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ArabicArknights: Soul Knights of Terra — Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Divine Transformation
“Divine Transformation!”
[Paladin Skill 2: Divine Transformation]
[Skill Effect: Transform into a warrior possessing holy power, using a greatsword for attacks; the sword energy can eliminate bullets. Defense is significantly increased during the skill’s duration.]
However, the moment the skill activated, the majestic image of a holy warrior bathed in divine light failed to materialize. Instead, the room simply detonated.
A deafening roar ripped through the air as if a subterranean volcano had just breached the surface. A blinding flash of light, infinitely more intense than their previous tests and churning with liquid fire, erupted outward and instantly swallowed Boss’s figure whole.
“Holy crap! My eyes!!”
Number Four let out a miserable shriek, instinctively squeezing his eyes shut and throwing his dark cloak over his head to shield his face from the searing heat.
Number Two and Number Three were physically shoved backward by the sudden shockwave of energy and blinding radiance, their boots skidding across the floor as they threw their arms up in defense.
When the blinding glare finally began to recede and the violent energy turbulence settled into a heavy, suffocating heat, the trio cautiously lowered their arms. They blinked away the afterimages burned into their retinas, only to freeze in absolute horror at the sight before them.
It was incredibly crowded.
The testing area of the Vitality Hall, which had previously felt quite spacious, was now packed to the absolute brim. Occupying every available inch of space was a colossal Lava Troll.
Boss had completely lost the relatively lean, humanoid proportions of his previous form. His new body had expanded by more than tenfold. Thick layers of dark red, jagged lava carapace overlapped across his massive frame. Four gigantic, molten arms were forced to twist and curl awkwardly against their own bulk, pressing flush against the pixelated walls and ceiling of the Hall.
The entire behemoth looked exactly like a creature that had been violently stuffed into a cardboard box three sizes too small, entirely incapable of moving a single muscle without scraping the architecture.
“So… so big!” Number Three craned her neck to look up at the towering monstrosity, her voice trembling with shock.
“Exactly, that’s it!” Number Two practically vibrated with excitement, her eyes shining as she immediately slipped into the role of a live commentator. “Since we’ve been materialized into a real world, the skill’s physical expression naturally has to base itself on our existing bodies and energy reserves!”
She began pacing the tiny sliver of free space left in the room. “Boss’s current body is essentially a highly condensed, walking reactor of fire and lava energy. He absorbed a massive amount of kinetic and thermal energy during the earlier test. Under the direct catalysis of the Divine Transformation skill, that stored energy acted upon his foundational structure, forcing a massive physical expansion to accommodate the sheer volume of power!”
Number Four finally managed to peel his cloak away from his face. Blinking his watery eyes, he stared blankly at the giant monster and muttered, “Transforming using accumulated energy… what is this? Soul Knight Ultraman?”
“Not only that!” Number Two’s gaze grew even more fervent, completely ignoring the joke. “Theoretically, after Boss transforms into this state, the absolute ceiling of energy his body can contain and mobilize in the Overworld should be exponentially higher. If he activates his first skill right now…”
Number Three swallowed hard. “Um…”
Number Four took a sharp breath, only to immediately double over, choking and coughing violently as the thick, suffocating stench of sulfur filled his lungs. “Cough… cough cough! You… you mean he can keep this ridiculous size while continuing to absorb and stack even more energy?!”
Number Three tried to interject again, her voice weak and easily drowned out by the crackling flames.
“Theoretically, the absolute limit of this physical expansion depends entirely on the endurance of Boss’s own consciousness…” Number Two continued, her fingers twitching as she mentally calculated the variables.
“HEY!!!”
Number Three let out a piercing shout through their mental link, finally shattering their academic discussion. “Stop chatting! Boss’s condition seems completely off!”
Number Two and Number Four snapped to attention, refocusing their gaze on the wedged Lava Troll.
Through the churning heat haze, they could see the raw agony twisting the troll’s molten features. The jagged lava plates making up its face were practically grinding together in a knot of pure pain.
Only then did the chilling realization hit them. At some point during the explosion, Boss’s voice had completely vanished from their mental link.
“Boss?!” Number Two called out sharply in the network.
Silence.
In the physical world, the massive Lava Troll thrashed weakly, its groans of over-strained agony vibrating through the floorboards as its expanding mass threatened to crush itself against the indestructible walls of the Hall.
“Boss! What’s wrong? Say something!” Number Four yelled up at the towering face, genuine panic bleeding into his voice.
A surge of chaotic, blindingly intense thoughts suddenly slammed into the trio’s minds like a physical blow.
‘Oooooh!!! This hurts like hell!!!’
The colossal lava body began to convulse violently. Wild jets of flame and chunks of cooling magma erupted from its surface like shrapnel. The entire Vitality Hall shuddered under the immense pressure.
