I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.
Reunited
Meliodas leapt at the downed Commandments, instantly charging Drole, since he was the only one currently capable of moving, and kicked his first punch away, then deflected the other three at once before jumping off Drole's torso and delivering an uppercut that sent blood spraying out of Drole's mouth. Then, he drew Lostvayne, slashing as Drole moved two arms into the way to defend himself, only for both arms to be completely amputated just below the elbow, a gash forming in his chest as well. Oswald reached for his sword, however, before he could do anything, Drole's remaining hands clapped and the massive stone hands hurled them all together before closing, trapping them all and beginning to shake, likely dropping into the ground.
"Dammit!" Oswald snarled, picking himself out of a tangle of limbs, finding Merlin standing off tot he side with her crystal ball. "Show me."
Merlin nodded and an image of the fight was projected onto the wall of their prison instantly. Meliodas was absolutely demolishing them both. Drole was on the ground with all of his arms gone, and Meliodas was just passing out of a hole in a massive creature made of roots that Gloxinia had tried to defend himself with.
"Can you get us all to Liones from here?" Oswald asked.
"Yes," Merlin nodded. "It should be fairly easy."
Oswald nodded and Merlin focused for a moment before snapping her fingers. A moment later, they were in Liones Castle, in Bartra's throne room. Oswald spun on a magician calling themselves Gilfrost and grabbed him by the collar.
"Take me to the vault, right now," Oswald snarled.
"Why would he know?" Gilthunder asked.
"Because she is that annoying mage working for Hendrickson before," Oswald said.
The mage was covered by smoke for a moment before being left as her true form, Oswald raising his sword to her throat.
"Vault," Oswald said. "I need to get something."
She swallowed hard and nodded. Then, they were both in a room filled with old weapons, shield, gems, goblets, chests, and other random items, all of it looking priceless.
"Do you know what you're looking for?" she asked.
"Not a clue," Oswald said, looking around before stopping on a weapon. "Bingo."
He could sense its aura. It had remnants of holy magic in it. He grabbed it and the mage teleported them back, Oswald glancing down at his new weapon. It was a pair of shortswords connected at the bottom of the hilts. Both swords were identical, a curved, half-leaf blade sharpened on both sides, and together they formed the shape of a bow, and when he focused he could form himself a glowing white arrow and a string formed between the points automatically. As he pulled back, the arrow elongated, pulling the blades backward like any bow, however, when he let the string and arrow fade, they snapped back into place and were as solid as his sword again. He nodded to himself as the ground shook, then turned to Merlin, who was watching the fight in her crystal ball again. And she was pale. Oswald could sense why, though.
"What's happening?" Oswald asked.
"The other Commandments just arrived," Merlin said. "Meliodas is completely surrounded."
Oswald held the bow out to her, Merlin taking it instantly. "Send me, and then send that when I tell you to."
Merlin nodded and Oswald blinked, opening his eyes on top of a massive boulder, overlooking the battlefield. Meliodas was indeed surrounded. The surviving eight commandments were all around him. And They were so focused on him that they didn't even notice Oswald. Even Derieri.
"Derieri," Oswald said, drawing his sword before she turned, staring up at him, eyes wide with surprise. "It's been a long time."
She stared at him for another moment before shrieking in rage and exploding off of the ground at him. His sword crashed into her left hand, which was formed from darkness, and he was sent streaking backward. He flipped, spreading his wings and stopping himself just in time to flip over her next strike. He shot toward her from behind, but she spun, her foot flashing up and deflecting his blade by kicking the flat of it. Then, her right fist exploded into his abdomen, sending him blasting backward. He flipped, driving his feet and sword into the ground, skidding to a stop before raising his head, watching her in silence.
"I swore I'd kill you!" Derieri snarled.
"Yes you did," Oswald nodded. "And I swore that I'd give you that chance."
"You can't save Meliodas," Derieri said.
"No," Oswald agreed. "He's going to die. And so am I. Finally."
Derieri grit her teeth before shrieking in rage again, exploding forward. Oswald dodged around her, his sword sparking against the darkness on her left hip. As soon as he was past, she spun, her darkness-covered right leg flashing around and crashing into his wings, breaking both and hurling him He bounced once before flipping, wings cracking loudly and agonizingly before healing, stopping him. He shot forward instantly, Derieri moving to meet his charge, shoving her left hand at him. He moved to block it with his sword, and suddenly he was skidding backward along the ground, Derieri's hand pressing against his sword, nearly pushing it into his chest.
"You really must be suicidal!" Derieri snarled. "You haven't even tried to use that holy power of yours! You can't hope to cut through my darkness without it!"
