"The next match will be...ZELDORIS VS CAIN!"

The group's attention was caught by the referee. "Oh, that was fast." Gloxinia commented. "There's not that many choices left so it only makes sense." Melascula added. "Hmph, well at least "Zeldoris" can show the old man what for." Gloxinia huffed, crossing his arms. Estarossa lightly chuckled. "Dang, and you were going so long without complaining."

Gloxinia lightly glared at the Commandment of Love, ready to respond.

"Besides, "Primrose". Whatever he throws at me, I'll be ready for. I could tell he was holding back on you..." Zeldris admitted. Gloxinia lightly stuttered before just stopping. He had no argument since he was probably right. He sighed. "The Great Fairy Warrior reduced to some old fart's punching bag, embarrassing. If I could've had Basquias, it'd be a completely different sto..."

Even his inner thoughts silenced as he noticed a shadowy figure l by the hut. Shrouded in the shadow, Gloxinia couldn't get any clear detail, except for the bright glowing purple eyes. The figure then instantly disappeared from view. Gloxinia blinked twice, confused on what he just saw. Zeldris looked over to the fairy, surprised by the fairy's silence. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I thought I saw something."

"If you say so." Zeldris replied, stepping up into the arena.

Drole's silence, on the other hand, was a bit more surprising. With his cloak, Melascula and Elizabeth noticed he was shaking. "Are you alright, "Dolor"?" Melascula asked. "You seem out of it." Elizabeth added.

"Mela, pinch me."

"Wh...What?" Melascula stammered, now confused. "Please pinch me; I need to make sure I'm not dreaming!" Drole pleaded, leaning closer to his comrade. He held out his arm.

Melascula blinked twice. She didn't understand why, but she didn't want to cause any argument. She slowly but steadily pinched his arm. "Like that?"

"Well...Kind of. I didn't really feel it but still...Mela! You know what this means?" Drole started before suddenly grabbing Mela by the arms and held her close to him.

"Ah! What...Why..." Melascula squeaked, surprised by the sudden grasp. "What's going on, "Dolor"?" Elizabeth asked.

"I get to fight "Rosetta"! I've been waiting for this day for so long!!" Drole for some reason whispered. An idea than popped into his head as he let Melascula go.

"Oh! I got to get prepared! Just a quick little no warmup, this is going to be great!" Drole stated, then starting to make his way through the crowd.

Estarossa and Gloxinia noticed. "Wait! Where are you going, "Dolor"?!" Melascula called out, although her voice was too quiet for the Giant to hear. "What's gotten into him?" Estarossa asked.

"I'm not sure...but he seems excited to be fighting you, "Rosetta"." Melascula replied. "

"Someone should go get him. He'll probably be too distracted and miss the round." Gloxinia adviced, crossing his arms. "Why don't you go?" Estarossa asked. "It hurts to move!" Gloxinia barked. Estarossa lightly sighed. "Fine, I'll go get him."

Estarossa then started to head off. "Hurry back." Melascula called out.

After Taizoo had made his way back up the rock while guiding Griamore and Veronica, he sat down near the hut to watch the rest of the tournament.

"Ten Commandments' Zeldris, huh?" He muttered, staring directly at the small man stepping back into the arena he had sent him flying out of. "Wonder why they asked me to keep quiet about it. More importantly, why are they even here?" He then thought, scowling with a clenched fist. He knew something was off with someone as short and young looking as Zeldris entering the tournament.

"What was that name you said?" He heard someone ask from the side. He looked to the right to see Cain standing by. "Um...what are you talking about?" Taizoo said. He didn't just want to immediately give up his order from the Princess. "The name you were whispering. What was it?"

Taizoo sighed. What's the worst it could do? "...Zeldris. Why?"

"That's what I hoped you said." Cain said, then heading over to the arena. The old man seemed to be now sobered up, the beer barely holding an effect of him.

Taizoo's heart sank. He remembered who this old man actually was. "Wait, you're actually going to face him? He's nothing like that scrawny punk you beat up!" He called out.

"I hope so, an old friend said that name a few times back then."

Zeldris and Cain met in the center, both sides of the audience split between the two, both figuratively and literally.

"Give us another great fight, Zeldoris!" A man called out. "Avenge me!" Gloxinia added, earning a slightly awkward nod from the Captain.

"Don't lose, Grandpa!" Another shouted to Cain.

Zeldris stood patiently as Cain approached. Sure, Taizoo was a decently fun opponent but he wondered what Cain could bring to the table. He wasn't outwardly prideful or cruel to Gloxinia during his fight so maybe this could be just a good clean match. Nothing too pushing, right? He was about to greet the old man until...

