi is no monster, and I don't want to be freed from his service! I never asked for you or anyone else to try and save me!" Raphtalia responded fiercely. "Even if you had won and freed me, I would have stayed with him!"

Her crest didn't activate. That surprised Naofumi. 'She would have stayed with me even if she was freed?'

Motoyasu was again briefly stunned. And then he looked even angrier than he ever had before "But why?! Why would you want to stay with someone like him?! What does Naofumi have that I don't!?" Motoyasu demanded.

Everyone went silent at that. Looking at Motoyasu as if he was crazy.

'Wait, don't tell me... has Motoyasu seriously been doing all of this because he wants to add Raphtalia to his harem of girls?!' Naofumi thought. His insides blazed with anger anew. He should have realized it. Raphtalia definitely outclassed Myne in terms of beauty. And one of Motoyasu's biggest traits was his love for all kinds of beautiful women. But to think he'd gone into this duel wanting to free Raphtalia only because she could make an excellent addition to the ranks of his harem! 'Of all the lowly, rotten, stupid reasons for wanting to free her-'

"Do you want to know why?! Do you seriously want to know why?!" Raphtalia yelled at Motoyasu. Interrupting Naofumi's angry train of thought.

"Yes, tell me why!" Motoyasu demanded.

"IT'S BECAUSE I LOVE NAOFUMI! NOT YOU!"

Again, her crest didn't activate.

...

Motoyasu was stunned.

Naofumi was shocked.

The King and Myne both stared at Raphtalia as if she'd grown a second head.

Ren and Itsuki looked at each other. Then at Raphtalia and Naofumi. "Did she just say what I thought she said?" Itsuki asked.

Raphtalia breathed in and out angrily… and then she realized what she'd just said. 'Oh no! Did I just admit that I loved Master Naofumi out loud!' Her face started to break out in a fierce blush. She turned to look at Naofumi, who was still staring in shock at her. Her tail wagged nervously behind her. 'Oh noooooooo!'

'There's no way… did I hear that correctly?' Naofumi thought in stunned amazement.

"Um, er…" Motoyasu suddenly looked unsure. "By love, do you mean…" He wasn't sure how to continue that statement.

"Motoyasu, please don't dig your grave any deeper than it already is," Itsuki said, wanting to facepalm.

"But, but how could she love someone like Naofumi? Isn't he a horrible person?" Motoyasu genuinely asked. He had his loyalty to his friends. But if this woman actually did love Naofumi, there had to be a reason why.

Raphtalia looked back to Motoyasu. She forced down her embarrassment. "Because, Holder of the Spear Deck, Naofumi is not a horrible person. To me, he is one of the greatest people in the whole world." She held her hands over her heart. "He helped me when no one else wanted to. He fed me, gave me medicine, and helped me overcome the loss of losing my friends and family to the Waves of Catastrophe. He had little, but he shared what little he had with a slave girl who had nothing." She looked Motoyasu in the eye. "Tell me. Would you be capable of showing someone such kindness if you were in his position?"

"Of… of course…" Motoyasu said unsurely.

"If that were true. You'd buy a slave right now and save her like Naofumi saved me." Raphtalia said, her voice hard. "I'm not leaving him. Even if he had lost this duel and I was freed, I would have stayed with him in a heartbeat. Even if you had taken me away, I would have found my way back to his side. I couldn't imagine living my life anywhere without him."

"But… why…" Motoyasu asked.

"Because there's no one I'd rather be with more in the whole world than him."

Again, her slave crest didn't activate. It hadn't activated that whole time.

Naofumi continued to stare at Raphtalia in shock. He felt something wet going down the sides of his face. He reached up and realized that he was crying. 'Oh Gods… Raphtalia…'

No one spoke. Realizing she was serious, and because she couldn't lie, the truth hit like a sledgehammer to everyone there. Including Motoyasu.

...

Naofumi felt terrible. To think that he'd ever doubted Raphtalia before… "... You can free her." Naofumi said humbly.

Raphtalia looked back at him in surprise. "Wait, but Master Naofumi-" She tried to say. She'd given that whole argument because she wanted to stay with him.

"You heard Motoyasu at the celebration earlier," Naofumi said, his voice low because he was trying hard to hold back more tears. "It's not right for a Hero to force a slave to tag duel with him. I don't want a slave to tag duel with me anymore." He wiped away the tears on his face with his arm and looked at Raphtalia again. "I'd rather have a tag duel partner who chose to duel at my side." He said, his lips slowly curving into a smile. The tears traveling down his face were happy tears.

Raphtalia looked surprised. "Master… Master Naofumi…"

"Well, your whole point with this farce was to free Raphtalia," Naofumi said to Motoyasu. "Do you have the necessary item to do it or not?"

"No, don't do what that evil man wants Sir Motoyasu-" Myne was saying to Motoyasu.

"Myne, you've dug your grave deeper than Motoyasu," Itsuki spoke up again.

"If I were you, I'd shut up and leave before you say something you'll regret," Ren stated calmly.

