Note: Card of Sanctity will be used in this, but I'm going to use the anime's rules for how it works. Just thought you guys should know in advance. And if I ever decide to have Spellbinding Circle in this fic, it'll be the same case.

It seemed Eric had saved himself from taking in damage as he drew his next talisman. However, he would certainly need to turn things around if he was to win this duel. After all, Kageki was strong enough to defeat all of his level four demons. But luckily, he already knew a way around this."

"First, I activate the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set talisman!" the prince exclaimed as he placed the talisman for said spell into a slot and tapped it.

Victoria gritted her teeth as she thought, 'No, I was planning to use that,' while Eric placed a talisman on the square next to his Unicorn Spear. This allowed him to summon his Gogogo Golem, the rock giant standing tall and proud.

Henry nodded and said, "Certainly a powerful demon," as Victoria sighed, "Powerful or not, I fail to see how this is supposed to deal with my own soldiers."

"Then clearly your don't understand your samurais as well as you claim," Eric remarked with a smirk as he had his unicorn fly into Hand of the Six Samurai, piercing his chest as she winced and flew into the princess' graveyard.

The unicorn then proceeded to strike Victoria's armour as her damage points dropped to thirty-seven hundred. However, the princess looked unimpressed as she asked, "So you destroyed one of my warriors? What good is that if you can't get rid of my other samurai?"

"Did you already forget?" the prince remarked, "Your Kageki only has an addition fifteen hundred attack when another Six Samurai warrior is on the field. Sure, you've got your Spirit of the Six Samurai, but right now, he's being used as an equip spell, meaning he no longer counts as a demon."

Victoria's eyes widened as Henry exclaimed, "I have to say, honey, our son really is worthy! Even I would have taken at least a little while to come to that conclusion!"

Victoria trembled as she knew the man was right. His attack power had been twenty-two hundred before, but now it had gone all the way down to seven hundred just like that. Now the princess saw the true brilliance of his plan. By ridding her of her weaker samurai first, Eric had made her powerhouse unable to protect her.

However, just as Gogogo Golem was about to destroy Kageki with a rock-hard punch to his chest, Victoria was shocked when her spirit's armour was destroyed instead, the spirit flying into her graveyard. The woman then blinked and took a deep breath, saying, "That's right. Any samurai with Spirit's armour equipped to it can survive one attack as long the armour is used as a sacrifice. And what's more is that I don't take in damage because you essentially destroyed an equip spell."

And as she had stated, Kageki was still alive as Eric took a deep breath, saying, "I guess that's that," as he ended his turn, Henry gulping nervously. Sure, Victoria's samurai was weak now, but who knew what she could pull off in a single turn, even if she would only have two talismans in her hand at the start of her turn.

And as Victoria drew her next talisman, a grin formed on her face as she said, "I don't have much to work with now, but thanks to this spell, I'm certain I will."

With that, the princess placed a talisman into a slot and activated it, four talismans flying from the top of Eric's deck and into his hand while Victoria received five additional talismans the same way. Eric was rather confused until Esmeralda said, "Wow, I haven't seen Card of Sanctity used in ages."

"Indeed," Henry replied with a nod of his head, "It's a very rare spell. It figures Rose Kingdom would have it."

"So what exactly did it do?" Eric asked as Victoria explained, "This spell allows both duellists to draw until they have six talismans in their hand. With this, my options have got up significantly."

The princess then proceeded to place a talisman onto the square next to Kageki as a man covered in black samurai armour appeared. His name was Legendary Six Samurai Kizan.

Eric noticed his attack power was on the same level as that of Gogogo Golem and felt confused until Victoria explained, "Kizan's special power is that as long as I have another Six Samurai warrior on the field, I can special summon him. That means I can still perform a normal summon, and I choose Six Samurai Yariza!"

A more slender man with his own black armour appeared with an enchanted sword attached to a whip in his hand. However, this still made little sense to Eric as his attack power was rather low.

