If you need a recap of what Hendrickson looks like, head to 'Part 4'. There's a visual reference for you all. 

~~~~

I doubled over as branches of cold shot through my torso, my knees quivering.

"Ban! Estra!" Diane cried.

All the sounds in the world returned and I slashed my flaming sword down on the black, severing it with a hiss. I stumbled backwards, right into Diane's hand. The black in my stomach disappeared into smoke and my hands dropped to the wound to staunch the blood. I grimaced as the hole restitched itself.

"Why didn't you move?" Leraj asked, kneeling beside me.

"Sorry. Bit of a memory lock there," I said. Realisation dawned in his eyes and he looked away, guilty.

"Can you stand?" Diane asked.

"Yeah."

She helped me upright and I wiped blood on my pants. Leraj held my elbow when I swayed then caught me by the waist when the ground rumbled and I lost my footing.

Ban stood at the edge of a hole, shoulders heaving. Hendrickson was gone. We moved closer to stare down into the abyss. That was the second time Hendrickson had been sent more than 6 feet under.

For a moment, we stood in silence before Ban retrieved his nunchuk and suddenly struck at the red demon, obliterating the head into nothing but mush.

"Ban, you really killed that thing twenty years ago?" King asked.

"Who killed what and when isn't important," he answered.

I think I missed something important, I thought, pulling myself away from Leraj's support to stand on the lip. Dirt crumbled and fell away. Meliodas joined me, then Gowther, then Diane crouched to peer down as well.

"Forget all that, look at the size of this hole," Meliodas said.

"I detect a slight breeze which must mean that there's a cave further down," Gowther said.

"He won't be dead," Leraj added.

"Let's go then," announced the captain.

"But I don't think I can fit down there," Diane said with a pout.

"No problem. You can stay up here and keep a lookout," Meliodas said. Her pout grew bigger.

"Don't worry, Diane, I'll stay with you," I said, patting her arm, which cheered her up a little. "We'll make sure Elizabeth stays protected."

We watched Meliodas, Ban, Gowther and King disappear. Silence descended over us. I looked at Leraj, who looked after our comrades with his eyebrows drawn together. I hadn't seen such a serious and concerned look on his face before.

"Why didn't you go with them?" I asked.

He blinked and turned to me. "Someone has to help be backup on the surface. Besides, I think those four will be fine against Hendrickson in his current state."

"I hope they bring the fight back up here. I still need to give Hendrickson more payback for what he did to Elizabeth," Diane said.

Speaking of the Princess... "Where's Hawk?"

Diane stood, shielding her eyes from the sun as she scanned. "I see her and Hawk with Princess Margaret. Gilthunder and Howzer aren't too far away either."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "She's safe there then." Two very capable knights and of course, the captain of the scraps disposal. "So... what do we do now?"

"We wait," Leraj said, settling on the ground. He craned his head back, the sun dancing on his tattoos.

"I don't think we should be getting that relaxed," Diane said, shifting nervously.

I crossed my legs and sat too, laying my sword over my legs and running my fingers over the surface. Fingers tapping the steel, I watched the hole. "He's not relaxed... He's having a power nap. I'm joking, guys, don't panic," I added, feeling the shift of people behind us who'd overheard my comment. "Don't worry, Diane. I'm sure they won't be long."

I should have lied and proclaimed the opposite because now I stood a little ways from the hole running through swordplay drills to keep mobile and warm. Diane had taken to stretching and Leraj was patrolling the hole. He'd been on edge for about two minutes, hand grasping and ungrasping his sword, silent and tense. I'd asked him earlier what had him spooked but he'd ignored me and kept pacing so I stopped asking questions.

All the knights we had at our disposal were at the ready, unmoving save their mouths as they made whispered conversation.

"Everything okay over here, Estra?" Hawk asked, bounding over for like the third time. No doubt our conversation was about to be the same as before.

