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ArabicArknights: Soul Knights of Terra — Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Saria’s Defeat
In the distance, the Lava Troll continued to vent its blinding rage upon the ruins. Every sweeping arc of its massive arms brought forth the deafening roar of collapsing steel and concrete, sending plumes of ash high into the choked sky.
Fortunately, the beast had not yet turned its burning gaze toward the densely populated urban sectors further out. That was the only sliver of good news left.
Saria gripped her communicator tightly, the Originium Arts coursing through her veins ready to ignite at a fraction of a second’s notice.
Through the static, Kirsten’s voice crackled over the earpiece, retaining its usual cold, businesslike detachment.
“The communication line is open. The President has agreed to the proposal to suspend military strikes. However…” Kirsten paused, the silence heavy. “He demands that the subsequent cleanup work must be fully undertaken and executed to the absolute end by us. By Rhine Lab.”
“I understand.” Saria’s voice was unexpectedly calm. She had anticipated this exact political maneuvering. The catastrophe birthed by Rhine Lab had to be buried by Rhine Lab, at least for the sake of public optics.
A brief silence fell over the channel, leaving only the distant, thunderous impacts of the monster’s rampage.
After a long exhale, Saria spoke again, her voice dropping to a low, absolute register.
“Kirsten… after this incident, terminate Project Diabolic.”
Her gaze swept over the crimson purgatory unfolding before her, her tone carrying an unmatched weight. “We have all seen it. This power is simply not something humans can harness. Forcing its research and weaponization will only lead to our own destruction.”
Kirsten remained quiet for a long moment, calculating the variables of the proposal. Finally, she responded with her signature conciseness.
“Very well. I will formally propose the termination motion at the next board meeting.” Then, in a rare deviation from protocol, her voice softened just a fraction. “Do you have anything else you want to say?”
Saria closed her eyes. The image of Silence’s worried face and Ifrit’s desperate, dependent gaze flashed through the darkness behind her eyelids. Her clenched fists loosened, trembling slightly, before tightening into unyielding iron.
“…Apologize to Silence and Ifrit for me.” Saria opened her eyes, staring into the inferno. “Tell them I might have to break my promise this time.”
Without waiting for Kirsten to process the weight of those words, Saria cut the connection.
There was no room for grand declarations. Saria forced every trace of hesitation and warmth back into the deepest recesses of her mind. She checked the calcified crystals already beginning to form over her skin, adjusted her breathing, and took a step forward.
Facing the suffocating heat and the sheer aura of annihilation, she walked toward the raging Lava Troll. Her steps were measured and absolute. She knew the military commanders might tear up the ceasefire agreement at any second, just as she knew her own chances of survival were pitifully slim.
But for Silence, for Ifrit, and for the countless innocent lives sleeping in the city behind her… she had to hold the line.
The solitary white figure moved against the tide of fleeing refugees, walking into the burning abyss without looking back.
On the other side of the ruins, the rampaging Lava Troll let out a guttural hiss of satisfaction. Having crushed the annoying insects that previously swarmed it, the tearing, burning agony within its own body had marginally subsided.
Its massive, molten head swiveled. Those burning pupils locked onto the distant horizon, where the glittering lights of the city flickered like a taunt.
A primitive realization clawed its way through the beast’s chaotic mind: destroying things made the internal pain stop.
This vague, violent thought thrilled it. Raising its mountain-like arms, violent thermal energy began to compress frantically within its palms. A miniature sun, exuding an aura of pure devastation, rapidly took shape.
Just as the molten sphere finished condensing, ready to be hurled toward the irritating city lights, an unnatural sensation beneath its feet broke its concentration.
It was a patch of pure, blinding white.
Amidst the apocalyptic hues of charred black, bleeding crimson, and flowing magma, a web of pristine, glowing white crystals was spreading across the scorched earth. The frost-like calcification crept forward at a speed visible to the naked eye, freezing the molten rock in its tracks.
The abrupt, sterile color forced the beast to trace the spreading crystals back to their source.
There, it saw a tiny, white figure.
She stood amidst the ash, her arms slowly extending to her sides, palms open to show she carried no weapons. Facing the towering monster, she simply walked forward. Her gaze pierced through the pervasive smoke and blistering heat waves, staring directly into the troll’s burning lava pupils without a shred of fear.
The beast could not comprehend the posture. Driven by instinct, it simply raised its arm, treating her just like the bugs it had crushed moments ago.
The superheated sphere in its hand was hurled downward. It was not a perfectly executed [Explosive Flying Shield], but rather a crude, unstable mass of forcibly aggregated energy. Yet, the raw power contained within the projectile was more than enough to wipe a small mountain off the map.
Facing the incoming meteor, Saria’s pupils constricted. Her Originium Arts flared to their absolute limit in a fraction of a second.
She did not project the energy outward to attack, nor did she form a standard shield. Instead, she poured everything into the shattered earth beneath her boots.
Thick, towering walls of calcified crystal erupted from the bedrock, wrapping and intertwining upwards at terrifying speed. Just milliseconds before the molten sphere made contact, the walls closed over Saria, forming a massive, dense white sphere that entombed her completely.
