A Conspiracy Linked

A Conspiracy Linked (連なる陰謀) is the eighteenth episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero anime.

Synopsis
Information to be added later on.

Plot
At the Church of the Three Heroes in Melromarc, the Pope tells his devouts that "the time has come" and their long-awaited wish will be granted. He smiles ominously. Meanwhile, Fitoria, teleports Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo and Melty - restoring their old wagon, much to the younger Filolial's delight - to the closest Hero she can sense, sad with their departure, asking Naofumi to take good care of Filo and keep the promise of re-uniting the other Heroes.

As they rush back to Melromarc (with Filo overjoyed for pulling their wagon again), they arrive at a border wall. Other routes are longer and time-consuming, according to Raphtalia, so Naofumi, recalling Fitoria's promise, decides to go to the checkpoint, hoping to talk to either Ren or Itsuki, or force his way through. Melty reminds him that there are still people like Idol Rabier wanting to kill him, even by summoning beasts. They try to cross the border anyways, but are intercepted by an illegible Motoyasu, who awaits with several Knights. Naofumi tries to talk, but Motoyasu, visibly enraged and still believing the "brainwashing Devil Shield" nonsense, attacks. Blinded by rage, he also accuses Naofumi of having killed Ren and Itsuki. The Shield Hero remembers Fitoria's words about how fighting the Waves will be far more difficult without any of the Cardinal Heores. Melty demands to know more about it while Naofumi tries to reason it out to be a lie (since nobody had found the Heroes's corpses or the like), but once again Malty steps in to invent more lies, such as assigning to Naofumi the unleashing of Tyrant Dragon Rex and the presumed deaths of the Bow and Sword Heroes, all "confirmed" by the Church, further infuriating Motoyasu. Melty feels sad about what Malty is doing, to which Naofumi questions if Malty herself had killed them.

Malty creates a Lightning Cage forcefield around the Shield and Spear Heroes, intending to pit them against each other. Motoyasu still doesn't listen to reason and attacks Naofumi (who notices how much of a puppet in Malty's hands he actually is). The latter attempts the Shield Prison, but the former breaks through rather easily, showing how far more leveled-up he is now. Malty tries to kill them all with a Zweite Fire Squall, which is rapidly countered by Melty's Anti-Zweite Fire Squall. Filo springs into action and attacks Motoyasu, but is countered by a Zweite Air Shot from one of Malty's companions. Motoyasu, motivated to fight for Ren and Itsuki, tries to attack Filo, but Naofumi stops him. Malty and her other companions augment the Spear with combined spells, forming the Air-Burst Flare Lance attack. More spells from both sides fly out, and Naofumi unlocks a kind of combo skill. By fusing Raphtalia's First Hiding with his own Air Strike Shield, Change Shield and Soul Eater Shield, Motoyasu is neutralised. Filo quickly kicks him away while Raphtalia strikes at Malty. Filo and Melty combine their respective wind and water spells to produce a Typhoon which defeats them all and finishes the duel. Naofumi explains that they were getting stronger and acquiring new abilities while Motoyasu was just "playing superhero", that's why he lost the duel. Even defeated, Motoyasu still refuses to listen to Naofumi.

Raphtalia suddenly notices that all the Knights have gone. Sensing something wrong, Filo brings the defeated enemies closer to the party and urges Naofumi to invoke the Shield of Rage to protect them from something. Naofumi combines Prison Shield, Air Strike Shield and Second Shield - all to protect against a massive beam of golden light coming down from the sky, powerful enough to open a massive crater on the ground. Naofumi and the others, though, are relatively unharmed. Malty recognizes that power as Judgment, the High Priest Balamus's most powerful spell. And the man himself is up there, sarcastically complimenting the "devil shield" for surviving such power. He starts preaching about the Heroes' "sins" (their unintentional misdeeds that were later fixed by Naofumi) and they shall be "purified in God's name". Malty scolds him for such treachery, and he reveals that the Church intends to overthrow the Royal Family and rule Melromarc with its own agenda. According to the Pope, the Heroes are "fakes" for causing harm everywhere and damaging the people's faith (though unintentionally), that's why Judgment fell upon them - a completely twisted and demented logic, according to Melty. Motoyasu finally sees that Naofumi is innocent of the accusation of killing Itsuki and Ren. Laughing maniacally, the Pope receives a golden sword, which greatly resembles Ren's Sword, ready to initiate the Holy Judgment with his countless followers. Melty recognizes the weapon with visible terror.