𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮
"it's a magic lake of endless mana. we were safe thanks to this absorbing all the excess power." meliodas explained. "though it's quite the strange sight to behold. with it's basin gone, the lake still continues to exist in place."
zeldris turned back to meliodas. "it's amazing you were able to come up with this on the spot..."
meliodas looked up at the mage in the air. "that's all thanks to her advice... isn't that right, merlin?"
"just how cunning can a woman get?"
merlin looked down at the lake with a smile. mira peered up at her, suspicion rising slightly.
"c-captain!"
meliodas turned to see diane pointing to the ground. "wh-what does this mean?!"
"how...?"
mira looked over as diane continued, "th-the ten commandments aren't disappearing! even though we definitely defeated the demon king!"
ban kissed his teeth. "tch... now what?"
"how... impudent... can you get..."
merlin teleported above the commandments. "well, we are dealing with a god here. even if we're able to defeat him, destroying him completely won't be so simple or straightforward."
"that can't be..."
merlin continued, "at the most, he'll regain his original strength back in a few decades or centuries..."
diane turned down to king. "a few centuries?! that's no time at all! right?"
"yeah." king responded.
"that's lifetimes for some people." ban interjected.
merlin looked over her shoulder. "well, it's not as if there's no way to destroy him. isn't that right, meliodas?"
"yeah."
"is... it possible...?" gelda muttered.
"you can't mean...!"
meliodas held a hand out towards his brother, "stand back, zel.
"what are you planning to do?"
meliodas's form changed, first from his ten commandments form to his demon king form.
"that form... that magic power! i can't believe it!" zeldris gasped. "it's on the same level as father... no, it's even greater! are you actually manifesting that power all on your own?!"
the golden arms on meliodas's back raised, the ten commandments floating up with them. meliodas then lifted his arm, pointing his finger at the commandments in his grasp.
"i'm going to drive all this power straight into the commandments—annihilate them along with the demon king."
lightning crashed as the wind blew, meliodas's magic swirling to life. mira dug her feet into the ground, fighting to keep upright.
"these are the effects of the two demon king's power resonating strongly within eachother..." gowther muttered in amazement.
"begone now!"
suddenly zeldris grabbed meliodas's wrist, stopping him from casting his magic.
"h-hold on! are you sure you want to do this?! with this power, you could take father's place as demon king..."
"yeah. i could... if i wanted to rule the underworld through fear, just as pops did..."
zeldris was shocked at his brother's answer, but didn't let go.
"but that's not what i want at all... what about you zel? is that what you want? no, i don't think so... what you want is to create a peaceful underworld that you can live in together with gelda, isn't that right?"
zeldris smiled at his words, letting go of his wrist finally. "yeah. what we were after was never power."
meliodas smiled back at his younger brother before sending his magic into the commandments. "just like you said... regardless of what kind of era comes next... we will never stop fighting... not us... not those that shall inherit our will. that is my answer."
his magic consumed the ten commandments until they faded away, reduced to nothing.
the dark sky slowly opened, light peering through. mira smiled softly at the sight, her eyes bright.
"...it's all over, isn't it?"
"yeah..." meliodas turned to his brother with a grin, "now then! today, we celebrate and drink! how about it, zel? wanna join us?"
"i'm not one for parties."
"really... well i won't force you into anything you're uncomfortable with..."
"...but if it were just the two of us, i might consider it..."
"huh?"
"of course, you're buying."
meliodas smiled at his brother before wrapping his arm around his neck and laughing.
mira looked up at the brightening sky, the breeze rustling her short hair.
'we did it, arthur... we finally did it...'
in the end, gelda and zeldris left.
"well... looks like they left anyways..." elizabeth said.
no one replied, a harsh truth coming up.
"now then. you guys have waited long enough."
"you... guys...? oh... that's right..."
king closed his eyes tight before speaking, "what are you doing standing there...? let's go back... together..."
the group turned to escanor, the flames of his magic slowly burning him away.
"i'm sorry... i'm afraid i can't move anymore. i think.. we'll have to settle it like this..." escanor muttered. "i have no regret in this life. thank you... for giving me the honor of meeting you all.
"gowther, you were a great friend who listened to my deepest secrets.
"king, diane. it pains me that i won't be there for your wedding. however, i wish the both of you a happy life...
"princess elizabeth... please convey my feelings to the king and hendy..
"mira.. you were a valuable companion. i hope you live on for your lover...
"mael... i owe you a debt of gratitude.
"ban.. tone down on the booze for me will you?
"captain... you are the reason why i'm alive and also my best friend in this world.
escanor paused, turning to the last person.
"and finally... merlin. i've always loved you.. not because you looked a lot like rosa... but because you treated me unlike any other."
merlin huffed with a smile. "...i'm actually flattered. after all this time, i only saw you as an interesting entity to develop my knowledge. knowing all this, aren't you downhearted to hear it?"
escanor shook his head. "not at all. to think that i share a special place in your mind... makes me the happiest man to have ever lived."
merlin was silent, turning away with a troubled look. her grip on her elbow tightened. "late... it's far too late... there's no turning back now..."
mira looked at her in question. the mage continued, "escanor... why couldn't i have met you sooner...? especially 3,000 years ago..."
"merlin..?"
"i'm going to be by your side no matter what... there to support you on your endeavors... and carry the weight if the harrowing sin that burdens you." escanor answered.
merlin looked up in surprise. "you.. knew about it..?"
escanor smiled. "no. but i felt it. because your eyes were sad ever since we met."
diane suddenly gasped. "escanor, your body is..."
mira finally took notice of his intensely charred skin, some of it flowing away as ashes into the air.
"oh..? it must be time then..."
the flames around his body swirled, roaring to life.
"i wish you all the best... now then, please stay away... it's dangerous."
