Hidden Threat

Meliodas and the trio from Lamia Scale returned to the town, with Meliodas carrying Ogre over his head. As Meliodas was carrying him, there was a trail of Ogre's blood dripping behind them.

"Meliodas, do you need any help?" Lyon asked as he watched him carry Ogre.

"Nope." Meliodas said casually as he continued to walk unencumbered.

Lyon was still surprised as he watched this five foot kid carrying ogre without any strain.

Thirty minutes later, the four of them approached the town guard. The guard had a shocked look on his face as he opened the gate, seeing Meliodas carrying a large bleeding man over his head.

"I-Is that Ogre?!" The guard stuttered.

"Yep! Where is the Mayor?" Meliodas asked.

The guard snapped out of his stupor before guiding Meliodas and his group inside. He stopped before a large door and stood outside, opening the door to allow Meliodas and his group in.

"The Mayor is waiting for you inside along with members of the council." The guard said.

"Thanks." Meliodas responded as he walked in through the door. He saw the mayor, Willard, sitting down at his table, speaking with the members of the Council. He stopped speaking and turned to Meliodas and his party, with Meliodas carrying Ogre with him.

Willard immediately stood up with an excited expression on his face. He wasn't expecting Meliodas to return so soon. He was prepared to ask the council to send in some reinforcements to find them and assist them in battle. Willard immediately rushed over to greet the group.

"Thank you all very much, I can't believe you guys were able to beat him." Willard said, grinning widely.

"It wasn't much." Meliodas responded as he dropped Ogre down onto the floor. The council members walked over to Meliodas and thanked the group.

"Thank you, we will take it from here." One of the councilmen said. Two of them lifted up Ogre and placed him in a portable cage on wheels and cuffed him with anti magic cuffs. A medic tended to Ogre's wounds while another tended to Sherry to help recover her lost magic.

As Ogre's wounds were treated, he woke up, and saw Meliodas staring at him. 'What was he after.' Meliodas thought to himself.

Ogre looked down and saw both his arms and legs had been restrained. As the medic finished wrapping up Ogre, another councilman closed the door to the cage. Ogre ignored them, only staring at Meliodas.

"HAHAHAAHH!!! You may have beaten me, but you will all get what's coming to you eventually. We already have what we need!!" Ogre roared as he was dragged away.

Meliodas furrowed his brows, thinking back to the missing orb. 'Is it related to that orb that suddenly disappeared. Well whatever, the council will take it from here.'

After turning in the prisoner, Meliodas and the Lamia group turned to the mayor.

"Thank you all for saving our town from that man. We don't know what we would have done with you." Willard said, bowing his head to the group.

A councilman approached the group with a check in his hand. He handed Lyon the check for 2,000,000 Jewel.

"Thank you for your assistance. Here is the promised reward." The councilman said before leaving. Lyon stared at the check for a few moments before turning to Meliodas.

"Meliodas." Lyon handed Meliodas the check. "I think you should have it. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to beat Ogre or rescue Sherry."

Yuka and Sherry both nodded in agreement. The mission would not have succeeded without Meliodas's assistance.

"Nah. We'll just split it fifty-fifty. You guys have been through a lot on this mission too and I don't need all of this money. Besides…" Meliodas looked over at Yuka. "He needs a new eyebrow."

Lyon and Sherry laughed as Yuka's face turned red. Afterwards, Meliodas cashed the check out and gave Lamia Scale one million jewels for them to split amongst themselves.

"You sure you don't want to come back with us to Lamia Scale?" Lyon asked.

"Nah. I'm sticking with Fairy Tail. Although I might pay a visit to you guys to sample some booze." Meliodas replied. Lyon nodded in confusion as Meliodas waved goodbye to the three of them.

"Booze?" Lyon questioned, now doubting Meliodas's childlike appearance even more.

"He's strong." Yuka commented as the Lamia Scale team watched Meliodas walk away. "He may be a match for Jura… "

"That is true. But I wouldn't put him at Jura's level. But that strange magic of his that he used...." Lyon commented.

Unknown to Meliodas and the Lamia group, several buildings away, a figure watched from the shadow of a building. In his hand, the figure held a strange orb. As the figure watched Meliodas, he narrowed his eyes before vanishing.

---

In a dark hall, Doryu was seated in his throne, when a figure appeared through the shadows.

"Master Doryu." Aifread said, kneeling down in front Doryu.

"Stand." Doryu ordered.

Aifread stood up and presented Doryu an orb in his hand.

"Master, I've brought the orb."

Doryu made a gesture with his hand, prompting the orb to float directly into his hands. Doryu looked at the orb and grinned.

"Good. It appears he was successful in filling up the orb. And what happened with Ogre?"

"He was defeated by some legal guild mages. They were from Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale I believe." Aifread responded.

"That useless buffoon, he always went head first. However, his power was still impressive. I wonder who was capable of actually taking him out." Doryu asked. "Were Titania or Jura on that mission?"

"Neither, Master Doryu." Aifread replied.

"Then it was Makarov's grandson, Laxus was it?" Doryu continued asking. Aifread shook his head before replying.

"It was a young boy named Meliodas who overpowered and defeated Ogre. I watched it from the shadows."

"Ogre defeated by a child?!" Doryu exclaimed. A vein appeared on his head as he gripped the armrest of his seat hard enough to crack it.

"That child...was no ordinary child. His name is Meliodas. I watched it all from the shadows. He used a power as dark as your own and defeated Ogre in a single strike."

Upon hearing this, Doryu's anger calmed down and a calm grin formed on his face.

"Meliodas…? Interesting...but no matter. What is important is that now we only have two orbs remaining. Begin the transport, this time I will lead them personally." Doryu ordered.

"Yes master." Aifread said before leaving the room.

'A child possesses darkness that rivals my own? Meliodas from Fairy Tail...I'll have to look into him…' Doryu waved his hand causing a three foot long coffin to appear in his hands. The coffin was pitch black and radiating a black miasmic mist that began to fill the room. On the coffin were four slots, two of which were filled with glowing orbs.

'Two more….'