I stared at the sight before me, a sight that I was never prepared for, nor ever expected to see. Standing before me, having appeared out of his own will from his card in my hip holster, was the Flame King himself. Melgis stood at an immense height, rock solid with muscle, bearing heavy armour and the Laeviteinn, the Demon's sword, in his right hand.

I stared at the heap of the body laying a few metres away, blue eyes wide in horror, blood and dirt caked on my face. My body was covered in wounds, and my clothes were covered in dirt and shredded, but my cloak and holsters were impeccable, a sign of a player who has achieved Mastery. I was sprawled on the ground, and staring up at the back of the Flame King who had just saved my life. Melgis ignored him, rolling his eyes at the weakling, and instead turned to me, kneeling before me. I had fallen when my opponent had possessed himself with a spell and tried to kill me, much to my absolute horror.

The battle had been an especially fierce and trying one on both of our parts in this final competition, and the battle ground was littered with broken swords, deep pockmarks from the blows of magic exchanged, and both of our graveyards were filled with the dead.

I had barely won, and that's when the horror began, as my opponent was driven to desolate desperation, and he had possessed himself with a spell and equipped himself with a sword addition card, charging in fierce, insane bounds towards me. He had been leaping above me with his swords swung to kill, and I hadn't been able to do anything about it, just watched in fear as my death sprung for my throat.

I closed my eyes, and braced myself for the blow that never came, and when I opened my eyes, Melgis was in front of me, bracing his sword with both hands and batting the killing blow aside with a bellow of rage unlike anything I have ever seen. He had met the boy's eyes beforehand, and smirked with a sort of expression in his glowing eyes that meant nothing but death, before he threw the boy to his right by flicking his sword and the boy away with one hand.

He had saved me from a killing blow against a traitorous opponent, who was now laying in a heap, thrown from the force of the blocking demon sword and the bellow of a war cry that had come with it. Melgis had blocked an immense attack that would've easily killed me, a hand on the blade of his sword to give extra stability, and then had batted it aside with a rage unlike anything I had ever witnessed.

"Can you stand, my Lady?" He offered a hand to me, which I accepted, and he pulled me to my feet, steadying me with a large hand on my back. We turned to face the opponent, laying face down on the destroyed earth of the flatland we were fighting on. He rolled over, covered in dirt, blood and tears. He paled in horror when he saw Melgis approaching, looking more than pissed off with an enormous demonic blade in his hand.

"P-please! I'll do anything you want. Just don't... Don't hurt me." He begged, tears mixing with the blood on his face. Melgis turned to me, where I was standing behind him, a look of disgust and pity on my face. The boy knew he had lost, and committed treason. Lawfully, I was allowed to do what I had decided on. Melgis nodded his approval at seeing the glare in my eyes as I stood proud and tall as I normally did, regardless of my tattered clothe, bloody cuts, and stringy hair blowing in the wind.

I swept a hand out and my resonators that were still alive, if battered and beaten, flew back into my hand as cards in perfect condition, where I neatly tucked them in my holster. The others, spells that had been used and resonators that had been banished or put in the graveyard flew back more slowly, but in perfect condition, I tucked them away also.

Armour clanking with his movement, Melgis moved to stand behind me, strong and war calloused hands on my shoulders, giving me reassurance and his strength. After a moment, he planted his sword in front of me, point first in the earth, and I smirked evilly up at him. He grinned devilishly back at me.

Because I was a Player, I could summon stones on my own, and use up to six stones in a single spell by myself. To use more than six without having a Ruler to channel it and transfer the Will for you was dangerous, as the stones could possess you. Melgis had done this with me before, but only once, when I needed to summon a ten Will cost resonator.

The boy backed away in horror, realizing that he had broken the law of Play, and I was performing a Revoke of Rights.

I settled my hands on the hilt of the Demon's blade in front of me, and Melgis dropped his palms to my hips, and held me steady to his strong body, the plates of his armour digging into my back. I began to speak the words I knew from memory, and the sword itself began to glow a hellish red, giving me the energy and Will I needed to perfom the spell. Behind me, Melgis's grip tightened as he transferred the Will to me.

"Thy Player of thy Sacred Cards that behold the Forces of Will seal, thou has forsaken thy oath to uphold the most sacred Laws of Fair Play, and I; henceforth, using the power of Ruler before me, do Revoke your Rights of the cards, and deem they to be forever Mine."

As I spoke those powerful words, voice gaining steady strength and volume, I felt 10 cards swish from my holster and form a circle of floating magic stones around the two of us, Melgis and I at the center of the circle. His eyes were closed and head bowed as he focused, and I stood straight, watching as the stones connected to form a pentacle, the symbol used in the evocation of the magic. The boy stared, on his knees, in awe.

The magic gathered around Melgis and I in a beam of red light, and as I spoke the last word, it exploded outward in a ring of red and blue screaming fire. I could hear and feel Melgis's roar of releasing energy against my back.

"NOOOO!" The boy screamed, but the cards in his hip holster that were so dear and precious to him, soared over to me, and I caught the deck, hearing the murmur of a females voice in my inner ear.

"Thank You, young one."

I stared in surprise at the cream sleeved cards in the slim holster, and then heard Melgis grunt as he caught the other two decks the boy was carrying. I attached the Valentina deck to my growing collection, before I turned to face Melgis. He resheathed his sword and handed me the two decks in their holsters he was carrying. One, was a Pricia deck and her chirruping voice echoed a thank You in my ear, as well as, interestingly, an Alucard deck.

A low grumble of thanks from the darkness ruler passed through my inner ear as I attached the holsters. The boy was gone, as the Revoke had carried him away. All that was left was Melgis, the pockmarked and crumbling earth we were standing on, and I.

"Melgis, how are You here? I didn't summon you." I was confused more so than ever, and he grinned, now sane as the sword was sheathed. He never spoke much while the sword was out, and now his eyes were their normal deep red instead of a glowing fire. He was a war machine with the sword, a King without it.

"You needed me, and we rulers are capable of summoning ourselves with our own energy. He violated sacred rights, and as a protection to you, your most devoted Ruler can summon themselves to protect you if they choose. I chose to save you." His deep voice rumbled in his chest as he spoke, and he looked away, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. I had a feeling he would be blushing something fierce if it showed on his tan skin.

"Oh..." I mumbled, looking down with a blush gracing my face. I didn't know how to respond to that blatant declaration of affection and loyalty. I looked back up at him, meeting his eyes.

"Thank You." I said, simply. His red eyes melted into something softer, and kinder. A hand came up to rest on my shoulder, thumb smoothing some dirt off the skin revealed by my cloak.

"You are welcome."