A/n: Oh my God. The reception for this story has become huge! 30k+ reads and 1k+ votes... I didn't expect this at all...

Sorry for not updating in such a long time, but everything has honestly just been hectic. It's been a while since I've written these characters, so I'm not fully sure that they aren't acting OOC in this chapter. It's for this reason that this chapter may seem shorter than the previous chapters.

Since there are now more openings out, I'll be changing the one used in this chapter. I love this opening so much!

And lastly, since the demon king's powers have been revealed it's provided me with the suitable material to come up with powers for the supreme deity, Alma. But I'm gonna need more time before I can write a battle of such an epic scale with these characters.

Thank you guys so much for all the support!

***

This is a world in which humans and beings have yet to be divided. A tale of ancient times. Before the battle of Liones, the Kingdom of Camelot was soundly beaten and conquered. However, a spark of hope remains in the heroes that soon draw near. Hooray, the sins are here...

...The Eight Deadly Sins are here!

***

***

Chapter XXIV

The Sun's Set

"Then remember! Recall your sins and repent for what you have done!"

Those had been Zeldris' last words to the young princess before he had left the castle dungeon, ordering Victoria to meet him in a few minutes within the throne room.

Though nothing, in particular, had happened to her yet, Elizabeth felt assaulted by a sense of confusion, stemming from all that had been happening recently around her.

Gripping her knees within the confines of her arms, the princess stared quietly at a lone ant on the ground, separated from its pack some distance away. Mixed feelings about their whole situation floated inside of her head as she outstretched her hand, gently guiding the insect to the rest of its kind.

Watching the bug scurry away underneath the bars to her cell, the silverette couldn't help but be reminded of her lookalike friend, worried that of the two of them- the Devil's Sin had the worse draw.

She had gone through so much just to avoid ever encountering the rest of the Ten Commandments, only to fall victim to that same event.

Perhaps, if Elizabeth hadn't convinced her to come back to the sins, then both she and Victoria would most likely be far away from there, no sign of Camelot in sight. 

Burying her face between her folded arms, the princess began to hope to herself.

Please hurry, Lord Meliodas...

***

Finding something to be off, Meliodas paused in his tracks. A cool breeze ruffled his hair as he glanced at the trees around them, briefly observing the sky above.

Please hurry, Lord Meliodas...

The short blonde recognized that voice.

"Elizabeth...?" he wondered, feeling rather vexed.

He couldn't have managed to communicate with the princess, the two were probably already in Camelot, quite far away from them. Glancing at his fellow companions some distance ahead, none of them seemed to have heard the message. 

Deciding not to dwell on the subject too much, Meliodas shook his head, approaching them.

"Hey... Cap'n..." Ban muttered, feeling his presence behind him.

"What's up? Something the matter?" he asked his best friend, in confusion. 

The group of five that had continued on ahead of him had stopped rather suddenly, their faces haunted by a grim reality he had yet to see.

"You might wanna take a look at this," the fox's sin suggested with a hesitant grin, his right eye twitching in disbelief.

Moving to stand beside the taller sin, Meliodas found his pupils dilating at the scene.

"No... way..." he muttered, placing a hand on his weapon's sheath.

Enormous patches of burnt ground laid all around the road before them, contrasting the sandy yellow with spots of black and brown. The land sunk in at multiple points as it was covered with impact zones almost as if a meteor shower had just happened. All the leaves on the trees around them had seemed to have gone up in smoke as branches creaked unsteadily, eager to fall off.

Escanor seemed to have had a field day in their absence. But this wasn't what had shocked them.

Standing in the middle of the scene, surrounded by cinder and ash was the Supreme Deity, Queen Alma, holding the lion's sin of pride up by the neck. The woman seemed to have several burns on areas of her clothing no doubt from multiple Cruel Suns, but she hadn't sustained any serious damage aside from that. Her face and wings seemed to be spotless as her citrine coloured eyes gleamed sinisterly in the sparks' lights.

Meliodas unsheathed his sword, brandishing it instantly.

"Is this a joke...?" King questioned incredulously.

"It must be!" Diane laughed in disbelief.

"Ha, ha," he joined in nervously, "You can stop now, Escanor. You're being very funny..."

Gowther pushed up his glasses before glancing at the fairy king. "Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case," he informed them worriedly.

