Chapter 57: The Otaku Prepares for War (And Rem Discovers the Joy of Sweetrolls)
The crack didn't open that night.
It waited.
Meliodas could feel it at the edge of his awareness, a pressure that wasn't pressure, a hunger that wasn't hunger. The thing behind the crack was patient. It had waited millennia. It could wait a little longer.
But not much longer.
He stood at the edge of the lake, watching the stars. The valley's magic softened the sky, made the constellations look like paintings instead of real things.
He should sleep. He should meditate. He should do a lot of things.
Instead, he opened the System.
Blue text flickered at the edge of his vision. He hadn't looked at it properly in weeks. Too much happening. Too many people watching.
[HERO SHARDS: 69]
[DESTINY SHARDS: 41]
[BROKEN SHARDS: 12]
Sixty-nine Hero Shards. Sitting there. Useless.
He scrolled through the shop. Races. Devil Fruits. Haki. Martial arts. Aura abilities. Companions. Mounts.
Nothing had changed. Nothing was new.
But something caught his eye.
[ITEM: SWEETROLL PLATE — ALREADY OWNED]
Right. The Sweetroll Plate. He'd used it once, after leaving the Gargantuan Wilds. Then forgotten about it.
He pulled it from {Pocket Space} now. A simple ceramic plate, unremarkable in every way. He set it flat on a rock and waited.
Nothing happened.
Right. He had to want it.
He thought about food. Real food. Not travel rations, not dried meat, not stale bread. Something warm. Something sweet. Something that tasted like a memory of Earth.
The plate glowed faintly. A sweetroll materialized—large, golden-brown, dusted with sugar, still warm.
Meliodas stared at it.
Then he laughed.
Of all the things he'd collected—swords, powers, a dragon, a dimensional house—this was the one that felt most like victory.
He picked it up. Took a bite.
Perfect.
He finished the sweetroll sitting by the lake, watching the stars, and let himself have one moment of peace before the war.
---
Morning came too fast.
Meliodas woke to the smell of something cooking and the sound of Rem arguing with Edrin about fire safety.
"You can't just—it's a sacred tree! You'll burn down the whole valley!"
"I'm not burning anything. I'm heating bread. There's a difference."
"There is literally no difference!"
Meliodas walked toward the noise. Rem had cornered Edrin near the central building, a small fire crackling between them. Kaelen watched from the steps, looking like he wasn't sure whether to intervene or laugh.
"What's going on?"
Rem spun. "He's trying to burn down the sanctuary!"
Edrin held up a stick with bread impaled on it. "I'm making breakfast. It's been two days since anyone had a proper meal."
Meliodas looked at the bread. It was browning unevenly, one side already charred.
"You're burning it."
Edrin sighed. "I'm aware."
Rem crossed her arms. "See? He's a menace."
Meliodas reached into {Pocket Space} and pulled out the Sweetroll Plate again. He set it on a flat stone, then reached in once more.
Four more plates appeared beside it.
Rem's ears shot straight up. "What—where did those come from?"
"I've been saving them." Meliodas set the plates in a row. "One a day. I thought there might be a moment we needed them."
He touched the first plate. It glowed. A sweetroll materialized.
He touched the second. Another.
Third. Fourth. Fifth.
Five sweetrolls, golden and warm, lined up on the rock.
Rem stared. "You've been saving magical pastries for a special occasion?"
"This seems like a special occasion."
She snatched one before he could respond, took a bite, and froze.
Her tail went rigid.
Her ears flattened.
Her eyes widened.
"This is," she said slowly, "the most delicious thing I have ever eaten."
Kaelen stepped forward. "Can I—"
Rem clutched the sweetroll protectively. "No."
"Rem."
"Fine." She tore it in half and gave him the smaller piece. "Share."
Kaelen bit into his piece and his expression shifted from hunger to something like religious awe. "Master... what is this?"
Meliodas smiled. "Breakfast."
---
One sweetroll each for Edrin, Lira, and Vex. Edrin ate his with the careful attention of a man who had forgotten what good food tasted like. Lira accepted hers silently and ate it just as silently, but something in her expression softened. Vex took hers with suspicion, sniffed it, then ate it so fast she almost choked.
The fifth sweetroll Meliodas gave to Bud, who grew to dog-size and devoured it in three bites, then immediately demanded another.
'More?'
'Tomorrow.'
'Tomorrow is too far.'
'Tomorrow.'
Bud huffed and curled up on a warm rock to sulk.
