Although Gowther did not fully understand human emotions, upon seeing this terrifying, familiar posture of Meliodas, his hyper-logical mind instantly calculated the outcome. He knew that Escanor was about to be brutally, hopelessly beaten.
Clad in pristine, white patterned half-body armor, with two extra, ethereal demonic arms hanging ominously from his shoulders... this was the absolute pinnacle form Meliodas had once displayed when his body was possessed by his father, the Demon King.
Although the Meliodas of that time had the physical body of a young man, Meliodas in this ascended state truly possessed the unfathomable, world-breaking power of a god.
In the mental world, Gowther's projection vanished instantly.
'If I stay here for even a fraction of a second longer,' Gowther analyzed, 'my soul will be completely annihilated.'
Shifting focus back to the real world, Gowther's hand retracted from Meliodas's charred head as quickly as if he had been struck by high-voltage electricity.
He ran back to Merlin's side in a single, blurring step.
"We have to go. Quickly," Gowther stated, his usually monotone voice betraying a hint of genuine urgency. "The Captain is about to lose control completely. I saw his Demon King form awakening in his mental world."
Without waiting for Merlin to ask for a tactical report, Gowther blurted out all the information at once.
Hearing this, Merlin's golden eyes widened. She immediately cast a teleportation spell, taking flight with Gowther and Ban and retreating miles away from the epicenter.
Just as the three of them vanished, thick, viscous streaks of absolute demonic energy erupted from the earth, rapidly wrapping the fallen, charred Meliodas into a massive, pitch-black cocoon.
Escanor's expression was grave, and his towering body once again glowed with golden light. High noon had passed, and his invincible minute—[The One]—had officially vanished. Facing Meliodas again in a weakened state, even Escanor found the situation incredibly troublesome.
Time passed quickly, and the massive cocoon of demonic energy slowly began to peel away and dissipate.
Under the watchful eyes of the world, Meliodas emerged.
He was wearing the pristine, white patterned half-body armor of his True Magic. With two additional, terrifying clawed arms extending ethereally from his sides, Meliodas floated out from the darkness.
This was the ultimate demon form that Meliodas had only revealed twice in the history of the Britannia Continent. Once was when his body was possessed by his father, appearing as the young Demon King. And later, it was the form he manifested using his own innate power to effortlessly eliminate his father's curses.
Just how apocalyptic was this form?
When Meliodas and his father, the Demon King, had existed in this form at the exact same time, the entire Britannia Continent began to instantly crack and collapse under the sheer weight of their presence. Even with just him alone, the physical world would suffer frequent, catastrophic natural disasters in a desperate attempt to reject and expel an entity whose power exceeded the dimensions of reality.
And now, as Meliodas broke out of the cocoon in Washington D.C... the entire North American continent began to violently tremble under his power.
Tsunami, severe storm, and massive earthquake warning sirens began to sound simultaneously in every major city across the globe.
At this moment, Meliodas's very existence was a localized extinction event.
Nick Fury had never imagined that one day, natural disaster warning sirens would sound in his ears like a synchronized symphony of doom.
Red emergency lights flashed everywhere within the chaotic bridge of the Helicarrier. Seismic fault lines rupturing, coastal flooding, and super-hurricanes breaking out in various places across the globe flashed incessantly on the screens before him.
"Stark, we're completely out of time."
At some point amidst the chaos, Nick Fury had already pulled out a modified, old-fashioned pager. A golden star insignia glowed on its face.
After saying those grim words to the surviving members of the Avengers over the comms, Nick Fury unlocked the device, prepared for the absolute worst-case scenario. He was about to call in the cavalry from across the stars.
"Wait, Fury!" Tony Stark's voice crackled through the static, filled with desperate urgency. "Hold off on the distress beacon! Our magical helpers seem to have other preparations!"
Hearing the cold determination in Nick Fury's voice, Tony Stark hurriedly tried to reassure him. He didn't exactly know what kind of cosmic trump card Fury was holding in his hand, but he was terrified it might be a nuclear authorization code.
'Mutual destruction,' Tony thought, his heart racing. 'Those idiot congressmen always lacked brains; would they actually authorize a global nuclear barrage because of the fall of the United States, and directly start World War III? We can't gamble on that!'
In the absolute center of the molten battlefield, Escanor continuously swung Divine Axe Rhitta, launching devastating, heat-infused attacks at Meliodas.
But this time, Meliodas didn't even react. He didn't raise his sword. He didn't dodge.
The suffocating, god-like aura surrounding him alone acted as an impenetrable barrier, causing every single one of Escanor's heavy swings to violently deflect into the air.
