After Chandler left, Charles set off to rendezvous with the Seven Deadly Sins.
As for Ludociel, still lying there like a corpse, neither of them spared him a thought.
Meliodas was a bit surprised to see Charles return unscathed, then let it go.
No one knew Chandler's strength better than Meliodas. In his mind, besides the Demon King and the Supreme Deity, only himself at full power could walk away from Chandler in one piece.
But as for Charles—Meliodas still had no real sense of how strong he was. Against Chandler alone, failing to take Charles down didn't feel all that surprising.
Meliodas didn't dwell on it for long, because Elizabeth's memories began to awaken.
Perhaps the battlefield scenery triggered it; as they were retreating, Elizabeth suddenly fainted.
Three thousand years of unending reincarnation carried a crushing burden on her spirit.
It also meant Meliodas didn't have much time left.
Fortunately, the Commandments were almost gathered.
Charles's hunch was right; there was no way to forcibly strip a Commandment while ensuring the host's safety. It was as if someone had patched them—their fusion with the host was extremely tight.
Luckily, Meliodas knew the proper way to extract them. With Charles and Merlin's help, he successfully took the Commandments from Melascula, Grayroad, Monspeet, and Derieri.
Meliodas now held five Commandments—half the goal.
Of the remaining five, Estarossa had Love, and Zeldris had Piety.
Gowther's Selflessness had long since been reclaimed by Zeldris, and after Gloxinia and Drole quit the Ten Commandments, they also returned their Commandments.
In other words, as long as they dealt with Zeldris and Estarossa, all the Commandments would be assembled.
That was the best news. Estarossa was hard to say, but Meliodas was quite confident he could persuade Zeldris to help him.
"The hardest problem now is you, Boss. In your current state, you can't throw off the Demon King's possession."
So said Charles at the final strategy meeting.
Meliodas frowned without answering, but he understood what Charles meant.
After Elizabeth fainted, Meliodas told everyone about his and Elizabeth's curses. Once they knew the cause and effect, the Seven Deadly Sins resolved to help them break the curses.
Everyone had thought the goal was in sight—until Charles said this.
Ban asked gravely, "What do you mean?"
Merlin sighed and explained, "Meliodas's curse of immortality lets him revive after each death, but he loses a portion of his emotions.
"In other words, part of Meliodas's soul has been taken by the Demon King. His soul now is incomplete.
"Facing the Demon King with an incomplete soul—even Meliodas can't win."
Meliodas gave a bitter smile; he hadn't expected the roadblock to be himself.
As Merlin said, each time he died, the Demon King took a piece of his soul. Now only a small part remained in his body; most of it was imprisoned in Purgatory.
All because for these three thousand years, Meliodas had wandered without rest, constantly repeating life-and-death separations from Elizabeth.
How could he value his own life, under those circumstances? He tried every way to die. Whether killed by others or by his own hand, he never got what he wanted.
The result was that even now, he hadn't broken that chain of suffering.
Meliodas couldn't even remember how many times he'd died in three thousand years. But each death let the Demon King siphon away most of his soul.
In the original course of things, by the end he was left with only the most basic feelings and the obsession to sever the curse. Only when Ban found Meliodas's soul in Purgatory was he able to break the Demon King's control in the end.
Charles had suddenly remembered this fatal loophole while making final preparations.
Ban looked at Charles. "Since you brought it up, you must have a solution, right?"
Charles nodded. "There's only one: go to Purgatory, find Meliodas's soul, and bring it back."
Merlin immediately said, "Are you serious? Do you understand what kind of place Purgatory is?"
Charles smiled. "I know a thing or two. It's a realm of warped time and space, extreme climates, even the air is choked with miasma.
"To date, only one human has entered Purgatory and returned."
Merlin continued, "Yes—my father, Belialuin. But you should know: though he returned alive from Purgatory, he came back a broken man.
"Reaching Purgatory at all is extremely dangerous, to say nothing of finding Meliodas's soul.
"The key issue is that the Gate of Purgatory has been lost for a long time. There's no solution for how to enter Purgatory—or return."
Charles snapped his fingers. "If I'm proposing it, I've got a way. Purgatory's environment is harsh, but I'm confident I can handle it."
Then he opened his dimensional ring and took out a magic device like a compass. "As for locating Meliodas's soul, we can use this."
Meliodas leaned in curiously, just in time to see the needle turn and point straight at him.
"This device records Meliodas's soul signature and points directly to his position," Charles explained.
Merlin sighed. "Looks like you really did prepare everything. Then how do we enter Purgatory?"
Charles turned his head toward Hawk; everyone followed his gaze.
Hawk blinked. "Why are you looking at me? I may be the mighty Captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal, but I can't help with this!"
Charles smiled. "No—only you can."
Merlin stepped forward, seized Hawk's face with both hands, and stared into his eyes.
"Sir Hawk, your eyes are connected to Purgatory! I see—this way we can open the Gate of Purgatory."
With everything ready, Meliodas fell silent. After a long moment he looked up. "Charles, saving Elizabeth and breaking the curse is something I have to do no matter what.
"So I won't refuse your help, and all this can't be repaid by a simple thank-you. I…"
Charles cut him off. "Don't be so formal—we're friends, aren't we? Besides, I have my own goals. Purgatory has plenty of useful materials.
"And I also want to see just how strong the gods of this world really are!"
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