While the harvest celebration was still in full swing at the state palace, the host stealthily laid a trap for two insignificant criminals plotting treason.
With a graceful descent of feet, the Panggaraknagara of Alas Purwo made his way towards the edge of the building, as if the force of gravity served as a pillar of his very weight. The monarch was resplendent in a silky green coat adorned with gold seams, and a waving star-patterned cloth belt. His split-moustachioed face regarded the two powerful mages as nothing more than mere children in his jaundiced eyes. He did not need his royal crown; his blue-blooded countenance of chiselled jawline spoke volumes.
Amidst the horde of guns and relics, Wisesa stood his ground, eyes wider than ever, fists balled to the point of trembling. Alicia, too, stayed still with her hands raised up. She saw Badra, face down, showing no signs of life. Despite her pounding heart due to her criminal deeds and the gravity of the situation, she still presented to the king her mutinous face.
A grudge held, no attempts to hide it.
"Panggaraknagara," she whispered.
Wisesa's mouth twisted in explosive rage. Barong in orange froth erupted his sentiments.
"Despotic monarch! If your son has his way, your eyes will never see a new day again!"
The Panggaraknagara raised an eyebrow, then briefly glanced at the surrendering lass. "I see. You two teenagers have managed to astonish me," he praised. "However, Wisesa, I have raised you, trained you, and bestowed upon you immense power not to defect to me and the people of Yawadwipa!"
"Oh, so I owe you now?" Wisesa snarled. "Talk about a debt I never asked for."
"It's not about what you ask for, but what you must fulfil as your duty!"
"Don't lecture me about duty!" Wisesa barked. "What duties? Everything I've done for you to realize the insane desires of you and your ancestors, and you still say I'm shirking my duties?"
"Yawanese absoluteness is not insanity. It is a divine revelation, inspired to your predecessors, and now to me! The sovereignty of Lojitengara must rest on Yawanese's absolute virtue."
"A madman is blind to his own madness!" Wisesa shot back.
"Can you not see, my son? Look around you! The future that looms ahead is bleak. How many invasions have already ravaged the land of Lojitengara? And how many more will come?"
The Lojitengara leader's feet landed smoothly on the ground. However, his sermon was far from over.
"It is our people who have always stood strong against those attacks. Our people, who united all those island nations in the first place," the father added as he approached his son. "They rely on us. Many magic warriors come from Yawadwipa to protect our borders. And yet, The other states naively believe they can equal us when they cannot even protect themselves! The same mistakes were made again and again, leading the Western nations to exploit these vulnerabilities and gain control of the spice trade. Without us, Lojitengara is nothing but a flock of mindless sheep. We are the shepherds of all nations. Sang Hyang Sukra promised our nation as the bringer of order!"
"Watch your tongue!" Barong's ethereal form swelled, causing warriors and shamans to tumble along with their weapons. "You may be the ruler, but you do not speak for Sang Hyang Sukra!"
"Get real, you insane asshole!" Wisesa grumbled. "You talk about being equal to the gods but you degrade yourself when you bargain with the Girahites for Barong, or seal Bathara Kala instead of killing him to serve as a scaremonger!”
"As expected from your excellent probing, my son. But, once again, wrong on purpose," said his father. "The Four Aspects of Sukra are the companions of the Yawanese. The Girahites gave up The Patron of Lands because they, among the other Lojitengara nations, finally had the sense to realize the superiority of our nation. Meanwhile, Bathara Kala was a rancid shaman who used the blessings of divinity only for himself. We have never been inclined to hoard our benevolence."
"Fuck you, you son of a bitch! Mention your benevolence one more time and I'll tear your throat out!"
Panggaraknagara's voice was suddenly low, and cold, his eyes wide, "Be careful, son. I am still your father."
The young man in the blangkon let out a derisive laugh. "I've realized that I don't have a father! I might as well be a bastard! Look, fellas, Is this your Ratu?" Wisesa spat on the ground near the king's shoes. "A monarch and a claimant of bastard rolled into one! How noble! Oh, he’s also a prophet! I wonder which scripture he's quoting from. Maybe Sang Hyang Sukra forgot a word and had to whisper it directly to him!" He turned back to his father. "I hope you've had a psychiatric evaluation."
"No one will fall for your ranting." The father stood face to face with his son, both battling fiercely through their flashing eyes. "You have not heard Sukra's voice in centuries, Barong. Sang Hyang Sukra always whispers to me in his temple. I am the bearer of a new revelation!"
Even when Barong's roar could actually deafen people, Panggaraknagara was undaunted. Ratu Lojitengara spread his arms for the civil guards and magic practitioners. The courage of the king shook the souls of all present.
