It was early morning as Ban walked along a path, standing in front of a mountain as he remembered what he and Meliodas talked about during the battle with Hendrickson.
"Alright then." Meliodas spoke. "But for now, as the Seven Deadly Sins' Fox Sin, you need to do your duty! Captain's orders! Let's wait until this is all over, then we can settle things."
"When that time comes..." Ban started.
"Yeah. No matter what, you're still my friend, Ban." Meliodas answered him.
"Yeah. Roger that."
He jumped up, landing on the top of the mountain as he walked forward.
"Sorry to keep you--"
"Hey, Ban!" Hawk yelled, getting his attention.
"Eh? Huh?!" He then noticed the crowd that consisted of the knights of Liones, the Sins, you, Elizabeth, and the citizens.
"You're the only one who's late to the party!"
"Been waiting for you, slowpoke." King scolded.
"I just love a good festival." Diane spoke.
Everyone conversed, saying how they were so excited for the fight. Ban started to get irritated and yelled at Meliodas. "Damn it, Captain! Just what in the hell is going on here?! What the hell is with these freakin' spectators?!"
"Don't ask me. I don't know. By the time I got out here, they were already gathering and hyped up."
"How could they--" He then realized who told everyone. "Hey! Master! Is this your doing?! You were listening in on my conversation with the Captain, weren't you?!"
"Sure. It's a fight, after all. What could be better than having an audience cheering you on?" Hawk innocently replied.
"How dare you try and turn my fight into some kind of damn festival." Ban said, outraged.
"Sir Ban, please don't be hard on Hawk. When he heard you two discussing it, he asked all of us to come and watch. Because to Hawk and the rest of us, you and Meliodas are so dear, we couldn't bear it if anything to you." Elizabeth explained.
"Elizabeth, at this point, there's no need to spell it out for him, you know?" Hawk told her.
"Fox Sin of Greed Ban, have you forgotten?" Merlin started. "As it clearly states in The Seven Deadly Sins' Seven Codes, Article Six, 'Any fight to the death between fellow Sins must be stopped by other Sins working in concert.' In other words, if you and the captain here are planning to fight to the death for real, then the four of us will have to use all our might to stop you."
"Oh, really? Hey, Merlin, I dare you to say that again." Ban dared, cracking his knuckles.
"We'll stop you." She repeated.
"Sounds like fun. But right now, my only business is with the captain, so you gawkers can shut up and back off. You could have saved all the fuss. I'm not planning on fighting to death."
You heard Elizabeth sigh, glad that they weren't trying to kill each other.
"Seven Deadly Sins' Seven Codes, Article Five." Ban told them.
" 'Any bad blood existing between fellow Sins must be settled through a fight.' " Merlin recited. "Very well, then. Now we won't do anything uncivilized."
"Wow, who knew we had a code like that?" Meliodas asked.
"You were the one who thought it up, Captain!" King yelled.
"In that case, if you're going to fight, then do it no-holds-barred. Perfect Cube!" A purple see-through cube surrounded the two men, lifting into the air so that everyone could see.
"Awesome! This thing is amazing." Meliodas exclaimed.
"Ha! Now you can both brawl to your hearts' content without having to worry about collateral damage. Not to mention, we can sit back and watch with no fear."
'Wow, she must be powerful if that cube can hold Ban and Meliodas having a full out fight.' You caught a glance toward Merlin, seeing her smirking.
"The captain of The Seven Deadly Sins and his fellow Sin going one-on-one? We might never get another chance to see something like this again." Gustaf commented.
"A brutal clash between the two heroes who saved the kingdom. Incredible." Griamore observed.
"Heh. I'm the one who saved the kingdom, but whatever." Hawk overheard.
"This will be something we'll not soon forget." Gilthunder said.
"Eh, it's nothing new to someone like me." Howzer gloated.
"Come on. Don't say that. Even among The Seven Deadly Sins, who grace the top echelon in the Holy Knights, these two are said to be exceptionally gifted fighters." Gilthunder watched. "Not good."
"Eh, what's wrong, Gil?" Howzer asked, confused since the fight hadn't started yet.
"I can't stop my heart from pounding! It's so exciting!" Gilthunder yelled, letting his emotions take over.
"Whatever floats your boat, man." Howzer told him.
"Alright. Come at me, Captain. Bring it on." Ban waved him on.
"Alrighty. I'm not holding back, okay? Ready?" Meliodas warned him.