"How dare you!" She yelled at the two of them. These two peons were getting in her way! "Do you think you can challenge the authority of a Princess?!"

"If you want, we could both challenge you to a Duel right now if you really want to settle this." Itsuki held up his activated duel disk. Ren held up his duel disk too.

Myne backed away in fear. Suddenly, these two peons looked a lot more intimidating. "Sir, Sir Motoyasu!" She called out in fear to him.

"Myne, I'd rather not duel again tonight," Motoyasu said with a grimace. He was still hurt from the last duel.

Myne sputtered. Then, without another word, she turned and stalked for the exit of the duel arena. Her dad and knights following her. One of the knights handed a potion bottle to Motoyasu before following.

Motoyasu looked at the bottle, and then at Raphtalia, and then Naofumi. "All you have to do is pour this over her crest to remove it." He said as he threw the bottle to Naofumi. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then he shook his head and followed after Myne and the King. He was done for tonight.

Naofumi caught it. Looking up at the stands, they were all empty.

It was just them now.

...

"Master Naofumi, are you sure you want to do this?" Raphtalia shyly asked.

"Am I sure that freeing you and leaving myself open to betrayal is a good idea?" Naofumi asked for clarification.

Raphtalia nodded. "I know how hard it is for you to trust others. And I really haven't minded being your slave. You've treated me kindly since the day you bought me. I'd never want to betray you, and, and this slave crest would keep me from doing so, and, um,-" She said it all so quickly. Unsure about whether or not Naofumi would trust her after she was freed.

"Raphtalia." Naofumi's calm voice stopped her. She looked up as he opened the potion. "It's because I trust you that I'm doing this." He approached. "It's not just because you said you loved me. But because you said if you were freed you wouldn't leave me. You said you wanted to stay by my side and help me. And you weren't lying." He stopped a foot in front of her. "Myne hurt me with her betrayal when I first came to this world… I didn't think I'd want to trust anyone ever again… I didn't think I'd want to be in a relationship with any girl ever again... but now… I think... I'm ready to trust you Raphtalia." He said seriously.

...

It was Raphtalia's turn to tear up. Wordlessly, she opened the top of her shirt, revealing the slave crest painted just below her neck on top of her chest. Naofumi poured the contents of the potion over it, washing it away. In his HUD, Raphtalia was removed from his party as his slave.

After he was done, while she was buttoning up her shirt again, he sent her a party invite. "Now, will you join me on my dueling adventure, Raphtalia?" He asked.

She sniffed loudly. "Yes, of course!" She gladly accepted it. And then she hugged him tightly, both of them cried because of how happy they felt.

Ren and Itsuki watched what was happening from a distance. They'd given the two some space after Motoyasu and the others had left. "Hey Ren, after watching what happened earlier, do you think Naofumi actually did rape Myne back when we were first summoned?" Itsuki asked.

"I don't know," Ren said quietly, watching the two for a moment more. "Either way, I think we should keep a closer eye on her after today's duel."

"Agreed. She lied too many times in a row trying to blame everything on Naofumi." Itsuki said. While there was the possibility that Naofumi was still guilty, now there was the possibility that Myne had lied back then too.

Naofumi continued to embrace Raphtalia. Lightly crying into her hair. 'This world still sucks. I still hate the people living in it. And I can't forgive that Bitch and her Father.' Naofumi thought. '... but…' He pulled back so he could look at Raphtalia. "Let's do our best, together."

Another happy tear came from her eye, and she smiled happily for him. "Right!"

He gave her a small smile in return.

"Hey, Naofumi!" Naofumi and Raphtalia turned to see Itsuki and Ren standing there. "There's still some time before me and Itsuki retire for the night. How would you feel about that practice duel?" Ren asked.

Naofumi smiled. 'Maybe… being stuck in a world like this…'

"Alright, but I hope you're prepared to lose!" Naofumi said as he activated his duel disk. His deck started to shuffle itself in its holder.

"Don't worry. I won't go easy on you like Motoyasu." Ren said as he smirked. Drawing five cards from his deck as he set the duel to a practice duel. In this format, neither of them would actually feel pain when their life points dropped.

Naofumi also drew five cards. His gaze shifted from Ren to Raphtalia, who smiled beside him as she held up her activated duel disk on her arm. Her hand held her five cards.

'Doesn't suck so much after all.' He finished the thought with a smile.

Itsuki stood next to Ren. His hand out and at the ready.

"Let's Duel!"

4000 Life Points

Author's Note:

You know, this was a lot of fun to write. I genuinely enjoyed writing this duel out in card form. It provided an interesting aspect for me to deal with. Who knows, maybe someday in the future, it might give birth to a fic that revolves around this concept in the Shield Verse. It'd be a lot of fun to write. But with everything else on my plate right now, I'll have to consign it to the bin of future ideas I have no idea whether or not I'll get to.

Thanks again for reading. Join the Shield Hero Discord if you ever want to join in on discussions between fanfic authors and readers about anything. Or just join if you want to talk about anything involving Shield Hero. It's a fun place to be.

Till Next Time

Allen