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Feeling the power of her Goddess surging through her, Kaia's eyes burst open before she promptly winced, unable to see due to the presence of an intense, white-gold light.

Sending shivers through Kaia's body, causing her hair and fur to stand on end, a familiar, melodic, and deeply feminine voice stated, "Your faith has been rewarded, Kai'ankh, daughter of Kai'nuk and Su'Anah. Hopefully, this will make things easier for you moving forward."

Recognizing the voice as Restia's, Kaia tried to speak, but no words came out. In response, the sound of laughter permeated her entire being before Restia mused, "I ordinarily wouldn't intervene like this, but I feel sorry for Cairn. Maa Viraja can be...difficult. I'll leave it to you to repair any damage she might inflict on his psyche."

Before Kaia even had the chance to form a thought, she felt cold stone on her feet, followed by Zarah muttering, "What the hell...?" in a disbelieving tone. A sense of incongruity washed over Kaia, and when she opened her eyes, she quickly understood the reason as she fell backward and landed on her butt. More accurately, she tried to shift weight to her hindquarters, intending to sit, but there was nothing to sit on.

Staring down at her body, Kaia's eyes widened to their limits. Her upper body hadn't changed much, as far as she could tell, but the structure of her hips and forelimbs had noticeably changed. She still had digitigrade feet and was covered in fur, but her thighs had become thicker, and the space between her forelimbs now harbored a very distinctive 'organ' that wasn't present beforehand. More notably, her rabbit-like hindquarters had completely disappeared, replaced by pillowy, fur-covered glutes...

Crossing her arms and adopting a narrow, intrigue-filled stare, Zarah confirmed Kaia's suspicions by remarking, "I've never seen or heard of a Karakut acquiring the Human Transformation Talent. I take it this is Lady Restia's doing...?"

"Who else could it be but that intrusive Goddess...?" asked Vira, appearing next to Kaia in a squatting posture, the smile on her face even scarier than usual. Her sudden appearance startled Kaia, but instead of bounding into the air as her instincts demanded, she bounced a few centimeters off the ground and stumbled onto her side.

As Kaia had already given her permission to study and observe her, Vira reached out to fondle the former's ass and thigh, remarking, "Your muscle density has increased to compensate for the change in your physiology. It will take some getting used to, but you should be able to leap even higher once you've grown accustomed to standing on two legs."

Instead of attempting to escape Vira's touch, Kaia frowned, staring back at her with a conflicted glower as she asked, "Is there a way to undo the transformation? If my recollection is correct, powerful Dragons are able to alternate between their humanoid and draconic forms at will..."

Raising her right brow ever so slightly, Vira met Kaia's gaze and answered, "It's possible. But are you certain you want to? Knowing Restia, she likely told you this was a gift. Do you have it in you to refuse it...?"

"..."

Realizing how her words could be misconstrued as ingratitude, Kaia's two hearts began to beat rapidly. Vira noticed this, her eyes narrowing as she mused, "How peculiar...since your lagomorphic lower half disappeared, I expected your second heart to vanish alongside it. Instead, it appears to have moved to below your kidney, helping regulate the blood flowing into your legs. It's rare for Restia to be so thorough..."

Interrupting Vira's analysis, Cairn entered from the Guardian Chamber's entrance with an incredulous, slightly slack-jawed expression. He had witnessed Kaia's magical-girl-like transformation first-hand but still had trouble accepting it, even when Restia sent him a smiling, winky-faced, thumbs-up emoji and told him 'good luck.'

Seeing Cairn approach, Kaia's hearts beat even faster as her fluffy tail twitched and wagged behind her. It was no longer pillow-sized, but she still had a large, rabbit-like tail and a thick mane of hair that, as she sat, fanned out behind her and onto the floor like a furry mantle.

As he had yet to recover his equipment from his now-vanished corpse, Cairn was wearing a tight black shirt and black pants as he stopped next to Kaia, his eyes darting to her petite but feminine figure before he smiled wryly and asked, "You okay...?" in an awkward but concerned tone.

Feeling most of her apprehensions melt away, Kaia adopted a smile of her own and replied, "I learned many things from this engagement. I won't fall so easily the next time."

"Says the girl who can barely stand..." quipped Zarah, sporting a smile but with a hint of bitterness in her golden eyes. She was well aware of the 'tensions' between Cairn and Kaia. Now that the latter possessed an even marginally human form, she didn't have to be a genius to know how things would develop.

Furrowing her brows, Kaia forced herself to stand out of spite. It wasn't easy, but when Cairn instantly came to her aid, supporting her to prevent her from stumbling, Kaia felt excited rather than frustrated. Learning to walk and fight on two legs wouldn't be easy, especially if she swapped between bipedal and quadrupedal combat styles, but she was excited by the 'potential' of her new form. If nothing else, she would no longer have to worry as much about giving Cairn's identity away as she was no longer easily identifiable as a Karakut...

Startling Cairn and Kaia and earning a squeak of protest from Tarou, Vira casually suggested, "The two of you should have sex. I want to see how Kaia's new body reacts to various stimuli."

"Piss off," said Cairn, sporting a frown even as his heart pounded nearly as fast as Kaia's. His words caused the latter's ears to droop, but not for long as he sneakily slid his hand onto her butt and asserted, "If and when we have sex, you don't have permission to observe us..."

