Preserving as much as possible of the girl's scant remaining beautiful memories and retaining the greatest degree of humanity, Liu A'dou modified the chimera's genes through Ripple. Thus, a wolf girl was born.
She was naked, but Liu A'dou still had his primal-force mineral veins. Crafting a piece of distinctive metal clothing for the girl was not a problem.
Scar witnessed everything. Before his eyes, a pitiful chimera reverted into a girl once more. Although the chimera's physical traits had not completely disappeared, she had indeed become human again. This kind of transmutation that reclaimed humanity—how was it even possible? It completely overturned Scar's worldview. "Who exactly are you? A State Alchemist?" If he was, then Scar would kill Liu A'dou.
Liu A'dou looked at Scar. "Don't lump me together with those academic failures. My name is Liu A'dou. I'm the strongest top student in this world. Remember that."
What the hell? Even so, Scar remembered the name Liu A'dou. An unimaginably powerful enemy.
The wolf girl could not remain in this world. This world's tolerance for artificial beings was nowhere near that high. Liu A'dou froze the girl, planning to send her to Einstein Star after returning. The greatswords there would be willing to take care of her.
Although the rain was still falling, Liu A'dou's mood was inexplicably excellent, sweeping away the gloom in his heart. "I'm hungry!"
With soldiers killed, the military quickly discovered Shou Tucker's corpse and mobilized to investigate who had killed the criminal. But Scar's revenge was far from over.
This time, his target was the Fullmetal Alchemist—Edward.
Edward and his younger brother Alphonse were consumed by guilt over the girl's fate, and at the same time they began to doubt the purpose they had always upheld. Their goal was to restore Alphonse's body, as well as Edward's arm and leg. Because of the girl's tragedy, the brothers were filled with confusion about their future. They no longer knew whether alchemy could truly help them. The dark side of alchemy had been laid bare before them—a terrifying darkness they had never witnessed before.
When they were young, after their mother died of illness, they followed the books left behind by their father and performed the forbidden act of human transmutation. In the process, they entered the Gate of Truth. The younger brother lost his entire body, while the older brother lost one leg. In the end, the older brother used a soul-binding transmutation circle to anchor his brother's soul to a suit of armor, losing his right arm in the process. From that moment on, the Elric brothers traveled across the country, hoping to find the Philosopher's Stone and reclaim the parts of their bodies they had lost.
As protagonists, their father was naturally no ordinary man. Their father was none other than Von Hohenheim, the man who bore the title of Sage.
But their father could not help them, because the one hunting them was Scar—a man burdened with an ocean of blood-deep hatred. For the sake of revenge, he had already abandoned everything, including his own soul. Now he was the embodiment of Ishvalan resentment, living solely for vengeance.
"The Fullmetal Alchemist?" Scar asked, already launching his attack—a strike that decomposed the human body.
"Brother!" The younger brother reacted quickly. The tall suit of armor effortlessly scooped up his small-statured brother.
"What? What's going on?" Edward had no idea what was happening or why someone had suddenly attacked him. The killing intent radiating from Scar made the boy realize something was terribly wrong.
Even so, the boy was still a State Alchemist. He clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the ground. Instantly, the ground transformed into a stone cage that enclosed Scar.
Boom! The stone cage lasted only a few seconds before Scar shattered it. Once he understood its composition, he could decompose it.
"This is bad!" Scar attacked again, reducing the stone ground to rubble.
Run. The two brothers knew things were dire. This was the first time they had ever been hunted down.
They were no match at all. Scar was an assassin, while the brothers were merely teenagers.
"Brother, what's going on?" the younger brother asked as they ran.
"I don't know. Even though we've offended a lot of people, it shouldn't be to the point of being hunted down," Edward said.
"Stop running!" Boom—Scar destroyed an entire high wall, cutting off the brothers' escape.
With nowhere to run, they could only fight.
But they were far too slow. The brothers were not warriors, while Scar was an Ishvalan monk who had received combat training from the start and had been tempered by countless battles. Fighting was second nature to him.
In just one exchange, the younger brother's armor was smashed apart. The older brother avoided being torn apart by human decomposition only because his arm was steel.
Scar could split his focus in two—his left hand decomposed steel, while his right hand decomposed flesh.
If both hands had been used to decompose steel, the brothers would have lost in the very first exchange.
"Your arm?!" Scar knew at once it was absolutely not a human arm.
"Damn it, who are you really?" Edward tore off his coat, revealing his steel arm.
"An empty suit of armor, a steel arm… I see, I see. You performed forbidden transmutation," Scar shouted. Everyone knew the consequences of forbidden transmutation—randomly losing parts of one's own body, or dying outright. Even though forbidden transmutation granted the ability to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, no one would willingly attempt it. Skilled alchemists could already simplify circles and embed them into their bodies without having to draw them on the spot, so there was no need to gamble with their own organs.
"Damn it!" He clapped his hands, then swept them over his steel arm, causing blades to extend from it. "Don't underestimate us!"
Scar remained cold and unmoved. "Good courage!"
Another exchange—this time the steel arm was reduced to scrap. Without being able to bring both hands together to form a circle, he could not draw upon the power of the circle, and thus could not use alchemy.
Without alchemy, the brothers had no combat power at all.
Edward knew things were dire. The other man was going to kill him. "Is your target me?"
"The Fullmetal Alchemist—an ugly State Alchemist. My goal is to kill you," Scar replied bluntly.
"Then let's make a promise!" Edward stared straight at Scar. "No matter what, do not lay a hand on my brother. Absolutely not!"
Scar looked at the boy and said slowly, "I, Scar, will honor this promise."
"Brother, what are you doing?!" Alphonse would never allow his brother to sacrifice himself in exchange for his own wretched survival.
Scar drew closer and closer. Alphonse shouted loudly, "Stop! Don't hurt my brother! Don't!"
But Scar's resolve was already set. He was a steadfast killer who would never stop because of someone else's crying—even if that someone was a boy.
"State Alchemist, die!" Scar finally struck.
Edward had already given up, closing his eyes as he awaited death.
"All right—stop. Stop!" It was Liu A'dou's voice. In the pouring rain, he walked out from a side alley without an umbrella, yet the raindrops could not come near him at all. "There's a limit to bullying kids."
It was him again. Scar immediately raised his guard. "Are you going to stop me?" If so, then that meant an enemy.
From Scar's demeanor, it was obvious that hatred had already blinded him. Anyone with a bit of thought would know that when the Ishvalan massacre happened seven years ago, the Elric brothers were still children and could not possibly have been involved. Yet he still intended to strike them down—this went too far.
"Grievances have their owners and debts have their debtors. If you want revenge, go find the right people. Don't bully children."
What was going on with this man? Edward and Alphonse looked at Liu A'dou. Why couldn't the rain touch him? Who exactly was he? And then—
"Don't you keep calling me a kid! I'm not a kid!" Edward roared.