Last Resort

Meliodas' body remained limp as he was skewered on the blade. Despite this, he was still firmly grasping Mel Force. Suddenly, Meliodas lifted his head and a grin formed on his face.

A swirling vortex of magic began to envelope both Meliodas and Doryu. Large chunks of the ground were unearthed and caught in the vortex as it grew higher and higher into the sky and radiantly glowed in the night sky. With the blade still inside of Meliodas, both Doryu and Meliodas began to hover in the air as the fierce whirlwind of magic lifted them up.

Meliodas gripped Mel Force tightly and raised it up. Doryu's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. Despite being in a berserk state that ran only on instinct, his instincts were telling him that he would not make it out of this attack.

Meliodas swung Mel Force, compressing the massive amount of magic into a single point which was Doryu.

"REVENGE COUNTER!"

Doryu found himself surrounded by a bright light as his body was engulfed. His hand, which had been attached to the black sword that was still lodged into Meliodas' body had finally detached. Doryu stared at Meliodas as the energy collided with him, having returned to his senses. A tear formed in his right eye and it dripped down his cheek. Despite being at death's door, a sense of relief filled his heart. The black blade had drained most of his body's life force already and trapped his soul in an eternal hell. Meliodas' attack just now had freed him from that hell.

"I see...so I just wasn't strong enough…" Doryu whispered before being fully engulfed by the blast.

Meliodas landed on the ground shakily as the blast finished, with the black blade still lodged inside of his chest. He felt a sharp, throbbing pain in his chest as he looked at the blade. In front of him, Doryu's lifeless body hit the ground, his body shriveled and nearly unrecognizable.

Suddenly, Meliodas began to feel dizzy. His vision began to blur as his body collapsed on the ground. He grunted in pain before shortly passing out on the ground.

---

Meliodas woke up in what appeared to be some kind of void. He looked down at his body and noticed all of his injuries were gone. A dark purple abyss loomed beneath him as he stood on a transparent surface. Around him, all he could hear was endless screaming.

Meliodas ignored the screams and walked forward. In the distance, he could make out a pitch black figure that looked humanoid.

"You're able to maintain your soul despite being trapped in the void?" The figure said in a child-like voice as Meliodas walked closer.

"Where is this place? Am I in the sword?" Meliodas asked.

"Yes you are. This is where all the souls are trapped in order to feed me power. They spend an eternity here as I feed off their rage and hatred. That fool Doryu didn't have the capacity to keep my power in check and he paid the ultimate price. But before the conversion could finish, you defeated him, freeing his soul from my tortuous hell." The figure continued.

"So you're a being that resides in this sword or… are you the sword?" Meliodas asked. The figure remained silent but grinned showing its white teeth.

"On closer inspection I see that you aren't human. Not even Doryu, a man with an innate darkness affinity could resist me for long. But with you...it makes sense why I can't absorb you. Unlike Doryu, you're a true demon. Only one who was a demon from the start can wield my power."

"Well it's not like I want to wield you." Meliodas replied. "You just so happened to be lodged inside my chest. But while you're at it, do you think you could free all these poor guys you have trapped here?"

"And give up my sustenance? Just who the hell do you think you are?!" The figure replied.

"I'm Meliodas." Meliodas replied with a cheeky grin. The figure's expression turned into a frown.

"You have a resistance to my influence, but an even greater potential for dark power. So I'll just have to take your body for myself!" The figure immediately lunged towards Meliodas with its left hand outstretched.

The figure grabbed Meliodas by the neck and a grin formed on its face. Meliodas stared at the figure, unfazed by its actions.

"W-what's going on?! I can't absorb you?!" The figure stuttered.

"Looks like I have just a bit better control over my soul than you do." Meliodas said with a cheeky smile. Meliodas placed a hand on the figure's chest.

"W-wait what are you doing?!" The dark figure exclaimed.

Suddenly, a countless number of white orbs flowed out of the back of the figure. As more and more of them flew out of the back, the screams of agony that echoed throughout the area began to die down. The figure immediately let go of Meliodas' neck and jumped back.

"Y-you bastard! Those souls were mine! How are you able to pull them out of me?!" The figure exclaimed.

"I don't know those people but I'm sure they didn't deserve to be put into an eternal state of torture by you. And I'll set them all free!" Meliodas shouted as he lunged forward at the figure.

"No...I WON'T LET YOU!" The figure shouted as tendrils of darkness shot out from its body towards Meliodas. Meliodas raised his left arm up, creating a black sword made of his own darkness. He lunged forward while spinning, cleaving through the tentacles as well as the figure.

Meliodas appeared behind the figure, the figure now cut in half from the waist down. From its wounds, more souls began to leak out of its body as they ascended upward. The figure immediately reattached itself to its lower body.

"I-I don't understand? You're able to overpower me in my own realm?" The figure stated.

"This isn't just your realm. This is mine as well. You are attached to me after all." Meliodas replied.

"All of those souls...if you're going to take those from me...THEN I'LL DEFINITELY DEVOUR YOURS IN RE-" The figure immediately went silent as a condensed ball of darkness shot through its head like a bullet, leaving a large hole in its head.

"AAAAGGHHH!" The figure screamed as more souls began to pour out of the wound.

"My wound...it won't close...why won't it-" The figure immediately realized that Meliodas had left a part of his darkness in his head that was keeping the hole open. Even as he tried to close around it, the darkness would spread, preventing it from fully closing.

"N-no...It can't end like this...I...won't…" The figure's words began to quiet down and it dropped to its knees. Souls stopped leaving its body and it remained motionless on the ground. Meliodas slowly walked up to the figure.

"Y-you're going to devour me...in the same way I was going to devour you aren't you…" The figure questioned.

"Nope." Meliodas said. "You seem like you've been in a lot of pain here. So I'll set you free as well."

"What?!" The figure exclaimed, surprised at Meliodas' words. "I could tell when I placed my hand on you! Something had damaged your very being, causing irreparable damage to both your body and soul and you're not in your prime any longer! If you were to devour my power, you would have complete control over me and still become stronger!"

"Maybe if it were me from three thousand years ago I would have done it, but I'm not like that anymore." Meliodas commented. "Besides, I don't think you have what it takes to fix me even if I did eat you."

"T-three thousand years ago?!" The figure exclaimed as he placed his hand on the figure's head.

"Before I let you go, what is your name?" Meliodas asked. The figure remained silent for a few moments, dumbfounded at Meliodas' actions not meeting his expectations. Eventually a wide grin formed on its face as it answered.

"Sacrifar."

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