Charles thought back to what had happened since he came to this world. His purpose was obviously research, yet he seemed to have been fighting nonstop.
It wasn't that Charles hated fighting, but you needed a worthy opponent to make it fun. And none of the early opponents had that level of strength.
So Charles planned to lie low for a while, but the downside of his earlier activity was that the Holy Knights had already set their sights on him.
They just didn't know his exact situation; otherwise, Charles figured his wanted poster would already be out.
So after being attacked by the masked man, Charles didn't counterattack, and instead quoted a certain scientist from the Land of Light.
But Charles suddenly realized he had quite a bit in common with the line's original owner.
Of course, the masked man had no idea what the line meant; he only knew he'd run into a monster-level opponent.
Dawn Roar was a knight order under the Kingdom of Liones, and one of the kingdom's best.
Their renown was bought with the heads of their enemies. Once the kingdom issued a mission, they would thoroughly annihilate the target.
As a fighting unit, their makeup was near perfect.
They had heavily armored knights up front, scouts for support, breachers for assaults, archers for range, and hunters to finish the job.
And the ones facing this perfectly configured unit now were the Seven Deadly Sins.
Meliodas swung his short staff to deflect the incoming long arrow, while stepping in front of the masked man, Slader, who wanted to keep attacking Charles.
"Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas the Sin of Wrath—I've long heard of you!" Slader halted his advance, holding his serrated greatsword crosswise.
"But this time our target isn't you; it's the armored giant's head.
To be honest, I don't want to fight you. Can you let us pass?"
Meliodas set into a fighting stance. "No can do. I promised someone I wouldn't let him be disturbed."
Charles didn't even glance at Meliodas, focusing solely on the procedure to separate the demon blood.
Slader shot Charles a look. "I see. That guy can't spare a hand to fight? That makes things a lot easier for us!"
Before he finished speaking, Slader was already on the attack—and his target wasn't Meliodas but Charles.
Slader had once been a barbarian slave, awakening his magic amid slaughter, and it was only after the King of Liones saved him that he became a Holy Knight.
So his fighting always pursued results; he'd use whatever approach most favored him.
Attacking Charles, who "couldn't fight back," to split Meliodas's attention—he could use such slightly underhanded tactics with no psychological burden.
Clanging rang out as Meliodas and Slader traded blows who knew how many times.
After the short staff and greatsword clashed once more, it was actually Meliodas who was driven back by the recoil.
Slader swept in with a slash, and even though Meliodas bent backward into a deep arch, a lock of hair on his forehead still got shorn off.
But Slader also took a kick from Meliodas and was sent flying.
Meliodas straightened and rolled his shoulder. "My strength suddenly dropped just now. That your doing?"
Hoisting his greatsword, Slader said, "That's right. My magic, \[Overpower], can forcibly suppress an opponent's strength."
Just then, a glow of magic flashed. The distant archer's magic was \[Charge], able to add magic to increase an arrow's speed and power.
And the long arrow, charged to the limit, was aimed at Charles.
Meliodas hurried after it, swinging his weapon to bat the arrow away. But that opened a gap, and Slader seized the chance, closing in and chopping at the exposed Meliodas.
If nothing unexpected happened, that slash would split Meliodas's chest. But Slader found his movements had turned sluggish; before he could strike Meliodas, the latter adjusted his posture and smashed him in the shoulder with a single blow.
He crashed heavily to the ground, and when he got up, Slader didn't look at Meliodas but instead turned his head in another direction.
Over there, Ban was reaching a hand out toward him, while a heavily armored comrade lay fallen at his feet.
Ban's magic, \[Snatch], could steal not only magic and stamina but also basic attributes like speed and strength.
Just now, Ban had stripped Slader of his stats, which was why he not only failed to land his strike on Meliodas but also exposed an opening.
Only then did Slader realize he'd underestimated the Seven Deadly Sins. The flow of battle was absolutely unfavorable to Dawn Roar.
Diane was enraged by the female knight's buzzing, fly-like harassment and simply raised huge stone mountains to smash down. The female knight was now hard-pressed just to dodge the falling peaks.
King had also used his spirit spear in Guardian Beast form to clamp down on the katana-wielding knight, who looked unable to break free.
Slader tightened his grip on the greatsword, thinking hard about how to complete the mission under these conditions.
"How about we call a truce here!"
The voice belonged to none of those present, and everyone turned toward where it came from.
Slader's pupils contracted, because he saw their archer comrade hanging limply in the grip of a green-haired boy, eyes shut and already unconscious.
The boy said, "Relax, I only made him quiet for a while. I have no intention of fighting you, after all."
King suddenly spoke. "It's you—the Gowther that the poser talked about!"
King and Charles still hadn't mended fences, so he kept referring to Charles as "the poser."
Ban chimed in, "This guy is Gowther? No way!"
The boy's face remained wooden. "I am indeed Gowther."
As he spoke, he slipped off his outer garment, revealing a goat tattoo at his collarbone, and his hair shifted from green to crimson.
Slader spoke with a sigh. "Didn't expect to run into five members of the Seven Deadly Sins here. Looks like this mission is doomed to fail."
Gowther said, "From the memories I saw, you should be Holy Knights loyal to the king. In that case, you should take a good look at your target."
Puzzled, Slader turned to look at the armored giant.
As Charles continued separating out the demon blood, the proliferated flesh gradually dissolved, and the massive armor fell away, revealing the person inside.
It was a middle-aged man, all dried up and gaunt, as if he'd suffered every torment. But as that grotesque body returned to normal, the pain on his face began to ease.
"That is...?" Slader couldn't shake the feeling that the man looked familiar.
Meliodas said, "He was originally a Holy Knight of the kingdom, but someone turned him into a monster."
Slader said, "I know him—Holy Knight Del. The one who fled out of fear in battle and got his comrades killed."
Gowther said, "Now you should understand: there's a conspiracy behind your mission. Knowing this, will you still keep fighting us?"
(End of Chapter)
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