Chapter 9 - Meeting The Ten Commandments

3.000 years ago

"Then tell me, Yami, has he ever taken you with him?" I looked down to the ground. Zeldris was right, when Meliodas left to the other worlds, he always left without me, even tho he knew how much I hated this place. And since he knew Elizabeth, he was barely home at all anymore. I had barely seen him anymore and had no idea what my friend was doing. "That's what I thought" said Zeldris as he looked at me pitiful. "We're going to free the others now, are you coming?"

"I don't trust this whole thing, Zeldris."

Once again he looked at me derogatory. "Alright" he said as he knew I was not coming with them and started to walk away.

"Meliodas..." I breath out as I sense the danger coming up to him. I feel fear and despair rise inside me. Merlin turns around to face me and for just a second, I can see worry in her eyes as well.

"What's going on?" Gilthunder asks but then I hear everyone gasp in shock as the smoke from the blocked attack from Meliodas slowly dissipates.

We all look into the faces of the Ten Commandments. But at the sight of the narrowed black eyes at the front of the group, my heart stops for a brief moment. Zeldris...

He has not changed in the past 3.000 years. But how should he have when he was locked away for so many years by the divine seal? His black hair is a mess and he still looks as strong and terrifying as he did back then. But despite the impending danger and the dark aura that surrounds him, my heart beats like mad. And not just with excitement. No, the boy who stands in front of my best friend and threatenes him makes my heart beat faster because I still love him. No matter who he has become in the meantime, to me he is still the Zeldris I knew from back then.

But the threat that he and the other Commandments pose is clearly palpable. And not just for me. Meliodas' friends also stand in front of Merlin's sphere full in tension and hold their breath.

Zeldris, who has blocked Meliodas attack, looks at Meliodas angrily. They all surround Meliodas, which still holds his sword in his hand. Then, both of them take a step closer to each other until their foreheads almost touch.

"Sir Meliodas!" princess Elizabeth breathes out and her eyes and voice are filled with worry.

"No way, are those the Ten Commandments?" asks Gilthunder and I nod.

"Indeed, they are, Sir Gilthunder."

"Hey, Gil! Look!" Howzer exclaims as they see a demon in a red armor.

"Grand Master Dreyfus?" Gilthunder exclaims.

I look at Hendrickson worriedly and see his eyes fill with tears and regret.

"I can see just nine commandments" I hear King say. "Where's the last one?"

I check the group to find out who's missing. "Where's Galand the truth?" I ask.

"Oh... I think Escanor killed that one" says Ban.

"HE DID WHAT?!" we all shout mutually.

"P-pardon me" stutters the weak ginger, that's still resting on Gowthers back.

"Damn... Melascula..." Ban then says angrily when she spies the lady. "That woman is still alive?"

"Ban, I told you, I'm still not..." Elaine says sadly but Ban cuts her off. He doesn't want to hear the obvious.

"Please, Lady Merlin, use your teleportation to bring Sir Meliodas here right away!" Elizabeth begs.

"That's not possible" I mutter and look away from the sphere and at Meliodas' friends. "The Ten Commandments won't allow any escape. If he tries to flee, they'd follow him."

"That doesn't matter!" Elizabeth says and I look at her sternly.

"Lady Elizabeth, I made a promise to Meliodas. A promise to keep you safe. I can't keep that promise if we lead the Commandments right to the kingdom." Her eyes fill with tears but she nods as she understands.

Zeldris and Meliodas still glare at each other, as Meliodas finally tightens his grip on his sword. He lifts it up and I catch my breath. Zeldris...

I try to keep my face serious and hold back the rising tears as I can't help but get worried about Meliodas' younger brother. Blood splatters and lands on the faces of the siblings but then we see that Zeldris has cut off Meliodas' arm.

But how... He has barely moved at all.

