Maelstrom Knight

by Oturan Namikaze

In a world where Magic is everywhere and in every living creature in some form or another, there is one who doesn't seem to fall under that category. This man's name is Naruto, the Personal Knight of Princess Elizabeth, and this is the story of their journey to find the Seven Deadly Sins... and how it changed the course of history for all of Britannia and its people. Pairings later

2. A Giant Serpent Slumbering in the Forest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Seven Deadly Sins. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Nakaba Suzuki respectively. I also don't own any other anime or its characters that might appear in this story. There will also be some elements from Black Clover as well, which is owned by Yūki Tabata. So, without any delay. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

People Speaking: "Power without love is reckless and abusive."

People Thinking: 'Love without power is sentimental and anemic.'

Monster/Demon Speaking: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Monster/Demon Thinking: 'The Guiding Light and the Vessel of Wicked Blood.'

Techniques or Titles: "Spiral Rave Strike!"

Chapter 2

A Giant Serpent Slumbering in the Forest

"Okay, Elizabeth, now just take things slowly and walk to the table." Hawk ordered as he stood on one of the chairs with his front paws resting on the table, patiently watching Elizabeth as she stood several feet away with a tray of empty plates in one hand and a tray of empty mugs in the other. "It's no good if you rush and cause a mess like the other night, so keep calm and focus on just delivering the meal."

"Right!" The silver-haired girl replied with a look of determination on her face, doing her best to keep the trays balanced in her palms as she slowly took one step at a time, doing her best to avoid some of the makeshift obstacles that the talking pig had set up to simulate a busy tavern. Elizabeth maneuvered herself around what was supposed to be standing customers, two stacks of barrels with one having a mop tied to its side to represent an outstretched arm, keeping her gazed focused on the table that Hawk was waiting. "Just focus and relax. Focus and relax."

"Don't forget to keep taking steady breaths," Meliodas called out to the girl from his place behind the counter, smiling as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand.

Taking a deep breath as she walked around another table, Elizabeth nodded her head at the Dragon Sin's words. "Y-Yes!" After making her way through a few more obstacles and reworking her balance on the trays, a bright smile formed on her face as she placed the trays in front of Hawks. "… I-I did it!"

"Good job, Elizabeth. A heck of a lot better than your first time as a waitress." Hawk congratulated the girl.

"It's all thanks to the practice you, Naruto and Sir Meliodas had been helping me with."

"… I'm just honestly surprised that Meliodas actually helped instead of being a pervert the entire time… Which is good since we can't afford to keep repairing the holes that Naruto keeps making."

Pouring himself a drink, a grin formed on Meliodas' face as he watched the excited princess enjoy her small victory… and completely brushed off Hawk's side comment. "Just a little more mock-waitressing and you'll be ready by the time we reach our next intel spot. You're definitely going to be popular with the customers."

"I-I wouldn't go that far just yet. I still need to work on dealing with actual customers and situations." Elizabeth denied while sitting herself next to Hawk, memories of all of her mistakes flashing through her mind, before pumping her fists in front of her face. "But I'll be sure to do my best to help out as much as I can and not get in your way!"

"Heh! Just don't go wasting any meals that's meant for the customers… unless its Meliodas' horrible cooking."

Hearing Naruto's voice coming from the entrance, Elizabeth, Meliodas, and Hawk turned to see the taller blonde standing at the entrance of the tavern, shirtless and covered in sweat with his grimoire pouch hanging from his brown leather belt with a his shirt draped over his shoulder.

"Oh, Naruto, you finished your training already?" The princess asked as her blonde knight entered the tavern with a slightly exhausted look on his face, raising herself from her seat to greet him as he walked up to them.

"Yup. Worked up a good sweat. How about you?"

"It's been going great! Sir Meliodas and Hawk think I'll be ready to work the next time we reach a village." Elizabeth answered with an excited look on her face, "I'll actually be able to help out and be useful during our journey!"

Naruto let out a chuckle as he walked up Elizabeth, smiling brightly at her before briefly patting her head. "I have no doubt about it. You might be a clumsy girl, but the determination of yours always shines through."

"Hehe, thank you, Naruto…" The smile on Elizabeth's face brightened at Naruto's words of encouragement. Ever since they were kids, he always supported her whenever she wanted to do something, while others impeded her actions due to her status as the youngest princess. It would get the two in trouble from time to time, especially Naruto since he was supposed to be watching over her, but that did not mean that whatever activities they got involved in was not enjoyable.

Meliodas had an unreadable expression on his face as he watched the two interact… before they were interrupted by a certain talking pig.

"Holy crap, you seriously stink! You've been working out nonstop for the past few days after we left Vanya Village!" Hawk shouted as he stared down at Naruto, who plopped himself down at one of the tables. "If I wasn't sure that you've had some education, I'd think you were just a muscle head."

"That's just rude, Sir Hawk…" Naruto replied with an annoyed expression as he accepted a fresh towel being offered to him by Elizabeth, "We have been traveling for four days now, and luckily we haven't run into any Holy Knights yet. But you never know when one will show up, so I am keeping myself prepared for the unexpected. I'm just a little disappointed that I can't do my normal sets since we're riding on Hawk's Mom"

"What exactly is considered a normal workout for you?"

"Let's see… Usually I get some stretching in first so I loosen up my muscles, before taking about 30 laps around the Kingdom of Liones while wearing special weights, though the number varies on whether or not I've got any plans after training… I can't do that here unfortunately. After that, I do about 2 sets of strength workouts with 1000 reps of stuff like push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, etc. For some exercises I like to strap weights to my body to give me some resistance, like boulders or something." As Naruto continued his explanation, he didn't notice the freaked-out expression forming on Hawks face as the blonde listed off more and more of what his 'training' involved. "Once I finish those, I move onto training with my Black Grimoire, practicing my swings and strength training, or there are times that I spar with Yami-sensei. Elizabeth usually visits during that time, so I take a break and have lunch with her, and then I focus on Ki-"

"What the hell?! There's nothing normal about any of that!" Hawk interrupted with a shout, pointing his front paw at Naruto. "That kind of workout would cripple a normal person, so how can someone without magical power do all of that?"

"… With hard work." Naruto replied with a grin and sparkles around his head.

Hawk gawked at the blonde teenager, 'He's a monster like Meliodas.'

"It's true. Naruto is one of the hardest workers I know." A smiling Elizabeth had stars in her visible eye and her clenched fists in front of her face, "I remember once, he had to fight off three large Magical Beasts while wearing restraints and had over a dozen steaks strapped to his body."

"That… that sounds completely idiotic."

"Well, they were Yami-sensei's pets, so it's not like he was gonna let me get killed or let me get put into any dangerous situation… probably."

Thinking back to that day, the smoking man had wandered off after saying something about wanting to avoid a wild beast that was stopping by… Wasn't that also the day that he had met his second teacher? A shiver went down Naruto's spine as he thought about the second Holy Knight that had decided to take an interest in him despite the blonde not having any magic, thoroughly training him in hand-to-hand combat and other skills that would help him. Most of his workouts stemmed from the combined training that both Holy Knights put him through.

Part of him wondering just how the vermilion-haired woman would react to Naruto taking Elizabeth and disappearing from the kingdom… and scared.

"Sounds like you've gone through quite the ringer. Which is good for a journey like this," Meliodas said with a laugh as he walked up the three with one hand in his pocket while the other was holding a steel mug. "We've got an hour or so before we reach the Forest of White Dream, plenty of time for you to rest up. Here, a refreshing beverage."

"Thanks." Naruto nodded his head as he took the mug from the shorter blonde before bringing it to his lips and took a big swig of it in his mouth. That was a big mistake. "Pfffffttt!?" Elizabeth, Hawk and Meliodas watched as Naruto do a spit-take with the beverage that he had just attempted to drink, before coughing a little as he threw the mug at Meliodas, who caught it with ease and without spilling a drop. "What the hell, midget? Why are you giving me liquor?!"

"Don't you know that a good hard drink after a work-out is always refreshing?" Meliodas replied as he started drinking from the mug himself. No sense in wasting a mug of ale. "I can't believe that Yami trained such a wimp that can't even handle a little alcohol."

"I'm too young to drink the stuff. Don't you know that it's illegal to serve minors?"

"Well, technically, I am a wanted man. So, normal laws and ideals don't really apply to me." The Dragon Sin retorted with a shrug, causing Naruto to stumble a little at the truth behind Meliodas' words. "How about you, Elizabeth? Wanna try some? We could share."

"I-I'm good, Sir Meliodas." The princess waved her hands to reject the offered drink, "It wouldn't be right be drinking beverages that could be served to customers."

"But that's one of the perks of owning a place like this. No one can tell you what you can and cannot drink. So, the two of you don't need to worry about stuff like that. Come on, you know you want to."

Deciding to interfere with the Dragon Sin's attempt at corrupting the two, Hawk leapt up and placed his paws on Meliodas' side before pulling the smaller blonde's hair with his teeth. "Enough of that! You just wanna get the two of them drunk so you can do pervy stuff to Elizabeth!"

"Why would I need to get them drunk? In any case, like I was saying before, we should be reaching the forest soon. Why don't we get something to fill our stomachs before we arrive? That way it won't get in the way of our search when we start looking for one of the other Sins." Meliodas said as he grabbed Hawk by the ear and lifted the pig away from his body, before turning his head towards Naruto with disgusted look. "But before we eat, you need to wash up. You seriously reek and I don't want the smell to stink up the place."

Naruto was about to make a snarky comeback when he felt a hand softly pat his shoulder and turned his head slightly to face Elizabeth, who had a small smile on her face despite her other hand pinching her nose.
"We'll wait for you to come back before we eat, so take your time Naruto."

'You say that, but you don't know how to cook and Meliodas' food is terrible.' Naruto thought to himself before letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright, fine, I can take a hint. A shower would be nice… But before I do that…"

"Hm?" Meliodas blinked after suddenly finding himself tied up with rope, strapped to one of his tavern's chairs with little maneuverability available to him. The Dragon Sin turned his gaze towards Naruto, who was looking down at him with his hands on his hips. "Is this really necessary?"

"I'll gladly untie you as soon as I come back." Kneeling down closer to Meliodas, pointing a finger at his face as he spoke. "After the last time I left you guys alone, there's no way I trust you not to do something perverted to Elizabeth when I'm not in the room."

"Um, Naruto? Don't you think this is a little much?" Elizabeth said as she came to Meliodas' defense, only to get a deadpanned stare in response.

"Not in the slightest. If anything, I'm sure the guy could probably escape any time he wanted." Naruto stated while looking down at Meliodas, who was actually moving both himself and the chair he was tied to towards Elizabeth in an effort to peak under her skirt. Several twitch marks formed as Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

Elizabeth sweatdropped as she watched Naruto kicked the chair upside down, causing Meliodas' front to hit the ground, before placing Hawk on top of the flipped chair, making sure to press hard into the wood and force Meliodas' face to grind against the floor… though it didn't seem to bother the Dragon Sin that much.