"You mean Escanor actually lost?" King panicked, hovering agitatedly.

"That can't be!" Diane agreed.

"I had a feeling things would go this way," Merlin bit her lip in frustration, a strand of hair falling into her face, "Still... for him to lose so quickly... It must mean..."

"She's regained more of her powers," Meliodas agreed grimly.

Merlin nodded. "So what will be our course of action then?"

"Once I give the go ahead," Meliodas began lowly, "Take the rest, get Escanor and teleport back to the Boar's Hat. Head to Camelot."

"You're suggesting that you won't be coming with us," the mage noted seriously.

Looking away from her, he glanced back to the woman in the distance.

"I'll stay back and keep her distracted so you all can get away," his eyes clouded over with darkness for a brief moment before returning to normal.

"I'm sure you're aware that they won't agree to this, Captain. This is a reckless move, even for you."

Meliodas smiled silently, neglecting to answer.

"So be it," Merlin relented, smirking.

"Thanks, Merlin."

"I'll be collecting your debt from you later," she rested a hand on her hip, smiling suspiciously, "So don't go pulling any heroic sacrifices. It doesn't suit you."

Meliodas smirked, "You may be right."

Noticing the group of onlookers nearby, the woman turned to face them calmly, her movements dragging the far bigger and bulkier man along with her.

Opening his eyes slowly, the orange-haired man raised his voice gruffly. "Lady Merlin... it's far too dangerous here. You have to take the rest and leave..."

"Escanor!" Diane perked up, "You're alright!"

Alma glanced down at the man in her hand in surprise.

Escanor chuckled. "But of course... Something so minor would not stop me- but that is beside the point. You all need to leave-"

With a spin, the woman hefted and tossed the man into the blackened cart, crushing a few barrels of wine beneath him. A heeled foot was placed forcefully upon the divine axe Rhitta, blocking any possible interference. Coughing, the lion's sin gripped each side of the cart, struggling to raise himself in vain.

Smiling in satisfaction, the goddess turned to face the audience.

"Welcome," she greeted nonchalantly, seemingly at ease, "I couldn't help but notice a commotion going on over there. Would one of you mind explaining what happened?"

Meliodas grinned, "It wasn't anything worthy of the Supreme Deity's attention."

"Is that so?" Alma raised an eyebrow, "Yet it was worthy of two of the princes of the Demon King?"

"Family business," Meliodas shrugged, keeping up his poker face.

He had to find an opening for them to escape.

"If you know my identity, that must mean you managed to intercept the traitors," the leader of the goddess clan deduced, "However, they don't seem to be anywhere near here. Now, why is that?"

"I dunno," the captain stated, acting cluelessly.

Alma smirked. "You let the Ten Commandments capture them," the queen stated with a sense of finality, her blonde hair flowing in the wind.

Meliodas remained silent, grabbing his weapon at the ready and unleashing his demonic powers. A large black mark covered part of his face over his eye.

Seeing their captain's reaction, the rest of the sins, excluding Escanor got in position, preparing to do battle.

"I'll be taking that as a yes," the woman stated, raising a hand to face them.

Calmly, she approached them. "You see, if the Ten Commandments were willing to execute their fellow member, this wouldn't be a problem," she paused, placing her hand back down to her side.

Meliodas shared a glance with Merlin as the two nodded.

"Unfortunately," the female took a thundering step as the ground cracked beneath her feet.

"Do it now!" Meliodas yelled, speeding towards her.

A powerful shockwave moved throughout the area as the other sins were blown away into multiple directions, smashing into trees and other sections of the forest.

In a shocked daze, Meliodas turned around for a split second to see what had happened.

It was in that same split second that the goddess queen appeared right before him as he spun around in almost an equal amount of time, moving to slash with Lostvayne.

But the weapon was no longer in his grasp.

"I'm afraid that I need the Infinity Commandment dead," the woman spoke sinisterly as she swept down on the demon with the sword, shocking them all.

"Captain!" the other sins yelled.

***

An impending danger swoops in on the Eight Deadly Sins!

Did Escanor really manage not to win against the Supreme Deity? And can Meliodas buy enough time for the sins to escape?

Remember to vote, comment and tell me what you think!

~Nia