Zatch Bell, Volume 24 by Makoto Raiku

Zatch and his friends have infiltrated the giant Mamudo known as Faudo. Now controlled by Zeno, who looks almost just like Zatch, he has sent Faudo towards Japan to destroy the entire country. The other Mamudo with Zatch intend to stop Faudo and Zeno, too. But Zatch is temporarily out of the fight. Kiyo was injured in their last battle, and is recuperating in a container of the liquid Faudo uses to heal itself- which can also heal and regenerate humans and other Mamudo.

Arth, Ellie, Karudio and Sauzaa have headed for the machine which will take Faudo back to the Mamudo world while Lupa and Papi-Purio are in the right intestine to open a place so the Mamudo known as Ted can enter. The other Mamudo are heading for Faudo's spine and brain stem, so they can fight Zeno and his book-holder Duport, who are controlling Faudo from his brain.

The only way to get there is an elevator which makes three stops before it gets to the brain. But even as Zeno creates antibodies in Faudo to take out those Mamudo who are trying to stop or banish him back to the Mamudo world, Zatch and his friends must battle three sets of foes to complete the journey through the elevator and reach Zeno.

First to face them are Zaruchim and Fango of the flames. And since they have trapped the rest of the Mamudo and their book holders in the glass elevator, the only ones left outside are Kafk Sunbeam and Ponygon and Aleshie and Ria, who must take on the two enemy Mamudo.

But something is wrong with the way the enemy Mamudo are fighting. Fango has been enhanced with the Power of Faudo, and it has changed him completely. Before, he wanted to be king. Now, he only wants Power and to protect the master of Faudo. Zaruchim, on the other hand, has not been so enhanced, and Fango despises him for now accepting the power, making him as much of a danger to Zaruchim as Ponygon and Ria are!

Because Zaruchim and Fango are not working as a team, both are defeated, but at the cost of Ria, whose book is destroyed. All disappear back to the Mamudo world, and the survivors are left to go on. With only 15 minutes before Faudo reaches Japan, they can't spend too long in the other rooms.

But the next room holds 800 doors. They must find the right on to continue on, and the room is guarded by two more enemy Mamudo: Gyaron and Cherish. Gyaron is the master here, torturing Cherish to make her fight on the side of Zeno and Faudo. But when Ted, the Mamudo who has been searching for Cherish his whole time on Earth, arrives to meet the others and stop Faudo, can he break through to her and get her to fight on the side of Zatch and his friends, or will the electrical torture she suffers every time she disobeys make her fight him regardless?

When he refuses to hurt her, even as she is hurting him, can her heart take abusing the mamudo boy she once protected and cared for? Can her heart withstand the misery of hurting someone who loves her so much? And can Ted defeat the menace that is Gyaron and free Cherish before she is forced to hurt him again?

The battles are heating up here, but time is slowing down as they attempt to stop Faudo before it can destroy all of Japan. Zeno is mostly a no-show. The battles to advance through Faudo are the real star. That, and the limited amount of time they have to actually stop Faudo. Readers are constantly reminded that Zatch and his friends are under a time crunch.

But here we begin to see the true cost of accepting the power that Zeno is offering. Once you accept the great power-up it gives you, you change completely, even to giving up what you once believed in or wanted. You become someone very, very different, and in a bad way. All you care about is advancing yourself at the cost of others, even the people who are supposed to be your teammates and on your side.

The message is not very subtle, but readers will get it- because it's also not hammered in with a 500 pound sledgehammer- it's just repeated in the battle with Cherish and Gyaron. Gyaron took the power-up, Cherish didn't- now she's just a tool used by Zeno to hurt Zatch and the others.

I've enjoyed this series so far, as it's generally not preachy, but the battles here are getting a bit wearing. Will Zatch and his friends defeat Zeno and Faudo? Will Zatch become King of the Mamudo world? Exactly how many Mamudo came to Earth, anyway? I thought it was only 100, but it seems like there are many, many more than that. Recommended.