"Seems to be," I murmured, watching Leraj a moment longer before turning to the pig. "Is Elizabeth doing okay?"

"Margaret is by her side and Gilthunder left some trusted knights close by. There's no change in her condition but the bleeding seems to have slowed down."

So still unconscious. But it was a relief to hear about the bleeding. "Okay. Go keep her safe, Master of the Scraps." I saluted him and he returned the gesture with an ear then he bounded off again.

"Is it normal for her to be unconscious that long?" Diane asked.

"It depends on what Hendrickson did to her. I'm hoping it's just her body's way of keeping her safe. She did get kidnapped twice in one day, then became a sacrificial lamb and got injured."

She worried her lip, wringing Gideon in her hands. I placed one hand on my hip and faced Leraj. He'd stopped pacing and his arms dropped to his sides.

I twirled my sword. "Hey, Leraj, is something th-"

"Move away, now!" Leraj shouted, running towards me. His eyes wide with fear.

Spiders crawled up my spine and I dodged Leraj, pointing him in the princess' direction. "Protect them!" I managed to say before whatever malevolent force was in there came surging out.

Boom!

I was getting pretty good at flying lately. I hit the ground in a crouch but the force of the blast sent me into a reverse tumble. I came to a stop on my side, chunks of ground raining down on me. I uncovered my face when the dust settled.

My breath caught in my tightening throat at the monster before me.

Horns protruded from his forehead, black veins etched on his skin from forehead down to jaw. His upper torso was grey until his hips where the skin was black all the way to his clawed feet. A small pair of black wings flared at his back.

Hendrickson...

"What the fuck," escaped my lips. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

"Watch out, he's going for Elizabeth!" Meliodas cried, attacking Hendrickson from behind. "Don't let him near her." Then Hendrickson backhanded him so hard he sailed into the chasm walls.

My sword had been wrenched from my hand in the blast. I curled my hands into fists and got to my feet.

Gowther launched forward, hands glowing in the purple bow. Suddenly, he didn't have a head.

In the background, I heard the knights pleading to the demon known as Hendrickson. Like that would do any difference. This was not the same Hendrickson as earlier.

Piercing yellow eyes locked on to me then flicked over my right shoulder.

Elizabeth.

My eyes widened as our eyes locked again. Fear ignited the fire in my body and flames sprouted down my arms and I crossed my arms, hands clawed outwards.

Suddenly, I was body slammed to the ground. Leraj stayed crouched over me, eyes glinting red, blade at the ready. Hendrickson stood where I'd just been, hand opening and closing. Strands of my hair fell from his grasp and my hand flew to my ponytail. His head turned slowly to the two of us and I scrambled out from underneath Leraj.

My heart thundered in my chest, my strength fled. How could we defeat that? I hadn't seen him move a single time. I'd been scared before but this took the cake. I tried to call back my flames but even they were too afraid to face this.

"Estra, I need you to calm down," Leraj said softly, eyes still on Hendrickson as he paused and looked around, as if suddenly just noticing all the knights.

They were still pleading.

"Calm down?!" I was on my feet, basically vibrating on the spot. Flight was very much on my mind. "Did you see how fast he just moved? What the hell is that form?"

He didn't have time to answer. Sinister, purple and black blots appeared around Hendrickson, multiplying by the second.

"Dark Snow." He opened his arms wide and sent the particles into the sky. They hovered briefly before drifting lazily.

We all started then stared in confusion. Leraj tightened his grip on my arm, his other hand wrapping around my waist as he pulled me close, eyes on the sky.

"What-"

But when knights started falling dead to the ground, black as corpses, I'd answered my own question.

The deadly snow cascaded down and if it wasn't hard enough to dodge this, Hendrickson had thrown himself at the knights, tearing limb from limb and heads from shoulder with bare hands.

Leraj practically carried me around the battlefield, an intricate dance of weaving and dodging as knights screamed, their harried voices cut off suddenly as Hendrickson wrung a neck or ripped a heart from their chest.

