This is a work of fanfiction. Therefore all the characters beyond this point belong to someone else, not me. If they belonged to me, it would simply be called fiction.

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"Remember… I swore eternal servitude to the great pharaoh… when I was alive…" Dark Magician whispered, his breathing labored. "And I will continue to battle… as I am ordered by my Lord."

"Master, please…" Dark Magician Girl struggled to hold the violet-clad spellcaster on his feet. She didn't understand why he insisted on saying that before every battle, but it didn't matter much at the moment.

She had been one of the lucky ones that time. Fate had allowed her to stay safely hidden at the bottom of the deck, away from the brutal battlefield they had come to know as 'the duel.'

Dark Magician, however, did not share that lucky fate. This was the second time in one day that he found himself in the starting hand, and the fifth time this week he was summoned to the battlefield in defense of the Lord's life points.

The toll this massive war of duels had taken on Dark Magician was more than evident.

Gashes and abrasions covered his body. His armor hung lopsided over a dislocated shoulder. The blast from the opposing Blue Eyes White Dragon had broken several ribs. Given his ragged breathing, Dark Magician Girl could only speculate on the internal injuries her master likely received as well.

"We're almost there, master…" the young spellcaster whispered as Dark Magician stumbled. She held him tighter, inching slowly to the makeshift infirmary that Mystic Elf had constructed deep within the deck. All of the monsters referred to it, with nervous laughter, as the 'Graveyard.'

"Oh my… not again." The holy elf gasped as she saw the pair of magicians approaching the tent. She rushed towards them. "Queen's Knight! Jack's Knight! Help me, please!"

Two armored men followed her from the tent, taking the injured magician into their arms.

"The cot next to Black Luster Soldier is open." Mystic Elf added, lowering her head worriedly. "Hurry…"

"You'll heal him up again, won't you, Mystic Elf?" Dark Magician Girl asked weakly, as her master's pain became audible during the exchange. The healer waited until her newest patient was out of sight before addressing the apprentice spellcaster.

"I will do my best." She answered. "But any duel monster, no matter how powerful their attack strength, can only be healed so many times…"

Dark Magician Girl cringed.

"The number of duels has vastly increased, as has the strength of the combatants." Mystic Elf continued. "We have scarcely enough time to recover from injury, before we are summoned again by the Lord to the duel. Dark Magician, he seems to bear the worst of the lot."

Dark Magician Girl could only nod.

"I had finally pulled out the last of the shrapnel from Fortress Whale's attack this morning when he was summoned again with a spell card." She sighed. "He cannot take much more of this."

"I know…" Dark Magician Girl sighed as well. "Just… heal him… okay?"

The healer bowed slightly, and turned away. The young spellcaster watched as the tent flap fell behind her.

"I will do my best." She said again. It was all she could say.