"The idea of equality is obsolete," the king proclaimed. "If we are to have order, absolute unity must be present. You forget your childhood lessons, son. This land, Alas Purwo, was the first land created by Sang Hyang Sukra. The First Race was placed here, and here the Four Aspects of Sukra passed down magic. Here, Sang Hyang Sukra promised the first and foremost shepherd among the nations. Thanks to Barong within you, you are part of the Aspects of Sukra now. His promise has been fulfilled. You should be an instrument of the gods!"
"Even if it means harming your own people and children?"
The new voice brazenly defied the king's words. Panggaraknagara's face turned away, tracing the origin of the voice to the throat of Alicia Crimsonmane, who still feigned submission like a fool. There was no sign of his intention to respond to the lass' words.
Feeling ignored, Alicia cried out once more, "What satisfaction do you get from realising the dream of ruling the entire country? You've lost everything you love! If the god you worship is the same god that the people of Pulomas worship, then there is no way that Sang Hyang Sukra would want the contents of his masterpiece to destroy each other, let alone torture young children as weapons of war and hangmen! Wisesa and Barong are right, ye're a king out of yer mind—"
Panggaraknagara suddenly extended his hand towards Alicia, to which the girl reflexively kicked Orb upwards and let it stick to her hand. However, before she could do anything with it, her neck congested, and then her feet lost their footing. From a distance, Panggaraknagara's face was showing greater satisfaction as her loud voice was replaced with a disjointed groan. Fear devoured every concentration to unite with Orb.
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"Stop it, you son of a bitch!"
Wisesa charged towards Panggaraknagara, as he, too, was approaching Alicia. The shamans with krises immediately pushed him back and held the young lad in place. Barong darted its claws amidst the clanging krises and pounding fists, but the touch of its nails was not even as palpable as the wind, as it had no control over Wisesa's body. Yellow electric krises were unsheathed, and magic bracelets waved to sweep Alas Purwo's errands away. But at this point, they feared Panggaraknagara more than the unstable juvenile and his mystical tiger. Wisesa tossed each of his bangles to each man and jumped, and still, the shamans leapt over the looming metal shoulders of the Bhayangkara warriors, forming a human tower as fast as the Thunderkeeper's lightning that grabbed Wisesa's legs and pulled him to the ground!
"Wisesa! Wisesa! Use my power!"
"Shut up, Barong!" snapped Wisesa. "I will not use your power!"
"You will die!"
"I'm not like that Westerner!"
Wisesa, being surrounded by shamans and Bhayangkaras in full steam armour, was no longer a threat. The King was now the only one occupying Alicia's sight. He used his hand again to forcefully pull away her hand holding Orb, and a faint snapping of bones could be heard, to which Alicia burst into a painful screech. The king's right hand had been fitted with a mechanical glove similar to the one Wisesa had worn back in the past—the one that could alter into a magical sealing box.
His palm struck the orb's surface. "The Maid. Truly depicting the nature of a Westerner: a cunning disguiser and a servant with acute gods-centre syndrome, flaunting Kalimasada." A pulling force started to engorge Alicia's hand nerves. However, she still managed to channel Orb's power to keep it attached to her hand.
Alicia's face began to turn blue. "L-let go ..."
"Is that how Westerners greet their rulers?"
"Anywhere...w-we...only honour...the true king...!" Alicia struggled to speak.
Panggarknagara's eyes rounded. The veins on his hands became more pronounced as he strangled the girl.
"It grieves me to see the teachings for my son eroded by the poisonous thoughts of a Western woman, with twisted ideals and the Kalimasada magic of the loathsome Eternal Empire." Panggaraknagara squeezed harder. Orb moved closer to his hand, shrieking loudly.
Alicia could not reply. She was breathless.
Glancing at the contested Orb, Panggaraknagara continued, "But your strength is not a concern for me. Greed finds no home within my nature, make no mistake. The power of the Patron of Lands can rival even the Eternal Empire's might, if you wield it with skill. Thus, I shall let the opponents have to claim you and your might..."
Opponents? Whose opponents is he referring to? Alicia mused half-consciously. With one final burst of strength, the lass' left hand quickly pulled on an Arcane tendril, sending a powerful electric shock that jolted the king's testicles!
The monarch screeched a curse and leapt away, bringing unfathomable shame and utter failure of snatching Orb. Sixteen years old, and Alicia had already attempted an utterly humiliating act of terrorism, while her peers were still preoccupied with their exams and homework. Alicia the Sovereign Ballbreaker, the Yawanese would remember her from now on. Or Alicia, the Noble Groin-Zapper.
Nevertheless, Panggaraknagara's left hand was still raised, still choking the bespectacled girl with his telekinesis magic. His rage was unbearable, thus he slammed Alicia into an abandoned building nearby, through the still mighty concrete wall. Alicia's form had not been seen since.
"Alicia!" Wisesa howled amid the authorities' ambush. Now he did not hesitate to break their hands and rent their legs asunder in order to deliver a lethal blow to his father. Barong was like a clown in the middle of the fight. It relentlessly urged Wisesa to use its powers, but his ears remained deaf.