Rem sat beside Meliodas on the steps, tail brushing his arm. "You know, for someone who claims not to have magic, you have a lot of magic."
"It's not magic. It's a plate. And planning."
"That's not better."
He didn't argue.
---
Kaelen found him an hour later.
The young prince looked different this morning. Calmer. The loop on his wrist glowed steady white. Whatever the crystal had done to him, it had done something good.
"Master. I've been thinking."
"Always dangerous."
Kaelen almost smiled. "The crack is going to open. Probably today. Maybe tomorrow. But it's going to open."
Meliodas nodded. "Yes."
"And when it does, it's going to try to take me. Not to kill me. To use me."
"Yes."
Kaelen met his eyes. "I'm not going to let it."
Meliodas waited.
"I'm going to close the crack."
Silence.
Rem's ears went flat.
Bud's glow brightened.
Meliodas's expression didn't change. "How?"
"The crystal showed me. My bloodline is the anchor. The thing on the other side wants to use me to pull itself through. But if I do it first—if I anchor myself to the valley, to the sanctuary, to this side—I can reverse the connection. Pull it closed instead of letting it open."
Rem stood. "That sounds like a terrible idea."
"It's the only idea."
Meliodas studied Kaelen. "What happens to you after?"
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "I don't know. Maybe nothing. Maybe... something."
"You're not sure."
"No."
Meliodas nodded slowly. "Then we make sure you don't have to do it alone."
Kaelen blinked. "Master?"
"The crack is going to open. Something is going to try to come through. We stop that first. Then we close it. Together."
Kaelen stared at him. "You'd fight it? For me?"
Meliodas looked at the sky.
The clouds were still wrong. Still circling. But slower now. Like the thing behind them was savoring the anticipation.
"I've fought worse things for worse reasons."
---
He retreated to a quiet corner of the valley to think.
Bud followed, settling on his knee.
'You're going to fight it.'
'Yes.'
'You don't know what it is.'
'No.'
'You don't know if you can win.'
'No.'
'But you're going to fight it anyway.'
Meliodas looked at the tiny dragon. "Yes."
Bud was quiet for a long moment.
Then: 'Good. I'm helping.'
'I know.'
'And I want another sweetroll.'
'Tomorrow.'
'Tomorrow.'
Bud settled against his leg, glow steady, and for a while, they just sat there, watching the valley prepare for war.
---
Meliodas opened the System again.
[HERO SHARDS: 69]
He scrolled through the shop. Past races he couldn't afford. Past abilities he hadn't trained. Past weapons he didn't need.
[COMBAT PERKS]
{Relentless} — 4 HERO SHARDS — Stamina never runs out during combat.
That was something. He'd be fighting. Possibly for a long time. Not running out of stamina could be the difference between winning and dying.
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED: {RELENTLESS}]
[HERO SHARDS REMAINING: 65]
The perk settled into him. Not dramatic. Just... there. A well of energy at his core that didn't empty.
He kept scrolling.
{Only A Sith Deals in Absolutes} — 50 HERO SHARDS — Choose winner when absolute forces clash.
Fifty shards. More than half his remaining.
He stared at it.
If the thing in the crack was absolute. If its power was absolute. If Kaelen's bloodline was absolute.
He could choose who won.
He could choose to win.
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED: {ONLY A SITH DEALS IN ABSOLUTES}]
[HERO SHARDS REMAINING: 15]
The perk settled into him differently. Heavier. Like a promise he hadn't fully understood yet.
He closed the System.
Bud's voice came, soft.
'What did you do?'
'Bought insurance.'
---
The sun was setting when the crack opened.
Not the way it had before—a thin seam, a testing pressure. This was deliberate. Intentional.
The sky split.
A line of sickly light cut through the clouds, widening, pulsing. The pressure in the valley became a weight, pressing down on everything.
Kaelen stood at the center of the valley, facing the crack, the crystal's light still pulsing faintly behind him.
Rem flanked him, claws extended, tail rigid.
Edrin and Lira stood together, blades drawn, the silence between them finally broken by purpose.
Vex watched the sky, waiting for what came next.
Bud grew to full size—dog-sized, wings spread, light blazing.
And Meliodas stood in front of them all, Moonsing drawn, {Sun Fruit} simmering beneath his skin, {Relentless} humming in his veins, {Only A Sith Deals in Absolutes} coiled like a promise in his chest.
The crack widened.
And something stepped through.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 57]