Poor Lullaby was given a sound thrashing, with air leaking out from all over its body.
Its throat had a gash deep enough to see the bone, carved by Erza's sword.
Its right leg had over a dozen holes pierced by Gray's ice spears; with every movement, it made a "whooshing" sound of wind.
A charred giant hole had been blasted into its chest by Natsu's fire fist, with wisps of black smoke still rising from the edges.
The entire demon looked like a ragdoll ravaged by a naughty child, its majestic entrance image completely vanished.
Annoyed by the trio's assault, Lullaby's three eyes became bloodshot simultaneously as it roared angrily at the sky.
"Enough!!!"
Its voice shook the leaves until they fell rustling, and the surrounding air trembled along with it.
It began to charge power, a giant dark-purple magic circle emerging beneath its feet as complex runes spun wildly in the darkness.
As the magic circle expanded, the surrounding plants began to wither at a rate visible to the naked eye. Green grass turned yellow and dry, leaves curled and fell, and flowers wilted instantly, as if something was greedily draining the life force of this land.
However.
Lullaby blinked its three eyes in confusion.
It couldn't feel any life force flowing into its body.
The extracted life force was flying off in a certain direction.
At some point, Riyao had produced a fist-sized crystal ball, holding it in one hand while making a grasping motion in the air with the other.
That stream of life force obediently burrowed into the crystal ball, swirling inside and emitting a soft glow.
He held the crystal ball up to his eyes, narrowing them to examine it for a moment, a satisfied curve appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"Mmm 99% purity quite a rarity~ I'll take it home to grow some vegetables."
His tone of voice sounded exactly like he had scavenged some treasure at a wet market.
Lullaby's three eyes bulged wide, completely unable to comprehend what had happened. It was clearly casting a spell, so why was the life force going into someone else's hands?
But the Curse had already been activated and couldn't be abandoned halfway. It could only grit its teeth and increase its Curse power output, trying to compensate for the missing portion of life force.
[Lullaby]
It opened its giant mouth and began to sing.
There was definitely a reason why Tartaros didn't want to play with it.
Just like now, Lullaby had been beaten so badly by Erza, Gray, and Natsu that air was leaking from its entire body, and as a result, the Lullaby it played... was out of tune.
What should have been a sinister, terrifying demonic sound that killed anyone who heard it had now become a disjointed, wavering, and bizarre noise coming from its tattered mouth.
"Aiming for the heights say hi hi hi~"
Interspersed with several off-key cracks, it sounded like a leaking bellows screaming in pain.
Crows flew past... Caw... Caw...
Lucy had originally been scared to death, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes, her face pale. Hearing this bizarre "song," she was stunned for a moment before shouting a retort: "What the hell is this?!"
She pointed at Lullaby with a look of disbelief: "This is the legendary Lullaby?! This is it?!"
The second-string jokester Happy immediately joined in, flapping his wings as he flew over with a look of disgust: "This sound is like a fart!"
Cold sweat broke out from Lullaby's three eyes simultaneously as it touched its own throat in disbelief: "My... where did my proud, graceful voice go?!"
Its voice carried a sob; a demon had actually been demoralized to this extent.
Riyao adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, a white light flashing across the lenses, making him look quite serious: "The attacks just now blew many holes in its body, so the sound is out of tune!"
His tone was like he was explaining some magical principle, showing no sign of schadenfreude at all.
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized, and then...
One by one, they began to mock Lullaby.
"This demon is just all show and no substance." Someone crossed their arms, shaking their head and clicking their tongue in wonder.
"I thought it was strong, but it turns out it has a voice like a broken gong." Someone covered their ears with a look of disgust.
"And it dared to come assassinate the Guild Masters with this? Isn't it just here for laughs?" Someone burst out laughing.
...
Lullaby was not doing well at all.
Its three eyes changed from crimson to yellow, then from yellow to iron-blue, like a traffic light. As a dignified demon, its Lullaby was actually being humiliated like this by these humans!
"Aaaaaah—!!!"
It went completely berserk and began to wreak havoc.
It opened its giant mouth, firing dark-purple beams from its maw that blasted the surroundings, igniting raging fires wherever they hit. The forest burned, the earth trembled, and smoke and dust blotted out the sky.
Seeing the flames, Natsu's eyes instantly lit up.
He kicked off the ground, lunging toward the sea of fire like a cannonball, opening his mouth.
Right then, Riyao moved.
The tips of his hair turned from gold to pure white, and one of his pupils changed from its original color to deep blue.
A flame as black as ink ignited in his hand; it wasn't like ordinary fire, as even light was swallowed into it.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the black flame toward Natsu: "Here, boy, Natsu."
His tone was casual and relaxed, as if he were feeding a pet.
Natsu was enveloped by the pitch-black flames, disappearing entirely within them.
Seeing this, Lucy was scared out of her wits and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Riyao! What are you doing?!"
She instinctively wanted to rush over but was stopped by Happy.
Happy flew up, patted her shoulder, and spoke in the tone of someone who had seen it all.
"Calm down, calm down, newbie."
He wagged a finger with a profound look: "Did you forget that Natsu can eat fire?"
Lucy was stunned, then suddenly remembered—oh right, Natsu is a Dragon Slayer, a Fire Dragon Slayer, he can eat fire!
Within the black flames, Natsu was indeed gulping down those dark fires.
With every swallow, his aura surged, and surging power pulsed through his muscles.
He wiped the corner of his mouth and flashed a wild grin.
"Thanks for the meal! I'm fired up now!"
Erza didn't hesitate for a second; a light flashed.
"Requip! Purgatory Armor!"
The armor on her body instantly changed into a set of black, revealing armor, her whole being radiating a violent aura. She gripped a giant sword with both hands, kicked off her toes, and turned into a streak of black light, charging at Lullaby.
"Look over here! You bastard demon!"
A heavy, powerful sword strike slammed into Lullaby, smashing a huge chunk out of the demon's body.
This scene made the perverted old Guild Masters below stare wide-eyed.
"Ohhh! Erza's Purgatory Armor!"
"That figure! That aura!"
"As expected of Titania!"
...
Gray dropped to one knee, steadying himself, and pressed his hands together as ice-blue magic power condensed wildly in his palms.
"Ice-Make: Saucer!"
A giant ice Saucer formed out of thin air, spinning as it flew toward Lullaby, carving trails of frost across the demon's body.
Erza and Gray called out together: "Natsu, now's the time!"
Natsu burst out of the black flames, holding dark fire in one hand and crimson fire in the other. He merged the two powers, condensing a giant fireball in his palms—intertwined black and red, radiating an aura of destruction.
His eyes burned with fire, and his mouth split into a wild grin.
[Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame]
He slammed that giant black-and-red fireball hard against Lullaby!
Rumble—!
A massive explosion resounded throughout the area, the shockwave uprooting surrounding trees, and smoke and dust soared into the sky, obscuring the entire heavens.
At the center of the explosion, Lullaby let out a tragic wail as its giant body collapsed and dissipated in the firelight.
And at this very moment.
Riyao sneakily hid under the cover of the smoke and dust, making grasping motions in the air. Some dark-purple light particles drifted out from Lullaby's broken body and were gathered into his palm.
Those were Demon Particles.
A cunning smile played on his lips.
"Hehe, just collecting a bit of loot, no harm in that, right?"
His voice was light and airy, carrying a hint of smugness, like a child who had stolen some candy.