Meliodas was no longer in the same spot he was before and was running toward Ban at a fast speed. Ban swiped at him, but Meliodas ducked. Ban tried to punch him but Meliodas jumped over him, trying to punch but Ban dodged it. Ban kicked him up, punching him. Meliodas jumped up from his hands and punched Ban, but Ban returned it, punching Meliodas into the wall of the Perfect Cube.
You gasped, putting your hands over your mouth, shaking slightly.
"Yikes!" Hawk said.
"Ban got the better of him." Howzer saw.
"No. Look again!" Gilthunder said, making Howzer direct his attention to Ban. A punch mark was seen in Ban's stomach as he spit out blood. "It's a draw!"
Meliodas stood back up, seemingly fine. The crowd started to cheer from the fight, getting even more excited, while you and Elizabeth stayed quiet.
"So this is a fighting festival." Gilthunder said, tears streaming down his face out of happiness.
"Wait. You're actually crying?" Howzer asked, confused.
"Maybe a little." Gilthunder sniffed, wiping away his tears.
"Well, those two were you childhood idols. I guess I understand."
"They're amazing. These guys are truly--"
"What's with the fooling around, you two?!" King yelled, interrupting Gilthunder.
"He's right! If you're gonna settle the score, you might as well go at each other like there's no tomorrow!" Diane agreed.
"From what I can tell, they're only fighting at 13% of their total strength." Gowther analyzed.
The crowd got quieter, mumbling a few things. "You mean they're not going all out?" A crowd member asked.
"Amazing!" Another exclaimed.
"Yeah!"
"I should probably stretch a little, or I'll end up getting hurt, you know?" Meliodas said, stretching his arms. "Oh, one more thing. This fight is just between me and Ban. Got it? If you make too much of a ruckus and distract us, I'm gonna knock all of you into next week!"
You flinched from the threat and the crowd gasped, quieting down.
"Oh. I'm sorry." King apologized.
"Great, now he's mad at us." Diane whispered to King.
"That said, Y/N is the one exception to the rule. Cheer for me, yeah?"
You blinked, surprised but smiled his way. "Behind you!" You yelled, seeing Ban running up behind him. Meliodas looked back but still got punched in the face by Ban as he sent a barrage of punches into his face. He did a final punch, making Meliodas spit out blood, making you tear up a little.
Before Ban could do another attack, Meliodas grabbed his leg and started to swing him around like a rag doll. He let him go, flying into the wall and skidding across it as blood painted the wall.
"Are they trying to kill each other?" You asked yourself, shaking more.
Ban was now behind Meliodas. He got up, and jumped toward Meliodas, readying a punch. He knocked Meliodas back into a wall but he got up and ran toward Ban. While everyone else was into the fight, you slowly looked down, not sure if you could continue to watch the fight. Diane noticed and started to walk toward you, grabbing Elizabeth's attention. She was confused on why Diane was walking over until she looked over at you, seeing you shaking.
"Y/N!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She grabbed your shoulders and hugged you, trying to calm you down. "Are you okay?" You shook your head, slightly shaking.
Diane stopped walking as she watched Elizabeth hug and comfort you. She got angry but composed herself and continued to head over. "Y/N, I can tell that you're scared they might kill each other..." She started. You looked up at her, agreeing with what she was saying. "...but you don't have to worry, because the rest of us won't let that happen, no matter what." You stood up as Elizabeth let you out of the hug. "Really?" You asked her.
"Really." You hugged her, saying small 'thank you's'. Diane looked up from you and toward Elizabeth, seeing her glaring at her. Diane smiled and stuck her tongue out at her, making Elizabeth angrier before looking away and grumbling to herself, not wanting to cause a scene.
King looked over, wondering why Diane was holding you. He was about to fly over to investigate until he heard Howzer yell out Diane's name. He could see Howzer nearing you two and immediately flew in front of him, blocking his view of you and Diane. King looked over at you, a little jealous of Diane but focusing on Howzer at the moment. Howzer tried to walk around, but King continued to block him, annoying him in the process. He used a small tornado to send King into the air, chuckling to himself as he continued to make his way toward Diane and you. King then sent down his pillow that turned into a bear, blocking Howzer once again. Howzer got even more annoyed, trying to get around the bear before sending it into the air with a tornado.
"Hey! You better cut that out." King yelled at him, grabbing his collar.
"No, you cut it out!" Howzer yelled back, grabbing his collar.
"Howzer! What are you doing?" Griamore exclaimed.
Some of the crowd's attention turned toward Howzer and King.
