After being besieged by everyone, the Demon King's body began to collapse.
He wasn't shattered by their blows, of course—it was because Meliodas had won in the mental world.
The plan to defeat the Demon King went almost too smoothly, but Charles felt it was only natural. After so much preparation, it would have been a problem if they couldn't win cleanly.
Cracks split across the Demon King's body—literal, physical fissures—from which billowed thick black smoke.
In midair, that smoke coalesced into the Demon King's true form, although he now looked nothing like the dignified presence he'd been in Purgatory and far more like something in pain.
As the Demon King's blurred silhouette swelled larger and larger, the body below finally crumbled completely, revealing Meliodas within.
Meliodas opened his tightly shut eyes and flashed a broad grin.
"Kept you waiting—I'm back!"
The Demon King roared in midair, then turned and snarled, "I won't lose like this! Zeldris, give me your body."
Zeldris said coolly, "I refuse.
"Father, you should have known all along what I intend to do. You've stood in my way—so please, just disappear."
The Demon King had no energy to rage at his "dutiful" son. In his current condition, he couldn't last long.
So he barked at the two highest-ranked demons nearby, "Chandler, Cusack—what are you waiting for? Help me!"
Chandler and Cusack exchanged a look and said nothing, letting their silence speak for them.
They had followed the Demon King for his power. No one could expect loyalty to a defeated, skulking cur.
Watching him seize Meliodas's body had made it clear: the Demon King himself was the biggest obstacle to their pupil becoming the new Demon King. Not betraying him already was giving him face.
Abandoned by kin and followers alike, the Demon King understood his situation. That didn't mean he would give up.
His soul shot upward and plunged into a nearby peak.
He made the same choice as in the original course of events—using a dead thing as a vessel.
The mountain turned pitch-black and began to writhe grotesquely. In an instant, it became a monster that could make your sanity meter hit zero at a glance.
It didn't even have a complete body, nor any normal features. Its face—taking up most of its mass—flickered with dark red sigils, and its gaping maw loosed a deafening bellow.
Worst of all, layer upon layer of teeth ringed that giant mouth—nothing any normal creature should have.
For all its horror, everyone present could see that the Demon King was all bluster and no substance now.
In the original timeline, he was beaten after merely being forced out of Meliodas's body. Now, half-crippled by Charles's long-laid counters, there was even less to say.
In the end, the Demon King fell to the Seven Deadly Sins' resplendent combined technique. Meliodas drove a dagger into the core of his power and sealed that power away inside it.
And everything Charles had done was to forge that dagger—one that could sever any curse.
Meliodas's goal had always been the same: break Elizabeth's curse of eternal reincarnation.
With the source of the curse—the Demon King—defeated, the second step was the dagger in his hand.
It was the pinnacle of Charles's current forging craft, fashioned from top-tier materials brought from several different worlds.
Until now, the dagger had only been half-finished—this was its completion.
Merlin used a ritual to manifest the curses on Meliodas and Elizabeth.
Over Meliodas's head hung a heart with bulging veins and a strange eyeball; above Elizabeth's, a ring-shaped construct made of interlinked female faces.
They represented the two curses: unending life and eternal reincarnation.
When Meliodas cut through the two manifested curses with the dagger, even he almost couldn't control his emotions.
Three thousand years of pain and torment finally ended in that moment.
As agreed, Meliodas handed the dagger to Charles.
With the greatest goal in this world achieved, Charles could have left right away, but he and Stella stayed a while longer.
No one had raised any "come back safe and we'll marry" flags before the battle, but once it ended, good news came one after another.
Meliodas and Elizabeth held the wedding postponed for three thousand years in the royal capital of Liones, and the whole city celebrated.
Two days later, Ban and Elaine held theirs.
Perhaps spurred by the two couples, King finally confessed to Diane under everyone's coaxing—very likely after being plied with too much drink. Soon after, the Fairy King and the Giant Queen held their wedding, too.
And that wasn't all—soon came the ceremony for Meliodas to ascend as King of Liones.
The old King of Liones was aged and ready to retire, and the realm had no princes—only three princesses.
Meliodas, as Elizabeth's husband, and the savior of Britannia with immense renown, was the most suitable successor.
Surprised as people were, no one objected.
Thus Meliodas didn't continue running the Boar Hat as he'd imagined, but remained in Liones.
Ban and Elaine left on their honeymoon, while King and Diane returned to the Fairy King's Forest. The others each went their own way, living their own lives.
Gowther shouldered a pack and went traveling—he said he wanted to see more of the world.
Merlin returned to Camelot to continue assisting Arthur, waiting for his power to fully awaken so he could become the King of Chaos.
Speaking of Arthur, his power was gradually awakening. Without dying and being forcibly awakened by the Lake of Magic as in the original timeline, Charles believed an Arthur who awakened on his own would fully master his power.
After all, Arthur now had a steadfast will, moving toward his goal without hesitation.
Escanor relinquished his magic to its original owner, Mael. Then he followed Merlin to Camelot and opened a tavern of his own.
No surprise there—and far better than the original ending where he died in the final battle.
As for Mael, he found Ludociel, and the two went to another aerial ruin the Goddess Clan had left behind. It looked like they planned to live there.
Hawk and his brother Wild, of course, stayed in Liones. The Order of Scraps Disposal now had two members. Congratulations! Congratulations!
As promised, Meliodas broke Gelda's seal, and Zeldris took up the Demon King's mantle and led the surviving Demon Clan back to the Demon Realm.
He truly intends to build a new Demon Realm where all can coexist in harmony.
And so everyone welcomed a happy life—the best happy ending finally arrived.
Charles and Stella set off for the next world.
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