However, all became clear when Victoria set a talisman into a slow, saying, "I now activate the spell, The A Forces. For each warrior or spellcaster I control, every single one of my warriors gains two hundred attack points!"

Eric, Henry and Esmeralda were terrified now as the princess stated, "With Kageki's power now up to seventeen hundred, you can only imagine how bad this is as everyone gains six hundred attack points!"

Now it was clear that the princess was a legitimate threat. Sure, she had summoned some impressive warriors earlier, but her best strategy had backfired significantly, part of it being due to her own lack of knowledge. However, it seemed she now knew fully well what she was doing and thus things had certainly turned in her favour.

"While this may seem pointless, I can't take my chances," Victoria said as she pointed forward and explained, "Yariza can attack your armour directly as long as I have another Six Samurai on the field. So you can imagine where this is headed."

Henry and Esmeralda were concerned as Yariza took hold of the whip portion of his sword, cracking it toward Eric's armour and striking it hard. This brought his damage points down to twenty-four hundred as Kageki charged at Gogogo Golem with his swords at the ready and slashed the stone giant in half.

The prince winced as he took in all four blades to his armour, his damage points dropping to nineteen hundred. And it only got worse when Kizan cut open his unicorn and slashed his armour, reducing his damage points to eleven hundred.

Eric blinked when he looked at the number on the gem and asked, "How did I lose eight hundred damage points?" Victoria smirking and replying, "I forgot to mention. When I have more than one Six Samurai on the field, Kizan gains an addition three hundred attack."

"Oh yes," Henry replied, nodding his head, "I had almost forgotten about that. The Six Samurai are not too threatening when they're alone, but when they're together, they can make for a formidable force."

'He's right about that,' Victoria thought, 'I can't thank Mother enough for this deck. This is the best thing I could have asked for. It makes even an inexperienced person like me into one of the strongest soldiers.'

As her turn came to a close, the pink-haired woman smirked and said, "Well, Prince Eric, show me how you can respond to that. As you're probably well-aware, this incident could very well change people's view of the royal family as a whole."

Eric frowned and drew his next talisman, remarking, "I'll have you know that I'm not a weakling! Just like you, I have motivation and drive and there is no way I'm going to let my family down!"

Henry's eyes sparkled as the boy added, "Watch me, Dad! I'll show you that you made the right choice when you allowed me to become a knight!"

With that, the man proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet. This brought out a metallic red bird with two heads and orange wings with black blade-like features that resembled feathers. Victoria was confused until the prince explained, "This is ZW Eagle Claw, and if my opponents has at least two thousand more damage points than me, I can special summon him!"

But while this demon had a very high attack power, it was still lower than that of Kageki and Kizan. Sure, he would have been stronger if not for Victoria's spell, but there was little he could do to change that.

However, it seemed the boy had more planned as he summoned an archer with a yellow tunic with black sleeves and a helmet to cover his head. Before Victoria could even question this, the archer readied his bow and fired an arrow into her armour, dropping her damage points to thirty-two hundred.

"That was Achacha Archer's special power," Eric explained with a grin, "When summoned normally, he can inflict five hundred points of direct damage to you."

"This is all well and good, but it still doesn't help you," Victoria growled only to the prince to retort, "Actually, it helps more than you could ever imagine."

Victoria's eyes widened as he placed two talismans into his gauntlet, activating them both. The first was Ego Boost, which he used on his Eagle Claw to boost his strength by one thousand. The other spell, Blustering Winds seemed to have a similar effect as a dark wind surrounded the archer, bringing his power higher as well while he flexed the muscles in his right arm.

"Oh no," Victoria uttered as Eric grinned and said, "As you can see, there's a lot more to my deck than you could ever imagine. Now that both of my fighters have enough power, I can destroy either one of your warriors. But for the best results, I feel that this is the most effective course of action."

