"Ladies and gentlemen of all races and species! Welcome to the biggest waste of ti- I mean, the Fighting Festival!"

Ellie pulled away from me at the shout, and I turned my head toward the person who had spoken. I raised an eyebrow, surprised that I didn't recognize.

There was a figure, wrapped completely in vines except fro his head. He was the one who had spoken. He had long, pinkish hair and the signature deep purple eyes of a demon. His skin was pale, and he had the ears of a fairy. He reminded me vaguely of the tales of the original fairy king, Gloxina.

Next to him was only what I could describe as the giant of all giants. He had four arms, and was muscular beyond all belief. On the upper two, there were metal bands of black gold and silver wrapped around his biceps. He wore loose shorts, held up by a belt made up of human-sized skulls. There was a large pieces of fabric that was draped over his face.

They very clearly had the power levels and auras of members of the Ten Commandments. It seems that I'm finally meeting the two who had replaced Aranak and Zeno.

"First," the fair- I'm assuming- said, "we are going to-"

"Wait! We've got a few questions we want answered first." A short man dressed in all grey and black spoke. I rolled my eyes as he spouted nonsense about not being convinced. I turned back to look at Hawk and Ellie.

"Ellie, Hawk," I said, causing them both to look at me. "I want you two to make sure you're near one of the Sins at all times. I'd prefer that it wasn't Meli."

"What? Why?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah, isn't Meliodas the strongest outta you guys?" Hawk huffed, "He's the best person to be with."

I scrunched up my face in complete confusion, "Has he... not told you guys what we're up against?"

They both looked at each other, then looked away. Hawk looked to the side and chuckled awkwardly, and Ellie looked to the floor and shuffled her feet. I deadpanned. What was that idiot thinking?

"Well he told us they are called the Ten Commandments... and they're powerful," She said quietly. I was waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't, I slapped myself in the face.

"Oh, my god, he's an idiot," I grumbled, then looked at her. "Ellie. I don't mean to scare you, but even with his power restored, every one of the Ten Commandments is almost double his power level. Some of them are triple mine. Not to mention, they're like ten times the power level of everyone else at least."

Her eyes widened, and Hawk squealed, "What?!?"

"Guys, these are just about the most powerful beings in Britannia, other than the Goddesses and the Demon King himself," I looked at her, "And they have a very intense grudge against Meli."

"Oh, my god..." She mumbled, covering her mouth and looking at the floor. I can't believe that guy is still rambling, and they haven't killed him yet. I grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at me. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she looked terrified. I smiled at her.

"Hey, hey, look at me," I said kindly, holding her chin in my hand. "I am not going to let anything happen to anyone, okay? I'll die before I let that happen. I promise you that everyone will be safe- and I don't break promises."

I smiled at her, raising an eyebrow. She let a few tears fall, but quickly wiped them away and nodded, laughing quietly.

"I'll try to make sure nothing happens to you too," She smiled. I scoffed, ruffling her hair.

Suddenly the floor shook with intense ferocity. Ellie fell forward, and Hawk nearly face planted. I caught Ellie in either of my arms, and hoisted Hawk up on my calf. I leaned to the side, looking up. The giant had his two sets of hands clasped together, and two giant hands made of rock had risen of the floor. The beginning of the fighting festival, I'm sure, and those were our arenas.

The floor stopped shaking and I let the both of them go. Hawk hind-kicked the giant hand and Ellie stumbled back, looking gratefully to me. I winked at her, before looking up at the two men upon the rock platform, elevated above us. I glared, watching the vines unravel around the smaller figure. A sadistic smile spread across his face.

"Spirit Spear Basquias, 9th Form- Death Thorn!"

The vines around him shot out into dozens of spear-like vines, covered in thorns. They went out around him in every direction, diving down into the maze. Thousands of screams echoed out, people killed in an instant all throughout the maze. Every magical presence outside the center of this maze was extinguished within a few moments.

"Ellie get behind me," I growled.

She nodded, quickly getting behind me. She put her hands on either of my shoulders, peeking over my left side. Hawk was behind her legs, shaking as he stared up.

The man was outside of his vines now, they were all returning back to the mass of vines behind him. Huge, butterfly-like wings extended from his back, decorated with every color of the rainbow. He was shirtless, with loose pants that tightened around his ankles, where he wore small black shoes. He had a demon marking on his left pectoral.

King had flown up to meet the man mid-air. He stared, wide-eyed at him, "The death thorns are the fearsome barbs that grow atop the Sacred Fairy Tree... they can destroy things not even Sunflower can touch. A-and Basquias was given to the first chosen by the Tree... Didn't you die in the Holy War?! How are you still here? You are Gloxina... aren't you? The first fairy king?"

Oh, wow. I was right.

"Mmm, I have not been addressed that way in quite some time. I am of the Ten Commandments now. I am the Sabbath of the Day, Gloxina," He smirked at King, "I appreciate your recognition, though."

"But you fell 3,000 years ago!" King protested, leaning forward. I bit my lip- this isn't a good idea. "You were supposed to be the fair world's sworn protector, so why are you with the demons now?! Why are you one of the Ten Commandments?!"

"So you are a fairy? How are my people faring?" At the ignorance of his question, King growled.

"Answer me!"

"Then win," Gloxina countered, eyeing him, "And I will answer any question you wish."

King growled, but retreated back to the ground all the same. He looked horrified, staring at the ground with his teeth clenched as he sweat profusely. I glared up- I did not trust this situation at all.

"Well, then!" Gloxina shouted, smiling at the contestants. "Let's get this festival underway!"

