This is mainly going to be a comedic type of fanfic. So please shut your brain off and just enjoy or laugh.
Discord (looking for helpful editors): https://discord.gg/QRSjC6pNF4
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A story of a man who dreamt of reaching the pinnacle of strength! He mastered every martial art he could find and sharpened his mind to the maximum—yet satisfaction always eluded him.
After nearly being defeated by an ex-military soldier, he pondered what true ultimate power meant in his world.
A nuclear bomb.
"And so, to satisfy my insatiable desire for power... I must simply become nuclear myself!!"
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Howzer's POV
"Hey Cid! Stop zoning out!" I shouted, "We've got to catch up to those treacherous deadly sins!"
"Huh? Oh… yeah," Cid replied, his tone surprisingly nonchalant
"How could they betray our trust like this? They were always the good guys! And now—they want to overthrow the Kingdom? I'll defeat all of them once I become a true Holy Knight!" I exclaimed.
"Go show them who's boss, Howzer! The most dangerous knights won't stand a chance as long as you're around!" Cid cheered.
"Hehe, you really know how to motivate me, Cid," I said. That was one of the main reasons he was my best friend..
But honestly, it was terrifying. The Seven Deadly Sins were now Public Enemy No. 1.
My old man, the greatest blacksmith to ever live, at least in my eyes—had always spoken highly of them.
I wondered… how would he react if he knew they tried to overthrow the Kingdom and killed a Grandmaster?
But for me, the biggest problem was talking about all this with Gilthunder. He was trained by the captain of that group of criminals and he adored them with all his heart.
But before that, I had to alert the three princesses.
Or maybe the real Holy Knights had already done that. That'd actually be pretty cool.
"Hey, Cid. Where do you think the rest of the royal family is?" I asked.
"Well… if I had to guess? Probably under the custody of the Holy Knights for protection," he said, flicking his hair away from his eyes.
"Well, we should still visit the castle. I'm sure Gilthunder and Griamore are still there."
Cid nodded, and we started walking toward the castle.
The streets were unusually quiet; everyone must've already heard about the Seven Deadly Sins. When the towering gates of the castle finally came into view.
"You were right," I said as we spotted two Holy Knights guarding the front gates. "The royal family really is under the Knights' protection."
"C'mon," Cid said with a smug grin. "Anyone with a brain could've guessed that."
"Sorry, kids," said a Holy Knight clad in red armor. "The castle is under Holy Knight control due to the actions of the Seven Deadly Sins. I'm going to have to ask you children to leave."
"Yeah, understandable," I muttered with a sigh. "Still kind of annoying, though."
"Now where are we going to find them? I'm getting bored," I whined as we turned away.
The castle was usually where Cid, Griamore, Gilthunder, and I hung out.
It all started when Gilthunder and I first met. My pops was forging a sword for his dad, the one who got murdered.
When I first met Gilthunder, I didn't like him. But as the days passed, I got used to his attitude.
His dad was a Grandmaster back then and still would be, if he hadn't been brutally attacked and murdered by the Seven Deadly Sins.
Either way, one time Gilthunder invited me to hang out at the castle with his girlfri—
I mean, best friend, Princess Margaret. That's also where I met Griamore, who seemed absolutely hell-bent on protecting another princess, Veronica.
Cid came from a minor noble family that owned land in a place called Danafall. But that territory mysteriously vanished, so his family requested new land from the Kingdom of Liones.
During the negotiations, the King of Liones offered them temporary residence in the castle
After it was all settled, Cid's family, the Kagenous, ended up owning a small estate in the south of Liones.
"Hey, Howzer," Cid asked, breaking the silence. "Why do you think the Seven Deadly Sins killed Gilthunder's dad? If they wanted to overthrow the kingdom, why didn't they go after the King instead?"
I gulped. That was… a really good question.
"Maybe the King was nearly assassinated, and Zaratras fought them off?" I suggested.
"This is a bit suspicious, if you ask me," Cid muttered.
"Well, the fact still stands, this isn't right!" I said, my voice firming up. "They killed a Grandmaster, then cut down multiple Holy Knights while fleeing the scene!"
"God knows their intentions, but after what they did, they're nothing but scum!" I shouted, my anger flaring. "Cid, did you see it? Countless Holy Knights, men and women of justice, slaughtered like cattle!"