"Huh? Another fight broke out." A crowd member observed.
"Simmer down, you two." Hawk told them. "You're acting like a couple of lovesick pups." This grabbed both of their attention, a little offended by the term. "So how about it? You two should take this opportunity and settle the score by fighting each other fair and square. Sound good?"
"Yeah, you can count me in." King said first.
"Same here." Both men let go of each other and headed to opposite ends of the court.
"Over here! We got The Seven Deadly Sins' King versus the Holy Knight Howzer!" Hawk announced, getting a few more people's attention, including Elizabeth's, yours, and Diane's.
"Huh? What's up with those two over there?" Diane noticed. You looked over, seeing the crowd crowding around Howzer and King.
The three of you headed over, even though you didn't want to look away from Ban and Meliodas' fight so that you could make sure they didn't kill each other, you needed to make sure King wouldn't harm Howzer, even though you were sure he wouldn't. You thought back to when Meliodas said that King lost to a street cat, giggling a little.
"Wonder what's going on down there?" Meliodas said, seeing the crowd circling around Howzer and King.
"What the hell are you looking at?!" Ban yelled at him. "Fight me!" He swung but Meliodas dodged it. "Now that's what I like to see." The two started to send a barrage of punches and kicks toward each other at an alarming speed.
While one part of the crowd was focused on Howzer and King's fight and the other part was focused on Meliodas and Ban's fight, Hawk was rolling a barrel of ale for a few coins. "Get your ale here! I've got a whole barrel full! Take it from me, it tastes even better when you're watching a fight! Three silver coins a pint, folks!"
"I'll take one!" A man said.
"Me too!" Another one said.
"You got it, dudes!" Hawk told them, stopping the barrel. "Jeez, I'm already so busy with this ale business, it's like I woke up in hog heaven." He whispered to himself.
"Who would've thought we'd get to see a Seven Deadly Sin battle this close?" A bystander exclaimed, watching Howzer and King's fight.
"Now then, let's get this started, shall we?" Howzer told him.
"Right." King held out his hand, his chastiefol lowering down toward him.
"Hold on a second!" Hawk yelled, alarming King. "No weapons allowed."
"Huh?" King asked.
"I mean, that's just common sense. You're fighting man-to-man, right? Take a look at those two." Hawk told him, diverting his attention toward Meliodas and Ban fighting.
"Alright." King sighed, turning his chastiefol into a pillow and putting it to the side. "A fistfight is fine. Let's get going!" He got into a ready position as Howzer did the same.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to let this happen?" You whispered to Diane.
"Well, I can't interfere and you've seen King fight. He couldn't hurt a fly. And Howzer wouldn't hurt him. I'm sure."
"Alright. I trust you, Diane." You told her.
'This is a Fairy Clan battle dance that's been handed down through the ages. For the one I love, I shall unveil it. Now, Dancing Fairy!' He leaped into the air, finishing the dance before running toward Howzer. He did little jabs as he ran toward him but to the crowd's disbelief, Howzer stopped him with just his finger.
"Well done. You really are a Holy Knight." King told him, still trying to hit him.
Howzer looked at him with a little pity before flicking him away.
You facepalmed as Diane went to help King up, Howzer crying at the sight of it.
You looked back up at Meliodas and Ban's fight, immediately wishing you didn't.
Meliodas harshly kicked Ban in his stomach, sending him flying into the wall as blood erupted from Ban.
The crowd gasped, getting a little unsettled and murmuring.
You started to shake again, trying to stop but unsucceeding. 'I know Diane told me that they would stop them if they went too far, but what if they can't?' You looked in front of you, seeing Elizabeth wobbling. You moved past a few people, getting to Elizabeth and catching her. "Elizabeth! Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I feel like I've been drained of blood."
"What do you say, Ban? Give up yet?" Meliodas taunted.
"You kidding? The festival's just getting started!" He put out his hands. "Hunter Fest!"
Suddenly, others started to fall to the ground, weak and unable to move.
"Y/N, what's going on?" Meliodas asked.
"I don't know! They just got weaker." You told him, continuing to hold Elizabeth.
He looked a little shocked before smirking toward Ban. "So you had a secret ace in the hole. Nice one. Why didn't you take away my power too?"
Ban jumped down. "Give me a break. Even if I did, you still have your own ace in the hole, don't you? Besides, honestly, those people were really starting to get on my last nerve."
