"So he blew himself up huh…that explosion was massive…I can't believe you came out of that unscathed." Lahar said. Meliodas continued shaking himself off of the dust on his body.
"Regardless, you have my gratitude, Meliodas." Org bowed his head and looked back up at Meliodas. "As the council has been destroyed, we need to rebuild it up again now more than ever. As the current highest ranking member, I will be the new Head Chairman. And on behalf of the council, I make a formal request to you, Meliodas of Fairy Tail, to serve as a bodyguard until the council is rebuilt."
"Well, well, well. A formal job request for me. I don't know, cause I was a member of Crime Sorciere and all, and I'm sure you don't want to hire a criminal." Meliodas said in a sarcastic voice.
Org raised an eyebrow at Meliodas and began to laugh a little.
"Alright then! As the new head chairman, my first act will be to pardon you of your supposed crimes."
"That's more like it." Meliodas said with a grin.
Doranbolt suddenly appeared, teleporting in and standing next to the three of them. "I've managed to get into contact with some lower branches nearby. They're sending members over to assist in the rebuilding."
"In the meantime, we need to find out what exactly Tartaros is planning. And we should also anticipate another attack by them in the near future." Lahar said.
"Then there's someone we can get that information from," Doranbolt said as he began walking towards the outskirts of the remains of the building. He turned around and glanced at Meliodas and nodded his head. Meliodas understood the gesture and followed him.
—
Meliodas followed Doranbolt down a basement with a large winding spiral staircase. As they approached the bottom of the stairs, the floor opened up into a wide hallway with multiple barred cells on each side.
"Oh, so this is the new prison. Good thing this place wasn't damaged." Meliodas commented.
"You make it sound like you've been- right never mind." Doranbolt said, remembering Meliodas had been detained at this very council building for a week due to the incident with Princess Hisui.
Doranbolt approached one of the prison cells and Meliodas stood right behind him. Sitting in the cell with his back against the wall was Cobra.
Cobra looked up at Doranbolt and a smirk formed on his face
"I've been expecting you."
"So you must have "heard" it all haven't you." Doranbolt responded. Cobra shook his head.
"Don't be an idiot. My magic doesn't work here. That doesn't mean I couldn't hear those loud explosions going on upstairs."
Doranbolt stood closer to the bars of the cell and glared down at Cobra.
"Tell me everything you know about Tartaros!"
"You think I'm just going to give you that information for free?" Cobra questioned. Cobra's smirk suddenly vanished as a familiar figure walked out from behind Doranbolt.
"Let me handle this." Meliodas patted Doranbolt on the shoulder. Doranbolt nodded and took a step back.
A bead of sweat ran down Cobra's face as his smirk returned.
"So The Blond Demon himself graces me with his presence." Cobra said with slight nervousness present in his voice. "You can threaten me all you like. I won't reveal anything until the Oracion Seis is set free."
Doranbolt suddenly teleported, reappearing inside of the cell with a dagger held up to Cobra's neck.
"You don't have the luxury of making such deals! You will tell me right now everything you know about Tartaros!"
"Are you hard of hearing or something? I'll only tell ya if you set free the Oracion Seis." Cobra responded calmly.
"Doranbolt it's fine. I told you to let me handle it." Meliodas said. Doranbolt sighed and teleported right next to Meliodas.
"Alright Cobra, we got a deal." Meliodas continued. "The Oracion Seis will be let free."
Both Cobra and Doranbolt looked at Meliodas with shocked expressions.
"Meliodas, you don't even have that authority!" Doranbolt exclaimed.
"I'll ask Org directly. He's the new chairman after all. Besides, I've dealt with them before, and I'll do it again." Meliodas said with a confident smile as he looked at Cobra. Cobra broke eye contact with Meliodas and immediately looked away to his side.
"That may be the case, but we can't have both Tartaros and the Oracion Seis running around. And let me remind you that you're supposed to be protecting the council here while it is rebuilding!" Doranbolt said.
"Oh. In that case, I know someone who would be free to deal with the Oracion Seis right now." Meliodas said with a grin.
