Far away, in The Library of Neverending Stories, the grand repository of all tales, the pages of the book Ten Oaths of Protopaterpolis’ War were filling at an astonishing speed. Letters appeared with a ferocious pace, ink spilling onto the paper in rapid strokes. Scheherazade was not there to watch over the lectern where the book rested, so with all its violent shaking, it fell to the ground. The pivotal moment of the battle had arrived: the appearance of Helen. But at the bottom of the page, a peculiar drawing kept manifesting: an index finger and thumb touching, over and over again.
In the Sacred Ruins, a torrent of chaotic energy erupted from the portal. Helen, the Calamity, floated in midair, clad in an outfit that accentuated her witch-like features. She cast an amused glance at Lucie, though there was no sign of recognition in her eyes. Around the Calamity, black clouds of magical smoke swirled violently. Distant, agonized screams echoed through the battlefield, yet their sources remained unseen.
—Protopaterpolis. It has been a long time —Helen mused. She waved her right hand, and in an instant, a thin, golden pipe materialized between her fingers. She took a slow, deliberate drag, then exhaled a thick plume of smoke.
—Mother… —Lucie whispered.
Helen turned toward her again, but if she had heard the word, she chose to ignore it. Instead, she descended with a regal air, landing gracefully near Gill Lapis.
—Enjoying yourself? —Helen asked.
—Immensely —Gill Lapis replied.
—Have you found my research? I agreed to return here only for that —Helen asked.
—I’ve been… distracted —Gill Lapis said, gesturing toward the heroes.
—You let yourself be distracted, you mean —Helen corrected him. Then, her gaze shifted to Ashwyn— And you? Weren’t you supposed to be powerful?
Ashwyn bristled at the remark but held her tongue.
—I’m heading to the Ivory Tower. Once I have what I came for, I will leave —Helen said, taking another drag from her pipe.
A missile exploded in front of them. As the smoke cleared, a glowing red magical symbol floated in the air, encased within a perfect circle. Helen, Gill Lapis, and Ashwyn all turned toward the one who had attacked, their expressions shifting to surprise, like giants staring at a defiant ant.
Robo Maeda stood, every weapon deployed, every projectile aimed at them, ready to unleash devastation.
—But… —Lucie muttered.
—She’s not your mother, Lucie! —Wang Sia shouted.
—You! —Robo Maeda’s voice thundered across the battlefield— You killed Master Yokoshima! It’s time for vengeance!
With that, Robo Maeda unleashed a barrage of missiles upon the three Conquerors. None of his allies dared interfere. The sheer volume of explosives was enough to separate them, though it did little actual harm. Helen turned away, materializing a broom beneath her, preparing to depart.
—DON’T RUN, WITCH! —Robo Maeda roared, igniting his rear thrusters. In an instant, he was upon Helen, still firing, now close enough for all his melee weapons to strike.
—Now! All together! —Lyka called, transforming into an eagle.
A dull sound was heard, beneath all the others.
Ashwyn and Gill Lapis blocked their path. Neither bore a single wound, as if they had just arrived, fresh and battle-ready.
—The lady said she’s leaving —Gill Lapis declared.
—It’s not very polite to stop a woman from doing as she pleases —Ashwyn added.
Wang Sia conjured another spell, sending a curtain of light against the two Conquerors. Gill Lapis retaliated with the same beam of darkness that had killed Mi Sung, but Lucie intercepted it with an explosion of elemental magic.
In the distance, Robo Maeda clashed with Helen. But for the first time, the automaton was on the back foot. One of his arms hung limply at his side, either disconnected or destroyed. And yet, he refused to yield an inch. His normally expressionless face now contorted with a rage unfitting of an artificial being.
—Someone has to help him! —Lyka urged, shifting into a snake to gain speed.
—Go! We’ll handle these two! —Lucie shouted.
—But… she… Helen… you… —Lyka stammered.
—She’s not my mother —Lucie said firmly. Wang Sia glanced at her, and Lucie repeated, more resolute— She’s not my mother, no matter what’s in my head. She isn’t. Right?
—That’s right, sweetheart —Wang Sia reassured her.
—So… you knew… —Gill Lapis murmured, genuinely surprised.
—What? Was deceiving me part of some dark, sinister plan? —Lucie snapped.
—I’ll tell you if you manage to defeat me —Gill Lapis said with a smirk. Around his hand, garnet-colored magical symbols began to form.
Lucie rolled her eyes, and her hair began to rise, floating upward. Elemental spirits materialized around her, but this time, several of them merged, creating new spirits, stronger than ever before.
—I’m about to show you what wild alchemics really is, and you’ll regret ever coming to my world —Lucie declared.
