"Got you!"
With the Roar of Dawn ceasing their attacks, Drake was able to devote all of his attention to separating the Demon Clan blood.
In fact, after separating the external Demon Clan blood, Drake had discovered that there was a core composed of Demon Clan blood within the Holy Knight named Del's body.
The root of his body's mutations was this core. Although it didn't possess any intelligence, it was indeed like a living thing, and would even try to evade Drake's purification.
That the blood of a dead demon, combined with human magic power, would actually give birth to something like this; the Demon Clan was truly a mysterious race.
But as the Demon Clan blood was separated almost completely, this core was clearly exposed, and Drake used his magic power to force it out of Del's body.
Del opened his mouth, and a dark red, bizarre creature crawled out of his oral cavity.
It still wanted to escape, but the moment it left Del's body, it was swallowed by flames, turning into ashes after letting out a piercing shriek.
As that thing dissipated, Del's body also completely returned to normal, collapsing to the ground after Drake retracted his magic power.
"Treatment complete. Once he wakes up, we'll know exactly what's happening in the royal capital!" Drake said.
...
At the Boar Hat Tavern, everyone sat together. Del had already woken up, and had told everyone everything he knew.
However, Del was, after all, just a test subject, and didn't know much.
Even so, he revealed the identity of the mastermind behind this disturbance: Hendrickson, one of the kingdom's two Great Holy Knights.
At the very least, Del could prove that it was Hendrickson who had used Demon Clan blood to conduct experiments, creating the New Generation. And he was a test subject in this process.
There were many others like him who had failed in the fusion, all of whom were former Holy Knights, but they had all been disposed of.
The Holy Knights of the Kingdom of Liones weren't a monolith; those who had rebelled with the two Great Holy Knights were ambitious individuals who were trying to climb to high positions, and a group of Holy Knights who believed in the Great Holy Knight's idea of the Holy War and were rebelling against the king.
There was also a considerable portion of the Holy Knights who maintained their loyalty to the royal family, such as the Roar of Dawn.
After meeting with Elizabeth, the Roar of Dawn knight order, led by Slader, decided to assist the Seven Deadly Sins.
Drake, holding a wine glass, said, "So, our goal is actually quite simple: rescue the imprisoned king and then defeat Hendrickson."
Although he said that, Drake knew that the real mastermind wasn't Hendrickson, but the other Great Holy Knight, Dreyfus, who had always appeared to be at odds with him.
To be precise, it was the Demon Clan Fraudrin, the only one of the Ten Commandments who had escaped the seal, who was inside Dreyfus' body.
Drake had also considered whether or not to directly kill Fraudrin, preventing the seal from being broken.
After all, the Demon Clan was the representative of dark power in this world, and their nature was destruction and devastation; they even fed on human souls.
Letting them out of the seal wasn't a good thing.
Putting aside the fact that the Demon Clan and humans were like wolves and sheep, and that mutual slaughter was a natural law, Drake was human, and would naturally think from the human perspective.
If the Demon Clan and humans could coexist peacefully, there wouldn't be a problem, but as long as the Demon King, who wanted to rule all of Britannia, was still around, the Demon Clan wouldn't change.
But after much consideration, Drake decided to abandon that idea.
Because Fraudrin breaking the seal was part of someone's plan.
Merlin, the Gluttony's Sin, in order to revive Chaos, the Demon King was someone she had to eliminate.
And in order to eliminate the Demon King, who held the highest authority over dark power, gathering all ten commandments and having him descend into the world was the only way.
The Demon King who descended into the world would have his authority weakened to the limit, and that would be the only chance to defeat him.
So, even if Drake killed Fraudrin, Merlin would still break the seal of the Coffin of Eternal Darkness.
Drake didn't doubt whether or not she had that kind of ability; after all, the Coffin of Eternal Darkness had originally been made by Merlin, and no one could say for sure whether or not she had left any backdoors on it.
So, rather than letting the situation get out of control, it was better to let the process of breaking the seal proceed as it had in the original story, so that Drake could make some preparations in advance.
Of course, the Goddess Clan weren't good people either. Although they didn't slaughter humans as wantonly as the Demon Clan, their ultimate goal was also to rise above the other races.
The Holy War that those guys, who considered themselves to be a superior race, were proclaiming was nothing more than a war for supremacy.
Hadn't they also used despicable means to slaughter the Demon Clan? At that time, they didn't seem so noble.
Drake had already planned to go and break the Goddess Clan's seal after the Demon Clan's seal was broken, and let them fight each other.
While Drake was thinking so far ahead, the others began to discuss their plan to attack the royal palace.
Slader said, "Leave His Majesty to us! We'll return to the royal capital in advance, and even if we can't rescue His Majesty, we'll find out where he's being held."
The weak Del took out a pendant, saying, "I can't be of much help right now; please take this to my daughter; maybe she can provide you with some assistance."
Slader put away the pendant, saying, "That would really be a great help!"
Meliodas said, "Once we rescue Baltra, we'll be able to command a portion of the Holy Knights. And in the end, all we'll need to do is defeat Hendrickson."
Ban, holding a wine glass, said, "I don't think that the kingdom's Great Holy Knight will sit idly by; it seems that those New Generation are also being controlled by him.
It might turn into an incredible war!"
Elizabeth revealed a sad expression; for her, neither side should be harmed, and war shouldn't happen.
Stella comforted her, saying, "Elizabeth, we have to stop them now; otherwise, there will definitely be more sacrifices in the future."
Elizabeth revealed a pale smile, saying, "I'm sorry; I won't be weak anymore!"
Stella shook her hand, saying, "That's not right; kindness and gentleness are what make Elizabeth strong. You're definitely not in the wrong, so you don't need to apologize."
Drake nodded in agreement from the side; even when she was being hurt, her unchanging kindness was indeed a kind of strength.
And more valuable than the strength of power was this inner strength.
And protecting such a precious heart was also the meaning of the existence of power.
Meliodas looked at Elizabeth gently, and then said loudly, Now that the plan has been decided, then let's take action!
The plan to find Merlin and Escanor will be postponed for the time being; from now on, the Seven Deadly Sins' target is the royal capital of Liones!
But before that, let's celebrate Gowther's return!
Drake slapped his forehead; he didn't know what the Boar Hat Tavern had been like when it was only Meliodas, but since Drake had joined, it seemed like they were having a banquet every day.
The Boar Hat Tavern's financial situation had always been running a deficit, and even most of the ingredients weren't purchased, but were obtained through gathering and hunting.
The reason was the captain's extravagance; the funds they earned were never saved.
But still, it was certainly fun.
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