Morning soon came to the Sky Temple as the group was eating.
"Hey, you know, we're from the surface you know. Isn't there any way to get back?" Hawk asked.
"Hahaha! Oh you lot are so funny. Unfortunately the Demon Clan took control of the surface long ago." Vaness said.
"We keep telling ya, that's not true." Hawk said.
"The surface is now freed from the Demon Clan's control. The three races are thriving there now." David said.
"Yeah. So are the worlds beyond it." Mark said.
"Oh you people are so humorous." Vaness said rubbing against Hawk causing him to roll in the bit of sunlight shining through. "Oh, sorry about...huh?" she said. "It...It cannot be! It must be!" she said.
"Uh… what is it?" Izuku asked.
"You all...you really did keep me in the dark. You should have told me this animal was the great Oshiro." Vaness said.
"Say what?" Panther asked.
"Hm? Where is Luffy?" Fox asked.
"He got hungry so he wanted to try and snag some of those sky fish. Leopardmon and Nekomaru went with him so he doesn't fall from the sky." Chopper said.
"Well...I'm not gonna stay cooped up in here. I'm heading out." Natsu said. "Besides, this looks like its gonna be a thing with the lady and the pig."
"Yes, it's about time we got out." Kirumi said as they left Hawk alone with Vaness.
Outside…..
"Cmon Luffy, don't be an idiot and try to grab the first one you see. They're pretty huge." Nekomaru said. "Strong as you are, you'll just be pulled off the Temple."
"That isn't going to work. We both know logic fails to reach this one." Leopardmon said as Luffy snagged one of the fish.
"Hey, got one!" he said. "We're eating tonight. Real meat! Hmm?" he said looking down at the battlefield seeing the soldiers train.
"Seems they're getting ready for this day of ruin Vaness talked about." Leopardmon said.
"Their training pretty vigorously. I can tell this is important to them." Nekomaru said.
"Well yeah. The old lady said all those demon guys are waiting around inside that egg thing." Luffy said eating the sky fish.
"Hmm?" Leopardmon said looking to the egg. "Be ready. Something's coming."
A big explosion was soon heard coming from where the egg sat upon.
"The hell?" Nekomaru said. "That doesn't look too good. We gotta get over there."
The group soon got over to where the egg was as the soldiers were already gathering where part of the egg was cracked as a figure laid over the rubble.
"Please...help...me." the man groaned.
"Hang on sir. Are you injured?" one soldier asked.
"So...hungry. I'm going to die." the man moaned.
"Who thinks of food at a time like this?" the soldier said. "Do we have anything for him to eat? Huh?" he said noticing the other soldiers backing away as the man slowly got up, showing he had no head. The soldier turned around as a face appeared on the torso.
"Satisfy my hunger!" he said biting down on the soldier.
"Black Aura Blast!" Leopardmon shouted firing a beam at the figure.
"Ptoo!" the figure said blocking the attack with the soldier in his mouth. "Still hungry!" he said breathing in as a soul from one soldier went into his mouth.
Leopardmon looked to the other soldiers. "Run, now! Sound the alarm!"
"R-right!" The soldier said as they fled.
"My food shouldn't run away!" the figure said grabbing one soldier with his whip like hair. "Voltic Whip!" he said electrocuting the soldier and taking the soul.
"What the heck?" Nekomaru said.
"Ah...I see three more. Satisfy my hunger." he said.
"Well, looks like we got its attention now." Leopardmon said.
"I'll send it flying!" Nekomaru said before the demon knocked him back easily.
"Idiot. I'm no lesser demon. I am one of the Six Knights of Black. Dahaaka the Headless!" he said.
"It fits you, seeing that there is no head to speak of." Leopardmon said.
"You three are.. Different. I've never seen creatures like you 3,000 years ago." Dahaaka said. "Whatever. A meal is a meal!" he said whipping his hair at them.
Leopardmon and Luffy were able to easily dodge the attack.
"As I thought, he's a demon. And not just any kind, he was one of the Harbingers of the destruction caused millennia ago." Leopardmon said.
"Oh...so you know our work. Good, then let me reward you...with an instant death!" Dahaaka said charging in with a punch.
Leopardmon however thought ahead and responded with a kick to the hip before dealing another Black Aura Blast.
"Gah!" he said stumbling back. "Ha! You fool. You left your friend unprotected!" Dahaaka said wrapping his hair around Luffy. "Voltic Whip!" he said shocking Luffy but was surprised to see no damage. "What? How is this possible?!"
"Simple. He's made of rubber, and therefore immune to electric attacks." Leopardmon said.
"Yeah...and...I'm about to kick your ass! Hawk Gatling!" Luffy shouted furiously beating Dahaaka across the battlefield.
"Gah. How...how dare you." Dahaaka said as large orbs of electricity were being generated around him. "Try to survive this! Thunder Carnival!"
