renegade (seven deadly sins)

ACT ONE / the fighting festival

<EDITED ON JANUARY 30>

honestly there's nothing to really say about this chapter but it looks odd without the bold text at the top so this is for my sake :)))

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You, Diane, and Elizabeth all made your way to the top of the rock, which had a raised portion carved into the shape of an arena with a little building off to the side. You separated from the others for a moment to look over the edge. Sure enough, Gideon was there, fashioned into a divot running up the length of the rock.

A little man with a helmet and a long red cape jumped up onto the ring. "It's the Vaizel Fighting Festival elimination round! The referee will be yours truly, Love Helm!"

You walked back over to Diane. Both of you sported long capes and hats that covered the majority of your body, save for the bottom half of your faces. "I don't like this guy's voice," you murmured. Diane giggled and nodded.

Love Helm gave the rundown of the rules. All you had to do was knock other people out of the ring and stay in the ring yourself. Easy enough; you could do this without ever using your magic. Since there were so many people, they decided to raise the number of finalists to 10, which meant you would have to try even less.

You swung your shoulder as you got up onto the ring. Your wound was starting to heal slowly; it wasn't as sore as it was earlier, but there was still some stiffness. Thankfully, Guila's rapier didn't pierce any vital organs, so you were in the clear.

Diane was already kicking ass out of the corner of your eye, Meliodas and Ban doing the same. None of them were even trying. Harlequin was...running around and yelling in a panic, but he didn't seem to be in too much trouble yet.

"Hey, little dude, time for you to--"

You jumped high into the air and kicked the guy behind you across the face. He went flying, crashing into one of the people trying to knock Harlequin out of the ring. Another pair tried to attack you. You grabbed their collars as you darted between them, and threw them into the ball of people that Diane had managed to knock out. They went flying into the crowd.

The pool of people shrunk faster than you hoped it would, which was disappointing. You were just starting to warm up.

You and Diane were still in the ring, along with Ban, Meliodas, an old drunkard, some arrogant beefy guy called Taizoo, and a pair of guys that you immediately recognized as Howzer and Griamore. Cursing, you brought the rim of your hat down to cover your eyes.

There was another man standing off to the side. He wore a strange metal mask that resembled a gorgon's face. You frowned at the image, but something else felt off. His ears were pointed, just like yours, and there was something familiar about his magic power.

People began to wonder how the Festival would continue with only nine people, but someone pointed out that Harlequin was still technically in the ring. You sighed and smiled to yourself as he came back to join all of you, much to the audience's chagrin.

"Good for him, winning by playing dirty," Ban told Meliodas.

"Way to cheat!" Meliodas said, giving Harlequin a thumbs up.

Harlequin floated past you. "Is it really cheating?" he mumbled.

Love Helm had you all come into the building on the side. You walked with Diane, trailing behind Howzer and Griamore. You stared at the backs of their heads and tightened your cloak around you. 

Although Howzer was loyal to the kingdom, you didn't know how far he would go just to turn you in. Griamore, on the other hand, was Princess Veronica's loyal guard. If he was here, that meant that the second princess wouldn't be too far away.