Chapter thirteen : The Angel of Destruction

Guila and Jericho appeared behind you and chuckled. "Killer mines !" Hawk shrieked. "You monsters !" Guila pointed her weapon at Griamore and Hawk and sent another explosion his way. Elizabeth, who had stood up, ignoring her tears, to protect you got caught in the fire and got sent meters away from you.
"Was that wise ? He's the son of one of the grand masters." Asked Jericho.
"We were attacked by the Seven Deadly Sins and he, Elizabeth and Veronica met an untimely end." She walked closer to you, took Meliodas' sword handle and smiled. "Now, Princess ___, I'd you would please come with us ? I ask that you cooperate and not offer any pointless resistance."
"Veronica !" You screamed, holding her body up against your chest. "Please ! Help me, Sir Meliodas !"
"Shout all you like, but your hero will not come to your rescue from that stone. Come."
"Meliodas !" The same purple light that shone when Veronica trapped him inside the pendant came out of it. The glass shattered and La des in the ground, but you couldn't see anything with the purple magical energy surrounding you. Meliodas stood in front of you, purple marks covering a little less than half of his body, looking straight ahead of him.

Jericho abruptly put her hand to her chest, clutching her armor. "I feel hot. My insides, they're..."
"How did he escape from the amber ?" Wondered Guila out loud, without even realizing that by the time she had finished her sentence, Meliodas had taken his sword back, and most importantly had cut her hand off. She let out a scream of pain but didn't let go of her weapon. "How dare you !" The blond let the hand fall to the ground and just raised his arm before dropping it back, the ground shook, a heavy cloud of dust forming around the group.
"Are you kidding me ?! A casual wave caused such a huge blast ?" Jericho sat up from where she'd been sent flying. From the corner of her eye, she saw Guila's almost lifeless body, she quickly picked up her hand, placing it against her wrist and threw a green spell ball at the ground. "Super Recovery Spell !" Guila took a deep breath in and wiggled her fingers around.
"I owe you one." She turned to her comrade.
"This wasn't part of the plan !" Jericho ignored. "I thought it was impossible for anything to break free of the Godess Amber !"
"I don't know. But he's giving off disturbing magical energy..." The black haired knight shook her head to look at Meliodas who was still behind the dark fog. "It's as if..."

This is a tale of ancient times... an era before the human and non-human worlds were forever divided. When the Holy Knights defended the realm wielding their magical powers, they were feared and highly respected. But among them, a group emerged that betrayed the kingdom and become mortal enemies to all Holy Knights. They were known throughout the land...as "The Seven Deadly Sins".

"That's some serious bad news." Ban muttered, staring the two knights on the ground. "Hey, Jericurl !" He teased when she stood up, weapon drawn.
"Jericho !" She corrected.
He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Sorry, my bad. Oh, and I also took the liberty of restoring myself. Spell Beads, huh ?" He showed his head which was holding different spell beads between his fingers.
"When did you ?!" Guila checked her armor, seeing how the bead holder was index empty.
"Pay attention !" Ban warned abruptly and lunged at his friend. "Are you really the Captain ?" Meliodas ignored him and with a simple twist of his wrist cut his body in half.
"Sir Meliodas ?"
"___, are you okay ?" Elizabeth and Hawk ran to stand next to you. You nodded but kept your eyes on the blonde.
"Guys, what in the world is happening to him ?"
"Hell if I know ! Is that really Meliodas ?" Hawk looked down.
"It is him ! Come on, this is probably just an accident ! Think about it, would he actually hurt one of his friends ?" Elizabeth put a hand on your shoulder and the other one on Hawk's head. "___ !" She called when she felt you pull away from her hand, after an explosion had resounded next to the three of you.

You opened your eyes and saw you were sat on some sort of high platform that Meliodas had created by carving the ground around you.
"S-Sir Meliodas ?" He looked around, looking for something and brought his face so close to yours his hair was tickling your forehead. Meliodas tilted his head, eyes stuck on yours and started sniffing your neck. He looked at you once more, his nose bumping with your and straightened up, raising the arm that was covered in black marks and made a wing out of power to fly away. The force he'd put into his jump blew wind in your face, but you didn't mind, and tried to tell where he was going so you could stop him, tell him everything was okay.

"___ !" Hawk called out, followed by Elizabeth.

