"Ellie’s wrath, what's going on in there?" A furor made Alicia turn around—the screams of people and birds accompanied by the thud of falling trees.

"It looks like one of the other groups," Semar replied. When he levitated to get a better look, his voice rose, causing panic in those below. "Wretched! Barong is on the rampage again! What madness has taken hold of him this time?"

"At a time like this? Ki Semar, perhaps the shamans of Girah have come to seize Barong again!" Alicia surmised. “We must aid Wisesa at once!"

But woe were they, because the villagers chose to flee deeper into the forest's depths instead of lending their hands to their neighbours. The others had probably become treats for the colossal tiger by now.

Semar could not blame the frightened commoners, but he knew people on the other side could not fend for themselves. And he knew just the person to help him. "Miss Alicia," he called down. "I need your aid! Will you join me on this perilous journey?"

Without hesitation, Alicia nodded and rushed against the tide of frantic villagers to keep up with Semar's soaring figure in the sky.

Barong held nothing back in its rampage. When Alicia and Ki Semar finally arrived on the scene, it was clear that the destruction was not unique to the fallen trees. Villagers lay strewn about—some were crushed by the trunks, most met their demise. The creature's eyes darted around, searching for its next victim, until it settled on a figure that stood out amidst the chaos—a red-haired lass with an orb floating in the palm of her gloved hand. The snout twisted into a sinister grin.

“Kalimasada! Oh..., it is never appropriate for a princess like you to hold Kalimasada," the creature spoke its mind. Its tone was rumbling like the very trees it had toppled, yet layered with a multitude of voices. "You are a mere human, never to be its rightful owner. Leave it where it belongs!"

Its four legs did not seem to be pedalling, but Barong suddenly appeared in front of Alicia! The girl's eyes barely had time to register the danger before the creature's fangs greeted her head!

But Ki Semar was not one to stand idly by. With a speed that defied all reason, the old man leapt into action, catching the tiger's jaws in his powerful grip and hurling it aside! The girl collapsed in shock, slapping herself.

Thankfully, Alicia had not lost her senses. She picked herself up and approached Semar. "Ki Semar, let me give you the Arcane—I mean Kalimasada!" she declared.

"I am honored, Miss Alicia," Semar gave his blessing. "The magic I'm about to cast may not be able to paralyze Barong in one strike. Impregnate me with Kalimasada, and you can weaken the creature while I work to subdue it."

As Barong thrashed around, Semar settled into a cross-legged position on the ground. Alicia reached out and shared her Arcane by the contact of the blue ley lines. The fresh infusion of Divine Grace coursed through his veins, and the chant was let loose:

“¹Bulang kuwawi, balung remuk.

Sebaen dhemokan saking cucualku menghancurkan sendi.

Sedaya jekuatannya terserap serap teng cucualku.

Belung kuwawi, balung remuk.

Pecah menembus cucal.

Pisakit menembus jagat raya.

Nyawa mabus menembus loka.”

The words spilt forth from Semar's lips like a river of molten gold, each syllable laced with ancient power and purpose. As he intoned the sacred verses and his hands raised in a dance before the sky, a spirit emerged from his body the same way Barong from Wisesa's belly, startling Alicia next to him. Another rare colourful display of the almost intangible art of shamanism. Yet, Ki Semar stood firm, his consciousness and sanity unshaken. The spirit that accompanied him was silent, human-like but not Semar, glowing green, and its fangs glinted like Barong's own.

"Is that what you call a Khodam?" Alicia's gulp could not cure the congealed nerves of her eyelids.

"Ah, Miss, have you been able to read the shamanic book I gave you?" Semar asked in return.

Alicia's awestruck glance must be pulled back on the snarling Barong. There was a time for marvelling, but it was not it. "Not really. Wisesa told me that."

Barong shook its head, giving an eardrum-shattering, rock-crumbling roar. Semar did not flinch; instead, he launched his feet swiftly across the trees. The dragon tail of the tiger wanted to swat him like a fly, but alas, Semar was no fly. He slid off Barong's tail and then leapt again, both with his khodam delivering fists to the monster's right shoulder. Their blunt knuckles imploded the flesh and blood spurted out, even tilting Barong's back! Ki Semar covered his ears this time as Barong's shrieks of intense pain boomed close to him!

With the combination of bone-crushing spells and Arcane magic, Barong's front body fell dead to the side.

