"Platinum Ranked Holy Knight, in the face of this hopeless situation, what are your thoughts on our chance of victory?" Guila asked. I could barely see her out of the cracked window pane as we crept through the building directly behind them all. "With our magical powers, it won't be safe for either of those two."

The front door was askew in the doorway but the hinges were warped beyond repair. Unless we wanted to blast the wall away and lose our element of surprise, we needed a new route. Leraj nudged my shoulder and pointed up a set of stairs. The window on the next level was nothing more than a gaping hole and splintered wood.

I was up them in two seconds, back pressed to the window. I peeked down and out. Directly above Diane's left shoulder, Howzer and Guila in front of her. A man in red armour – Dreyfus – stood in the centre, Helbram at his right and a familiar pink haired individual on his left – Gilthunder.

"That's not the only problem," Howzer said. "We're about to go up against a Grand Master, a Cardinal and a Diamond Holy Knight on the battlefield. Chances are, we'll lose."

I stood on the damaged window lip. "Then I guess an Emerald Holy Knight and Deadly Sin would be helpful!" All eyes turned to me as I jumped out the window and landed on Diane. "Sorry, Diane," I whispered to her before straightening. I slid off her, Leraj on my heels.

"You're..." Howzer started.

"Estra."

I looked at Guila when she said my name. "Just so you know, I haven't forgiven you." She stiffened. "But I'm not about to let that override the fact that you're standing up against your boss and comrades for my friend." I glared at Jericho and her lip upturned into a snarl. "You on the other hand."

"Estra, where are the others?" Diane asked in a hoarse voice.

My eyes darted over the other Holy Knights, noting their armour and power oozing off them. "Not here." I took a position on Guila's right, slightly behind her. I sensed Leraj staying close behind me.

"So you're the Sin of Greed Hendrickson mentioned," Dreyfus said, readying his blade. "And that man behind you, am I right in assuming you're the hunted Holy Knight?"

"Meddlesome," Helbram muttered. Helbram and Gilthunder widened their stances and readied their blades as well.

"Howzer, Guila, can you keep them occupied, maybe wear them down a bit?" I whispered to them both.

"For however long you need," Howzer said, reeling his arm back with his lance. Guila took position pointing the tip of hers at them.

"Well let's get this party started then!" I crowed, clenching my fists. Fire blazed down to my elbows and I pulled an arm back. All eyes trained on me, just as I expected, and Dreyfus moved forward.

"Rising Tornado!" Howzer yelled. "A highly condensed tornado that's pushed to the ultimate limit!"

Dust whirled around, throwing my hair into disarray and blowing out the fire on my arms I no longer kept a hold of. Jericho was screaming, all of them carried higher and higher into the sky by the black vortex. I spun on my heel and ran over to Diane. Up close, her wounds were severe. One gaping hole in the right side of her chest and one in her right thigh. Whichever one of them did this would pay big time.

"What are you doing, Estra?" she asked, raising her head slightly. A child suddenly popped up.

"Oh, hello there," I said to the boy. To Diane, "I'm going to cauterise your wounds so you don't bleed out. I can't heal but I can help the process."

"Now go for it, Guila! I want you to put all your magical power into this using everything you've got!" commanded Howzer.

"Don't listen to him, Guila!" came Jericho's screech. "We're both Holy Knights!"

"Forgive me, Jericho, but in this case, I had no choice! Shot Bomb!"

A blast of scorching heat rolled over my skin and I looked briefly to see Guila's attack ignite at the base of the tornado. The wildfire was carried up in a matter of seconds, devouring the air.

"Combined Skill: Bomb Cyclone!"

Jericho's scream rendered the air and I returned my focus to Diane, hovering over her leg wound. I channelled my mana into my hands, condensing it along my palms and fingers. With the howl of the wind in my ears, focusing was a task and a half. I concentrated on only enflaming those areas. A small flame licked at my skin with a crackle.

"Keep going until we've got no magical power left!" Howzer cried, an answering roar from Guila.

"Leraj, be on guard," I said.

"Right!" he positioned himself behind Guila and Howzer while they held their focus and magic on their Bomb Cyclone.

"This will sting, Diane," I explained, the small child observing me from under her arms.

"Do it."

The stench of cooking skin had me feeling icky but I held my breath and worked as quickly as I could. Diane shuddered under my touch and I tried to be as gentle as possible with all four wounds. Whatever she had been hit with dealt serious damage. It took me a few minutes to heal all sides.

