Franmalth

Upon hearing their undisguised remarks about "hunting," Franmalth trembled with anger.

"Don't underestimate demons!"

He roared, and his obese body suddenly swelled up, his back instantly splitting open. Several thick tentacles covered in barbs, like Cobra, grabbed at the three of them with incredible speed.

"Careful!"

Lucy backed away repeatedly, shouting a warning.

"If he catches you, he will forcibly suck your soul away, leaving you unable to resist!"

Before he could finish speaking...

Mirajane and Riyao have already made their moves simultaneously.

The two were so fast that they left a sharp whistling sound in the air. The seemingly menacing tentacles couldn't even touch the hem of their clothes, only leaving a fleeting afterimage in mid-air.

Swish!

The two men appeared before Franmalth in an instant, one in front and one behind, completely blocking all his escape routes.

Franmalth's two bulging eyes widened instantly, their pupils reflecting the two handsome faces, their shock evident in their expressions.

"Wait... wait! I surrender! I surrender!" he pleaded desperately.

However, Mirajane and Riyao didn't even blink, completely unmoved by their rhetoric.

The two worked in perfect unison, simultaneously bending their waists and pulling in their stomachs.

Bang! Bang!

Two powerful punches landed squarely on Franmalth's stomach and back, one after the other.

"Puff--"

Franmalth coughed up a mouthful of purple blood, the excruciating pain causing him to scream like a pig being slaughtered.

In an attempt to protect himself, his skin hardened instantly, followed by countless sharp black thorns bursting forth from his body, like a hedgehog with its fur standing on end, trying to force the two back.

Mirajane reacted extremely quickly, lightly touching the ground with her toes and gliding back several meters, avoiding the range of the spikes.

But Riyao did not retreat but advanced.

Those sharp spikes, enough to pierce through steel, pierced his body, but couldn't even break through his dragon scale defense, only producing a tooth-grinding metallic scraping sound.

Riyao calmly stretched out his hands and grabbed the two thickest spikes on Franmalth' body.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll show you how to open a sea urchin with your bare hands." A kind smile appeared on his lips.

"Don't want!"

Mirajane stood a short distance away, frowned in disgust, and spoke up to stop him from having such a nasty thought.

"If you get covered in purple blood or something later, you're not allowed to come near me today."

Riyao's hand suddenly stopped moving.

"Okay."

He sighed with some regret.

"Then I'll smash him to a pulp."

As soon as he finished speaking, Riyao suddenly exerted force with both arms, gripped the spikes tightly, and swung the massive Franmalth like a sledgehammer, slamming it hard into the hard ground.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of deafening crashes shook the entire corridor violently.

A large section of the spikes on Franmalth's body was smashed off, and the shattered bone spikes flew in all directions like bullets.

Several of the spikes flew straight towards Lucy, who was hiding in the corner.

"Ahhh, help!"

Lucy was terrified and frantically dodged left and right.

Several sharp spikes flew past her, grazing her.

The sound of "thump, thump, thump" echoed as the metal was firmly embedded in the wall behind her, pinning her into a comically awkward "spread-eagle" position.

"Mira... help me..." Lucy struggled, on the verge of tears.

Mirajane looked at Lucy, who was stuck to the wall like a frog, and desperately pursed his lips, suppressing a laugh as he walked over, grabbed the thorn, and pulled it off.

"Lucy, have you ever considered debuting as a comedian?"

Mirajane teased her as he brushed the dust off her clothes.

"I know some of the top agents in the capital; they can definitely make you a star."

Stop laughing! Why am I so unlucky every single day?!

Lucy covered her flushed face with her hands, squatting on the ground and drawing circles on the verge of tears.

Boom!!

Another deafening roar broke Lucy's reverie.

"What's wrong now?!"

Lucy looked up, staring in horror.

All that could be seen was Riyao's arm, covered in blue scales, piercing straight through Franmalth's chest.

As Riyao expressionlessly withdrew his hand, Franmalth's purple blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, splattered all over the ground.

Riyao flicked the blood off his hands with disgust, then kicked the limp Franmalth to Mirajane's feet like he was kicking trash.

