King had no words, his brow furrowed as he stared up at his sister's ghost- spirit-soul. Despite the indifference she plastered on her face - and how he ached, seeing the indifference, when he remembered her being so expressive - he could feel her anger, her righteous anger with him, no matter how he tried to deny it's existence.

Her words registered.

He didn't know Ban?

He didn't know Ban?

He could have scoffed, if he wasn't so paralyzed by the surety in her voice.

Of course he knew Ban.

He knew he was selfish, and greedy, and careless, reckless, and apathetic. He knew he didn't give a damn who he hurt, so long as he got what he wanted in the end. He'd seen it, again and again and again while with the Sins. And he never understood how someone so seemingly good as Meliodas could tolerate such behavior, how he let it fly, any of it.

Although…

King pretended to be those things with the Holy Knights.

Could…

Could it be an act? Could it be exaggerated?

…

King blinked, and forced the thoughts away. No, he couldn't be thinking of that now.

Elaine tilted her head, looking at him, but not really. It was like she was seeing right through him, right to his core. Like she was…

oh.

King inhaled shakily.

She was always much better at reading hearts.

Neither of them had a chance to say anything, though. The ground shook under King, a loud rumble reverberating through the air. Elaine's head snapped up in the direction that Ban had run, and King followed her gaze.

The power radiating towards them was immense, once again familiar intertwined with an aura that was so familiar King could cry just feeling it again after so many years of giving up on getting that chance. Getting to his feet, King could see the smoke billowing in the distance, and he could imagine just how big that blast had to be, for the black smoke to be that thick and taking up that much of the Necropolis.

He didn't get a chance to ponder it longer, for just as it was processing what was going on, he was nearly barreled over.

He shook his head, trying to look down at whatever had run into him, only to come face-to-face with Princess Elizabeth, staring at him with wide eyes herself.

"Sir King!" she exclaimed, a smile flitting onto her face as she slid off Hawk, who had plopped onto the ground in front of them. She gave him a pat, although she never turned away from King. "I'm glad you're okay - the others, there's a-"

"A Holy Knight," he finished.

Elizabeth nods almost frantically. "She's- she's strong, and the others are fighting but, I don't know how well they're faring." There was yet another blast, not as intense as the ones before, but much closer. "They're being driven back, again and again," she rushes out. "Maybe you could help them?"

"Help them?"

"To drive out the Holy Knight! To keep them safe!"

King hesitated, and he watched as the smile that had appeared upon stumbling across him faded.

King was struck then, in the next few seconds as Elizabeth stared at him, that she was quite good at reading people, and terrible at hiding her feelings. Even he, terrible at reading hearts, could hear the echoes of disappointment and doubt that flitted through her mind as she seemed to realize that he would even hesitate to help the others - would hesitate to protect them.

Her eyes flickered to behind him, and the feeling of understanding projected over him, and King whirled around. Elaine was looking down at Elizabeth, though King was sure she couldn't see Elaine, but his sister was looking at the princess with such a pitying look, pitying and - and knowing sadness.

Elaine flicked her eyes to him.

"If you want to start mending burned bridges, brother…" She looked back to Elizabeth, and began to flicker in and out of corporeal form. "I think you know where you should begin."

King swallowed, holding himself straighter just as Elaine turned once again to the lights, and he turned back to Elizabeth. She was watching him, her head tilted and a small crease in her brows, and King wonders if she was able to hear Elaine. But she shouldn't have…

Flames rose into the air truly not far from them, purple and red dancing together as the loud sound of swords clashing echoes off the gems that make up the Necropolis. Elizabeth looks from the flames to King, her expression shifting into one of determination, a challenge.

"Are you truly not going to help, Sin of Sloth?" she asks. "Are you really going to wait, again?"

Again.

Again?

How would she- does she know?

No, she couldn't possibly know.

But she was challenging him? Him? Did she not know anything about him? Who he is—was?

…

Well…

He supposed she wouldn't know who he actually was.

He narrowed his eyes at her, at her challenge, and let himself float above the ground.

He flicked his wrist, Chastiefol finally shifting from its third form, transforming into its pillow shape.

"If you're so determined to get me to help them, then come on," he said, not waiting to see her reaction before he pointed at her, knocking both her and Hawk off their feet and onto Chastiefol.

We're barely holding it together, Meliodas cursed in his head, falling behind Zeldris again as he blocked yet another swipe from Guila. She was holding back her blasts again, steadily wearing them down and stopping them from actually hitting her with anything too strong.

And it's not like they weren't trying, either. Gelda had come closest with her fire, but the Holy Knight's armor was more fire resistant than those of the Weird Fangs or even Gilthunder - and so she hadn't been able to do much damage before Guila had turned her sights onto the vampire again.

