40 Comes From the Heart

Meliodas charged at Laxus, leaping towards him and leaving a cloud of dust behind him as he wound back his left arm. Laxus smirked as he saw Meliodas winding back to punch and put his guard up, raising both arms up in front of him.

To Laxus's surprise, a punch was not thrown with Meliodas's left hand as Meliodas shifted his body in the air, delivering an uppercut with his right hand instead, hitting Laxus from the gap underneath his arms.

Before Laxus could react, he felt a sharp blow to his chin. Blood gushed from his mouth as his head was knocked back. Laxus's body was launched upward towards the ceiling. 'Tch, he's going all out now is he?.' Laxus thought as he looked back down and saw Meliodas jump up in the air towards him.

Laxus looked down below him at Meliodas only for Meliodas to seemingly vanish as he accelerated and reappeared behind Laxus.

"Not gonna work you little shit!" Laxus yelled. He spun around and swung his right arm back, punching Meliodas in the face and sending him hurtling towards the ground head first. Meliodas braced himself to hit the ground but before he could, he felt Laxus grab onto his body.

"Die!" Laxus yelled as he propelled both Meliodas and himself straight into the floor of the cathedral.

There was a large explosion of lightning and smoke as a massive crater formed in the building, blowing back any remaining seats that were still somehow intact from the previous bouts. More pillars that were supporting the cathedral gave way from the force, causing more parts of the roof to collapse until nearly half the roof was now gone.

As Laxus held Meliodas's body against the ground, he realized Meliodas had stopped the impact partially and was holding himself up with his arms.

"Haaahh!" Meliodas yelled as he pushed himself upward, breaking him free of Laxus's grasp, much to Laxus's surprise. Meliodas used this moment to jump up and deliver a kick to Laxus's face. The stunned Laxus took a few steps back, as blood dripped from his mouth and nose.

As Meliodas landed on the ground after his kick, he charged forward at Laxus again. Laxus recovered quickly and faced Meliodas. The two of them collided, their left forearms braced against each other as they both stood their ground.

Suddenly, Meliodas sent a flurry of fast punches at Laxus, with Laxus retaliating with his own flurry of lightning charged punches. The punches collided with each other, creating loud shockwaves that echoed through the cathedral, causing it to shake. The punches continued on for several more seconds until Meliodas found an opening, punching Laxus straight in the gut. At that moment, Laxus had counterattacked, punching Meliodas in the face. Both were sent hurtling backwards, with Laxus crashing into the altar of the cathedral and Meliodas getting launched past the entrance and out of the building.

Meliodas crashed into a nearby fruit stand, with wood, splinters, and fruit scattering everywhere. Thankfully, nobody was at the stand and Meliodas got back up. He wiped a bit of blood off of his mouth and brushed off a piece of fruit that was on his shoulder. He looked directly into the cathedral and could see Laxus was just getting up as well.

'This guy is tough…' Meliodas thought. He looked up in the air and saw Thunder Palace was still there. 'They put their faith in me to stop Laxus, so I trust they can take care of Thunder Palace.'

Meliodas ran forward through the entrance of the cathedral. Laxus had just brushed the dirt off his shoulder as he stood at the altar.

"Still got more in ya?" Laxus mocked. Meliodas stopped in front of Laxus and the two of them faced each other for a moment in silence.

"I guess that's it for the warm up. How about we get serious." Laxus said as his magical power began to drastically rise. Even more sparks began to form around him and his body began to grow in size, to the point where his purple top had ripped off, revealing his muscular upper body. His arms began to show a scale-like texture to them as his body finished growing.

"Haaaghhh!" Laxus yelled as lightning flared out from his body and cloaked him in an electrified aura. As Laxus finished yelling, he vanished, in a bright flash of yellow light and appeared behind Meliodas.

"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Meliodas barely had time to turn his head as Laxus delivered a punch that sent him flying across the cathedral. Before he could hit the other wall, Laxus appeared in Meliodas's path again and delivered a solid punch to Meliodas's stomach.

Meliodas coughed up blood as he was again sent flying back towards the entrance. This time, Meliodas planted his feet firmly on the ground as he skidded across the floor, leaving a trail of ruined ground where Meliodas sunk his feet.

Laxus charged forward again at Meliodas, who charged back at him. Meliodas threw a punch forward at Laxus, only for Laxus to disappear in a bright flash of light followed by a thunderous crackle. He reappeared positioned on top of Meliodas, leaving only sparks where he was originally placed.

"Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!"

With a massive amount of lightning magic in his hand, Laxus punched down at the ground at Meliodas, creating a large shockwave that ripped open the floor entirely. The remaining pillars of the cathedral collapsed, causing the rest of the grand building to fall slowly to the ground around them, kicking up a large cloud of dust and smoke.

The land where the cathedral once stood was now filled with mounds of stone, glass and wood. From one of the mounds, Laxus jumped up from the ground, holding Meliodas by the neck in his right arm.

"You're too soft Meliodas!" Laxus shouted as he gripped Meliodas's neck harder. Meliodas grit his teeth as Laxus tightened his grip around his neck. "I'll admit, you're a bit stronger than I thought, but you're still weak! You're too soft. You haven't tried to truly kill me this entire fight and I'm disappointed. You think I can't tell you're still pulling your punches?! It's weak willed shits like you that deserve to die, along with everyone else!"

As Meliodas gasped for air, he looked up at the Thunder Palace around the town. To his surprise, the lacrimas in the sky were all gone. A smile formed on Meliodas's face.

"The hell you smiling-" Laxus suddenly paused and let go of Meliodas. Meliodas fell to the ground, coughing as he knelt on the floor. Laxus looked up at the sky. Having been distracted by his fight with Meliodas, he did not realize all of the Lacrima were gone.

"Thunder Palace...all those Lacrima were destroyed?! Impossible!" Laxus yelled.

"See Laxus…" Meliodas said with a grin as he slowly got back up and wiped the blood from his mouth. "The more I stay here, the more this guild reminds me of the sins…" Meliodas said quietly to himself.

"The hell are you on about? What, you're gonna tell me this was the power from the heart again?!" Laxus shouted in disbelief. "You've hardly been in Fairy Tail! Why are you fighting so hard for these weak shits!"

"Laxus...that's because." Meliodas paused as he took a step forward towards Meliodas and pointed his left thumb towards his heart. "I am both Meliodas the Dragon's Sin and Meliodas of Fairy Tail!"