54 A Shadow from the Past

"Wendy!" Carla exclaimed.

"J-Jellal?!" Erza questioned. Erza stood in place, shocked at what she was seeing. Natsu looked angrily at Jellal who was looking back at them.

"Well you got something to say?!" Natsu yelled. Natsu clenched his fists as he glared at Jellal while he continued to remain silent.

Brain looked at Natsu and Erza standing at the entrance. Natsu was prepared to fight but Erza was seemingly paralyzed by shock. A small smile appeared on Brain's face. He raised his staff and pointed it towards Erza. A beam of darkness shot out from his staff and headed towards Erza.

"Erza! Move!" Natsu called out. He ran towards Erza but was unable to get to her in time.

"Watch out!" A voice yelled as a figure pushed Erza out of the way. The blast collided with the spot Erza was just standing in, creating an explosion of dark magic and dust that hit the figure.

"Meliodas?!" Natsu exclaimed. Natsu was surprised Meliodas was there. Even with what power he had gauged with Meliodas, it had still only been a couple of minutes and Meliodas had already defeated Racer and caught up with them.

"Meliodas!" Erza shouted as she snapped out of her daze and watched Meliodas get enveloped by the dark blast. Meliodas jumped out from the smoke of the blast moments later, with his clothes slightly tattered and minor scratches and wounds on his body, but was otherwise okay as he brushed the dust off his shoulders. A look of relief wiped over Erza's worried expression.

"Meliodas I'm sorry...this is the second time you've had to push me out of the way from a blast…" Erza said.

"Don't worry about it. But who is that guy?" Meliodas asked. 'He looks like Mystogan… But it's not him. Looks like the three of them have a history.' Meliodas thought to himself. Mystogan had mentioned to him before that he hid his face because someone in this world looked like him.

"That's...JELLAL!!" Natsu yelled angrily as veins started forming on his face just above his eyebrows. He charged in at both Brain and Jellal. Jellal raised his hand and pointed it at Natsu as Natsu was about to land a punch on him. Suddenly, Natsu found himself unable to move as he was blasted into the wall of the cave and rocks began crashing down on him.

"As expected Jellal. Although...I may require your assistance dealing with those two pests." Brain said as he looked towards Erza and Meliodas. He was intrigued by Meliodas who was barely damaged by the blast and from what he could tell based on one of his other markings being gone, had defeated Racer by himself.

Jellal looked back at Brain and swiped his hand at the ground beneath him. To Brain's surprise, the rocky floor beneath him began to collapse into a deep pit.

"Jellal you-!" Brain yelled as he fell into the deep hole.

Without a word, Jellal turned back around and started walking towards the entrance. Meliodas and Erza both stared in silence at Jellal as he walked by them.

"Jellal…" Erza said solemnly as he walked by. Jellal stopped in his tracks with his back facing towards them. Without a word, Jellal swiped his right hand back towards the duo, sending a wide arc of magic at them.

"Full Counter!"

Meliodas quickly drew his blade and reflected the blast back, enveloping the area in front of them several meters in an explosion of magic and debris. With his blade, Meliodas swiped at the smoke caused from the explosion, dispersing it. But behind the smoke, Jellal was no longer there.

"Looks like he got away." Meliodas commented as he sheathed his sword again. He looked towards the cave and saw the pile of rocks Natsu was buried under. Bright flames could be seen glowing under the rocks when suddenly, the rocks erupted outwards. Natsu walked out, covered in dirt with an angry expression on his face.

"I'm gonna get that bastard!" Natsu yelled angrily. He began running out of the cave but was stopped by Carla.

"No, we need to get Wendy back you dolt!" Carla shouted. She pointed at Wendy who was still lying on the cold rocky floor of the cave.

"Leave Wendy to me. You guys can go chase after him. I can tell you all have some history." Meliodas said reassuringly to them. Natsu's angry expression calmed down slightly as he nodded at Meliodas.

"Happy let's go!" Natsu yelled as he began running in the direction Jellal went in.

"Aye sir!" Happy replied eagerly as he flew after Natsu.

"Meliodas...thank you." Erza said before running off to join Natsu. Meliodas watched the three of them disappear into the forest before turning back around and walking into the cave with Carla.

As Meliodas walked into the cave, he saw a dark blue haired girl lying face down on the ground. Carla ran up to her and started nudging on her shoulder to try and wake her up.

"Come on let's go bring Wendy back." Meliodas said. Carla looked back at Meliodas and nodded.

---

A moment later, Meliodas walked out of the cave with Wendy slung over his shoulder and Carla flying next to him. Meliodas looked back up at the cliff where he was attacked by Racer.

Meliodas and Carla went up the path of the cliff and into the other end of the forest. On the way, Meliodas stopped by where he had originally knocked out Racer. Racer's unconscious body was still there. Meliodas took a moment to tie him up and drag him behind them as they continued walking back to the base camp. They walked through the forest for several minutes until reaching a clearing. Meliodas walked to the center of the clearing and put Wendy down, to Carla's surprise.

"Why are we stopping here? We're nowhere near the rendezvous." Carla asked.

"We're being followed." Meliodas answered. He turned around and faced the forest. "Stand back."

"Come out from hiding! I know you're there!" Meliodas shouted.

Meliodas remained standing firm in the center of the clearing in silence as Carla watched. The silence was broken as the wind began blowing and a white haired woman began walking out slowly from the treeline.

"Angel from the Oracion Seis?! This would be bad but..." Carla noticed the heavy amount of damage already on Angel's body. And Meliodas, despite fighting Cobra, Racer, and receiving a direct attack from Brain, was still relatively unscathed.

"So you noticed me." Angel smirked as she walked closer to Meliodas.

"You're not as stealthy as you think you are." Meliodas commented with a cheeky grin.

Angel's smirk vanished as it turned into a glare. She reached into her feathered dress pocket and pulled out a key.

"You're going to hand Racer over right now! Don't think this fight will be like last time!" Angel declared. Meliodas began walking towards Angel.

"Gate of the-" As Angel's key began glowing, Meliodas seemingly vanished from Angel and Carla's sight. He reappeared in front of Angel and snatched the key out of her hand.

Angel's eyes widened in shock at what just happened. 'This kid...he's fast! I can see how he defeated Racer!'

Without delay, Meliodas turned his body around in a fluid motion, delivering a fierce back kick to Angel's torso. Angel coughed up blood as the kick sent her flying back through the forest, leaving a trail of decimated trees and greenery.

Carla watched in shock at what had just happened as Meliodas walked into the forest where he kicked Angel. 'Did he just defeat a member of the Oracion Seis in one blow?'

Meliodas approached Angel's unconscious body. There was an indent in her body where Meliodas had kicked her and blood was dripping out of her mouth.

"You're right, it wasn't like last time."

He noticed the rest of her keys had fallen out of her dress and he picked them up.

Can't do much without these can ya?" Meliodas said out loud as he put them into his pants pocket. He bent down and picked up Angel, slinging her over his left shoulder before walking back to the clearing to meet up with Carla.

"Yo!" Meliodas greeted Carla as he walked back in the clearing.

"W-Well done…" Carla said, still somewhat shaken by Meliodas's recent feat. Meliodas smiled at Carla before picking up Wendy and slinging her over his right shoulder while he dragged Angel and Racer with his left arm.

"If we run into any more of these guys, I won't have any more arms." Meliodas laughed.

"Y-yeah." Carla replied nervously. 'This boy is some kind of monster?!'