(A/N)

So I've been thinking about working on another story alongside this one. If I do, it probably won't be updated as much as this one, since this'll be my main story. And if I write said story, it'll be mainly for fun. It'd be an isekai that encompasses multiple fandoms (Nanatsu no Taizai, Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc.), and probably wouldn't have a super serious main story line, especially since it'd pretty much be a self-insert. Thought I'd ask if anybody would be interested in that. Wanted to make sure before starting on it (Though I might still start on it and just not post it, if no one's interested). If anyone's interested, feel free to recommend some anime/manga to add into it! I've read or watched many of the more popular ones, plus some of the not as popular ones.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

"D… don't tell me they're headed for the mountain?! Master Pelioooo!" Worry pierced Armand's voice. His lanky figure shrank into the distance as he sprinted into the forest after the missing children.

"What should we do?" Meliodas looked after the pinkette curiously.

"Leave 'em. Not even Holy Knights would hunt some little kids~" Ban said, also watching Armand's disappearing form.

"I'd hope not… I hope nothing happens to them…" I couldn't help thinking about how I had seen them leaving and said nothing. I'd never be able to forgive myself if they ended up getting hurt, or worse.

Just then, a shout came from the direction of the village. "Everybody, come here!" I, along with the sins around me, looked towards the source of the voice.

"Zephyr, stay here," I said, hopping into the air to follow Meliodas, Ban, and Harlequin, who had all started making their way towards the village to see what the cause of the commotion was. The fox shade turned to follow me, though.

Not this time. I'm coming with you. His determination resounded in his voice. I may not be able to move in shadows, but I'm not only my powers. I'm sure I can be of some kind of use, even if it's just to run for help. And, if I'm with you and everyone else, I'm certain that what happened in Byron won't happen again. I don't want to be left behind anymore.

"Okay, fine," I sighed. "But hurry up; we're being left behind."

Staying at a moderate speed so that Zephyranthes's trot could keep up with me, I did my best to catch up to the group. As we followed the sloping path edged with fields of crops, we passed by a few townsfolk headed in the same direction, who only spared a second to shoot curious glances at me and the fox at my heels. Ther attention was mostly directed at my uncovered wings, rather that my companion, though. The few trees that had surrounded the Boar's Hat were now gone, and only open fields dotted with windmills surrounded us. From my vantage point - about a foot or two in the air - I could see trails cut through the swaying grass around us leading in different directions - mostly towards town. I glanced back at my companion to find that he was panting heavily from the exercise - he was so used to only moving any distance through shadows that he had almost no stamina. But, I could tell from his expression that he wasn't even thinking of stopping; he would go with me as far as I went. I smiled as I faced ahead of us again and lowered myself closer to the ground, and I noticed that Zephyr and I were catching up to the sins, but that seemed to be because the had slowed down, and were nearing a stop.

"One of the Holy Knights has come down off the mountain!" came a voice from up ahead. "He's badly hurt!" A group of about ten people were surrounding a form on the ground, which was where Meliodas, Harlequin, and Ban appeared to be heading, so I made my way over there.

When I approached the group of villagers to get a look at what they were looking at, I found that it was, in fact, the Holy Knight they had been speaking of. He was lying face up on the ground, staring into space. Blood covered his face and stained his armor. I would have thought him dead, were he not mumbling something.

"Just hang on!" The people around him continued speaking. "What happened out there?!"

Just then his mumbles got louder, so that I could finally make out what he was saying. The words he spoke were broken and filled with wheezing. "The… The entire knighthood… was wiped… out… The Roars of Dawn… are fighting… Armor… Giant… That… monster… in armor… there's no… defeating it… Stop! S… Stay back… Aah… AAAH…! THE MONSTER IN ARMOR!" He slumped over, suddenly silent.

"H-Holy Knight-sama!"

"It's no use…" The villagers spoke among themselves.

Did he just… die? I couldn't help but wonder. The knight had stopped moving, and his eyes had glazed slightly, permanently marking his face with his final moments of terror.

"Armor Giant…?" Harlequin held his chin in thought.

"And what'd he mean by… a monster in armor?" Ban was also curious.

"Uh, Captain?!" Harlequin exclaimed this because Meliodas had silently turned around and started walking away, back in the direction of the Boar's Hat. The other two swiftly made their way after him.

Feeling sorry for Zephyr, I landed on the ground next to him and followed the group at a leisurely walk. The fox had only just gotten his breath back, so I didn't want to force him to speed up, especially since this way, the going was uphill.

By the time that I made it to the tavern, I could hear Meliodas' voice drifting out the windows. "...It's gotta be him. The Goat Sin of Lust, Gowther!"

I paused. "Is it just me, or have I heard that name before?" I asked myself, not expecting any kind of answer.

You probably… just saw it… on one of the wanted posters… Zephyr panted at my side. I know I saw it there. He limped up to where the building cast a short shadow and flopped down in the shade.

"Well, yeah… but I also feel like… Nevermind…" I gave up, shaking my head. Zephyranthes wasn't even listening anymore. "Told you that you should've stayed behind," I muttered quietly, but he flicked his ear, indicating that he had heard my words.

Diane was leaned over to better hear her Captain's words when she exclaimed, "YOU'VE FOUND GOWTHER?!"

"I don't have any proof, but the armor giant that the Holy Knights are after might be him." The way that Meliodas said this was breezy, noncommittal.

"I see… Gowther was also a pretty big guy. All right! Let's hurry up and go rescue him!" She clenched her fists, excited for the rescue mission.

But Meliodas cut her off. "Diane! You and Zinnia-chan stay here and protect Elizabeth! Can I count on you?"

