Meliodas gets thrown against the wall but recovers and lunges at Ban. Diane looks over at Elizabeth, who isn't looking too good. Diane places a hand on the girl's trembling hands to comfort her. Elizabeth gasps and turns to Diane. "You're wondering if those two might actually end up killing each other for real, aren't you?" Diane asks. "Uh-huh." Elizabeth confirms Diane's words. "You don't have to worry, because the rest of us won't let that happen, no matter what." Diane reassures her. Elizabeth smiles at her and nods, "Right." She says. Celeste stood beside Merlin with her arms crossed watching the fight between Meliodas and Ban when she noticed the audience surrounding King and Howzer. More attention is drawn back to Meliodas and Ban who continued fighting and Hawk rolls around on a barrel selling ale. "Hmm?" Celeste's attention gets drawn back to King and Howzer and she spots King running at Howzer. "Oh dear." She sighs, knowing how it's going to turn out. "What in the..." The audience shouted in shock at King's display of power... or lack thereof as Howzer held him back by his head.
Everyone fell dramatically and Celeste covered her mouth and giggled. "Well done. You really are a Holy Knight. Such immense power." King tells Howzer. Howzer chuckles and flicks King's forehead sending him rolling back. "Uh, so weak." Gilthunder comments. The crowd cheers for Howzer, who looks at King and finds Oslo licking him and Diane running to him. "King! Are you all right?" She asks. "Diane." King mumbles. "Let me help." Diane offers him her hand and Howzer sulks.
Meanwhile with Meliodas and Ban, the latter tries lunging at the blonde who kicks him in the stomach, making him cough up blood. Ban flies into the wall behind him, leaving a giant blood splatter. Everyone stares in shock and King covers Diane's eyes. "Whoa! That was pretty rough!" King says. "Come on, King! I can't see!" Diane whines. "You don't need to see this." King tells her. "Elizabeth, are you okay?" Hawk asks the princess who is stumbling. "I feel like I've been drained of blood." Elizabeth replies making Celeste look at her confused. "What do you say, Ban? Are we finished?" Meliodas asks. "Ha ha! You kidding? The festival's just getting started." Ban replies, holding his hand out in front of him. "Hunter Fest!" He shouts. Celeste looks at him with wide eyes and her wings sprout. "What in the world is he up to now?" Diane asks. "He's gonna steal the captain's power again." King claims. "Nope!" Celeste shakes her head and takes off into the sky. "Mother?!" Diane and King looked at the spot she was in. Merlin chuckles and snaps her fingers leaving the area. "Merlin too?!" They now look at the spot Merlin was in.
"Where'd they go?" Diane wonders. "Never seen a move like that." Gilthunder states. "Huh? What's... going on?" Howzer asks as his body suddenly begins feeling heavy. "All of a sudden my legs feel so limp." He says. Jericho falls to her knees with her arms crossed over her chest. "Something's wrong." She says. Everyone else falls to their knees, groaning. "All the strength in my body is..." Gustaf trails off. Elizabeth falls to her hands and knees and Hawk falls off her shoulders. "What in the world is going on here?" He wonders. "Elizabeth, what's going on?! Where's Celeste?" Meliodas asks the princess. "I-I don't know. Feels like all my strength has been sapped from my body." Elizabeth replies. "Yeah, it's the same for me, too." Hawk adds. Celeste giggles and Meliodas gasps looking up at the sky. There he finds Celeste floating above the cube with the sun hitting her back. Seeing her like this gave him flashbacks of how they first met. "Focus on the fight, Meliodas." Celeste tells him. The blonde nods and turns to Ban with a smirk. "So you had a secret ace in the hole. Nice one." Meliodas tells Ban, who lands a few feet in front of him.
