As everyone had their eyes glued to the All-Seeing window, we saw a familiar face that shouldn't have been there. Former Holy Knight Grand Master Dreyfus only it wasn't him. It looked just like him but he had been possessed by one of the Ten Commandments that I had personally been acquainted with, sixteen years ago. His name was Fraudrin.
"Wait a minute, they're short of one. Wheres Galan?" Arthur asked which made me have to recount the members. It was true, Galan wasn't present. Escanor, who was now awake and being given a picky-back ride from Gowther, smiled and giggled nervously while scratching the back of his head. Wait, seriously? He's actually dead?
It appeared that Ban had met another one of the commandments when he expressed his anger than a woman named Merascylla was still alive. She looked like a floating zombie, burnt to a crisp. Elizabeth expressed her fear more than any of us and begged Glifrost to teleport Meliodas back but she failed to understand how teleportation worked. I order to have Meliodas to be brought to the castle, someone would have to teleport to here he is and come back with him. But doing that would be a death wish.
Meliodas tried inflicting the first attack by swinging his Lostvayne in the leader's face and at first it appeared to have no effect. That was until we all looked little closer and saw that Meliodas' arm had be cut clean off from his body and was now in his enemy's hand. He appeared to be unfazed by this unlike the rest of us watching. No one could move. Meliodas did manage to land another attack by kicking him in the face and bring his arm back to his body simultaneously; again to no effect as the enemy was standing on the hand connecting the arm and the body, stopping them from connecting.
"Do it." He husked as he glared at Meliodas in the eye. Chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around Meliodas, anchoring him but he was still able to free himself and this time, successfully managing to attack the enemy where he was stunned enough for Meliodas to reattach his arm with his Lostvayne. That calmed our nerves a little.
He attempted to escape by making a smoke screen by smashing the ground, covering everyone around him in dust. When we saw Meliodas leap out from the smoke, we thought he had successfully escaped but it turns out the chains he had on previously were cursed. His speed had been severely decreased as if he were holding weights and the commandments crowded him once again. At this time, Meliodas' only options were to kill all ten of the commandments at once... or be killed by them.
From behind him, a woman with long, auburn hair began a sequence of repeated attacks. Some he blocked, others, not. She was completely naked other than dark markings covering what needed to be. With each attack she landed, he power level seemed to be increasing, making it harder for Meliodas to successfully block her. As she slowed down her attacks, we were able to see the damage on Meliodas more clearly. Both his forearms were shattered and his fingers looked deformed. I felt like bawling my eyes out as I saw her give one more attack by kicking him into the arms of another commandment. His energy was identical the one we sensed on the way to Megadozer where the large ball of fire was chasing us. Monspiet was his name if I recall correctly.
Elizabeth was already in tears as we saw them both fly to an incredible height as darkness from a demonic spell, conducted by Monspiet grew larger and swallowed them both. As a single tear managed to escape and roll down my cheek, we witnessed Meliodas leaping out of the gigantic cloud and land on the ground with Lostvayne in his mouth. Both his arms were severely broken, leaving him unable to hold onto his sacred treasure. He had no reason left to fight anymore . Bu t those eyes... Those eyes were of someone who refused to just lay down and quit.
"Send me to Meliodas this instant!" Gilthunder screamed in Gilfrost's face but she refused.
"Even if I did, you'll be throwing your life away!" She yelled back but he persisted.
"I don't care! Send me anyway!" and again, she refused. As she turned away, I caught a glimpse of her hand with a very familiar ring. The cursed engagement ring...
As Meliodas stood there hunched over and bleeding out his mouth, Fraudrin came up to him and smiled,
"Looks like you skirmish with Gloxinia and Dolor took way more out of you than you probably hoped. Just how long did I wait for this day to come... I never did forget the disgrace of being defeated at Danafor... but not ensuring every last pulse had left my body... that was your one, fatal mistake." I too share that blame even though I never stood a chance. It took me back to the last time I felt so angry, my body could combust. "And with a chain reaction of events that would bring ruin to the lives' of Hendrickson and Dreyfus... Such an enormous sin is beyond atonement." I felt the same feeling at that moment as I did sixteen years ago when Liz was killed. I didn't tell you my whole story.
Meliodas tried pleading with Dreyfus with Lostvayne still in his mouth,trying to beg him to wake up and retake control of his own body.
