"Meliodas?!" Erza, Natsu, and Gray exclaimed.
Meliodas appeared in front of the dragon head of the chain. The head of the chain collided with Meliodas' body. With his whole body pressed against the chain, he pushed back against it.
Faust was wonderstruck as he stared at the lone youthful blond boy holding back the chain cannon with his bare hands. Meliodas hovered in the sky with his black wings. His eyes were pitch black and a black spiral shaped henna was formed over his right eyebrow. Darkness shrouded his hands up to his arms as he held the dragon head of the giant chain.
The chain continued pushing against Meliodas, causing him to slowly fly back towards the island. As the chain continued pushing, it felt as if it was getting even stronger, pushing Meliodas back even further and faster.
"We have to help him! He can't hold that for long!" Natsu shouted.
"And how do you suppose we do that flame brain?! We can't fly up there!" Gray retorted.
"Hold on...we never gave Meliodas an X ball yet. If we could just somehow restore his magic..." Erza mentioned as she stared at Meliodas.
"That's true...Wait! You're telling me he's not holding that cannon back with magic?!" Gray exclaimed in disbelief as he looked at Meliodas. "Then what the hell are those black things coming out of his body?!"
Meliodas could see Erza, Gray, and Natsu from where he was floating and keeping the cannon at bay. He grit his teeth and mustered forth his strength. 'If I don't stop this thing...everyone will die! I won't let that happen!'
"HAAHHHH!!!" Meliodas shouted. More darkness began to envelop Meliodas's body up his arms, until nearly half of his body and face were completely shrouded in darkness. The darkness on his arms began to expand, taking form into giant claws. The dark wings on Meliodas's back grew larger as he pushed back against the cannon. Blood began dripping from Meliodas's mouth as he pushed back even harder, with the darkness on his arms seemingly throbbing.
"If Meliodas just had his magic…" Gray said as he pulled out the vial of remaining X balls in his pocket and looked down at them. His gaze was averted to the corner of his eye as he noticed Erza beginning to glow.
"Requip!"
Erza's armor began to glow and change shape, becoming larger in size with massive shoulder pauldrons. The armor itself was yellow with blue trimmings with the edges decorated in white fur.
"Hand the bottle over to Natsu. I'll throw him over and he can give a pill to Meliodas." Erza ordered. Gray nodded and handed the bottle of X balls to Natsu. He gripped it firmly in his hand as he closed it. Erza extended her right arm out, the armor of which was bigger than her left and grabbed Natsu's arm.
"Yeah let's do this!" Natsu shouted enthusiastically. Grabbing Natsu, she launched him with great force into the air, with Natsu still holding onto the bottle.
As Meliodas continued to struggle holding off the dragon chain cannon, he noticed a familiar figure rapidly heading towards him.
"Take it!" Natsu shouted. He extended his arm out, holding the bottle of X balls. Meliodas grinned and he quickly reverted the darkness on his right hand as he reached out and grabbed the bottle out of Natsu's hand as he flew right by. Another appendage of darkness shot out from his back, stopping Natsu's momentum and catching him. All the while, the dragon chain cannon continued pushing harder, propelling both Meliodas and Natsu closer and closer into the island as Meliodas only had one hand pushing back the cannon.
With his thumb, he popped the lid off of the bottle and poured one into his mouth. Moments after swallowing the pill, he felt his magical power coming back to him, feeling refreshed and reinvigorated as strength surged into his body. Meliodas put the X balls in his pocket and looked down at the dragon chain head in front of him with determination. He switched hands, placing his right hand on the dragon chain as he raised his left one up.
"Requip: Mel Force!"
In his left hand, a bright sword-like figure glowed. The handle formed in his palm as he firmly grasped it. The sword stopped glowing, revealing his Mel Force blade. Natsu latched onto Meliodas' back as Meliodas put the handle of Mel Force in his mouth. He quickly placed both hands out on the head of the dragon chain.
"Natsu let's do this!" Meliodas shouted determinedly. He pushed off the dragon chain with great force, causing it to slow down slightly as he was propelled backward towards the lacrima island. Both Meliodas and Natsu landed with their feet planted on the side of the island as the dragon chain launched at them.
Both Meliodas and Natsu kicked off the ground at the same time. Natsu's feet ignited, creating a stream of flames that pushed the two of them in the direction of the dragon chain as Meliodas thrust forward with Mel Force.
"HAAAHHH!!!!" Both Meliodas and Natsu shouted. With Mel Force out in front of him, he rammed straight into the dragon head of the chain. Sparks flew as Meliodas' blade dug against the thick material of the dragon head. A loud cracking sound echoed through the air as a noticeable crack formed in the head of the chain.
"Hidden Fire Form-"
"Divine Slayer-"
The bodies of Meliodas and Natsu became clad in an aura of bright orange flames as Meliodas' sword clad itself in black flames. Down from the castle, Gray and Erza watched in awe at what they were witnessing, as Faust remained completely silent and wide eyed.
"Crimson Lotus: Phoenix blade!"
"One Thousand Divine Cuts!"
The aura of flames surrounding Meliodas and Natsu flared up. The black flames of Meliodas' sword began to meld with Natsu's, creating a swirling vortex of black and orange flames. With one last push, Natsu and Meliodas charged straight through, completely shattering the dragon head of the chain as its pieces were incinerated behind them. They continued piercing through each chain link, cutting it to pieces and incinerating each part as it crumbled away as they were propelled through the air towards the main cannon.
"I-Impossible!" Faust exclaimed in horror as the two Fairy Tail mages pierced straight through the chains towards the cannon itself. Both Natsu and Meliodas collided with the barrel of the cannon, creating a large explosion of black and orange flames that engulfed the large structure of the cannon itself. The shockwaves generated from the explosion caused the surrounding area to shake violently. The castle walls around them began to collapse, with large chunks of the building falling on the burning remains of the cannon.
Suddenly, the floor gave way beneath Faust, Erza, and Gray's feet, causing them to fall out of the castle. Faust's Legion flew up in time and grabbed him out of the air, flying away from the collapsing castle.
"Where's Meliodas and Natsu?!" Gray questioned as the floor collapsed.
"They'll be fine. We need to get ourselves out of here." Erza shouted as they fell through the air. Gray looked around hastily and saw a wall of the castle still somewhat intact. He grabbed onto Erza's arm with his left hand as he pointed his right hand towards the wall.
"Ice Make: Grappling Hook!"
A chain with a four pronged hooked end materialized out of Gray's hand. It shot out towards the wall, latching firmly onto it. Gray held on tightly as he and Erza swung towards the wall. They stopped as they collided with the wall, with Gray holding onto Erza with his left arm.
"Good thinking." Erza commented.
"Damn...where's Natsu and-" Gray stopped mid sentence as he and Erza saw a massive Legion flying towards them from below. On the back of the Legion was Lucy along with Coco. As the Legion got closer, both Gray and Erza jumped down safely, landing on its back.
"Thank goodness you two are okay! But I can't believe those two stopped the cannon like that! And where did they go?" Lucy asked. She peered over the side of the Legion and could only see the crumbled remains of the castle beneath them. Gray, Erza, and Coco also peered over the side. There, they saw another Legion was flying towards them. On top of the Legion was a familiar figure.
"That's-" Erza interjected.
The new Legion flew up, parallel to their own. Standing on the head of that Legion was none other than Mystogan. Behind him, Meliodas and Natsu were sitting down, with large grins on their faces as they waved at them.