Oswald's feet slammed into her gut as he rolled backward, hurling her. Then, he flipped to his feet, turning to face her, breathing heavily. "I told you, I came here to give you the chance to kill me. I didn't come to kill you."
"You don't want to kill me?" Derieri snorted. "Right. After everything I did to you, how could you not?"
"Because I deserve it," Oswald said. "After what I did...what I let happen...I deserve to die."
"Then just die already!" Derieri shrieked, exploding forward, her left hand smashing through his sword entirely, slamming a punch into his torso, hurling him before she reappeared in his path. "You don't deserve to talk about that!" She slammed a kick into him, launching him through a boulder before he began to flip backward, Derieri appearing over him, hands clasped above him. "You don't deserve to talk about her!"
Oswald exploded straight down into the ground on the back end of her strike and blood sprayed out of his mouth. Derieri landed at the edge of the crater, glaring at him for a moment before spitting, turning to leave, only to freeze as he shifted his leg. She turned, staring back at him as he rose, floating into the air, his wings slowly darkening from pure white to black, darkness spreading from under his sleeves down the outside of his hands to his fingers, forming protection for his hands, then spread out of the collar of his shirt and up a few inches of his neck in thin lines before stopping. Oswald raised his head, his blood red eyes with pitch black Triskelia staring at her. She growled in rage, preparing herself for him to attack, only for him to float down and land on the opposite side of the crater from her.
"Look at me," he said. "This is what I am. What I've always been. I'm an Abomination. A mistake. A-"
"Nephilim," Derieri spat. "Offspring of a Goddess and a Demon. You're a stain on existence."
"Yes I am," Oswald agreed. "I tried to deny what I was. I tried to find people that would accept me. But everything I tried failed. All I was ever able to do was fail."
"And now you're going to get what you deserve!" Derieri spat. "You'll descend into oblivion!"
She exploded forward, striking at him rapidly, his own strikes meeting hers, punch for punch, kick for kick, claws for claws. Finally, she slipped a punch past his and drilled it into his chest, blood spraying out of his mouth again as he flew, only for his darkness to heal it. He flipped, landing on his feet in time to catch her fists, the ground below him cratering.
"Combo Star," Oswald said. "A fearsome power. But not one that I can't adjust to. You should remember."
"All I remember was a promise!" Derieri screamed, tears streaming down her face as her knee exploded into his abdomen, launching him backward, his darkness once again protecting him. "I remember being happy! And then I remember trusting you!" Her fist missed his head by a hair's breadth and his fist exploded into her gut, launching her into the air.
"I'm so-"
Derieri exploded down on him, then flipped, punting him, only to appear in front of him, punching him into the ground and beginning to pummel him. Finally, he flipped out of the crater, darkness slowly regenerating his wounds, alongside his holy magic, as he used to heal his wings usually.
"You don't get to apologize!" Derieri screamed. "Just die!"
Suddenly, Meliodas's power skyrocketed higher than all of the assembled Commandments together, only to vanish just as it was about to be unleashed.
"Estarossa's here," Oswald noted. "Meliodas is powerless. The fight's over."
"I should have never trusted you," Derieri said, trembling with rage and grief. "I should have known better than to, after all the times I had beaten you. But you were so kind. So forgiving. I should have known it was a lie!"
Oswald stared at the ground. "No one regrets that day more than me. I deserve to die for what I am. But even more than that, I deserve to die for what I've done."
"Then just stand still!" Derieri snarled, streaking forward, only for Oswald to avoid the punch, slamming a kick into her gut, launching her backward.
"I can't," Oswald said. "Because, I made a promise. I said that I wouldn't die. After seeing what I am, it probably won't matter anymore, but I can't die yet."
Derieri growled in rage. "I don't care what you want! You're going to die!"
She exploded forward, but just as she did, Meliodas's power vanished completely. Then, a massive flaming bird was flying at Oswald from behind. If he dodged, Derieri would take the hit. She wasn't paying attention, so she'd be blasted. He grit his teeth, the two attacks crashing into him from both sides before he fell. He crashed to the ground, gritting his teeth and beginning to push himself up just as Drole, Gloxinia, and Dreyfus landed around the crater he had formed. Drole threw a punch, Gloxinia sent his spear at Oswald, and Dreyfus sent a blast of energy, however, Oswald's wings flapped once and sent him spinning into the air.
"Now Merlin!" Oswald shouted.
His newest weapon appeared in front of him and he caught it. For a moment, the gold edges of the weapon caught the light around the blue flat sides of the blades, then the weapon shone and his body steamed and healed in seconds. As his wounds finished healing, the light faded and he sighed, floating to the ground off to the side.
"You can use that!?" Derieri demanded. "How the hell can a Nephilim freak like you use that!?"
