Ed charged forward, flames covering his fists. Each collision with Phantom sent shock waves outwards, pushing both men backwards.

Ed frowned. 'He's equal to me even with my chimera strength and mana-batteries.' Suddenly, a fist came pummeling towards him. He hurriedly stepped to the side to dodge. However, the first quickly faded away, a new one replacing it where Ed had stepped. "Ugh!" He groaned as the punch landed squarely on his stomach, causing him to almost throw up.

"You never were much of a match for me, Edward. I'm more of a long-range fighter, but I'm just as good at close-quarters combat." Phantom swung a kick towards Ed, hurling him backwards several meters.

The attacks continued. More and more injuries slowly built up on Ed's body. He grinned as blood poured down his head. 'He really has almost no mana left. If I were him, I'd probably just be keeping a small amount in emergency reserve. It's now or never.' He charged forward as all seven mana-batteries within his left arm activated. His arm shook as it glowed with seven colors. The mana was so strong that even the surrounding air distorted backwards in waves.

"DIE!" Ed yelled as he threw his left arm forward. The seven elements within his arm mixed, causing a violent explosion. His arm burst into thousands of pieces as the explosion was directed towards Phantom's chest, sending gore everywhere. When the light faded away, nothing remained of Phantom's body except for a large bloodstain on the ground.

The backlash of the explosion had slammed into Ed's body, causing severe burns all over it. His scales were torn to shreds as a result. Blood formed a small pool beneath him. "Ugh." He groaned in pain as he hurriedly used his powers to fix up his own body. He glanced at his missing left arm and sighed. 'I'll have to wait until later to fix it.' With those thoughts in mind, he closed his eyes. Multiple layers of his power snaked out to cover his entire body, as if he was waiting to defend against something.

...

A couple of days before the final battle. Ed stood within his lab, working on the ten enslaved espers he had captured previously. He gave each of them a pair of flame mana-battery limbs, and then instructed Eli to train them to fly. The only difference was that the enslaved espers had to use mana to power their batteries instead of manullium, which actually made their training more difficult.

"Forge." Gunther called as he waited patiently outside the lab. It was nearly an hour before Ed answered, inviting Gunther inside. The two sat down at a table, sipping some tea and coffee.

"Have you gotten used to the new weapon?" Ed questioned.

"Mm." He nodded. "I think I should be ready."

"Good." Ed smiled. "Here's the plan. You'll watch the fight from a distance. As soon as you see me defeat or kill Phantom, I want you to fire the manullium rifle right at me."

"What?!" Gunther questioned in shock as his mouth hung wide open. "Why would I do that?"

"Because that's when Phantom will strike." Ed replied calmly. "If I'm right, then he'll save the last of his mana to make me think I've beaten him. At that moment, he'll put everything he has into striking me. That's when the shot from the manullium rifle will hit both of us. However, I'll still have mana to defend myself, though I'll likely suffer heavily injuries. As for Phantom, he'll finally die."

Gunther had a hesitant expression on his face as he furrowed his brows. "What if you're wrong?" He asked.

"Then Phantom will have probably died already, and I take some injuries for nothing." Ed grinned. "A pretty good risk to reward ratio if you ask me."

Gunther sat silently for several moments before nodding. "I'll do it." He said with determination gleaming in his eyes.

"Good." Ed pulled out a map and spread it out on the table between them. He pointed at a spot south of Orlando. "We'll plan an ambush here. There's a chance I'll fail to lead him there. In that case, you'll just have to head over to me..." He continued to explain the finer points of the plan in detail.

...

Back in the present. Gunther sat in the 10-meter-tall Cleft mech. He was crouched several football field distances away, watching the battle through a scope on the manullium rifle. He watched as Ed fought valiantly against the worn-out Phantom. Finally, Ed landed a decisive blow, killing Phantom at the sacrifice of his left arm.

'I hope Forge is right about this.' He sighed as he squeezed the trigger. A bright burst of white light fired from the rifle, traveling forward at incredible speed. It was heading straight towards Ed!

...

Ed stood silently, waiting for Phantom to reveal himself. Suddenly, the old man appeared out of thin air, a sword in hand. He lunged forward, stabbing it directly through one of Ed's three hearts, causing him to spit out a stream of blood.

"You didn't think I'd let you win so easily did you?" Phantom smiled as he twisted the blade, causing agonizing pain for Ed.

"Of course not." Ed grinned as he looked up at Phantom, blood dripping down the side of his lips.

As soon as the words were said, a bright light covered the duo, exploding outwards in all directions. A 100-meter sphere of white light devoured them, annihilating everything in its path. When the light faded away, it revealed a bloodied Ed gasping heavily for air. Phantom was collapsed on the ground, not a shred of skin remaining on his body. He looked like a monster from a horror film.

Ed's chest rose and fell rapidly as he felt himself on the verge of losing consciousness. 'Damn.' He frowned as he saw stars and spots of black in his vision. He shook his head, forcing himself to remain awake. He sent his right arm crushing downwards, penetrating through Phantom's skull. When he pulled his arm back, he held a seven-colored mana-core within his hand. "So the bastard was the same as me. No wonder his powers were so damn ridiculous." He complained as he pocketed the core.

"Good job, Gunther. You just won us the entire war." He said into his mana-radio.

Ed's mana chugged slowly as he forcefully made use of it to control his mana-batteries. Flames blasted from his feet as he flew towards Orlando. He stumbled forward several steps as he landed, forcing him to support his body against a nearby building. Many of the patrolling soldiers looked towards him with confusion on their faces. They hadn't been aware of any deadly battles going on.