Lucie's body transformed. Her clothes, her flesh, and even the form of her magic took on a crystalline appearance, living up to her name: she was a synthetic "witch," but her life, her feelings, her love, that was real. Even if her memories were false. Even if she herself had been transformed by an experiment. Patterns of squares and hexagons shimmered around her as Lucie's magic finished transforming her body, making her far more powerful than she could control.
—So, you know your true self —Gill Lapis said.
—This is real alchemies —Lucie said, gathering in her hand a polygonal figure of multicolored magic.
Hundreds of multicolored energy beams erupted from there, surging toward Gill Lapis.
Lyka hissed as she sped away, not waiting to see the outcome of the battle. She raced toward Robo Maeda, ready to aid him. But the closer she got, the clearer the figures within the smoke surrounding Helen became.
They were ghosts.
And from their tattered forms, Lyka recognized them: the same faces she had seen in the documents Lucie had shown her, in the papers of her mother.
They were the witches of the tower. Dead.
The specters floated around Helen, guarding her, occasionally transferring their power to her. Helen, the Calamity, was using them as batteries. A boundless source of energy, born from rage, fury, and frustration long past death.
Robo Maeda stood before Helen, his chainsaw roaring, his gaze vacant. His circuits overflowed with energy, light spilling from within, hot air exhaling from his vents. But Helen’s expression remained indifferent.
—I don’t know who this ‘Yokoshima’ was, and I don’t know who you are either —Helen said flatly—. Disappear, insect.
Lyka entered the battle at that very moment, shifting into a bear. The sheer ferocity of her attack broke through Helen’s defenses for an instant, but the witch quickly recovered, her expression now one of irritation.
—You ungrateful little brat —Helen spat—. After everything I’ve done for you!
—You only wanted me for your dark schemes! —Lyka shot back, transforming into a spider, lashing out with all her legs and her venomous stinger.
—What did you expect? We’re witches! —Helen cackled, her laughter dripping with malice.
—I once thought of you as the mother I never had —Lyka whispered, shifting into an armadillo and striking Helen squarely on the forehead.
Without hesitation, Robo Maeda unleashed everything he had. Cannons thundered, missiles streaked through the air, and energy beams crackled as they struck their target. Helen, caught off guard by Lyka’s revelation, finally took a hit. The witch traced seven magical symbols in the air, conjuring a barrier between herself and her attackers.
—Can you do that again? —Lyka asked.
—Once my circuits cool down. I can do it one more time… much stronger. But… it will be my last resort —Robo Maeda admitted.
—I’ll give you the opening —Lyka said—. Don’t miss! Let’s go!
Lyka bolted toward Helen, shifting into a rabbit to close the distance. Suddenly, wings sprouted from her back, her shoulders broadened, and her hands transformed into furry bear claws. Her legs pulsed with the power of a tiger, and her head took on the resilience of an armadillo.
—This is the Chimera Form! One of the two I mastered after discovering my roots in Aradia! —Lyka roared as she lunged at Helen.
—Aradia? Then, you… —Helen murmured, vanishing into the smoke.
—I found what you were looking for in the ruins when you took me in, Helen. It was me. I am the Perfect Number —Lyka declared, her eyes shut. She didn’t need to see Helen to find her. Every one of her sharpened animal senses guided her strikes. She attacked blindly, yet her blows landed again and again.
But Helen retaliated, casting spells in rapid succession: binding Lyka in chains that she tore through with brute force, striking her with lightning that she diverted by driving her claws into the earth, sending waves of fire that she extinguished with powerful gusts from her wings. Lyka panted with exhaustion, yet the smoke was clearing, and to Helen’s own surprise, her wounds were growing.
—I expected more from you! —Lyka taunted, laughing—. Maybe I don’t even need to…
Lyka stopped. The air left her lungs. She looked down. A jagged spike of ice protruded from her stomach, impaling her clean through. Her legs went numb. One by one, her animal transformations flickered and faded until only the bear remained, the last shred of strength keeping her from collapsing.
A dull sound was heard, a strange sound, but familiar.
Helen stood beside her, surrounded by ghosts. She was completely unscathed. Not a single wound, not a single tear in her garments where Lyka had struck her.
—How… —Lyka choked, blood filling her mouth.
—You’re so entertaining —Helen admitted, her eyes gleaming with amusement—. You who call yourselves witches… But let me tell you something! Witchcraft is divinity! And not everyone is worthy of it!
Helen pressed two fingers against the tattoos on Lyka’s shoulder, draining every last drop of her magic. Stripped of her power, Lyka’s wounds worsened.
—A shame, really. You were the only one I had any expectations for —Helen mused.
—I hope… it was… enough… time… —Lyka gasped.
