Meliodas jolted up from his slumber. He looked around and he saw he was still in the middle of the clearing from where the castle once stood.
He looked down at his chest. Sacrifar was no longer lodged into his chest and his chest wound had closed. The last thing he remembered doing was setting the spirit of Sacrifar free before waking up. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. Meliodas raised his left hand out in front of him.
"Requip: Sacrifar!"
A black scimitar formed in Meliodas' hand. Meliodas held the blade and looked at it closely. The sword's guard had a four pronged spiked shape that connected to the grip with a unique, overlaying textured appearance. Hanging from the pommel was a chain with a cross hanging down. The blade itself was black colored that curved up with a sharp indentation near the tip. Written on the side of the black blade was the word "Sacrifar." Meliodas looked at the side of the blade curiously. 'Was that always written on there?'
Meliodas could no longer feel any presence inside of the blade. The blade gave off no innate darkness and was now just an empty husk yet he could feel some kind of resonance with the inner darkness inside of him. Meliodas stood back up fully and felt pain all over his body as he still retained his injuries from fighting Doryu.
Meliodas stored Sacrifar back into his requip inventory and picked up Mel Force from the ground next to him, sheathing it on his back again.
"I wonder how long I was out for. I hope everyone else is okay." Meliodas commented as he looked around again. He began to hear dozens of footsteps coming from behind him. To his surprise, he saw Lahar and his squadron approaching.
"Oh it's you!" Meliodas said.
"Meliodas?" Lahar said as he approached the scene. He looked around in awe. The area around them was completely flattened apart from a few craters in the ground. 'Strange...Jura said there was a large castle here...don't tell me that was destroyed?!'
"Hey did you run into anyone from Fairy Tail or Jura on the way here?" Meliodas asked.
"Yes. My men had already set up camp this evening in the town when Jura approached, holding Erza, Gajeel, and a black cat." Lahar replied. "It's a miracle he was able to hold onto all of them in the state he was in." A wave of relief swept over Meliodas and he sat on the ground slumped over.
"Phew...good even Gajeel and Lily were okay. I was wondering where they went." Meliodas replied. Lahar looked over at the body of Doryu and couldn't hide his surprise.
"What happened here? This must have been quite the fight." Lahar questioned. "Who is this man?"
"That's Doryu. He was the one behind it all. We were fighting each other." Meliodas answered.
"Did he have any weapons?" Lahar questioned further as his squadron picked up Doryu's remains. Lahar glanced over at the body once more. 'Judging on the state of the body, that weapon must have drained his life force. But where is the weapon?'
"He did. But it's gone now." Meliodas replied.
"Gone?" Lahar questioned. He looked around the clearing once more. 'The Weapon of Ultimate Darkness just...disappeared? That can't be…something's not right…'
"Well I'll get the details of this from you later. Why don't we get your injuries treated and reunite you with your friends. I will say that your success on this mission will most certainly help with Fairy Tail's declining reputation with the council." Lahar said. He reached a hand out to Meliodas. Meliodas smiled at Lahar and took his hand as Lahar helped Meliodas back up.
---
Meliodas arrived back at Marigold Town with Lahar and his squadron. The bodies had been mostly cleaned up and there were several large white tents set up in the town square. He noticed several large cages mounted on carriages. Inside, he could see a few people he did not recognize but he recognized the snake guy he fought previously. 'Well looks like they caught them.'
Lahar brought Meliodas into a large tent with a red cross at the top.
"We'll have you treated here."
Lahar left the tent and a nurse attended to Meliodas' wounds. Meliodas looked around the tent. He noticed several large white curtains set up and assumed his friends were behind them.
After getting wrapped up in bandages the nurse left Meliodas at one of the beds to relax. Meliodas reached over and peered behind one of the curtains. There he saw Jura lying down and looking straight up at the ceiling. Jura noticed the curtain shift and looked at Meliodas.
"Yo, Jura!" Meliodas greeted.
"Meliodas...you defeated that monster?" Jura questioned, surprised at Meliodas' physical state.
"He was pretty tough to beat." Meliodas replied.
"Meliodas...you always exceed my expectations…" Jura said with a smile. He sat back up and looked at Meliodas.
"I assume that large magical power I sensed earlier was yours? I recall some councilmen freaking out about seeing a bright tornado in the middle of the night." Jura laughed.
"Yeah. I had to take some drastic measures to beat Doryu. It's not something I can do anytime I want." Meliodas replied.
"I see...well regardless you did something that even I, a Wizard Saint, couldn't come close to achieving. Have you considered becoming a Wizard Saint?" Jura asked. "There are a few spots open." Meliodas' eyes widened at Jura's question.
"I haven't…" Meliodas replied. Becoming a Wizard Saint in this world would most likely grant him access to information that even guilds don't have, considering how the council caught wind of Sacrifar. If he did become a Wizard Saint, maybe he could find a magic that would bring him back to his world.
"Well I can recommend you...although I'm not quite sure if the council would accept you. They do harbor some grudge towards Fairy Tail due to the destruction your guild tends to cause, although with the completion of this mission, they may consider it. But giving Fairy Tail two positions in the Wizard Saints may even be a bit too much for the council."
"Oh right, the Master is already a Wizard Saint." Meliodas said.
"Even so, I'll still ask about it." Jura said with a smile.
"I wonder if everyone else is awake?" Meliodas asked as he looked around at the other closed curtains.
"The others had worse injuries than us. Even with healing lacrima, they still need their sleep so it's best not to disturb them." Jura replied. "But they should be fine."
"Well then this calls for a celebration. Care for a drink?" Meliodas asked.
"Hahaha!" Jura laughed at the gesture. "Not now, but I'll take you up on that later."
"Meliodas." A voice said from behind him. Meliodas turned around and saw Lahar approaching him.
"Yo!" Meliodas replied with a small wave.
"We'd like to interview you about the details with your fight against Doryu. Would you be able to do it now?" Lahar asked.
"Sure." Meliodas said.
---
Lahar brought Meliodas to a separate tent. Meliodas sat across from Lahar at a table with two councilmen beside him writing notes on clipboards. Lahar asked Meliodas various questions about Doryu and the fight as well as details about the Ultimate Weapon of Darkness. Meliodas answered them but left out a detail about Sacrifar being in his possession.
"I see. Very well. This is good information. Thank you for your cooperation Meliodas." Lahar said as he stood up and left the tent with his councilmen leaving Meliodas inside by himself. Meliodas placed his chin down on the table as he leaned over.
'Sacrifar might come in handy one day. Especially if I run into someone as strong as Doryu while I'm still recovering my power…' Meliodas thought to himself. 'My power isn't returning as fast as I'd like it to. I should really start training again. And that comment Sacrifar told me about the damage to both my body and soul...what did Cath do to me?'