"Whoa. This is some exciting stuff you guys are into." Meliodas said beside the two.
"Meliodas. But how did you…" Leopardmon said.
"Nevermind that. Hey, mind if I borrow your weapon for a second?" Meliodas asked.
"Just try not to break it." Leopardmon said passing it to Meliodas.
"Don't worry. This won't take long. Full...Counter!" Meliodas said hitting all the electric orbs as they hit Dahaaka, electrocuting him as he fell over.
"Hey, guys!" Hawk called as the others arrived in the area as he stepped onto Dahaaka's charred body. "What happened to the Demon Clan? Huh?"
"You're...standing on one of them, Hawk." Leopardmon said.
"What?" Hawk said looking at the body as it spit out the souls it swallowed as they flew back to their bodies.
"It...it really is. Everyone! The Great Oshiro has come and defeated the Demon!" Vaness said arriving last along with the people as they cheered.
Later that night, a large feast was held in honor of the victory.
"Wow, I can't believe we get all of this cause they think we're some big time knights from long ago." Natsu said.
"Guess Usopp's lie really worked. But why did they believe it?" Nekomaru asked.
"There was a mural containing people that looked just like us. It's not that hard." Kirumi said.
"Plus, they think Hawk is the great Oshiro." Usopp said pointing to the pig as he was paraded in on a pedestal.
"Hmm…" David muttered, thinking about the mural.
"Something on your mind?" Kirumi asked.
"Yeah. That mural and Usopp's descendant story kind of have me think about something. I'm going to do some research after we get the Suzaku Soutenzan." David said.
"Great Knights, we are so honored to have you all here. But we are dying to know, how you all came into being." Vaness said.
"Heh. Well...if you want to know so bad. I shall share our story." Usopp said. "Each of us bares a unique background. As for me...I was a great warrior of the sea, leading an army of 8,000 to free islands from evildoers all over. Then we have Leopardmon, he was once an ordinary Leopard but attained a human consciousness by defending a small child against an evil lion." he began.
"(Just go along with it, Leopardmon.)" Leopardmon thought. "That is true. Then I joined a group of knights before these. The Royal 13 Knights."
"Next we have Mark! A long lost descendant of the Goddess Clan who recently learned how to wield his holy power but lost his wings in a fantastic battle against a demon." Usopp said.
"Uh...yeah!" Mark said. "Although, to be fair, it wasn't exactly as strong as the one today…"
"And then we have Nekomaru, a lone man who has trained hundreds of warriors who would come out winners with every battle and joined us in order for us to live up to our potential!" Usopp said.
"Hah! Guess there's truth to that statement. And there's something else you should know." Nekomaru said.
"What is that?" Zoria asked.
"All the warriors I trained were all weaklings. But thanks to me, they've all become great winners." Nekomaru said. "I could not have been more proud!"
"Then we have Natsu, a child who has lived as the son of a dragon in order to combat an evil wizard and a mighty dragon of destruction." Usopp said.
"Heh. No arguments about that." Natsu said.
"Then we have Chopper, who was once a human but through a botched experiment, got trapped within the body of a reindeer." Usopp said.
"Huh...I don't remember that." Chopper said.
"Yeah, unfortunately, the experiment left him a bit traumatized, so try not to press the issue on him." David said.
"Then comes Ichiro, a fearless commander of an army of metallic giants who risk their lives everyday to protect the city they love." Usopp said.
"Yes. My forces protect the city from the demons that invade it." Ichiro said.
"What about the white haired one?" Vaness asked. "That one has no Magic Power Level at all."
"Ah. That is because he was born without magic. A lone commoner who wants to rival the greatest of all mages and was granted an evil power from the devil himself in order to achieve his dream." Usopp said.
"Yeah. I'm gonna become the Magic Emperor!" Asta said.
"Then we have Kirumi! While she appears as a servant she is much more than that. Secretly, she is a long lost queen who lives in hiding as a servant to secretly run her home country in peace." Usopp said. "Of course, she prefers to deny that."
"The country was under constant strife. It's much better this way." Kirumi said.
"Next we go to Izuku...or as he prefers, Deku! He is the ninth generation in a long line of heroes, having gained power from the greatest hero in his land in order to become an even better hero than him someday." Usopp said.
"Well that's...kinda true." Izuku said.
"Then we have the musician Brook. When he died, he performed a serenade for Death herself. She was so moved, she decided the world needed his music so she sent him back. Unfortunately, his body had already been reduced to bone and hair, leaving him as the skeletal Soul King!" Usopp said.
"Yohohoho! Quite a story." Brook said.
"Then there's Luffy, the son of a fierce dragon who is on a quest to find the world's most unimaginable treasure and claim a title that was only claimed once." Usopp said.
