Part 2 – Introduction
Soon, they begin to enjoy the “front world” of Protopaterpolis. Lyka changes Lucie's clothes to help her blend in with the “front world”. However, since Lyka only recommends extremely revealing outfits, Lucie gently avoids them and opts for more traditional attire.
Lucie starts to trust Lyka, appreciating the new experiences and stimulation that she can't find in the “underworld”. Even their style of clothing is different. She begins to vaguely imagine that if she had a sister, she would be like Lyka. Once they acclimate to the front world, they must commence the task of traveling to the “Sacred Ruins”.
Part 2 – Chapter 1
「There are a few directions to the Sacred Ruins, but they end up nowhere」says Lyka to a mystified Lucie. 「Can I see some of her research materials and a piece of the Sacred ruins? 」
Without doubting, Lucie hands over her mother's research and a piece of the “Sacred ruins”.
「Hmmm…」 Lyka receives them uninterestedly with her left hand and then turns her right hand into a beast's claw, slashing down at Lucie .
Lucie falls dramatically, but the wound is shallow as she dodged quickly. However, her new clothes are shredded.
「And you still haven't shown me what kind of magic you use...」Lyka says, looking down at Lucie.
「What?」says Lucie, confused.
「You’re dead because you're too naive.」With that, she thrusts her sharp beastly claws at Lucie.
At that moment, a sharp gunshot sounds in the air. A lot of blood spills from Lyka's head.
「Goodbye, you monster」, a voice says.
Lucie sees military boots at the end of rolling cartridges. When she looks up, a man with sharp, sick eyes is looking down at her and Lyka. He kicks the body of Lyka aside and points the muzzle of his pistol at Lucie.
「Welcome, witch. and disappear. You are disgusting」
Lucie has no idea what a gun is and can't comprehend what is happening, but she thinks she is probably going to die. She can't see the man's face clearly due to the backlight, but she notices a blood-soaked bandana and becomes impressed.
「Mom…」Lucie mutters, making up her mind.
「As I expected, the witch is persistent. I hate it…very much」
Sharp claws pierced the man's hand along with the gun.
「Aaaah! You bastard!!」, the man yells.
Lyka, having recovered, attacks the man with a beastly roar. Blood trails on her head, but the wound isn’t fatal; she had transformed her head's skin into armadillo armor to deflect the bullets. Lyka morphs into a bear and swings her free hand at the man's face. He catches the brutal blow with one hand, the claws penetrating his palm and blood dripping, but he remains unfazed. Instead, he puts more strength into his grip, blood vessels bulging as blood gushes from his palm, yet his expression remains unchanged.
With a grimace, the man crushes the bear's claw with sheer force. Lyka screams, regaining her grip to cover the man's other hand, piercing it along with the gun. The pathetic weapon makes a "squishy" sound as it deforms and rolls to the ground, but the man's hand endures. He grabs the bear's claw and counters with equal strength. It seems like a contest of power, but it’s clear Lyka is losing.
「You … are Wu Xiaohu, the "Discarded Pawn".」, Lyka shouts.
The face of Wu Xiaohu twists in disgust.
「Do you know my name? What an honor. But don’t ever call me by my name with your dirty mouth again」
He squeezes Lyka's other claw with more strength. She collapses to her knees, screaming in pain. Wu Xiaohu grabs her crushed claw and holds tight.
「Where the hell did AAA get the sniff! You're getting in my way! 」, Lyka yells, but Wu Xiaohu is already unwilling to talk. He applies more pressure to her clenched claws.
Screaming louder, Lyka tries to bite the neck of Wu Xiaohu with her fangs, her only remaining weapon. But he ducks, dodging effortlessly, then head-butts her on the nose. Lyka's nose bleeds, and she rolls her eyes back. Both claws revert to hands as she falls, suspended by the grip of Wu Xiaohu. He doesn't relent, applying more pressure.
Lucie turns away, unable to watch. Wu Xiaohu folds Lyka's arms "backwards" with a dull thud. She passes out, her transformation broken, returning to her original female form.
