Episode 19

Dancing Puppet (踊る人形) is the nineteenth episode of the The Eminence in Shadow anime adaptation.

Synopsis
Doem tries to make war with Midgar. Meanwhile, the match between Mundane and Iris begins.

Summary
Iris is practicing and recalls her path from being a young kid who won her fight battle to who is she now. She is determined to get results and prove that she has power to stand up against the Divine Teachings.

Cid starts to like the VIP seating as the maids get him anything he wants free of charge. Iris sits next to him, guessing he is there to cheer for his sister and explains that she is free today as she also has a duel. She notes that he is drinking coffee, and states she likes the smell, but doesn't like bitter flavors. Cid explains that if you put tons of milk and sugar, every kind of coffee will taste the same. Iris decides to try it and finds it the milk coffee delicious.

Moments later, Iris hears the guards stopping a woman with a sword and want she to give it to them. Iris then see its Beatrix and explains she invited her. Realizing who Beatrix is, everyone get excited and gather around her. Beatrix uses the chance and asks them if they have seen her niece, but no one has seen her. They also ask her if some competitor caught her eye and Beatrix states its Cid. People are surprised as Cid isn't really that good and his sister is much better, and some start to question if Beatrix is really that good.

Perv Asshat drugs King Oriana again, but is annoyed how the drug makes his odor sweet and tells his men to cover it with a perfume. Perv is sure that Rose will come to save her father and notes that since she showed signs of possession, she will also become prime material for the Cult's experimentation. If Rose doesn't show up, Perv intends to use King Oriana to kill King Midgar. That will result in a war between the kingdoms and the destruction of Oriana Kingdom, and Perv will lose his status, but he doesn't really care. Perv plans to make the new king of Midgar his puppet and guesses the best time to move is during Iris' match, however, he is worried about Mundane Mann as he couldn't find anything about him and worries that he could be quite dangerous. Perv is also worried what Shadow Garden may do and that they may be working with Rose. He goes into the VIP seating and as he passes by Beatrix, she states that he and the king stink. Perv gets angry and orders to take her you, but Iris stops him and explains she is her guest and its Beatrix the War Goddess. Perv then realizes who she is and that she may have awakened the heroes' blood. Beatrix apologizes and Perv does the same. He takes his seat and starts to worry about Beatrix, guessing he need to eliminate her as well. He also wonders if he will be able to assassinate the King of Midgar, but states it will all go normal if Rose shows up.

Claire wins her fight and the Iris heads out for her match against Mundane Mann. As their fight start, Iris feels that she loses her head and jumps backwards in fear. She is surprised of what she did, and gathers herself and stands up. In that moment, she feels she is loosing her leg and realizes that the entire arena is in Mundane's striking range. Meanwhile, Rose gets close to the VIP seating, but sees dead cult members. Beta and other Shadow Garden appear behind her and tells her that she can proceed and fulfil her mission.

Iris keeps feeling that she is losing limbs from Mundane's attacks. She realizes she feels that due to his look in his eyes and each time he slightly shifts his gravity center, which means its done by his strength and not by an artifact. The crowd start to get disappointed at Iris as she keeps backing up and feel that she is scared. Iris gets angry and attacks, but in that moment, she realizes that Mundane isn't even holding his sword. Everything he did was to make her see things and think he had his sword out. Mundane then pushes her sword away and grabs her by the throat and takes her down. Placing his sword at her neck, he wonders what is wrong as they are just starting.

Perv can't believe that Iris lost without being even able to make a single move. Seeing Mundane, Beatrix states she wants to fight him. Rose then shows up and apologizes to her father, stating she made mistakes and will likely make one more, but she decided to follow the path she believe in. King Oriana then forgives all of her sins. Perv is surprised as he didn't instruct him of saying that. Rose cries and jumps at Perv, who then uses the king as a shield, however Rose proceeds and stabs him. In his last moments, the king tells Rose that he loves her. Perv is shocked at how easily she killed her father and gets angry. He then sees Rose holding her blade against her neck and orders his men to stop her. Mundane then comes from the window, asking if that's the choice Rose made, while cutting down Perv's men.

Mundane then states its time to reveal himself and turns to Shadow. Rose calls him Stylish Bandit Slayer. Seeing him fight, she was reminded of her past, when Cid had saved her from some bandits. Since that day when she saw his fencing, she decided to become fencer herself. When Cid had killed all the bandits who kidnapped Rose, she asked him who he was. As Cid was still training back then, he is just a Stylish Bandit Slayer. Rose is surprised to learn that Shadow was Stylish Bandit Slayer and even at that young age, he wasn't afraid and fought against evil. Shadow tells her that her fight isn't over. Rose then stands up and leaves. Perv wants to stop her, but all of his men are already defeated by other Shadow Garden members. Beatrix then states she will do it and jumps at Shadow. As they clash swords, Perv uses the chance to escape.