Cid didn't answer right away, and honestly, he was right to question it. He had a point. But the facts and what I'd seen… they didn't make the Sins righteous.
It didn't matter if they were wanted for treason or murder…
They were still terrible people…
And I will hunt them down.
"Once we've become Holy Knights—" I started, but a gust of wind cut me off.
I heard it clearly: armor clanging, a sword sliding from its sheath, the deep grunt of a man.
"Your doubt in the Holy Knights is grounds for execution!" the Holy Knight in red armor barked as he stepped out from the trees.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I blurted, my heart racing. I hoped he didn't mean what I thought he meant.
"I mean…" the holy knight started and raised his sword towards Cid.
I watched as Cid's hair rustled under the pressure, his hands covering his body in a futile attempt to protect himself
"YOU HAVE TO DIE!" he shouted. He raised his sword and with a single heavy swing struck at Cid.
"CID NOO!" I screamed, tears burning my eyes. I lunged and stretched my hand toward where he had been knocked backward, as if I could pull him back to me.
"How could you do this!" I cried. "You're a Holy Knight, you're supposed to protect the people, not hurt them!"
The red-armored knight steadied himself, voice cold. "He was consorting with the Seven Deadly Sins. I had no choice but to execute him."
"Either way, Cid Kagenou and his family of outsiders were always pissing me off." The Holy Knight said.
The guard's anger snapped. "Cid Kagenou and his family, outsiders who wormed their way into the royal circle, always rubbed me the wrong way! Getting that close to the nobles, making friends with important people in Liones while I busted my ass just to land a job guarding a gate!"
"And don't think you're off-limits either! Your pops makes a few decent swords, and now suddenly you're buddy-buddy with the royal family!"
"Not like I care about them now. They can rot in hell for all the injustice they've done to me!"
"So what! Killing civilians isn't what the Holy Knights were created for! Where is your sense of justice?" I screamed.
Suddenly, a figure appeared, carried by the wind. He had a plastic bag over his head like the ones you get when ordering bread. His shirt was a greenish-black, paired with a tie, and he wore regular black trousers.
All in all, he looked ridiculous.
"Hello, my friend!" he boomed. Moving closer, I could see a beautiful longsword strapped to his hip.
"And you are?" the Holy Knight replied, clearly unimpressed.
"You may call me the Ruffian Bandit Slayer!" the man shouted, unsheathing his longsword. He spun it in his hands with flair before launching himself straight at the Holy Knight.
The Ruffian Bandit Slayer rapidly approached the Knight. The Holy Knight blinked in surprise, shocked at his speed but quickly reset his stance. Readying himself for a fight.
—-
3rd person POV
The Ruffian Bandit Slayer landed right in front of the Holy Knight, leaping into a direct downward slash.
Luckily for the knight, he spotted the attack in time and sidestepped.
Undeterred, the Ruffian Bandit Slayer flowed seamlessly into another strike. His style was strange, almost sloppy, but strangely beautiful. Each strike seemed random, yet somehow the attacks flowed together perfectly.
"Such amazing swordsmanship," Howzer muttered under his breath.
The Holy Knight couldn't keep up with the onslaught of attacks. First his armor cracked and splintered under the precision and force of each strike. Then his skin split open under the pressure of clean, deliberate cuts. And finally, his will to fight began to crumble.
""W–wha… what are you?" he spat out, desperately dodging the next blow.
"You see," the Ruffian Bandit Slayer began, his tone oddly calm, "a battle is like a conversation."
He swung again, and again each strike was more fluid than the last. The motion of his blade was graceful yet deadly, as though the sword itself were guiding him.
"Through the swing of my sword, and the response of my enemy…" He struck the Holy Knight's weapon clean from his grasp.
"…we are able to communicate."
Then, with one final movement, the Ruffian Bandit Slayer raised his blade and slashed in an upward arc his finishing strike carving an X-shaped wound across the knight's abdomen and chest.
"W-w… what are you…" the Holy Knight stammered weakly before collapsing to the ground.
(A/N: He's dead) (E/N: ASS HELL)
The Ruffian Bandit Slayer flicked his sword to the side, flinging off the blood. "But you, my friend," he said calmly, "have made this conversation awfully quiet."
Howzer could only stand frozen in awe. That swordsmanship wasn't brute force, but pure elegance. If he could ever learn to fight like that… maybe he could become a true powerhouse.
