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ArabicArknights: Soul Knights of Terra — Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Oh, I Have No Conscience
Negotiate terms?
This concept was entirely alien to the consciousness of the Seaborn. In the depths of the ocean, individual identity did not exist; every organism submitted completely to the collective will.
By this point, Ishar-mla realized the entity communicating with her was not a compatriot born of the sea, but an external anomaly.
Instinct dictated she should erase the intrusion immediately. Yet, a bizarre sense of biological closeness radiating from the entity’s consciousness gave her pause. The Newborn chose to observe.
Isolating Vane from the vast, roaring network of The Great Swarm, Ishar-mla pulled him into a private mental void.
Sensing that the abyssal god hadn’t immediately kicked him out of the group chat, Vane let out a quiet breath of relief.
[Anomalous entity. State your purpose.]
Vane dared not delay. He immediately packaged his intent into a dense, compressed stream of information and fired it into the mental link.
Ishar-mla examined the data in absolute silence.
She felt no concern over potential traps hidden within the information stream. Attempting mental sabotage against the consciousness of The Great Swarm, an entity capable of assimilating all things, was nothing short of courting death.
The data merged smoothly into her vast perception.
In an instant, a sequence of vivid concepts unfolded within the abyssal mind.
Partially altering the Seaborn physiological form through blood replacement. Establishing a mental tether. Preliminary attempts at cross-body energy sharing. The initial concepts, while novel to the Newborn, remained within the boundaries of her comprehension. Assimilation and adaptation were instincts carved deeply into the genetic code of every Seaborn.
Then came the core concept.
Absorbing damage and converting it directly into vital energy.
A low, tectonic rumble echoed through the dead silent abyss. The steady, glowing flow of energy pathways wrapping around Ishar-mla’s massive, mountain-like true form suddenly flared with blinding intensity. Calm undercurrents twisted into violent vortexes, stirred by an invisible, crushing force.
Her ancient will experienced a violent, seismic fluctuation. It was a sensation she had never encountered since the moment of her birth.
This shockwave of realization tore through the consciousness network of The Great Swarm like a tsunami.
Across the jagged coastlines of Iberia, and deep within the uncharted trenches of the wider ocean, the world froze.
Whether they were hunting aquatic beasts, migrating across the sea floor, or tearing into the defensive lines of Aegir and Iberia, the movements of every single Seaborn halted simultaneously.
The lesser creatures could not comprehend the sudden, violent shift in the Will of the Newborn. They only instinctively registered the unmatched turmoil erupting from their source.
Chaos rippled through the hive. The monsters let out anxious, piercing shrieks, dropping their prey and abandoning their enemies as their collective behavior fractured into temporary disarray.
Ishar-mla spared no effort to calm the panic of her children.
Compared to the absolute miracle she had just witnessed, a momentary disruption in the swarm was entirely meaningless.
She locked onto Vane’s consciousness with a terrifying, unmatched fervor.
[Compatriot! Return to The Great Swarm! Immediately!]
Vane blinked, slightly overwhelmed by the sudden, suffocating enthusiasm. He subconsciously complained in his mind.
‘Wait… didn’t you just call me an anomalous entity two seconds ago?'[Compatriot!]’I am really not one of your Seaborn…’
[Compatriot!]
Vane fell silent.
‘Fine, fine. Consider me a compatriot.’
He felt a twinge of awkwardness, though he completely understood why the abyssal god was losing her mind.
Before the birth of Ishar-mla, the Seaborn operated on two fundamental directives. Survival and evolution.
Both directives were chained to the most basic universal currency. Energy.
Whether they were maintaining basic biological functions, regenerating severed limbs, or forcing rapid genetic mutations to adapt to a hostile environment, the swarm burned through astronomical reserves of energy. They sustained this by endlessly hunting, devouring, and stripping the environment bare.
When the Corrupted Heart was born, representing migration and conflict, the swarm’s hunger for energy skyrocketed to an unsustainable extreme.
And now, this strange entity had handed her a biological miracle that shattered the laws of physics.
Taking damage did not deplete energy. Taking damage generated energy.
In the simple, brutal worldview of the Seaborn, this was an beyond understanding fantasy.
Translated into human terms, it was the equivalent of lying flat on the couch at home and magically earning ten times more money than someone working themselves to death in a coal mine.
How could the Will of the Seaborn not go mad with desire?
Pulling his scattered thoughts back together, Vane organized his words and spoke directly into the void.
“I am willing to unconditionally bestow this ability upon The Great Swarm.”
“I will allow a Seaborn who has accepted my gift to return to the ocean. The ability it gains will then be shared across the network to all compatriots.”
Ishar-mla radiated pure ecstasy. The cold hostility she initially held toward the anomaly evaporated, replaced instantly by an overwhelming, suffocating protectiveness.
Invisible, colossal tendrils of her will softened, cautiously wrapping around Vane’s consciousness as if shielding a fragile, priceless treasure.
[Compatriot! Return to The Great Swarm! The Great Swarm will protect you!]
‘Uh… I already said I am not a Seaborn.”You can just treat me as a friend.”This ability is a gift I am giving to a friend. I personally do not intend to assimilate with the ocean.’
[Friend?]
Since this incredibly special compatriot insisted on using the term, Ishar-mla stopped fighting him on the nomenclature.
Even if he denied his true nature, in her perception, he was already a core pillar of the swarm, deserving the absolute highest tier of protection.
However, since he insisted on maintaining his physical independence, she would not forcibly drag him into the sea against his wishes.
Her vast mind immediately pivoted to the next logical step.