"Heh, what a small world. Seeing you up close, I can see the resemblance now. You almost look just like him." Cain suddenly said, a slight smile forming. He seemed to have almost recognized Zeldris or at least found something notable.

Zeldris stopped everything entirely, now confused. "Uh...I'm sorry, do I know you?" Zeldris asked. "There's no way you could, you would've been too young back then to remember anything."

Now Zeldris was even more confused, certain he was being mistaken for someone else. "Mr. Cain, I'm sure you're getting me mixed up with someone else." He replied.

"Zeldris, you wouldn't happen to be Meliodas's son, would you?"

Zeldris's breath almost stopped, his heart felt like it wanted to stop. The name. Meliodas.

"Th...That's my brother!" Zeldris stammered, clenching his fist. For years, he had pushed the thought away into the back of his mind. Not due to detestation towards him but because Meliodas was dead. Thinking about him was too much for Zeldris.

He's dead, he can't come back. Ever...

"Hm? That's impossible, Meliodas described his brother was only different to him by his black hair. By now, he would've been in his thirties and you look young enough to be his son!"

Zeldris was in a flutter. The idea that Meliodas was alive was just too tempting to leave alone. "Wait...The Meliodas you know? Does he have blonde hair, same size as I am too?"

"Yeah, that's right." Cain affirmed with a light nod.

Zeldris's chest was now pounding. Perhaps it was true. After all this time of thinking the worst, could Meliodas really be alive? His concern shifted to near joy. "Is he alive?!" Zeldris asked.

Cain's eyes showed themselves clear. "Oh..."

The pure elation Zeldris had felt quickly began plummeting like a boulder from a cliff.

"I'm sorry, young man. I thought you knew."

But he did know. He knew Meliodas was dead but even then, he still allowed himself to get his hopes up. He looked to the side at his friends, trying to get his mind off everything but it was too late. His late brother had flooded his mind. His breathing became heavy.

Cain began to notice something was wrong with the Commandment. "Zeldris? Are you alright?"

No. No, he wasn't.

Zeldris shook in his place, his hands clenching tight enough to break wood. He could feel it through his entire body, not grief but...rage.

Elizabeth took quick notice of Zeldris's change in demeanor. Her hands gripped on Melascula's pocket cloth. What happened? Zeldris didn't show any signs of distress before getting into the arena.

"Wh...What's wrong? What's going on with "Zeldoris"?" She asked. No response from both commandments. Surprised at their silence, she looked over to Gloxinia. Her eyebrows rose when she saw his face. He was shaking slightly, his mouth and fingers were quivering. He was completely panicked.

She then looked up at Melascula. Her trepidation was more evident with the sweat starting to form from her face. Her eyes were open wide, her sight not budging from the sight of Zeldris. Just frozen in absolute fear.

In her time with them, it was the first time Elizabeth had seen any of the Commandments like that.

Something bad was looming and it seemed incredibly dangerous!

Unlike the two Commandments, the audience was growing confused as to why both Zeldris and Cain aren't doing anything. A few were thinking Zeldris was suddenly growing ill.

Zeldris went silent. Silent enough for Cain to grow more concerned. The old man began to approach.

WOOSH! Zeldris's finger lifted, stopping Cain in his tracks, begging him for a second to collect himself. "I'll be fine. Just please stay back..." Zeldris huffed.

"Hm..." Cain muttered, then noticing Zeldris's hand. Blood was dripping down his fingers as his nails had dug deep into his hands. "Now hold on, don't start hurting yourself!" Cain said.

Zeldris looked down at his hands, surprisingly a little shocked at the damage. His breathing was starting to soothe, he had seemed to calm himself down. However, now he just wanted to figure this all out. "Could we t-take this conversation somewhere else?" He asked softly. "If you want to, sure."

"Excuse me, gentlemen but is something wrong?" The referee stepped forward to ask. "Pardon me, sir but we'll both be forfeiting the match." Cain stated. That was completely out of the blue for the Referee.

"Oh! Are you sure?!" The referee asked. "I mean, you two have fought so far into the tournament."

"We simply just have important matters to discuss, nothing more." Cain replied. "Well...If you insist."

The referee turned from the two men to face the crowd. "The two participants have forfeited the match! The finals will begin with the next round!"

Almost all of the audience collectively groaned in disbelief and disappointment.

Gloxinia and Melascula, on the other hand, both sighed in shared relief, only adding to Elizabeth's puzzlement.

"You two seemed really shaken, what's going on with Sir "Zeldoris"?" She questioned.

"...Huh?" Melascula muttered, snapping back into reality; "Oh, uh...Captain just got a little stressed, that's all. No worries." She stated, trying to ease the Princess's disquietude. "Right, Gloxinia?"

"Oh yeah, "stressed"..." Gloxinia mumbled under his breath. He knew that it was truly much deeper than that.