「Well…」Wu Xiaohu throws Lyka aside like trash and approaches Lucie. Whether it's his blood or Lyka's, he licks the blood dripping from his forehead.
「Do you want me to do it the same way?」he asks.
Terrified, Lucie reflexively runs away, retrieving her mother's report and the Sacred Ruins as she goes.
「I really hate that kind of shrewdness.」Wu Xiaohu says.
A roaring sound blasts through the back-alley wall, and several armored vehicles block Lucie's way. Flinching, Lucie watches as infantry emerge, pointing their guns at her.
Part 2 – Chapter 2
「You know what to do, right?」, said Wu Xiaohu.
Unlike Wu Xiaohu, who was relatively lightly armed, the infantry were heavily equipped with bulletproof vests and protective helmets.
They all had uniform equipment and were all pointing the muzzle of the same assault rifle at Lucie.
Lucie was petrified and unable to do anything. Wu Xiaohu laughed.
「Fire!」, he ordered.
A high-pitched popping sound and a sharp flash of light struck Lucie, enveloping her in a cloud of gunpowder, smoke, and dirt.
「I knew it. I hate witches.」said Wu Xiaohu.
As the smoke cleared, the bangs covering Lucie's eyes lifted, revealing her blue eyes and the tattoos carved around them, glowing ominously. Artificial spirits floated around her, emitting the same light as the tattoos.
It seemed the light from these "artificial spirit" acted as a shield, protecting Lucie. Wu Xiaohu realized he had no choice but to take direct action and bent his knees to approach her.
「Don't get any closer!」, shouted Lucie.
Simultaneously, one of the artificial spirits darted toward Wu Xiaohu as if drawn to him.
In the next moment, the "artificial spirit" emitted a dazzling light and exploded over a broad area.
The heavily armed soldiers and Wu Xiaohu were stunned. When they regained their senses, Lucie had vanished. The explosion resembled a modern weapons, intended to disorient rather than kill.
Wu Xiaohu took out his radio and briefly said:
「Section A2, take action」
The heavily armed soldiers left some of their fellows behind, climbed into armored vehicles, and retreated, destroying the surrounding structures in their path.
Wu Xiaohu also boarded one of the departing armored vehicles and disappeared.
Some of the remaining heavily armed soldiers approached Lyka's corpse, pointing something resembling a large sprayer at it. It was a flamethrower. With a roar, flames engulfed Lyka's body, but…
「That's hot, you idiot!」, Lyka screamed, jumping up and sacrificing the remaining enemy soldiers at the start of the battle. Unable to use her hands, she transformed her head into a crocodile's and shredded the heavily armed soldiers to pieces with her jaws.
Lyka was now the only living being in that place, though she hardly looked alive. Both her arms were twisted at odd angles, and her body was burned and partially charred.
「I've been beaten up quite a bit.」she muttered to herself. The tattoo on her back glowed ominously, and Lyka transformed into a crustacean-like apparition, battered but alive. She groaned and writhed in agony.
Then, Lyka's back cracked, and a clean and beautiful Lyka emerged from within. She had shed her skin. Her burnt body and bent arms were now back to normal, as if nothing had happened. After inspecting herself to ensure she was unscathed, Lyka stepped on the ground.
「Damn it! Damn idiot! He screwed me.!! Gandennia!!」she cursed. As she ranted, she noticed a crowd had begun to gather, drawn by the commotion in the back alley.
「Ahem」Lyka coughed and transformed into a raven, disappearing into the red dusk sky. The crowd that had gathered watched the raven's flight, bewildered.
「What the hell was that? 」said someone.
「Okay, okay, are you hurt? 」said another person.
A group of people, dressed like modern-day police officers, quickly set up a warning line to disperse the crowd. The onlookers demanded an explanation, but when one of the "police officers" clapped loudly, the crowd suddenly lost interest and dispersed. The light vanished from the tattoo on the back of the police officer's hand, and he smiled with satisfaction.
