"H...How?! I thought attack magic wasn't supposed to work on Zeldris?!" Mael yelled out in shock as he held less of his brother now.

"Did you forget? I was the one that lent you that power, The Demon King, in the first place!" The Demon King yelled out to his injured son.

"Uncle Zeldris!" Arcadia cried out but remained rooted next to Hendrickson. She knew she needed to be there just in case. She couldn't let him die for Zeldris's sake.

"Bastard!" Ban yelled out as he kicked the Demon King in the face hard. "You... Absolute scumbag bastard! That's your son... Your own flesh and blood, isn't it?!" Ban was repeatedly punching and hitting the Demon King as he yelled at him. "Just what the hell are you trying to pull?!"

"I am the Demon King!" He bellowed as he punched Ban back finally. "I have no need for weaklings in my bloodline!"

"So what?!" Ban responded as he attacked back. He just kept attacking the demon over and over again, until the Demon King was sent flying backward. As the Demon King stood up, he was covered in black and yelled out loudly. He then began to fly in the air, bouncing around randomly. "...What is it this time?!"

"That's the Demon King's death throes," Merlin answered as she was finally conscious and back up on her feet with the help of Escanor.

"You... You all..."

"He's planning on dragging the captain down along with him. We need to drive him out of his body now!"

"Hey, were you able to meet Meliodas?! Was he doing okay?!" Hawk questioned the young goddess.

"...Why didn't you come with us, Hawk?" Elizabeth returned with a question of her own.

"...W...Well... B-Because..." However, he was cut off by the Demon King flying at them as he continued to scream out.

"For now, we've got to stop him from zipping around!" Ban yelled out as he made his move to head after the demon. Ban was able to get in front of him and try to stop the demon from moving any further. "You seriously don't know when to give up, do you?!" However, his attempts shot the Demon King upwards. Elizabeth, Merlin, and King all began to use a combined attack on the demon as he was above them. That caused the demon to scream out even louder now.

"Hang in there, captain!" Diane yelled out as she then got ready to use an attack of her own. The Demon King came back down almost hitting Ban in the process. Now, however, he was laughing like a psychopath.

"My final ultimate technique..." The Demon King muttered out as he laughed. However, Hawk came crashing down on his head and shoulders.
"Master!" Ban yelled out, horrified by what the pig was doing. Diane chose this moment to use her attack and send the Demon King upward on a huge mountain of earth. Ban then quickly made his way up the mountain and prepared to attack the Demon King once more. "I'm comin' for you, Cap'n... It's time to get your ass back here!" Ban sun out as he delivered the finishing blow. He punched down on the Demon King's abdomen, causing the mountain to shatter around them and split down the middle. Everyone looked on as the dust began to clear.

"Did...it work?" One of them questioned as everything finally became clear.

"Yes... Welcome back!" Elizabeth called out as she wiped a tear from her eye. There laying on pieces of lifted earth, was the real Meliodas.

"Geez... My body is beat to hell..." Meliodas spoke with a smile on his face.

"...To hell and back, that is." Ban sun in response with a matching smile on his own face. It seemed like everything was over, just like that. However, Arcadia and Hendrickson's attentions were turned to the disappearing Ludociel.

"It's... so quiet," Ludociel muttered to his brother. "Would you tell me... what's happening? I can no longer see anything."

"It's over, brother," Mael responded as he held his fading older brother. "The Demon King had been wiped out. The threat has been eliminated. And it's all thanks to their efforts... The Seven Deadly Sins. They have managed to do what none other was even capable of..."

"Hmph... How naive. Just because the Demon King was vanquished, doesn't mean that the Holy War is over." Ludociel muttered out bitterly. However, he then spoke more. "Even so, brother... This is still the first, small step. The first step that the Goddess and Demon clans who once hated one another are taking together."

"Lord Ludociel!" Hendrickson spoke with a pained smile on his face.

"Precisely. I never thought I'd hear words like that came from you." Elizabeth spoke up next, bringing everyone's attention to her. She'd walked over silently without anyone noticing.

"Please, forget it. I was merely sick of his meaningless Holy War."

"...I won't forget. I won't forget how you all risked your lives to protect us. Thank you, Ludociel. And you... Mael."

"Hmph..." That was all the now smiling Ludociel had to say before disappearing completely.

"Brother..." Mael muttered as he watched his brother depart. Hendrickson and Arcadia just looked up as well and watched their friend leave.

