As Meli's attack went crashing into, and through, Hendrickson's body, a look of disbelief crossed the demon's features. It was almost as though he couldn't believe he had been bested by us. Ha, I can practically imagine it- To be bested by the likes of you?!?! Arggg I'm a bad guy who used to be a good guy and has a really confusing timeline argggg. His body shriveled up, disappearing into ash, which was also destroyed from the sheer power of the attack. He simply disappeared, and as he did so, the captain came crashing downward, falling, slumped over, with a loud crash onto the disheveled ground.

He attempted to stand, flashing a grin toward us- but mainly toward Ellie. He was covered in dirt and grime and blood, one of his eyes half closed because he couldn't open it any further, and his balance wobbly. However, just after standing up, he fell back onto the ground with a resounding thud. I sighed at his stupidity, while Diane, Ellie, and King cried out in alarm.

I smiled as Ellie ran over, bringing his head into her lap and fussing over him. However, my content approval was interrupted by the loud clearing of a royal throat. I gasping in shock, jumping backward as King Bartra suddenly appeared beside me, as though out of thin air. Merlin was just behind him. I had jumped back into something solid.

"Ahem," the King spoke as I looked back curiously, "You two... please keep your distance..!"

My eyes widened as I found Ban directly behind my, my shoulder blades pressed just below his pectorals. Wait- I mean, I found Asshole directly behind me. He flashed a smirk down at me, eyebrow raised suggestively. I thought I felt a flush rising up, but then a realized something.

How could he act so casual after all he had put me through in the span of the last few hours?

Instead of a flush, anger made its way to my face, along with unintentional tears. God, why am I such a crybaby..?! I glared up at him, roughly elbowing his body away from me and stepping forward, crossing my arms, clutching the fabric of my cloak on my left arm, realizing vaguely there was nothing to grasp on my right side. I had cut my arm off. Right. Something flashed across his eyes when my expression had changed from wide-eyed surprise to hurt anger, something I couldn't pinpoint. Annoyance? Nah, if he's annoyed, I'll kick his ass. Sadness? But he never gets sad... Anger? Eh, scratch that. Not realistic. Maybe... regret? No, he's was past that... right..?

I blinked a few times, huffing indignantly as I returned my attention to the scene before us. Ellie was gazing, rather confused, up at Merlin, who was smiling in that way she always smiled. The King was sweatdropping, and Meli seemed determined to have his head back in Ellie's lap. It seemed, however, that there was a more important issue at hand, as all of the Holy Knights were bowing down at the King and our group. Mostly the King, though. Probably. Maybe evenly between us and King Bartra...

"Your majesty, please impose us with the most harsh punishments for our Sins!" A Holy Knight in the front shouted.

Your Sins?

"Please forgive us!" Another shouted.

"We apologize, you majesty," A third, "You must realize..!"

"We apologize your majesty," Gilthunder said from the front, "We allowed ourselves to be fooled by a man who plotted to overthrow the kingdom and resurrect the Demon Clan. In the end, we lost our way..."

A boy with blue hair, who looked sort-of like Jericho was sweating- he seemed to ashamed. "We became drunk on the idea of a Holy War, when we should have been protecting the citizens... we have shamed ourselves with our insolence to you! You were absolutely right in your want to avoid this Holy War and protect the futures of the people!"

"Huh..?" The quiet question escaped my lips as I cocked my head to the side, staring in confusion at all of the Holy Knights, who were kneeled down in low bows, begging for punishment. Why would they need to be punished?

"Very well," the King said after a moment.

"Huh?????" I asked, a bit louder.

A smirk tugged at the King's lips as he glanced in my direction, put he quickly put his serious demeanor back on and looked over the Knights. "I announce my verdict. You will receive no time off duty for the foreseeable future."

"Oooohhhh," I said quietly.

"Y-your majesty!" A Holy Knight said.

"How can our sins be forgiven?"

"Why such a light punishment?"

"Y'know, I don't mind..."

"Shut it..! Why haven't you banished us?"