They then noticed Cain leaving the arena with Zeldris following.

"Oh...Where are they going? Should we follow them?" Melascula asked, now sharing concern with the Princess.

"It's probably something private. We can ask Captain about it later. Right now, we should probably just wait for him to come back." Gloxinia adviced.

Zeldris and Cain had made their way off the arena, ignoring whatever the crowd surrounding them had to say about their decision. "So would a walk around town suffice or do you want to speak somewhere more private?" Cain asked.

Zeldris did his best to not bump into anyone on the way out, trying to keep up with Cain. "A walk is fine but can we keep away from crowds, please?" He replied. "Fine with me."

The two had strolled away from the arena, heading towards the town. Zeldris's steps were light. He was trying to make himself relaxed like before.

"I did buy some booze from that demure lady you were speaking with. Was it from Vanya by any chance?" Cain asked. Zeldris sighed in relief, he didn't exactly want to start the conversation. "Yeah, it was." He replied. "Thought so! They always had the best drinks around."

"Absolutely! Thanks for buying some by the way. Anything helps for the Vampire's Blood." Zeldris said cheerfully

"Hm?" The name had caught Cain off guard.

"Oh, that's the tavern I'm running." Zeldris explained. "Oh, I see. Well then, I guess I'll have to stop by when I get the chance."

"I'd like that!"

Perhaps this wouldn't be as hard as Zeldris thought. However, now for the point of walking out all that way.

"So...How long ago was it when you met my brother?" Zeldris then asked hesitantly. Cain put a finger to his bearded chin. "Ah." He murmured, starting to remember back. "It was just about twenty years ago when he appeared in the Kingdom of Danafor."

"Danafor?"

Zeldris had heard of the fallen kingdom before while working for Liones. It was the talk of the town when the Ten Commandments had settled in.

"He was quite the peculiar fellow, no one knew anything about him but he had far exceeded every Holy Knight that challenged him. Not only in strength but in magic."

Cain looked at Zeldris. "This sound familiar? Reflecting attacks right back at the opponent?" He asked. "Yes. It's a technique called "Full Counter", something Meliodas and our younger brother, Estarossa, use. Meliodas was capable of blowing back any magic attack thrown at him and Estarossa returns the damage brought by physical attacks."

"Estarossa?" Cain asked. "Yeah. Did Meliodas ever talk about him?"

"Hm...Perhaps he did, I can't exactly remember." Cain thought, stroking his chin. "But anyways, you said Full Counter was a technique. Did you ever learn as well?"

"I've been trying to. It's a technique that requires a sheer level of calm concentration. Something I'm just not exactly capable of right now." Zeldris sighed. "I see. The mind and heart tend to change drastically with the losses bared."

Zeldris nodded. By the tone of Cain's voice, he seemed to understand how Zeldris was feeling.

"If you're willing to tell me, Cain...Do you know what happened to Danafor?"

Cain's pace cut entirely, prompting Zeldris to as well. "I haven't got a clue. The day I returned from a mission, I come to find the kingdom completely gone, no doubting the people along with it. Absolutely nothing left but the miles deep hole."

Miles deep? It sounded familiar to Zeldris. Such a feat would take a grand amount of power, something of which he would be familiar with. Perhaps he truly had been there before, along with the Ten Commandments...but perhaps, that's a bridge to cross later.

"Whatever could've happened...I'm sorry you lost your home." Zeldris said.

"I'm sorry about your brother. He was a good man." Cain replied.

With that last statement, silence fell before the two men for a bit. On top of it being already heavy before, Zeldris's heart ached with empathy. Cain's, however, felt a slight release.

"Sorry also for confusing you as Meliodas's son earlier." Cain then said, following with a chuckle. He was trying lift the mood. Zeldris lightly smiled, he couldn't help but find it funny. "It's fine, it was an honest mistake. It's true that I shared a lot of similarities with him and besides, people mistake me for a kid all the time anyway." He replied.

"I can imagine."

The two then shared a quick laugh, ending with Zeldris holding out his hand. "I wish you well, Cain."

"You too, Zeldris." The two shook firmly.

In the middle of it though...

A chill crept through Zeldris. It was a familiar sense of power. It was just across the distance, heading towards Vaizel at a decent pace. Not only did it feel intense...but dangerous as well.

"Holy Knights...?" Zeldris murmured, looking out towards the pending threats hidden in the beyond. "Hm?" Cain asked. Zeldris began to back away. "I'm sorry to leave so soon, Cain but I have to go! If I ever see you again, I hope to ask you more!" Zeldris then exclaimed. He immediately dashed off, his sights back on the fighting festival. Something or someone was coming and he had to warn his friends.

Cain then looked out to where Zeldris had, wondering what was to come.