Meliodas and Lance both charged in at the large group of pirates, the pirates' bodies going flying into the air as they crashed into them. More bodies of the pirates continued to fly off the sides of the pirate ship as Meliodas and Lance attacked them.
"And that makes twenty!" Lance shouted enthusiastically as he punched a pirate off the side of the ship.
"Sixty for me!" Meliodas responded with a cheeky smile as he launched three more pirates off the side of the ship.
"W-what?! Sixty already?!" Lance exclaimed as he launched another two pirates off the side of the ship.
Both Meliodas and Lance took a deep breath as they looked around the now empty deck of the ship.
"Is that all of them?" Meliodas asked.
"No…" Lance responded. "Those were just the grunts. There's a group of six of them who are absolute monsters. They haven't shown up yet. And I could barely fight one of them."
"Huh...interesting." A carefree voice said. Meliodas and Lance looked around, confused at where the voice was coming from.
"Right there!" Meliodas shouted as he pointed to a spot several meters away in front of them. A strange acidic mist was forming into the shape of a man. The man had short black hair with an anchor pattern shaved over the top. He was shirtless, except for a large admiral cloak that was draped over his shoulders and wore black pants tucked into bandages on his calves and feet. As he crossed his arms, two anchor shaped tattoos could be seen on his forearms.
"Oh no...it had to be him of all people…" Lance muttered with noticeable dread in his voice.
"Oh it's you." The man said indifferently. "I remember you putting up a decent fight against one of my men. So you actually escaped from that boat. Not bad."
The man turned his attention towards Meliodas. A small grin formed on his face, revealing his sharp, shark-like teeth.
"But you...I know you. You're Meliodas the "Blond Demon." I'm Requin, the leader of the "Six Guards," the elite pirates among Blue Guardian. I respect your power, but I don't appreciate you destroying our cannon."
"Wait...you're the Blond Demon?!" Lance exclaimed, becoming noticeably starstruck.
"Worry about that later. We have to deal with this guy first." Meliodas responded.
"R-right. Sorry." Lance said, getting his composure back.
"As much as I want to fight you, you won't be dealing with me. The other five of my group will deal with you first." Requin said as his body began to dissipate back into a strange acidic mist. Suddenly, five more people walked out from below the decks and all stood in a row facing Meliodas and Lance.
The one at the far left was a tall and slim man with a lit cigar in his mouth. He had dark hair that was styled upwards into a pompadour and wore a light colored high collared jacket along with a giraffe patterned pair of pants and dark shoes.
The one to the right of him was a shorter woman with blonde hair styled into pigtails and her shoulder length bangs that fell to the sides of her face. She wore a sleeveless black top, a black spiked collar around her neck, and a leopard patterned bottom piece that resembled underwear. On her arms were large gauntlets that covered up to her forearms with three claws long claws on each one.
In the middle was a large mustached man with a very rotund body shape. He wore a white hare outfit that covered most of his body except for a wrestling belt around his waist and a black singlet.
To the right of him was a very short man, one who was even shorter than Wendy. He wore a bear costume with very long sleeves with a large black bear nose on his face and long black shoes.
At the very right was another huge man with a very round belly. He had a bald head that was covered barely by a small leaf on top of it and wore a black tank top that revealed his large stomach along with white pants and black shoes. He had a constantly sleepy expression on his face and long muscular arms that almost reached the ground. In his right arm he held a massive club.
"From left to right, they're Girafe, Leopard, Lievre, Koala, and Chien." Requin's voice echoed. "Since today's been a slow day for us until you guys, to show my gratitude, I'll give you two an option. Would you like to fight them one on one, or all at once?"
"What do you want to do?" Meliodas asked Lance as he glanced over at him. Lance was staring at them wide eyed, his legs shaking and unable to move. Meliodas patted Lance on the shoulder, snapping him out of his daze.
"These guys are no joke. They're all stronger than the Oracion Seis if you know who those guys are." Meliodas said. "If you want, you can leave them all to me."
"You're comparing us to the Oracion Seis?! Hah! We could mop the floor with them!" Leopard scoffed.
"That kid with the black spiky hair nearly wet himself upon seeing us. You know I think I recognize him. Wasn't he on that ship to Caelum we raided a few days ago?" Girafe commented.
"Yes. Yes he was! Yes!" Koala added.
"It's a shame they're not beautiful women…" Lievre commented.
"So what will it be? If you don't make up your mind in the next ten seconds, all of them will attack you at once." Requin continued.
"I'll...I'll fight one of them!" Lance shouted. "The one who hurt my friend Goodwin!" Lance pointed at Koala.
"Very well. You will fight Koala." Requin said.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Meliodas asked Lance.
"I'm sure...I have to do this not just for me...but also for Goodwin!" Lance responded resolutely. Meliodas nodded his head.
"Okay. But if you're in serious trouble, I'll get you out." Meliodas said in a serious tone. Lance stared at Meliodas wide-eyed as he remembered Meliodas' past comment about not wanting to lose any more friends.
'Now that I think about it, Meliodas was traveling with that black talking cat that could transform but now he's not here...something must have happened…' Lance thought to himself.
Meliodas separated from Lance and stood back as the rest of the Six Guards stepped away from Koala, leaving them ample space to fight on the main deck.
"Don't worry about damaging the ship. When the ship takes flight, it is reinforced with heavy amounts of magic. Not even a Jupiter Cannon could bring down this." Requin commented as his mist body began to reform into a human shape next to the fellow members of the Six Guards.
'For all of them to listen to him without question, he must be far stronger than them.' Meliodas thought.
Lance and Koala stood facing each other, Lance with a fierce expression on his face and Koala with a blank expression.
"Alright here goes!" Lance shouted as he flared his magic, enhancing his body.
"Yes...I can't wait…" Koala muttered as his expression changed. His eyes narrowed and a large, sadistic smirk formed on his face. Out of his sleeves, several large gun barrels grew and he pointed them at Lance. "To see your face in pain! Yes!"