(Meanwhile)

"Sir Gilthunder!"

Riding on a horse and dressed in a dark colored full-body knight armor, a relatively tall young man with slightly curled, short pink-colored hair and blue eyes was focusing on the path in front of him and his squad of lower-class knights. The upper have of his armor had several crosses into along with the symbol of the Holy Knights, while his sword was hanging off his waist. The young man was silent for a few seconds before responding, "What is it?"

"We've been traveling for several days now after finding out that the party we are looking for left the village and headed southwest. Pardon me for asking, but how do you know that they are heading towards the Forest of White Dreams? Only the insane would enter that cursed place."

"The reports given to me stated that a teenage blonde wielding a giant black sword was able to pull out a sword that I had personally placed into the ground, and that he was traveling with a young boy and a teenage girl with silver hair. Later that day, I sent that spear towards Vanya Village with more than enough power to leave significant damage, only for it to be thrown back at me with equal force without any injuries to be accounted for." Gilthunder stated, not even having to look back to see the scared looks on the knights faces at the possibility of facing the Holy Knight's wrath. "I know for a fact that it was the younger looking boy that was responsible for it. There are only a few people that I know of that bare those descriptions and can pull off such feats."

"Y-Yes, as you've said before."

Gilthunder continued his explanation while briefly closing his eyes, "It is a strong possibility that after catching our attention, the trio will be doing their best to avoid confrontation. So, going to a place that even Holy Knights would normally never go would be the ideal hiding spot… not to mention a possible meeting place…"

"Sir Gilthunder?"

"…"

"…"

"I've heard terrible stories about that place."

"Supposedly a horrible monster dwell there."

"A few Holy Knights that have gone into the forest have never been seen again."

Finally turning his head to look back at his men as he brought his horse to a halt, Gilthunder narrowed his eyes at the now frozen men. "If you and your men are going to act like sniveling children, then I share go to the Forest of White Dreams on my own."

"Huh?! B-But Sir-"

"All you would be doing is getting in my way. Now leave me to do my duty and return to your stations back at the tower. I don't have time to waste on cowards." With that said, the Holy Knight flicked his rein, signaling his stead to continue heading in the direction of the Forest of White Dreams. The pink-haired knight ignored the calls of the men he was leaving behind, his focus only on what was ahead of him… and the confrontation he knew that would occur soon enough. '… Meliodas… Naruto…'

Meanwhile, high above Gilthunder's head, a crow was soaring with its red glowing eyes focused on the Holy Knight.

(Later That Day)

"Watch your step, Elizabeth." Naruto, dressed in his normal clothes again, said as he held out a hand to the princess, helping her cross a small trench while Hawk managed it with a long jump, "With all this fog around here, we all need to be careful not to injure ourselves."

"Right." The princess replied as she successfully jumped over the trench with Naruto's help, before shifting her gaze to the dead trees and roughed-up earth that was visible through the heavy mist spread throughout the forest. "With how quiet it is and all this fog surrounding us, the forest does feel like I'm in a white dream. If only the trees were livelier…"

"I don't think this is a dream I'd like to be stuck in." The blonde knight mirrored Elizabeth's actions to get a good look at the area before he and the silver-haired girl followed after Hawk with Meliodas bringing up the rear a few feet back. "Who knows what is actually in this place."

"I don't know. We've been in here for three hours and haven't seen any animals or any people." An uneasy Hawk commented as he stopped walking midway of the upwards hill, which lead up the mountain of dead trees and fog to an unknown location, much too small for the pig's mother so they were forced to leave her behind. "But for some reason, I am getting a bad feeling."

"Sir Meliodas, is one of the other Seven Deadly Sins really hiding in this forest?" Elizabeth asked as she and Naruto turned to face the Sin's Captain, who was leisurely walking up to the two teenagers with his hands in his pockets and a calm expression.

"Probably."

… It took a lot of restraint for Naruto to not try and bash Meliodas against a tree after hearing his nonchalant answer. The role models in his life rubbed off their violent natures a little too well.

"WE CAME HERE WITHOUT ANY SOLID EVIDENCE?!" Hawk exclaimed with an irritated look, before turning his gaze to the path ahead "You know, rumors say that there's a terrifying monster lurking in this forest-"

Naruto squinted his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head, "That 'monster' might actually be one of the-"

"Kyaaeeh~!" The young knight didn't get to finish his sentence as Elizabeth let out a startled, followed by hearing an uncomfortable noise. Immediately turning his head to look back at the Princess, Naruto's worry was replaced with irritation once he got a good look at her. "N-Naruto! Help! S-Something is touching me from behind!" The teary-eyed girl cried out as she felt something grab onto her and wouldn't let go… not realizing that it was actually Meliodas was groping her ass under the short skirt.

"Just relax. It's me-"

"ROARING LION!" Naruto shouted as he decked Meliodas in the face with his bandaged right hand, sending the shorter blonde flying and crashing through several trees away. Reaching out his other hand to grab the princess by her shoulder before gently shoving her behind him, an upset expression on his face as he pointed at the ruined pile of tree. "God damnit, you stupid midget! Just what the hell are you doing at a time like this?!"

"Naruto, at least it wasn't something terrifying like a monster." Elizabeth said in an attempt to quell her knight's anger.

Hawk shook his head as a sigh escaped his lips, "I don't know, that seemed like the best way to make the creep stop in my book."

"That was actually a pretty good solid hit." Meliodas called out as he quickly removed himself from the destroyed tree he was currently stuck to, though unlike the other times when Naruto had hit him, this blow had left a mark as the Dragon Sin's cheek was slightly swollen with a bruise mark and a small dribble of blood coming out of his mouth. "You called that the Roaring Lion? The power and execution of that attack reminds me of another Holy Knight, especially since I know that Yami doesn't know that much combat that didn't involve his sword."

"Yami-sensei taught me a lot of stuff when it came to fighting, but his style mostly focuses on swordsmanship. I learned how to survive and fight hand-to-hand from my other instructor. While I can't enhance my fists with magic like she can, my Master made sure that they'd definitely leave a destructive impact."

"She?" Hawk's eyebrow raised at that.

Elizabeth's eyes seemed to sparkle as she filled in the pig and Sin's inquiry, "Naruto's second teacher is without a doubt the strongest female Knight in the entire Kingdom of Liones, if not one of the strongest Holy Knights with her incredible fire magic and physical prowess, Lady Mereoleona Vermillion!"

"You're certainly excited about her, huh, Elizabeth?" Hawk commented as he saw the look on the princess' face.

"Well, that's to be expected." Naruto said with a small grin on his face as he thought back to his fiery instructor, "Master is not only a powerful Holy Knight, but also has royal blood coursing through her veins making her a noblewoman. Both of these facts make her a strong role model for a lot of girls whether they want to follow the path of being a Holy Knight or live a normal life."

"I remember her being a very loud and aggressive woman who would rather use her fists than words. Though judging from what I've heard these past ten years, that doesn't seem to have changed." Meliodas added as he walked up with the group, placing both of his hands into his pockets as he got closer to the two teenagers, to which Naruto placed himself between the shorter blonde and Elizabeth as a human shield. "Going back to our current situation, I do have a little evidence on how a Sin could be here. Traveling through the Forest of White Dreams has been difficult for us on foot and would be even more so on horseback. It's so hard to get your bearings that even people with experience would go around this place instead of straight through."

A look of understanding formed on Elizabeth's face after hearing Meliodas' explanation, "This place would definitely be the ideal spot to hide out."

"That's actually not a bad theory, and like I was saying before, this 'monster' from the rumors could be the Sin defending themselves… Makes me wonder who it could be. Any guesses, Meliodas?" Naruto asked the Sin as he started following him up the path, only to stop when he noticed that a certain someone wasn't walking with them and instead seemed to be examining the back of her skirt. "Is everything okay, Elizabeth?"

Noticing that she was getting curious looks from all three of her traveling companions, Elizabeth quickly waved them off with a weak laugh. "I-It's nothing! I'm fine!"

"O…kay? Well, if you need to stop and rest for a bit, we can find a spot up ahead." Naruto said upon seeing the flustered look on the girl's face and assumed that it was because the girl was starting to get tired after nonstop walking for over three hours.

"R-Right…" Tilting his head in confusion as he noticed that Elizabeth continued touching her butt as if she were… looking for… something… A frown formed on Naruto's face before turning to look at Meliodas, who kept moving as if he had done nothing wrong, which didn't fool the magicless teen in the least.

Meliodas felt himself get lifted off of the ground by the back of his collar and turned his head slightly to look back to see an annoyed Naruto staring back at him, "Hey, what's up?"

"… I don't know what you did with them, but you better return them to Elizabeth."

"Huh? Return what?" The innocent expression on the Dragon Sin's face didn't deter Naruto as he continued to glare at Meliodas in silence. "You really are a killjoy, you know that?"

"I am not, you perverted midget!"

Meliodas had a small smile on his face while lifting one of his hands to reveal pink panties spinning on his finger, "You need to relax more often. You're still in young, so enjoy your youth."

"Naruto, what are you doing to Sir Meliodas-ARE THOSE MY PANTIES?!" Elizabeth cried out in shock before snatching them away while a completely red face. "YOU STOLE THEM?!"

"Come on slow pokes, let's get a move on would ya'?!" An angry Hawk shouted towards the three from his spot in front of them.

"Don't be in such a rush. Nobody likes traveling with a nervous piggy." The amusement on Meliodas' shifted to one of surprise while Naruto rubbed his eyes a few times before a similar expression formed on his face. What had once been a single talking pig a few meters ahead of them had was now nine, each of them looking at the other Hawks in shock.

"It's a herd!" Hawk said as he looked around him to see all of the identical pigs huddled around him.

"They're all me!"

"What's going on?!"

Elizabeth, who managed to put her panties while her male companions were distracted, look at the arguing group of pigs with a befuddled look. "This is the monster of the forest?"

"Now that's terrifying." Meliodas said as they watched all of the Hawks bicker and move around, making it harder for them to find the original.

"And annoying." Naruto added before crossing his arms in thought, letting out a soft hum. "But this situation does give us a bunch of food that would last us a few days." All of the Hawks let out frightful squeals upon hearing Naruto's words, only for their fears to grow upon seeing the grin that appeared on the blonde's face.

The Princess of Lione looked at her knight with a small frown on her face, "Naruto, that's not funny. Hawk is our friend."

"What? I haven't eaten pork in weeks, and I have a craving for bacon…" Watching as Elizabeth's frown deepen, Naruto let out a disappointed sigh, "Fine. Not like I was actually going to do it."