"What an incredible move." Gowther analyzed. "Everybody who's in the nearby vicinity has been robbed of more than 50% of their strength." Gowther looked over toward you, seeing that you were still standing and unaffected. He tilted his head, curious as to know why.
Merlin had also noticed, though she wasn't in the same vicinity as you anymore. 'I was right. She is quite interesting.' Merlin thought to herself.
Ban's muscles grew bigger, ripping the jacket he was wearing. "Show me that secret last resort you've got tucked away, Captain."
"Guess I've got no choice." Meliodas's eyes changed to dull purple, the same demonic symbol on his forehead. "You want it, you got it!"
Ban appeared in front of Meliodas and kicked him into the ceiling of the Cube, blood splattered. As Meliodas was falling, Ban punched him into the wall, more blood splattering. He continued to punch him into the wall like he was his personal punching bag.
Watching this was becoming too much for you and your shaking became more unbearable.
"This is bad. I never thought that he'd start going after Meliodas for real." Hawk said, starting to get worried.
Elizabeth felt tears on her face as she looked up, seeing you crying. Her eyes widened as she slowly got up, yelling at Ban. "Sir Ban, you need to stop!" Ban looked toward her, but continued to punch Meliodas.
"Ban! Listen to me. This isn't something Elaine would want you to do!"
'Elaine?' You looked toward King before looking back at Ban. 'Does he mean...?'
"Shut your mouth! You don't have to tell me that!"
Ban was about to go in for a final punch, but Meliodas headbutted him.
"Heh. I can take 20 of those." Ban said, grabbing hold of Meliodas' face and squeezing. Meliodas wrapped his legs around Ban's arm and twisted it off, making Ban wince. Meliodas jumped down, quickly turning around and hit Ban with his own arm.
"Fox Hunt!" Ban's dismembered arm lifted into the air with Meliodas still holding onto it as it reconnected with Ban. "Got to say, nothing compares to battling it out with you, Captain."
"Yeah, Right back at you." Meliodas smiled.
They started to punch at each other, creating dust to surround them. This went on a for a while until the Perfect Cube broke.
"My strength...it came back." Diane noticed.
"It's so smoky that I can't see who won." Hawk observed.
"If we've got the power back that Ban stole from us, then..." King said.
The dust dispersed, showing both Ban and Meliodas on the floor, tired and out of breath.
"Man, I'm wiped out." Ban said. "Hey, Captain, you alive or what?"
"Yeah, just barely. Whew! Now, that was rough. So, what about you, Ban? How are you holding up?" Meliodas asked. "Heh. I mean, I know you're not dead."
"Yeah, but I'm so drained, I won't be moving anytime soon." Ban chuckled.
"Looks like we'll have to settle the score another time."
"Looks like it." Ban concluded.
Everyone in the crowd started to disperse and head down the hill. You got up with the help of Elizabeth. You stopped crying, but you couldn't stop shaking. You hid it from Elizabeth the best you could and headed down the hill with her, Diane, King, and Hawk, Meliodas and Ban behind you five.
"Jeez, I seriously can't keep up with those two." King sighed.
"Same here, but thank goodness they're both all right." Diane said.
"Who's all right, exactly?" Ban asked, piggybacking Meliodas. "Master, why don't you let me lean on you?"
"No way!" Hawk denied.
"Y/N, you're being awfully quiet. Is something the matter?" Meliodas asked.
You looked back at him, glaring at the two men. "You two really went too far today!" You told them, walking faster down the hill while holding your arm, trying to stop the shaking.
They were shocked from the look in your eyes, a little guilty as they noticed your hand shaking and the slight wobble in your steps.
Meliodas sighed, resting his head on Ban's shoulder. "Man, we really worried her, huh?"
Ban groaned. "Yep. Did you see how angry she was?"
Meliodas nodded. "She was shaking too...I think we need to keep her away from our fights."
"You said it." Ban paused for a moment. "Yo, Captain...about the other day....when I---for her sake, I went after you."
"Oh. What about it?"
"Forget it. It's nothing. Hey, what about the Goddess?"
"If you're talking about that horn, I demolished it. No big deal." Meliodas told him.
"Huh? Why'd you do that?" Ban exclaimed.
"What do you mean 'why?' Trust me. That wasn't just some horn. Blowhard is more like it."
"Man, that's a good one." Ban laughed. "Oh, and by the way, Captain. I've had something on my mind for a while I wanted to discuss."
"Hey, what a coincidence. I bet I've had the same thought."
"Let's get a drink!" They both exclaimed.