Everyone stands there in shock. "Don't worry" I say with clenched teeth. Blood flows out of where Meliodas' arm just was before he kicks Zeldris, who drops Meliodas' arm and flies back. Meliodas' demonic power leaves his body and grabs onto his arm to bring it back to where it belongs to but Zeldris lands on his feet easily, stepping right onto Meliodas hand. His eyes are filled with hatred as he speaks up.

"Do it" Zeldris says and Grayroad wraps chains around Meliodas as he says: "Binding Spell Grudge Chains". The chains hold onto Meliodas tightly and he can barely move anymore.

Pull yourself together, Meliodas! You're stronger than this!

Suddenly, Meliodas is freed from the chains and he kicks his brother again. I look down for a second as it hurts me to see both of them fighting. This isn't like the training thousand of years ago where it was mostly fun. This is a fight full of hatred and anger. Zeldris blocks the attack easily with his arm but Meliodas kicks him once again so quickly, that Zeldris didn't see it coming and lands right into the next stone wall. Meliodas is finally able to send his powers to his cut off arm and heals his body. He turns around and lands right in front of the other Commandments.

"All right! He broke through the Ten Commandments' barricade" says Gilthunder but Grayroad has already blocked Meliodas' way.

"Never underestimate the Ten Commandments" I press out angrily and clench my hands into fists as I watch Zeldris and Estarossa surround Meliodas.

"This is Grudge Spell Chains!" says Grayroad. "You can never leave the location where the curse was inflicted on you. Death is inevitable now."

"He-he's kidding, right?" Hawk says as his eyes fill with tears.

"I won't let that happen, Lord Hawk" I press out and watch Meliodas anxious.

"But... He can't escape now?" Hawk cries. "That means either Meliodas has to kill the Ten Commandments or he will killed by them!"

"Stop it, Hawk!" Elizabeth screams at the Captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal but her eyes immediately show how sorry she feels for raising her voice.

Meliodas moves into a defeating position as Derieri appears above him. She gets into a one-by-one fight with Meliodas and kicks and punches him hardly and fast.

"S-something strange is happening!" stutters Hendrickson.

"Her strength is increasing by the second!" Howzer says in shock.

Meliodas flies across the surroundings, hitting the ground many times. "Surely you haven't forgotten, have you?" says Monspeet.

"That's Monspeet" I explain the Commandments to the group around me. "Monspeet the Reticence. And the woman attacking the Captain is Derieri the purity."

"Derieri's ability, Combo Star" explains Monspiet to Meliodas. "As long as she lands those consecutive blows uninterrupted, the weight behind each blow is increased."

Meliodas, why don't you interrupt her? I ask myself as I watch my friend blocking his attacks with his arms crossed. "It's a highly specialized attack-oriented magical power."

"She's already landed over 50 hits" I say as she just keeps hitting him and then stand there in shock when I see his arms. "Something's wrong!" I shout in shock and see Meliodas' eyes turn green before he gets send back by another one of Derieris punches. Monspeet catches him and flies up to the sky.

"With both your arms pulverized you won't be able to unleash Full Counter now" Monspeet says, then lets go of him and sends his attack Hellfire Bird towards Meliodas. I hear my friends gasp in shock whilst we can only watch Meliodas getting serious hurt. A big explosion follows the attack and the sky lights up in a ball of orange and yellow colors.

"Please, stop!" cries Elizabeth out and covers her crying eyes.

Suddenly, Meliodas flys out of the explosion unexpectedly, his sword in his mouth, right towards Monspeet. But then, he just lands on the ground roughly. Tears fill my own eyes whilst I hear the princess cry, unable to watch the scenario anymore. Monspeet looks at Meliodas as suddenly dark blood flows out of his neck. Meliodas fights his way back on his feets whilst Derieri walks up next to Monspeet, that's bleeding has stopped.

"Bottom line, that's so lame" she yawns. Still, Meliodas walks towards them with an angry look, his sword still in his mouth. I can barely maintain my posture when I see how badly his arms are injured.