"Meliodas, help!" One of the Hawks cried out as he and the other Hawks rushed towards the trio. "Naruto wants to eat me!"

"No, help me! I'm the real Hawk!"

"Hey, zip it, Porky!"

Meliodas hummed in a thoughtful manner before he jumped forward using brute force alone to strike down all the Hawks in quick succession that sent them crashing into a giant heap of pigs with massive lumps on all of their heads and swirly eyes.

"He's not a nice man." One of the Hawks whimpered in pain.

"Oh, Hawk." Elizabeth said in worry.

All the Hawks jumped up crying before hurrying behind Elizabeth to hide from Meliodas while Naruto studied the scene with crossed arms as the Dragon Sin walked up next to him. "Elizabeth, help!" All of the Hawks cowered together behind the girl with their shaking behinds sticking out. "Please, even my mom wouldn't hit me like that! I don't want to be eaten either!"

Uncertain on what to do as her gaze shifted among all of the Hawks, Elizabeth was unsure on what to do or who to help as she couldn't figure out who was the real pig and who were the fakes. But those thoughts didn't last as the extra Hawks suddenly started to change their appearances and took on Elizabeth's appearance. Naruto and Meliodas took notice to even more copies of Elizabeth appearing out of nowhere and drew closer to the shocked Elizabeth and Hawk, mixing the former into the crowd before anything could be said.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"True, but I like this scenario a lot more." Meliodas said with a grin.

Naruto sent the shorter blonde a deadpanned stare while Hawk stumbled back to stand next to the two, "You're something else, ya know that?"

"Sir Meliodas/Naruto~!" A mixture of the group of Elizabeths calling out to the two blondes.

"You know I'm the real one, right?"

"No, I'm right here!"

"Don't trust these fakes!"

"Who are you calling fake?"

As all of the Elizabeths began to argue with one another, Meliodas, Naruto and Hawk watched silently as they tried to figure out which Elizabeth was the actual princess… Well, that was until Meliodas grin widely with an enthusiastic look on his face, "Wow, what a bevy of boobies."

"Look, this is not the time!" Hawk said.

Punching the Dragon Sin upside the head, Naruto sent Meliodas a brief glare before turning back to the multiple silver-haired girls standing in front of them. "He's right, we need to get rid of all these fakes quickly and continue onwards."

"Leave this place." A voice called from somewhere in the mist, surprising Hawk while Naruto and Meliodas looked around to try and track the voices origin.

"Leave… Get out of this forest, humans!" The Magicless Knight's eyes narrowed upon hearing the second voice echo around them. But he didn't think much about it as he noticed that all of the Elizabeths were now making their way towards the two men and talking pig.

"Naruto!"

"Sir Meliodas!"

"Huh, I really can't tell which one is which." Meliodas said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "It's too bad that we gave Elizabeth back her panties, that could've helped us out."

"How would that have helped?!" Hawk squealed.

"…" Naruto said nothing as he took a few steps forward to intercept the incoming Elizabeths, shocking a few of them as he pulled out his grimoire before summoning his sword from its pages. All of the girls were taken aback by the harden stare looking back at them, none of them able to speak as the blonde teen suddenly charged forward and seemed to vanish. The next thing that Hawk saw, Naruto reappeared several meters away with an arm wrapped around a confused Elizabeth's waist while all the others were sent flying into the air from, what the pig had to guess, Naruto's strikes. They exploded into puffs of smoke before creatures in dark cloaks emerged and made a run for it to disappear into the fog. "You okay, Elizabeth?"

The princess stared up at Naruto for a few seconds before nodding her head, giving the blonde Knight the okay.

"They're just Hide-and-Seeks! Prankster Imps!" Hawk said in surprise as he watched them run away, "You took care of all of them so fast! How did you find the real Elizabeth so quickly?"

"I'm Elizabeth's personal knight. After all the years we've spent together, I know her Ki reading by heart, so all those impostors didn't fool me at all." Seeing the confused look on the pig's face, Naruto realized that Hawk had no idea what he was talking about and decided to give a short explanation. "Ki is the physical, natural energy that people, and objects emit, rather than the spiritual side that magic energy. Every person or thing has a unique signature that is impossible to replicate. It was how I was able to track Elizabeth down after we had gotten separated and predict Twigo's attacks that allowed me to deflect his attacks."

'So, he's a Ki manipulator, huh? Yami and Mereoleona sure took an interesting kid under their wings.' Meliodas thought to himself as he listened in on Naruto's explanation even though his gaze was focused on the retreating Imps. While learning how to read Ki and being able to use it was an extremely useful skill, it wasn't something that just anyone could learn. Even the Dragon Sin could admit that he had difficulty with being able to use it.

"That's incredible… Hey, wait! Then why didn't you use that a minute ago when they were copying me?!" The lumps on Hawk's head were still throbbing from Meliodas' blows.

"I wasn't sure if they were a major threat or not, so I left it to Meliodas to take care of the situation…" Naruto replied while awkwardly avoiding Hawk's gaze, knowing full well that the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins would probably not hold anything back.

"We can continue this later, let's follow those Prankster Imps before they disappear!" Meliodas directed before taking off in a run.

""Right!"" Elizabeth and Naruto nodded their heads in agreement before following after the Dragon Sin with Hawk at their side.

NELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNELNEL

Following the Prankster Imps for quite a few minutes, the group of four managed to keep the creatures in their sights despite the mist playing a large role in blocking their view. It had been their initial hope that wherever the Imps were heading would lead them to something else in that direction since they had been in such a hurry to retreat upon being discovered, and it looked like their optimism paid off as they caught sight to a silhouette in the distance.

"Wait, look!" Elizabeth called out. "It's a girl."

True enough, as they drew closer to the figure, they were able to make out female figure slumbering away on the ground with a peaceful look on her face… Only to discover that the girl was not as little as they originally believed, as she was easily several times their size. The sleeping woman had medium length brown hair tied up into large twin tails and had a particularly well-developed and curvaceous body. She was wearing a short-sleeved one-piece orange suit with matching colored boots that had five-crossed laces that extend almost up to her knees, and two finger-less gauntlets of a blue-grey leathery material covered in shiny steel studs.

Hawk took a step back in shock as he took in the girl's true size, "Whoa, she's big~!"

"No way… She's a Giant…" Naruto stated in awe before a look of excitement formed on the blonde teen's face, "That's so cool! I've always wanted to meet a Giant!"

"Lady Diane!" One of the Imps cried out as they tried to wake the Giant up.

"Lady Diane!" The second Imp echoed.

The final Imp was sweating badly as it spoke up as well, "We're so sorry, Lady Diane! We accidentally allowed the Holy Knight trespassers to come into the forest!"

"Huh? Did they just call her Diane?" Naruto tilted his head as he tried to recall where he had heard that name before.

Trailing down the Giant's form, Elizabeth's eyes widened as she halted her gaze on a red tattoo that was located on Diane's left outer thigh, "T-That tattoo on her leg! It looks similar to the dragon symbol you have on your arm, Sir Meliodas!"

"Yeah, but it looks like a snake to me." Hawk commented as he and Naruto followed the princess' gaze and studied the tattoo on the sleeping girl's leg.

"A Giant… and a Serpent symbol… Hmm," Scrunching his face in thought, Naruto's eyes popped open seconds later as he uncrossed his arms, a large smile on his face upon finding his answer. "Of course! She's the Serpent's Sin of Envy! Lady Diane of the Seven Deadly Sins!"

"Yup, that's her alright." Meliodas confirmed, dismissing the looks of surprise on Elizabeth and Hawk's faces as he watched the Imps continue to try and wake the Giant up.

Diane's eyes finally snapped open to reveal two purple irises, slamming one of her hands into the ground as she sat up off the ground and rose to her feet. "Did you say that some Holy Knights got in?"

"Whoa, she's huge." Hawk squeaked at the intimidating shadow Diane was casting over them.

"No, we're not Holy Knights." Elizabeth denied in a meek manner as she tried to speak to the Giant, only for Diane to scoop Meliodas up in her hand before bringing him at her eye level. Elizabeth and Hawk looked around in shock as they wondered where Meliodas suddenly disappeared to.

"He's gone." Elizabeth said.

"You both might want to look up." Naruto said while pointing up with a small frown, silently hoping that they could clear up the misunderstanding about being Holy Knights before a battle broke out between them and the recently discovered Sin. Following the direction that the blonde's finger was pointing in, both princess and pig let out startled gasps upon seeing a calm faced Meliodas in Diane's angry grip. 'Wow… A midget and a Giant… you can really see the height difference between them…'

"You're a Holy Knight?" Diane questioned while glaring at Meliodas.

"Hold on, you're not going to eat him, are you?!" Hawk asked in concern, only to hide behind Naruto as the Serpent Sin look down at them.

"Take it easy, Lady Diane!" The Magicless teen called out while holding his hands up in a peaceful manner, "Please listen to what we have to say! We aren't Holy Knights or your enemies!"

Elizabeth was the next one to speak up with a worried look on her face. "He's right, so release Sir Meliodas!"

Diane blinked at their words before it clicked in her mind that the girl in the group had address the man in her hand by a name that the Giant knew very well. Bringing her hand closer to get a better look at the smaller blonde, Diane stared at the Dragon Sin with a narrow gaze. "Sir Meliodas?"

"Yo, Diane." Meliodas greeted the Giant in a casual manner, easily brushing off the predicament he was currently in. "It's been what? Ten years already?"

After a few more moments of staring at Meliodas' face, Diane's entire face lit up and stars formed in her eyes upon finally recognizing him. "Captain!" The delighted brunette cheered before gently bringing Meliodas' head to her cheek and rubbed against it. "Captain! Captain! Captain! Captain! Captain! Captain! Captain! I missed you so much!"

"…"

"Um…?"

"… I… guess that means we're in the clear… Right?" Naruto finally said as he, Elizabeth and Hawk watched the scene with bewildered expressions, "She certainly cheered up pretty fast."

"You're telling me." Hawk replied before tensing up when the Giant looked in their direction after hearing them speak. He did not like the look in her eyes!

"Captain, you've thought of everything, haven't you?" Diane asked. "You remember how much I love whole roasted pig!"

"Hey, wait! I'm not for eating, lady!" Hawk begged as Diane reached down to grab him.

Luckily for the talking pig, Naruto quickly got in between them with his arms stretched out. "Sorry, Lady Diane! But you can't eat Hawk! Even if he does look and probably tastes delicious after being cooked!"

"I remember him smelling pretty good after getting burned once in the kitchen." Meliodas added from his spot in Diane's grip.

"Don't use such weak arguments to defend me, you bastards!" Hawk whined with a twitch mark forming.

