[Completed] Legend of the Five Knights I: Rise of a Guardian Angel

Episode 74: Rise of a Spirit King

[Meanwhile back in the Palace]

"I win!" Etsuo said, raising his hands into the air.

Kiara stared at the digital game board, incredulously. She kept losing to him every single time during these past few days! And she wasn't a slouch at games, either.

Etsuo grinned smugly. "Wanna go another round?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a suspicious look. "How do you do it? You're like a king of games or something."

Etsuo chuckled. "I don't know, but I've been good at them since I was a kid. Beating Satoru in a game of marbles was always fun until the guy began his temper tantrum."

"That Satoru is a total jerk. Wish I had a chance to fight him."

Etsuo stared at her for a while. "You sure? You almost died."

She scoffed. "That was because he performed a sneak attack! Nothing more!"

"H-hey, sis," Dan said as he held a pair of blue devices in his hand. "Wanna duel?"

"Duel?" Etsuo asked as Dan closed the cell behind him.

Dan smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Ever heard of Mystic? It's a card game in which one—"

Etsuo's golden eyes glimmered. "Of course I have! I played it with Roa and the others back home!"

"Huh, aren't you from another world? How did a game like Mystic spread there?" Kiara asked.

"Uh, well, there's actually only a few of us kids with decks. We got our cards from uncle Skah, Roa's papa. Uncle Skah used to be known as the 'Spirit King'. He became the youngest one at age fifteen too!"

"W-wait, y-your uncle i-is S-spirit K-king Skah? The owner of the Dancing Swans d-deck?" Dan asked, eyes wide.

Etsuo chuckled. "Yup! Him! Throughout the course of his time here, uncle Skah collected a ton of cards, some of which were given to him by fans. He would often sell them to us or give them as rewards for running certain tasks for the shop. My first card was 'Deaf Monkey Prince', which he gave to me as a gift."

"So you have stores in your realm too?" Kiara asked, giving him a strange look.

Etsuo chuckled. "I bet you expected us to be more uncivilized, eh? Well, not all parts do. My family lives on a series of islands protected by a barrier. Though the barrier is mostly intended to keep kids from wandering too far..." He looked down at the gray prison floor. His golden eyes momentarily shifted toward Dine's core.

"Uh... d-do you want to d-duel?" Dan asked as he kept his head down.

Etsuo looked up and saw that the boy was blushing beneath his hood.

Kiara smiled. It must've taken a lot of courage for Dan to ask a stranger that. He rarely would ask those outside of their family to play. The few times he did all ended badly. Having listened to Etsuo's story, she realized that the two boys had things in common. Perhaps, if Dan befriended Etsuo, he could break from his shell, while Etsuo would grow closer to them.

The white-haired teen stood up from the bed and took the other device. He stared at it for a while. "So, how does one duel with this?"

Dan chuckled. "I'll show you." He walked over to Etsuo and tapped some buttons on the screen. "You go to the 'select your deck' menu and choose between forty to fifty cards. This is a digital interface which gives access to all the cards ever made except for those that are banned."

Etsuo jumped and let out a yelp. "R-really? All of them? This is incredible!" he yelled as he raised it over his head. His smile faded somewhat. "Though, it kinda makes all my work to build up my deck seem like a waste."