"Captain…" The giantess hesitated for a moment, but then she brightened. "Of course! You can count on me!"

During this exchange, I had been listening from the side, nodding along at points as I considered what was said. That is, up until it was said that I was staying behind. "H-hey! Why am I staying behind?!" Well, I knew why, but I had been expecting to go. I wanted to try to help, even if it was just from the sidelines. Though, the main reason that I wanted to go was that I wanted to figure out why the name "Gowther" sounded familiar to me. It wasn't the only thing recently either; there was also that voice in the market in Vaizel, along with Armand's face. I wanted to figure out what was going on, and I felt like I would be able to figure it out if I went with them on this mission.

"Hey, what's with all the yelling? You'll wake up our patient. Have some common courtesy!" I hadn't even heard Hawk exit the tavern. Behind him, Elizabeth stood in the doorway, coughing.

"Meliodas-sama? Where are you going?" she asked in between coughs while holding her hand over her mouth.

I had almost forgotten that the princess had gotten sick recently, what with the whole thing with the Holy Knight dying and one of the Sins possibly being nearby.

"Elizabeth-chan, you shouldn't be up." Hawk looked over his shoulder to tell her this.

"Just to the mountain. I'll be right back." Meliodas answered Elizabeth's question, completely ignoring mine.

"Then I'll come, too-"

"Now, now. You've got a cold, so get some sleep. Kay?" Meliodas stopped her. They were both completely silent for a moment, staring at each other, during which time I just looked between the two, curious as to what was going through their heads. What broke the silence was Elizabeth's sudden blush. Her entire face turned beet-red, making Meliodas approach and lay his hand across her forehead. "Hmm…? Would you look at that. You're burning up!"

They had managed to leave without me. Of course. When I had tried to follow after them as they were leaving, Meliodas had just given me a sharp look, which had given me pause. Surprisingly, Zephyr had then agreed with the captain of the sins that we should stay here.

"I can't believe you agreed with him!" I said to the fox, who was pacing back and forth on the other side of the tavern, stretching. "Aren't you the one who's always trying to go everywhere with everyone? I'm sure we would've been just fine."

His only response was a slight Hn, which I couldn't even tell what he meant by. All he'd been doing since the others had left was pacing and stretching, along with occasionally sniffing his still-bandaged side. Now, though, he stopped and sat down, giving himself a satisfied nod.

"What are you even doing, anyway? Aren't you tired from earlier?" I tilted my head in curiosity, my hair falling in my face from the action. I was still annoyed, but I was just as confused.

You know, neither of us are good at head-on attacks. He seemed to dodge the question. Actually, fox shades are practically much made for assassinations and spying. But if we had gone with them, we would have been put right in the thick of it. I think - He dug his teeth into the bandage on his side, tearing it off with a ripping sound - that we would be more useful in a sneak attack, after they've already hurt their opponents.

My eyes went wide as realization dawned on me. "You're going to take us there through the shadows?" I lowered my voice, worried that if anyone heard, they might try to stop us. "Are you sure you're well enough?"

I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. I wasn't too sure about the authenticity of that statement of his, but I didn't interrupt. The reason I went with you earlier was to see if my wounds opened from the trip to town. Since they didn't, I highly doubt that they will from going through the shadows a few times. Even if they do, it won't be as bad as before; it's only the one that would open, and it's an old wound.

"Sooo… you made that speech about not only being your powers so that you would get a chance to see if you could use your powers again…?" When he didn't respond I just sighed and went on. "So, when are we going?" I scooped up my wadded up cloak from the table in front of me and stood, facing my companion.

Now's a good a time as any. Now, since I can't sense my connections with others very easily, I'll just use your connection to Meliodas-sama to try to track down his location… He stared at me. It felt like he was looking into my soul, he was staring so long. When I started to get a little fidgety, he finally spoke again. Found him. Now, I'm going to send us a little ways away from him, so that we can hopefully sneak up on the enemy through the surrounding area. Judging by the direction, they're up on the mountain, so they at least shouldn't be in any open plains where we'd be easily visible.

"Got it." I nodded. I was mentally preparing myself to go through the darkness that was the shadows when he spoke again.

I'm only going to be able to open a portal like that for a few seconds - the longer it's open, the worse it is on my wounds, since opening a portal is worse for them than just being in the shadows because of the air and other things that pass through the portal just from it being open. There's two problems because of this: the trip is gonna be one-way, and I won't be able to check if the spot that I opened the portal is safe. That means that if I send us in the wrong direction, we could appear right in the middle of enemies, and I won't be able to bring us back. It should surprise them, and they'll be exhausted from the fight, so hopefully we'll still have a bit of an advantage.

Do you still want to do this?

"Of course!" I practically shouted, before catching myself and repeating in a much quieter, hushed voice. "Of course. I trust you to get us there safely."

Satisfied, he nodded. Okay, then. Get ready.

He stood up and padded over to me, or, more precisely, my shadow. As soon as he set his paw on my shadow, he slowly fell forward into it, darkness melting into the rest of the shadow. As soon as the shadow was the color of the night sky, I stepped forward into my own shadow and fell.

Darkness. Void. Nothingness. Silence. Then light, swiftly followed by sound.

The scent of blood hit me hard. Bodies of knights littered the ground in front of me. Meliodas and Ban were nowhere to be seen, but Harlequin floated not far ahead of me, a look of surprise on his face, as a shattered Chastiefol floated at his side. I wasn't even certain that it had been surprise I had seen on his face, due to the fact that it was swiftly replaced with horror.

I felt more than heard Zephyr land next to me. Upon exiting the shadow, though, he froze. Z-Zinnia…

"What?" I turned to see whatever he was looking at, only to find a giant monster looming over us.