A look of disappointment briefly appeared on Diane's face before it switched to curiosity and she knelt down to get a better look at Naruto and Elizabeth, who was walked up behind her knight. "Okay, but who are you two?"

"It's an honor to meet you Lady Diane, I'm Naruto and this is Elizabeth." Naruto introduced him and the princess, taking notice to the Giant zoning in on the silver-haired girl behind him. "We're currently traveling with Meliodas on a journey to find you and the rest of the Sins."

"H-How do you do, Lady Diane!" Elizabeth called out while bowing her head a little, feeling excited and nervous to meet another Deadly Sin.

"So, it's been you and these two traveling together, Captain?" Diane questioned with a smile on her face as she stood up straight again.

"Well, Naruto's more of an extra… along with the talking pig."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN AN EXTRA, MIDG-OH CRAP!" Whatever anger Naruto felt quickly switched to fear with his eyes turning white before pushing the startled Elizabeth out of the way just as the smile on Diane's face vanished. The Giant then threw Meliodas towards the area where Naruto was still standing, the impact hard enough to crack the ground, sending dust and rocks flying everywhere.

"You filthy womanizer!" Diane shouted as the Dragon Sin skipped like a rock cross the ground before colliding with a large boulder that caved in upon impact.

Raising herself off of the dazed Hawk, Elizabeth rubbed the back of her head as she felt a little roughed up. "Ow… Huh?" Lifting her head up a bit, the princess looked at the area in front of Diane where she had been previously standing and saw that Naruto was laying facedown with a bunch of rocks comically piled on the upper half of his body while his legs were visible and twitching. "Naruto!?"

While the princess and Hawk rushed over to help her knight, Diane sunk down to her knees while bawling her eyes out. "After all this time, I'm finally back with the man I love, and he's with another woman!"

"Naruto, are you okay?" A worried Elizabeth asked as she knelt down and began to remove the rocks from the blonde's back with Hawk's help, only for an annoyed Naruto to push himself off the ground seconds later with a small drip of blood falling down the side of his face.

Lifting up a hand to the top of his head, Naruto winced lightly as he felt the large lump from where Meliodas collided with him. "She didn't even hesitate to throw him into the ground. If I hadn't sensed her Ki flare up just then, we would've gotten seriously injured."

"Meliodas was thrown into you with the force of a cannon and then you were buried under rocks. No offense, but how did that not knock you out?!"

The blonde shrugged his shoulders at the pig's words, "I've suffered through worser punishments… But I've got to say, the rumors about the strength of the Giants don't do them justice."

"My poor, delicate heart's shattered into a million pieces!" Diane cried out as tears fell down her face, before looking down at the uninjured Meliodas as he walked back to the group. "But still…if you have an explanation, I'm ready to hear them."

"What's there to explain?" The Dragon Sin rubbed the back of his head while coming to a stop in front of Diane. "Honestly, there's not—!"

Unfortunately, Meliodas didn't get to finish speaking as Diane started hitting him rapidly with her fists. "I don't want to hear your excuses!" Diane snapped angrily with tears in her eyes while continuing to pummel her Captain, "You little, lying, pervert! Philandering shrimp! Womanizing bastard!"

"… I've met three of them so far, and I'm starting to think that every single one of the Sins is messed up in the head." A dumbfounded Naruto whispered to Elizabeth as they and Hawk watched the Giant go from bawling her eyes out to suddenly attacking Meliodas with a barrage of rapid punches while shouting insults at him. Luckily, they had managed to create some distance between them as to not fall victim to Diane's wrath.

Which was good, since Naruto didn't want to go through that again.

"That's not nice, Naruto." The Princess replied back, only to let out a small squeak as some large rocks nearly hit her, only for her Knight to smack them away before they could come close to the three.

"I don't know, she seems pretty nuts to me." A stunned Hawk stated in agreement to Naruto's words.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Do you think Sir Meliodas is going to be okay?"

"Sadly, I doubt that will do more than bruise him… What the heck is that guy made of?" Naruto placed a hand on his hip as he watched Diane continue to attack Meliodas, tearing apart the area in the process. "… I think this will probably last for a while, so why don't we take a little break."

(Twenty Minutes Later)

Once Diane finally cooled down after her explosive venting, Meliodas, who was covered in dirt, bruises and lumps, began to explain the situation and the reason why the group had come to the Forest of White Dreams to look for the Giant. Both Elizabeth and Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the damage dealt by the Giant. The former took in the injuries that Meliodas sustained, though it didn't seem to bother the shorter blonde, while her knight was looking at the destroyed area and the large crater left by Diane's final attack. Exchanging a silent glanced towards one another, the two friends looked back towards Diane, who was listening calmly to the Dragon Sin while in a seiza position.

"So, to put an end to all the corruption and to stop the Holy Knights from continuing their rampage, Elizabeth and Naruto are on a quest to locate all of the Seven Deadly Sins." Meliodas finished while brushing off the dirt on his clothes.

"I didn't know about that." Diane said while looking repentant of her earlier actions before lightly knocked herself on the head a sheepish. "Guess, I'm the only one who jumps to conclusions like that, aren't I? Forgive me." Turning her gaze to the other blonde in the group, the Giant continued with her apology. "And I'm sorry for throwing the Captain into you, Naruto."

Hearing the Serpent Sin apologize, Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a weak smile on his face. "No problem. Not exactly how I wanted my first meeting with a Giant to go, but still, it could've been worse."

Diane then turned to Elizabeth while narrowing her eyes at the princess who stiffened. "You really aren't in that kind of relationship with the Captain?"

"T-That's right." Elizabeth replied before looking down at the ground.

'She's definitely the Sin of Envy,' Naruto thought with sweatdrops falling at seeing the intense look on Diane's face as she glared down at Elizabeth. Taking a step forward to catch the Giant's attention, Naruto took some of the tension off of the princess, "You don't have to worry, Lady Diane. Elizabeth has nothing like that with that pervert."

"You know, you and I aren't in a relationship like that either." Meliodas pointed out to Diane, who looked completely crushed by his words. Part of Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for the female Giant. "Anyway, I'm just gonna do what I can to help Elizabeth and Naruto gather the Seven Deadly Sins. Because there's something that I want to find out."

"Well, if that's the case, then I'll come along with you guys." Diane said as she stood up, once again reminding the teenagers and pig of her incredible size, "Diane, the Serpent Sin of Envy will lend you her aid."

"Really?" Meliodas asked before nodding his head up at the Giant. "That's great."

"Thank-you for joining us, Lady Diane." Elizabeth added with a bright smile before turning to her knight, "Isn't this great, Naruto? Now we managed to find two of the Sins!"

Naruto had a large grin on his face while pumping his fist into the air, "Yup! Only five more to go!"

"But get one thing straight!"

"Yes?!" Elizabeth questioned as she and Naruto jumped at the annoyed tone in Diane's voice before looking up to see the massive frown on her face, it was clear she was only tolerating them at the moment and didn't seem to trust them… Though it also could've been because of Elizabeth being close to Meliodas.

"The only reason I'm helping you out is because of the Captain being here." Diane stated with narrow eyes, causing Elizabeth to let out an awkward laugh while Naruto just stared back at the brunette with a quirked eyebrow.

"Th-Thank goodness!"

"We can finally live in peace again!"

Everyone turned their heads to see that the imps they had been chasing before were hiding behind a few rocks.

"For years, she's been threatening us by saying she'd go on a rampage if we didn't shelter her!"

"They can be free now," Hawk said as he watched the imps rejoice on Diane's future departure. "So, beautiful."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it." The bemused Naruto shrugged his shoulders with a smile, only for his eyes to narrow and his body to tense up as his Ki senses suddenly went wild as a strange sensation filled the air. "What the hell…?! Everybody! Be on your guard!" As soon as those words left his lips, the cawing of a crow echoed through the forest, which had the two Sins tensing up as well.

"What was that?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"It's strange." Diane said as she looked at the nearby trees for any signs of the bird in question. "I didn't think there hardly any animals left in this forest."

Meliodas turned his head to look over at Naruto, who was reaching into his pouch to retrieve his grimoire. "You sense something?"

"…Smells like it's going to rain." Hawk then gasped before pointing towards the sky with his snout. "Hey, look up there!"

Naruto and the other followed Hawk's gaze to see darkened clouds and lightning forming above them. The magicless teen's eyes widened as he recognized the Ki that was circling in the thundercloud, moving a hand over to his open grimoire just as a sword hilt began to emerge from its glowing pages. His actions weren't missed by Diane or Meliodas, the former's eyes widening slightly as she caught sight of Naruto's grimoire.

"Thunderclouds." Elizabeth murmured as she watched the dark clouds spiral overhead.

A large bolt of lightning came striking down towards the group of five, hitting the ground in between them and temporarily blinding everyone in the area. When the light dissipated, Naruto gritted his teeth with a low growl as he saw three electric rings wrapped around his body and sent body-numbing currents throughout his body. The Black Grimoire was still floating in midair next to him and glowing, but due to his electric bindings he was unable to reach for the sword hilt sticking out. Lifting up his head a bit, the others could be seen in similar predicaments along with the imps hiding behind the rocks. The sound of metal-clad feet walking along the ground made everyone turn as much as they could towards the approaching newcomer, seeing a pink-haired man wearing armor and brandishing a broadsword covered in electric sparks.

"And you are?" Meliodas questioned as he walked the man make his way towards them.

"It would seem we meet at last, you deadly sins." Gilthunder said as he walked through the mist.

"This power…" Diane could feel the magical energy pouring out of the knight's body.

"Yeah, there's no doubt about it." Meliodas confirmed his fellow Sin's thoughts. "You're a Holy Knight, aren't you?"

"Gilthunder…" Elizabeth murmured as she instantly recognized the armored man, who said nothing as he stared at the group with a chilled expression. "Gilthunder is that you?! What are you…Why are you doing this?"

"You know this guy?" Meliodas asked.

"It's been a while, Gil." Naruto called out, ignoring the explanation that Elizabeth was giving to Meliodas about who Gilthunder was, locking eyes with the Holy Knight. "The last time I saw you… You were leading the other Holy Knights into the throne room after destroying the door with your lightning."

"Naruto… What did you say?"

The blonde could sense the shocked expression that Elizabeth was sending his way but dismissed it to continue speaking to Gilthunder. "But you've certainly been busy since then, haven't you? Blocking the water supply of Vanya Village, and then trying to blow the village way with that lance… Heh, what would the late Grand Master Zaratras say if he knew how cold and cruel his son had grown up to be."

"Stop, Naruto. You're wrong. Gilthunder wouldn't—!"

