"Meliodas are you crazy!" Hardner suddenly screamed. "You can't fight someone like that by yourself! Didn't you sense their magical power?! Let us help-"
"Oh no!" Marin suddenly teleported in front of Hardner and grabbed him by the neck. "If any of you decide to jump in and help shortstack over there, I will personally introduce you to the ground. And trust me, your relationship will be intimate." Marin let go of Hardner and returned next to Brandish's side.
"Why are you sitting so close to me?" Brandish sighed.
"S-sorry!" Marin immediately got up from his seat and took a step away.
Hardner coughed and regained his composure, holding his neck as he looked at Meliodas and Dimaria. 'All of these guys are monsters…I know Meliodas is a monster too…but I don't think he can win this one alone…'
"Consider yourself lucky. It's not everyday that I challenge someone to a duel." Dimaria smirked. She immediately drew the sword from her back and lunged at Meliodas. Meliodas raised his right hand up as Dimaria thrust forward, her thrust being stopped as the tip of her sword was grabbed between two fingers.
"W-what?!" Dimaria exclaimed.
"Oh we're starting?" Meliodas asked, still firmly gripping Dimaria's blade between his thumb and index finger. Meliodas suddenly let go of the blade and Dimaria swung again at Meliodas.
Meliodas drew Neo Mel Force, parrying the blow. The resulting shockwaves from the clash caused a huge gust of wind that shook the entire village.
Dimaria and Meliodas stood in place, their blades invisible as they swung at each other at speeds invisible to even those with battle hardened eyes. Each swing, creating a loud clang of metal hitting metal and generating shockwaves of wind.
"M-my stand!" The bald man cried as the roof of his stand was blown right off along with a bunch of other nearby shacks and houses.
"Oh? You're pretty good." Dimaria said.
"Yeah this is a pretty good warm up." Meliodas said as he parried Demaria's attacks with ease. Dimaria's eyes widened. 'Warm up?! I'm swinging at him at my fastest and he thinks it's just a warm up?!'
Dimaria slashed at Meliodas once more, this time both of them clashing blades in place. The shockwave from this collision was massive, blowing back any standing houses and destroying the deck of the road. The remains of the bald man's stand were completely blown away. Brandish looked down at her Gelato which had been blown out of her cup.
"M-my Gelato…" Brandish mumbled. She stood up from her seat and began walking back towards the docks.
"Randi, where are you going?" Dimaria questioned.
"My gelato was ruined. I'm going home." Brandish said.
"W-wait for me Brandish!" Marin shouted as he followed after her. Dimaria backed off from Meliodas briefly and looked towards Brandish and Marin leaving. 'Randi's already leaving. I'll just end this now.'
"You know you shouldn't look away in the middle of a duel." Meliodas said with Neo Mel Force out in front of him. Dimaria looked toward Meliodas and grinned. At that instant, Meliodas heard her make a small clicking sound with her teeth. In that same instant, he felt a sharp pain on his neck followed by a lack of all feeling in all of his body. He felt the warm sensation of blood as he suddenly saw his own body in front of him. 'Huhh…what just happened?'
"MELIODAS!" Hardner screamed. He glared at Dimaria who was already walking away but couldn't muster up the strength to take a single step. Belnika ran over to Meliodas and kneeled on the ground.
"Can we do anything?" Renard stumbled as he ran to Meliodas's body..
"No…this is too much…" Tears began to form on Belnika's face.
"Those bastards…" Hardner grit his teeth as Dimaria and Brandish walked towards the docks out of sight.
"Why's everyone so glum?" Meliodas asked.
"What the hell?!" Hardner shouted. Belnika and Renard remained silent with their eyes wide as they looked at Meliodas' severed head.
"Did he-" Belnika stuttered.
"I can't remember the last time someone managed to hurt me like that. She was so fast too. I couldn't even see her move…" Meliodas smiled as head laid on the ground.
The group watched horrified as a small stream of darkness leaked out Meliodas's body, attaching to his head and binding it back together on his neck.
'No…I have seen something like this happen before with no indication. It's the same situation with how Zeref suddenly disappeared without a trace…it's probably some kind of time magic. This trip is already interesting.' Meliodas thought with a smirk.
"H-How is that possible?" Renard shuddered as he stared at Meliodas.
"Your healing might even be better than my Anastasis." Hardner commented with a sigh of relief.
"Well it takes a lot out of me. I could use some more gelato right now." Meliodas looked towards the gelato stand. It had collapsed with the owner on his knees in the middle. He took off his cracked glasses and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"My dream…"
Meliodas approached the bald man and patted him on his bald head. The man looked up at Meliodas teary eyed. To his surprise, Meliodas dropped a huge sack on the ground next to him.
"W-whats this?" The bald man sniffled. He opened the sack and his eyes immediately lightened up. The sack was filled to the brim with 10,000 Jewel bills.
"There's 50,000,000 jewels in there." Meliodas said with a grin. "That should cover the damages and help you with your dream right? Just promise me when you move to Fiore you'll set up a shop in Magnolia Town."
"O-OF COURSE!" The bald man responded. "T-thank you so much!"
"Meliodas…" Hardner said quietly. "Just how much money do you actually have?"
"Enough to get around I guess." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin as he began walking towards the docks. "Let's get back to the boat shall we?"