Alicia bombarded a barrage of Arcane blasts to the paralysed Barong from above. The beast desired to rip the lass apart, but Semar’s green khodam returned with an almighty punch that shattered the creature's left front and hind legs. The tiger bear's forelegs hung limply like broken branches, skidding across the ground. With a swift dive, Semar and his spirit servant soared through the clouds and dealt the final blow by swooping down on its spine! The cracking of bones had never caused such intense cringe, along with the crunch of crumbling earth and splashes of blood geyser.

Ki Semar glistened in the Arcane light, emanating from dust and smoke, and his khodam dissipated in thin air. His back became hunched again, both hands resting behind him. "Goodness, if it weren't for your Kalimasada, I would have suffered the same fate as Barong!"

"Do you think we did it, Ki Semar?" Alicia was a little doubtful, still gazing at the lying monster obscured in a brownish haze. "I hope Wisesa is alright beneath the Barong's fleshy veil."

"As powerful as the Patron of Lands is, it cannot possibly withstand the power of Kalimasada, Miss Alicia—"

"Ki Semar—" Not yet finishing her sentence, suddenly a giant plant with razor-sharp petals emerged from the ground! It was a second too early from sinking its serrations all over his face if Alicia had not fired a plasma projectile into the plant's red snout!

The snout instantly ignited into flames, and the plant toppled to the ground.

Alicia felt the ground quaking and within seconds, a plant of the same kind assaulted her from behind. She managed to roll over, fortunately, and Semar used his inner strength, now imbued with a powerful Arcane blue, to blast the carnivorous plant's throat and split its jaws wide open. Another plant fell, bathed in green slime. What was it about nature this time that they suddenly turned to kill the unpretentious villagers?

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Alicia might know the answer. Semar seemed to be able to guess.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Semar offered her a hand.

Alicia shook her head frantically, then pointed her forefinger forward—the answer to her question.

More and more predatory plants were sprouting from the soil. Alicia recognised these plants; hunger petals, the flesh-eating plants that the druids of Vanir had once summoned to fight the black practitioners. However, what took her breath away was not the fact that they were hunger petals, but rather that they encased Barong's body slightly sunken into the narrow hole. Its body was lifted in a cocoon, and sure enough, it was not ready to become a carcass for the umpteenth time. Shiny green claws raked through the tangled plants that covered it. Barong appeared with a new face.

"Ki Semar...," Alicia said. "Did I not pay heed to yer tale proper, or did ye not tell me that Barong can evolve?"

Semar was silent for a moment. "Not evolve, change form. I didn't tell you that, Alicia. I forgot."

"It's okay, Ki Semar," the girl forgave.

Before them stood a creature that was no longer a giant being made up of various animals wearing exquisite armour and cloth. Before them was a combination of plants zoomorphised as Barong.

How could one describe it? Perhaps one could start with the front leg, now a light brown wooden sculpture full of carved vine patterns, and a depiction of the tale of Sukra's particular aspect over time. Its once red face was now dark green, with bulging eyes moulded from moss and white eyeballs glared in their centre. Its ears were now anthurium crystallinum, its blond mane a wide sheet of anthurium kris that encircled its head. The back of its body was a mixture of moss, wood, and leaves. Its majestic dragon tail was now a lump of red petals still clenched, and lastly, a pair of hunger petals converged on a new set of forming humps.

Barong's roar remained the same fearsome noise, now multiplied by its snout, which could split into four like a star!

The Plant Barong raised its front legs before stomping the ground. A wave of thorny bushes rose up and it approached fast towards the lass and the old man!

"Alicia, be ready!" Semar was on standby, his green spirit already by his side without so much as a protest.

Alicia threw Orb at the oncoming shrubs, and with a burst of divine power, she managed to prune them all.

But Barong had not run out of tricks. It let out a mighty howl and charged towards them, accompanied by new hunger petals with each step. Even its friable footprints were so sacred that new plants sprouted on them!

Semar blocked the monster with his classic move—holding its snout. Barong wished for that, as the two hunger petals tentacles on its hump opened wide and pulled out red needles as thick as knife blades, trying to poke Semar's body. His khodam managed to hold one back, but the second was a far too agile vine; now it was Semar who had to dodge the beast's consecutive attacks.