With that, he had Achacha Archer fire an arrow into Yariza, the samurai's eyes wide as he flew into Victoria's graveyard. The princess then took the arrow to her chest plate as her damage points were reduced to twenty-six hundred.

And it did not end there as Eagle Claw flew toward Kizan with both of his heads pressing up their cheeks against one-another. This caused a flame to form around them as they blasted right through the samurai, sending him into the graveyard and striking Victoria's armour. This brought her damage points down to nineteen hundred, Henry and Esmeralda both applauding their son with tears in their eyes.

"Not only does Kageki lose another two hundred attack points from that, but he also loses fifteen since there's no other Six Samurai on the field," Eric stated as Victoria bit her lower lip. However, while this was certainly an amazing comeback, there was one problem for Eric. He could no longer attack this turn and thus Kageki was safe. And it did not help the prince that both of his spells would ware off at the end of the turn.

Even so, it seemed Eric did have at least a little bit more planned as he set two talismans into slots, his turn finally coming to a close as he took a deep breath. Now the princess was praying for a miracle. Sure, she had a couple of moves in her hand that could deal with Achacha Archer, but nothing could compare to the might of Eagle Claw, now even Kageki's special power.

"You know, Victoria, you're a really good duellist," Eric said as the princess' eyes widened, a light scowl forming but soon fading when the boy added, "And I mean it. Even if you lose today, I just want you to know that you are definitely worthy of being a knight. It's just a shame we couldn't have been brother and sister, otherwise we could have been possible allies."

The princess blushed lightly before sighing, "Thank you, but your praise means little to me," though deep down, she was lying. If anything, hearing this much praise from an enemy was beyond satisfying and gave her a sense that really did have what it took. But even so, if she lost this duel, it would hardly matter as she knew Richard would see this as nothing more than failure, a sign that she was not ready after all.

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and looked over her hand. At the very least, she still had four to work with, so it was not as if she was short on options.

However, it seemed the one she had just drawn could help her win this duel as a grin formed on her face, the pink-haired woman saying, "Well, Eric, I hope you enjoyed your moment of glory because I'm gonna knock your socks off with this next move!"

She then proceeded to place a talisman next to Kageki, an old man with long white hair on both his head and chin taking form. His body was covered in black armour and he had a scar on his right eye.

"Oh no," Henry uttered as Victoria explained, "This is Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. As long as I control another Six Samurai warrior, I can special summon him to the field. And with him here, as you can imagine, Kageki's power has gone up again."

Eric frowned as she proceeded to place another talisman onto a square, adding, "And while this guy won't bring up anyone's power, I know I won't need it by the time I'm done."

With that, she placed another talisman onto her gauntlet's demon zone as a balding man in rusty grey and red armour appeared. He had a purple aura around him and was covered in arrows. His name was The Immortal Bushi and while not very strong, he was more than enough to destroy Eric's armour once he was defenceless.

'Yes, I'm going to do it, Father,' the princess thought with a smirk, 'This war will come to an end and we'll be victorious all because of me!'

However, the woman was rather concerned about Eric's set talismans and as such, she decided to kick it up a notch as she placed her second-last talisman into a slot and activate it, exclaiming, "Before I strike you down, I active my own Mystical Space Typhoon to take down one of your talismans!"

However, it seemed Eric was ready for this as he activated one, saying, "I use Dark Bribe. In exchange for letting you have another talisman in your hand, I can negate and destroy any spell or trap that you use."

Victoria frowned as she drew another talisman, and just as she thought, it was one she could not make use of. As such, she took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, may as well get this over with.'

With that in mind, the woman proceeded to have Grandmaster lift up his sword as he charged toward Eagle Claw. But just as he was about to strike, Eric smirked and said, "So close, but not good enough," the prince revealing another trap, namely Shadow Spell.

