Ban, King, Meli and I now all stood in front of Gowther. The captain had managed to hold off the Holy Knights long enough to allow us to form a protective circle around him. I was on the far right, glaring at the white-haired Holy Knight who I held a particular dislike toward. King stood next to me, Meli on his left, and Ban on the far left. We all stood, but this was no longer the he-who-strikes-first loses game. Gowther, or whoever was in Gowther's armor, had attacked. The Holy Knights seemed pretty confident in their win since he had shown a moment of weakness.

The man charged at me, and I charged back. The other Sins seemed to be engaged in battle as well, but the man before me was taking up my current attention.

"So," I hummed, a small smirk gracing my lips as I looked at the girly Holy Knight. "What do I call you? Got a name?"

"Why should I tell a criminal like you my name?" He growled.

He struck at me with his sword and I dodged out of the way. I lashed my whip forward, grabbing his weapon and yanking it out of his hands. He stared down at them, in shock at how quickly I had disarmed him. He looked at me, his face scrunched up in a glare when he saw me holding his large sword. I tossed it to the side.

"Because, dum-dum," I laughed, "I don't want to have to keep saying 'white-haired guy' or 'guy with the big sword' or 'guy that kinda looks like a girl.'"

"Are you insulting me?" He questioned, his voice low.

"That depends on if your a thin-skinned pussy or not," I smirked, him growling in response. I sighed, a slight frown gracing my features when I didn't hear any words from him. "Man, you guys really don't know how to take a joke... I'd hate to be your drinking buddy."

He huffed, outstretching his hand. The sword came flying back into it, and he got back into a stance. He took a deep breath, then seemed to collect himself. He looked more calm now, it didn't seem like he would lose his composure. I lashed my whip, a loud crack sounding. He glanced at my weapon, then back up at me.

"Stance Sword: Ring."

He swung his sword upward, a large wind whirling toward me following the attack. I'm guessing the wind is the intended attack of his ability, and it was an interesting move, I won't lie. My eyes widened in feign surprise, watching them grow closer. I pulled my weapon above my head, whirling the leather rope around in a circle, then slashing it through the wind attack. It dissipated immediately. His eyes widened in actual surprise, seeing me unharmed.

"That's a great move," I smiled, "If you do get some time to work on it, I recommend focusing on the speed. It's too slow, I saw it immediately and was able to counterattack with time to spare."

"I don't need advice from someone of your stature," he hissed, "I know very well how to use my abilities and how effective they are."

"Clearly you don't. That could be really powerful if you build it up right."

"Shut up!" He growled, charged sword first in my direction. I swayed out of the way, and he whirled around to strike again. I blocked it with my whip, then maneuvered so that the leather rope wrapped around the blade three or four times. I then yanked it forward, since my back was facing him.

Surprisingly, I did not pull just the blade. It seemed he wanted to keep his weapon on him at all costs. He and his weapon went surging forward, and his entirely armored body crashed into the ground with a loud clang.

"Ugh... I don't have time for this..!" He growled, standing up. He jumped, but not toward me. He hurled away, heading straight toward Gowther. "Jillian! First wave!"

"Got it, Simon!" The girl responded. She was currently going against Ban. She smiled, "Sorry, babe. Gotta run~"

She leaned forward, dodging a kick and planting a kiss on his cheek. She then jumped toward Gowther as well.

"You little-!" I started, unable to finish my sentence because of the blushing rage on my face. How could she just go and kiss him?! Like, why?! Does she know how disrespectful that is?! That mangy little bitch...! I'm gonna kill her! I swear, why kiss him?! She could've done anything else and she just had to k-!

"(Y/N)! Stay focused!" Meli's voice snapped me out of my trance. "We have to protect Gowther!"

"R-right!"

I returned my attention to the battle, quickly scanning the area. One of their people- a man with a mask resembling an owl- was missing an arm, which lay discarded, covered in stone. King was trapped in two yellow glowing rings, crying out every time he moved. Slader and the owl-guy were charging for Gowther. First priority is them, then. I'll deal with that.... woman later....

I jumped up, pulling my whip taught. The Owl (since I don't have a better name for him) was the closest and had the higher magical signature of the two, so I went to block him. We sat mid air, our weapons clanging against each other.

"Ban! Archer!" Meli's voice shouted as I did a mid-air backflip (definitely not showing off or anything). I swung my foot, it making hard contact with the top of his helmet, the metal surely denting under the pressure, possibly killing him. He went flying down, and I used the momentum from the kick to boost me up to where Slader was. He was already on top of Gowther, using his blade as a saw, grinding into the beast's chest.

