The sky was wrong.
Not dark. Not bright. Just… wrong.
Clouds twisted like something had clawed through them, and the ground below carried scars that didn't belong to any normal battle. This wasn't a place people lived.
This was where monsters ended up.
Or where they were drawn to.
A ripple passed through the air—like reality itself flinched.
Then—
He appeared.
Ryomen Sukuna
Four eyes scanning lazily, a grin already forming like he'd been invited to something entertaining.
"Hm… this world feels different."
He flexed his fingers slightly. Cursed energy spilled out—not wildly, but precisely. Controlled. Suffocating.
Then—
A presence answered.
Not explosive.
Not chaotic.
Just… heavy.
Like standing in front of something ancient that didn't need to prove anything.
A young man walked forward, hands in his pockets, expression almost bored.
Meliodas
His eyes met Sukuna's.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Just quiet recognition.
For a few seconds, neither moved.
Then Meliodas sighed.
"You've got a nasty aura."
Sukuna's grin widened.
"You've got an interesting soul."
The ground between them split.
Not from movement.
From intent.
They vanished.
The first clash didn't make sense.
Sukuna's slash—Dismantle—cut through the space where Meliodas stood.
Meliodas was already behind him.
A casual punch—
Sukuna blocked.
The impact shattered the ground for hundreds of meters.
Sukuna slid back slightly.
Meliodas didn't move.
"Fast," Sukuna muttered.
"You too," Meliodas replied.
Sukuna tilted his head.
Then laughed.
The air screamed.
Invisible slashes filled the battlefield—layered, overlapping, relentless. Not aimed randomly—
calculated.
Every angle. Every escape route.
Meliodas didn't dodge.
He moved through them.
His body twisting, shifting—barely avoiding cuts that carved the earth apart like it was paper.
One grazed his arm—
Blood.
He looked at it.
Then smiled.
"Alright… you're fun."
Darkness began to leak from him.
Not shadow.
Something heavier.
Something older.
Sukuna's eyes sharpened.
"Now we're talking."
Meliodas stepped forward—
and vanished.
Sukuna reacted instantly—
Cleave.
A slash designed to adjust to its target—cutting exactly as much as needed to kill.
It hit.
Meliodas didn't stop.
The slash tore into him—
—but he pushed through it.
His fist connected with Sukuna's face.
The impact folded the air.
Sukuna flew—crashing through layers of earth before stopping mid-slide.
Silence.
Then—
Laughter.
Sukuna stood up slowly, wiping blood from his mouth.
"You ignored it…"
Meliodas rolled his shoulder.
The wound was already closing.
"I've taken worse."
The temperature dropped.
Sukuna raised his hand.
"Domain Expansion."
The world changed.
No barrier.
No escape.
Just a shrine rising from nothing—
and death guaranteed within its reach.
Malevolent Shrine.
The ground, the air—
everything—
began to be cut.
Relentlessly. Infinitely.
Meliodas stood in the center.
Slashes tore into him from every direction.
His body was cut—
again—
and again—
and again—
Blood sprayed.
Flesh split.
Bone showed.
And still—
he didn't fall.
Dark energy exploded from him.
Full Counter.
The next wave of slashes—
reflected.
Not deflected.
Returned.
Sukuna's grin faltered for the first time.
His own attacks came back at him—multiplied in force.
They hit.
His body was shredded—
arms, torso, face—
cut apart in an instant.
For a moment—
both stood there.
Broken.
Then—
They regenerated.
Simultaneously.
And both smiled.
"You can send it back…" Sukuna said softly.
"You can adapt…" Meliodas replied.
The shrine intensified.
The cuts became deeper. Smarter.
They began targeting not just flesh—
but space.
Meliodas noticed.
His expression changed slightly.
"That's new."
He moved—
faster now.
Not just dodging—
overwhelming.
Sukuna countered—
slashing, adjusting, evolving.
The battlefield disappeared under their fight.
Mountains—gone.
Ground—erased.
The sky itself looked like it had been carved apart.
Meliodas leapt high—
darkness gathering into his arm.
"Try this."
He swung—
a massive wave of demonic energy crashing down.
Sukuna met it—
with a single slash.
The two forces collided—
and split the sky.
For a second—
everything froze.
Then—
explosion.
When the dust cleared—
both were still standing.
But now—
both were breathing heavier.
Sukuna's eyes gleamed with something new.
Not just excitement.
Respect.
Meliodas cracked his neck slightly.
"You're still smiling. I like that."
Sukuna stepped forward.
Slowly.
"Let's see how long you last…"
Meliodas' eyes darkened.
"Let's see if you can kill me."
They moved again—
faster than before—
stronger—
more dangerous.
At this point, it wasn't about techniques anymore.
It wasn't about abilities.
It was about who breaks first.
And neither of them looked like they would.
The world around them?
Already gone.
The fight?
Still just getting started.