"Keep my father's name out of your traitorous mouth." Gilthunder glared at Naruto, who barley batted an eye at the insult. "While being a Holy Knight was an impossible dream for a magicless abnormality such as yourself, you were still given the privilege to serve the kingdom. The King trusted you the amongst all the Holy Knights to become the personal knight of Princess Elizabeth, and yet, you betrayed the kingdom. Just like the Seven Deadly Sins."

A smirk formed on Naruto's face, "Big talk from the hypocritical bastard that assist the coup against the King… How's Marga -!?" Naruto wasn't able to finish as Gilthunder quickly closed the gap between them and slammed the back of his fist into his face, causing the blonde to take a step to regain his balance… But the smirk remained, "Touched a nerve, did I?"

"Choose your next words carefully, filthy abomination." Gilthunder stated in a low voice as he and Naruto stare each other down, only for both of them to look up towards Diane as she attempted to break her bindings.

"These can't hold me!" Diane said while struggling to pull her arms apart and break the electricity wrapped around her, only for the magic bindings Gilthunder put around her to grow stronger before locking her wrists together again.

Gilthunder spared the Giant a glance as Diane continued her attempt at escaping, "It's useless."

"Diane, just save your energy." The Serpent Sin halted her actions after hearing Meliodas' orders.

"Captain," Diane muttered as she looked down at the short blonde, grimacing a little from the numbing sensation worsening.

Positioning himself behind Meliodas without making a sound, Gilthunder held his sword to the Dragon Sin's throat. Naruto managed to turn himself around to see that the pink-haired Holy Knight was solely focused on Meliodas at that moment, before shifting his gaze upon sensing a new presence come into the area. It didn't take him long to locate the source of the new Ki and caught sight of a lone crow resting on a tree branch with its deep red eyes watching them intently. But from what he was sensing, the creature he was staring at was the furthest thing from a bird.

"… Hmm…"

"Do you know why the Holy Knights are after the heads of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Gilthunder asked the shorter blonde while his blade sparked with electricity.

"Not really." Meliodas replied with a small shrug. It honestly seemed that he didn't really cared about the situation with how melancholy he was being about it.

"Half of them are seeking the total eradication of the rebel order that plotted to overthrow the kingdom." Gilthunder explained to Meliodas. "The other half want to do glorious battle with the legendary warriors and vanquish them to prove their own strength."

"And which half are you in?" Meliodas questioned.

"Both of them." Gilthunder replied while tightening the grip on his sword. "No, I want more."

Meliodas didn't even blink at the answer he had gotten, "Is that so?"

"Yes," Gilthunder replied. "To avenge the death of my father, Zaratras, the Holy Knights' Grand Master. Killing you will show that I am even greater the most powerful Holy Knight ever known. "

"So, you're under the impression that I'm the one who murdered your father, is that it?" Meliodas concluded after Gilthunder finished.

"Are you saying you're not?"

"No idea. You see, the thing is, I don't really remember much from back then." Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing that and stared at Meliodas with a shocked look. Diane seemed confused as she stared down at Meliodas, who was now looking forward as he continued. "The last thing I remember is all of us being summoned to the old castle out on the edge of town."

Naruto was silent as he listened to Meliodas recall what had happened that day, when the Seven Deadly Sins had arrived at the castle to find that Grand Master Zaratras had already been killed and how the Holy Knights swarmed the castle only moments after the Seven Deadly Sins discovered the body. Mentally, he felt relief and happy to hear that those ten years of believing that 'Old Man' Ban and the other Deadly Sins were innocent turned out to be correct, but at the same time, it also brought up another horrible suspicion that had been gnawing at him ever since he had a conversation with Mereoleona several years ago, after hunting and cooking their dinner during one of their training trips. The woman had pointed out that there weren't many who could take down a Grand Master. To be able to fool the kingdom and framed the Seven Deadly Sins for Zaratras' murder… just how powerful were the traitors.

"I remember telling everyone to split up once the Holy Knights started attacking, and then a voice apologizing to me." Meliodas finished with the fuzzy memories in his mind, "Those words were the last thing I remember before everything goes blank. Then next thing I knew, I was lying face down in a cellar somewhere. That's when I met Hawk."

"Naruto was right! All this time, he's been saying how the Seven Deadly Sins were innocent." Elizabeth called out from her spot behind Gilthunder, not noticing the mild look of surprise of Diane's face upon hearing the princess' words. "You all really weren't the ones who killed the Grand Master, were you?"

"That makes no difference to me." Gilthunder said barely a second later.

Elizabeth looked at Gilthunder in shock, not believing how dismissive the man was being, "What are you saying, Gilthunder?"

"A traitorous order that plotted to overthrow the kingdom," Gilthunder stated. "That's all you people are."

"Enough!" Elizabeth struggled against the bindings wrapped around her as she continued to speak. "You must stop this. Didn't you hear what Sir Meliodas just told you?! They aren't the ones who murdered the Grand Master. Don't you understand?!"

Gilthunder slowly turned towards Elizabeth to look at her over his shoulder as she was staring at him. "Elizabeth. The kingdom had given top priority orders for you to be taken into protective custody… and the death penalty for your knight after kidnapping you."

"That's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Naruto remarked with a deadpanned stare, secretly flexing the fingers of his right hand. The floating grimoire next to him seemed to be reacting to this motion as it slowly moved closer to the blonde.

"But I haven't the slightest interest in the order for your return." The Magicless Knight's eyebrow twitched at Gilthunder continuing to talk as if Naruto hadn't opened his mouth. "Whether you are alive or dead, it's all the same to me as you are no more than a grain of sand on the road that is being traveled." Lowering his sword as he turned to face Elizabeth, Gilthunder dispelled the bindings that were around the silver-haired princess. "Go away. I only have business with the Sins and the traitorous pissant."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at Gilthunder's words, and to the surprise of many in the area, delivered a sharp slap to the man's cheek. Though the sounds of the impact echoed lightly through the surrounding forest, it didn't seem to do much to the Holy Knight besides leave a small pick mark on his cheek. Glancing down briefly at his cheek where he could feel a slight stinging sensation, Gilthunder looked up to see that a glaring Elizabeth had placed herself between him and Naruto and the Sins. "Don't ever call Naruto that again! Or lay a hand on any of them!"

"Elizabeth, get out of the way…!" Naruto warned the girl with concern and worry, knowing that Gilthunder would kill the girl if he wanted to, and that thought only solidified after seeing the Holy Knight raise his sword. Narrowing his eyes at the scene in front of him, Naruto opened his hand as wide as he could just as his grimoire, which had lowered itself closer to his lower back, a sword hilt emerging from its pages once again, though this one appeared different from his usual blade. The blonde quickly seized the weapon in a reverse grip and pulled slightly while the book released the rest of the sword, before bringing its blade to the lighting wrapped around him and cut them. Now free from his bindings, the blonde moved quickly to intercept the Holy Knight and swung his weapon at Gilthunder's broadsword, knocking it away and forcing the pink-haired man to create a little distance. "Don't even think about it, Gil!"

"So, you discreetly moved your grimoire closer to escape with your Anti-Magic Weapons… I suppose even you must have some skill to do that without my noticing." Gilthunder replied while looking from his broadsword, which was no longer letting out electric sparks, towards Naruto, who was standing in front of Elizabeth with his own greatsword positioned in front of him.

"Captain, that boy… That book and sword… Aren't they-?"

"Yeah, they're the Black Grimoire and an Anti-Magic Weapon." Meliodas answered the Giant, who was now shocked at that information.

A small smirk formed on Naruto's face as his azure eyes locked gazes with Gilthunder's blue ones, "It's been a while since we've crossed blades, hasn't it, Gil? A little after His Majesty had made me Elizabeth's Knight, but a little before the Black Grimoire chose me to be its wielder… We never really got to settle that sparring match, did we?"

"A sparring match? Saying such a thing would imply that we were comrades, rivals, or equals… and yet I've never seen you as any of those." Gilthunder replied in a cool tone.

"…"

"…"

The sounds of Hawk's whining caught Gilthunder and Naruto's attention as the pig crawled across the ground near the Holy Knight. The two looked down to see that Hawk's body was a little cooked from the lightning wrapped around him, and all he could manage to do was crawl while muttering that his end was coming near. Then, without hesitation, Gilthunder kicked Hawk rather hard in the side, sending the pig flying and bouncing away deep into the distant mist.

"Hawk, no!" Elizabeth cried out before rushing past Naruto and Gilthunder to chase after the squealing pig. Her personal knight watched the princess run into the mist, still sensing her Ki even after she disappeared from sight. He didn't sense anything in that general area even after increasing his range slightly to track Hawk's location, so Elizabeth should be safe and out of the dangerous fight that was about to commence.

"That was surprisingly nice of you." Naruto commented while moving himself closer to Meliodas and Diane, "Getting Elizabeth out of the way so she wouldn't get involved."

"I want there to be no more interruption between us," Gilthunder said while making his way back towards Naruto and the Sins. "While I don't care about her life, Elizabeth's constant interruptions would prove to me an annoyance and a waste of my time."

"Are you sure about this?" Meliodas questioned. "In the old days, you were never able to beat me, remember?"

"But that was then, and this is now." Gilthunder countered as he turned his attention towards the Dragon Sin of Wrath, "I am now more powerful than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"I don't know," Meliodas said. "Maybe you're right, or maybe you're wrong."

Gilthunder straightened his posture as he stared the carefree looking Meliodas down. "Then we should find out… First, I'll release your bonds."

"I appreciate the offer, but I got it covered." With a swift motion of lifting arms, Meliodas easily shattered the bindings. He wasn't the only one as Diane broke out of her seconds later, "Truth is, we could've escaped whenever we felt like it. Naruto just beat us to the punch with his Anti-Magic."

"Just know that if I felt like it, I could annihilate you instantly." Gilthunder stated as electricity sparked around his body and sword.

"Hmm, kind of doubt that." Meliodas replied with a tilt of his head.

"I will use my sword to kill you." Gilthunder said.

"Then right back at ya-"

The shorter blonde was cut off as Naruto walked between the Sin and Gilthunder, with his back to Meliodas. "Hold on. I want a shot at him first. The two of us have a score to settle… besides, there's something I need to confirm."

"Huh?" Meliodas turned his head to look at the teen, whose face was partially visible from the angle he was standing and saw the determined look on Naruto's face. "… Okay, it's fine with me. Diane, don't interfere."

"Okay, Captain." Diane complied while placing her hands on her hips. The Giant was actually a little curious on what Naruto was capable of, especially if he was actually able to use the Black Grimoire of all things.

"Do you actually think you could face me all on your own, Naruto? Or is this some ploy to not risk me defeating you all at once?" Gilthunder questioned as he got into a pre-attack stance, only for Naruto to quickly close the gap and firmly placed his foot on the ground as well as he stared straight at Gilthunder's face, his sword held at his side.

