Chapter 54: The Otaku Leaves Southval (And Everything Goes Wrong Immediately)
Dawn came like a thief.
Quiet.
Fast.
Unforgiving.
Meliodas had everyone moving before the sun fully cleared the horizon. Kaelen was awake and alert, the loop on his wrist glowing pale white. Rem had somehow packed three times more than anyone else despite owning nothing. Edrin stood by the door with Lira, who was still bound but had been allowed to walk on her own.
The former Warden caught Meliodas's eye. "You're really taking me?"
"You're useful."
"That's not trust."
"No. It's not."
She nodded like that was exactly the answer she expected.
Bud sat on Meliodas's shoulder, glow bright, eyes sharp. He'd been unusually quiet since the dream. Not worried. Just... watchful.
'The pressure is closer.'
'I know.'
'It's following.'
'I know.'
Meliodas looked at the map one last time. North. Mountains. Sanctuary. Days of travel through open country, forest, and foothills.
Days where they could be seen.
Days where they could be caught.
He folded the map and tucked it into his coat.
"Move out."
---
The northern gate was less guarded than the eastern one. Fewer travelers. Less trade. Just a small post with two bored soldiers who waved them through without a second glance.
The morning light caught Meliodas as he passed under the gate. His coat moved in a breeze that hadn't been there a second ago. His hair fell perfectly despite the early hour.
One of the soldiers blinked, then nudged his companion.
"See that?"
"See what?"
"That guy. Looked like a painting or something."
The other soldier squinted at Meliodas's retreating back. "Huh. Guess so."
{Smouldering} didn't need attention. It just happened.
Rem, walking beside Meliodas, snorted softly. "You know you do that, right?"
"Do what?"
"Look like that."
"I'm literally just walking."
"Mm-hmm."
Bud sent a pulse of dry amusement.
'She's not wrong.'
'Shut up.'
---
The road north was dirt and gravel, bordered by farmland that slowly gave way to wild grass and scattered trees. The morning was cool. The sky was clear.
Everything looked peaceful.
Meliodas didn't trust it for a second.
Rem walked close to him, tail occasionally brushing his leg. She hadn't said much since they left. That was either thoughtful or ominous.
"You're quiet," he said.
"Thinking."
"About?"
"How long until something tries to kill us."
Meliodas almost smiled. "That's my line."
"I learn from the best."
Kaelen walked on his other side, scanning the tree line with the focus of someone who had learned that danger didn't announce itself. The loop on his wrist stayed white.
Edrin and Lira brought up the rear. They hadn't spoken to each other since the inn. Meliodas didn't interfere. Some wounds needed silence.
Bud sent a pulse.
'Behind us. Faint. But there.'
Meliodas didn't turn.
'How many?'
'Hard to tell. They're good.'
'Cult?'
'Probably.'
Meliodas kept walking.
'Let them follow. We'll deal with them when they're close enough.'
---
They made good time until midday.
The road curved through a shallow valley, and Meliodas called a halt near a stream. Water for everyone. A chance to breathe.
Kaelen sat on a rock, eyes closed, breathing slow. Practicing.
Rem knelt by the water, trailing her fingers through it. "This is nice."
"It won't last."
"You're so optimistic."
"I'm realistic."
She splashed water at him.
He didn't move. The water missed by inches.
{Observation Haki} was still active.
Rem pouted. "Not fair."
"Nothing is."
Lira sat apart, wrists still bound but relaxed. Edrin stood near her, not close enough to touch, not far enough to ignore.
Meliodas watched them for a moment, then turned to scan the valley.
The pressure was still there.
Closer now.
Waiting.
Bud hopped off his shoulder and grew to cat-size, stretching his wings in the sun.
'I could fly ahead. Scout.'
'Too risky. If they see you, they'll know we're alert.'
'I'm very sneaky.'
'You're very shiny.'
Bud looked down at his glowing scales. '...Fair.'
---
The attack came an hour later.
Not from behind.