"Lady Merlin! Please teleport me to where Meliodas is now!" Gilthunder says furious.

"With all due respect, Holy Knight Gilthunder but if you go, you'll only die in vain" she simply answers.

"That's fine!" he shouts angrily but Merlin just ignores him.

"You are a truly great sinner" says Fraudrin to Meliodas as now everyone surrounds him. "You don't know how long I've waited for this day. I'll never forget the humiliation of my defeat at Danafall." Once again, I grit my teeth. That is definitely Fraudin, there's no doubt. "But your luck ran out when you didn't finish me off."

Trust me Fraudrin, this time we will.

"Neither Dreyfus nor Hendrickson's lives would've changed so drastically" he says as he walks closer to Meliodas, who just continues to look at him angrily through his green eyes and I hear Hendrickson groan behind me.

Suddenly, I feel a new form of power. It's not as dark as the demon power and I am sure that Meliodas tries to speak to Dreyfus who's still somewhere deep down in this body and mind. But Fraudrins word prove that he just failed.

Don't give up, Dreyfus. We'll help you.

"Star Breaker!" Fraudrin shouts and raises Dreyfus' sword. An enormous white light hits Meliodas.

"No!" Elizabeth cries out.

"Meliodas! Dammit!" Gilthunder shouts as tears run down his face well now.

Even Hendrickson is crying as he leans above the sphere. "Stop it, pleast stop it, Dreyfus!"

I place my hand down on his shoulder and he turns around to face me. His eyes are filled with pain, regret and sadness and my heart seems to be breaking with all these negative feelings. I look at him seriously. Even if it was his body that caused all this suffering, he is not to blame for any of this.

"It's all your fault for siding with the Humans!" Gloxinia says.

"Why do they hate us so much?" cries Elizabeth, still being highly worried about Meliodas.

"King Gloxinia... please stop" pleads King.

I turn around to face the group. "They can't hear us. We can stop acting like they do!" I complain angrily whilst Gloxinia attacks Meliodas. But I'm only speaking from fear and am mad at myself for just standing here.

When the smoke caused by the attack disappears, Meliodas stands there with no arms.

"My elder brother Meliodas, upon your death, the first part of our revenge will have been finally realized" says Zeldris and now I can't hold back my tears for good. They just roll down my face as I hear those words filled with hate. The boy I love so dearly is about to kill his own brother and it's tearing me apart. I can't help but wonder if Zeldris is still the same person I used to know or if I ever really knew him at all. When I see him like this now, filled with hatred and not at a loss for a fight, it almost seems as if he has no heart. As tears rush down my face, I can't help but quietly implore him not to kill his brother. "If it hadn't been for you" he continues "we never would've been subjected to such humiliation. Your betrayal caused the Demon race to be casualties of the war."

Angrily, I whipe away my tears.

You f...king idiot. I told you not to go. I told you I don't trust this whole thing and you still went anyway.

Meliodas, who can barely stand anymore, brings back one of his arms and lifts up his sword. Another large power wave escapes from the group of demons and we can't see anything.

"Captain?" Ban asks worriedly.

"Apparently, he deliberately feigned being overwhelmed" Gowther states. "A choice he must've made thinking this was his only hope of defeating them."

"Meliodas, you freaking idiot..." I mumble.

"The magical power stored is far greater than the battle for the royal capital. In terms of power, it's around 30 times greater" continues Gowther.

I watch Monspiet cover Derieri.

So... He's still protecting her... But that means... I begin to think but Fraudrin speaks up. "Damn it, are we going to be defeated by you again?"

"Revenge Counter!!!" Meliodas yells and lifts his sword. Everything shines brightly and even we are blinded. I only faintly perceive the outlines of the demons that are about to be pulverized. Suddenly, a hand in a metal glove grasps Meliodas' sword and the attack breaks off immediately. In front of Meliodas stands no one else than his younger brother Estarossa.