Al and Ed stood in front of Edward’s house with a solemn look emanating from their bodies.
“Brother, what should we do? Should we…”
“No,” replied Ed. “Just like we promised not to use the stone to get our bodies back, we did not need to walk on Mr. Bones’ path. I believe that we will find a way to get our bodies back; certainly.”
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hawkeye--who had a puzzling look on her eyes after seeing the Elric brothers suddenly appear out of nowhere--rushed towards them.
“Are you guys alright? What just happened? How did you guys suddenly disappear out of nowhere?”
The two looked at each other, but they did not answer; they just left to do their things.
Meanwhile, after the Elric brothers left, Edward had something else to do: he apparated to the house of the leader of Amestris, Fuhrer Bradley. The latter was in his study reviewing some papers.
Suddenly, he felt something and raised his head. After seeing the person in front of him, Bradley said with a calm look: “Are you the Alchemist called Edward Bones?”
“That’s me.”
“So, what brings about this visit?” asked Bradley, still staying calm and composed.
“You know, of all the homunculi, I have to say I hate you and Pride the most: I hate your arrogant demeanor and your level of coldness and indifference. It’s a shame I cannot kill you lots.”
“Is your opinion supposed to affect me?” As soon as Bradley finished saying these words, he rushed towards Edward with two swords in his hand. His speed far surpassed the limits of humans.
He swung his sword intending to chop Edward’s head clean. However, midway through, Bradley suddenly coughed, blood starting sipping from his mouth and nose.
He looked down to see Edward right in front of him, in a punching position. What shocked Bradley the most was the fact that the force of this punch severely punctured one of his lungs.
‘My Ultimate Eye could not keep up with his speed. How fast is he?’
Immediately afterward, Bradley tried to distance himself from his opponent knowing that his opponent was faster than him. Unfortunately, he discovered that he could not move a muscle.
“What did you do to me?”
With a smile on his face, Edward said: “Do you know that all creatures with flesh and blood have something called pressure points. If you hit all of them, they will be rendered immobile.
“The human body has 18 Pressure Points, and since homunculi have the same physiology as a human, you also have the same pressure point.”
He paused for a moment, turned his head to the corner, and said: “I wonder if this fact is true for creatures like you whose flesh and blood are merely a container, Pride. I truly want to know the answer to this question.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
In the corner that Edward was looking at appeared a young child about 8 years old or more. However, unlike real or ordinary children, his face had an eerie smile.
“Do not place me on the same boat as humans,” replied Salim Bradley, also known as the homunculus, Pride. “I’ve heard about you, Edward Bones, and I have to say, for a human, you’re quite special. I’ve taken some interest in you--especially your origin.”
While saying this, countless shadows appeared around him; some of them had mouths at the tip.
“Capturing you should be quite entertaining.”
Edward was momentarily surprised, then he laughed out loud; his laughter echoed throughout the room. Oddly though, no one outside the room came to check, or realize that an intruder successfully infiltrated the home of the most powerful man of this country.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Pride with a frown on his face.
“I cannot believe that you’re so arrogant that you even fail to see who is the hunter and who is the prey in this situation,” replied Edward as he shook his head. “I have to say, as a species, you homunculi are quite the failure.”
“Failure? A mere human calls us failure? Hahaha, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life.”
“Really? Then, let’s think about this logically. Homunculi are made by implanting Philosopher’s Stones into a human's body. Philosopher’s Stones are made from human life.
“So, without humans, there is no stone. Without stone, there are no homunculi. Even if there was a Philosopher’s Stone, without humans to place it inside, no homunculi can be born.
“In conclusion, your entire race is nothing but a parasitic race that can only exist and survive because of humans. Even your so-called Father was created from a humble slave. So, am I correct to assume that you guys are failures?” said Edward with a smirk on his face.
Meanwhile, Pride had the word “furious” written all over his face. Even the immobile Wrath was angry.
“Well, you seemed not convinced,” continued Edward. “Let me tell you another interesting fact. Humans can make homunculi, but homunculi cannot make humans.
“With all these facts, I truly want to know why you people always look down on humans, thinking that we’re inferior to homunculi. Is it because of our emotions? Your Father seemed to think that emotion is a weakness, and all of you seem to have inherited that idea.
“However, similar logic could apply to you guys as well. With each of you having only one of humans’ seven deadly sins, doesn’t that mean that all of you are incomplete? How pitiful!”
“Shut up!” roared Pride as his shadow spike rushed straight towards Edward’s eyes; he hated the look that the latter gave him. Unfortunately, a force field appeared, blocking the attack.
“Maybe it’s because we are weak?” continued Edward as he ignored Pride’s constant attacks.
“The human race is indeed inherently weak, however, we are a race of endless possibility. With our weakness and limitations, we can create wonders beyond anyone’s imagination.”
Edward paused for a moment, looked at truly outraged Pride, then said: “Well, I guess it’s time for my sermon to end. Alright, let’s get back to business.”
He raised his hand to create an intense light that enveloped Pride. Immediately after that, the latter shadows disappeared.
Edward knew that one of Pride’s weaknesses was the fact that he could control shadows, not create them. So, as long as there are no shadows around him, he is powerless.
The intense light served that purpose.
After rendering Pride powerless, Edward made a clenching motion, then the earth underneath Pride’s feet moved to form a sphere that imprisoned him.
The intense light disappeared, making Pride’s environment that of total darkness, without any shadows.
Under Edward’s control, the Earth Dome slowly shrunk to the size of a marble before he placed it in his pocket. He was truly interested in Pride's ability to absorb the power of the people he swallowed. Then, he turned his head to look at Wrath.
“Now, it’s your turn.”
The first thing he did was to read the latter’s memory. Wrath was a unique homunculus as he was made with a Philosopher’s Stone that contained only one human stone. As such, he did not have his brothers and sisters’ immortality and healing factors.
Without many souls to interfere, Edward was able to easily read his mind and memories.
“Interesting,” muttered Edward with a slight surprise on his face.