From the sides.
Figures rose from the tall grass—cultists in dark robes, armed with blades and spells. A dozen at least. Maybe more.
Meliodas was moving before the first one finished standing.
{Rush activated.}
Five seconds.
He took down four.
{Rush ended}.
The rest hesitated.
That was all Kaelen needed.
He moved into the gap, blade flashing, targeting joints and weapons instead of throats. The loop on his wrist flickered orange, then settled back to white.
Rem was a blur of claws and tail, her gauntlets leaving deep gouges in cultist armor.
Bud flared bright, and two cultists stumbled back, hands over their eyes.
Lira, still bound, watched with something like approval.
Edrin stood frozen, then grabbed a fallen cultist's blade and moved to guard his cousin.
Meliodas didn't have time to process that.
Another wave crested the ridge.
More of them.
And behind them, a figure in dark armor.
Magic Knight.
Not Lira.
Someone new.
The Warden's replacement.
She raised a hand, and the ground between them erupted in flames.
Meliodas dove sideways, rolling back to his feet.
{Sun Fruit} flared in response.
Fire answered fire.
The Magic Knight's eyes widened.
Then she smiled.
"You're interesting."
Meliodas didn't reply.
He was already moving.
---
The fight was chaos.
Meliodas engaged the Magic Knight directly, {Rampage} building with every exchange. She was good. Trained. Experienced.
But she wasn't ready for {Sun Fruit}.
A concentrated burst of light caught her across the face, and she staggered.
Meliodas pressed the advantage.
Ten hits.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
Her guard broke.
He had her blade at her throat when the ground shook.
Not an earthquake.
Something worse.
The crack.
It was opening.
Not physically.
But close.
The pressure in the air became unbearable. Kaelen gasped, clutching his head. The loop on his wrist flashed red.
Bud flared bright, pushing back against the pressure.
The Magic Knight looked at the sky, and for the first time, fear crossed her face.
"No," she whispered. "Not yet. It's too soon."
The crack didn't care.
A seam of sickly light split the air above the valley.
And something reached through.
Not fully.
Just a hand.
Pale. Long-fingered. Wrong.
It reached toward Kaelen.
Meliodas moved.
{Rush activated.}
Five seconds.
He crossed the distance, grabbed Kaelen, and threw him behind a boulder.
{Rush ended}.
The hand missed by inches.
It pulsed with frustration.
Then it retreated.
The crack sealed.
The pressure vanished.
Meliodas stood in the sudden silence, dust settling around him, the afternoon light catching his silhouette perfectly. His coat settled. His breathing steady. His expression unchanged.
The Magic Knight stared at him with something new in her eyes.
Fear.
Not of him.
Of what he'd just done.
"You stopped it," she breathed. "You actually stopped it."
Meliodas didn't answer.
He was already calculating.
'The crack is impatient. It tried to take him directly. That means the cult's timeline just collapsed.'
He looked at the surviving cultists. Broken. Scattered. Leaderless.
Then at the Magic Knight.
"You're coming with us."
She laughed. Bitter. Broken.
"You don't understand. It won't stop. It never stops."
"Neither do I."
---
They bound the Magic Knight and added her to their procession.
Lira looked at her successor with something complicated. Pity? Recognition? Both?
The group moved on.
North.
Toward the mountains.
Toward sanctuary.
Kaelen walked close to Meliodas, pale but steady. The loop on his wrist had returned to white.
Rem stayed close too, tail brushing his leg more often than usual.
Bud sat on Meliodas's shoulder, glow steady, watching the sky.
'That was close.'
'Too close.'
'It'll try again.'
'I know.'
Meliodas looked ahead.
The mountains were still far.
But they were closer than they'd been this morning.
The light caught him again as he crested a small rise—backlit by the lowering sun, framed by the open sky.
Rem sighed quietly.
Bud sent a pulse.
'You're doing it again.'
'I'm walking.'
'Sure.'
One step at a time.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 54]