—What? —Helen leaned in, intrigued—. You’re bold, little one. But boldness alone isn’t enough to defeat a goddess.
—Enough… time… for this —Lyka grinned.
—It was! —Robo Maeda roared, seizing Helen from behind, locking the witch in an unbreakable metallic grip—. We automatons have no god. And as long as a HANADA lives, my death won’t be in vain, witch!
The automaton detonated, engulfing everything within fifty meters in a fiery explosion.
In Academy City, the battle had reached a fever pitch, but Zacky had held the line. Her forces were surrounded, yet they had not fallen. Still, morale was at an all-time low. Aideen fought on as Zacky took a brief moment to issue orders to the defense forces and help a stranded student.
Then, a lone flare erupted in the sky, forming a green cloud.
Zacky’s breath caught in her throat. The signal.
“But… it could mean anything.”, Zacky thought.
She waited. Time seemed to crawl. Then another flare exploded. Another green cloud. And then another. And another.
—Reinforcements! The reinforcements are here! —Zacky shouted, leaping atop a fallen vehicle, raising a fist, rallying all eyes to her—. We’re striking back! Protopaterpolis, we haven’t lost yet!
At Light Castle, Hachisuka was on the brink of surrender. They had barely made a dent in Thoth’s defenses, even though they had almost reclaimed the city. But the battle was no longer in their favor, and they had lost far too many troops. He was about to order a retreat when he saw it.
A flare and a cloud of green smoke in the sky.
Two clouds.
Three clouds!
—No way —Hachisuka murmured, his voice barely a whisper, yet unable to hide the smile forming on his lips.
In the forests of Aradia, the battle had been lost long ago. The cryptid infection had consumed the trees, and the defenses could barely hold any longer. Utsunes ran through the forest, fleeing the battlefield. She had left Gandennia and all the others behind. She knew Helen had returned, and they were no match for her. More than that, she had seen through the lies and understood: they had no chance of victory. They had been deceived.
So Utsunes ran, heading for her secret escape route: the Millennia Portal. If she could reach it, she could leave Protopaterpolis behind.
That was why Utsunes never saw the flares in the sky, the green smoke signaling that hope was not yet lost.
In the Sacred Ruins, a train whistle echoed in the distance. Alex Sansta looked up at the sky, where a trail of green explosions with clouds was moving toward her position.
—Reinforcements —Alex murmured. But they were too late.
The train arrived. The locomotive was massive, its front adorned with a face. Hanging from the side was Goliath HANADA, firing flare after flare into the air. The reinforcements had come. The train was so long that its end couldn’t be seen, but what was visible was the countless ancient-looking automatons pouring out, forming an unrelenting line that charged at the cryptids, destroying them without mercy. A lone biker accompanied the train: it was Wu Xioahu.
The automatons were immune to infection. They were not organic. Those automatons were the creations of Yokoshima HANADA, ancients, but powerful ones. Goliath had retrieved them following Robo Maeda’s instructions. Upon discovering Yokoshima’s secret laboratory, they had set all the HANADA factories in Protopaterpolis to mass production, forging an army to turn the tide of war.
Goliath had passed through every battlefield, dropping off thousands of troops and rescuing the wounded, civilians, and heroes, though not everyone had agreed to leave the fight. Only Hachisuka, Zacky, and Wu Xiaohu had accompanied Goliath to the Sacred Ruins. The latter had regained his human form, but his face bore the most primal expression of fear.
If he wasn’t a cat, then something had happened to Lyka.
And when they took in the scene before them, their smiles vanished.
Mi Sung, Bianchi, Lyka, and Robo Maeda were dead.
Alex Sansta sat on the ground, trying to pull herself together. There was no sign of Helen. Wang Sia and Lucie were locked in a magical battle against Gill Lapis and Ashwyn, a fight so volatile that anyone who lacked magic would be struck down by the lightning bolts crashing indiscriminately around them.
Goliath knelt, gathering the broken remains of Robo Maeda, shaking his head.
—You asked me to go in your place to find all Yokoshima’s research so I could be safe, old friend. I should have been the one here, not you. Thanks for switching places with me. I won’t forget your sacrifice —Goliath said.
Wu Xiaohu fell to his knees beside Lyka’s lifeless body, lying still in a pool of water.
—We’re overwhelmed —Zacky muttered. —My plan… did it fail?
—No. Her… —Alex Sansta pointed at Ashwyn— she wasn’t in your predictions. You couldn’t have known there would be another enemy as powerful as the Conqueror.
Wu Xiaohu took Lyka’s hand, his expression filled with despair.
—I never got to tell you, but I… —he whispered, clutching her hand.
—Your hand… it’s animal again —Goliath noted as he continued picking up pieces of Robo Maeda.