The burning meteorite slammed into the crystal shell.
A blinding flash of fire and a violent shockwave instantly vaporized the surrounding debris. The surface of Saria’s white crystal sphere fractured, covered in deep, spiderweb-like cracks. The sheer kinetic force of the impact drove the entire structure downward, smashing it through the fragile foundation of the laboratory ruins and burying it deep into the subterranean layers.
Inside the core of the sphere, Saria felt her vision go entirely black. Even with layers of ultra-dense calcification acting as a buffer, the concussive force penetrated straight to her bones.
A mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips, staining her crisp white collar a stark red. She bit down hard on her tongue, using the sharp spike of pain to force her fading consciousness to stay awake.
Above ground, the Lava Troll realized the white shell had not shattered. Enraged, it raised its four massive, molten arms high into the air and began to mercilessly hammer the crater where Saria was buried.
The dull, rhythmic impacts sounded like war drums beaten by a mad god. The earth groaned under the assault. Centered on the ruins of Rhine Lab, massive seismic shockwaves ripped outward, rolling violently toward the city of Trimounts.
Panic erupted across the urban districts.
Crystal chandeliers in high-end restaurants swung wildly before shattering against ceilings. Office workers scrambled under their desks, screaming as the floor beneath them heaved like an ocean wave. In the residential blocks, children wailed in the dark while pets barked frantically at the trembling walls.
“What is happening?! Is it a Catastrophe?!”
“I saw it! A meteorite fell over there! The military is completely wiped out!”
“Shut up! Run!”
Terror hung over Trimounts like a suffocating shroud.
Back at the epicenter, the destruction was absolute. Each time the giant arms smashed down, the ground caved deeper. Surrounding building debris was launched into the air, only to be pulverized into dust by the sheer pressure of the shockwaves.
Inside her sinking tomb, Saria curled her body tightly. Every strike from above felt like a sledgehammer directly to her chest.
She gritted her teeth, blood continuously spilling from the corners of her mouth, yet she refused to stop channeling her Originium Arts. The outer layers of her crystal sphere were constantly shattering and peeling away under the bombardment, but she instantly condensed new layers from her own life force to fill the gaps.
It was an agonizing, draining process. Her complexion turned deathly pale, her breathing growing ragged and shallow. She had no idea how long this bombardment would last, nor how much longer her body could endure the strain.
She just stubbornly repeated the cycle. Condense. Repair. Endure.
She was gambling. Gambling that this monster’s stamina was not infinite. Gambling that once it exhausted its frenzied energy, a brief window of clarity or fatigue would open. Gambling that she could hold the line until that exact second.
The Lava Troll’s assault was relentless, its four arms acting like tireless industrial pile drivers, flattening the ruins and digging the crater deeper into the earth’s crust.
However, after dozens of devastating blows, the rhythm of the impacts finally began to slow.
Saria’s fading senses captured the slight hesitation.
Above, the beast realized that brute force alone could not crack the stubborn white shell. Driven by pure malice, it opted for a final, extreme measure.
Blinding firelight gathered frantically between the dark red cracks of its carapace. The highly compressed, destructive thermal energy surged toward its four fists, igniting them with a terrifying, blinding red light that scorched the very air.
With a deafening roar, the four massive lava fists slammed down simultaneously into the center of the crater.
A towering pillar of crimson magma shot into the sky. A secondary shockwave swept outward like an invisible scythe of death, turning everything within a mile radius to fine ash. A small, blood-red mushroom cloud slowly bloomed over the remains of Rhine Lab.
The calcified sphere, which Saria had sacrificed everything to maintain, did not last a single second against the concentrated blast.
The moment the thermal strike made contact, the crystals crumbled and disintegrated layer by layer, melting away like glass tossed into a blast furnace.
Buried at the core, Saria felt an overwhelming pressure threaten to crush her entirely into powder. Then, the darkness finally took her.
The shattered remnants of the crystal sphere, along with Saria’s unconscious body, were driven violently into the deep underground.
The sheer magnitude of the final blow far exceeded any calculated threshold. It did not merely annihilate the surface; the terrifying kinetic payload pierced straight through the bedrock, violently fracturing the main geological fault line that supported the entire city of Trimounts.
A deep, apocalyptic groan echoed from the bowels of the earth.
Centered on the point of impact, massive fissures tore through the ground, spreading outward like a spiderweb. The earth could no longer bear the load. The surface of the entire sector began to collapse, sinking on a massive scale as the foundation gave way.
The ruins of the high-rises, the pools of flowing magma, the twisted steel—everything slid downward into the newly formed abyss.
The Lava Troll, having just unleashed its ultimate strike, barely had time to register the victory before the ground beneath its massive feet simply vanished. Roaring in confusion, the beast plummeted into the darkness alongside the collapsing city block.
The tremors slowly faded across Trimounts, leaving only a chilling silence and the suffocating grip of fear in the hearts of its citizens.
The Director of Defense for Rhine Lab, along with the monster that brought the apocalypse, had vanished from the surface, swallowed by the subterranean depths.
Thus, Saria was defeated.
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