Naruto took a silent breath as a tense atmosphere surrounded the two men at their gazes remained focused on one another, "A little bit ago, you were talking about how much stronger you've become since you were younger. Don't think that I'm still at the same level I was back when we fought. Or you'll regret it."

Gilthunder was the first to move as he summoned forth lightning from his sword to strike Naruto, who raised his sword in time to intercept the lightning. With a powerful swing, Naruto's sword actually cut through the lightning, surprising Gilthunder temporarily before bringing up his sword to intercept Naruto's counterattack. Unlike earlier when Naruto's sword canceled out the magic flowing through the Holy Knight's broadsword, the lightning pouring out of the sword remained strong due to Gilthunder actually pouring more of his magical energy into his attacks. This momentary pause did not last long as Gilthunder used his lightning-enhanced speed to move behind Naruto, only for the blonde to sense the approaching Ki coming off of the Holy Knight and dodge it before performing a full turn to strike Gilthunder's exposed back. But this was quickly block as Gilthunder positioned his sword behind him. Looking over his shoulder, the sparks around Gilthunder grew before an explosion of lightning erupted from his body, the force sending Naruto skidding back several yards with smoke coming off of his sword.

"Not bad, you're definitely proving that you have some bite to match that barking earlier." Naruto called out as he lowered his sword to flash Gilthunder a big grin, despite the scorch marks left on various spots of his clothes and body.

"… And yet, you still the arrogance to speak as if you actually have a chance of defeating me." Gilthunder narrowed his eyes as he raised his sword up to his head, "An abomination such as yourself, someone born without any magic, can't hope to stand a chance against a Holy Knight. It is ridiculous to believe that you were chosen to protect a member of the Royal Family."

Naruto didn't reply immediately as he gripped the sword hilt with both hands, "You need to think of more original materials if your trying to get under my skin, Gil. I've heard crap like that my entire life!"

Dashing forward, Naruto ducked under Gilthunder's swing before striking at the pink-haired man's armored torso, surprising the man a little as the blade actually cracked the armor and sent him back a few feet. Gilthunder's armored boots grinded into the dirt, but the Holy Knight displayed no visible emotion as he came to a stop before leaping into the air with Naruto following after him. Both Meliodas and Diane watched silently as the two knights continued to trade blows at a very fast pace, something that was quite remarkable for Naruto since he was using his physical capabilities to keep up with Gilthunder and his magic, Thunderbolt, to enhance his movements. While it looked like the two were disappearing and reappearing throughout the field to clash, the two Sins could clearly follow the exchange of attacks on their descent back towards the ground.

"Little Gil's really improved a lot over the years. He might actually be a challenge."

"Captain…" Diane whispered to the smaller Sin, who crossed his arms with a hum.

Swinging his sword with a large amount of power, Gilthunder sped up Naruto's fall. The blonde landed on his feet with enough of an impact to create imprints in the ground, keeping his eyes focused on the Holy Knight as he drew closer with his broadsword covered in lightning. Moving his head to dodge the incoming attack, Gilthunder's strike reduced the boulder behind him and the nearby landscape to dust. Gilthunder sent another streak of lightning towards Naruto, who swung his greatsword to redirect it and send the bolt away, only for his eyes to widen in shock as he picked up Gilthunder's Ki suddenly appearing beside him. Turning his head in time to see Gilthunder swing his sword towards him, Naruto felt the lightning-covered blade connect with his stomach before sending him into the air with Gilthunder jumping after him.

"Still think you can keep up with me?" Gilthunder mocked as he looked down at Naruto's scowling face before he brought his sword down to the magicless knight's stomach. Naruto barely had time to bring his sword in front of him in time before the pink-haired knight above him made direct contact, but that didn't stop the powerful strike from sending him into the ground.

Feeling the small crater that had formed around him give way as he started to lift his body out of it, Naruto let out a chuckle before turning his head to look at Gilthunder, who had placed himself behind the blonde with his sword at the ready, "Did you really think that you could sneak up behind me?"

"… That ability to sense and manipulate Ki and wield that Anti-Magic sword would normally make things difficult for your opponent. However, I've already deduced methods on how to neutralize such obstacles." Swinging his blade at Naruto's back, Gilthunder displayed no emotions as the blonde swung around and knocked his broadsword back before pointing his sword at the thunderclouds above their heads, "Your weapon might be able to deal with all magic-based threats, but it doesn't mean that your body has that same resistance. Lightning King Iron Hammer!"

Naruto's eyes widened before looking up to see the cumulonimbus clouds overhead growing fiercer, quickly reaching out to his glowing, open grimoire just as a colossal lightning bolt came crashing down on him. Meliodas and Diane temporarily averted their eyes as the bolt of lightning destroyed the surrounding area around where Naruto had been standing, the bright white light it created blinding the area that prevented them from seeing the blonde teenager.

(A Few Moments Earlier)

"I can't believe that bastard kick me like I was some little pink bouncing ball!" Hawk shouted in anger as he and Elizabeth were rushing back to where Naruto and the Sins were facing off against Gilthunder. The silver-haired girl had managed to find the talking pig a good distance away from the battlefield, luckily with his bindings dispersed as he looked like he couldn't have been cooked anymore with how red he was.

"…" Elizabeth said nothing as she continued running down the path, her gaze lowered towards the ground.

"Hey, Elizabeth. Are you okay?" Hawk asked as he took notice to the princess' lack of response and saw the distressed expression on her face.

Memories of her earlier encounter with Gilthunder flashed through Elizabeth's mind, "… I don't understand. He used to be so kind and gentle back when we were younger. Sir Meliodas and the other Seven Deadly Sin weren't responsible for the death of the Grand Master, and yet he still desires to kill them… and the way he was treating Naruto…"

"You got pretty angry when the guy insulted him. I didn't think I would ever see you actually hit someone." It had definitely come as a surprise with how nice and gentle the girl normally was. She didn't even try to harm Meliodas whenever the guy did something perverted to her.

"That's because I don't… but Naruto doesn't deserve any of the mistreatments or insults people have thrown at him. He might not have magical power, but that doesn't stop him from working harder than anyone else or being kind to others. He is my closest friend, and someone irreplaceable. So even if he just brushes off what people call him, I refuse to let anyone talk badly about him!" Elizabeth stated with a determined look on her face. This was quickly replaced with concern as a gigantic bolt of lighting was seen striking down not to far away from the two, followed by the ground underneath them shake, causing the two to come to a halt. "Was that Gilthunder?"

"THAT WAS FREAKING HUGE!?" Hawk exclaimed as sweat poured down his body, the body liquid creating tingling sensations as they passed over his burn marks.

Bringing a hand to her chest as worry filled her heart, Elizabeth once again took off running, almost leaving the talking pig behind as it chased after the princess. 'Naruto… Sir Meliodas…'

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"Wow, that was a big one. I've gotta admit, you've really gotten a lot stronger since we last saw each other." Meliodas said as he and Diane took in the destruction the lightning bolt had caused in the area, where dozens of the surrounding trees had been destroyed and the ground ripped open. The spot where Naruto had been standing was covering in smoke and dust, preventing them from seeing what had happened to the blonde inside.

"Yet you still believe that you're superior to me. Rest assure, you will share Naruto's fate." Gilthunder replied as he looked over from the smoke towards the Dragon Sin, who had his hands in his pockets and looked as carefree as ever.

"Don't count… me out… just yet!"

Gilthunder halted his attempt to get closer to the Sins upon hearing a voice speak up and turned his gaze back to the cloud of smoke. "So… you somehow managed to survive. Impressive."

Everyone in the area watched as the smoke created from Gilthunder's lightning attack parted to reveal Naruto's form, the right portion of the blonde's shirt and jacket had been destroyed while his body had several burn marks. They instantly took notice to the second black sword that was resting in the blonde's right hand as he held it above his head with the blade pointing towards the sky… But it was his right arm that had the attention of Gilthunder and the two Deadly Sins. The lightning strike had also destroyed the bandages to reveal his right arm's true appearance. With his hand clenched tightly on his second sword and covered in electricity, it certainly didn't look like it belonged to a human. All the way from his forearm to the back of his hand and outside of the fingers, it was almost completely covered in red scale-like skin with strange blue vein-like lines visible, and sharp black fingernails.

"His arm… it doesn't look like it was caused by the lightning. Does that mean it's always looked like that?" Diane muttered to the smaller Sin, who said nothing as he studied Naruto's arm with a suspicious look.

The panting Naruto's arms fell to his sides causing the tip of his swords to stab into ground while trails of black smoke came off his body, the upper half of his face covered by his hair and his body trembling. "That was a close one… If I hadn't brought out… my second sword… I'd be a goner…"

"It seems your second sword had more of a cutting ability than your first one," Gilthunder stated as he surveyed the area below Naruto's feet, where, except for the area immediately surrounding the blonde, the rest of the ground looked as damaged as the rest of the field. "You sliced a small opening in the lightning bolt to give your body enough of an opening to avoid most of the damage. It would seem I greatly underestimated you."

"I get it. He managed to protect himself from most of Little Gil's attack by using the second blade to intercept it, though there seems to be something more to this one…" Meliodas' words were proven true. Unlike the large, heavy broadsword that Naruto had in his left hand, this new blade was almost half the size and much more detailed. There were black markings that stretched along the blade until it reached its heavily ornate hilt with a four-sided guard, with a grip with a spiral design and a sphere for the pommel. The only real similarities between this sword and Naruto's other weapon was the fact that they were both black and mostly covered in dirt and scuff marks.

"… But even so, you didn't escape without injury." Gilthunder made his way closer to Naruto, who's body continued to tremble and struggle to move, "Even without it being enhanced by my magic, the volts in a single lighting strike is too much for the body to handle before it starts to fail. I doubt you could do much in that weaken state before I finish you off." Coming to a stop in front of Naruto, Gilthunder kept a tight grip on his sword as he stared down at Naruto's crouched, shaking form. "You were lucky enough to last as long as you did against me, perhaps even more so in being able to find two of the Seven Deadly Sins. Though I honestly doubt you would've succeeded with the remaining five."

"So… you know… what happened to them…?" Naruto asked as he hidden gaze focused on the ground below him, with it looking like he was about to collapse at any second. "I'm not surprised… Tell me… Gil… where are… the rest of them…"

Gilthunder was silent for a few seconds as he considered answering Naruto's question, before briefly closing his eyes before reopening them. "I suppose I can answer your final question before I finish you off… When it comes to remaining five Sins, there are only two that have been dealt with. Three of them still remain at large and are currently unaccounted for… The Fox Sin of Greed, the one that you were said to have been associated with, is being kept under tight security at Baste Prison. The other Sin, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth, has already been slain and is interred in the Necropolis." As he divulged the information to Naruto's shaking form, Gilthunder raised his sword above his head, preparing to take Naruto's life. "It was foolish of you to think that you could get away with kidnapping Princess Elizabeth and find all of the Seven Deadly Sins, becoming an enemy to the kingdom."

