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ArabicArknights: Soul Knights of Terra — Chapter 16
Chapter 16: No Response… Columbia, Trimount
As the violent surge of energy dissipated, the Boss’s massive, molten frame rapidly compressed. The towering mountain of magma stabilized at a height of roughly five meters—still a towering behemoth by Terra’s standards, but a far cry from the apocalyptic giant that had just leveled the facility.
Saria lay broken on the scorched earth. Ifrit immediately threw herself in front of the fallen Vouivre. The young girl’s small body trembled violently, yet she stubbornly planted her feet, staring up at the shrunken but still terrifying monster.
At that exact moment, a rapid exchange was underway inside the Mental Chat Group.
[Boss: The energy has stabilized. Should I go back now?]
[Number Two: Wait, Boss. Confirm this first: if you teleport back to the Vitality Hall, will you reappear in the exact same spot when you exit?]
The Boss paused to recall the mechanics. [Yes. Right here in the ruins of Rhine Lab.]
[Number Two: Then don’t rush the extraction. Since you’re tethered to this entry point, take advantage of your current mobility. Get away from ground zero first.]
[Boss: But in this state… will the locals really let me just walk away?]
[Number Four: Boss, can’t you just bulldoze your way through?! Look at you! After that performance, who’s going to stop you?]
[Boss:…I have already caused enough destruction today. If possible, I want to resolve this peacefully.] The Boss’s molten gaze shifted down to Ifrit, who was fiercely shielding Saria. [And… that Terra captain is bleeding out. She won’t last much longer.]
[Number Two: And your point is?]
[Boss:…I think I should take them to a safe zone first. Find someone who can save her.]
A brief silence fell over the mental link before Number Two’s measured voice returned. [Go ahead.]
[Boss: You’re not going to stop me?]
[Number Two: The natives lack the firepower to threaten you right now, so why would I? Besides… if you want to do it, just do it. I’m not a monster. We support your call.]
[Number Four: Exactly! Boss, we are the Fourth Calamity now! Stop chaining yourself to the moral compass of a modern rule-of-law society! In this world, might makes right. If you want to play the good guy, go for it! We’ve got your back!]
The Boss didn’t reply, but a faint warmth—unrelated to the magma coursing through his veins—settled in his chest. He pulled his focus back to reality. Gazing down at the hyper-alert Ifrit, he slowly extended a massive, lava-crusted hand.
Ifrit flinched, terror seizing her features, yet she gritted her fangs and spread her arms wider, desperately trying to eclipse Saria’s body with her own.
But the searing palm didn’t strike. Instead, just as before, the giant hand gently plunged into the earth, scooping up the very ground beneath their feet.
Under Ifrit’s wide, bewildered stare, the Boss carefully cradled the chunk of earth holding the two girls. With heavy, deliberate steps, he began marching toward the relatively intact urban districts of Trimount.
Miles away, inside Rhine Lab’s surviving monitoring station, the staff stared blankly at the plummeting energy readings. The Lava Troll had ceased its rampage and drastically reduced its mass. A collective wave of exhaustion washed over the room; it felt as though they had just been dragged back from the precipice of hell.
The security guard who had previously championed the ‘let the monsters kill each other’ strategy was now riding the high of surviving a catastrophe. “See! I told you! I was right! Only a monster can deal with a monster! Problem solved, right?!”
A technician nearby muttered, “But… our Flame Demon withered the second it showed up…”
“Who cares about the details?!” the guard snapped back impatiently. “Just tell me, did the big guy take the targets away or not? Are we safe?!”
The radar observer suddenly shouted, “Attention! The anomaly is moving toward the urban sector! Director Saria is still in its grasp!”
Dead silence filled the room. The observer swallowed hard. “Should we… try to intercept?”
No one answered. Even in its diminished state, the entity was a walking natural disaster. No one dared to breathe too loudly, let alone authorize an attack.
Suddenly, a frantic female voice cut through the command channel. “This is Silence. What is the situation out there? Where is Saria?”
The communications officer hesitated, his throat dry. “…The situation is highly volatile. The invading entity has shrunk and is advancing toward the city. It is carrying an unconscious Director Saria, along with Ifrit…”
“Ifrit!? Why is she out there!?”
“Uh… the entity ceased hostilities the moment she appeared. We hypothesize her presence halted its rampage.”
The line went dead for several agonizing seconds. When Silence spoke again, her voice carried a razor-sharp resolve. “Understood. Triangulate the entity’s coordinates. Prep a vehicle. I will… negotiate with it.”
The Boss carried his fragile cargo through the deathly quiet streets of Columbia. Beneath his massive feet, shattered asphalt and the twisted metal of fallen neon signs crunched into powder.
The towering buildings lining the avenue, usually vibrant and illuminated, were now locked down tight. Heavy curtains twitched in the dark windows, concealing countless pairs of terrified eyes.
Through his elemental senses, the Boss could clearly ‘see’the thermal outlines of shivering lifeforms hiding behind the concrete. Yet, out in the open air, there was nothing but the howling wind and the rhythmic tremor of his footsteps. The entire city was holding its breath, praying the walking calamity would pass them by.’…’ The Boss trudged onward in silence. The suffocating weight of being feared by an entire world pressed down on him. He let out an unconscious sigh, exhaling a plume of scorching ash and crackling embers from his maw.
In the palm of his hand, Ifrit clung desperately to Saria’s rapidly cooling body. The girl’s small shoulders heaved. She could feel the Vouivre’s life force slipping away like sand through her fingers, but she bit her lip until it bled, terrified that a single sob might provoke the giant.
[Number Four: Boss, Saria is fading fast… If things go south, just drag them back to the Vitality Hall. I think we still have Cordyceps growing in the Nursery, right? It buffs the max health pool; maybe it can out-heal her trauma.]
