Ed Goes All Out

Violent magic power erupted from the mark on the back of Ed's hand.

Pale golden patterns spread out from around his eyes, forming the shape of eyeshadow.

Patterns also appeared on both his arms, starting from the backs of his hands to form circles, then extending like ribbons all the way to Ed's chest. The two trails of patterns converged on his chest, forming an egg-sized circular golden design that radiated golden light.

"What kind of form is that? It looks so strong!" Natsu felt the aura radiating from Ed's body, and his entire body went cold as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. "I heard Mira mention it before. Ed calls this form Sage Mode. It can greatly increase the power of magic, and it seems he has never used it at full strength." Erza spoke with a solemn expression.

"As expected of Ed... this pressure... Tch... I'm still not strong enough..." Like Natsu, Gray felt deeply uncomfortable under the pressure of Ed's imposing aura. Nearby, Lucy and Happy clung to each other, completely unable to speak. S-So scary...

"Sorry. It's my first time activating it at full power, so I got a little too excited to control myself." Ed reined in his aura slightly, then looked up at Lullaby's massive body and grinned.

"If possible, I'd like to handle this thing myself." Ed stood before the others and spoke slowly.

"We should still do it together—" Before Erza could finish, Ed shouted, "Anyway, I'm going in first! Sage Art! Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Violent orange flames instantly ignited the entire sky. Lullaby flashed aside to dodge, but its enormous body instead became a burden. Half its body was engulfed in blazing flames, the high-temperature fire burning across its deadwood-like frame.

"Ahhh!!" Lullaby let out a tremendous roar, frantically swatting at the flames on its body.

"Surely not? I'll be really disappointed if that's enough to finish you." Ed looked somewhat dejected at Lullaby's bedraggled state. "Whatever. Since I've already opened it up, I might as well use you as a punching bag."

"Damn it! Damn it! You cursed wizard! I'll eat your soul!" Hearing Ed's words, overwhelming rage crushed what little reason Lullaby possessed. It forcibly gathered magic power, and another enormous magic circle appeared in the air. This time, its target was the human before it who radiated a faint golden glow. "Die!!"

A gigantic magic cannon blasted toward Ed. He raised his hands before him and overlapped them. The magic cannon vanished as though something had swallowed it, followed by a dazzling flash in the distance. Then came a deafening boom and smoke that soared into the sky. When the smoke cleared, another small mountaintop had vanished in the distance.

"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder," Ed said flatly.

"A punching bag should have the resolve of a punching bag. Try this, Sage Art: Ultra-Great Ball Rasengan!" Another Ed suddenly split off from Ed's body. The two Eds stacked their four hands together and raised them upward, rapidly forming a golden sphere of light that continuously grew larger as they lifted it.

By the time their arms were fully extended overhead, a massive Rasengan had taken shape. The Thought Body Ed returned to Ed's main body, and the Rasengan's rapid rotation drove the surrounding air, forming streams of airflow that swirled around Ed.

Erza and the others watched as Ed effortlessly suppressed Lullaby, and they were all stunned. Looking at the technique in Ed's hand, which was obviously terrifyingly powerful, they could not help swallowing.

Seeing that the magic cannon had been completely ineffective, Lullaby planned to directly unleash its strongest magic, Death Requiem. As Lullaby began gathering magic power, Ed chuckled. "Heh, you still want to resist? If I remember correctly, your true body is a flute, which is why you can play that requiem. So what if..."

Ed vanished from where he stood and appeared directly before Lullaby's chin. The Great Ball Rasengan in his hand had already slammed into Lullaby's chest. "If I break you in half, can you still play it?"

The Great Ball Rasengan exploded the instant it struck. Its enormous tearing force and impact shattered Lullaby in two from the chest. After smashing Lullaby apart, its power did not diminish as it transformed into a spinning magic storm and blasted into the mountaintop behind Lullaby. Amid familiar flashes, thunderous booms, and smoke, another mountaintop near Rokuba Town disappeared.

Watching the two halves of Lullaby struggle continuously as though being split apart had not affected it at all, Ed thought for a moment, then created another Thought Body. The two of them made movements similar to before.

"Is he going to use that move again? Simply breaking that thing apart doesn't seem very effective. How about we join in too?" Natsu asked Gray and Erza as he watched Ed's movements.

"Don't rush. Since Ed said to leave it to him, he must be confident. Let's watch for now." Erza was also curious as she watched the two Eds move.

"Relax. This time is different." Ed heard Natsu and the others, but spoke without turning his head.

Suddenly, a piercing screech rang out. Three enormous blade-like extensions emerged from the Rasengan in Ed's hand and spun at high speed. The Rasengan also became brighter than its previous golden color, until it turned into a white sphere of light too dazzling to look at directly. Combined with the extended magic blades, it looked incomparably dangerous.

"Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!" Ed directly hurled the fully formed Rasenshuriken in his hand at Lullaby's still-struggling lower half. The rapidly spinning Rasenshuriken drove the surrounding airflow as it charged toward Lullaby like a miniature tornado.

Boom!

The Rasenshuriken exploded the instant it struck, forming an enormous, continuously expanding hemispherical energy storm field. Violent magic power crazily sliced and crushed everything within its range like a meat grinder.

When the white light faded, Lullaby's lower half, along with everything around it, had been completely crushed. Looking at the semicircular crater in the distance, not only Erza and the others, but even the guild masters were shocked. "Makarov, that kid of yours is something else..." "Ahahaha... indeed..."

Seeing that half of its body had completely vanished, Lullaby panicked and tried to flee using its two arms. Watching Lullaby, which had been so imposing when it first appeared, now make such an unsightly spectacle of itself, Ed was somewhat speechless.

"How pathetic, Lullaby. Come to think of it, I liked your arrogant look from before better. Can you go back to that?" Seeing that Lullaby completely ignored him and only wanted to escape, Ed's gaze turned cold.

"Truly ugly. I'll finish you with the next move. Though, this situation does seem rather suitable for that technique." Ed looked up at the dark clouds Lullaby had gathered when it appeared and slowly raised his right hand.

Suddenly, a dazzling bolt of lightning formed a thin pillar of light that shot from Ed's hand straight into the heavens. The entire mass of dark clouds instantly flashed with lightning and rumbled with thunder. Guided by Ed's magic power, a phantom beast made entirely of gathered lightning appeared in the sky, letting out a thunderous roar.

"Disappear with the thunder." Ed forcefully swung down his right hand, which was linked to the lightning in the sky. "Sage Art! Lightning Release: Kirin!"