"It's entirely useless, Escanor," Meliodas said, his voice echoing with dual, overlapping demonic tones. "Right now, I exist on a completely different dimension from you."
Meliodas stood perfectly still. Only his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes were fierce and empty. His aura alone expanded, instantly generating a shockwave that forced Escanor's massive body skidding backward.
"Arrogant words! Meliodas!" Escanor roared, digging his boots into the melting bedrock to stop his slide. "I once said that I would gladly give my life for a dear friend. And now... it is time to fulfill that absolute promise."
High noon had already passed. But after swearing those words, Escanor dug deep into his own soul.
"[The One: Ultimate]!"
Escanor became even more terrifying now than he had been at the peak of noon. His whole body glowed with an unstable, blinding golden light, with two massive rings of golden flames violently circling his body and the back of his head respectively.
If there is no Sun in the sky, then I shall burn my own soul and become the Sun myself.
Escanor was actively transforming his own life force into raw magic power, obtaining physical strength even greater than the midday sun, at the absolute cost of his own mortality.
A battle between real men was never about flashy magical tricks.
With the catastrophic support of his burning soul, Escanor charged forward and easily shattered through Meliodas's dimensional defense.
BAM! CRASH!
A punch for a punch. A kick for a kick.
The two gods began a brutal, world-shaking hand-to-hand combat, their fists colliding with the force of dying stars.
"Escanor is starting to burn his own life," Ban said, looking toward Merlin with a deeply grave expression from miles away.
Gowther's magic was useless at this time, and Ban himself knew his immortality couldn't intervene in a clash of this magnitude without being vaporized instantly. Only Merlin remained—no one knew if she had any other tactical plans.
"Hawk, do you have enough?" Merlin asked, completely ignoring Ban and instead looking down at the shivering pink pig in her arms.
Before the battle had even begun, she had already prepared an ultimate backup plan. If Escanor's unparalleled physical might couldn't wake up the Captain, then this task could only be left to that specific person.
"It's enough!" Hawk squeaked, his eyes glowing as the system points drained. "Come forth... Elizabeth!"
A blinding, warm white light flashed beside them, smelling of fresh flowers and sunshine. Princess Elizabeth's figure suddenly materialized from the light, her silver hair fluttering in the hot wind.
"What... what happened here?"
Just as she appeared, Elizabeth's mismatched blue and orange eyes glanced around the apocalyptic, burning ruins of Washington. She turned and asked the others, her tone heavy with sorrow.
"Now is not the time for a history lesson, Elizabeth," Merlin said urgently. "The Captain is being controlled by a powerful mental spell."
Explaining the whole geopolitical situation of Earth now would be far too troublesome. Moreover, if those two monsters in the center continued to fight, once Escanor's life force was completely exhausted, he would truly turn to ash.
Merlin briefly explained the mind-control situation to Elizabeth in a few rapid sentences.
Nodding in immediate understanding, four ethereal, angelic wings erupted from Elizabeth's back. The group took flight, rushing back to the center of the battlefield.
Escanor and Meliodas still appeared to be evenly matched, their fists moving faster than light. But the onlookers all knew the tragic truth: Escanor was at the absolute end of his rope. His flames were beginning to flicker.
"Escanor! Stop now!"
While Elizabeth spoke, her voice carrying the absolute authority of the Goddess Clan, she waved her hand. A massive wave of warm, holy white light washed over the battlefield, completely enveloping the two fighting men.
"[Invigorate]."
Instantly, the catastrophic injuries and draining stamina of both men in the field were fully, miraculously restored by the supreme healing magic. Escanor's burning life force was stabilized.
"Elizabeth!"
"Princess Elizabeth,"
Upon seeing the silver-haired newcomer, Meliodas and Escanor stopped their brutal attacks in perfect unison.
Elizabeth flew directly into the center of the crater, ignoring the suffocating demonic pressure. She landed gently by Meliodas's side and reached out, tenderly stroking his cold, marked cheek.
"You've worked so hard, Meliodas," Elizabeth whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.
At this exact moment, even though the World Item's absolute command was screaming in his mind, constantly urging him to slaughter her and continue wreaking destruction... he simply could not make his demonic body move.
The Golden Dragon in his mind warred with three thousand years of absolute, undying love.
Meliodas's body trembled violently. The white armor cracked.
"Kill me, Elizabeth," Meliodas choked out, his own voice finally breaking through the demonic distortion.
With a sickening tear, Meliodas's chest violently split open under his own power, actively and completely exposing his seven, jet-black demon hearts directly before Elizabeth.
"See you later."
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