The fluttering of moth wings created a veil between Wisesa and his father as his hand clutched the cloth of Panggaraknagara's robes. A candelabra-like staff jerked Wisesa's head back, sending him tumbling to the ground.
The moths scattered, and a giant moth with wings adorned with countless eyes appeared.
"'Child of the Beast' according to Nostradame hnnngggg," whispered the mother of all moths.
Half-dazed and bleeding from the blow, Wisesa struggled to make sense of the situation. "Who the fuck are you?" He drew his golden dagger and unleashed a bolt of yellow lightning at the insect mage. The Mothman shielded himself behind his flapping wings and was pushed back.
Wisesa made another attempt on his abominable father's life with no regard for the Mothman and the rest of the country's security forces. The problem was, they were not the only ones present. The Deer Head mage leapt down from the inn rooftop, thrusting his forked antlers forward. Wisesa evaded the attack just in time before the Mothman's killer bees swarmed him from behind.
Those bees full of black magic posed no threat to Wisesa. But his mind was in turmoil at the realisation that Alas Purwo had conspired with many Khaos magicians, both within and outside the country. And the foreign magic practitioners he had encountered so far might be the same foe of the Arcane-wielding Western girl.
When Wisesa saw the Deer-Man, doubt crept into his mind. Perhaps it was because the Barong Rampage incident had left a deep impression on him. His gaze fell on the thread-netted wooden craft—the Nightmare Snare—held by the mage.
"It's better if you don't fight, Child of the Beast," the Mothman said.
Deer Man only snorted.
"Don't interfere, my business is with that wretched bastard!" Wisesa snarled, pointing at his father behind the two mages.
The Mothman then summoned an army of buzzing insects towards Wisesa. Wisesa gathered the flying insects into a blob of inner strength and charged back at his master! As both engaged in their battle, the Deer-Man saw an opportunity. He leapt forward, pointing his Nightmare Snare at Wisesa, causing the young man to slip and fall. But Wisesa was not one to give up easily. He twisted his leg and flanked the Deer-Man's leg in return, tripping him up as well.
The insect mage's chandelier bounced back, accompanied by the air slices of two locust dogs—the sprinkhonds. Wisesa delivered a supernatural fist, pounding the Ring of Siliwangi's bangles against both locusts' heads, sending them crashing into the wall. Wisesa then grabbed the Mothman's shirt and intended to burn his entire body with magical ash, but a horde of moths came out from under his robes instead!
While Wisesa was busy swatting his head away from the remaining moths, he felt an odd force pulling him into the sky and smashing him into a number of banana trees several times before throwing him back to the ground. Panggaraknagara launched himself at his son, unleashing a flurry of silat moves.
"You are talented, Wisesa. But your intention is flawed!" the monarch taunted, throwing punches and kicks at his dodging son.
Wisesa seized the moment when his father's kick missed and counterattacked. "You know who should have said that, hypocritical fucker? That Westerner you tossed away!"
Both parties created a distance and discharged bursts of their inner strength towards one another. Such impromptu energy slugs gradually pushed them back.
"Why did you let Barong gape at you, Wisesa?" asked Panggaraknagara. "If you really intended to destroy me, you should have let Barong take control!"
"Your father was a jerk, but he is right!" Barong chimed. "Use my power, and surely all forms of calamity will come to him as you wish!"
"Shut up. Shut up!" Wisesa shouted, generating an even bigger magical wave.
The man in front of him seemed to have no effect on the force. "Let Barong take control Wisesa! I'll tame him for you."
"He underestimates you and me, Wisesa! At least taste a little of my power!" Barong pressed further.
"I don't want to use Barong! I'm sick of being your pawn, sick of bringing more pain! Stop making my life more miserable!"
Wisesa forgot that there was still another shaman present. The Deer-Man pulled his body with telekinetic ability, and a tsunami wave of Mothman's insects entangled him before snaking toward the full moon. The insect tower swooped down and slammed Wisesa hard into the ground. The force of Barong was no longer visible. His consciousness was held captive for a while.
The Mothman ambled towards the young lad, his magic staff brandished.
"Stubborn boy hnnggg," the Mothman's voice was hoarse. "However, he can be useful not only for Lojitengara, but for the whole world..."
Panggaraknagara blocked his way. Rifles and krises were stiffly held in soldiers' hands as if they shared the sunan's sentiment. "You will not take my son anywhere. Our only deal is the Western girl and her magic orb."
A muffled giggle came from the Deer Head. "Oh, what a pity. He could have made a better life for himself, though." The mage turned around. "Still, a deal is a deal..."
The Mothman followed his colleague toward the remains of the abandoned building, already filled with other army units, where Alicia had landed. []