[Number Two: Absolutely not! The security risk is unacceptable. Exposing our safe house to a native? Who knows how she’ll react once she wakes up?]
[Number Three:…I’ll listen to the Boss.]
The Boss felt a knot of conflict tighten in his chest. Number Two’s logic was flawless, but watching a savior die in his hands—especially when he was the one who put her in this state—felt wrong.
Screech—!!!
The piercing wail of burning rubber shattered the silence of the street. A rugged off-road vehicle bearing the Rhine Lab insignia drifted violently around a corner, slamming to a halt roughly fifty meters from the Boss. Two thick black scorch marks smoked on the pavement.
The driver’s side door flew open. A Liberi woman in a pristine white lab coat and round-rimmed glasses stumbled out. She was shaking uncontrollably, her terror obvious, yet her golden eyes burned with an unyielding determination. Raising both hands high to show she was unarmed, she took a trembling step toward the molten giant.
It was Silence.
The Boss’s magma-veined pupils contracted, locking onto the sudden intruder. He halted his advance, watching her in absolute stillness.
Pinned under that blinding, infernal gaze, Silence felt the blood freeze in her veins. She rooted herself to the asphalt, paralyzed, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.
‘Hmm? Someone actually ran out to meet me…’The Boss thought.’What does she want?’His gaze drifted downward, settling on a white kit strapped to her waist. It bore a stark red cross.’That symbol… is she a medic?”It stopped!’ Silence thought frantically.’Did my actions provoke it?!’
The two stood locked in a suffocating standoff, separated by fifty meters of ruined street. The sudden halt caused Ifrit to look up through her tears. When the young Sarkaz registered the familiar, trembling figure with raised hands, the dam finally broke.
“Silence—!” she shrieked, her voice cracking. “Hurry! Save Saria! Saria is… she’s dying!”
The girl’s desperate wail shattered the tension. Hearing Ifrit’s voice, the last of Silence’s hesitation vanished; her desperate need to save Saria eclipsed her primal fear.
The Boss caught the raw agony in the child’s voice. Without a second thought, he raised his free hand, pointing a massive, burning finger at Silence, and then slowly pointed down at Saria resting in his palm.
Realizing the monster was not only permitting her approach but actively demanding it, Silence swallowed her dread and sprinted toward the chunk of earth the giant had lowered to the street.
“Silence!” Ifrit sobbed, throwing herself into the Liberi’s arms before frantically pointing at Saria. “Quick! Saria is—”
“I know. Let me work.”
Silence dropped to her knees, tearing open her medical kit. As her eyes swept over Saria, her heart plummeted. The damage was catastrophic. Saria’s crisp white uniform was a ruined mess of blood, ash, and jagged fragments of her own Originium Arts crystals.
Beneath the shredded fabric lay deep, bone-exposing lacerations. The most horrifying sight was Saria’s right arm—it was pulverized, held together only by a desperate web of calcification crystals that prevented the limb from completely disintegrating.
Tears pricked the corners of Silence’s eyes, but she ruthlessly shoved her emotions aside. Her hands moved in a blur of practiced, surgical precision.
She truly is incredible… Silence thought as she packed the wounds. Thank the gods for her Vouivre constitution. Anyone else would have been dead an hour ago.
Under Silence’s frantic emergency triage, Saria’s fading vital signs were brutally dragged back from the brink. The decline stopped, stabilizing into a faint but steady rhythm.
Silence exhaled a shaky breath, though the deep crease between her brows remained. This was merely a band-aid on a bullet wound. Saria’s right arm was fully necrotic; amputation was imminent., the massive internal hemorrhaging required immediate, sterile surgery.
Silence slowly looked up, her gaze complex.
The Lava Troll hadn’t moved an inch. It stood there like a towering sentinel of heat and pressure, its burning eyes fixed intently on the medical procedure.
Why hasn’t it left? Silence wondered. Is it making sure we don’t escape? Or… is it actually worried?
[Boss:…What a miraculous recovery. I couldn’t even detect her breathing a moment ago, and she still managed to pull her back?]
[Number Four: Hey, she’s a Vouivre! They’re basically the top-tier tanks of Terra! And Silence is canonically a genius medical researcher. The cooperation is real!]
[Number Two: Hmm… this is highly valuable intelligence. The medical technology in this world is exceptionally advanced. I’m logging this. We need to secure our own medical logistics.]
[Number Three: I’ll listen to the Boss.]
[Number Four: +1! Boss, if we get wrecked in the future, can we just go to her for heals?]
[Boss:…That might be a tough sell, considering her current patient is the one I nearly beat to death.]
In the physical world, the Boss felt a genuine wave of relief seeing Saria stabilized. He lingered, unsure if he should retreat into the shadows or wait for a more definitive conclusion.
Silence, having done all she could in the field, faced a grim reality. She needed to transport Saria back to the fully equipped medical wing at Rhine Lab immediately. But the Flame Demon’s intentions remained an absolute mystery. Would it let her take its prize?
Mustering every ounce of her courage, she looked directly into the giant’s molten eyes. Using exaggerated, slow gestures, she tried to bridge the language barrier.
“She… needs… treatment…” Silence spoke slowly, pantomiming lifting and carrying Saria away. “I… take her… away…”
The Boss watched the frantic charade and easily grasped her intent. Slowly, the massive, demonic head gave a single, deliberate nod.
That simple motion lifted a mountain off Silence’s chest. Flooded with relief, she spun around and waved frantically at the idling off-road vehicle parked down the street, signaling her standby support team to bring the stretcher.
However—
Seconds ticked by. The heavy doors of the vehicle remained sealed shut.
No response…