"Sorry," Howzer managed to choke out. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Ruffian Bandit Slayer," the man replied, even though I couldn't see his face it felt like there was a smirk underneath.
Howzer had seen countless Holy Knights and swordsmen in his life, but none like him. His technique was flawless, his movements neither too aggressive like Meliodas's, nor too restrained. They flowed together naturally, like water in motion.
Looking at the defeated Holy Knight lying motionless on the ground, the only thought that crossed Howzer's mind was:
'He didn't just defeat him… he embarrassed him.'
Before he could dwell any longer on the mysterious figure who had dismantled a trained knight with ease, a sharp voice pierced the silence.
"Howzer! You gotta let me out of here!" The voice came from the direction his supposedly dead friend had been launched.
"Cid?!" Howzer squinted, following the sound until he spotted a familiar figure dangling awkwardly from a thick tree branch.
Sighing, Howzer jogged over and began climbing. "You're unbelievable," he muttered as he reached the branch and helped untangle Cid from the mess of twigs.
Cid dropped down with a grunt, brushing leaves from his hair. "So… what happened while I was hanging out up there?" he asked, deadpan.
"After that Holy Knight assaulted me?" Howzer said, dusting off his hands.
Howzer briefly explained to Cid everything that had happened with the Holy Knight, the mysterious man with a brown bag over his head, his ridiculous yet somehow intimidating presence, and his incredible swordsmanship.
"I don't believe it," Cid said flatly.
"I'm telling you, it's true!!" Howzer stammered back as they walked along the dimly lit road toward their homes after the chaos of the day.
"Nope."
"It happened, Cid, I swear!"
"Nuh uh."
Their playful bickering continued all the way down the street until they finally reached the fork in the road where they'd part ways.
"See you later, Cid! The Ruffian Bandit Slayer is real!" Howzer shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Sure he is! See you later!" Cid called back sarcastically, waving before jogging toward his own home.
As he approached, Cid looked up at the towering new building his family now called home, a recently built castle, though one that had pushed them deep into debt.
The gates were shiny, gold and large, the design of which had a golden lion. The exterior of the house was mostly white with a few glamorous bits of color showing around. The abundance of doors and windows made it look like an expensive looking terrace rather than a castle.
Cid brushed past the gate and opened a door which led to a staircase. He quickly ran up the stairs and pulled on a handle which revealed a bedroom.
An awfully plain one.
The only things that could be seen were a few cupboards and a table filled with books.
Cid quickly plopped himself onto the bed.
Cid's POV
So many opportunities were wasted today. I had a lot of time to think about what to do when that Holy Knight finally appeared.
It was like a dream come true. If only there were more people around then I could've truly been the background character.
After all, in such a situation the first one to 'die' is always the mob character, the background character, the side character. It can never be a protagonist like Howzer.
'BUT TELL ME HOW I MANAGED TO WIND MYSELF WITH A MAIN CHARACTER LIKE HIM'
Before I could ponder on anymore a sharp voice called out.
"Shadow! I have some urgent information!" A female said. I looked to the side and saw it was just Beta.
She has uneven but neat silver bob-cut hair with a singular braid, she has ocean blue eyes but her glasses cover them. She's sort of attractive and is always carrying a notebook noting down any little thing I say. Oh and the most important thing is that she is an elf.
"Yeah what is it?" I asked.
She paused quickly to catch her breath then reported
"The Seven Deadly Sins are not traitors. And here is the proof and what really happened," she said, handing me a handful of paper filled with writing.
"Tell me something I don't know," I calmly replied. Honestly, I didn't really care if they had gone rogue.
She stared at me in awe as if I had built a rocket by using cow poo. But hey, in the name of becoming the Eminence In Shadow, such reactions must be a must from my subordinates.
"Amazing Lord Shadow! So how do you plan to deal with Meliodas?" Beta exclaimed.
"Hmmm…" I got up from my bed and stared right into Beta's eyes.
"Meliodas is but one chess piece in our plans Beta. Our main priority is making sure that the Chaos King never awakens and brings more chaos to the cured."
I wanted to gauge her reaction but it seemed that I wouldn't even need to think about it. She was frantically writing and mumbling about Lord Shadow this and that.
Funny story this, they actually believe that the Chaos King is real.