Several Holy Knights replied with magic attacks, pouring their hearts and souls into stopping the demon. And I couldn't even lift a finger. For the first time in my entire existence, the fear was so strong I couldn't make my body obey.

"Estra, take a breath, you're in shock."

"We can't win," I whined, trembling.

He stabbed his sword into the ground and grabbed my face, holding it tight so I had no choice but to look at him. 

"You are one of the strongest Sins I have ever met. Hell, you're stronger than me. That form he's in, it may be strong but we have the literal might of a kingdom on our side, two demons and Seven Deadly Sins on our side. We can win."

He took a deep breath when I did. Then another. All around us I heard screaming and magic filled the sky but I forced them out, focusing on his amber eyes.

"Remember who you are."

He dropped my face and gave my hand a long squeeze. It helped. Then I took my Mana in a vice grip. I'd always crowed that I could best everyone and I couldn't let Hendrickson of all people to put me to shame.

"I'm the Fox of Greed." Those five words helped return the warmth of my limbs and I bristled, the anger chasing the shock away.

I bared my fangs and flames rippled over my body. Leraj smiled then released my hand. He handed me my sword and I sheathed it immediately. I had to finish something first.

A resounding blast of lightning, fire and wind stirred the air into tornado and we paused a moment to let it pass. The knights had drawn back.

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the untouched Hendrickson in the centre, staring Gilthunder and Howzer down.

"Try to keep up," I crowed, striding towards the man of the hour. I crossed my arms, hands clawed outwards and the battlefield around us shimmered with heat. "Hey, ugly!" I screamed.

Hendrickson whipped round.

"Everybody down!" Howzer commanded and the closest knights hit the deck as quickly as possible.

"Boom."

The colours of the rainbow filled my vision then the cacophony of explosions as I reduced Hendrickson to nothing but a ball of fire. When my vision returned, Hendrickson stood smoking with a hand on his forearm.

A few third degree burns wouldn't be enough to take him down but I had garnered that Firework wouldn't be enough. It may have done less than intended but it gave time for the remaining knights to rally and regroup while Hendrickson focused on me. 

"Attack!" I didn't know who sounded the start of battle but it didn't matter.

The Holy Knights sent magic attacks towards the advancing Hendrickson. I added my own 'Enflame' into the mix, rapid fire punches that had him stumbling. 

When Hendrickson lunged forward towards one part of the knights, Gilthunder met him part way with a lightning pierce. Only to fall a few moments later with the back of his chain mail shredded.

"Rising Meteor!" came Diane's cry, launching Hendrickson into the atmosphere. "Now, King!" I dove backwards, Leraj leading me towards Elizabeth, Margaret and Hawk.

"Spirit Spear Chastiefol, Eighth Configuration!" King chanted.

But before it could take effect, Hendrickson countered. "Dark Nebula." A shield of dark purple surrounded his body then encompassed the sky, spreading outwards and downwards.

"Cold Fire!"

I only had enough time to cast the spell on the closest person. I held my ground, shielding my face, as a protected Leraj threw his arms around me. The dark purple attack faded away and Hendrickson hit the ground hard near an unconscious Diane and King.

All around us, the knights were face down in the dirt or knocked senseless. With a sickening realisation, the only ones standing between Hendrickson and Elizabeth were Margaret and Hawk, Meliodas, and Leraj and me.

"Like lambs to the slaughter," Hendrickson said.

I swallowed hard, tasting nothing but dust. Leraj released me and stepped in front and I startled when I saw the wounds on his back and shoulders, his hair tinged black at the back. Cold Fire had done little in stopping that attack.

"Estra, hang back for now." Leraj threw a grin over his shoulder. His eyes glittered like rubies under firelight, veins of red extending out of his eye sockets.

I nodded resolutely, holding my blade tight in a defensive form. "Don't go having all the fun."

"Worry less, Fox. I'll tag you in shortly. Let me work some of my magic first."