January 30th X786
Meliodas stood at the S rank bulletin, staring at the requests. There were several new requests for jobs pertaining to dark guilds. He grabbed one off the board and read its description as he walked down the stairs to the first floor again.
[Subdue the Dark Guild: Black Reaper. Reward: 12,000,000 Jewels.]
'They're close to Hosenka Town it looks like so that's close by here.' Meliodas thought to himself.
"Hey Meliodas, why don't you come join us for a drink!" Wakaba shouted merrily as Meliodas walked by their table. Meliodas turned his head and saw Wakaba sitting next to Macao who was reading over some paperwork.
"You're always on the move. You should take a breather every now and then." Macao said as he looked up from what he was reading.
"Maybe later when I'm back from this mission. Thanks for the offer though!" Meliodas responded with a small wave before walking off.
"I know his work has been keeping our guild from going bankrupt...but he's practically Gildarts at this point." Wakaba sighed.
---
Meliodas arrived at the guild base. It was a large fort consisting of high grey brick walls and four towers on each corner. At the front there was a massive gate with several men standing in front of it conversing. The men wore black cloaks with hoods that covered their heads. On the backs of the cloaks, were white insignias that consisted of a skull with a scythe shape behind it.
"Yo!" Meliodas greeted as he walked up to the men standing at the front of the gate. They turned their heads and gave Meliodas a puzzled look.
"You lost kid? You shouldn't be here." One of the men asked.
"Is this Black Reaper?" Meliodas asked.
"Yeah. And this is no place for a kid so why don't you scram." The man replied.
"I think it's best you-w-w-wait…" Another man said. His eyes widened and his words began to stutter. "T-thats...Meliodas! The Blond Demon!"
The other men standing there immediately tensed up as they stared at Meliodas. They jumped back, with their backs against the gate.
"Sound the alarm! This is a-" The man's words were cut short a loud crash echoed through the area as the massive door into the fort collapsed. Meliodas walked through the rubble, leaving behind the unconscious bodies of the dark guild members.
"An intruder?!" A dark guild member exclaimed.
"Hah. What idiot would charge in through the front door like-" The dark guild member's eyes widened as he saw Meliodas' small stature walking through the smoke.
"That's the Blond Demon!" The dark guild member shouted. Over a dozen more dark guild members ran into the area and surrounded Meliodas, forming a semi circle in front of him. Meliodas remained indifferent as he looked at them.
"He may be The Blond Demon, but even he can't defeat all of us!" Another dark guild member shouted. "We'll attack him all at once!"
The dark guild members raised their hands up as some jumped into the air, channeling their magic as they prepared to fire it at Meliodas, with a few calling out their attack names.
"Sonic Wave!"
"Maelstrom Rage!"
"Electric Discharge!"
"Hail Storm!"
"W-wait! Don't use magic attacks on him!" One of the other dark guild members shouted out as he recalled one of Meliodas's unique magics, however, it was too late as the attacks were already heading towards Meliodas.
Meliodas remained relaxed as the attacks all came towards him. He put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force and spread his legs, getting into a stance.
"Full Counter!" Meliodas shouted as he reflected the attacks back at the users.
Meliodas sheathed his sword, smirking as he continued into the main hall. "Alright, let's get started."
---
"So this is the place?" Meredy asked. Standing next to her were Ultear and Jellal, all three of them wearing blue cloaks.
"It looks like someone got here before us." Jellal commented.
"Perhaps the council made a request to a legal guild about this. But Black Reaper is a powerful dark guild. There's not a lot of legal guilds that could possibly handle this." Ultear responded as she approached the entryway. She looked at the men on the ground who were knocked unconscious.
"It looks like whoever came here was here very recently, considering the council hasn't come to pick up the bodies and arrest them." Ultear continued.
"Could it have been another dark guild that did this?" Meredy asked.
"Possibly. Let's go inside. Keep on your guard." Jellal said. Meredy and Ultear nodded and the three of them walked through the entryway, stepping on the remains of the broken door.
Ultear, Meredy, and Jellal stopped immediately as they stared at the ground in front of them. There was a massive crater that extended outwards from a point, leading to a massive hole at the other side of the building. In the crater were the bodies of many heavily wounded and unconscious mages.
"There's still a bit of residual magic lingering." Ultear commented.
"So whoever did this might still be in the area." Jellal commented.
"Considering how the council wasn't called in right away, it was most likely the work of a rival dark guild." Ultear continued.
"We'll split up then and find who did this." Jellal stated as he pointed to the hallway on his right. "I'll take that hallway."
"Then Ultear and I will take this one." Meredy said, pointing to the one opposite of it. Jellal separated from the group, walking into the hallway. There were several more unconscious bodies on the ground wearing heavy armor. On their torsos were massive dents in the armor.
Jellal continued walking through the corridor until reaching a door at the very end. He slowly opened the door, causing it to creak slightly. As he peered inside, he noticed it was a type of large bedroom with fancy decor and paintings, most likely the guild master's.
Jellal opened the door fully and walked into the room. The room appeared to have been ransacked, with various clothes scattered as well as drawers and chests opened.
"Well, well, well." A voice said from the side. Jellal immediately jumped back from his spot and got into a fighting stance as he faced where the voice came from. He raised his right hand in front of him, forming a bright yellow spinning magical circle. His eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure sitting on top of a shelf. The figure jumped off the shelf and walked closer to Jellal. Jellal remained tense but got out of his fighting stance, dispersing the magic he had placed in front of him.
"Meliodas?" Jellal questioned.
"I didn't expect to meet you here, Jellal. You know, the council requested that I capture you."