Hidden Menace

Meliodas approached Lance who was leaning against one of the guard rails as he took a breather.

"How are you holding up?" Meliodas asked.

"I'm good. I think I can get up and walk now." Lance said as he slowly got up from his spot. "But how are you doing? I can't believe I just watched you get your limbs twisted off and now they're back in place as if nothing happened! Not only that but you took a literal acid bath and nothing happened!"

"Oh, it's nothing really." Meliodas replied nonchalantly.

"What do you mean?!" Lance exclaimed.

"You should get out of here." Meliodas said, shifting his tone into a more serious one. "I'm guessing Requin isn't the leader and that the true leaders were watching us fight. You've gotten your revenge for Goodwin. This isn't your fight anymore." Meliodas said.

"Yeah...am I just supposed to swim back or something?" Lance questioned.

"Hmm…" Meliodas pondered as he looked around. He peered over the guardrail and noticed a small lifeboat attached to the side of the ship. Next to it, was one of the ropes that the grunts used to rappel down to Seadog's boat from earlier.

"I'll cut the lifeboat and you take that rope down. Then get out of here and meet up with Seadog. To be honest, I can't fight at my full power with you here." Meliodas said. Lance nodded his head.

"Yeah...I figured as much." Lance responded, seeming slightly disheartened at the truth of Meliodas' words. Meliodas cut the ropes holding up the lifeboat, causing it to fall down to the water below with a large splash as the ship they were on was still floating high above the water.

"Good luck Meliodas! As Captain Seadog said, show em hell!" Lance said before climbing down the rope.

Meliodas turned around and faced towards the entrance to the lower floors of the ship. The magical seal on the outside of the door suddenly vanished and several figures stepped out and stood out in front of him.

The one at the very front was a pale, well built man who was very tall. He had a distinctive V shaped marking on his forehead and azure colored hair kept in a short cut with a small tuft at the base of his hairline. He donned a regal attire wearing a light colored shirt with many spiral shaped motifs and a plate cuirass with a similar pattern right over it with a long blue cape hanging down from his pauldrons.

Next to him were two women, one of which was a slim, dark skinned young woman with long black hair and black eyes. She donned a somewhat tribal attire, with a headband and two feathers coming down from each side along with a bikini top and a blue cape that was connected to a jeweled collar. Her bottom pieces consisted of a segmented dress and knee high strapped sandals.

The other was a young, well endowed woman with violet eyes and long messy violet hair. She wore a blue cloak that was connected to a high collared black top that revealed her ample bust. Underneath her cloak she wore a belted bikini bottom with blue thigh high stockings and brown sandals.

"Belnika." Hardner said as he looked at the violet haired woman. "Fix up Requin."

"What about the others, Master Hardner." Belnika asked.

"They're not important. Don't waste your time on them. Requin was the only one we could truly trust." Hardner said before looking at Meliodas. "I will deal with this one."

"That is not necessary Master Hardner." The dark skinned woman responded. "I will be more than enough to fight him."

"I wouldn't underestimate him, Lunar." Hardner responded. "That's no ordinary mage. That is Meliodas, the "Blond Demon." Requin grew too complacent with his power and look at what happened to him. I would rather not lose any more key members of my crew today."

"So you're the leader of Blue Guardians I assume." Meliodas inquired.

"Yes. I am Hardner, the Captain of this vessel, Albatross and the master of Blue Guardians." Hardner replied. "Your power is quite impressive and your reflection magic is certainly potent."

"I'm a bit surprised people of your caliber were only ranked as an S Rank threat. If your group chose too, you could easily become a top force in the Balam Alliance." Meliodas commented.

"Perhaps, but what the Balam Alliance wanted and what I wanted are two different things. Besides, they primarily focus their efforts on the land and we take our business to the sea." Hardner said. "Although we're not very well known around Fiore. We primarily spend our time between the coast of Alakatasia and Guiltina."

"Well I'll be taking you guys down here." Meliodas responded.

"It's been a while since we've met someone like you. I would like a peaceful resolution with you if possible. We're down quite a few members because of you. How would you like to join the Blue Guardians?" Hardner asked.

"You're really asking him to join?! After everything he's done?!" Lunar commented.

"Of course. It would be a waste to kill him off." Hardner responded.

"Sorry, but I'm already a part of Fairy Tail and the Seven Deadly Sins. I don't need to join another group." Meliodas replied with a cheeky grin.

"Fairy Tail is a name I'm familiar with. But I don't recall ever hearing about the Seven Deadly Sins." Hardner commented. "Are they all monsters like you?"

"Well, as of now they're all stronger than me." Meliodas replied.

"I see. Then I will find this "Seven Deadly Sins'' group and send your body to them." Hardner said with a smirk.

"I don't think you're capable of doing that." Meliodas retorted.

"This insolence of yours…" Lunar said angrily as she clenched her teeth. "Don't you dare talk to the Master like that!"

Two daggers were summoned into Lunar's hands as she leaped forward at a blistering speed towards Meliodas. Meliodas' eyes widened at her speed. 'She's fast!'

Lunar vanished from in front of Meliodas, reappearing behind him. Meliodas drew his own blade and turned around, slashing behind him. To his surprise, he only struck an afterimage.

"Can you keep up?" Lunar taunted as she dashed and darted around Meliodas in a circle with many afterimages following behind her. Meliodas looked around back and forth, turning his head and tracking her movement with his eyes.

'In terms of speed, Lunar has the edge, but Meliodas is still able to track her movements even if his body can't keep up…' Hardner noted as he watched. 'I may not have to interfere. Based on his earlier reactions, he shouldn't be able to hit her.'

Lunar darted from one side of Meliodas to the other with her dagger drawn. She aimed a slash at Meliodas' head, only to barely miss as Meliodas ducked his head backwards and small strands of cut hair fell from his head.

"Well, well, well. At this rate, I'll end up getting a haircut." Meliodas commented.

"You can only keep dodging me for so long!" Lunar shouted as she dashed at Meliodas again, this time aiming her dagger at his neck. 'Got him!' Lunar thought just as her dagger connected to Meliodas' skin.

At that moment, her eyes widened as her dagger shattered. She glanced at the spot she had tried to slash on Meliodas' neck where there was a strange clump of darkness at that specific area covering the skin.

'What the hell is that darkness?! This dagger was made from a maginium alloy! Is that darkness not magic?!' Lunar thought momentarily as she dashed by Meliodas again.

Meliodas noticed the slight hesitation in Lunar's movement as she went by him. He quickly sent a kick upwards into her torso.

Lunar's eyes widened as she felt the sharp pain to her abdomen and was launched upwards into the air with the wind knocked out of her.

Suddenly, Meliodas jumped backwards from where he was standing as Hardner appeared in front of him. He wound his right arm back, delivering a massive punch to the ground where Meliodas was standing, causing the magical veil around the ship to crack further as the entire ship shook. He put both arms out in front of him as Lunar fell into them, catching her.

"Belnika!" Hardner called out as he threw Lunar up in the air behind him. Belnika appeared behind him, catching Lunar before she hit the ground. A mist began to form next to Hardner, taking Requin's shape.

"Allow me to assist you." Requin said. Hardner nodded and the two of them glanced back at Meliodas.

'They have a numbers advantage and one of them appears to be a healer. They'll keep healing each other off as they try to wittle me down.' Meliodas thought as he watched Belnika behind Hardner and Requin. 'Requin seems to be closer to these guys than those other guards. These guys must be a tight knit group. I'll have to treat this as if I'm fighting both Drole and Gloxinia…'

A dark aura began to radiate out of Meliodas' body as he closed his eyes. He opened his eyes again, revealing them to be pitch black as his hair began to slightly stand up, revealing the spiral shaped black henna above his right eyebrow.

"It's that magic again." Requin commented.

"Your magic doesn't work on him. I'll create an opening and you strike him!" Hardner said as he got into a battle stance.

Meliodas immediately dashed forward at the two of them with Neo Mel Force drawn in front of him.

[Lightning Sword Flash!]

Meliodas jumped between both Requin and Hardner, slashing at them simultaneously while traveling to Belnika. His blade had sunk deep into Hardner's flesh while causing Requin's body to turn into mist temporarily. Belnika turned her head and her eyes widened as she saw Meliodas right in front of her, ready to impale her with his sword.

Suddenly, Meliodas felt someone grab his foot. Quickly turned around mid air and slashed at whatever had grabbed him. To his surprise, it was Hardner, whose injury was suddenly gone. Hardner's arm went flying off as Meliodas slashed at it. In that moment, a purple a mist formed next to Meliodas.

Meliodas leaned backwards as the mist formed into Requin's fist, missing Meliodas as he suddenly vanished from sight, instead reappearing behind Hardner.

"Thousand Divine Slashes!"

Blood gushed from dozens of places all over Hardner's body, causing him to falll to the ground. The instant Meliodas touched the ground, he jumped backwards, heading straight towards Belnika once again. To his surprise, Hardner stopped him, grabbing him by the foot again.

'What's going on? Why are his injuries gone?!' Meliodas questioned as Hardner threw Meliodas away from Belnika. Requin suddenly appeared in front of Meliodas and delivered a punch to Meliodas' torso. To his surprise, Meliodas caught the punch in his hand clad in darkness, the darkness from his hand spreading to Requin's body and keeping it from breaking down.

"Shit! This again!" Requin exclaimed. Meliodas wound his fist back to strike Requin, but to his surprise, Hardner appeared next to Meliodas. Meliodas twirled his body, spinning in the air with Neo Mel Force as kicked Requin away and slashed Hardner across the neck. Hardner's neck nearly detached from his body, remaining attached by a bit of skin as a fountain of blood gushed out. Meliodas' eyes widened as he watched Hardner's neck suddenly snap back in place, his wound fully closed as Hardner threw a punch towards Meliodas. Meliodas put his arms up as the punch connected, launching him backwards before managing to land on the ship again.

"If you were to fight each of us individually, there is no doubt you would win. However, each of us makes up for the others' weakness, allowing us to continue fighting like this." Hardner said. He looked to his side and smiled as Lunar walked to his side, completely healed.

"Belnika, free Requin from that dark magic." Hardner said. Belnika nodded as she hurried over to Requin who was on the ground.

"The four of you share a bond that allows you to fight like this…" Meliodas said solemnly as he clenched his sword tightly. Hardner raised an eyebrow at Meliodas' sudden change in attitude.

"I see. You've come to understand us four then." Hardner stated. "I'm sure you have your own friends who you share a similar bond with."

"Master Hardner!" Belnika cried out. "I can't get this darkness off of Requin! It's not magic!"

"What?!" Hardner exclaimed. 'What the hell is it then?'

"So Belnika possesses magic nullification which is what dispersed the cannon blast from earlier in addition to healing magic. Requin uses acid magic that allows him to break down his physical form. Lunar has a speed type magic that greatly increases her speed...but what about you Hardner. Are you...immortal?" Meliodas asked, thinking back to Ban's regenerative capabilities.

"You analyzed us well. And...Immortal? That's one way to put it. But this is simply the result of my magical power, Anastasis. It's a magical power that was fitting for a chosen one such as myself! No matter the injury you inflict on me, I will regenerate it!" Hardner answered.

'Collectively, these guys will be tougher to deal with than Hades…' Meliodas thought. He closed his eyes as an even darker more potent aura began to leak from him. A bead of sweat fell down Hardner's face as he nervously watched, with Requin, Lunar, and Belnika having similar expressions. 'This guy...he's extremely dangerous…'

Darkness began to grow across Meliodas' body, forming a spiralling pattern that covered half of his face and pulsated as veins up his arms. Black and red colored lightning crackled around Meliodas briefly. Meliodas looked fiercely at Hardner, causing him to take a step back. Meliodas switched Neo Mel Force to his right hand as he raised his left one out in front of him.

"Requip: Sacrifar!"