"… idio…ock…"

"What was that?" Gilthunder narrowed his eyes as he heard Naruto mutter something as his shaking increased.

Though he didn't exhibit any emotions, the pink-haired man was shock to see that it turned out that Naruto was actually starting to chuckle before it turned into full-blown laughter. All of the fatigue, shakiness, and weaken appearance in general was instantly replaced with so much energy and delight. "I was saying that the idiot would only get locked up was if he let himself, which means Old Man Ban was probably getting bored!" Naruto continued to laugh as he left his larger sword stabbed into the ground while his smaller sword rest lazily slung over his shoulder. "Thanks for the info, Gil! So, our next destinations are Baste Prison and the Necropolis."

"Huh, so he actually took that lightning strike on purpose in order to learn what Little Gil knew about the other Sins…" Meliodas said before an amused grin formed on his face, "Not bad!"

"Seems like something you probably would've done if you were fighting him, Captain." Diane pointed out with her hands on her hips, "But talking about Ban like that and calling him an old man, does he know him?"

"He's that kid that Ban use to tell us about, the one he took under his wing."

"Wait! You mean he was actually telling the truth about that?!"

"Ah, now I see. But even so, you're still-?!" Gilthunder's eyes widened as the markings on Naruto's new sword began to glow brightly before the blonde swung the blade in front of him and released an arc of lightning that quickly flew at the Holy Knight. The pink-haired man managed to bring his sword up in time to block the attack, however, the power behind it caused him to be sent flying back into a nearby boulder that was nearly the size of Diane, but not before upper half of his sword broke off and the attack slammed into his armored torso. The boulder he slammed into couldn't stand the impact and crumbled around Gilthunder, who had some blood falling down his face as he returned to his feet. "How was that possible? It shouldn't be possible for you to use magic."

"Under normal circumstances, you'd be right. But you can thank my Demon-Dweller Sword for that," Naruto stated as he held up his sword, which was no longer glowing, "It has the ability to absorb magic attack/spells and then release that magic in a slash attack that can be used for both close-range and long-range combat. Normally, it would take a few more times to produce something that strong, but hey, you were the one who let loose that Lightning King Iron Hammer."

"So, it is similar to Meliodas' Full Counter. Just like him you can take a person's magic and throw it back at them. I must admit, I am a little surprise that is more to your Anti-Magic Weapons than canceling out magic." Gilthunder replied while straightening himself, glancing briefly at his broken sword before looking back towards Naruto. "But it won't be enough. You still allowed yourself to get injured just to get some information from me. My attack from earlier still severely injured you."

"Then it's a good thing I snagged this off of you." Naruto replied with a large smirk as he raised his left hand and jerked his sleeve, causing a green sphere-like object to fall between his index and middle finger. "I was actually kind of surprised you had an Incantation Orb on you, but it makes sense if you were going to deal with people as strong as Meliodas or Lady Diane or me." Naruto played with the small orb with his fingers while smirking at Gilthunder, who was now glaring at the blonde, probably silently trying to figure out when Naruto had taken the magical object. "You weren't the only one that learned a thing or two from a Deadly Sin. Unlike the sword lessons you had with a Wrathful Dragon, I learned many neat tricks from a Greedy Fox. Like how to pickpocket someone while they are distracted by misdirection."

"… You stole it back when we first clashed blades earlier." Gilthunder deduced as he thought back to when the blonde moved in between him and Elizabeth to create some distance, how he only used a one arm swing to do it while the other must have stealthily snatched the Incantation Orb away.

'Stealing a magical item in the middle of a battle without the enemy noticing… He really did learn a thing or two from Ban.' Meliodas let out a small chuckle as he watched Naruto goad Gilthunder with a smirk on his face, the silhouette of a white-haired man standing behind him in a similar position. "He's even got the same look on his face after stealing something."

"There's not much you can do now that I've got this, and your blade damaged like that. Even if you did somehow defeat me, Meliodas and Lady Diane are still in peak condition compared to your current condition. So why don't we continue this another time?" Naruto offered as his grimoire floated closer to his larger sword before swallowing it up in its pages, though the blonde continued to hold onto his smaller blade.

"I think not." Gilthunder moved quickly to cut Naruto down with the remains of his sword, only for Naruto to maneuver himself around the attack and place himself behind Gilthunder. If it weren't for the obvious damage visible on the magicless blonde, you wouldn't have thought he was injured. Not willing to end it, Gilthunder spun around and tried another attempt, only for Naruto to duck under the swing before disappearing once again. Gilthunder followed after Naruto with his sword covered with lightning sparks.

"This is goodbye." Gilthunder said as he launched a lightning strike at Naruto's back, just as the blonde turned to face him.

The pink-haired man's attack never made contact with Naruto as Meliodas moved in front of the taller blonde with his broken sword in hand, before knocking the lightning blast away with a swing of his sword and sent it flying back at Gilthunder, who leaped out of the way. Grinning as he rested the dragon hilt against his shoulder, Meliodas turned towards Gilthunder as he landed. "You mentioned my Full Counter, so how was the real thing?"

"Meliodas… Are you really interfering? I have no qualms about striking you down as well."

"Sounds interesting, but this doesn't seem like the right time for the two of us to clash." Meliodas answered before waving his hand at the Holy Knight, "It was nice catching up, Little Gil. I'll catch you later."

Gilthunder blinked in confusion at Meliodas' casual attitude, before finding himself being picked up by Diane, who had been standing and waiting for Meliodas to redirect him towards her and raised the pink-haired man above her head. The Giant turned her head to glance up at Gilthunder, "You heard the Captain. Some other time."

"Unhand me." Gilthunder ordered while using his Thunderbolt to cover himself in a veil of lighting to get her to release him, but Diane barely winced at the action even as it destroyed her brace.

"Here's a tip for you, okay?" Diane said as she looked at Gilthunder in annoyance. "Girls get really annoyed when boys try to shock them!" After saying her piece, Diane brought her arm back before throwing Gilthunder sailing through the air, disappearing into the distance while Meliodas was waving him off and Naruto blinking in surprise at the two Sins intervening.

"Um… thanks? I don't know if that counts as stealing my fight, but with how injured I am, I won't complain." Naruto finally said as he looked from Meliodas towards Diane. "That was a nice throw, Lady Diane."

"Whoa, but I think you're gonna need a new vambrace." Meliodas pointed out, causing Diane to look down and take notice to her ruined brace, letting out a low whine at seeing how damaged it was.

"Holy crap! Just look at this place!?"

Moving his sword into his left hand, Naruto looked to the side with Meliodas and Diane upon hearing Hawk's shout followed by his hooves hitting the ground rapidly as he and Elizabeth returned from wherever they had been. As the two entered the vicinity, the princess' eyes widened in shock and horror at Naruto's injured appearance. "Naruto!" Elizabeth called out as she rushed over to the blonde and started to fret over his injuries. "All these wounds… and your bandages… You were the one caught in that lightning blast earlier, weren't you?"

"It's nothing to worry about, Elizabeth. I avoided any major damage that Gil threw at me." As he spoke, Naruto tried to position his right arm to that it would be out of sight, only for Elizabeth to grab it gently and brought it close to her face, "Hey! What are you-?"

"Please don't."

"…"

"…"

"Speaking of that swine, where'd is he anyway?" Hawk asked as he looked around with an angry look.

"Wait, aren't you a swine?" Meliodas asked with a tilt of his head.

"Who smells delicious." Diane added before wiping away the small bit of drool that formed at the corner of her mouth.

Naruto lifted his nose in the air before taking a sniff, "All that fighting did make me hungry."

All of their words made Hawk whimper in fright as his body started to shake. He was to young to be cooked up and served up to a Giant and Human!

Looking at all of the injuries that Naruto has sustained during his battle with Gilthunder, Elizabeth lowered their hands with a small frown. "We need to get you back to the Boar's Hat so we can treat your injuries. You were being reckless, weren't you?"

"… I may have let myself get a little injured to trick Gil into giving me information." Naruto answered while avoiding Elizabeth's gaze.

"A little? But your covered in burns and blood!"

"It could've been worse."

"That doesn't make me feel better at all!"

"Hey! Will you two stop it with the touchy-feely stuff already?" Diane interrupted, causing the two teenagers to part and look up to see that the Giant had an annoyed, flushed look on her face. With how injured Naruto was, he wisely took a step back with the princess since he didn't want to annoy Diane into going into a punching frenzy again. The annoyed look that Diane had was replaced with a sad one, "Rubbing that kind of tender moment in my face. If only the Captain was injured, then I could take care of him and help him recover as his right-hand girl!"

Both Naruto and Elizabeth couldn't help but sweatdrop at the giant brunette's words. Isn't it a good thing that Meliodas wasn't injured?

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting something here?!" Hawk cut in with a twitch mark forming on the side of his head. "I just got my ass kicked really hard by that guy!"

Meliodas went over to the talking pig and started patting him down as if looking for injuries, though he wasn't even close to the pig's butt. "Over here?"

"Those are my spare ribs." Hawk corrected.

The Dragon Sin moved over to Hawk's other side and patted Hawk around his head, which was even further from where Hawk said he was kicked. "Do you mean here?"

"No, that's my pork shoulder." Hawk replied before realizing that what Meliodas was doing. "You're doing this on purpose! Quit fooling around!" But to the pig's annoyance, Meliodas just grinned back at Hawk with his hands on his hips.

"Don't worry, Hawk." Elizabeth said gently as she finally stepped away from Naruto to face the pig. "I'll put a cold compress on it later."

Upon hearing that, Hawk ran over to Elizabeth to hug the girl with his short, stubby piggy legs… it was funny to watch. "Oh, you're the only one who worries about me, Elizabeth!"

"Hey, Sir Hawk. Come over here!" Naruto called out while waving the pig over to him, getting a confused look from the talking swine. Holding up the Incantation Orb he had stolen from Gilthunder, Naruto flashed Hawk a small grin. "If we use this thing, the two of us will be as good as new."

"Really?!" The pig questioned as he pushed off Elizabeth and moved closer to the injured blonde.

"It's too be expected. The Super Recovery Spell is capable of healing any injuries, but it doesn't really have a good range, so we need to be pretty close to use it properly." Naruto explained before turning towards Diane, "Do you want to join in? Gil did shock your hand before you sent him flying."

"Don't worry about me, I barely felt him do it." The Giant decline, a little touched that the younger blonde threw her the offer.