But no fortress ever stood immune to the ebbs of time. Fatigue started to dry out the old man's being, and his Arcane Aura was fading fast. Even if Alicia wanted to extend her aid, a more dire predicament was blocking her path. The survivors, recently roused from their stupor, were now swarmed by hunger petals.

"Clipe, clipe, clipe!" A dilemma struck the lass' heart. Nonetheless, Semar issued a signal to put people's safety above all else. After all, he still had his green servant. Alicia made up her mind and surged towards the source of the panic, unleashing a torrential storm of Arcane plasma upon the gnashing, petal-clad maws that dared to ensnare and drag the helpless. As if swayed by some unseen enchantment, all the toothed blossoms turned their attention to the bespectacled Crimsonmane girl.

She must have cried out inwardly.

A unified backlash ensued squarely against Alicia! With the force field she had just created, she managed to sever the stems of several hunger petals that bore the brunt of her assault. However, the remaining monster plants burrowed into the ground at lightning speed and pierced through her Arcane defences from beneath her feet. There was no way she was going to experience the same thing as the ahool tragedy back then, and she agreed to that notion! She quickly extinguished her Arcane force field, jumped back, and ran away.

The petal-clad maws tirelessly chased Alicia for miles, and their roots from afar moved to reach her. How the Divine had cursed her, an idling wooden root seemed to deliberately appear just to make Alicia stumble!

Now the looming hunger petals had darkened her entire body, with clear mucus glazing the surface of their teeth.

Alicia dragged herself backwards. Ragged gasps and nervous sighs seemed to mix together in a chaotic order. The plants should have grabbed their prey while they had the chance. But in the end, they were not much smarter than most living creatures. Instead, they twisted slowly, playing with the girl, presuming her escape to be an impossibility. Perhaps due to a lack of eyes, they were ignorant of the real presence of Orb in her arms.

"Orb!" Alicia shouted. "I'm imagining you letting out some kind of blue flame to push me out of here!"

Then what are you waiting for? Orb scolded its wielder. Do it already, Alicia!

Alicia united herself with Orb once more. Sure enough, fiery blue energy shot out from the Orb's backside, and Alicia was swiftly dragged through the mossy ground and tree roots. Those stupid plants missed their prey again.

"Too fast!" Alicia cringed even more. Nausea churned in her stomach.

Don't complain so much! Do you want to be pushed or not?

The Arcane impulse made the girl take off and wade through the thick logs.

"Oh, no, no more height! Stop, Orb! Please, stop, stop stop!"

Her Arcane orb completely stopped, following the will of the bespectacled girl. They descended, making friction with the air.

"No, no, never mind! Never mind! Fly again! Slower!"

Orb made a flat sound as if sighing. Alicia and Orb were one and the same, so it was Alicia who had to learn self-control to slow down Arcane's drive.

Unfortunately, with the raging fear of heights that would never go away, the girl's flight direction became erratic until she finally managed to land on a tree branch with her stomach hitting the grooved surface first.

In such a drooping state, Alicia had little momentum before the hunger petals crawled up the tree she was perched on and seized her flesh. With renewed synchronicity, Alicia launched a barrage of Arcane rain at the ravenous plants until they became nourishment for the soil below. That was Alicia's way of returning the favour to the tree that gave her a lift.

"Are you awright?" Alicia checked on the hiding villagers as she descended slowly with an Arcane cushion. She rubbed her sore stomach and then patted her forehead after saying so.

"Kalimasada!" A number of villagers knelt before Alicia. Once again, the worship that could have backfired on her.

One of the residents understood the common tongue, saying. "Did you have Kalimasada all this time?"

Alicia had no idea how to answer that question, so she simply nodded slowly.

"What about you, Miss?" the person pressed. "Your stomach seems to be tormenting you."

"Och, dinnae fash aboot me, good sir! My tummy just hit a wee branch, that's all." The girl coughed with a furrowed expression.

“Dinnae…, what?”

“Oh, uh, I’m fine. That is all.”

She was reminded of the Tumaritis Old Man. Alicia hoped that Semar would survive the Plant Barong. Ki Semar can do it, Alicia thought. He was the most powerful person in Tumaritis, after all. []

"I have to go back to Ki Semar, excuse me ...." Alicia passed by them.

"Wait, Miss! Please forgive us for running away! Let us help even a little."

Alicia turned her head, smiled, and nodded. She turned herself back towards the battle side again. []