Things were truly about to heat up in Duel Kingdom. Not only had Victoria come in search of Izy to challenge her to a duel, but the knights Izy and her friends had gone to all the trouble to defeat had escaped from their cells along with a few others captured by the other knights.

Since the townsfolk still did not know what Victoria looked like, the princess simply walked around in broad daylight. Though she also wore a hood in case any of the knights who had seen her took notice of her.

Right now, her only target was Izy. She did not care about anyone else. Even if she ran into Eric, she would do everything to avoid duelling him.

During this time, the prince was busy guarding a woman on her way to the market with another male knight by his side. The two were just looking around when the princess passed by them, Eric turning to look at her briefly.

"Something wrong?" the prince's ally asked as the boy shook his head and replied, "No, nothing's wrong," Victoria all the while biting her lip and thinking, 'Soon, Eric. Soon.'

Meanwhile, Victor and the others were sneaking around the halls. Since there was no way for them to stay hidden, they took advantage of the fact that all of the knights were in the training facility by knocking the servants unconscious one by one. At least this way, no one would be able to rat them out.

Victor narrowed his eyelids and asked, "Everyone know where we're going?" Derrick replying, "You'd better believe it. I can hear my precious Firedog howling," Cole and Darien's eyes turning into hearts as they nodded with their fists raised in excitement.

With that in mind, all of the knights proceeded through the halls in the hopes that they would soon find their talismans along with their gauntlets. Though it truly was a miracle that the knights still in the castle were as busy as they were right now otherwise this would not have been possible.

During this time, Izy and Will were standing guard outside of the church as Will asked, "Say, Izy. Just out of curiosity, what do you think of me?"

The brunette rose an eyebrow and shrugged before saying, "I think you're a nice guy. The others say you're nothing more than a pervert, but I don't really see that in you."

'You should have seen me before I developed feelings for you,' Will thought, although it was nice that Izy thought so positively about him. Perhaps he did have a chance.

While the two knights continued to talk about other things, Victoria was still searching for Izy when she happened to come across the church in question. It took her a while to recognize her, but there was no doubt about it. She had found the one capable of pendulum summoning and there was no way she would pass this up.

As such, she wasted no time as she sprinted toward Izy and whipped out her gauntlet, covering her hand with it. She then had her armour form as Will exclaimed, "Izy, Rose Kingdom Knight coming in fast!"

The brunette nodded and smirked, saying, "Right," but just as she was about to press the gem on her gauntlet, Victoria screeched to a halt and held her arm out, shouting, "WAIT!"

"What?" Izy uttered as the princess removed her hood, Will blinking and asking, "Princess Victoria?"

"That's right," Victoria replied with a sigh, Izy tilting her head to the side and asking, "Wait, why are you here? Did they seriously send you to attack a church?"

"Actually, I was sent to seek you out and face you in a duel!" the princess retorted with a serious look in her eyes, Will asking, "Wait, you mean Izy specifically?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," the princess remarked as Izy sighed, "I understand."

Will's eyes widened, the man now concerned for the brunette's well-being. However, Izy simply gave him a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, I know we lost to her before, but I'll be sure to win this time."

The princess, however, was going to make sure that did not happen as Will stepped far enough away so only the two women would be in the magic field. And thus they were ready for this duel as they pressed their hands up against their gems, the field taking form.

As both knights drew their talismans, Victoria said, "Since I issued the challenge, I guess it's up to me to decide who goes first," Izy nodding as the princess looked over her hand.

Much to her surprise, she had already drawn one of her pendulum demons. However, without any knowledge of how to use it, it might be a bad idea for her to go now. As such, she figured it was finally time to do something she had not yet done since she became a knight.

With that in mind, she said, "I figure since I beat you last time, you may as well go first," Izy grinning and replying, "Well, that's fine by me."

'Alright, I need to at least try,' the princess thought, 'but at the same time, I'm merely trying to keep her at bay until she uses those pendulums of hers and demonstrates their power. Hopefully I won't get carried away and finish her off before she can do it.'

