Skeleton King

Seeing Gray and Cana surrounded by several mages, Riyao's gaze darkened, and he activated Monstrous Strength Mode with a burst of power!

The muscles all over his body instantly tensed, and his bones cracked with a series of muffled pops. Though he still looked like a boy, his frame radiated explosive power that could not be underestimated.

Riyao raised his leg sharply, his foot as heavy as lead, and brought it down hard on the carriage floor with tremendous force!

"Boom!"

A deafening crash rang out as the carriage floor fractured beneath his foot, spiderweb cracks spreading rapidly across it.

A piercing screech of tearing metal split the air, and the sheer force of the blow snapped the entire train carriage in two!

The steel at the break twisted out of shape, sending splinters and shards of metal flying. Everyone in the carriage staggered, completely lost their balance, and stumbled into one another.

Meanwhile, far away at the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia, Makarov raised his wineglass and took a sip.

Suddenly, his heart tightened for no apparent reason, as though something important was about to leave him. The unease came swiftly and fiercely.

He instinctively clutched the wallet at his waist, frowning deeply as he muttered, "Strange. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling... Could those three brats have gotten into trouble?"

The train had broken in two. The front half, no longer under traction, continued racing forward on its momentum and vanished at the far end of the fields.

The rear half rocked violently from the enormous impact. Its wheels scraped against the rails, producing sparks and a piercing screech, before it finally rolled to a stop in the wilderness.

Gray and Cana crawled out of the scattered debris and shook their dizzy heads.

Thanks to the protection of Riyao's Life Link, neither of them had so much as a scratch. The violent jolt had only left them somewhat dizzy, and they had to lean against a broken wall nearby to stay on their feet.

The dark mages of the Spectral Bone Trickster Guild were in much worse shape.

Without magical protection, they had collided with and trampled one another in the chaos of the carriage breaking apart. Flying bone fragments had lodged in many of them, while others had their clothes slashed by splinters from the break. Blood seeped from their wounds, leaving them in a sorry state.

"Damn it! Damn brats!"

The villainous leader crawled out of the twisted steel wreckage, his hair disheveled and bloody froth at the corner of his mouth. His already eerie face was now even more hideous and frightening.

He glared fixedly at Riyao and the other two, his eyes bloodshot, and roared in uncontrollable rage. His voice alternated between a hoarse rasp and a ghostly shriek, filled with frenzied killing intent.

"Today, you brats who don't know your own limits will all die here in this wilderness!"

Before his words had faded, the bone magic power around him surged again. His broken bone blade re-formed, even sharper than before, and the deathly aura coiling around it grew thicker.

Strong winds swept dry grass and debris across the wilderness. The wreckage of the broken train lay tilted beside the tracks, and before the shriek of twisting metal had faded, another round of slaughter erupted!

Riyao's Monstrous Strength Mode was still active, golden markings interweaving with waves of power.

He suddenly bent down, seized a section of broken steel beam from the train with both hands, and heaved the several-ton wreckage up before hurling it at the Spectral Bone Trickster Guild's lackeys!

With a thunderous crash, the beam struck the ground, sending spiderweb cracks across it. Three mages who failed to dodge in time were pinned beneath it, crying out in pain and spitting blood.

Seeing this, the villainous leader's eyes turned so red they seemed ready to bleed, and his bone magic power surged wildly.

[Bone-Make: Bone Dragon Fang]

The bones in both his arms disassembled and reassembled into a gigantic bone blade dozens of meters long, its surface covered in vicious bone spikes.

Trailing the foul aura of the undead, it swept across the field. Grass withered and blackened instantly in its path, and even the air was torn apart with a piercing shriek.

Riyao's gaze sharpened. Instead of retreating, he advanced, crossing his arms in front of him to block.

"Clang!"

The earth beneath Riyao's feet was forcibly compressed by half a foot.

"Gray! Cana! Find a chance to keep them occupied!"

Gray had already regained his footing. Ice-blue magic power flowed rapidly through his palms as he fixed his gaze on the approaching lackeys and shouted in a low voice, "Ice-Make: Ice Shield Chain Wall!"

Several thick ice walls rose instantly from the ground, blocking the rain of bone shards fired at them.

He flipped his hands, and ice blades extended from the edges of the walls. "Ice-Make: Ice Scythe Slash!"

Crescent-shaped ice scythes whistled through the air, precisely severing the bone-wrapping thorn chains conjured by two mages and slashing their arms in the process.

But the Spectral Bone Trickster Guild's lackeys did not back down. One of them raised a hand with a vicious grin. "Bone-Make: Bone Spike Formation!"

Dozens of thick bone spikes suddenly erupted from the ground, surging wildly toward Gray and Cana, their sharp tips gleaming coldly.

Cana reacted quickly, pushing off the ground and leaping into the air as cards flew through her hands. "Wind Card: Tornado!"

A cyan whirlwind instantly took shape and shattered all the incoming bone spikes. She then flung out another card. "Lightning Card: Electric Net!"

Purple lightning interwove into a net and descended over the mages below. Several lackeys failed to dodge in time and were struck, collapsing to the ground with their bodies convulsing.

Elsewhere, two mages took the opportunity to circle behind Cana, conjuring short bone blades and thrusting them at her. "Bone-Make: Bone Dagger Assault!"

Cana caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye, but just as she was about to turn, Gray arrived in time. Ice-Make: Ice Cone Rapid Fire!

Several ice cones shot through the air, striking both mages precisely in the middle of their backs and pinning them to the ground.

"Thanks!" Cana called out sharply. She flung another binding card, and golden cords of light wrapped around the last lackey's limbs, leaving him unable to move.

Meanwhile, the fight between Riyao and the villainous leader had reached a fever pitch.

Seeing his lackeys fall one after another, the leader descended into complete madness, his voice switching wildly between a rasp and a shriek. "You're all useless! Become my power! Bone-Make: Skeleton King!"

The guild marks on the members of the Spectral Bone Trickster Guild lit up, and their magic power and life force were drawn out. One after another, they instantly became as thin as skeletons, crying out, "Ah, you... you bastard."

The bones in the area gathered together to form a gigantic Skeleton King wielding an enormous bone blade.

The moment it took shape, the Skeleton King let out a "Roar!" Heaven knew how a skeleton made a sound.

The villainous leader stood on the Skeleton King's shoulder and directed it. Riyao rushed over and kicked its ankle to pieces, but it quickly recovered.

He cursed under his breath, went to Cana and Gray, and said, "This won't work. That thing absorbed its companions' magic power and life force. We can't outlast it."

Gray said, "Then what do we do? The passengers from the train are still here."

Cana held her cards and watched the Skeleton King warily. "It'll take the Magic Council's Rune Knights a while longer to get here."

Unable to abandon the passengers and run, the three had no choice but to steel themselves and fight.

Their opponent gave them no time to discuss it. The leader on the Skeleton King's shoulder instantly flew into a rage, his mind completely consumed by madness.

His hoarse and shrill voices blended together in a piercing scream. "Shut up! Crush them!"

The enormous Skeleton King raised a giant foot in response and stomped down at the three again, bearing the force to destroy everything.

Riyao did not dare delay. He swept out his arms and swiftly hoisted Gray and Cana up.

He burst backward, retreating far beyond the train wreckage for fear that the aftershock would reach the innocent passengers sheltering behind them.