'Not an ordinary enemy'? Please, we've fought way worse than this. I remember that one time we had to fight off an entire hoard of angry necromancy freakazoids, who were pissed at Merlin for stealing one of their books, or something. They kept raising the dead to fight for them- it was a pain in the ass. But I mean, we are the Eight Deadly Sins. There isn't exactly anything we've come across that we couldn't defeat with relative ease... if we were actually trying. A Holy Knight with a little demon juice mixed in- who cares?

"You think we can talk it out of attacking us?" I joked, "Maybe we can have some tea or some shit and discuss our feelings~"

"Doesn't seem like it can be reasoned with," Meli snickered, "But good suggestion."

"Let's just kill it and get this over with," Ban purred, getting prepared to attack. I eyed my whip from across the field, where it lay, discarded, from when I was unexpectedly attacked by Slader. Meli pulled out his sword hilt and King readied his Chastiefol.

"Please hold it off in your own for a little bit," Gowther spoke from behind us, causing the boys to make 'eh?' faces and me to raise an eyebrow at him. "I must momentarily deal with a separate situation."

The monster roared as Gowther bounced off, heading speedily in the direction of the small town near the forest we were in. I looked over at my teammates, a stupid grin on my face.

"Hey, you guys handle this," I smiled, then put on a mocking Gowther voice, forming small glasses made of fire on my nose. "I must momentarily deal with a sep-"

"Shut the hell up," Ban growled, not sparing a glance in my direction as he glared at the monster.

It roared, just as I was about to make a bitchy remark. This asshole really is just ruining everything, isn't it?

I sighed, walking over to my whip, which lay discarded on the floor, as Meli and Ban charged at the monster, throwing full-force punched at of its four, monstrously obese heads. I crouched down, picking up my sacred treasure by the handle.

"I don't understand..." I muttered, furrowing my eyebrows as I stared at the leather foolishly. Any passerby would think I was some nut job who thought their weapon could talk. Half of that assumption would probably be true- which half, I'm not exactly sure. It changes every now and again.

Just yesterday Ban had woken me up in the middle of the night to help me out. He told me to sleep in his bed for Christ's sake.... then there was that dream about Christmas, and him just seeming to not hate my presence in general.

Then, I wake up the next day to find him and King in a death match- and all of the sudden he hates me with a burning passion again! Like, what??? And guys say girls are confusing... Stop giving me all these mixed signals and just reject me already, asshole!

"(Y/N)! Look out!"

King's voice came from behind me, and I vaguely heard the monster roar. I stuck my arm up behind me, blocking the hit from the beast with my forearm easily. A crater formed under my person from the pressure, and I vaguely thought of how annoying the dirt would be to clean from the top of my knee-boots. I sighed, standing up and turning around, still in an arm vs. arm death match with the monster.

"Do you understand, Mr. Demon-Holy-Knight?" I asked, flicking his arm away so it snapped upward. I jumped slightly, kicking so that the sole of my foot hit its chest. "Cause I sure don't...."

I approached it, the beast having stumbled back from the force of my extremely tamed-down kick. I extended my hand out toward him, and his entire body burst into flames. It let out a deafening screech.

"I mean you're a guy, right?" I asked, not really paying attention. I had subconsciously rolled my whip up, securing it to my waist and fiddling with its handle. "Do you think he hates me again? You should know- isn't there like a 'guy code' or some shit?"

The thing screeched, its tongues extending and licking over its whole body. The fire extinguished, leaving bright red and oozing burns over its magenta-purple body. It charged at me full force, swinging. I noticed that there was the pectorals-and-above portion of a human body in the middle of its four grotesque heads.

"Hm?" I spoke, jumping half heartedly out of the way as one of the heads spewed out a gooey green substance that smelled particularly repulsive. I landed on the bottom two of the four heads, looking curiously at the man. "Are you the Holy Knight that this thing is made out of?"

"Plea.... don... me...." his voice came out hoarse and strained, barely over a whisper. I raised an eyebrow before getting punched to the side by a large fist. I twisted mid-air before ramming into a thick tree. I bent my legs, softening the blow before swiftly flipping into a standing position.

"Hm... curious," I spoke.

"(Y/N)!" King called, "Let us-"

"Nah, I got this one," I interrupted, approaching the monster nonchalantly. Another one of its heads opened it mouth, and a cold air came hurling toward me, freezing the dew on the sparse few plants that littlered the ground. I waved my hand in front of me, fire cancelling out the cold in seconds, nullifying the effects of its attack.