Victoria's eyes widened as chains shot out of a tablet and latched themselves onto Grandmaster, stunting his movement as his muscle mass started to deteriorate. The princess stared in shock as Eric explained, "Thanks to this trap, not only can your Grandmaster not attack or change positions, but his attack power has been reduced by seven hundred."

Victoria simply growled and spat, "Fine, I'll just use Kageki to take down that archer of yours instead!" the samurai lifting his blades and rushing at the archer, putting four cuts on him and sending him to Eric's graveyard.

When the prince took in a strike and had his damage points reduced to two hundred, he did not look the least bit distraught. Instead, he had a smirk on his face as he stated, "You made a big mistake attacking my archer."

"What are you-?" Victoria asked before it dawned on her. Thanks to her A Forces spell, Kageki was, in fact, just powerful enough to destroy Eagle Claw. In short she could have had him destroy the mechanical bird while having Bushi destroy himself along with Achacha Archer. At least then, Eric would be defenceless thus leaving him with little to work with on his next turn.

With that in mind, the princess' turn came to a close as she lower her head. It seemed that despite all of her effort, she still had a lot to learn. If she had not made such a boneheaded mistake, she would have at least had a higher chance of surviving this turn.

As Eric drew his next talisman, a big grin formed on his face as he had drawn the spell 'Monster Reborn'. With this in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "Time to end this," as he activated the spell and returned his Unicorn Spear to the field.

Victoria stared in shock as Henry said, "Good show, my boy," Esmeralda sighing, "Yep, he's definitely grown up."

With that, Eric pretty much guaranteed his victory when he summoned Neo the Magic Swordsman. Now the princess knew for sure it was over as she bit her lower lip, a scowl on her face. She had come so close that she simply could not accept this.

Eagle Claw flew toward Grandmaster and rammed his beaks through him, sending him into the princess' graveyard and striking her armour. This brought her damage points down to seventeen hundred as Unicorn Spear pierced Bushi with her horn, striking the undead soldier into the grave lowering the damage points to eleven hundred.

With no other Six Samurai to give him power, Kageki's attack had been reduced to four hundred. As such, he was no match for Neo as the swordsman sliced him open, sending him into Victoria's graveyard. He then struck her armour hard and brought her damage points all the way down to zero, her armour coming open and collapsing as she stood there in fear an alarm.

However, she simply set her hands by her sides and sighed, "I admit defeat. You may strike me down now," only for Eric to reply, "I cannot do that. I want to protect my kingdom, but I have no desire to end the life of another."

With that, he pressed his hand against the gem on his gauntlet thus removing the magic field. Secretly, Victoria was happy to be alive, but it still pained her that she had lost after coming so close to victory.

Henry, all the while, placed his hand against his chest and let out a big sigh of relief, Esmeralda rubbing his shoulders and saying, "There, there. Everything's fine."

Eric then approached the princess and said, "I know you're a member of royalty, but you still tried to kidnap my dad. As much as it pains me to do it, I have to take you to the royal guard to have you sent to prison."

However, the princess could not accept this. She would much rather face the wrath of her father and the scoldings of Clement than spend a great deal of time in a cell. As such, she used the last ounce of her strength to make a dash for it, forcing the double doors open and heading toward a window.

Eric tried to pursue her along with his parents only for the princess to leap out of the opening. If there was one thing she was good at, it was landing and as such, she made perfect contact with the ground below. Sure, the height caused her a bit of pain in her legs, but she could at least tolerate this as she sprinted toward the bridge.

The guards noticed her as one asked, "Hey, who are you!?" only for each man to take a blow to the back of the head. While both were unconscious, Victoria groaned at the sight of five knights from her kingdom standing there.

"Well, you guys at least showed up at a good time," the princess grumbled as the five signalled her to follow.

Since none of the citizens had seen them knock out the guards, no one would try to stop them, especially since Victoria took this opportunity to slip her gauntlet back into her satchel. All-in-all, this day could have been worse for her, but it had still turned out badly in the end.