"He'll be at peace now. We all will be, hopefully." Arcadia muttered as she looked over at Hendrickson. She sadly smiled at her lover and leaned against him as if she could no longer stand by herself. He wrapped an arm around her in return to not only pull her close but to keep her standing upright as well.

Then their attention was turned back to the Seven Deadly Sins. Specifically, Escanor who began to whistle and smile widely.

"But still, I can't believe it! You actually defeated the Demon King! Not to mention the fact that both the captain and Ban managed to make it back!" Escanor yelled out happily. However, no one else seemed to share his enthusiasm. "What's the matter, everyone? You're all looking so gloomy..."

"Of course, we're happy that the captain and Ban came back... But the biggest problem of all still hasn't been solved." King responded simply as he looked over at his friend.

"Ahh..."

"Exactly. There's only one day left until Elizabeth's curse manifests. And now we've lost any means of breaking it." Merlin stated as she looked down at the ground. "The captain tried to collect and absorb all the commandments in order to break it... but in the end... The Demon King had to be destroyed."

"Which means Elizabeth is going to die..." Diane muttered as she began to cry despite her lover patting her on the head softly and comfortingly.

"Diane. That's already settled and done with. What I wanted most was for Meliodas to return back to his normal self!" Elizabeth was now at Meliodas with her hands affectionately in his hair. "If Meliodas did become the Demon King, then we would have never been able to see each other again. Whereas even if I die, I'll be reincarnated time and time again."

"I suppose that is what you wanted to begin with, sis-sis. But are you really going to be okay with this?" Merlin questioned simply as she turned to her friend.

"...Sorry to butt in, right in the middle of your serious conversation, but... There's a way to break the curse." Meliodas chose to chime in at that moment, causing the rest of the sins and Elizabeth to be shocked. "Actually, a funny thing happened while I was escaping from Purgatory. I just coincidentally managed to acquire that power."

"Y'know, you really should learn to read the atmosphere a bit. Making a joke like that might wind up getting you killed." Gowther mumbled to the captain.

"Haha, but I'm not joking."

"I agree with Gowther. There's no way you just happened to conveniently get a hold of that power... Unless you really did..." Ban stated next as he looked down at his friend.

"Now then, shall we get to it?"

"Meliodas...?" Elizabeth hesitantly asked as she looked over at her shorter lover.

"Okay, everyone apart from Elizabeth and myself, please clear away."

"Wh...What are you about to do?" The giant questioned as she and everyone else backed away.

"Merlin, would you do the honors?" Meliodas snapped at the woman with a smile on his face.

"...Sure." Merlin then used her powers causing a black haze to form around the goddess and demon.

"What is this, Merlin?!" King questioned after his lover pointed out the obvious black haze.

"This is the form of their curse, made visible... Eternal life and perpetual rebirth."

"So this... Is the curse that we've been afflicted with?" Elizabeth asked, however, was ignored by her lover suddenly changing his appearance.

"...You're not going anywhere." Meliodas stated, startling the other sins.

"C...Captain?" Escanor questioned out in shock.

"F...Father?" Arcadia hesitantly asked as she saw the form the man changed into. It was a similar look to how the Demon King had looked.

"Elizabeth... I'm for the 3,000 years I made you wait... But now, at last, I can fulfill my promise with you!"

"Hey... Meliodas?" Elizabeth suddenly and hesitantly questioned causing the demon to turn to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"Even after you fulfill your promise to me... Will you still... Go on loving me forever?" The girl was now crying as she looked at Meliodas.

"...Of course, I will, Elizabeth! Forever and ever, until you get sick of me first!" Meliodas then gathered power and sent it up flying at the two visible curses. With that, the curses were broken with a blast of sparkles.

"Wow... it's so pretty..." One of the sins muttered as another one spoke up as well. "I can't believe it... that curse of Gods was so easily broken..." Meliodas then turned back into his usual self, before receiving a hug from Elizabeth.

"And now, our long journey is also, at last, finished," Meliodas spoke up with a smile.

"No... It's only just begun." Elizabeth responded as she cried some more. "Let's all head back to Liones. Everyone is waiting for us!"

With some tears of her own, Arcadia looked at the happy scene in front of her.

"Can it really be over?" The girl questioned as she looked up to her lover. Hendrickson just softly smiled down at her. He didn't have any answers for her. All he could do was tighten his grip on her and remain there with the girl for now, and forever.