The Desert King

Meliodas sat on the balcony with Kareem who was covered head to toe in bandages. Meliodas was now wearing the traditional Ajeel Squad attire consisting of a white headscarf and brown robes. Kareem mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as he looked away from Meliodas.

"Sorry about that. Want some booze for the pain?" Meliodas asked. Kareem shook his head.

"Not while I'm on duty."

"Fair enough." Meliodas said. Suddenly, Meliodas felt a huge magical presence enter the hall followed by Bakel. Meliodas looked at the man with the huge presence. He was a dark skinned, muscular young man with thick brown hair that jutted outward wildly, held back by a yellow headband. The man was shirtless, except for a thin gold cloth tied around his neck that went around his upper torso, revealing the insignia of Alvarez on his right shoulder. On his arms he wore gold bands and on his legs he donned baggy brown trousers and golden sandals.

'This guy seems about as strong as those other two on Caracole.' Meliodas thought to himself.

"Why did you bring me here Bakel?" Ajeel asked.

"I wanted to show you the really strong newbie! I think he'll be a great addition to the squad!" Bakel exclaimed as he pointed towards Meliodas on the balcony. Ajeel raised an eyebrow as he looked at Meliodas.

"And tell me. Why are the newbie and Kareem sitting above me and not on the floor down here!" Ajeel said with an irritated tone. Kareem immediately realized what he had done wrong and grabbed Meliodas, jumping down with him onto the sand and ignoring the pain from his injuries.

"So why this newbie in particular. He certainly looks like a fighter but he doesn't feel like anything special." Ajeel commented.

"He beat Kareem in one punch and he was so fast!" Bakel exclaimed.

"I'll admit, Kareem is one of my top soldiers. Alright, you've piqued my interest. What's your name." Ajeel asked.

"Zeldris." Meliodas said.

"Okay Zeldris. If you're as strong as Bakel says you are, fight Bakel right now. If you defeat him, I'll make you a sub commander of your own squadron under me." Ajeel smirked. Bakel looked at Ajeel with surprise.

"Well?" Ajeel glanced at Bakel. "What are you gawking at? Fight. Right now. Don't hold back. Fight him with intent to kill. You bothered to waste my time making me meet some newbie, so if this newbie is as strong as you say he is, then he'll defeat you as well."

"Arrghhh!" Bakel shouted as he immediately charged at Meliodas. Bakel let loose a flurry of quick punches at Meliodas. Meliodas remained aloof, keeping his right hand in his pocket as he took out only his left one.

With only his left hand, Meliodas swatted each of Bakel's punches away, punches so fast and strong, the sand beneath their feet was blown away. Ajeel's eyes widened and a smirk formed on his face.

"This guy's not bad at all."

Bakel suddenly stopped and he took a step back, screaming in pain.

"AAAGHGHH!" Bakel looked down at his hands, all of his fingers mangled and broken. Meliodas suddenly charged in at Bakel, jumping up and kicking him in the chin and sending the huge man flying across the hall.

"Sweet." Ajeel said as he watched Bakel go flying past him and landing in the sand.

"Quite the skills you have. Where are you from Zeldris?" Ajeel asked.

"Garage Island." Meliodas responded. Ajeel's eyes widened. 'Huh…so the backwater riffraff can fight.'

"Oh yeah, I have a question for you since I have your attention now." Meliodas said.

"Alright, what is it?" Ajeel responded.

"You know August, the Wizard King? I'm looking for him." Meliodas questioned. Ajeel looked at Meliodas with a perplexed look.

"The hell? Why are you looking for that old man?" Ajeel asked.

"Just got some questions for him. Figured I could get to him through you." Meliodas said. Suddenly, Meliodas felt the sand around the room begin to shift. Ajeel's magic began to flare up even further and a vein formed on his face.

"I see…" Ajeel grumbled. "I was wondering why some Garage Island trash was so strong…you're not really from there are you! You're a spy from another nation! I don't know why you're looking for August, but you should stop. I don't care if you defeated both Kareem and Bakel! They're both grains of sand compared to the vast desert that is ME, THE DESERT KING!" Ajeel exclaimed. He raised both of his arms up as the sand beneath his feat began to rise.

"Wow…quite the conclusion you just made. You don't make a lot of friends do you?" Meliodas said with a cheeky smile. He noticed a vein form on Ajeel's forehead as he glared at him. Ajeel and the sand beneath him rose further and further up, almost up to the ceiling of the massive hall.

'Was there always this much sand in the room?' Melioads thought as a towering tsunami of sand was now heading towards him. Meliodas attempted to move but the sand beneath his feet grabbed onto his ankles as the tsunami washed over him.

The building above suddenly erupted with sand that flooded the streets, turning that part of the neighborhood into a small desert. Meliodas' head popped out of the sand moments later and he began to squirm.

"Oh? You managed to get out of that?" Ajeel questioned. In front of Meliodas. Ajeel stood atop a huge golem made entirely of sand.

"Well I got sand in some uncomfortable areas now so thanks." Meliodas responded as he pulled himself out of the sand.

Ajeel's golem wound its massive fist back and threw a punch at Meliodas. Meliodas put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force, seemingly drawing it but sheathing it immediately afterward. Just as the golem's fist was about to reach Meliodas, it broke apart, breaking down into sand and melding back with the ground.

"The hell?" Ajeel questioned as he was now falling. Meliodas suddenly appeared in front of him, throwing a punch directly into his chest. A smirk formed on Ajeel's face as his body turned into sand and Meliodas' fist went right through.

Ajeel suddenly appeared from the sand behind Meliodas.

"And this is your-" Ajeel froze as he couldn't move a single muscle in his body. A strange darkness was surrounding him and and he fell straight to the ground.

"W-what…I-I can't move…" Ajeel grunted.

"If you're not gonna help me either, I don't have time for this." Meliodas sighed. He spun around, kicking Ajeel across the face with a roundhouse kick.

'S-so strong…' Ajeel was sent flying straight into a large tower that was sticking out of the sand, the collision causing the tower to fall to the ground on top of him.

"Well, well, well. Everyone in this country is so aggressive. I hope this Wizard King guy doesn't just decide to attack me as soon as we meet.." As Meliodas began to walk away, he could hear Ajeel's muffled voice and could barely make out what it said.

"Sweet."