"Oh, god... are you okay ?!" She asked loudly so it could reach you. You nodded and leaned over the end of the platform to look at her.
"Are you ?"
"Yeah." She looked behind her, wincing at the loud blasts coming from Meliodas fighting the weird Holy Knight. "We have to get you down."
"Let me take care of it, girls !" Hawk said, head held high, he ran towards the platform, and started hitting it just like he had hit Griamore's Wall earlier. He slipped down and fell on his nose. "Ouch..."

"And with that, the Seven Deadly Sins have been successfully eliminated." You heard the deep voice of the green haired Holy Knight resonate. "All that remains now is to return with the sword, Meliodas, and the princess, and its mission accomplished." You watched in horror as he kneeled to grab Meliodas' broken blade.

"Oh no..." You tightened your grip in the grass below you, eyes fixated on the man.
Hawk wiggled his nose around, trying to get rid of the sting. "I'm the only warrior left in play, huh ?" 
"Shit ! If we don't do something, he's really gonna-" Elizabeth stopped, noticing a man sneaking behind you.
"Meliodas... Sir Mel-" Ban cut you off by putting a hand on top of your mouth. His other arm was holding an unconscious King, as well as his Sacred Treasure.
"Quiet." He gently grabbed you by the waist and lowered you to stand next to your sister and the pig. "You three can still run, right ? This is seriously messed up..."
"Wait, surely you don't mean to abandon Sir Meliodas-" Ban tuted, threw you over his shoulder and ran in the opposite direction as you were facing. "Put me down !" You blushed.
"I'll be happy to once we're in the clear !"
"I've never seen Ban this freaked out before !" Hawk realized. "Does that mean that Holy Knight is really that dangerous ?!"

"Griamore ! Veronica !" Elizabeth suddenly yelled noticing your sister's body in the bigger man's arms. To everyone's surprise, the ground under your feet started falling apart, rocks flying everywhere, even hitting you in the face 
"What the hell ?! What the hell ?!" Shrieked Hawk, trying to run even faster 
"Stop talking !" Urged the older princess. "Just move those trotters !"

After some time, the earth's shaking stopped, and so Ban let you down in front of a huge rock that had landed only a few centimeters behind the group. You sat on your knees, doing your best to cover up your legs with the short jacket you had gotten from Veronica. "See, close call." He shrugged towards the boulder.
"Yeah..." The pig shivered, thankful for not having been squished to death.
A girly voice suddenly rung  "Hey !" Diane walked up to you with her fist clenched to her chest.
"Meliodas !" Elizabeth and you hurried to him as soon as the Serpent opened her fist.

"Yo." One of his eyes were closed from fatigue as he tried to send a wave your way. Diane slowly let him down after hugging him to her cheek, but before he could hit the dirt below him, the Fox Sin had punched him so hard he landed on a rock meters away from you. "That makes us squaresies for before, okay ?" He muttered.
"'Kay..." The blond raised his hand to send a weak wave.
"Sir Meliodas !" You bent down, allowing him to wrap his arm around your neck to stand back up.
"Sorry about that..." He apologized sheepishly, groaning from the pain. You looked at him with wide eyes and abruptly wrapped your arms around his neck. "What's that for ?" He sent Elizabeth a look who just glared at him with her arms crossed and raised eyebrows. "Um... ___ ?" You hummed in answer. "Let's put on some pants, shall we ?" He squeezed your bottom twice, enjoying the feeling before your sister could push him off.
"Captain !"
"Hands off the goods !"

"King ? That cut isn't bothering you too much, is it ?" Diane turned to the fairy who shook his head and stuttered a no.
"Don't make such a fuss over a little scratch like that." Ban leaned down and patted the Grizzly's shoulder, making him yelp.

Just as Elizabeth was about to separate you and Meliodas, a cloud of smoke as well as rocks tumbling down all the way to your feet. As the smoke dissipated, you could make out the figure of your older sister's Holy Knight, holding her body close to his chest with his eyes closed and tears down his cheeks.
"Griamore !" You ran to him, relief painting your figure. "You're okay !"
"I am a failure as a Holy Knight." He clutched the girl closer to his chest. "I failed even Princess Veronica's final order to protect you. And yet, I... I-"
"Thank you for always caring about our older sister." You said softly, the knight stopped crying and raised his head to look at you. You took Elizabeth's hand in yours.  "Please, bury her on the shore of Lake Pienes. She loved it there."
"The four of us used to have fun there all the time." Your sister pulled you back to walk to your group.
Tears formed in your eyes as you affirmed. "We'll stop the Holy Knights no matter what. You just watch us."
"Princess... when did you become so strong ?" He softly gasped before standing to his feet, never letting go of your sister's corpse and walking into the distance.