"Forge?" One of the soldiers questioned hesitantly.

"Mm." He nodded. "Call Dupe. We're having an emergency meeting."

It was only a few minutes before Ed and Dupe were seated within their temporary Orlando headquarters.

"What's up, Ed?" Dupe questioned as he shuffled through some papers he brought with him, filling out paperwork as he went. "You look like hell. What made you get out of bed?" He commented as he continued focusing on the paperwork.

"I beat Phantom." Ed replied.

"No shit?!" Dupe looked up in surprise.

"Mm." Ed nodded as he felt his head sway down to the side, He quickly caught himself, trying to prevent himself from nodding off. "Now we have three problems."

"Oh?" Dupe rose an eyebrow, eagerly waiting for him to continue.

"First and foremost, the President should be on his way here. We probably have less than ten to twenty minutes."

"That's bad." Dupe nodded as he agreed. "But we expected as much. What else?"

"Two. I'm suffering mana exhaustion and will barely be capable of putting up a fight. I didn't think the battle with Phantom was going to be quite this difficult. I also underestimated the amount of mana I'd need to use to fend off an attack from the manullium rifle."

"That's worse." Dupe frowned as he rubbed his chin. "If you can't fight against the President, then we'll be completely at his mercy."

"On the bright side, I probably couldn't beat him at full strength anyways." Ed joked as he smiled. "Third. Phantom wasn't Nexus, so who knows what they might do to interfere, though they might stay out of the fight altogether."

"Phantom isn't Nexus?" Dupe's eyes widened in surprise. Apparently, he had come to the same conclusion as Ed had previously. "How can you be sure?" He questioned.

"There was no golden faith energy when I killed him." He replied. "I know for a fact that Nexus has a substantial amount of it. I should have experienced something similar to what had happened with the Governor, even if only on a smaller scale. The fact that I didn't means that Phantom was never Nexus."

"Are you sure Phantom is dead and didn't trick you with another illusion or something?" Dupe questioned, doubt visible within his eyes.

"I'm sure." Ed nodded. "I doubt he could create authentic seven-colored mana-cores with his powers." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a marble-shaped object, placing it on the table. It had the seven colors of the seven elements, all existing with perfect balance within the core. Not a single element overpowered another. It looked just like Ed's own mana-core, which made him even more sure of its authenticity.

"Hmm." Dupe rubbed his chin. "Maybe we can offer the mana-core as part of negotiations? It must be quite valuable. I've never seen a core like that one before."

"Maybe." Ed nodded, his eyes growing heavier as the conversation dragged on. "Anyways, wake me up when he gets here. Even if it's just a bit, I need some sleep. Hopefully I recover some mana." With that said, he held back no longer, collapsing onto the table.

...

Ed was having a pleasant dream when he suddenly felt extremely pressured. His dream shifted as he held a heavy rock above his head. The rock slowly grew larger, increasing the pressure exerted on his body. Slowly, the rock became a hill, and then a mountain. The pressure was so crushing that he couldn't breathe. Finally, the mountain crushed him.

"Gah!" Ed awoke with a startle as sweat covered his body. However, the pressure had not vanished. He looked towards Dupe across the table. Dupe was lying flat on the floor, the pressure completely preventing his movement.

'Fuck! He's here!' Ed trembled as he forcefully stood up from his chair. He took one step at a time against the pressure. It was like he was being enveloped by threads. The more he pushed forward, the more threads covered him, trying to force him back to the ground.

Finally, Ed managed to exit the building. To his relief, the pressure vanished almost immediately. He gasped heavily as he looked in every direction, trying to spot the president. The soldiers still continued their routine, as if nothing was happening. Ed ground his teeth in frustration when he saw there was no sign of the President. 'Bastard's just as strong as I predicted.'

He lifted his mana-radio and ordered for Gunther to prepare himself. Same as last time, they planned to use the manullium rifle. It was a multi-use weapon, unlike the rail gun which had all but collapsed after firing a single round. It was simply too difficult to find materials capable of withstanding the power of lightning mana-powder for the fine control of such a machine.

Next, Ed called for the ten enslaved espers. Each one had a forced 2nd awakening and a pair of mana limbs. They had stayed out of the fight until now, all for the purpose of being Ed's last trump card. They were his tools to be used in negotiations with the president. Whether he could trade them away or make them suicide bombers in the fight that was to come.

"You act quite decisively." A deep voice boomed within Ed's ears. He felt his hearts momentarily stop in panic as he looked around. Still, he saw nothing.

Suddenly, black threads began to appear out of nowhere. They swirled together from thin air, forming a tall and muscular human outline. The threads almost seemed like they didn't exist. It could best be described as a humanoid hole now standing in front of Ed, as if something in the background was simply missing. Wind bellowed past him as it was suctioned into the hole, disappearing God knows where.

"Mr. President." Ed said towards the towering black figure.

"Mm." The man nodded. "You've caused quite the mess down here. It's been decades since a scandal like this last happened."

Ed clenched his hand as he immediately jumped to the point. "What do you want in order for me to become Governor? I'm willing to become a vassal to the United States."

The shadowy figure crossed his arms. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. This figure was completely unlike Nexus, lacking the obvious emotional expressions that Nexus liked to use. After a brief moment, the figure shook his head. "I will not take you as a vassal." His deep voice boomed.