"Shishishi. Yeah. That's me." Luffy said.
"As for Panther, she is an actress who wants to inspire the weak and wields the power of an famous femme fatale, Carmen!" Usopp said.
"Uh...yeah." Panther said.
"Then there is Fox, an artist who broke away from the shackles of his master who only used him to create masterpieces to pass off as his own." Usopp said.
"And born the spirit of rebellion in the process." Fox said.
"And finally, we have our brave second in command, David. A boy who descended from the moon in order to fight against evil and find his family by freeing them from evil demons and monsters." Usopp said.
"It's not an easy task. I really had to use my head in some of those battles." David said. "If those demons want to stop me, they're gonna have to bring a whole army."
"So amazing, these heroes. And they've come with the great Oshiro himself!" Vaness said.
"Actually, Hawk's not the great Oshiro. He's… uh… his descendant as well! The Great Opink!" Usopp said.
"Dang right I am." Hawk said.
"Oh! All hail the knights and the great Opink!" Vaness said as the soldiers cheered.
"(This is crazy)" Mark thought, smiling to himself. "(But we still need to get Meliodas out of trouble.)"
"Hey, if you're worried about Meliodas, don't be." Ichiro whispered and pointed to Meliodas eating with Zoria. "Looks like the trouble from earlier has been cleared."
"It looks like they're planning to do the succession ceremony with him." Nekomaru said. "But I don't know if that's such a good idea. Meliodas and the Celestials are two different races. If he is given the Winged Sword, how will he react to it?"
"We can't do anything about it. The Celestials think Meliodas is this Solaad, and after what Meliodas did to defeat that demon, they believe it now more than ever." Izuku said.
"You might be right… what do you think, David?" Ichiro asked.
"They're going to figure it out one way or another. I think we just play along and let things take their course." David said. "Besides, Solaad has probably warned the others of these Six Knights of Black, or so they call themselves and is guiding them here right now."
"Meliodas, you know anything about these guys?" Asta asked.
"Yeah. I know them. They're reckless demons who were compared to the Ten Commandments. So reckless that the Demon King went and abandoned them." Meliodas said.
"Reckless is probably is a good word for it. Dahaaka didn't exhibit any sense of caution during our fight." Leopardmon said. "And based on the title, there are more like him."
"Yeah. Like, five more, I think." David said.
"Yeah. Atollah, Galla, Derocchio, Pump and their leader, Bellion. Him I remember well." Meliodas said.
"Another former apprentice of yours?" David asked.
"Not really. He was a demon who wanted to be like the Ten Commandments but when he asked for help fighting this one archangel named Mael, I rejected him. Guess he's hated me ever since." Meliodas said.
"And I bet they're all coming out soon. We'd better get ready." Nekomaru said.
"And if it means I gotta do this ceremony thing, I think I can keep up the charade a little while longer." Meliodas said. "Speaking of, what's this Suzaku Soutenzan thing you guys keep talking about?"
"It's a legendary Yo-Kai blade that holds the spirit of a powerful warrior inside of it." Mark said. "You know about Yo-Kai, right?"
"Meliodas isn't like them. I don't know if he knows anything about the blade we're looking for." Nekomaru said.
"Never heard of it." Meliodas said.
"That's what we figured." Usopp said.
Ellatt then came up to them. "I would like to speak with Solaad...alone." she said.
"Fine by us." Asta said as Meliodas left with her.
"She knows." Izuku said.
"What? You think so?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. Solaad is supposed to marry her. So she would know better." Izuku said.
"Oh...crud." Mark said in worry. "What's she going to do?"
"I don't think she'll rat us out. Our secret is still safe." Usopp said. "She'll keep quiet until the succession is over."
"Yeah. By the way, those lies you told were outrageous." Natsu said.
"Not lies, tall tales. Totally different." Usopp said. "I figured we end up in a situation like this someday, so I've been secretly writing tall tales for all our members in secret."
"Really? You should share some of them with the others after this." Mark suggested
"Though, I feel some of them were a bit...exaggerated." Leopardmon said.
"Sorry. I was sorta quick when it came to the Royal Knights. You guys were very hard to write for." Usopp said.
"No surprise, since we barely know anything about their pasts or some of their evolution lines." David said.
"But the rest of you guys, it was pretty fun writing for all of you." Usopp said.
"Yeah, you were pretty close to our real stories there. I don't think you're a liar anymore. After two years, you're more of a storyteller." Nekomaru said.
"In a way, stories are just lies you write with your mouth and pen." Usopp said.
"But when it's time for the demons to come, we'd better not lie. We have to live up to the stories you told." Izuku said.
"Shouldn't be much of a problem if we just fight them like we normally would." David said.
"Yeah. I mean, we already beat one of them. The rest shouldn't be that different." Luffy said.
"I hope youre right…" Usopp said.