Izy's turn was over with rather quickly as she started off by summoning a knight clad head to toe in black armour with a huge blade in hand, saying, "I'll start things off with my powerful Dark Blade!" Victoria feeling rather nervous now. That knight was quite strong, and things only looked more alarming when Izy set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn.

'That's it?' the princess thought with a look of minor annoyance, 'Damn. She must not have her pendulums in her hand. Or maybe she does and just needs a push in the right direction.'

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and thought, 'I can't go too far, but I still need to protect myself.'

As such, the woman proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet as she said, "For my first move, I summon Legendary Six Samurai Kageki!" the samurai taking form with his mechanical arms at the ready.

"I now activate his special power, allowing me to special summon another Six Samurai warrior whose level is five or lower!" the princess stated. But just as she was about to do so, her eyes and mouth were wide open when Izy revealed the talisman she had set at the end of her turn.

"Way to go!" Will exclaimed as Izy smirked and exclaimed, "I activate the trap, Divine Wrath! At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can negate a demon's effect and destroy the demon in question!"

"In that case, I'll chain the effect of another warrior in my hand!" Victoria stated as a bolt of lightning came down upon Kageki, the samurai's eyes and mouth wide open, his arms flailing around.

With no other options, Victoria proceeded to slap another talisman next to Kageki's before he could be destroyed, bringing out her Legendary Six Samurai Kizan. As the samurai in brown armour was sent to the graveyard, Izy blinked and asked, "How did you do that?"

"I used his power before Kageki was sent to the graveyard," Victoria explained, "See, as long as I control another Six Samurai, I can special summon Kizan from my hand."

This was certainly a much better defence as his power was equal to that of Dark Blade, but would that really be enough? After all, Izy could very well have something really useful in her hand.

With this in mind, the princess set a talisman into a slot and thought, 'This should at least keep her at bay,' as her turn came to a close.'

As Izy drew her next talisman, a grin formed on her face as she squealed, "Sweet! I start by activating Card of Sanctity!" placing said spell into a slot and tapping its side with her finger.

Victoria blinked and thought, 'Good, this'll increase the odds of her drawing those pendulums of hers,' each knight drawing until she had six talismans in her hand.

However, it seemed Izy had only drawn one while Victoria had her second one in her hand. Since the princess was unaware of Izy's predicament, she simply smirked and thought, 'Yes, this is it! Once her turn ends, I can finally make use of these!'

"I summon Performapal Whip Snake!" Izy exclaimed with a grin as the princess thought, 'She doesn't have them!? But how!?' the purple cobra taking form as the brunette added, "Alright, it's time for you to make me proud!"

'Wait, she used this on me last time, didn't she?' Victoria thought with a frown, 'That's right. This one's power can be very annoying.'

And it certainly seemed so as the snake gazed into Kizan's eyes, switching his attack and defence. To make matters worse for the samurai, his defence was insanely low, so this put him at a huge disadvantage.

However, it seemed Victoria was prepared for this as when Whip Snake propelled himself off the ground and aimed his tail toward the warrior, the princess proceeded to activate the talisman she had set, exclaiming, "I now activate Six Style Dual Wield!"

"What?" Izy asked as Kizan threw his blade downward, stirring up a powerful wind that sent both Dark Blade and Whip Snake back into Izy's hand. The brunette gulped as Will uttered, "That's not good."

"If all I control is one Six Samurai warrior," Victoria explained with a smirk, "I can target two of your demons and send them back to your hand. In other words, you're defenceless next turn."

Izy was now terrified out of her mind as she trembled. However, she seemed to regain a bit of her fighting spirit when Will gave her a warm smile and held his thumb up. With that in mind, she set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn, hoping this would at least provide her with a decent defence. After all, at least no client's life was at stake this time, though hers might still have been.

'She doesn't seem to take disadvantages well,' Victoria thought with a smirk, 'That's it. Maybe she is holding back because she doesn't think I'm worth this pendulum summoning of hers yet. In that case, I'll have to give her a reason to use it.'

With that in mind, the princess drew her next talisman and said, "Alright, I'll start things off by summoning Legendary Six Samurai Enishi!"

