Chapter 112: Different Ideals


    "Stop, Meliodas! Are you out of your mind?!" I shouted, as I drew rent from my hips. "You don''t have to do this, Meliodas! You don''t have to kill this soldier! And I don''t want to hurt you, Meliodas!"


    "Let me ask one thing, Arthur. Do you know how these knights operate inside the shadows? Have you seen harassed teenage girls before they sleep? Did you watch those innocent people get killed by their own hands and me the monsters for it? You''ve only seen one side of the coin, Arthur. These same people who vowed to protect the city killed my uncle''s son. I wasn''t there either until I saw his saddened face," Meliodas eximed.


    I did not know what Meliodas was talking about. Some rumours spread around Magique about corrupted knights and their unwanted behaviours. But I did not expect that the stories Meliodas narrated happen in this timeline.


    It was as if the people working for justice were just wolves in sheep''s clothing.


    "Why are you telling me this, Meliodas?" I asked.


    "Because I want you to understand. That''s how it is," Meliodas answered, and conjured a magic circle before me. "Move, Arthur. I don''t want to hurt you either."


    (Author''s note: That dialogue came from Spider-Man: Homing)


    "I can''t let you kill innocent people too, Meliodas... Some knights are not as bad as you think they could be. This knight has a family, Meliodas. If you walk down that road, then you''d be like them."


    "Move."


    After our exchange, Meliodas released a powerful surge of arcane from his harp. As he strummed the strings of his musical instrument, Meliodas activated some spell that was new for my eyes.


    I called forth my system and requested a brief analysis of the spell before me. Within a few seconds, my system reacted and sent me windows about the ability''s description.


    "So, you can deal some damage too."


    Much to my surprise, the quiet bard had overpowered spells I had never seen before. Besides his maniption skills, Meliodas could even summon this magic of some sort hidden inside of him. It was an ability that produced shockwaves enough to kill an average adventurer. I could evenpare it to Rain''s strongest spells when we were still training in the field.


    (Author''s Note: Rain, Afenos or Mordred''s sister)


    Fortunately, my rent''s ability kicked in. My sword granted me some of my abilities every time I nned on using them for good. This urrence was one of those times, which allowed me to use my main ount''s power. That strength was not even half of my original prowess, but it was enough to protect me from this st.


    As luck would have it, that st did not affect the ones asleep on the ground. It only hit those who were immune from the maniption spell Meliodas used. Even Fisher got hit by that st, forcing him to tumble backwards.


    Thanks to his tremendous strength and armour, Fisher did not die from that tune. But that soldier received wounds covering his bare skin that the armour couldn''t protect. Well, at least he had some protection from that silver uniform.


    Fisher could have received something worse, but that did not happen.


    "Meliodas, I don''t want to fight you. And I thought we talked about this earlier!. Please stop this fight! Spare this man. We can talk about this somewhere else! Some innocent children could get hurt!" I shouted, hoping that it could reach his ears.


    Meliodas was a good man with a brave heart. However, his vengeance drove him to this corner. I never had someone close to me die at the hands of anyone. So I could not rte to his story.


    But despite that gap, I knew one thing. If Meliodas nned on killing Fisher, his children woulde and avenge him.


    "Vengeance has consumed you, and it will consume those children! It''s a never-ending cycle of hate if you kill that man," I eximed once again.


    Meliodas opened his mouth and tried saying something. However, his hands moved faster than the words escaping his mouth. As soon as he strummed those strings, another wave of the st came from his harp.


    I stood my ground and blocked all those sound wavesing from the musical instrument. Thanks to my rent''s ability and my passive skill, I lessen the damage from those sts.


    However, the same never happened with Fisher. He did not have my rent''s ability, a system, or even passive abilities that helped him survive those sts. A pool of blood even came from his nostrils and ears as Fisher desperately tried to cover his eardrums. But his efforts did not bear fruit, since Meliodas'' spells were too much for him to handle.


    "Meliodas, stop it already! I really don''t want to hurt you!" I screamed.


    Upon saying those words, a beam of light blinded Meliodas'' eyes. It forced him to close his sockets. Since that light might have temporarily ruined his eyesight, Meliodas needed some time to recover himself. It also meant Meliodas ceased radiating those sts from his harp since he couldn''t y his instrument.


    "Where the.?" I asked, and followed the light''s origin.


    As I nced at my side, Merleen greeted my sight. She had her arms extended forward, with a magic circle covering her palm. That beam of light came from Merleen, since she was the only one who could conjure that spell.


    I rushed towards Merleen and inspected her body and ears. As I had expected, the st injured her ears, which were also revealed on my system''s screen. The window described Merleen as temporarily deaf for a few hours until it returned to normal.


    "Are you alright, Merleen? Do you feel anything? D-Do you need anything?" I asked.


    Merleen just stared at my face and shed me a smile. It took me a few seconds before realising that Merleen heard nothing about what I had said. Since she took a direct hit from the st, those wound waves disrupted her eardrums. Merleen was also a mage, which meant she would receive the entire attack from those sound waves.


    I did not know how Science works in this world, but that spell nearly broke her ears. Fortunately, Meliodas did not turn that st into a maximum. If he did, it could have killed both Merleen and Fisher instantly.


    After a few seconds, Meliodas also regained his eyesight back and red in my direction. However, Meliodas met my eyes, leering back at him.


    "Arthur, I-," Meliodas said, as he crept towards me.


    I caressed Merleen''s hair and rested her head on the soft soil, together with some rose growing with the grass. As soon as I finished my business, I returned my gaze to Meliodas and faced him.


    "Oh, it''s on now!" I shouted, and drew my sword tighter in my hands.


    Since my motives changed into something sinister like vengeance, rent reduced my power. But something inside of me relished that missing feeling. I did not know what was that, about but it came from inside of me.


    Instead of my rent''s ability, a spell of some sort wrapped around my hands and empowered my entire body. The power had an inkling feeling of darkness covering my head. I couldn''t see anything butshing out my mixed emotions clouding my brain.


    I could think straight, but my emotions stole the wheel from me. My body moved on its own, wishing to spar against Meliodas and eventually teaching him a lesson.


    My obsidian spell trapped the two of us like a turtle''s shell. Since I made the barrier with dark magic, nothing could prate it but an obsidian arcane.


    "You. have dark magic?" Meliodas asked, as he readied his harp.


    "Yes. But I use them for good. And I learned them by myself!" I answered, while gritting my teeth.


    "That shouldn''t be possible! Only demons could learn the art of dark sorceries!"


    "I am no demon. But I learned it from my knowledge."


    I did not lie to Meliodas, since I learned obsidian magic using my own understanding. And since I was a yer in this game, I knew more than these people experience in this world.


    "Then it''s just more reasons to fight you, Arthur. I will squeeze that information from you and use it against demons. Maybe you''re even a demon disguised as a human!" Meliodas imed, and strummed the harp''s strings.


    However, the sound waves did not prate my dark magic. As soon as I went towards his front, I used the pommel of my sword and struck it against Meliodas'' hands.


    I did not break his hands, considering that it was his trademark as a bard. But I made sure those fingers would need some recovery time before Meliodas could use them soon.


    "You hurt Merleen. I hate to do this, but I can''t let you do what you want. You hurt someone dear to me, Meliodas. I won''t kill you. Don''t worry. As soon as you wake up, we will talk inside the chief''s lounge."


    After saying those words, I finally ended the fight against Meliodas.