—It is! —Wu Xiaohu gasped. But the moment he let go of Lyka, he reverted to human form—What’s happening? Is Lyka alive?
—I doubt it. But sometimes, lingering spells hold as much magic as the witch who cast them, and the witch can regain its magic if… —Zacky said. The others turned to her, puzzled. —What? I’ve been studying witches. You wouldn’t want me to stay uninformed, would you? Witches are… dangerous.
—Then… —Wu Xiaohu hesitated, placing his hand back on Lyka. Where he touched her, his body began to shift again, fur spreading over his skin— Is there a way to…?
Zacky shrugged but then remembered what had happened between Bianchi and Alex Sansta in the Sacred Ruins, how personal bonds had defied logic.
—Try it. I don’t know. Do something… personal — Zacky suggested.
—Are you in love with her? —Alex Sansta asked— Kiss her!
—Me? No! A witch? Not a chance! —Wu Xiaohu protested. His words rang true.
—Then? —Zacky pressed.
Goliath laughed.
—I’m heading to the locomotive. I’ll piece together what’s left of my friend into a new body. It won’t be the same, but it’ll do. Meanwhile, kitty cat, be honest with yourself — Goliath said, walking away.
Wu Xiaohu’s face grew deadly serious. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He leaned in close to Lyka and whispered something in her ear. He pressed his forehead against hers… and waited.
—What did he say? —Alex Sansta asked.
—Elementary, isn’t it? —Zacky replied.
Alex Sansta shook her head and turned to Wu Xiaohu: his entire head and torso had turned feline once more.
—I said that I really am a cat —Wu Xiaohu admitted with a smile. All the magic left inside him had flowed into Lyka. The wounds didn’t close, but Lyka’s tattoo began to glow.
Lyka’s eyes flew open, and she screamed.
Close to there, Lucie deflected a bolt of black lightning from Gill Lapis using elemental magic. She was running out of power, and she still hadn’t faced Helen. Wang Sia had confirmed that Helen had survived the explosion, but her whereabouts were unknown.
—How much longer are you going to keep this up? —Ashwyn taunted, sweating but clearly enjoying herself.
—She is right. I can’t keep battling, Lucie —Wang Sia admitted.
Lucie swallowed hard. She didn’t want to admit it, but neither could she. She couldn’t understand why they weren’t able to hurt them. Every time they seemed to defeat one of the two Conquerors, they would return, unscathed, at full strength.
And that sound... that sound...
Something wasn’t right. Lucie sent her elementals away, channeling an elemental aura through each one, using them as beacons. There had to be something she was missing. And then, she saw him. Cloaked with magic, was invisible to human’s eye, but not to a witch that was searching something hidden.
Lucie didn’t know who that person was, but she had figure, finally, what was happening .
—Wang Sia! We have to… —Lucie started, but her words stopped. She heard a dull sound, and forgot what she wanted to say.
Suddenly, behind her, Lyka transformed, unleashing the power of Aradia they had vowed to save for the right moment. Around Lyka’s hands, orbs of energy floated, yellow, blue, red… each the size of a vehicle. Lyka herself had become enormous, her crimson mane billowing in the wind. Seated between her immense horns was Wu Xiaohu, still in his cat form, screaming.
She had taken on the form of the Goddess of Aradia.
Lyka had become a colossal, magnificent, dragon.
—Lyka! You’re beautiful! I love you! —Lucie shouted, overcome with emotion.
Lyka roared, unleashing a breath of fire upon the cryptid army. The dragon’s breath obliterated the portal from which they endlessly poured forth, sealing it forever. Then she soared upward, wheeled around, and destroyed another.
As she did, she turned her gaze upon Gill Lapis.
—Do it —Gill Lapis said, locking eyes with Lyka, unblinking.
—Your reign of terror ends here and now, Lapis! —Lucie declared.
—Do it! —Gill Lapis shouted, reaching for Ashwyn. She grabbed his hand.
—Who are you talking to? —said Lucie. Her head was aching. She heard someone calling her name from a distance, but when she turned around, there was no one there— What… what is happening? I know I'm forgetting something, but I don't know what it is...
—Conqueror! Surrender! —Wang Sia demanded.
Goliath stepped forward, a massive robot resembling Robo Maeda at his side. Behind him, Alex Sansta leaned against Zacky. Lucie floated in the air, her face worried, her magic surrounding her, still transformed.
—You’re out of luck, kid —Goliath said, adjusting his glasses. A gleam reflected off the lenses. He looked unbelievably cool.
But Gill Lapis was still smiling.
—DO IT, NOW! —Gill Lapis roared.
A snap echoed throughout the Sacred Ruins.