As the warrior took form, Izy was tempted to reach for her trap. However, she stopped herself and thought, 'No, I can't do that yet. She has two level four warriors out right now. There's a chance she might use them to summon that demon hero of hers. If she brings him out, I can use my trap to get rid of him and render her side defenceless.'

Izy had to think more logically, especially after Victoria had pulled a major fast one during their last duel. And it seemed her suspicions were true when the princess smirked and said, "I now overlay both of my warriors in order to summon Shadow of the Six Samurai, Shien!"

With that, the red samurai took form as Will gulped, "I remember this guy," Izy nodding and exclaiming, "Unfortunately for you, he won't be of any help!" a smirk forming on her face as she activated her set talisman.

Victoria's eye twitched as Izy exclaimed, "I now activate Raigeki Break! At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can target one demon on your side of the field and send it to the graveyard, and I only see one target right now!"

The shocking thing was that rather than sending a less useful talisman to the graveyard, Izy instead went with her Dark Blade. But what was there to gain from that? Dark Blade was a very powerful warrior, so it seemed odd to send him to the graveyard.

Even so, this was hardly an issue as Shien was struck by a bolt of lightning, the samurai turning into a flash of light and flying into Victoria's graveyard. However, it seemed the princess was prepared for this as she said, "Not bad, but I now activate Monster Reborn to bring my Shien back from the graveyard."

"No way!" Will groaned with a look of panic, Izy gulping as the samurai returned to the field, Victoria stating, "Sure, he doesn't have his overlay units anymore, but that's a small price to pay for his power."

With that, Shien proceeded to charge at the brunette and strike her armour hard, bringing her damage points all the way down to fifteen hundred. Needless to say, she would need a miracle to get around this, Victoria all the while thinking, 'Alright, I dealt a lot of damage, but she's still standing. As long as I don't take it much further than this, I'll get to see that pendulum summoning in action.'

However, just to be on the safe side, the princess proceeded to set two talismans into slots before bringing her turn to a close. After all, she could only guess how strong of a demon one could bring out with pendulum summoning.

Luckily, Izy did not have too much to worry about as even if she did not draw her second pendulum mage, she still had her Whip Snake. And with Shien's defence being weaker than that of Kizan, this could certainly work in her favour.

But as she drew her next talisman, her eyes lit up as she grinned, thinking, 'Yes! Thank you!' Victoria asking, "What are you so happy about? It'll take a miracle for you to beat my Shien!" the princess clearly having forgotten about Izy's Whip Snake.

However, it seemed like the woman had even more to work with as she exclaimed, "First, I activate the spell Dark Factory of Mass Production! This allows me to return two demons to my hand just as long as they don't have special powers, and luckily, I have two just like that in my graveyard!"

"Wait, what?" Victoria asked as Izy activated that very talisman and brought back to the two she had discarded, the brunette explaining, "If you recall, I've discarded two talismans throughout this duel so far, and those were specifically normal fighters."

"Way to plan ahead, Izy!" Will exclaimed with a big grin as Victoria gulped and thought, 'Of course! It makes perfect sense!' but she then shook her head and thought, 'But they're probably both weaklings.'

However, it seemed Izy had even more planned as she exclaimed, "And now for something you've likely never seen before!" the brunette holding aloft two particular talismans before slapping them onto the side of her gauntlet, "I now set the scale with Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician!"

'Wait, are those-?' Victoria thought as both mages took form, a big pendulum forming behind them and rocking back and forth.

'There's no doubt about it,' the princess thought with a grin, 'She's going to do it. Though I wasn't expecting them both to be summoned like that.'

"And now, with their power, I pendulum summon every demon in my hand!" Izy exclaimed as Will grinned bright, Victoria's eyes wide with shock as she uttered, "Every demon?"

And sure enough, four lights came down from a big hole in the sky and fell on separate spaces, a demon forming from each one. Of course Dark Blade and Whip Snake had returned, but there were also two that Izy had not used since she became a knight.

The first was a red shield with a golden rim and an Egyptian eye engraved in the middle of it. This demon was known as Millennium Shield, and while it had no attack power, it had an insanely high defence, making it one of the most effective demons for defending.

