The coffer Charles produced was indeed a magic device, but other than being sturdy, it had no special abilities.
What mattered was never the coffer, but what was inside.
Charles had once met Zeref and witnessed the eruption of the curse on him. At that time, he used a magic device to collect the curse's power.
Originally, Charles wanted to study the power of the god Ankhseram, but he's made no progress to this day.
Makes sense—if it were that easy to unravel, Zeref, the progenitor of Dark Mages, wouldn't still be shackled by the curse.
So that cursed power became a chicken rib—tasteless to eat, a pity to throw away.
This time, just as Charles had said, divine power is the best weapon to use against a god, so he took it out against the Demon King.
And the result was as Charles expected—very effective. The Demon King's magic had no effect on a god's power from another world and he was directly grievously wounded.
One look at the Demon King's state told you how deep the injury ran. Not only did it give Charles the chance to slip away, it would make the next stages go much more smoothly.
It also verified Charles's guess: if the power of Ankhseram could hurt the Demon King, then conversely, could the Demon King's power cancel Ankhseram's curse?
Ankhseram's curse is fatal, and yet the Demon King was merely badly hurt—clear proof the curse's power had indeed been abraded in part.
Falling through the Gate of Purgatory, Charles began mapping out the next moves.
The idea that had come to him after entering this world had now been verified; next came the harvest.
Space warped before his eyes, and when Charles snapped back to himself, Stella came running and threw herself into his arms.
Charles winced. "Ow, ow—Stella, easy. I'm still banged up!"
Stella jumped back at once. "You're hurt? How bad is it? Are you okay?"
Charles smiled, wiping the tears from the corner of her eye. "Sorry to make you worry. But it's fine now—see? I'm back in one piece."
Stella's smile turned soft. "Mm. Welcome back."
Charles couldn't help pulling her into a hug. Alongside him, Meliodas and Elizabeth, and Ban and Elaine, formed a little public-display-of-affection club.
Off to the side, Hawk and Wild clung to each other sobbing. For all their differences, the more you looked, the more the two pigs looked alike.
…
Once everyone had their emotions in order, they began discussing what to do next.
A year in Purgatory is only a minute in the real world, so to everyone else, the two had been gone less than an hour.
In that time, Merlin had also tracked where the missing Zeldris and Estarossa had gone.
Right after Ludociel marched out, Zeldris led the remaining Demon troops in a surprise attack on Stigma of Light's main base.
The two Archangels left to guard it—Sariel and Tarmiel—were slain by Zeldris and Estarossa. Aside from the forces Ludociel took, Stigma was annihilated.
Honestly, if the Seven Deadly Sins hadn't brought down Edinburgh's barrier, Zeldris's move would have completely changed the shape of the Holy War.
As it was, it turned into a pure trade of strength. It's hard to say whether the Demon Army or Stigma came out worse.
But on the Demon side, with Zeldris, Estarossa, Chandler, and Cusack, they had six high-tier combatants and a clear upper hand.
So persuading them to give up a victory about to be in hand and hand over the Commandments to Meliodas—no one thought that likely.
Of course, Meliodas and Charles—who knew the inside story—weren't among those doubters.
Meliodas smiled. "Hold on. Let me talk to Zeldris. I might be able to change his mind."
Unlike Charles, the others didn't know where his confidence came from. But seeing his expression, they chose to trust him.
Charles knew full well the source of that confidence: because of Gelda, persuading Zeldris wouldn't be hard.
Those two really are brothers—both laboring this far for their beloved, willing to pay any price. Their taste is uncannily similar, too.
But Estarossa was a different matter. Under the combined effects of the forbidden art and the Commandments, his mind had been badly twisted.
Having deluded himself into being Meliodas, how could Estarossa possibly hand over a Commandment to him?
Considering how many on the other side held genuine killing intent toward Elizabeth, Meliodas didn't bring her along and went alone to find Zeldris.
Charles had planned to go as backup, but his injuries were truly serious, so he stayed to let Elizabeth heal him.
The panacea he'd drunk earlier had only healed the surface; the internal damage still clung to him.
Ban, with his immortality, could recover perfectly even after being pulped, yet he still bore a scar on his face.
That's because Meliodas's true magic is the same power as the Demon King's, which is why it left that scar.
The Demon King's blow had not only breached the defense of Charles's Dragonflame Battle Gear and crushed the Dragon King Body's regeneration, the residual magic was still ravaging his body.
If not for Charles's powerful physique and magic, he might have been left behind in Purgatory, unable to flee.
Dragging this body into a fight with Chandler—or the Original Demon—would put even Charles at a disadvantage.
Luckily, Elizabeth had awakened and fully grasped her Goddess power. It took effort, but she steadily purified the Demon King's lingering magic.
As the Demon King's magic dwindled, Charles's own power revived and began to gain the upper hand in its standoff, and with Elizabeth's healing, his injuries mended rapidly.
Just as Charles was completely healed, Meliodas's message arrived.
As expected, the unexpected happened.
After promising to break Gelda's seal once the Commandments were gathered, Zeldris agreed to help Meliodas.
But just as Zeldris produced the four Commandments he held, Estarossa suddenly struck and snatched Repose and Patience.
Both Meliodas and Zeldris were caught off guard. While Cusack—who had his heart set on seeing his pupil Zeldris become Demon King—watched coldly, Estarossa fled with the Commandments.
Chandler, who'd been overjoyed to hear Meliodas would fuse the Ten Commandments and become the Demon King, never expected Estarossa to wreck things. He flew into a rage and gave chase, but came up empty.
When the Seven Deadly Sins received the news, they moved as well. It was time to settle the Estarossa problem.
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