"Nailed it."

Mirajane stepped forward and placed her hand on Franmalth's head without hesitation.

Buzz--

A massive, dark purple magic circle suddenly unfolded beneath her feet.

With a final, Despair scream from Franmalth, his entire body transformed into a ball of purplish-black light, which Mirajane absorbed completely.

"So... it's a success?"

Lucy watched in stunned silence, her eyes filled with undisguised envy.

This was a demon from the Nine Demon Gates! It was instantly defeated in just a few moves, and its power was directly converted into his own?!

Riyao walked over, bent his finger, and tapped Lucy on the head without any hesitation.

What's there to envy?

Riyao pointed to the key at her waist.

"Can't you transform into several different Celestial Spirit forms now? If you had a little more mana and didn't always collapse from exhaustion halfway through, you could solo Tartaros."

"I'm not a three-year-old, don't try to fool me with that kind of talk!"

Lucy clutched her throbbing head, dodging Riyao's hand like a cat with its fur standing on end, and bared her teeth at him.

Meanwhile, Mirajane had already finished the receiving ceremony.

She did not absorb it immediately, but instead temporarily sealed the soul of Franmalth within her body.

She'll refine it slowly after this battle is completely over. After all, there are still many top-quality prey among these Underworld Beasts, and she doesn't want to miss out on the Demon Souls of the other Nine Demon Gates just because she's refining a soul.

When Lucy saw Mirajane approaching, she immediately hid behind her as if she had found a protector.

Mirajane gently ruffled Lucy's golden hair, comforting her as if she were a younger sister.

Lucy realized that these two were treating her like a child.

However... it does feel quite nice to be protected like this.

Riyao watched Lucy grin and giggle, her expression constantly shifting, wondering what strange things she was imagining.

He walked over, grabbed Lucy by the back of her collar, and lifted her up.

"Let's go, let's go. Stop grinning like an idiot and hurry to the control room. We don't know what's going on over there yet."

After saying that, Riyao and Mirajane, carrying Lucy, accelerated again and flew towards the control room.

When they arrived at the control room.

The sight before them made the three of them feel a sudden sinking feeling in their hearts.

The entire control room was bathed in an eerie dark red hue, Kyoka sat cross-legged on the massive spherical control center.

Countless dark red neural circuits extended from the control center, tightly connecting to Kyoka's body like blood vessels.

Above the control center, a row of scarlet countdown timers is rapidly ticking and decreasing at a Despair pace.

Haha! You're late!

Kyoka burst into maniacal laughter upon seeing the three who had barged in.

"Face is about to activate! All magic in this world will vanish completely! The age of demons is about to begin!"

Just as Kyoka was laughing wildly.

Swish! Swish!

Two figures suddenly appeared in the control room.

It was Erza had just been unsealed, and Minerva, who had become a half-demon.

"Erza?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

Riyao's gaze, however, fell on the two people's hands, which were tightly clasped together.

He raised an eyebrow, his tone unabashedly sarcastic.

"Wow, you're holding hands really tightly, things are progressing so fast!"

Erza was taken aback by Riyao's teasing, then followed his gaze to her and Minerva's clasped hands.

"Ah!"

She jerked her hand away from Minerva's as if she'd been electrocuted, and a blush crept involuntarily onto her usually serious face, near her ears.

Minerva, who had been shaken off, didn't seem to mind; instead, a playful smile curved her lips.

To cover her embarrassment, Erza coughed twice and immediately turned to look at Kyoka, who was sitting in the control center.

"How's the situation now? What's the countdown timer...?"

What else can happen?

Riyao shrugged, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner.

"That demon has completely linked herself to the control center; she is using her own life force as a sacrifice to forcibly accelerate the countdown to Face's activation."

He spread his hands, seemingly not taking this crisis, which could destroy the entire magical world, seriously at all.

Mirajane stood to the side, his deep blue eyes fixed on Riyao, trying to glean some clue from his calm and collected face.

Noticing Mirajane's gaze, Riyao turned her head, reached out and gently pinched her soft cheek, revealing a smile.