However, the last one to appear was one of Izy's strongest demons. This was a slender purple dragon with red armour covering his legs, arms, back and the spikes on the back of his neck. He also wore a white mask over his face, which resembled a crow's beak in a way. With a white chest plate with two big blue gems lodged into it, this was Odd-Eyes Dragon.

The beast let out a loud battle cry as Victoria blinked, asking, "How did you do that? Not only did you just summon a whole bunch of demons, but you have more than five out right now! How has your gauntlet not exploded yet!?"

"That's because when pendulums are set, they're treated as spells separate from the spell zone," Izy explained with a grin, "Also, pendulums allow me to special summon any demon in my hand whose level is between their pendulum numbers. See, Stargazer's number is one and Timegazer's is eight, meaning I can only pendulum summon demons whose levels are between two and seven."

'So that's what those numbers are for,' the princess thought as she looked at her own pendulums. Her Twin Kings had the number one on their sides while Flash Knight had number seven, meaning that if they had been set, she could pendulum summon any warrior from her hand whose level ranged from two to six.

'If I knew pendulum summoning was this bad, I wouldn't have aimed to have her use it first,' Victoria thought with a look of despair in her eyes, 'Those demons combined could easily bring my armour's damage points down to zero.'

However, she then remembered her trap and took a deep breath, thinking, 'Right, I can at least defend myself this turn.'

With all said and done, Izy looked at her Dark Blade and Whip Snake, thinking, 'Sorry, Utopia, but I'm not making the same mistake I did in my duel with Stephanie and Tina. If I had kept Whip Snake out, things would have been easier for me, and right now, that might still be the case.'

As such, the brunette had Whip Snake gaze into Shien's eyes, the samurai groaning as his attack and defence were switched. However, rather than having the snake attack, Izy smirked and exclaimed, "Now I'll have Odd-Eyes strike down that samurai of yours! See, when Odd-Eyes destroys and opponent's fighter, he will inflict damage equal to that fighter's attack power to the owner's armour!"

'That means I'll take in an additional twenty-five hundred damage?' the princess thought with sheer terror in her eyes as the dragon proceeded to charge at Shien. But just as he was about to go in for the kill, Victoria revealed her first talisman, exclaiming, "I ACTIVATE FIENDISH CHAIN!"

She could not have been more relieved as a row of chains shot out of a tablet and bound the dragon in place, the princess letting out a sigh before explaining, "I can target one demon with a special power. As long as these chains are bound to him, your Odd-Eyes not only can't use his power, but he also can't attack."

Will blinked and uttered, "Oh, that is pretty bad, isn't it?" but Izy refused to let this get to her as she smirked and said, "Not bad, but I can still attack you anyway."

As much as it pained Victoria to admit it, the brunette was right as she had Dark Blade charge toward Shien, sending an X-shaped strike with both of his swords down the samurai's midsection. With that, he flew back into the princess' graveyard as Dark Blade sent a strike into the pink-haired woman's armour, her damage points now reduced to twenty-six hundred.

However, it seemed Victoria had something else planned as she activated her other talisman, exclaiming, "I now activate Shien's Scheme! If a Six Samurai warrior is destroyed, I can use this to special summon two others from my hand, and I choose the only two I have, Irou and Kamon!"

With that, Irou took form along with a pale man dressed in bronze armour with his arms and torso laced with dynamite. However, his attack power was rather low and thus the princess knew he would not last. But at least this was still better protection than nothing.

But Victoria's suspicions were still proven true when Whip Snake propelled himself off the ground, sending his tail hard into the man's forehead and sending him into the princess' graveyard. He also slammed her tail into her armour, bringing her damage points down to twenty-four hundred as Izy brought her turn to a close, Will giving her a round of applause.

Izy would have summoned Utopia during her second main phase, but she could still use Whip Snake's power, even during the opponent's turn. As such, she figured it might be better to keep him out even if Irou's power was equal to his.

However, Victoria was not going to let this slide as a smirk came over her face, the princess thinking, 'Alright, that was good, but I'm still in this. Don't think for a minute that this is over!' as she drew her next talisman.

With her new knowledge of how pendulum summoning worked, she had every intention of exploiting it. She was going to turn this all in her favour and she would do it with her own pendulums.