The Newcomer | The Seven Deadly Sins (short story)

The Newcomer

The Kingdom of Liones enjoyed a very brief time of peace. The kids were running amok in the streets, state commerce was running smoothly, and the citizens were readjusting to normal life. However, a new crop of evil Demons spontaneously came onto the horizon, wreaking havoc wherever they went.

The Kingdom mustered the Seven Deadly Sins for support although Ban urged the kingdom to reward them "handsomely" for their efforts. The rest of the Sins didn't support Ban's recommendation; much to his chagrin.

As they arrived, Meliodas immediately dashed forward and jumped high in the air swinging his Dragon Handle at one of the Demons. The Demon managed to block one of his attacks but soon succumbed to Meliodas' overwhelming strength. King accompanied Meliodas' backside and fought off another Demon with a barrage of spears. 

Gowther analyzed the beasts that the Sins were fighting from a distance and concluded, "These spontaneous creatures appear to originate from the Demon Clan. Namely, they are called Orange Demons."

"Thanks for the info, Mr. Obvious," Ban said aloud amidst fighting.

"The phrase is actually Captain Obvious and I wasn't finished," Gowther retorted. "Their power levels are about 1,100."

"Why does it feel more than that?" Diane asked as she deflected multiple strikes from hitting the surrounding town. 

"Perhaps, it's just you that feels that way, Diane," Escanor posited while readying a scorching fireball. "Heads up!"

The fireball was thrown and it seared through the rest of the Demons with ease, ending the conflict. 

After a few moments of relative tranquility, the local populace began returning to the site of the flashpoint. Claps, cheers, and praise erupted from the crowd for stopping the menace. Ban took this chance to clamor unashamedly for monetary rewards earning him a facepalm from King.

...

...

...

The fight wasn't over yet, however. Merlin sensed another unfriendly presence approaching their location. The thing that was weird, though, was that the presence approached from underneath. 

As soon as she alerted the others about the oncoming visitor, the ground started to shake. Citizens scattered out again with one of them shouting, "When will the carnage end!?" A large Copper Demon sprouted up from the ground and caught Meliodas off-guard with a quick swipe.

Merlin sensed another presence zooming to their location at hair-raising speeds. "Nice sucker punch," Meliodas commented, "but it's going to take a lot more than that put me down!"

The zooming presence then entered the battlefield and yelled out, "Super Cyclone!" A dusty, electrically-charged tornado spawned into existence and slowly ripped apart the Copper Demon while also zapping it. 

"Woah, is that you Howzer?" Diane asked.

"Nah, no way!" King quickly responded. 

Unfortunately, the technique ended up doing more harm than good as it wrecked several households and displaced a dozen citizens miles away from the town. Meliodas kicked down the stranger in question to stop the tornado turbulence. The stranger had on a red and white robe, schorl necklace, black shorts, knee-high socks, expensive-looking black shoes, and a small crown. Although, if you saw the crown you would think it's a tiara. The stranger laid on the ground motionless. "What did you do, Captain?" Ban said. 

"He's fine," Gowther said on the condition of the stranger. 

The outsider slowly got up and dusted himself off. He took minimal injury to the attack with the only thing really tattered being his robe. "Hey, mister," Diana prodded, "who are you?"