"Wake up! Open your eyes!" He pleaded. "Push that thing off you right now and lets get the hell out of here!" At first, Fraudrin only laughed at what he called a pathetic attempt, trying to assure that Dreyfus was beyond saving. As he talked, his speech slowed to a stop until he could utter the words,
"Sir Meliodas." As a tear dripped down his cheek. With a smile on his face, he held up his sword at Meliodas and conducted an attack. Like a intensely powerful flame that flew out from the end of his sword, engulfing Meliodas in the flames. Elizabeth and I screamed in unison as the distant but familiar burning sensation started to from from between my shoulder blades. Meliodas was still standing but was covered in more of his own blood.
As the burning spread up the back of my neck, Gloxinia raised his hand and activated his Vasquez.
"You have no one but yourself to blame." He began. "This is what you get for allying yourself with those lowly humans." He thrust his arm down, aiming his weapon directly at Meliodas. I couldn't bare to look as the weapon made contact with him, lighting everything around him in a fiery explosion and dust. I was well beyond the point of crying as I saw the horrifying image.
Meliodas stood there, missing his right arm with his head held back and covered head to toe in bruises and blood.
"Meliodas..." The leader of the commandments spoke. "My poor, misguided older brother. With your death, we will have accomplished our first act of vengeance." It shocked me to my core that these two were brothers. What kind of world had these two grown up in to have them both on opposite sides of the playing field? "If it weren't for you, we would have never tasted disgrace. With your lone betrayal, our entire demonkind were vanquished in the war." There was so much to Meliodas' life that was a mystery to me. Growing up in Danafor, admiring him as a role model, I had no idea that he was as old as the Holy war and had lived through countless extraordinary events. The things he had ruined, the things he had mended... There could be no end to what we don't know.
As if a switch was flicked, Meliodas held his head high and crossed his one arm with Lostvayne over his body as dust clouds and light swirled around him and then the Ten Commandments in a tornado. It had been a very long time since I saw him conjure this magical attack. This attack come with a very heft catch. It's almost impossible to survive this whether or not you're the one using it and including this time, I really doubted he would survive this one. Revenge Counter.
Many of the commandments cowered as even they were afraid of this. I hoped to God that this attack would end this once and for all. The light grew brighter as the strength of the attack increased and he was just about to release... until the light went out in an instant. Holding the tip of Meliodas' Lostvayne and the one behind the cancelled attack was a tall, muscular man with silver hair who I couldn't help but compare to the Wanted posters I used to see of Meliodas. He stopped the attack with just one hand.
Meliodas fell to the ground, dropping Lostvayne as the man held his armoured foot on his chest, pegging Meliodas down.
"The truth is, Meliodas..." He began. "I wish more than anything it didn't have to come to this. This is going to hurt me so much more than it will you." That was hard to believe considering he was smirking. "You understand, right?" He dug his heal into Meliodas' chest, making him cough up and possibly breaking a few ribs. The burning on by back ran down my spine and around my waist as I found it almost impossible to control. If I exposed it, everyone would know my secret. "After all, my love for you runs the deepest." The man continued as he pressed harder into Meliodas' flesh, making him wail and cough up more blood. I couldn't stand to watch this. It broke my heart and I couldn't stop the tears. Not to mention, the burning was becoming harder to ignore and control. "This really takes me back, Meliodas... Now let me hear your voice some more." He pressed harder, making him scream louder. A scream of pain I wouldn't wish on anyone. It was like I could feel what he was feeling with the agonising pain, watching what was being shown to me. I din;t want to believe a second of it.
As he was screaming, Gloxinia head another one of the commandments. The woman who previously looked like she was burned alive, Merascylla, with the Drop of Life spell. She turned back into her original appearance which was what looked like a young girl with lilac hair.
"Hey, Estarossa, I'm going to something right from the ass..." The woman from before piped up. The one who beat Meliodas to a pulp where he had both arms crushed.
"Alright?" The man who's name was revealed to be Estarossa replied just before pressing once more on Meliodas. "I take it this "something" pertains to how you've been feeling a strange gaze upon us for quite some time now... and that it's most likely Meliodas' friends... and you're just wondering if it's really okay to leave them be?" He was talking about us. The Seven Deadly Sins.
"Yeah." The woman murmured.
"The jig is up." Another member spoke. It was what looked like a black ball with several grey demon faces placed randomly around it. "The Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas' new comrades."
"His new comrades, you say?" Estarossa repeated as he bent down and grabbed onto Meliodas' neck. "Just when were you planning on betraying these comrades?" He was right up in Meliodas' face, obviously squeezing his neck very hard as he found it difficult to breathe. "You know, kind of like how you stabbed us in the back and abandoned the Ten Commandments back when you were our leader?" Whatever was stopping me from crying my eyes out was long gone before this even started... but nothing could stop me from the stabbing pain in my heart of the feeling of simple betrayal. I know Meliodas had done nothing to us and I doubted he ever will... but the knowledge of him once being on their side hurt me.