Shield of Truth

The Shield of Truth is the Violet family's small black legendary shield and one of the story's strongest space-time defenses. This physical artifact is distinct from the Orvarit family's “Shield of Truth” epithet and coat of arms, the family's Earth-and-Stars bloodline Blessing of the same name, and the temporary duplicate shield Natasha uses earlier in the story. (Chapters 64, 128, 487, and 605)

History

Violet heirloom carried from Aalto

When the Grand Duke of Orvarit leaves Aalto, he brings the legendary Shield of Truth in a storage bag even though he cannot personally lift and wield it. Natasha had already intended to pair the family shield with the Sword of Truth after advancing, and it becomes part of the couple's defense when legendary enemies attack her wedding. She raises the tiny shield against Kritonia, placing herself beyond his attack in a separated space, but her then-current strength permits no more than three such blocks and the effort leaves her trembling. Natasha ultimately abandons defense to kill Kritonia with the Sword of Truth; once she is too exhausted to lift either artifact, Lucien transforms into a legendary knight and temporarily takes the shield and sword. He then uses the shield to keep both of them alive through the Original Fire's detonation of three legendary items. (Chapters 515, 605, and 608–610)

Loan to the Temple of Spirits expedition

Concerned that Lucien's defense is weaker than his offense, Natasha lends him the Shield of Truth for the expedition into the World of Souls. Lucien can wield it only after transforming into a legendary knight, and its weight slows him and eventually numbs or exhausts his arm under sustained attacks. Even so, its separated-space defense lets him resist the primordial mummy, the projection of the Lord of Hell, an imitator of Rhine, and soul-targeting attacks that his robe alone might not stop. Its protection also covers companions: Lucien holds it before Rhine under the false Douglas's Eternal Blaze. (Chapters 613–628, 635–640)

Eternal Blaze blasts the shield backward, destroys its smooth surface with dents and vaporized holes, and leaves it temporarily unusable, but does not vaporize it as an ordinary level-three legendary item might have been. Lucien finds repair materials in the Realm of Gates and assigns the damaged shield to his portable alchemical laboratory. After several minutes of subjective repair time inside the accelerated laboratory, it becomes usable again, though later battles continue to open cracks. The cycle establishes that the shield can survive catastrophic force and be repaired, but only while damage has not passed the point of destruction. (Chapters 628, 632, and 636)

Natasha's defense against demonic powers

Returned to Natasha, the shield protects her in conflicts involving the Prince of Demons and Mecantron. Its illusionary ripples place her in an intangible world, block the glare and destructive force of Eternal Blaze, and stop a pillar of judgment projected from Mountain Paradise. Those same mechanics impose a tactical cost: maximal separation leaves its bearer immobile and unable to attack the outside world. Natasha realizes that her Sword of Truth blood power and charging combat creed are poorly matched with stationary defense, and she sometimes leaves the shield behind rather than letting caution blunt her offensive strength. That is a choice about battlefield use, not an abandonment or transfer of the artifact. (Chapters 685–705 and 761)

Near destruction and later retention

Natasha again raises the shield while she and Lucien confront Maltimus's devilish hand. Its separated time and space initially cover both of them, but the hand breaks through, leaving the shield on the verge of destruction before Positron Cannon drives the enemy back. Douglas orders immediate repair of both the shield and Lucien's robe, and the shield is still not fully restored when Lucien prepares to seek the real sun. Later chapters nevertheless identify the Shield of Truth alongside the Sword of Truth as part of Natasha's arsenal, including during Atlant's attack on Lucien's resurrection facilities. No later item-specific scene records its loss or a new owner. (Chapters 762–765, 801, and 814)

Abilities and properties

• The shield's defining defense uses space and time rather than simply meeting force with stronger material. Illusionary ripples place the bearer, and people directly covered by the shield, in a separate intangible world that attacks cannot normally reach. This can stop legendary sword blows, explosions, divine judgment, soul attacks, and effects related to time. (Chapters 608–610, 621, 686, and 703)
• It is a level-three legendary item and is repeatedly called the best or most powerful defense of that level. Its special mechanism lets it survive Eternal Blaze when a conventional item might be vaporized, but sufficient force can still dent, crack, penetrate, or destroy it. Godslayer's Arrow collapses its illusionary waves, and the energy storm of Positron Cannon is dangerous enough that Natasha withdraws rather than trust the shield to endure at the center. (Chapters 628, 640, and 705)
• Full defensive use constrains action. Natasha becomes intangible but cannot attack while maximally separated; Lucien finds that moving with the heavy shield lowers its effectiveness and makes escape slower. The bearer must also possess enough strength and willpower to raise it. Natasha can invoke it only a limited number of times before her later advancement, while Lucien needs a legendary-knight transformation to wield it at all. (Chapters 608, 619–623, and 704)
• The defense may activate in response to danger, but passive availability does not remove the user's physical limit. Against Kritonia, Natasha can raise it no more than three times, and each block imposes severe strain. (Chapter 608)
• Damage is repairable with appropriate materials and alchemy so long as the item remains recoverable. The portable laboratory restores it after Eternal Blaze, while later damage from Maltimus requires immediate attention and remains incomplete for some time. (Chapters 628, 636, and 763–765)

Ownership and custody