I walked toward it, and it charged toward me. I knocked its fist to the side, flicking my wrist nonchalantly to do so . I approached it, eyeing the man carefully.

"You're still alive," I said, countering another measly punch. "So how do I get you out of this thing?"

I jumped around curiously, poking at various parts of its body as it uselessly attempted to attack me, sometimes hitting itself in the process. I jumped down to his upper body again, sitting cross legged atop the two bottom heads. I vaguely recognized the face, and I scrunched my eyes up.

"Doting Dale?!" I spoke, shocked, as I flicked away a giant fist. I looked down at the man, my temporary cheeriness disappearing. "How'd you get like this...? You for sure weren't a demon before."

I cocked my head to the side, flipping backwards as one of the fists charged at me. It hit one of its own heads straight-on, causing it to fall back. I puffed my cheeks out.

"You're like Guila and Jericho," I realized, walking toward it as it stood again. It roared, and its four singular heads joined into one, moving to their place where Gowther's helmet had previously been. "But how...? Were you... the failed experiment?"

The monster spat a wad of venom at me, and my eyes widened in surprise. I moved out of the way, watching it hit the ground where I once stood. I looked over at him, then shrugged.

"Oh well," I sighed, pulling my whip out and slashing it. Geez, habits get annoying. I should've just kept the whip out. "Your kids wouldn't want you living like this- and honestly, neither do I. Sorry, Dale. Hellblaze Ultimatum."

I swung my whip downward, and black flames erupted from the edge of it. Three surging columns of fire charged in the direction of the monster. They were high, and too fast for it to dodge out of the way, or even jump up in time. One came head-on, and the other two came from his right and left.

"Good luck," I said, a sad smile gracing my features as the attack slammed into him. The creature attached to his body let out a ferocious howl, the flames burning through its skin and searing into its bones and organs. "Wherever you go."

It took a few moments, but the flames eventually died down. I walked over to the ashes that were the demon attached to his body. Just as I thought, he lay there, his human form intact. He wasn't a demon. However, there was a small creature on his exposed stomach. It was a weird plant-thing. It was deep purple with glowing yellow eyes, and was in the shape of the closed bud of a flower. I picked up, easily prying it from the skin of his stomach. It let out a screech and began to wriggle in my palm. I stared, unimpressed, igniting the creature so that it died instantaneously.

"Hey, Dale," I spoke, addressing the man before me. He was barely alive- although, I'm not sure how. The only indicator was that his chest rose and fell shallowly. I sat cross legged next to his exposed form, the ash covering his lower body, including the pale I was none-to eager to see. I gripped his large hand in my own- and off to psi question, why are everyone's hands bigger than mine? "You're kids are doing great, I'm sure. They were always adorable- I'm pretty sure your son is smoking hot now. What is he, ten?" I chuckled at my own, sorry attempt at a joke. "And uh... I never told you how thankful I was that you trusted me enough to send me a letter while I was away.... I was gone when he was born, and two days later I got a letter from you telling me everything about him." I smiled, tears brimming at my eyes as I attempted to keep them from falling. "You didn't deserve this. And I promise you that those Holy Knights will pay for what they did. I'm not very accountable when it comes to a lot of stuff, and I'm nowhere near consistent, but I swear on my life that I will avenge you."

"Tha... nk... you..." his voice came out raspy, nearly a whisper. A single tear fell down his cheek, onto the earth below him. "(Y/N)..."

"No problem, Dale," I smiled, "Anything for an old friend."

He exhaled, but his chest didn't rise again. He lay there, nearly entirely exposed, having finally perished after a good deal of time suffering. I released his hand after a moment, letting it fall loosely to the floor. Quickly standing and turning around, I wiped my eyes. The entirety of the Sins were staring, looking at me questioningly. I walked up to them, giving my best smile.

"The Holy Knights are going to die horrible deaths," I grinned, "But until then, I'm hungry. Let's go back to the bar so Gowthy, here, can introduce himself to Ellie."

"(Y/N), you seem to have mispronounced my name agai-" Gowther started, but I cut him off.

"Gowther, excuse my mistake," I grumbled, rolling my eyes as I walked casually into the woods. I turned, seeing how none of them were following me. I raised an eyebrow, addressing them as a group.

"Come on, assholes. Whadaya waiting for?"