"Done," I said, crouching down near her head. I pressed my fingers into the ground and cast Kitsune. "How are you holding up, Howzer?" I shouted over the screaming cycle of air. Cool power flowed into my veins, an elixir for my fatigue.

The world came into sharp focus. It wasn't a lot of power, not as much as I could get through Thief, but it would be enough for what I had planned. Hopefully, they would be deciding factors in the panning of events.

"We've got it! Don't you burn out, Guila."

"I was about to tell you that," she replied.

I stood at Guila's right. To Leraj, I said, "Stay with Diane and the kid, no matter what. I'm going to cast Cold Fire over you all."

"You learnt that already?"

"Don't say it like that," I pouted. "It was the only defensive spell I could master in this short amount of time. The others required too much mana." With a quick thought and my eyes roving over Diane, the kid who'd poked his head out again and Leraj, I said, "Cold Fire."

They were enveloped in a swathe of blue fire, opaque in the sunlight. Diane and the child marvelled at it. It wouldn't burn them - it actually tickled according to Ban. As long as I kept my focus on nourishing it, they would be shielded from serious damage should something unexpected happen.

"Cold Fire uses a lot of mana too, Estra, especially on a large scale."

I cracked my knuckles, rolled my shoulders and drew my blade. "Don't worry, I've got Kitsune coming in through my boots and enough mana already stored to sustain it." I winked at him which made his cheeks redden. "You have to stop worrying, I am a Sin after all."

"I think you've gone on long enough," Gilthunder proclaimed, appearing between Leraj and me. Electricity sparked down the length of his twisted blade as he wound up. With lightning reflexes, I threw my blade up for an attack that didn't end up landing.

A lance staved off the attack, Howzer mere inches from me. "I knew you'd be the one guy we wouldn't be able to keep a lid on."

"Leraj!" I shouted, stepping back.

"No. Leave him to me, Leraj, and protect Diane and Ziel!" Howzer proclaimed. "Keep your eyes on the other three, Estra. I can't hold onto it anymore."

I pivoted. The Bomb Cyclone dissipated into thin air, Jericho landing heavily on the ground. She shook and the bottom half of her armour had burnt away, leaving her in her underwear. She wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

Helbram landed next to her, a hand over his mouth and hacking. "For an impromptu combined attack was a reasonable attempt. But it's going to take more than that." He looked no worse for wear surprisingly, but I had a feeling that wasn't to do with how much power was in the attack than it was his own abilities to counteract and damper such attacks.

"I just used the full extent of my power and this was all the damage I could cause." She gasped. Out from the dust prowled Dreyfus. "I don't believe it."

Not a single scratch or nick on his armour! His frown could form thunderclouds, a warning of danger ringing in my head. Tch! I widened my stance. I hadn't entertained the notion that we could defeat him easily but that scorching attack showed me just how out of league we seemed to be.

That's fine though. Everything will be fine. We can do it...

...Maybe.

"Don't lose hope, Guila! As long as we're standing, we still have a chance." I raised my left hand and sword tip so that they were both pointed at Dreyfus.

"Don't even bother using Thief on us high ranking Holy Knights," Helbram said. "You'll only be disappointed; Hendrickson warned us how to cancel it."

"Who said I was using Thief?" I sneered to Helbram. "Firework!" I screamed, swinging my sword and arm out to the sides. One singular explosion wrenched the air apart, a kaleidoscope of colours. Dreyfus and Helbram were thrown into the air. "Now, Guila! Hit them!"

"Chain Explosion!" A zigzagging ladder sequence of explosions threw them higher in the air.

They reached the top of their arcs. I aimed my left hand into the sky above their suspended figures, eyes narrowed. The air shimmered above them and I swung my hand down in a cutting motion. "Firework!" Another blast caught them and flung them into the ground with earth shaking thuds.

A wave of dust shrouded us, visual confirmation on the Holy Knights impossible. "I hope that did enough to wear them down," I said. There was no time to be complacent, so I prepped my sword for battle and cast Enflame. It encircled my arms from elbow down and licks of it danced along the hilt of my sword, warming the jewel in the pommel until it glowed.

"If it wasn't, we only succeeded in making them angrier," Guila replied, panting. The battle was taking its toll on her.

I laughed. "I survived angry Meliodas, I can survive angry Holy Knights. Guila, if you need to rest, do so. I'll hold guard."

With a hard exhale, she stood straighter. "I can go a little longer."

"Good, wouldn't want-"

"Silken Skewer!"