"Your sins are not forgiven," said the King, "But no amount of punishment can take away the wounds and sorrow of my people. Of our people. Now, as the Holy Knights of the Kingdom of Liones, it is your obligatory duty to assist in the restoration of our capital, as well as the relief of the people! You shall do everything in your power to avert the Holy War so a mistake such as this will never happen again!"

The Holy Knights seemed shocked, but relieved and thankful. They all nodded their heads vigorously or shouted out confirmations. The King turned to us, "Meliodas and the Eight Deadly Sins... you have served a great cause...!" I grinned widely. "Even while you had been framed as traitors, you still did your best to protect our kingdom. You have my gratitude as King."

"We just did what anyone would do for a friend!" Diane giggled, beaming.

"Don't worry, we've got you guys!" I flashed the King a thumbs up, smiling broadly.

"It was no problem," King (bear boy) said, smiling as well.

"Not only that!" King Bartra boomed, his voice softening immediately after saying that, as though he had only spoken louder to get our attention (which was probably the case). "But you protected my daughter..." he put his hand on Ellie's (who had moved over near him) shoulder, "And for that, you have my gratitude as a father."

"Cut the stiff stuff, Bartra, you knew we'd come even without your power," Meli grinned, making the man chuckle. He then turned to Ellie.

"You have grown so much stronger than I could've imagined, Elizabeth," he said, smiling. "You found the Eight Deadly Sins all by yourself, and helped in saving our kingdom. I'm so proud of you."

Ellie was smiling, but her gaze slowly turned downcast, and she eventually started crying. "But... because of me, Hawk was... my precious friend..."

"I'm sure Hawk doesn't blame it all on you," Meli said.

"B-but..." Ellie started, but choked on her sobs and covered her face.

I turned around, looking down at Hawk, my face littered with sadness. Ba-asshole. Basshole, sure, why not. Basshole was standing next to Hawk. I took a step toward him, and I could hear him talking, but couldn't quite make out what he was saying. I zoned in on the ground next to Hawk, where flames erupted, shaping into letters before extinguishing. He turned to look at them, then looked at me, his expression somewhat pained.

Thank you, Hawk. You'll always be our Star Boar.

I turned away from him, but froze in place, gritting my teeth as soon as I heard that damned smartass talk.

"Objectively speaking, this was a fortunate outcome," Gowther said, and I rooted myself in place, already clenching my fists. "If the captain had died while (y/n) was disabled, our chances of success would have greatly diminished. Captain Leftovers' death held no effect on our group's fighting prowess, so this was not a loss in any sense."

"You bastard!" Basshole and I shouted in unison, stomping over to Gowther and looking very ready to attack. However, Merlin appeared in front of him before we could do anything.

"Get outta my way!" Basshole demanded, while I just glared over her shoulder at Gowther.

"Gowther means no harm, Ban," Merlin said, "So please forgive him."

There was a pause.

"...just shut your mouth, fucking four-eyes."

With that he turned around and trudged off returning to Hawk. I followed, making sure to keep a good distance away from him.

"I can't let you quit the Boar Hat," said Meli, who had wobbled over, still injured. "If you do, who'll clean up all the leftovers..?" He then looked to the side, then back at me. "...did you burn that?"

I nodded, staring miserably down at Hawk.

"I thought you didn't like Hawk," Meli said.

"I have a habit of not realizing how much I care about someone until they're gone."

Basshole turned around, staring at me with that same, weird look in his eyes that he kept giving me. I turned away, feeling a stinging in my eyes. I blinked a few times and it dissipated. When I turned to look back at Hawk, so had Basshole.

"The glory of the victory goes all to you, master."

"Yeah..." Meli spoke fondly, his voice quiet. "I swear... if you ever come back, I'll give you triple the leftovers I normally do."

"You better keep your promise on that!"

My eyes widened upon hearing the high-pitched voice, and I stared down at Hawk's corpse incredulously. It began to disintegrate, blowing away into ashes. The black corpse faded away, blowing off into the wind as we all stared at it.

In its place, once it fully disappeared, there was a small, pink thing in the flowers and grass, barely visible because of its size. It's head came up and my eyes widened further, if that was even possible. I blurted the question incredulously as I stared down at it.

"Hawk?"