“Oh no.” Number Two’s expression drained of all color. “The power is constantly stacking on itself. He can’t control the output!”
“Then what do we do!?” Number Three cried out, her deer hooves clopping anxiously against the floor as she watched Boss’s mass continue to swell.
“Calm down!” Number Two barked. She threw a hand forward, aiming directly at the center of Boss’s chest. “Nightmare Sigil!”
A rippling wave of dark, ashen energy shot from her palm and splashed across the troll’s massive torso. This was the Necromancer’s signature curse, designed to inflict severe weakness and sap the strength of enemies.
The effect was instantaneous. The blinding radiance and violently erupting flames were immediately suppressed, dimming to a dull, manageable glow. The frantic, crushing struggles of the giant troll slowed slightly.
But it was painfully obvious that this was merely a temporary patch. It was the equivalent of throwing a damp towel over an actively erupting volcano.
“Number Four!” Number Two whipped around to face the vampire, who was still staring upward in a daze. “Use your skill to absorb Boss’s energy! Fast!”
“Huh?” Number Four pointed a clawed finger at his own chest, utterly baffled. “My skill? That’s life-steal! Boss is a literal lump of molten rock right now. Does he even have blood to steal?!”
“When you attacked the wooden test dummy earlier, did it have blood!?” Number Two roared, completely losing her usual cool demeanor. “The system description says life-steal, but the underlying mechanic is energy plunder! What is currently tearing Boss apart from the inside out is the purest form of raw energy! Treat it as blood and suck it out of him right now!”
The sheer volume of the yell finally knocked the hesitation out of him.
“Oh! Got it!” Number Four’s gaze sharpened, his posture dropping into a combat stance. “Boss! Sorry about this… Alien Swirl!”
A twisting, localized black hole of crimson energy ripped open in the air directly in front of the Lava Troll’s chest.
The blood-colored vortex let out a deep, greedy hum. Thick ribbons of pure, incandescent energy were violently stripped from the troll’s molten body, dragged through the air, and swallowed by the swirling crimson singularity.
For a brief, fleeting second, the terrifying light radiating from Boss began to fade.
“It’s not working, Number Two!” Number Four suddenly screamed, his eyes widening in absolute terror. “My Alien Swirl counts as an active attack! The system is judging it as incoming damage against Boss’s first skill!”
“The energy conversion loop just restarted. The internal pressure is still rising!!”
As if to confirm his horror, the Lava Troll’s body, which had just begun to shrink, seized violently. The blazing white light beneath its rocky crust flared back to life with double the intensity, shining like a dying star about to go supernova.
‘ROAR!!! Let… me… out!!!’
The desperate thought exploded across their mental link, carrying a crushing, unquestionable urgency.
The trio instantly understood the command.
“Just think about leaving!” Number Two shouted into the link, making the split-second decision.
Almost the exact moment the words left her mouth, the suffocating heat vanished. The colossal figure of the Lava Troll simply ceased to exist, leaving the Vitality Hall completely empty save for the three gasping roommates.
At that exact moment, deep within the sterile, gleaming corridors of Rhine Lab.
Saria stood silently outside the closed door of a private infirmary. She raised her left hand and methodically smoothed out the wrinkles in her uniform, which had been severely disheveled during the chaotic battle just moments prior. Despite the relentless, throbbing waves of agony radiating from her right arm, her expression remained an impenetrable mask of calm.
She raised her knuckles and knocked gently against the metal door.
“Come in…”
A calm, distinctly exhausted female voice drifted through the heavy door.
Saria pushed the handle down and stepped inside. The room was immediately distinct from the rest of the facility, carrying the sharp, clean scent of medical disinfectant layered over the faint, earthy aroma of herbal medicine.
Sitting behind a cluttered desk was a Liberi woman. Her crisp white researcher’s coat draped elegantly over her slender frame. Her most striking features were the large, round-framed glasses perched on her nose, and the soft, slightly fluffy brown feathers that protruded naturally from her short hair.
She was a dedicated researcher, and the direct student of the director in charge of the Diablo Project.
Silence.
Silence was currently hunched over, her eyes scanning a dense experimental report. Hearing the heavy footsteps enter, she glanced up. The moment she recognized the towering Vouivre standing in her doorway, she froze. A complicated emotion flashed behind her lenses before she somewhat unnaturally turned her face away, focusing her gaze on a blank spot on the wall.
“…It’s you. Why are you here?”
Saria’s lips parted. She intended to offer a standard greeting, but before the words could form, her ruined right arm twitched violently, completely outside of her control.
That single, subtle spasm instantly shattered the quiet atmosphere. Silence’s gaze snapped back, locking onto Saria’s arm, which hung unnaturally straight at her side.
