Meliodas exited the portion of the castle he fought Knightwalker in and dashed across the courtyard, on his way to the West Tower. The guards' numbers were beginning to dwindle as less and less were showing up to try to stop him. Suddenly, a looming shadow appeared in front of Meliodas, landing on the ground in front of him. The ground shook as it landed. Several more of these large figures landed in front of Meliodas, blocking his path. Meliodas looked up at the large beasts.
The beasts were massive, able to hold at least a dozen people on their backs along with large wings. They had smooth, dark blue fur and a pointed, angular head with yellow beady eyes. As the beasts opened their mouths, Meliodas could see a row of very sharp teeth.
Dozens of guards holding swords and spears got off the beasts' backs and lined up in front of Meliodas, with their weapons pointed at Meliodas. The very last one to walk out was a very short elderly man. He was bald with horn shaped eyebrows and wore a dark robe with a large cape draped over him.
"So you managed to defeat, even Erza? It appears she was not fitting of her title as Fairy Hunter. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Byro, the Chief of Staff." The elderly man introduced himself.
"It would be wise of you to surrender here...for if you don't...you truly will die here!" Byro continued. "If not to me or these troops, but to this army of Legions!"
Byro pointed up to the sky and Meliodas looked up. There were even more beasts that were floating above Meliodas, looking at him.
"There must be at least a couple dozen of these things…" Meliodas said as he looked up in the sky. In front of Meliodas, more soldiers began to line up as even more got off the backs of the Legions.
"So what will it be?" Bryo asked, with a smirk on his face. Meliodas returned Byro's gaze with a look of fierce determination. A shiver ran down Byro's spine as he looked at Meliodas' unwavering emerald eyes.
"I will save my friends." Meliodas stated resolutely. There was a brief moment of silence between Meliodas and the Edolas army in front of him. Tension built up in the air as they glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity despite only a few moments having passed. Eventually, Meliodas began slowly walking towards the army.
The army men stared at Meliodas, with some gripping their weapons even tighter to the point where their hands began shaking. Some held their breaths in heavy anticipation. Despite their overwhelming numbers, they knew that this would be a steep, uphill battle, having witnessed the defeat of many of their comrades including nearly every Captain of the royal army.
"Hagghhh!!!"
The silence was broken as members of the Edolas army yelled like a battle cry as they suddenly rushed towards Meliodas, with their spears and swords out. Meliodas' slow walking pace transitioned into a brisk one, speeding up into a jog before finally becoming a full sprint as he ran straight into the army.
Meliodas and the oncoming army of people clashed, with multiple bodies being thrown up into the air as Meliodas charged straight through them. Meliodas soon found himself surrounded on all sides as men on each side came at him with swords.
Meliodas jumped in the air as a man slashed horizontally with his sword. From his midair position, he hit the soldier with a flying side kick, launching him into two more men who were coming in from behind him and knocking them over.
Two more men lunged in from behind Meliodas. One swung his sword at Meliodas horizontally, to which Meliodas quickly ducked underneath. He spun around, delivering a back kick to the man's torso and knocking the wind out of him. The soldier was sent flying into several more soldiers, knocking them all down onto the ground.
The third man prepared to strike at Meliodas from behind, only for Meliodas to vanish from his sight and reappear on top of him. Meliodas delivered a swift chop to the back of the soldier's head, knocking him out as four more came running at him from the front. Behind the four of them, a fifth was holding a magical cannon.
Meliodas dashed in at the four soldiers, grabbing the first one he saw and throwing him hard into the other three, with the soldier who was flung being sent flying straight into the fifth with the cannon. The cannon shattered as the soldier collided with it, causing a small explosion that took out several more nearby soldiers.
Several more soldiers charged in at all sides, holding spears. They each thrust their spears forward at Meliodas. Meliodas quickly got on the ground, with his back to the floor and his hips high above him. Twisting his torso, he spun around on the ground in a swift motion while keeping his legs in a "V" shape. The spears aimed at Meliodas bounced off his legs as he continued rotating on the ground. Meliodas suddenly jumped up from his position on the ground, fairly high in the air, above the heads of the other soldiers. He slammed down onto the ground with his legs, causing shards of the earth to kick up and jut outward as the shockwave blew back more of the surrounding soldiers.
Out of the corner of Meliodas' eye, he noticed another soldier charging at him, holding a large spear, one far larger than the flimsy sticks the previous soldiers wielded. Meliodas ducked backwards as the spear barely missed his face. He grabbed the shaft of the spear tightly as he swung the spear over his head, sending the man who was originally holding it flying across the heads of the other soldiers who were closing in to surround Meliodas.
The soldiers who were now standing around Meliodas began to step back further away from him. Meliodas paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. He began to slowly walk forward, with the soldiers that were in front of Meliodas quickly moving back away.
"This child...I see how he was able to best the Captains…" Byro commented shakily. He shuddered at the thought that even with this army at his disposal, it wouldn't be enough. 'However...we still have those…' Byro thought as he looked up into the sky.
From above, a large, winged figure was flying straight at Meliodas with blistering speed. Meliodas looked up at the Legion flying towards him, with its gaping jaw open wide. Behind it, several more Legions were flying in at Meliodas. Meliodas tightly gripped the large spear in his hands. A dark aura was exuded from his body as his eyes turned pitch black and a black spiral shaped henna formed above his right eyebrow. The spear he was holding became shrouded in a layer of darkness as Meliodas wound his arm back, turning the gray colored steel spear into a jet black one.
Meliodas threw the spear with great force at the Legions, the force of the throw creating a large gust of wind while cracking the ground under Meliodas's feet. The darkness clad spear went straight through the Legion's mouth and out the other end, perfectly intact. Blood gushed out of the Legion's mouth as the spear continued flying without losing speed as it pierced straight through two more Legions behind the first one. The massive hulking bodies of the Legions immediately fell to the ground below.
Soldiers below them quickly fled as the massive bodies nearly crushed them. Two more Legions landed on the ground in front of Meliodas. Despite their fierce natures, none of them made a move to attack Meliodas, their animalistic instincts telling them that doing so will result in their deaths. Instead, Meliodas walked by them without trouble. The remaining soldiers firmly grasped their weapons silently and watched as Meliodas walked through their ranks towards Byro.
Bryo looked into Meliodas' pitch black eyes and fell to his knees immediately. Sweat began to pour down his face as his hands started to tremble. He continued to stare at Meliodas, wide eyed, as Meliodas walked closer to him.
"T-that's impossible...an army of Legions and armed men brought to their knees by a young boy who doesn't even wield magic…"
Meliodas's demonic features reverted to his more innocent appearance as he approached the heavily shaken Byro. He knelt down in front of Byro and looked him in the eyes.
"So how do I turn my friends back from being a lacrima?" Meliodas asked. Byro regained his composure as the malevolent aura that was around Meliodas was now gone. He cleared his throat before talking.
"It's no use. You won't be able to save your friends. Once the Dragon Chain Cannon is fired, it will link to the island your friends are on and crash it into Extalia." Byro replied.
"Dragon Chain Cannon? Extalia?" How do I-" Meliodas was cut off as he heard a loud noise in the distance, coming from the main tower of the castle. He looked up at the tower of the castle and saw the massive head of the cannon getting ready to fire.
"It's too late for your friends!" Byro laughed. Meliodas clenched his fists and stood back up as he looked at the giant Lacrima. He walked past Byro, delivering a swift chop the back of his head. The other soldier's still there dropped their weapons in response, indicating their surrender. Meliodas ignored them as he continued to look up at the tower of the castle.
"Not if I have anything to say about it."