"I doubt there is someone else other than you who could take us on." Cobra responded. "But since you've been cooperative, I'll give you a freebie. Not one of Tartaros is human! Each one of them is a demon out of the book of Zeref! Demons, just like you Meliodas!"
"A demon…Meliodas?" Doranbolt's eyes widened at the comment and he stared at Meliodas. 'That magical power he had when he was fighting the dragons…that sensation…it all makes sense now!'
"Oh, you know about that?" Meliodas asked.
"There is no human who has seven heartbeats." Cobra answered.
"Actually I lost four of those hearts since then to Acnologia." Meliodas said nonchalantly much to Cobra's surprise.
"Meliodas…you're a demon from one of the books of Zeref?" Doranbolt questioned, his hands beginning to shake.
"Well you're half right. I am a demon, but I got nothing to do with Zeref. Anyways, this stuff isn't important right now. What else do you have on Tartaros." Meliodas looked back at Cobra.
"Their master's name is E.N.D. The worst demon in the whole book of Zeref." Cobra continued. "You want more out of me, let the Oracion Seis go."
Doranbolt sighed and looked at Meliodas.
"Who is it that you have planned that will take on the Oracion Seis if they act up?"
"Jellal." Meliodas said with a grin.
Doranbolt heaved a sigh of relief. He knew Jellal was also incredibly strong. Even if Meliodas was busy with Tartaros, he would definitely be able to stop the Oracion seis.
—
Suspended in a tube of clear fluid, Jackal floated, his eyes closed as almost all of his destroyed body was forming again.
Standing in front of the cube were two figures. One of them had the appearance of a woman with half-human and half aviary features. She had a large bosom and a curvy hourglass figure, emphasized by a purple skin tight suit that revealed her chest, thighs, and buttocks. Over her suit, she wore a long-sleeved jacket that covered her arms all the way down to her hands which were sharp, scaly talons, much like her feet. Her face was covered by a feather-adorned helmet, revealing only her eyes and mouth, and her long green hair fell out from the back of the helmet.
The other figure was a round, humanoid creature with yellow skin wearing a helmet covering the upper half of the creature's head except for a single eye. The creature donned heavy plates on its shoulders and had various body paintings around its neck. The creature wore striped red pants and had nubs for feet. In its left hand, was a cane that assisted it in walking.
"Geheheheh! What is Jackal doing?! He couldn't even properly destroy the council!" The yellow creature said in a condescending tone.
"Enough, Franmalth. We'll find out what went wrong when Jackal awakens." The woman replied.
As the two continued to watch Jackal, Jackal's eyes suddenly opened wide.
"GAGGHH!" Jackal's scream surprised both Kyoka and Franmalth and the two of them took a step back.
"What the hell Jackal! Don't just wake up screaming bloody murder like that! Geheheheh!" Franmalth exclaimed. Jackal didn't respond and remained in a strange trance, staring out into space. During his time asleep, his memory of Meliodas' inhuman power haunted him.
"Jackal." The woman said. Jackal immediately snapped out of his trance and looked at the woman.
"I'm sorry Miss Kyoka." Jackal said.
"Explain." Kyoka continued.
"I managed to destroy the council. All of the elders except for one are dead. Before I could kill him, The Blond Demon got in my way." Jackal said.
"The Blond Demon? So Meliodas was there." Kyoka mused.
"Geheheheh! I can't believe you lost to a mere human who only pretends to be a demon!" Franmalth laughed. Kyoka turned her head and glared at Franmalth, causing him to stop laughing. She then looked back at Jackal.
"Tell me more about Meliodas."
"Our information about him is wrong. I expected it to be a tough fight as he is supposed to be above even Jura in power. But it goes far beyond that. His strength, speed…durability. I don't know the full extent of his power as he was never trying to kill me initially. Even in my etherious form, my explosions did nothing more than destroy his clothes. And with a single punch, he managed to break every bone in my body. Not to mention his aura…" Jackal shuddered as he remembered the strange marking that had formed on Meliodas' forehead.
"Hmph, sounds like excuses." Franmath argued.
"Then you go fight him. There's no way I can win against him…"
"So he's really that much of a threat then…I must report this to Lord Mard Geer." Kyoka responded.