"Why didn't you take away my power, then?" Meliodas asks. "Give me a break. Even if I did, you still have your own ace in the hole, don't you?" Ban fires back. "Besides, honestly, those people were really starting to get on my last nerve." Ban shares. "What an incredible move. Everyone who's in the nearby vicinity has been robbed of 50% of their strength." Gowther states, carrying Guila. "This will be quite the spectacle." Merlin comments. "It will indeed." Celeste agrees, flying over to her. "Ban." King whimpers. Ban gains more muscle causing his shirt to rip. "Show me that secret last resort you've got tucked away, Captain." Ban tells him. "Guess I have no choice." Meliodas flips his hair to reveal his demon mark and pitch-black eyes. "You want it, you got it!" Meliodas says. Ban appears in front of Meliodas in an instant and kicks him into the ceiling. Meliodas hits it leaving a blood splatter and he falls. Ban charges at him punching him into the opposite wall. Meliodas throws up blood and leaves a splatter behind him.
Ban then throws a barrage of punches at Meliodas since he was cornered. "Oh, man. He's caught between the wall and that barrage of punches." A man points out. "This is bad. I never thought that he'd start going after Meliodas for real." Hawk says. "Sir Ban! Please. That's enough. You have to stop this!" Elizabeth shouts stumbling to the cube, but Ban doesn't stop he keeps punching Meliodas even harder. "You'll kill him." Elizabeth whispers falling to her knees. "Ban, listen to me. This isn't something Elaine would want you to do!" King tells him. "Shut your mouth! You don't have to tell me that!" Ban replies, still beating up his captain. "So this isn't about Elaine, then?" Celeste wonders. "There's no longer a reason for this battle to continue." Merlin comments. "But knowing them, they'd keep fighting either way." Celeste shakes her head. "Meliodas, if you win I'll spend the night at the tavern again~" Celeste calls out. Meliodas smirks and uses the wall as a boost to headbutt Ban in the face.
"Heh. Heh. I can take 20 of those." Ban grabs Meliodas by the face. Meliodas wraps his legs around Ban's arm and twists around, pulling Ban's arm off. Meliodas hits Ban with his severed arm twice before Ban has enough. "Fox Hunt!" He says and his arm reattaches itself. "Gotta say, nothing compares to battling it out with you, Captain." Ban comments. "Yeah. Right back at you." Meliodas says. They continue fighting and smoke fills the cube obstructing everyone's view from the outside.
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The sun was now setting and the cube finally broke. Smoke fills the area and everyone's strength gets returned. Celeste flies down to Meliodas and kneels beside him. "The strength in my body..." King trails off. "It came back." Diane says. "It's so smoky, I can't tell who won." Hawk says. "If we've got our power back that Ban stole from us, then..." King's suspicion is confirmed when the smoke around Ban clears revealing him lying on the ground. "Man, I'm wiped out." Ban says after coughing. "Hey, Captain, you alive or what?" He asks. "Yeah, just barely." Meliodas replies. "Whew! Now, that was rough." He says. "So what about you, Ban? How are you holding up?" Meliodas asks the tall man. "Heh. I mean, I know you're not dead." He adds. "Yeah, but I'm so drained, I won't be moving anytime soon." Ban replies. "Looks like we'll have to settle the score another time, huh?" Meliodas suggests. "Mm-hmm. Looks like it." Ban agrees.
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Everyone made their way down to the mountain. "Jeez, I seriously can't keep up with those two. I mean, really." King says, floating beside Diane on his pillow. "Same here, but thank goodness they're all right." Diane agrees. "Who's all right, exactly?" Ban asks, carrying Meliodas on his back. "Master, why don't you let me lean on you?" Ban asks Hawk who was once again on Celeste's shoulder. "Unh-unh. Not happening." Hawk declines. "Celeste you have to sleep in the tavern now." Meliodas tells the girl. "No, I don't. I said if you won. You didn't win." Celeste reminds him. "Aw come on, mother!" Ban whines. "Nuh-uh." Celeste shakes her head and walks further ahead, giggling.
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I'm working on a little something, but idk when I'll publish it. Maybe next year? Anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter.
