Hatred

Meliodas flew in the direction of the arena, scanning the large crowd of people. A few minutes passed and he noticed Jellal walking at a brisk pace by himself to a more secluded portion of town. Jellal glanced at Meliodas, acknowledging his presence and pointed towards the direction he wanted to go to. Meliodas quickly descended and landed right next to him.

"Yo, Mystogan!" Meliodas greeted with a small wave. Jellal nodded in response.

"I'm guessing since you're out here walking free, it went well with the council?" Meliodas asked.

"Yeah. Doranbolt unmasked me but Yajima bailed me out. However, I don't think it's a good idea for me to actively participate in the Grand Magic Games any longer." Jellal said as the two of them walked down the empty street.

"That's a shame. You seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, especially with showing in front of Erza." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin as he nudged at Jellal's arm with his elbow.

"I-I can't risk it. The council is aware now and I don't want to tarnish Fairy Tail's reputation." Jellal responded.

"You sure? Lahar owes me a favor. I could get him to look the other way on this." Meliodas said.

"Don't worry about it. I don't want you messing up your reputation either. So what about you? Did you find out anything about the figure we were chasing?" Jellal asked.

"I caught up to him but I couldn't get a good look at him as he was inside some kind of shadow. He slipped into the sewers using shadow magic. And I don't think it would be a good idea to tear up the city trying to find him." Meliodas said.

"Understandable. We should meet up with Ultear and Meredy. Right now, what you've found out is the closest lead we have to figuring out about this strange magic." Jellal said. "Although...we should shake those two who have been tailing us for a while now…" Jellal said silently.

"JELLAL!" An angry woman's voice screamed from behind them. The two of them turned around and saw Kagura glaring at them. Next to Kagura was a woman with messy brown hair styled into cat ears. She had a curvaceous figure and cat-like facial features. Her attire consisted of a purple hooded cape, black and purple striped leggings, a bikini top, and underwear bottom with a red paw print at the front.

"Kagura? And who is that with you again?" Meliodas questioned. 'Didn't she participate in that mpf event?'

"I believe the one next to her is Millianna." Jellal answered.

"OUT OF MY WAY MELIODAS! THIS DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!" Kagura shouted angrily as she walked towards the two of them with her hand tightly gripping her sword handle.

"The only person we care about right now, is the one next to you...Jellal!" Millianna said with a bloodlusted look in her eyes.

"Oh. This isn't Jellal. This is Mystogan. He's from Edolas and-"

"Shut it Meliodas! We all know it's Jellal! We saw him under the mask!" Millianna interjected.

"Are you sure about that? Mystogan's just some guy without a mustache under the mask." Meliodas commented with a cheeky smile.

"I WON'T ASK AGAIN. STAY OUT OF THIS MELIODAS!" Kagura shouted angrily. At that moment, it clicked in Meliodas' head. He remembered Kagura's words to him in the arena, saying she would only draw her blade for one man.

"So the one she wants to kill is…" Meliodas glanced over at Jellal next to him.

"What business do you ladies have with me?" Jellal asked.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" Kagura screamed as she suddenly started walking faster towards Jellal. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER SIMON!"

"S-Simon…" Jellal mumbled as he started walking towards Kagura. "What I did at the tower...I can never truly atone for it…"

'Simon?' Meliodas pondered. He remembered during their travels in Crime Sorciere, Jellal telling a story about his sins at the Tower of Heaven and how Erza and Natsu stopped him. 'So that guy was Kagura's brother then…'

Meliodas suddenly grabbed Jellal's arm, stopping him before looking at Kagura and Milianna. Jellal immediately broke free of Meliodas' grip and looked at Meliodas with sad eyes.

"Meliodas...if my death is what calms their rage...then- AGHHH" Jellal suddenly shouted in pain as Meliodas jumped up and did a hard chop to the top of his head. Jellal held his head in pain as he looked at Meliodas with a confused expression.

"I thought we were over this. You're doing what you can now. Don't throw what you've worked hard for away. Besides, if you die, there are still others that care about you and don't want you dead." Meliodas said sternly.

"ARE YOU SIDING WITH JELLAL MELIODAS?!" Kagura shouted.

"Regardless of what you two think about Jellal, he's my friend. Normally, you two wouldn't even be a match for him. But right now, he's not in the right mental state to protect himself." Meliodas said resolutely as he looked fiercely at Kagura, locking eyes. "Even if Jellal accepted himself to die by your hands, I won't allow that. Rule number 4 of the Seven Deadly Sins, if a friend is in crisis, then I'll use all of my power to help that friend!"

"In that case…" Kagura said as she suddenly leaped straight forward towards both Meliodas and Jellal.

"YOU CAN JOIN HIM IN HELL!" Kagura screamed as she drew her blade from its sheath and swung it.

As she swung her blade, a huge shockwave of energy erupted, cutting through the entire street in front of her and several more buildings behind it, leaving a huge trail of destruction and a large cloud of smoke in front of her.

To her surprise, Kagura could not pull her blade back as she was stuck holding it out in front of her. The smoke in front of her began to clear slightly, revealing Meliodas grabbing the tip of the blade with just his fingertips covered in a dark substance on his right hand.

"When Archenemy is drawn...it would cause a cataclysm...yet he caught her blade in his fingers?!" Millianna exclaimed with a look of shock on her face.

Meliodas let go of Archenemy and Kagura immediately jumped back, her hands noticeably trembling. Behind the group, was the sound of dozens of loud footsteps getting closer to them. Meliodas glanced over and saw a group of people approaching them briskly wearing white robes.

"What's going on over there?!" One of the councilmen shouted, unable to fully see what was going on due to the lingering dust cloud in the area.

"Looks like we'll have to settle this another time then." Meliodas said as he immediately turned around and picked up Jellal, dragging him by his cloak before dashing off the other way.

"Kagura we have to go, or else Mermaid Heel will be in trouble." Millianna said. Kagura took a deep breath in and sheathed her sword. She looked at Millianna and nodded before running off with her.

'Meliodas...so even you would get in my way. I don't care just how strong you are...my hatred for Jellal is stronger. If you of all people were to get in my way, I won't hesitate to strike you down myself when it comes down to it next time…'