"Not so fast! There's another contestant," I scowled at the voice, looking to the side as I watched him jump into the arena. He landed directly on top of Escanor, knocking him over harshly. He threw out a peace sign, "Gowther has arrived!"

I grumbled, crossing my arms. "And here I was, excited that he wasn't here."

Ellie laughed from behind me, and I smiled. She had stepped away from pressing up against me, but still remained in close proximity. Hawk still remained pressed up against my legs. Y'know for a pig, he sure is a pussy.

"Oh, hello, Escanor. It has been a while," Gowther said, looking down at him. "It seems my landing was miscalculated."

"Oh, no, it's quite alright," Escanor smiled, before realizing his glasses were broken. He practically screamed when he held the two pieces in his hand. "Noooo! The glasses given to me by Merlin have been... utterly destroyed! What do I do!"

"That's... the Sin of Pride, Escanor?" Ellie asked. I laughed, nodding.

"Not very impressive at night, is he?" I smiled, then hooked my arm through hers. "I'll introduce you, c'mon."

She nodded happily, following along with me. Hawk scurried along as well. When we got just behind Gowther, I stumbled back, eyes widened in shock. I couldn't imagine how Ellie looked, but I didn't have the heart to look at her.

"Oh, shut up," Gloxina had said, and used one of his vines to stab through his torso. A giant, gaping hole had made itself present in his chest. I took a step back, one hand over my mouth and another protectively in front of Ellie. Hawk squealed, tumbling backward.

"Oh, my god..." Ellie whimpered. Everyone had fumbled back in shock.

"Escanor!" Meli shouted, running toward his body, which had fallen backward and onto the floor. The life was already seeping from his eyes, and he murmured to himself as he stared up into the night sky.

Glozina extended a hand and a large flower approached his body, "I'd rather not have anybody interrupt this festival, especially after all the trouble I went to to get this festival going. All so I could grant your pathetic wishes." He smirked, "Such as this."

A small drop came out of the stamen of the flower hovering over him. My eyes widened and I reached for my whip, but it was too late. It had already made contact with his body.

His torso jutted up, and he gasped for air. He scrambled up into a sitting position. He then looked around confused, "But I thought..."

He looked down at his chest, shocked at the absence of his fatal wound. I scrunched up my face, looking at the flower as it retracted back to Gloxina's side. He beamed, "Alright! Now that everyone had got their head in the game, let's get to divvying up the teams! Drole?"

The giant extended one of its hands and rotated it to the side. The ground shook, and my eyes widened. I turned around, going to grab Ellie, but it was too late. She was already shooting up on a huge pillar of rock, just as I was. I steadied myself and pulled out my whip, ready for whatever would come up.

I looked around once everything had stopped moving,and it seemed that everyone was a on a platform with another person. I looked around, finding Ellie on a platform with Elaine. Hawk was paired up with Escanor. Ban and Meli were together, as were Diane and King. Gowther and Jericho were together as well. Arthur was with some samurai looking dude, Gilthunder was with some mage, Howzer was with a boy. Hendrickson was... wait, Hendrickson was here? I missed out on so much...

"It seems we have a team of one," the 'Drole' character said, looking to Gloxina. "Shall we pair her up with one of my creatures? Or should we just kill her?"

"You can try, fatass!" I called out dangerously. He looked in my direction from under the fabric, but I could tell her was glaring at me.

Gloxina turned in my direction, looking at me. He momentarily widened his eyes in shock, then returned to his normal stare. "Of course not, Drole, I want us to have representatives in this stage. And if she were on her own, we would have an uneven amount of teams. We'll simply add her to the weakest team."

"Or I could kick both your asses right now and this would all be over," I challenged, glaring at them.

Gloxina smiled, "Drole, move her please."

"Ahh! We're moving!" Ellie shouted, and I immediately turned in the direction, eyebrows furrowed. Her and Elaine's island was drifting across the space.

"Elaine!"

"Elizabeth!"

Meli and Ban shouted at the same time, staring at them as they drifted across the arena, within the two hands, as we all were. Their island stopped right next to mine, and I glared at the two Commandments. Gloxina nodded in their direction and I growled. I continued to burn my gaze into him before sighing, hopping onto their island.

"(Y/N)."

I looked to the side, where Ban and Meli's island was, very close to mine. Meli was staring at me, more serious than I had seen him in a long time. Ban was snarling, looking in between me and Elaine. It was almost as if he actually thought I would let that innocent girl get hurt. I smiled.

"Meli, I think we both know that if you weren't around, I'd be the one with Ellie," I grinned, winking. "I won't let anything happen. Same goes for you Ban."

I turned away from them, facing the two girls on my team with a wide smile. "Lucky me! I've got the two cutest girls here... except for Diane, of course."

Ellie smiled, running toward me and diving into my arms. She smiled wide, speaking into my ear, "I'm so glad you ended up with us!"

Suddenly, another form dived onto me as well. I looked to the side in shock, finding Elaine hugging me as well. She was smiling, "Me too!"

I laughed, patting them both on the back before shooing them off. "Alright, alright, calm down, we've got a fighting festival to win."

"Now that our teams have been established, we should tell your our rules," Gloxina smiled. "Rule one, nothing is prohibited. Any magic, trick, and weapon is allowed. Rule two, to win this round, you must kill or render your opponent powerless, which includes knocking them out of the ring. Rule three," he looked over at Meli, "you are not allowed to leave your own ring under any circumstances. Understood?"

There was an air of acceptance within the ring, and he smiled broadly. Our platforms all began shuffling around.

"Well, then let the games begin!"

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