"i'll keep an eye on them, escanor..." meliodas said softly.
eacanor smiled.
"this can't be happening..."
"this is goodbye, merlin."
the mage didn't listen, walking straight up to escanor.
"wh-what are you doing?! you'll get hurt!"
she then lifted herself up.
mira's eyes widened as merlin kissed escanor, the intense heat from his body scarring her hand and lower face.
she pulled away. "you're wrong. this doesn't hurt. this is the proof that you were alive. this is a mark from the one man who truly loved me..."
tears slipped from escanor's eyes.
"o' wine infused with sweet love and loneliness. i'm not a cup worthy of your blissfulness.. dear god.. please bless her with a chalice deserving of her love."
and with that, escanor's ashes were swept away.
"may you rest in peace, escanor..."
𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙥
"𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴...
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩.
𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘸."
"do you see that...?"
"yeah... what a terrible scar..."
"looks like she can't even use magic to heal it..."
"what a shame. on such a pretty face too."
"truly pitiful."
mira tightened her grip on the mug in front of her, listening to the men's chatter. she shot a glance at the mage, a strange feeling swelling in her chest. elizabeth approached merlin.
"hey, merlin... it's a little too noisy in here... if you want to, we can go outside to treat that wound."
merlin smiled. "is it that unsightly?"
elizabeth turned away with a soft smile, "no... if you are fine with it, then i am also fine with it..."
diane jumped on elizabeth, hands on her shoulders. "yeah me too! i actually find it awesome you know!"
"i agree, it's a very respectable mark." king added.
mira smiled, "it's quite a lovely sentiment."
"with that scar, escanor will live on by merlin's side..."
"hic~ i lost~"
meliodas snickered, holding up a drink. "so what? everyone has their own take on what they see."
merlin smiled.
"i'm still sad over escanor leaving us this way..." diane mumbled before smiling. "but now everyone is happy because we finally achieved our goals! now that the captain sacrificed his demon king powers to destroy the ten commandments, he isn't forced to leave us for the demon world! elizabeth's perpetual reincarnation spell is undone. ban managed to revive elaine by giving her his immortality."
"come on~! let's have another round~!" ban tried to get elaine to drink with him.
"you've had enough!"
"gowther's recovered his old memories and personality!"
"yup!"
"k-king became a fully fledged fairy king... and i... got a proposal from king...!"
"a confession in the middle of a battle too!" ban teased the fairy.
"you were the once who incited me to do so...!"
"and lastly, merlin and mira..!"
they waited for diane to finish as merlin sipped from her glass, mira leaning on the table behind her.
"huh? come to think about it, what's merlin's goal? you never really talked about yourselves that much..."
"merlin worked with the capatin before forming the seven deadly sins too, right?"
"they actually knew each other for longer than that."
"i mean~ i don't think that she would work this hard for 3,000 years for nothin'~"
"ban!"
"hey merlin, mira! i'm sure you two have a wish of your own too, right?" diane asked. "is it some kind of special experiment? you want more test subjects? come on! tell us anything! we'll help you for sure!"
mira turned her gaze over to the mage as she hummed.
merlin got rid of her glass, "very well. you all deserve to know... and to watch. since we're all comrades of fate."
she snapped, teleporting the group away, excluding elaine.
they reappeared in an open area, the group peering around in confusion before elizabeth gasped.
"guys... that's... the boar's hat!"
low-and-behold, the familiar large figure of hawk's mom was there in front of them. the group started walking up the hill.
"wait... this place is..."
"yes. this is where we fought the demon king."
meliodas gaped from the front. "look what's in front of hawk's mama..."
"it's the magical lake!"
"let's get started." merlin called from above, mira hovering beside her.
"merlin! what exactly are you going to start?!"
the mage smirked down at meliodas.
"arthur's awakening."
the group was surprised at her words.
"what?"
"arthur?!"
merlin moved over to hover above the lake, mira quickly following. her palms began to sweat as merlin started to mutter a spell, a portal forming in the wall of the boar's hat.
from inside, arthur's body was brought forth so he hovered before the two. mira shot a worried glance at merlin, skeptical of what she was doing.
the sound of hawk's voice in the distance made her look up, seeing the pink pig come flying over the hill and onto meliodas as he cried out.
"the preparations are all set. princess... are you ready?"
"has the time finally come... to meet our master?"
mira was surprised at the new voice, peering down at the lake beneath them. she looked back up as merlin spoke, "arthur... i was mistaken... this sword isn't the one that would kill you. it's the key to advancing the new age."
a light rose from the lake, passing through the holy sword to the hilt. mira felt her anxiety flare at the strange image, but remembered to keep calm.
"now... accept this key... and unlock the magical lake!"
the light slightly flared before bursting out of control, nearly knocking the two out of the air. mira kept herself up, blocking her face from the brightness. an intense amount of pressure pressed on her body, but her eyes remained set on her lover.
soon, the light diminished and the pressure disappeared.
mira uncovered her face as she watched him. it started slowly, with a slight movement from his hand, until he was fulling sitting up. he then proceeded to stand, diane crying out in excitement from below.
"i'm... levitating... over water?"
mira wanted to hurry over to him, to wrap him in her arms and hold him close. however, she remembered what merlin had said and her guard went up.
"the human race is the most polarizing of all races. harboring qualities of good and light yet evil and darkness." the mage said. "...that incongruous meld is the very essence of chaos. if the daughter of chaos wills a man to be chosen... then that man will become the ruler of chaos."
arthur hunched over slightly. the sight made mira and the others worried.
"merlin! what did you do to king arthur?!" meliodas called from below.
"i already told you. my goal is to awake arthur..."
arthur hunched in a little more, starting to make sounds of pain before he screamed out in agony.
"...but as the king of chaos."
𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙙