198 It Has to be This Way

Meliodas charged straight towards Acnologia. Behind him, he could feel the rest of the Fairy Tail members fighting the remaining Tartaros members and Natsu's magical power soaring higher than ever.

Both Acnologia and Meliodas met each other halfway and hovered in the sky. There was a silent tension in the air as they stared at each other, neither making the first move. Acnologia suddenly descended towards the ground and Meliodas did the same.

Meliodas' eyes widened as he saw Acnologia's body transform the moment he landed. His dragon body began to revert into a human shape, revealing Acnologia as a dark skinned muscular man with long blue spiky hair. He retained the blue markings on his body as tattoos on his face and donned a ragged black cloak and blue pants.

"I remember you." Acnologia said with a smirk. "You're the one who reflected back my own attack at me all of those years ago. To think you would still be alive after I cleaved you in two."

"Well, well, well. And here I thought you were an actual dragon." Meliodas taunted. Acnologia's smirk vanished.

"You fool. I am the DRAGON KING! Now let's see if you can give me the fight I've always desired!" Acnologia charged forward at Meliodas, with Meliodas charging straight at Acnologia. The two of them butt heads as they grabbed onto each other's hands, pushing hard against one another. Beneath them, the ground began to shake and crack, sinking lower and lower and forming a massive crater.

Meliodas suddenly let go of Acnologia, delivering a rising kick towards his chin. Acnologia ducked backwards and retaliated with a right hook at Meliodas. Meliodas ducked underneath, dodging the hook and returning an uppercut at Acnologia.

Acnologia staggered as Meliodas' fist connected with his chin. He took a few steps back and grinned.

"Not bad. Looks like I don't have to pull my punches with you to enjoy this fight." Acnologia remarked. He suddenly leaped forward at Meliodas with blinding speed. Meliodas' eyes widened as Acnologia closed their gap in an instant. Meliodas immediately put his arms up to block as Acnologia unleashed a solid side kick at Meliodas. Meliodas grunted in pain as the sound of his bones cracking echoed in the area and he was sent hurtling back.

Meliodas sunk his feet deep into the ground as he tried to remain standing upright, leaving trails of upheaved rocks and dirt in his wake. Meliodas glanced at his arms that were completely mangled after receiving a direct attack from Acnologia. Darkness began to coat his arms for a moment, dissipating and revealing his arms to have been mended back together.

"Oh, that's an interesting power. And I can tell it's not some healing magic." Acnologia commented as he suddenly appeared in front of Meliodas. He began walking towards Meliodas until he was just in front of him, towering over him and looking down at him. Meliodas looked up with a fierce look in his eye.

"It seems you're not some weakling human or one of Zeref's pathetic excuses for a demon. You're an actual demon aren't you." Acnologia said with a grin.

"So what if I am?" Meliodas retorted as he wound back his fist and unleashed a heavy punch at Acnologia's stomach. Acnologia winced slightly but continued to look down at Meliodas with a wide grin on his face. Meliodas furrowed his brow and threw another punch, followed by another, and another.

"HAHAHAHA It doesn't matter if you're a demon or a god, I will exterminate you just the same! Acnologia roared.

"We will see about that." Meliodas countered.

In an instant, Meliodas unleashed a flurry of punches, too fast to be seen by the naked eye. It was all a blur and all that could be heard was the loud booming sound of each punch colliding with Acnologia's body like explosions.

Meliodas suddenly slowed down and took a step forward, leaning in with this punch and knocking Acnologia back, causing him to tumble on the ground. Acnologia quickly regained his balance as he took a knee, and to his surprise, Meliodas was no longer in front of him, but behind him.

"One Thousand Divine Cuts!"

Acnologia winced as he felt a stinging sensation all across his body. Small amounts of blood began to trickle from his body as his cloak was torn to shreds. He looked back towards Meliodas with a bloodthirsty grin.

"You're even more of a devil when using a sword rather than your bare hands!" Acnologia said excitedly as he began laughing. "But tell me that's not all you can do! I want more! Show me your best!"

Acnologia suddenly felt a sharp pain hit him in the shoulder, followed by another in his leg, and hundreds more in different parts of his body. Acnologia looked at Meliodas and noticed the massive swarm of tiny black orbs circling around Meliodas and being launched in his direction. Meliodas made a swinging motion with his arm, directing all of the orbs at Acnologia at once.

"Trillion dark!"

Acnologia's eyes widened and he put his arms up in front of him, the orbs colliding with him and causing small shockwaves that kicked up the dust and dirt in the area. Meliodas stared at the huge dust cloud, still able to sense Acnologia's massive magical presence within.

"HAHAHAHA!" Acnologia laughed as he swiped his arm, clearing the smoke. There were heavy bruises all over his body with blood dripping down from a few spots. "This pain…I haven't felt this alive in 400 years! Of the thousands of dragons I've killed, there were few who could even damage me in my human form to the extent that you can! Tell me demon, what is your name!"

Meliodas glared at Acnologia and switched Neo Mel Force to his right hand. He raised his left hand and Acnologia sensed a tremendous dark energy flowing into Meliodas' hand.

"I am Meliodas, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath!" Meliodas shouted as a black scimitar was summoned into his left hand. Acnologia's eyes widened as he saw the blade but his smile grew even larger.

"Very well, Dragon Sin of Wrath Meliodas! Our battle will be legendary!" Acnologia's arms began to darken as black scales covered his forearms and claws replaced his hands. He and Meliodas charged at one another, with Meliodas slashing furiously with both of his blades as Acnologia slashed with his claws.

Meliodas and Acnologia stood in place, unleashing a flurry of cuts whose power carved the surrounding landscape. Blood gushed out at times from Meliodas' body, only to stop as his darkness quickly mended the wound back together.

"Yes! Meliodas! Keep mending yourself together so I can tear you apart even more!" Acnologia laughed. Meliodas' eyes widened as Acnologia began to slash at him faster and black wings started to sprout from Acnologia's back. Before he knew it, his right arm holding Neo Mel Force was slashed off away from his body.

Meliodas quickly jumped back high into the air and a stream of darkness leaked from his shoulder, attaching to the lost arm and pulling it back to his body. Acnologia immediately leaped up and wounded his right claw back as Meliodas wounded Sacrifar.

"Divine Slayer: Empty Night!"

Meliodas concentrated his darkness into Sacrifar, compressing it around the blade as he and Acnologia clashed blows. With each slash, the sky began to grow darker and darker until it was pitch black and darkness covered the land.

All visibility in the sky was gone, except for the constant sparks of Meliodas' swords grinding against Acnologia's scales.

"HAAAAHHHH!" Both Meliodas and Acnologia shouted. Although they couldn't see each other anymore, they could sense each other clearly as their attacks continued to connect with one another.

Suddenly the sounds of clanging stopped and the sky began to brighten once again. Two figures floated in the sky, both with black wings of darkness.

Blood leaked from Meliodas' mouth as his body was skewered by Acnologia's left arm. His right arm was no longer attached to his body and heavy wounds were all over his body. Acnologia remained still as Meliodas' still had the strength to hold Sacrifar, pressing as hard as he could against the black scales on Acnologia's neck which now covered nearly his entire body.

"You're not the challenge I've been looking for it seems."