When the Liberi’s eyes registered the state of the hand protruding from the uniform sleeve—the unnatural, broken angle of the wrist and the deep, horrifying charred marks creeping up the skin—the forced aloofness vanished from her face, replaced instantly by raw panic.
“Your hand?!”
Silence shoved her chair back violently, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. She practically sprinted around the desk, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.
“What happened to your hand!?”
Without waiting for an explanation, or asking for permission, she reached out and carefully cradled Saria’s right arm in both of her hands.
When she gently pushed the ruined fabric of the sleeve upward to reveal the true extent of the damage, Silence sucked in a sharp, trembling breath.
The condition of the limb was catastrophic. The dense, protective calcified crystals that usually covered Saria’s skin during combat had been completely shattered, the remnants peeled away by an overwhelming kinetic and thermal impact. What remained underneath was a terrifying sight.
From the mid-forearm down to the fingertips, the flesh was a sickening, charred black. It looked exactly like a piece of withered wood that had been tossed into a furnace and incinerated until all moisture was gone. The skin was shriveled, cracked, and weeping. Deep within the deepest fissures of the burn, the faint, stark white outline of bone was visible.
It looked as though a single careless movement would cause the entire fragile structure to crumble into ash.
Saria opened her mouth, fully intending to deliver a calm reassurance that the injury was manageable, but Silence cut her off with a rare, fierce intensity.
“Don’t move! Come with me!”
The Liberi’s voice carried an unquestionable, desperate authority. She shifted her grip, taking firm hold of Saria’s uninjured left arm, and began dragging the taller woman toward the sterile treatment room located deeper inside the infirmary.
Feeling the faint, rapid trembling in Silence’s fingers, Saria closed her mouth. She offered absolutely no resistance, simply allowing herself to be led. She knew perfectly well that if she tried to stand her ground, this deeply anxious Little Bird would likely end up hurting herself trying to move her.
As Silence pulled her briskly past the medical curtains, the fear and suppressed anger finally boiled over into a scolding tone.
“What kind of insane mission did you go on?! How did you get hurt like this?! Could your calcification Arts really not even block the impact?!”
She practically shoved Saria onto the edge of the examination bed, her hands already flying toward the sterilized medical trays. “Did you try to play the hero again?! How many times have I told you, the Defense Department’s entire workload isn’t meant for you to shoulder completely alone!”
Saria sat perfectly still, listening to the rapid-fire reprimands in complete silence. She offered no defense, no logical breakdown of the tactical situation. She simply watched the Little Bird, who was always so deeply worried about her well-being, frantically prepare the burn treatments.
Here, in this quiet room, surrounded by the sharp smell of medicine and the frantic care of this specific researcher, Saria could finally allow herself to set down the crushing, heavy burden of being the Director of Defense. Just for a moment, she allowed herself to take a slow, quiet breath.
Twenty minutes later, the worst of the damage had been stabilized.
However, as Silence secured the final clasp on the pristine white bandages, her expression had not relaxed in the slightest. If anything, the heavy gravity in her eyes had only deepened as she looked up at Saria.
The specialized ointment and the careful wrapping had halted the tissue necrosis, but the sheer, shocking scale of that burn weighed heavily on Silence’s mind. Her initial panic had faded, replaced by a cold, calculating dread.
She knew Saria’s combat capabilities better than almost anyone in the facility. The Director of Rhine Lab’s Defense Department possessed defensive Arts and a physical constitution that ranked among the absolute highest tier in all of Columbia.
Who, or what, on Terra could possibly inflict this level of catastrophic damage on her?
A sudden memory surfaced in Silence’s mind—the faint, muffled tremor of an explosion echoing through the lower levels earlier that evening, followed by the chaotic, rapid deployment of security personnel outside her lab. A chilling hypothesis began to take shape.
She took a slow, deep breath, forcing her voice to remain as steady and professional as possible. “Saria. What exactly happened down there? Your injury…”
Saria met Silence’s gaze through the round lenses. She saw the deep, obvious worry swimming in those eyes, and remained quiet for a long moment.
She knew there was no point in hiding the truth. When she finally spoke, her voice was low, carrying a heavy, subtle gravity that seemed to drop the temperature in the room.
“Tonight, an unknown entity breached the perimeter and intruded into Experimental Sector 4. I intercepted it and engaged in direct combat.”
She gave a brief, clinical breakdown of the engagement, her tone steady and detached. But when she reached the final, crucial details, Saria deliberately slowed her words, ensuring the weight of the confirmation landed perfectly.
“…Based on its physical traits. Specifically, a unique, highly unstable lava-based body structure, the innate ability to manipulate extreme high-temperature flames, and the preliminary energy spectrum analysis from the impact zone…”
Saria looked down at her heavily bandaged arm, then back to Silence.
“The complete judgment is that the intruder highly matches the restricted records in the files. It was a Diablo.”