Chapter 1: The Rusty Knight & The Long Lost Sister

The air inside the Boar Hat tavern was thick with the scent of spilled ale, cheap meat, and loud, rowdy laughter. High atop the grassy hill overlooking the village of Cainette, the strange, moving tavern was doing bustling business.

"Here you go, hot off the grill! The Boar Hat's famous meat pie!" Meliodas announced cheerfully, slamming a platter down in front of a table of burly villagers.

A man eagerly took a massive bite, chewed for half a second, and immediately looked like he was about to meet the Goddesses early. "THIS IS TERRIBLE!"

"Yeah, but the ale is top tier," Meliodas grinned, entirely unfazed.

Behind the bar, a girl who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen effortlessly flipped a glass in her hand, polishing it with a dry rag. She had vibrant, silky blue hair tied loosely back and bright, amber-gold eyes that seemed to read every person in the room like an open book.

To anyone watching, she was just a small, pretty barmaid. No one could possibly guess that beneath her illusionary Deception magic hid a body of graceful perfection, six towering, snow-white angel wings, and a divine magic power capable of trembling the heavens.

"Honestly, Meliodas, if you keep serving that poison, Hawk is going to have to eat the customers along with the leftovers," Rimuru said, her voice dripping with dry amusement.

"Hey! My scraps are sacred, you hear me?!" A short, pink pig trotted out from the kitchen, glaring up at her. "I'm the Master of Scraps Disposal! Respect the title, blue-hair!"

"Yeah, yeah, quiet pig," Rimuru chuckled softly, but as her golden eyes swept over the tavern, her mind was working at impossible speeds.

[Hyper-Calculation Active]

Analyzing environment... 14 patrons. 3 heavily intoxicated. 0 immediate physical threats. Magic signatures... local Holy Knight aura detected 4.2 miles west.

Still running on empty, Rimuru thought to herself, suppressing a faint sigh.

To break free from her ancient seal, she had compressed every ounce of her once-infinite magic power into a single, localized point, shattering the barrier from the inside. The escape succeeded, but it had left her drained. Her Goddess magic was completely locked away, her Devourer ability was severely restricted, and her Absolute Defense was a shadow of its former self.

And then... there was the void in her chest.

Whenever she tried to think about why she was sealed, or who had been standing beside her when the darkness took her, a searing, blinding pain would strike her head.

"Hey, Rimuru," Meliodas called out softly, stepping up beside her to wipe down the wooden counter. He leaned in, his green eyes suddenly devoid of their usual goofy charm. "You alright? You're staring into space again."

"I'm fine," Rimuru murmured. "Just thinking."

"About... him?" Meliodas asked gently, his voice barely a whisper.

BANG.

A sudden, sharp throb shattered behind Rimuru’s eyes. A wave of suffocating heartache struck her chest so hard she instinctively clutched at her vest, gasping for air. Black, blurred shadows flashed in her mind—a tall silhouette with dark hair, a crimson demon mark, a teasing smirk, and golden-orange eyes full of devotion...

"Don't," Rimuru choked out, squeezing her eyes shut until the pain slowly receded into a dull ache. She forced a breath, looking up at Meliodas with a weary smile. "Don't ask, Meliodas. You know I can't..."

Meliodas’s expression softened with a deep, tragic understanding. He knew what it was like to suffer under the cruel games of their parents. He couldn't die, Elizabeth was forced to die and forget him over and over, and his brother and Rimuru were cursed to forget the very love they fought for.

"Right," Meliodas said softly, patting her shoulder. "Sorry. Forget I asked."

Before the heavy mood could settle, the tavern doors creaked, and the loud conversations of the villagers drifted back to Rimuru's ears.

"Have you guys heard the rumors?" a patron whispered harshly. "The Wandering Rust Knight!"

"Yeah! They say it's one of the Eight Deadly Sins!"

"The Eight? You mean those terrifying traitors from ten years ago? The ones who slaughtered the Great Holy Knight?!"

"Supposedly! The Dragon Sin of Wrath, Meliodas... and the Vice-Captain, the Crow Sin of Deception, Rimuru! They say the Crow Sin could trick a god into giving up their soul before cutting their throat!"

Rimuru smirked faintly behind her glass. 'Trick a god,' huh? If only they knew.

Suddenly, heavy, metallic footsteps echoed from outside the hill. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

The tavern went dead silent. The patrons froze, terror paralyzing the room.

The front door dragged open slowly. Standing in the doorway was a massive, rusted suit of full-plate armor, breathing heavily, reeking of rust and exhaustion.

"The... Eight... Deadly... Sins..." a faint, hollow voice groaned from inside the helmet.

"IT'S A GHOST!" the villagers screamed, scrambling over tables and bursting out the back windows in total panic. Within five seconds, the tavern was completely empty, leaving only Meliodas, Rimuru, Hawk, and the mysterious armored figure.

THUD.

The massive suit of armor collapsed forward, crashing onto the wooden floorboards.

"Whoa, talk about an entrance," Hawk squealed, hiding behind Rimuru's legs.

"He's not a ghost," Rimuru said coolly, her gold eyes narrowing as her intellect processed the scene instantly. "Look at the posture, the weight distribution, and the magic signature. Or rather... her lack of malice."

Meliodas walked over, casually crouching down and unlatching the heavy metal helmet. As the steel slid away, long, flowing silver-white hair spilled out across the wood, revealing the pale, unconscious face of a young girl.

Rimuru’s heart stopped.

The rag in her hand slipped, falling to the floor.

[Hyper-Calculation: Facial Recognition Match]

Subject: Elizabeth.

Status: Sister (Biological - Goddess Clan).

Memory Link: Confirmed.

Rimuru took a sharp step forward, her breath catching in her throat. The physical resemblance to their mother was undeniable, but to Rimuru, this was her little sister. The girl she used to protect in the heavens.

"Elizabeth..." Rimuru whispered, her voice trembling slightly.

Meliodas looked up at Rimuru, his expression somber. "She doesn't remember us, Rimuru. Not yet. In this life, she's just the third princess of Liones."

Rimuru knelt beside the girl, gently brushing a lock of silver hair out of Elizabeth's pale face. A faint, protective warmth swelled in her chest, pushing aside the dark, painful ache of her missing memories.

"It doesn't matter if she remembers or not," Rimuru said softly, her golden eyes flashing with a sharp, dangerous resolve. "She's my sister. And nobody touches her."

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