Lifting himself up so that his front hooves were resting on Naruto's legs, an impatient Hawk his snout closer to Naruto's head. "Come on, come on! Use it already, I can feel the burning sensation still cooking me."

"Meliodas was right, you are an annoying piggy." Naruto sighed as he pushed Hawk off of him before raising the hand holding the Incantation Orb above his head, "Alright, just got to smash this, then…!?"

Suddenly, Naruto's body seized up before reaching for his chest with a pained expression. Elizabeth watched in horror as Naruto fell forward and hit the ground, the small orb falling out of his hand and rolled to few inches.

"Naruto!" Rushing to his side with Meliodas behind her, while Diane simply leaned forward, the two of them along with Hawk flipped the magicless teenager over to see that his body was spasming with a hand grabbing at his chest. The Dragon Sin moved Naruto's hand out of the way before placing an ear to his chest. "What's wrong with him, Sir Meliodas?!"

"His heartbeat is very rapid and irregular, and his muscles are spasming too. He was electrocuted by Little Gil's attack and was probably disregarding the pain until it was too much for him." Meliodas explained, recognizing the symptoms from previous times he had encountered varieties of lightning magic. Scanning the ground quickly, the shorter blonde quickly found the green orb that Naruto was holding earlier before picking it up. "Luckily, we have this to help us out. Super Recovery Spell!" Tossing the orb into the ground, shattering it in the process, a bubble of energy surrounded them.

Elizabeth watched as the spell created by the Incantation Orb instantly started working as all of the burn marks on both Hawk and Naruto's bodies quickly faded, even the scuff marks vanished off the latter, completely healing the two. But the princess' focus was more on Naruto at that moment as the painfilled look he had before was replaced with a peaceful one, not paying attention to the bubble fading away as she reached out to touch his face. "He's going to be okay now, right?"

"Yup, no need to worry, Elizabeth." Meliodas flashed the girl a reassuring smile, before lifting Naruto over his shoulder. "He should be good as new when he wakes up."

(Later that day)

"Apparently Ban, the Sin of Greed, was thrown into prison, and King, the Sin of Sloth, is dead and buried." Meliodas said while riding on Diane's shoulder as she walked along side Hawk's Mom, the short blonde holding up the wanted posters of the two Sins he was talking about. "What do you think? Is the information we got true?"

"Well, I don't really have any thoughts about it. After all, I'm not interested in any man but you, Captain." Diane answered, staring at the wanted poster of herself being held between her index finger and thumb, before flashing Meliodas a smile. "But still, don't ignore the more important detail! Look at what a sexy babe I've become after all this time! A lot can happen after ten year!"

The Dragon Sin stared at the wanted poster's image Diane was holding in front of her face for a few seconds, which, like the rest of the drawings of the Seven Deadly Sins, only had a few similarities and barely looked like the actual person. "But those drawings are made up. The artist's rendition of the Seven Deadly Sins… Alright, I've decided on where we should go first. We'll head to Baste Prison to grab Ban."

"Alright, sounds good to me, Captain!" Diane cheered before pausing as a thought occurred to her, "Oh, right! You said earlier that he was the kid that Ban used to tell us about, right? To be honest, I didn't really believe him when he told us back then, since he never introduced the kid to us. Part of me thought he was just saying that because he was jealous of you training the Grand Master's son, while another part thought he was just trying to drive King crazy." The Serpent Sin confessed as she looked at the tavern resting on Hawk's Mom's head. "Hard to believe he is a knight serving a princess and a powerful one that can wield the Black Grimoire of all things. I had heard from King that it was impossible for anyone to use the book or the Anti-Magic Weapons."

"I don't doubt King's words, but I don't think it applies to someone who doesn't possess any magical power at all." Meliodas answered with crossed arms as he looked back at the Boar's Hat. Hawk was inside the bar, cleaning up the place with a special mop that he could tie to his body, while Elizabeth was inside her room where Naruto was currently resting for the past two hours, not leaving his side at all. Even if all his wounds had been healed, the blonde had endured some serious electrocution and exerted his injured body before succumbing to the pain. Although, the magicless blonde should be up any time now.

Diane blinked in shock as she too looked back at the building, "So I wasn't imagining things earlier? How can someone not have any magic?"

"Unfortunately, there is only one person that comes to mind that would probably having an answer." Leaping off of Diane's shoulder, much to the Giant's dismay, Meliodas rubbed the back of his head while looking up at the sky, "It's too bad we don't know where Merlin is, but what can you do."

"… Captain…" Meliodas turned to face Diane after hearing her call out to him, a frown present on the Serpent Sin's face, "Do you really think we can trust those two?"

"…"

"I'll go along with it if that's what you want. But are we completely sure that that girl and her knight won't turn against us?"

After a few seconds of silence, Meliodas flashed Diane a smile. "Yeah, there isn't a doubt in my mind that they are on our side. But if you want to reserve judgement until after you've gotten to know them, that's fine with me."

"Thank you, Captain."

(In Elizabeth's Room)

Opening his eyes, Naruto was greeted with a semi-familiar ceiling that he had gotten used to seeing in the past week. Shuffling around a bit after realizing he was in a bed with the covers draped over him, the blonde instantly took notice to the lack of pain he was feeling, which meant that someone had used the Incantation Orb to heal him. It was a little embarrassing to think that his body had succumbed to the pain from Gilthunder's lightning when he had endured other attacks that had been just at bad and still remained conscious.

"Naruto, I'm so glad you're awake!" Turning his head to see that the silver-haired girl was sitting in a chair next to the bed he was resting in.

"Elizabeth… I'm glad to see you're okay." Naruto asked as he lifted himself up into a sitting position, smiling softly at the girl when she attempted to stop him. "Don't worry, I'm fine now. How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours. Sir Meliodas brought you back here after you were healed. I've haven't left your side because I was worried something else might be wrong." Elizabeth looked down at her hands resting on her lap, "… You really had me worried, Naruto."

The reassuring smile on Naruto's face dimmed a little after hearing Elizabeth's words, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that… To be left in such a state and become a burden to you both physically and emotionally… I must be a terrible excuse for a Knight right now."

"That's not true!" Elizabeth denied as she took Naruto's deformed hand into her own, her soft fingers curling around his scaly appendage. It didn't seem to bother the girl as she looked straight into Naruto's eyes, "You have been the best Personal Knight I could ever have. You've always been there for me when I've needed you."

"Except for the time that we were separated."

Naruto's attempt at a rebuttal was answered by Elizabeth shaking her head, "That was only to keep me safe, and it was my fault for straying off too far for you to find me sooner. But you did track me down and save me from the knight that tried to kill me and Sir Meliodas."

"Pretty sure the midget could've taken care of him easily." Naruto replied before taking a deep breath and flashed the princess a large smile. "It's fine, Elizabeth, this experience just means that there's still room for me to grow. Just know that I promise to stay by your side and keep you safe no matter what happens."

"Yes! We'll find the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins and save the Kingdom of Liones from the Holy Knights' corruption." It always brought a smile to the girl's face to know that she had Naruto by her side. Though it faltered at the memory of their interaction with Gilthunder and the pink-haired man's actions, "I still have a hard time believing that Gilthunder was the one responsible for my father's capture, or how he acted earlier."

"…"

"Even if we manage to succeed… things will never go back to the way they were, will they?"

Gently taking his hand out of Elizabeth's grasp, Naruto moved to get out of the bed and performed some light stretches. "We've still got a long journey ahead of us if what Gil told us was accurate. Do we know what our next destination is?"

"Sir Meliodas and Lady Diane are currently talking about it outside." Elizabeth replied as she watched Naruto make his way over to the closet before opening it, "Do you want to join them?"

"That sounds like a good idea. Though it's not as if our options give us much of a choice." Naruto reached a hand up towards one of the higher shelves where a box of medical supplies where located, only for it to pause as Elizabeth spoke up once again.

"You don't have to hide it…" The Magicless Knight turned his head back to look at Elizabeth, who brought a clenched fist up to her chest, "You were about to wrap up your arm again, right? There's no need for you to wrap it up again."

"… I can't exactly go out in public with something like this out in the open. People might freak out, or worse, call for the Holy Knights because they see me as a threat." Naruto answered while retrieving the box and closed the closet behind him, "Many of the people back in the Kingdom of Liones know about my arm, so once words gets out about a blonde teenager with a mangled, demonic arm, they'll know I am and our location."

"But you don't have to wear them now, do you?" Elizabeth asked as she moved closer to Naruto. Even if her knight never stated it, she knew that he was self-conscious about his arm's demonic appearance. It had taken him almost two years for him to feel secure enough for her to actually see what it looked like without the bandages. Despite the initial surprise upon seeing Naruto's arm, Elizabeth didn't feel afraid or disgusted whenever she looked at it and had no problems with letting him know that. "You don't have to hide anything from us. So please, keep the bandages off until we reach our destination."

Naruto stared back at Elizabeth for a few seconds before letting out a sigh, "… I can't say no when you look at me like that. Alright, I'll hold off for now."

"Thank you, Naruto!" Elizabeth beamed before heading towards the door, "I'll let you get dressed and then we'll go outside to meet with Sir Meliodas."

The Personal Knight watched as the princess he guarded exited the room and closed the door behind her, waiting a few seconds before turning his gaze towards the scenic view he got through the window of the bedroom, which was slowly changing as Hawk's Mom moved along. Memories of his battle with Gilthunder flashed through his mind, causing his right hand to clench tightly into a fist. '… It's obvious there was more to your situation, Gil… whatever it is, someone is forcing your hand.' Grabbing a nearby shirt that has draped over the nearby chair, Naruto slid it on as another thought came to mind, but this time it brought large grin to his face. "So, Ban is at Baste Prison… I guess that means we're planning a jail break!"

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Here comes my second chapter for this crossover. I hope you all enjoyed since it certainly was a long one. As many of you saw, Naruto was the one to fight Gilthunder this time around, and see a bit of Ban's influence, but rest assure that Naruto is not weak or anything like that just because of how things turned out.. Like I said before, there is a lot more to Naruto's situation and abilities, so don't assume this is an OC character or any of those annoying comments about how he is different from the canon Naruto or how I just made him Asta from Black Clover. The next chapter takes Naruto and the others to Baste Prison, where Ban is currently being held. How will things turn out without the group needing a doctor? How will the reunion between Naruto and Ban go after ten years? You'll just have to find out in the next chapter. So, like always be sure to leave some nice reviews, but remember that all flames and insults will be IGNORED, so don't bother writing them. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and I hope to see you again.

A/N: I hope everyone is doing alright through these difficult times. Stay safe, wash your hands, and be mindful of all the chaos going on.

A/N 2: I am currently working on are the next chapter of Golden Devil, as well as the next chapter of my story RYBWN, so we'll see which one I finish first.

See you next time!