[The gift… is precious.]
Wait, there is a return gift?
Vane paused, a sudden, fleeting wave of guilt washing over him.
While this was technically a massive windfall for Ishar-mla and her children, Vane’s actual goal was to permanently enslave the entire planetary ocean as his personal health battery and infinite blood bank.
‘Ahem. It is really no trouble. Just accept the gift…’
[Friend! A return gift! It is mandatory!]
Ishar-mla’s mental voice hardened, carrying the crushing, obvious weight of a god’s insistence.
Vane went quiet. He had absolutely zero doubt that if he did not name a price, this stubborn sea deity would harass him until the end of time.
‘Hmm… let me think…’
What could a hive of terrifying sea monsters possibly give him?
Honestly, the fact that they could successfully absorb his vampire passive and share the damage-to-healing conversion across millions of bodies was already the ultimate jackpot. What else did he even want?
A sudden, very specific thought popped into his head. Vane’s mental projection rubbed its neck sheepishly.
‘I want a partner.’
[Partner?]
Ishar-mla understood the literal definition of the word, but to the Seaborn, a partner was a completely useless concept. Every single organism in the ocean was already a partner to every other organism.
But since this vital friend requested one, she would provide.
As the abyssal mind fell silent to process the request, Vane panicked. He realized she might just grab a random, grotesque tentacle monster and hurl it at him. He quickly added a detailed clarification.
A deeply ingrained, iconic figure surfaced in his memory.
“Uh… she is probably operating somewhere near your current territory. She should be extremely easy to spot.”
“For example… she wears a black hunter outfit.”
“Long white hair. Red eyes.”
“She carries a massive weapon, the kind that makes her very, very good at fighting.”
Ishar-mla faithfully recorded every single characteristic into her vast memory banks.
She did not understand why a compatriot would demand an entity that clearly sounded like an Abyssal Hunter, a sworn enemy of the swarm. But that did not matter. She would execute the task perfectly.
[The Great Swarm understands. Preparing the gift.]
Immediately after, a new, heavy concern rippled through her consciousness.
[The Great Swarm is worried. The dry land is dangerous. Is the Compatriot safe?]
Feeling the genuine, maternal worry radiating from the terrifying sea god, Vane felt a sharp prick of condemnation in his chest.
He placed a hand over his heart.
Oh. I have absolutely no conscience.
“Oh, you do not need to worry about my safety at all!”
“You should focus entirely on guiding the Seaborn who accepted my gift back into the deep ocean. Ensuring this energy conversion ability benefits all our compatriots as quickly as possible is the absolute top priority!”
In that moment, even Ishar-mla’s cold, hyper-rational, biological mind generated a deep emotion. She was deeply moved.
What an incredible, selfless compatriot. A being whose heart was entirely devoted to the prosperity of the ocean.
He completely disregarded his own safety on the hostile dry land. He focused on the welfare of the collective above all else. He handed over a reality-breaking miracle for free, and his only concern was making sure the swarm received it quickly.
She briefly compared him to her three Newborn colleagues. Two of them had long since perished, their voices silent in the dark. The third was trapped in a near-eternal slumber, contributing absolutely nothing to the expansion of the species.
This anomaly was the only one truly working for the future of the Seaborn.
With that thought, Ishar-mla reconnected her primary consciousness to the wider network.
The millions of monsters that had been thrashing in uneasy panic instantly calmed. They accepted their god’s new directives and began converging rapidly toward Vane’s geographical location.
It was also in this exact moment that Ishar-mla realized a critical, fatal oversight.
Vane had repeatedly claimed he was not a compatriot.
This meant the lesser organisms of the swarm might fail to recognize his supreme status. They might accidentally harm him out of blind instinct.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
A resolute, unshakeable decision formed within the abyss.
She would not just treat him as a visitor. She would forcefully weave him into the very fabric of The Great Swarm, cementing him as an indispensable pillar of their existence.
[Compatriot. The Great Swarm shall be with you.]
Vane blinked, assuming this was just a polite, religious farewell blessing.
“Oh, alright. Sounds good.”
Taking his casual agreement as full consent, Ishar-mla completely shattered the barriers of her consciousness.
The next second, an apocalyptic torrent of pure, concentrated will crashed down upon Vane’s mind.
His vision went entirely black. But the mental destruction he braced for never arrived.
Instead, an endless, suffocating ocean of information forcefully injected itself into his soul.
What is this?!
He suddenly saw the dark, crushing depths of the ocean through the eyes of millions of Seaborn, feeling their most primitive, driving hungers.
He heard the ancient, echoing songs vibrating from the deepest trenches of Terra, unlocking the earliest, buried memories of the species.
His perception expanded so violently that he could suddenly sense the presence of the other gods. Two vast, dead silences. One colossal, sleeping giant.
He felt the invisible reins of the entire species slip into his hands. He could guide the flow of this endless, biological tide.
[Compatriot… together. The Great Swarm… is with you…]
Ishar-mla’s mental voice grew incredibly faint, carrying a heavy, obvious weakness.
She had just carved out her Authority of the Newborn and shared it directly with him.
It was no exaggeration to say the abyssal god had just ripped her own life in half and handed the pieces to a gamer.
Now, with two Newborns dead and one asleep, Ishar-mla and Vane stood alone as the absolute, supreme commanders of the entire planetary ocean.
Still completely paralyzed by the realization that he had just accidentally become half of a terrifying sea god, Vane heard her final, fading thought.
[Friend… help The Great Swarm… The Great Swarm… protect Friend…]
[The Great Swarm is you. And you are The Great Swarm.]