This is a world in which humans and other beings have not yet been divided. This is a story of ancient times. The war between the Kingdom of Liones and the Ten Commandments has temporarily ceased. However, the vanguard continues to renew itself and the ashes of a new war are heating up. But now our heroes are here...

...The Eight Deadly Sins are here!

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Chapter XIII
Dinner's A Bet

Fallen debris scattered along the ground as the dust cleared from the ceiling's sudden erosion. A small yellow strand of hair sticking out from among the ruins. The boulder fell, making way for the blonde haired captain to stand, pulling Elizabeth up with him.

Covering her mouth, the princess coughed, Meliodas stroking her back to soothe her. Glancing away from her, he turned to observe the rubble behind him, frowning in dismay, "Is everyone alright?" he yelled calmly, signalling for them to reveal themselves.

On cue the rest stood up, rocks clattering to the ground as Ban appeared, shaking the dirt out of his white hair. Diane was helped up by King, looking on to see if she was alright. Hawk unconscious in the corner. A head rolled along the stone ground as the body of the goat's sin sat up and grabbed it, placing it back on. One person was missing.

"Where's Merlin?" the captain wondered, scrutinizing the room carefully. A flash shined in his peripheral vision.

"Up here captain," the voice of the sin of gluttony rang from above as she floated within a shield, perfectly unharmed.

"Geez, Merlin," Meliodas began, watching as she landed on the floor, "You could have at least warned us from before that that was going to happen," he folded his arms.

The shield disappeared, Merlin smiling slightly, "I thought it would be more practical for me to observe the situation at hand first," she stated, walking towards him.

Meliodas got serious, "So what is it?" he asked tensely, whispering lowly so he wouldn't be heard by their assailant.

The smile disappeared off of the mage's face, a grim expression taking over. "We ought to be very careful when fighting this one; simple reckless battling will get us killed. I don't suppose perhaps you could take her, could you?" she questioned skeptically.

Meliodas frowned in thought, "Not right now at least. I have a feeling that this is just her base form," he glanced back warily to the glowing figure in the doorway, "If anything, I could just buy us time to run."

"Do you suggest we do that then?" she glanced at him for his opinion.

"Normally, I wouldn't. However, this one is too strong. Even if we do run, we'd probably lead her back into the castle where we'd lose the battle we just won," he ran through the options in his head, "Right now, we've got no choice but to fight her and hopefully take Victor before she leaves."

Merlin smiled suspiciously, "It would seem we've found ourselves an interesting opponent, huh Captain?"

Meliodas smirked, "Yeah it seems we have," he agreed. Turning back to the others he spoke, "Ban-"

"-You already know my answer, Cap'n~" the fox's sin smirked, weapon at the ready.

Meliodas nodded, turning his attention to the two lovers, "King. Diane," the two perked up, "I'm sure you both are eager to test out your new powers. How about you do it now?" he pointed over his shoulder at their opponent.

"Geez captain, we just got back and you're working us already," King commented, Diane's arm over his shoulder.

Diane chuckled, "Come on, King, it'll be fun! If we can beat her first, I'll give you a present when we go back," she suggested.

"A present? Like what?" King was interested now.

"You'll see."

"A race, huh? Sounds like a blast," Ban smirked, cracking his neck and stretching his arms in a warm-up, "We'll be sure to beat her first, right Captain?"

"You bet, Ban," Meliodas grinned, stretching his knees also, pumped up, "How about, whoever loses has to serve the winners dinner for a week?" he offered.

"You're on!" Diane agreed, cracking her knuckles excitedly.

"D- Diane!" the fairy king protested at the thought of Meliodas' cooking. Ban would probably try to poison him.

"Relax King, we'll win it for sure!" the giant reassured him.

"Y- yeah..."

"I would like to partake also in this bet," a limp hand raised in the air, Gowther blinking blankly behind his glasses.

"Sure Gowther, the more the merrier!" Meliodas allowed. Merlin looked like she couldn't believe what was currently transpiring. Noticing this, he turned back to the boar's sin,

"Sorry Merlin, looks like we won't be learning any teamwork this time," he grinned, shrugging.

The mage sighed resignedly, "It's fine. I didn't think you would anyway. I just hope that Ban is prepared to serve me my dinner when this is over," she smirked, joining in.

"Hah, as if~" Ban spoke up, "Ya better not be planning on poisoning me either."

"I could say the same to you, Ban!" King yelled furiously.

"Huh?" he glanced back, waving, "Ah yeah, sure," he shook him off, forgetting.

"Don't give me that!" he protested.

"You guys aren't serious!" Hawk screamed in disbelief.

They ignored him, "What makes you think that any of you'll be tasting Ban's cooking? If anything you'll end up tasting mine," Meliodas laughed at the fear placed on all of their faces. They didn't know whether to win or lose at this.

"You guys are seriously going to bet food over this!" Hawk shrieked to be heard. Meliodas swiftly mumbled something, "What was that?!" the pig knew he had been insulted.

"Shh, Hawk-chan," Elizabeth put a finger to her lips to make the boar be quiet. He was yelling too loudly.

Remembering something, the captain turned back to the princess, "Elizabeth, are you sure you want to stay here with us?" he asked to be sure.

She nodded, "Yes, Sir Meliodas."

"All right then; the Eight Deadly Sins' operation 'Lack of Teamwork' is a go!" he announced as Elizabeth backed away from the scene.

"...Are you done?" the woman finally commented, disbelieving the utter idiocy displayed before her.

"Yep," Meliodas stated from behind her, sword raised in the air, "Enchantment; Hellblaze!" he fired his sudden attack as a wave of black flames rained down towards the glowing figure.

