Muda, muda, muda

His fist struck the giant bone blade head-on, and a thunderous blast shook heaven and earth!

Violent golden and green power erupted. A piercing crack rang through the forest as Riyao shattered the giant bone blade, which could have cleaved through a mountain forest, with a single, simple punch.

Bone fragments sprayed across the sky, and thick dust swept over the entire battlefield in an instant, obscuring everything from view.

Amid the churning dust, Riyao's appearance transformed completely.

His blond hair suddenly stood on end, sharp and unruly, while a dazzling halo of intertwined golden and emerald light surrounded him.

The gilded patterns of Hundred Battles spread across his body, entwined with the vigorous green light of the forest's life force. The two shone against each other, radiating an intimidating edge.

The boy's aura had changed completely. Wild, violent fighting power burst from his body, making him look just like that hair-dyeing warrior race that transformed when enraged.

Terrifying waves of power swept out in every direction, centered on the two combatants.

Ancient trees snapped in half and crashed down in swathes. Deep fissures split the ground, sending rocks and broken branches flying everywhere. In the blink of an eye, a vast stretch of dense forest had been reduced to ruins, devastation as far as the eye could see.

Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild a thousand miles away.

Makarov sat with his feet up, leisurely sipping wine from his cup, perfectly at ease.

Suddenly, his chest tightened again. That inexplicable sense of unease abruptly multiplied several times over, weighing heavily on his chest and refusing to go away.

His brows drew sharply together, though he had no inkling of the life-and-death crisis unfolding far away.

Instead, he instinctively clutched the wallet at his waist with both hands, his face going pale with distress as he wailed inwardly.

"This is bad, this is bad... The last time I had this feeling was the last time... Those three little punks must be causing massive destruction out there! Repair costs, compensation... My wallet isn't safe at all now!"

Amid the churning dust, Riyao suddenly accelerated.

Wrapped in intertwined golden and green light, he darted through the Skeleton King's massive frame so fast that he left nothing but afterimages behind.

He didn't press for a frontal assault, instead seeking out weak points. A dense flurry of fists hammered every joint in the Skeleton King's shoulders, neck, elbows, waist, hips, knees, and ankles.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muffled impacts rang out in rapid succession. Every blow, infused with the forest's life force and the power of Hundred Battles, sent cracks spreading through the white bones.

The Skeleton King swayed heavily, its enormous body staggering again and again. Its limbs, only just reassembled, were battered until bone chips flew, and its movements grew ever stiffer and clumsier.

The villainous leader standing atop the Skeleton King watched with bulging eyes, his madness bursting past all limits. His voice, both raspy and shrill, rang out in fury.

"Damn it! You persistent little brat! Stop! Crush him! Crush him into pulp, now!"

Like a madman, he squeezed out what little magic he had left, forcibly driving the bones to regenerate. His face was deathly pale, and his magic was rapidly running dry.

Riyao darted among the bones without a trace of malice in his eyes. Instead, his eyes curved and a carefree smile touched his lips as he spoke unhurriedly, every word a cutting taunt.

"Panicking?"

"You went to all that trouble to drain your companions dry, dismantling their bones and breaking their bodies for this power, and it turns out it's this useless."

"You built this big frame through betrayal and plunder. It looks scary, but it's strong on the outside and weak within."

"Stolen life force, borrowed bones—they sure don't hesitate to break."

Smiling, he picked up speed once more and landed another heavy punch squarely on the joint at the Skeleton King's waist.

The villainous leader watched helplessly as the giant Skeleton King's limbs stiffened and its movements were restricted at every turn. Its cumbersome body couldn't even track Riyao's afterimages, and every brute-force attack struck empty air. His eyes turned blood-red, and a vicious impulse seized him.

Having come this far, he decided to see it through and shouted, "Disperse!"

With a thunderous crash, the mountain-like Skeleton King shattered and fell apart in an instant.

White bones scattered through the air and reassembled in moments, forming tens upon hundreds of small, nimble skeleton soldiers packed together.

Freed from their massive size, the skeleton soldiers became several times faster. Like a dark, surging tide, they swarmed madly toward Riyao.

One bone body after another piled up in layers, instantly burying Riyao before he could dodge. They formed a towering mound of bones, trapping him completely inside.

Seeing that his opponent was trapped, the leader twisted his face into a savage expression. His hands rapidly formed seals, death energy coiling around his fingertips as he cast a killing spell in an instant:

"Bone-Make: Soul-Locking Bone-Crushing Burial!"

The bone pile burying Riyao abruptly tightened. Countless tiny bone blades and spikes sprang out from every direction, thrusting inward through the gaps, twisting together, and locking tight.

Layer upon layer of white bones formed a deadly cage, restraining him while ravenously devouring magic, intent on crushing Riyao inside the mound and grinding him into nothing.

Outside the forest, Gray and Cana stared at the mountain of white bones that had suddenly closed into a prison. Their hearts sank to rock bottom, and they were ready to rush back in regardless of the danger.

Deep within the pile, darkness and a bone-chilling cold closed in on Riyao, but the intertwined golden and green light around him only burned brighter.

The bone mound tightened relentlessly, thousands of bone spikes twisting inward to kill, while death energy frantically devoured everything around it.

Riyao held steady all the forest life force and power of Hundred Battles he had gathered, then set both fists whirling, pounding outward in a torrential barrage.

One punch, ten punches, a hundred punches—

The relentless force of his fists smashed the layers of the bone cage to pieces from within!

With a thunderous boom, the entire mountain of bones split apart and exploded, sending bone fragments flying across the sky.

Taking advantage of the opening, Riyao shot out of the shattered cage like a streak of light and caught up to the leader in midair in an instant.

He thrust out a hand, seized the panic-stricken villainous leader, and slammed him hard into the muddy forest floor, pinning him down.

Then a whirlwind flurry of punches came crashing down.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!"

His punches were vicious. Every blow precisely shattered the leader's bone markings, broke his magic nodes, and fractured the bones throughout his body, destroying the foundations of all his Bone-Make magic.

But at the same time, the faint golden and green healing light swirling around Riyao's palm flowed continuously over his opponent.

Bones that had just been broken mended in the blink of an eye.

Internal organs that had just been injured were healed instantly.

Stamina that had just been exhausted slowly returned.

He beat him within an inch of his life while forcibly healing him at the same time.

He felt every bit of the pain, but his injuries never accumulated. He couldn't die even if he wanted to, and he couldn't pass out even if he tried.

A succession of expressions played across the villainous leader's face:

At first, he was mad with rage, his eyes full of killing intent as he roared that he would tear his opponent apart.

Then agony swept through his body, twisting his features and making him convulse.

When he realized his wounds were healing in an instant, his pupils contracted, leaving only terror and bewilderment.

At last, beaten and healed over and over, his resistance was gradually worn away.

All that remained was utter breakdown, despair, and mental numbness. He lay limp on the ground, unable even to scream.

He had given everything, and the power he had gained by sacrificing all his companions had been completely dismantled. Now, all that remained was endless torment, trapped inside his own body, whole yet utterly broken.

Outside the forest, Gray and Cana stared at the bizarre, overbearing scene and came to a stunned halt. Only one thought remained in their minds: Who was the villain again?