What they needed was a strong hit, but he and Zeldris couldn't build up that much power with her getting so close, and Gelda pushing her back. Diane was down already, and it was barely enough that they were keeping Guila's focus off her for right now—the moment Guila realizes Diane's properly injured somehow, Meliodas would bet she'd go for the kill.

Following his younger brother back, Meliodas readied himself to jump in front and take another swing at the Holy Knight, when Guila's arm jerked back. The fighting paused briefly as Guila followed her arm, and Meliodas could see her beginning to strain to keep a grip on her rapier.

"Fox Sin Ban," Guila stated and tilted her head, her voice so unconcerned that Meliodas could feel a deep, shoved down itch to get some emotion out, to hear some kind of stress or fear tinge her words. He grit his teeth, tightening his grip on his broken 'sword'. "Let go of my rapier."

"I'm not touching it yet though, am I?" Ban said with a grin, tilting his head back and flexing his hand towards himself, increasing the amount of Snatch. Guila remained steady on her feet but was forced to lean forward, and tension twitched at her face. "Besides—" Ban's grin grew— "I want it."

Three things happened at once, Meliodas observed.

A determined look flickered across Guila's face.

Diane shifted behind him and Zeldris.

Gelda darted into the air.

Diane wasn't one to normally play the long game. She preferred jumping into the fray, to be the first line of defense. She had the endurance and durability and the strength, she could tank plenty of hits and has done so many times in battles prior. And, she liked being able to end battles quickly, thank you very much. The sooner things were over and done with, the sooner she could provide aid to the injured or, if there weren't any, the sooner she could relax again with her friends.

But just because she preferred it doesn't mean it was always the best plan, and she could recognize when a bit of forethought had to be implemented into a fight.

Her side throbbed—she suspected a bruised bone, or maybe Guila had burned her more than she thought—and she was vulnerable on her side, behind Zeldris and Meliodas. They weren't much of a shield, and she could only thank the goddesses for the fact that Guila hadn't taken advantage of their tiny size compared to her to barrage her with explosions. But pain be damned, she wasn't going to be completely useless now.

Guila was quick, and she tried keeping distance between them all unless the others were clearly gearing up for a ranged attack, in which she darted into close proximity, and that armor of hers must be extremely fireproof, otherwise she wouldn't risk those closer explosions so often. The thing was, there were more of them than there were of Guila. And she was starting to focus on Meliodas and Zeldris more and more often.

Ban's arrival was the nail in the coffin, so-to-speak, for Guila.

Diane glanced to Gelda, catching her red gaze, and while Guila was distracted, Gelda signed to her, pointing first to Guila and then up with a quick gesture.

Diane nodded once, and just once, and shifted as slowly as she could—in part to spare her any more pain, in part to not draw Guila's attention over to her. Once she was nearly upright, Gelda was suddenly in the air, hovering and sparks flickering in her palms. Diane took a slow breath, pressing her hands to the crystal floor below, and concentrated on the spot right underneath Guila.

As soon as she could no longer feel the energy trailing back to her, could feel only the rock underneath the Holy Knight's feet, Diane exhaled sharply and willed every bit of earth under Guila up.

The Holy Knight began to fire a shot at Ban, but was launched up too quickly that it wasn't as big as she was clearly planning. It still hit Ban, and he was launched backwards. He hit the ground with a groan. Diane retracted the earth almost as quickly as she had sent it up, and Guila attempted to regain her composure in the air, contorting to face Diane.

Gelda took the opportunity and dove for Guila, wrapping herself around the shorter woman and while she didn't exactly grip her flesh with her smoldering hands, she did drag the fire in her palms to Guila's arms, trapping them at her side and heating the armor up. Guila squirmed and her mouth twitched into what Diane would say was an attempt at a snarl, but it fell flat with the way she was struggling to even dislodge Gelda even slightly.

When Guila seemed to have given up on struggling, instead seemingly focusing on the burning armor that was finally, finally beginning to crinkle slightly under Gelda's hands, Gelda bared her own teeth and inched closer to Guila's neck.

But then something Diane wasn't expecting happened.

Gelda froze, and Diane could see the fire under her fingers flicker.

Guila took the opportunity and shot a fireball down, rocketing both herself and Gelda off-balance, where she was able to finally dislodge herself from the vampire.

She turned midair and slashed at Gelda with her rapier, but Zeldris was there between them, taking the hit and sending the couple to the ground. She sent a blast towards them, and the captain rushed to intercept.

Distraction successful, Guila landed with grace and without hesitation pointed her weapon at Diane.