"Do you think he plans to go back to the kingdom ?" Hawk hesitated to ask.
Meliodas shrugged. "Beats me. It looks like the Holy Knights isn't a monolithic organization, though."
"More importantly, Captain, where's your sword ?" Ban didn't seem too nervous, unlike Elizabeth who had juste taken notice of the missing weapon.
"Uh ? I guess it was stolen."
"But, isn't that sword really important ? You're okay with that ?" You cocked your head to the side.
"I'm not okay with it at all. This situation is very serious." The blond muttered, his brows wrinkled by a deep frown. "But ___, you're okay, that's all that matters." He turned to you with a reassuring smile. Just like magic, you could feel a warm flush in your cheeks.
Out of the blue, a large hand reached out and grabbed Meliodas by the pants, lifting him up. Diane brought him to her face and pouted. "It doesn't matter that I'm okay ?"
"What're you talking about ? How could you not be okay ?" He raised one of his hands to point to her.
"I sure as hell ain't." Hawk remarked, his skin still scorched.
King flew down to his level and eyed him suspiciously. "You're surprisingly tough."
"I have a hankering for Pork..." Meliodas sniffed his friend with a teasing smirk.
"You're using single entendres now !" He yelled.
Ban looked at the two with a small smile while you and Elizabeth laughed together.

The next morning, you woke up earlier than you had intended, and came downstairs to find your sister sitting at the bar.
"Ellie ?"

"Good morning. You sleep okay ?"
"Yes. What about you ?" She nodded and turned to look at the door. "Would you like to go on a walk ?" You hesitantly asked.
"I would really like that." She stood up and opened the door for you.
You walked for a few minutes before you landed in front of a small cliff. There, you let the breeze hit your face, closing your eyes, trying to forget about Veronica's lifeless body.
"Veronica..." Elizabeth murmured. "May you rest in peace." The two of you looked at each other, tears pooling in your eyes.
"Just you wait, we'll bring back the days when laughter echoed throughout the realm like the time we spent together." Memories of your sister holding your hand and running through a market flashed in your mind. "Even if it costs me my life, I will do it." Before your sister had a chance to say anything, a familiar voice resonated behind you.
"Everything will be okay." You both turned around to meet Diane, who was staring at you with a fond smile. "Mark my words, we'll be able to take back the kingdom. It's not just you two. You have the Captain with you. And your other comrades, too."
"Comrades ?"
"Yep. You're both part of the team now."
You smiled back at her, deciding to stay silent.

After minutes of comforting silence, a loud cracking noise rang. The three of you ran towards it only to realize it was a hill that had been cracked in half. Ban, King, and Hawk must have also heard it, because they had been here when you arrived.
"Captain..."
"Sir Meliodas." Next to you, you could hear your sister softly gasp, and noticed her clenching her fists. Her eyes never leaving Meliodas as he walked closer to you, muttering something you couldn't quite hear.

They both nodded with the same phrase. "I promise. For the sake of the one that's always fought at my side."

At the same time in Liones' Castle.

Gilthunder's footsteps echoed throughout the dark corridors. Only adding to the gloomy ambiance set due to the lack of light.
"You have some nerve, showing your face here." A feminine voice spat. He stopped in front of the cell with an emotionless stare. "What do you want ?"
"Veronica is dead." The Knight announced.
A slamming noise rang. "The Holy Knights ?"
"It was the Sins that killed her." Just as soon as the words left his mouth, another slamming noise came.
"Impossible." The princess put her hand through the small opening of her cell and reached out to the man.
"They, along with your younger sisters, who are now wanted fugitives, are plotting to overthrow the kingdom."
"The day's almost here when you people will be struck down by the gods." Her hand shook in anger, she reached out more, hoping to scratch the knight.
"No, it is the Seven Deadly Sins who will die." Gilthunder also put his hand out and took Margaret's hand in his own, holding it tightly so she could not move.
"Gilthunder, you traitorous Holy Knight." She struggled to speak. "I will never, ever forgive you." She attempted to pull away from his hold, in vain.
"Princess Margaret. I will gladly take every curse that you throw at me."