"I can't," Oswald said. "I can only use its basic functions. And it amplifies my own powers enough for me to heal myself once at a time, but it won't allow me to use its true power. It doesn't recognize me as worthy. For good reason."
"Then it's not a threat," Dreyfus said.
"Don't be so hasty," Monspeet said, touching down beside Derieri. "he still has his Holy Magic, and it's still a Sacred Treasure, even if it doesn't accept him."
Oswald crouched, twisting the left blade away from himself, then the right away, holding the left in reverse grip and the right in standard grip. The blades separated and he twirled them in his hands as both began to shine. Then, he turned so his left side was toward them, his left hand holding its blade horizontal toward them, the other held up about shoulder level in front of himself.
"We can still kill him," Dreyfus said, holding up his sword.
"Indeed," Drole said. "However, at least one of us will die. Maybe two."
"He got that much stronger just from swapping weapons?" Gloxinia asked.
"No," Drole said. "He got that much stronger by beginning to use his demonic power alongside his Goddess power."
"Well?" Oswald asked. "Are you all cowards?"
Derieri moved to charge, only for Monspeet to hold her back.
"He's trying to make us angry so that we make a mistake," Monspeet said. "Let them handle this."
Drole slammed his hands into the ground and Oswald leapt into the air just as a massive crystal with a wicked point exploded out of the ground. Oswald flipped, kicking off of the side of the crystal and shot through the air. Gloxinia's spear streaked up at him and he slashed, deflecting it, sending it speeding down into the ground in front of Dreyfus instead, hurling him backward. Then, Oswald spun, his right blade splitting Drole's fingers past the bone before his fist connected with Oswald's entire body, sending him flipping backward. As he stopped, Gloxinia sent a swarm of thorn vines at him, only for him to flip spinning like a saw blade and shredding them. Finally, they stopped and Oswald flipped, connecting the blades and forming an arrow, sending it at Gloxinia before spinning and slamming one of the blades into Derieri's left hand, sans his glowing Holy Magic. Then, he flipped over her, blades separate, and drove one into the darkness across the back of her shoulders like the back of a bra hard enough to send her crashing to the ground, unharmed but out of the way. A second later, Dreyfus's energy blast exploded against Oswald, barely missing catching Derieri in the explosion.
"I knew it," Dreyfus said. "So you do have a weakness."
Oswald pushed himself up just in time for three of Gloxinia's thorns to stab him from behind. After a second, the vines retracted and Oswald coughed, staggering forward before catching himself, darkness spreading to seal the wounds.
"You're finished," Derieri said. "Your power's dropping like a rock. What was it you were saying about not dying yet?"
Oswald inhaled slowly, straightening, and focused his magic, his blades shining. Then, as he opened his eyes, he jumped, Droles's arms crashing to the ground. He slashed with both blades as he reached Drole, splitting the front of his torso wide open and Drole shouted in agony, falling backward. Oswald flipped, slamming his right sword upward into Gloxinia's spear, deflecting it, then shot forward, his left fist exploding into Gloxinia's face as his left blade stabbed into Monspeet's shoulder. Oswald crashed down on Monspeet's chest and ripped his blade out, spinning and deflecting Gloxinia's spear into the air only for Dreyfus to charge. At Derieri. Oswald was off like a shot, stepping between them in time for Dreyfus's sword to drive itself through Oswald's diaphragm. He leapt backward, ripping the sword out and Oswald dropped, landing on his knees as Derieri stared at him in shock, and the others all moved to kill him. Then, he blinked and he was in Liones castle again. He tipped to the side, collapsing, and a moment later Jericho was over him.
"Hang on!" Jericho said, tears streaming down her face. "We'll find a healer!"
"I'm...fine," Oswald said, blood frothing out of his mouth as he spoke. "I don't...die easy. Meliodas?"
"He's...gone," King said, staring at the ground.
"Ban tried to save him, but he couldn't even slow the one that did it down," Diane said. "The one you called Estarossa. He killed Meliodas like it was nothing, and then he obliterated Ban in the blink of an eye."
"He popped him like a zit," the teleporting made agreed, everyone glaring at her.
"Eli...za...beth?" Oswald asked.
"She went to Meliodas," Merlin said. "The Commandments left after I retrieved you. They went to Camelot. Zeldris took over Camelot alone several days ago."
Just then, Liones' court healer sprinted over, kneeling beside Oswald and beginning to heal him, Oswald struggling to stay awake as she worked.
"What do we do?" Jericho asked. "Without Meliodas..."
"We fight," Merlin said. "We do anything we can to hold the Demon Clan at bay."
"We...survive," Oswald said.
"Shut up!" the healer said. "No more talking!"
He fell silent, eyes finally managing to slip closed as consciousness fled.
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