The Fox and the Dragon

Like a black blur, Acnologia's fist swung right at Ban's face. Ban ducked back just in time and looked at Acnologia with a grin.

"You're pretty fast!~♫"

Ban leaned forward, grabbing Acnologia by the head with both his hands. He pulled downward with great force and raised his right knee up. Blood gushed out of Acnologia's nose as his face was slammed straight into Ban's knee.

A look of pure rage covered Acnologia's face and he let out a shout, releasing a shockwave from his body that pushed Ban back and blew away the Wizard Saints and August who were watching.

"I guess I can snack on you before the main dish!" Acnologia shouted as he lunged at Ban. Ban raised his right hand up at Acnologia

"Snatch."

A look of surprise formed on Ban's face as his hand rebounded and his magic failed to work. Acnologia closed the distance immediately and delivered a jab to Ban's stomach, sending him flying far back across the field.

"Huh…" Ban wiped the blood dripping down from his mouth. "So that's how it is. Can't use magic on ya either. Just like the Demon King then!~♫"

Ban and Acnologia ran towards each other, each throwing a punch at each other and clashing fists. The ground burst beneath them, shattering into hundreds of shards of rock and forming a crater at their feet. Both of them remained standing in the crater, seemingly even as neither budged from the attack.

Acnologia took a deep breath in, concentrating a large amount of magic in his mouth. He opened his mouth, letting out a roar at Ban, only for his mouth to suddenly get forced shut as Ban uppercut his chin, creating a small explosion around his head.

"You're really pissing me off!" Acnologia exclaimed as the smoke cleared around his face.

Ban quickly spun around, sending a back kick right into Acnologia's torso. Acnologia kept his feet in the ground, leaving a huge trail of upheaved rocks as he skidded across the field.

Ban lunged at Acnologia and Acnologia swiped at Ban's head. Ban quickly ducked backward. He jabbed at Acnologia's face and caused the black dragon to take a step back.

Ban suddenly felt pain in his torso as Acnologia had jabbed him in the gut. Then again, Acnologia kicked Ban in the back, slamming him into the ground.

Ban jumped back up uppercutting Acnologia in the chin, only for Acnologia to retaliate with a kick to Ban's chest.

Ban coughed up blood and took a knee on the ground. Acnologia looked down at Ban and laughed.

"Hahahahaha! Your power is nothing compared to-" Acnologia coughed up blood and took a knee. Ban wiped the blood from his mouth and stood back up. He delivered a hard punch to Acnologia's gut. To his surprise, it felt incredibly solid. He noticed Acnologia's skin had started to form black scales all over his body.

A grin appeared on Ban's face and he punched again in the same spot on Acnologia's torso. Then again. And again. In that moment, Ban unleashed hundreds of punches. Acnologia's body recoiled from the punches and he glared at Ban.

'Not this again…'

Ban finished with an incredibly powerful punch to Acnologia's torso. Acnologia felt the scales in that area crack and blood dripped out of his mouth. His body was sent flying across the field into the mountain into the distance.

Ban checked out his knuckles that were bleeding and bruised up.

"Man. This guy's tough."

"I don't believe it…" August commented. "There's someone else who can fight Acnologia?"

"Don't think I forgot about ya! You're an enemy of the Cap'n too." Ban interjected.

"Well you should focus on Acnologia first. He has a bad habit of playing with his food just to spite them." August tapped his staff on the ground, his body vanishing. Ban turned around as he felt a massive presence behind him and a huge, dark figure flew up into the sky.

"So you were a dragon this whole time? Explains the scales." Ban commented as he looked up in the sky at Acnologia. "We don't have dragons like these in Britannia.~♫"

"You guys should get out of here." Ban turned his attention to the Wizard Saints briefly before looking back at Acnologia.

Jura nodded and he gestured for the other saints to follow as he opened a tunnel into the ground.

Ban suddenly leaped up into the sky, straight at Acnologia until he was right at the dragon's face. Ban lifted his leg up, dropping his heel onto the forehead of Acnologia.

Acnologia was knocked downward slightly, but regained his posture in the air.

"You're one tough bastard aren't ya~♫" Ban commented right as Acnologia swiped at Ban, launching him straight into the ground below.

Ban fell with a massive crash, landing face first into the ground. He pulled himself out of the ground with bruises across his body. He wiped the blood dripping from his mouth.

"Those scales again? What the hell are those scales made of? I guess I see why the Cap'n was having such a hard time." Ban remarked. He looked up in the sky at Acnologia who was charging up an immense amount of magic in his mouth.

"Oh man…I don't think I'll get out of that blast unscathed if it hits me." Ban commented. To his surprise, Acnologia stopped charging and instead turned his head towards the west. A smile formed on Ban's face as he sensed an all too familiar magic.

"Meliodas…" Acnologia grumbled.

"Cap'n!~♫" Ban cheered.

Acnologia suddenly took off in the direction of the magic, only to feel a great force hit him in the back and knock him down to the ground. On his back, to his surprise was Ban.

"You little-"

"Sorry. You don't get to fight the Cap'n~♫" Ban said. 'But what's that other magic I sense near the Cap'n. It's pretty strong too.'

Ban suddenly lost his footing as Acnologia flapped his wings, knocking him off of his back. Acnologia took off high into the sky, soaring at full speed. Ban lay on the ground for a brief moment before getting up.

"You're not getting away from me!" Ban shouted, running after Acnologia.