Though she narrowed her eyes and looked like she was going to protest, Vira surprised the nearby Zarah by responding, "Very well. But I expect a detailed post-coital report from both of you. We're entering new territory here, so if an incident occurs, I'm the only one who can reliably fix things before they get too far out of hand. This wouldn't be the first time Restia had a severe lapse of judgment and made an egregious blunder."

Seeing a chat window pop up next to him, Cairn gazed at it before doing as it said by reading its contents aloud, revealing, "Restia says that if you keep slandering her, she's going to reveal your Status Win—"

Before Cairn could finish speaking, he, Kaia, Zarah, and Tarou crumpled to their knees as the surrounding Dungeon trembled. The smile that seldom left Vira's face was nowhere to be seen, but instead of directing her stare at them, she raised her gaze to the ceiling, presumably in the direction of the moon-like Garden of Eternity, and said something that not even Kaia's sensitive ears could pick up.

As the intense pressure crushing their bodies gradually let up, Vira looked down, meeting Cairn's disgruntled, teeth-gritting gaze as she said, "I'll be away for a few days. One of my clones will meet you on the surface."

Without further explanation, Vira's form abruptly disappeared. Unlike her usual disappearing act, however, she disappeared in a column of blinding, golden-white light that left several ephemeral feathers in its wake. Cairn tried to use Insight on one of them, but they 'evaporated' before he could focus his vision.

"That was the light of Divine Intervention..." revealed Zarah, sweating profusely as she stared at the spot where Vira had disappeared with a peculiar smile on her face. Rumors that Vira had attained godhood had been circulating for centuries, if not millennia, but this was indisputable proof that her power and means had transcended the mortal realm.

Rising to a seated position and helping Kaia do the same, instinctively holding her close to his body, Cairn suggested, "Let's just check on the core and get out of here. I doubt we'll discover anything that Vira doesn't already know, but she and the other powerhouses of the world have taken a backseat. Something about not interfering in mortal affairs..."

"Well, that explains why you're here..." muttered Zarah, crossing her arms with a contemplative expression. The appearance of a Champion wasn't exactly a common phenomenon, so she wouldn't be surprised if a wave of Demons or a horde backed by an Ancient Dragon attempted to invade and destroy all of Cliabhaan...

Raising her gaze, Zarah narrowed her eyes and asked, "How long do the two of you plan to continue flirting? Hurry up and put on some pants, you horny rabbit."

"Chii chii..." grumbled Tarou, staring at Cairn and Kaia with a half-lidded, slightly resentful gaze. The latter had been shamelessly rubbing her head and ears against Cairn while sniffing him, and though his hand was hidden by Kaia's long and fluffy hair, the humanoid Karakut twitched and rubbed her thighs together as he discreetly caressed her ass.

"I don't have any..." responded Kaia, directing a slightly annoyed look at Zarah. Her near-death experience had sent her instincts into overdrive, so with Cairn proactively touching her butt and supporting her with his hand on her belly, she felt an almost overwhelming urge to 'breed.' Her Blessing of Light and Corruption Resistance should have helped to neutralize it, but since her current form resulted from Restia's intervention, she felt like her Goddess was 'mandating' that she yield to her desires.

"Ugh..." 

Rolling her eyes, Zarah rose to her feet and said, "I'm going to check on the core and use my Analyze to gather information. Once the two of you are done behaving like animals, come and join me..."

Though her frown deepened when Tarou climbed up her dress and onto her shoulder, Zarah didn't stop, turn around, or tell the tiny rodent to piss off. Instead, she walked away with purpose-filled steps, enthused by the prospect of studying a Dungeon Core directly. Researchers would usually have to venture out into the Frontier for such an opportunity, so Vira was beyond fortunate to be able to inspect cores within the relative safety of the Capital.

Following Zarah's and Tarou's departures with his eyes, Cairn felt a wave of anxiety and trepidation wash over him. He felt like he was standing on a precipice, one he had resolved never to cross, but like someone looking over the edge of a tall building, the void called to him, enticing him to take a leap of faith.

"I don't mind becoming yours alone..." muttered Kaia, her heated breath warming Cairn's chest through the fabric of his shirt. The surrounding air was fairly cold, so the heat of her body was even more noticeable as she squeezed her thighs together and raised her gaze to reveal hunger and a hint of desperation.

Adopting a wry but equally hungry smile, Cairn brought his face closer to Kaia's as he whispered, "Then it looks like I'm about to put Felix out of the job..."

Though she felt a pang of guilt hearing Felix's name, Kaia knew that Cairn wouldn't simply toss the former aside after learning his circumstances. If he did, well, she would find a way to ensure that the orphanage Felix was beholden to received the funding it needed to stay operational. Cairn had become the most important person in her life the moment she accepted Restia's charge, so if she had to choose between him and Felix, it wasn't a matter of deliberation.

With such thoughts in mind, Kaia exhaled a hot, gasping moan as Cairn nestled his face into the space between her neck and shoulder. Karakuts didn't have a kissing culture, so he elected to do what Kaia always did to him, rubbing his face and cheeks against her as his hands explored every inch of her new body...

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..

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(A/N: Sorry for the late chapter. My cat was diagnosed with FIP and euthanized yesterday, so my mood isn't the best.)