Estarossa reached the stairs leading down and out of the palace of the Demon King but before he took flight, he sensed dark and powerful presences fastly approaching nearby. He stopped in his tracks and looked up. As the company got closer, he realized it was that of four of the Ten Commandments—specifically Derieri, Melascula, Monspeet, and Galand. Oddly, there was another demon with them. He was tall and purple in appearance which Estarossa thought weird. He had no idea who he was.

They eventually landed near the steps where Estarossa was and made their way up the steps. Estarossa stepped back in confusion. They then greeted each other.
"What are you all doing here?" Estarossa questioned his colleagues.
"We were summoned by the Demon King," Melascula stated in her usual soothing matter.
"What for?" he replied as he followed them to the entrance.
"We don't know," Derieri answered, in her calm tone with he.
"Well- I don't know about everyone but I have an idea," Derieri continued.
"Meliodas..." Estarossa replied, looking downwards.
"Meliodas what?" Galand replied loudly.
"Shut up, we'll find out in a second!" Melascula raised her voice at her older teammate.
"Girl, calm down," Derieri stated calmly to Melascula.

Estarossa made his way to the entrance door first to open the first entry into the Demon King's palace for the other Commandments present. As there were soldiers guarding the next two. Derieri stayed behind slightly to ask Estarossa something and as expected so did Monspeet but not noticeably. Practically everyone had entered before Derieri asked Estarossa "Well are you going to come with us?" Estarossa holding the door replied, "I don't think so, the Demon King dismissed Zeldris and I not too long ago so I figure I stay away from him."
"So... are you going to see my sister?" Derieri teasingly replied.
"U-if that's alright by you," Estarossa replied, nervous to see her response.
"I don't have the prerogative to make that choice. I'll just say, you make her happy and I like seeing her that way."
"S-seriously?" Estarossa questioned, embarrassed.
Derieri laughed as she then nodded and walked forward grabbing the door and shutting it behind her.

Estarossa then began to grin at the realization of what was just said to him by his lover's sister. Although he could somewhat tell already, words of affirmation from someone so close to the one he loves don't hurt to know and hear.
'Damn it, I should've asked where Rajine is,' Estarossa contemplated. 'As if I would have the courage or nerve,' he continued in communion with himself. Instead, Estarossa chose to do what he's done previously; try to search for her presence or magical power.
Agreeing with his decision, Estarossa took flight and glided at a pace in which he could properly take in and observe all the auras nearby. A good sum of the Demon Realm was visible from his eye view where he was. 'For this place to be called hell, it sure does look peaceful at the moment,' thought Estarossa somewhat amused by what he was seeing. That was until something odd caught his attention.

In about a 10-mile radius north of him, Estarossa could sense a quite overwhelming presence of goddess-like magical power. It was alarming to him since this could only suggest that there were members of the Goddess Race in the Demon Realm. 'What could any of them possibly be doing here?' Estarossa thought to himself before he realized it could be something malevolent, war-related.

Even more alarmed, Estarossa charged to the scene to see what was taking place. As he made his way over villages and mountainous ranges, in earshot nearby he could hear what he perceived to be cries of torture and horror. From what was visible, there were villages set ablaze and other personal dwellings as well. While in combat in what felt like ages past, he had encountered a sight similar to this one. He also happened to notice that the area he was in was the area in which he and Rajine met each other before since it was close to her dwelling place. There were demons, who appeared to be civilians, on the rocky surface the mountain was made of. Some were stationed in particular groups, appearing to be begging for mercy, and others fighting, crying, and trying to protect their children while being ripped away from them, as the Goddesses present were swiftly dragging and rendering unconscious many.

Estarossa felt the urging to move in closer, yet, to not be quickly sensed, decided to suppress his magical presence the best he could. As the prince moved in closer, he noticed there were more than a few Goddess troops while most of his fellow clansmen in this uncanny situation seemed to be weak, nauseous, bruised, some bloody, and on the verge of passing out as many were in a dazed state.

Another thing he noticed was the fact that there were two high-ranked and chiefly Goddesses at the sight. Estarossa hadn't happened to know their names but between the two, there was a male and female. One had blue hair, a nice figure, and a spear in hand with bloodstained clothing while the other had a muscular figure with lengthy dark hair that was kept in a high ponytail, a lengthy sword, and toga-like battle wear. Along with their feathered wings, their clothes were another confirmation that they were of the Goddess Race. For some reason, they were engaged in a conversation. In between cries of anguish and pain, he could somewhat hear what they were saying as Estarossa decided to move closer but not yet reveal himself.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" the man questioned.
"What do you mean? The Supreme Deity commanded this, we must go through with it!" the young lady urgingly replied.
"Jelamet, but they're civilians who are innocent. The Supreme Deity is obviously trying to instigate a war! Am I the only one that sees this?"
"Okay... Nanashi, even if she is, what are we to do? She's our leader. Plus, they're not too many demons we've captured-" "What do you mean!?" Nanashi replied back with conviction. "Shut up!" Jelamet barked back in response as she moved away from Nanashi.

Estarossa soon enough put together that Demon Civilians were being taken captive in spite of how fast things were moving. With an eagerness to prevent them from carrying out their plans, Estarossa charged toward the two, and as expected before he fully reached them, they noticed his presence. The two knew who he was as he was a Demon Prince. Jelamet appeared to panic and Nanashi motioned to her to do something which Estarossa did not care to make out.

As a few other lower-ranking Goddesses fired ark in the demon's direction, he countered them all at once with his ability, Full Counter, with one of his hands, as they both were armed with silver gauntlets. His rebuke sent the Goddesses attempting to distract him to the ground, unconscious. This allowed about a third of the civilians being taken to escape. Although they couldn't move fast due to the magical attacks of the Goddesses. The prince wasn't too concerned that they would find their way back to safety, as there were still many who were being taken. Unfortunately, as he was fighting off the other "pesky" Goddesses, about another third of the civilians were out of sight. The others who weren't completely out of sight were still being moved along quickly and hence Estarossa charged in the direction of the chiefly Goddesses forcing them away.

This gave Estarossa yet more passion to destroy this very warped plan of the Goddesses. "Nanashi quick, move them away, now!" Jelamet exclaimed as she found Estarossa charging in her direction. The two struggled with each other for some time until Estarossa got a lethal hit on Jelamet. While she was knocked to the ground, trying to heal her wounds with her magic, Estarossa managed to free several groups of captives. In the midst of the chaotic ordeal, Estarossa heard a voice above calling to him. It felt as if time stopped for a moment as he searched for the source of the familiar, soft, feminine voice calling to him.

"Estarossa, help! Please!" Rajine desperately pleaded, tears in her eyes, her voice weak and breaking because fractions of her strength were being zapped from her. Estarossa's eyes widened out of shock but before he knew it, she passed out. Before he could move to assist, his beloved was out of sight, lost in the crowd of other demons being led away

Instead of instantly acting in retaliation as he was accustomed to, all he managed to do was shed tears in silence. Silence due to how deeply he was hurting. No pain hurt worse than realizing he may never see the one he felt he could move mountains for solely based on his affection for her. But how could he do that? He couldn't even save her the opportunity he just had. As was always said about him, what an utter coward he was.

'Rajine, please hold on. If I can't save you, then please forgive me, my love' he thought quietly, hoping somehow she would hear him, feeling as hopeless as he did when he was a child.

Why does everyone that brought him such comfort and joy in his dull and numb existence of mine always have to leave?