I hurled toward him, my foot making hard contact with his chest. He made a small 'oof' noise as he fell off, barely being able to pull his sword out of the monster as he went crashing down.

"Haha!" I cheered, landing right next to him as he began to get up again. "Take that tall, shirtless guy!"

"I wish you would stop calling me that," he sighed, then stood up from his slouching position slightly. He held his sword up, prepared to attack once again. I readied my whip as well, however, my eyes were drawn away by something else.

"Master Pelio?! Master Pelio!"

Armando. How did I not notice he wasn't with the other children....?

"Armando!" I screamed, my voice desperate as I turned away from Slader. "Get out of here! It's not safe!"

"Master Pelio! Where is he?!" He shouted back, turning in my direction.

"RUN YOU STUPID KID!" I screamed, being tackled by my opponent from behind. My whip was knocked out of my hand, and his saw blade was being held dangerously close to the back of my neck.

"(Y-Y/N)..!" He spoke quietly, seeing my pleading eyes I mentally willed him to leave.

That was when it happened.

A loud roar sounded, coming from Gowther.

Just as he had done to me before...

His fist came crashing down.

Armando didn't have time to react.

He looked up, scared.

I need to protect him.

I was desperate, clambering out from under Slader as I ran toward him. I propelled myself forward as hard as I could, charging toward Armando, hoping to the Goddesses that I would somehow save him.

But I couldn't.

Gowther's fist made contact with his body.

And I was right there....

As soon as his fist crashed down, I rammed my shoulder into it.

But I was too late.

Armando.

The one kid who I had forgotten about....

Was just killed.

Because I'm stupid.

His body was mangled and broken, and blood seeped out from his head and other various cuts on his body. I put a shaky finger on his neck, pressing firmly against a vein. No movement. No pulse. No breath came from his mouth or nose either. No breathing. No lung activity.

"He's dead..." I muttered, standing shakily from his broken form. I stared up at Gowther, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes as I glared at him. "You... you killed him."

I jumped up before I knew what I was doing, swinging my leg as hard as I could directly at his helmet. His head snapped it the side and he stumbled, growling.

"How could you?!" I screamed, falling down in a pencil dive to that my heels made hard contact with his shoulder. He came close to toppling over, but managed to steady himself. He roared in pain. "He.... he was a kid..."

"Well, I'm appreciative of your help," I heard Slader's voice from behind me, "But it is our job to kill him. I can't have you taking all the gl-"

"Shut up."

I snapped my fingers and his body was encased in flames. He shrieked, falling down from his hovering position as he put the fire on himself out.

"You're not Gowther," I growled, staring at the beast beside me. It seemed as though the entire battle had stopped, all eyes on me. I turned and faced the group, addressing the Sins with a raised voice. "Let's go. We aren't needed here."

"What are you talking about?" Meli demanded, "We need to help Gowther!"

"That," I growled, jumping down from its shoulder and pointing up at it, "is not Gowther. The magical energy is different. And even though Gowther is heartless, he knows you don't do shit like that."

"You are a persistent one, I'll give you that," Slader growled from behind me. His blade was shoved through my stomach, and the battle seemed to resume again. The other members of 'Dawn Roar' began fighting again as well. Blood spurted involuntarily from my throat as I looked down at the blade, the red liquid landing it splatters on it already red-stained metal. "But you've become too much of a problem."

He pulled the sword out and I turned around, the gaping wound in my abdomen gushing with globs and streams of blood. "You underestimate both me and my comrades."

Demon markings appeared on the side of my face, wrapping around my body and encircling the wound in my stomach. The wound closed and the blood ceased it gushing, its remnants sizzling away, erasing any proof that I had ever been injured to begin with.

"Ah, so you are a demon," he hummed, "I heard rumors, but I wasn't sure if they were true."

"Don't care. Bye."

"Sadly," I could practically hear his smirk. "You and your comrades are all pretty much dead."

"I told you not to undere-"

There was a deafening woosh, and I whirled around to find its origin. I was faced with a large orange and golden ball. It looked to be made of flames, but it wasn't. When I tried to put it out, it didn't budge. My eyes widened in shock- this was going to hurt. Bad.

I closed my eyes tight, putting my arms in an 'X' formation in front of my face, fists clenched. I braced myself, but the attack never came. I stayed in that same position for five seconds. Ten, fifteen, twenty. After a while of nothing happening, and a woosh-less silence, I opened my eyes and lowered my hands.

There was a boy with long black hair and square spectacles. He had a purple long sleeved shirt under a white tank top that was too big for him, black pants decorating his legs. His skin was pale and he was standing in front of the beast in Gowther's armor. He held an arrow in his hand, which was outstretched above his head.

"A-Armando...?"