"Ark!" the female waved her hand calmly as a blinding light intercepted the purgatory flame, forcing them back towards him.

"Full Counte-!" Victoria was still there. "Counter Vanish!" the blonde switched, raising his hand into the air and watching as the flames disappeared, sucked into nothingness.

"Spirit Spear Chastiefol Form Five; Increase!" King aimed his attack, surrounded by several small spears. "Fight Fire With Fire!" the spears flew towards their target, who swiftly dodged at the last minute, embedding themselves in the ground. Meliodas had to get out of the way.

"Geez King, watch it with those, will ya? Victor's still there you know?" he pointed out.

"Ah! Sorry," the fairy king apologized sheepishly, rubbing his neck as the spears returned to him, switching back to form one. "I was just thinking that I actually want to win, you know?" he revealed.

"Well, well, well... Look who decided to participate," Meliodas commented, dodging as Ban's triple staff swept through the air, missing its target.

Diane danced through the air fluidly, the earth moving to match her to their surprise. Her ability, Creation, enhancing her power level with each twirl she made. All she needed now was Gideon by her side. Too bad there was no space for Gideon in the small dungeon cavern. "Crazy Rush!" huge fists of rock flew through the air towards the lady, stopped by her barrier.

"Combined Technique; Metal Rush!" Meliodas swooped down out of nowhere with Lostvayne, swiping at the female. Releasing her barrier, she dodged, Meliodas spinning to avoid the fists now firing towards him instead.

Diane was furious, "No fair, Captain! That was cheating! Work with your own partner!" she threw a tantrum, punching Meliodas into the earth once he had landed.

"I didn't make any rules about what we could do, did I?" the captain pointed out with a smug expression on his face. "But fine, from now on, no cheating," he relented when he saw her ready to use Ground Gladius despite not having her sacred treasure currently. Inconvenient for her it was, it gave Meliodas and Ban an advantage over the duo of Diane and King. They didn't know where Ban's was either.

An explosion rang through the vicinity as Merlin appeared at the centre of it, smiling suspiciously, "Absolute Cancel," she said watching as their opponent's spell vanished into thin air with a touch, sweatdropping. A Perfect Cube surrounded the mage in protection. "Wave Dragon," she used her next attack, multiple dragons of water attacking the female before slightly flooding the hall.

Merlin floated above the water calmly. Meliodas spat out water from the sudden shower, noticing his now wet clothes. He was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

A flash of purple zoomed across the hall sending them running out of the way with wide eyes, "Nightmare Teller," Gowther aimed, firing after the figure as the rest scrambled to dodge the many blasts.

"Oi, Cap'n," Ban grunted from the ceiling, "Don't ya think Gowther should sit this one out? He's gonna hit us," he pointed out, ducking as a beam flew over him once he touched the ground.

"That's probably a good idea," Meliodas acknowledged, "Alright Gowther, looks like you'll have to sit this one out. We can't have you hitting us now. Okay?" he informed him.

"Oh," Gowther made Herritt disappear, "I suppose I should have held back a little," he thought back, moving to stand by Hawk.

"A little?" Hawk snorted from the safest place possible.

Perfectly unharmed, the female stood up glancing around at the destroyed surroundings. "Perhaps it's time I take my leave," she mused, not finding the thought of being trapped underground a pleasing idea. In her fragmented form, the only useful spell she could use was Ark, which wasn't very helpful against seven lesser beings. Especially not Meliodas.

A pebble scattered to the ground from behind her, causing her to glance back. The white-haired figure had climbed up to the ill-ridden goddess lying atop the debris, helping her up. "It's okay, Victoria. I'm going to take you to Sir Meliodas, now," the girl reassured the brunette, who was barely conscious.

"Elizabeth... Get out of here," Victoria hissed weakly as her arm was placed over her shoulder. "It's not safe for you. I'll be fine," she coughed, demanding her to leave her behind.

"Nuh uh," Elizabeth shook her head firmly, attempting to climb down unnoticed with the girl, pebbles falling to thwart her attempt.

"Idiot!" she hissed once more, hoping they weren't noticed.

This... would be interesting.

She turned back to the mismatched group before her, their utter lack of teamwork extremely evident, stated by the captain himself. "This was quite the experience, battling against the legendary Seven Deadly Sins. Your strength is rightly claimed. However, before I leave, I'll be taking a parting gift with me," she announced, watching their faces morph into confusion.

"Parting gift?" Diane questioned.

"The heck's she talking 'bout?" Ban spat, not understanding.

"What is she...?" King was confused. Meliodas frowned in deep thought.

"Lord Meliodas!" the third princess of Liones raced towards them from behind their mysterious foe.

"Elizabeth?!" the captain was in shock. When did she-? His eyes trailed to the black haired goddess limping right beside her on her shoulder.

"Sir Meliodas, I got Victoria!" she stated happily, expecting to see a grin overtake his face.

Suddenly, he knew just what 'parting gift' had meant. Wasting no time, he ordered, "Elizabeth, get away from there now!"

"What?" she was confused.

Noticing what would happen in her delirious state, Victoria pushed the girl aside, sending both of them to the ground at a reasonable enough distance. Both girls clattered to the ground.

"So, it is you," a sinister voice rang from right behind them as Meliodas rushed to intercept. A bright light filled the air, blocking them from view.

And then, the three of them were gone.

Meliodas punched the ground in rage.

***

Elizabeth and Victoria have been kidnapped!

Can the sins catch up to the duo before they get too far? Or will they be forever lost, never to be seen again?

Remember to vote and tell me what you think!

~Nia