Chapter 27: The Beasts of Dublith

At the Curtis home, Izumi worries aloud to Mason that Alphonse is out too late, and the notion that he might have been kidnapped only draws laughter from her and Sig. Elsewhere, Alphonse sits chained with Martel still lodged inside him and Dolcetto keeping watch. Their talk reveals that these fighters are chimera, fused from gravely wounded soldiers. Their leader, Greed, arrives with more chimera to interrogate the armor. When Alphonse tries alchemy to break free and strikes at him, Greed proves nearly indestructible, ordering Roa to shear off his head with a massive hammer only for the wound to knit itself whole. Greed announces that he is a homunculus, explains that his regeneration has limits and that he covets Alphonse's true immortality, and presses for the method behind the soul bonding.

Meanwhile at South Headquarters, a tardy Edward checks in for his annual assessment and runs into Major Alex Louis Armstrong, who happens to be escorting Führer President Bradley on an inspection. Learning of the delay, Bradley signs off on Ed's paperwork. Edward says he is merely visiting his old teacher, and when Bradley muses about recruiting her, Ed warns that persuading Izumi would be a formidable task.

Unable to break Greed's hide, Alphonse admits under pressure that his brother Edward performed the transmutation, but claims Edward is no longer around to explain, leaving his captors to assume Ed is dead. In Dublith, Izumi, Sig, and Mason chase leads to the Devil's Nest bar. Izumi storms the entrance, dropping the first wave of guards, and when the next refuses to talk she and Sig clear out every remaining obstacle. Inside, Greed's crew shift from hypnosis to talk of dissecting Alphonse, who claims to fear only one person. As he says it, Izumi bursts through the door and levels the guards around him.

The chapter confirms that Greed and the other ouroboros-marked figures, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony, are homunculi, artificial people made through alchemy. The chimera are the surviving successes of military experimentation. Homunculi are shown to be nearly indestructible, yet not truly invincible.