"Are these the very ones who butchered our hundred soldiers yesterday, Ki?" Trisno asked, his voice carrying over the rumble of hooves as he rode beside Ki Ageng, his eyes fixed on the dark figures looming ahead like storm clouds on the horizon."If you ask me that, then who in the name of the gods am I supposed to ask?" Ki Ageng grumbled, a sharp edge of irritation in his tone—but anyone who knew him would hear the undercurrent of affection that always softened his words when speaking to Trisno.Trisno let out a soft, knowing chuckle, for he was well aware that the old man could never truly stay angry with him, no matter how sharp his words might seem."Forward!" Ki Ageng roared, his voice cutting through the air like a battle horn, giving the order that would set his army in motion. The twin spears slung across his back caught the morning light, their silver blades glinting with a cold promise of violence—weapons that had lain dormant for decades, now awakened once more. He slowed h

“Bastard! You will never defeat me!” Ki Ageng roared, his eyes flashing with a hatred so intense it seemed to scorch the air between them. Yet beneath that seething loathing, a spark of awe flickered — for his foe, despite being far younger, could match him blow for blow. In the prime of his youth, this handsome man stood as his equal.The hand-to-hand combat reignited, and this time, there was a subtle shift in the tide. Aji had been watching closely, committing every movement of the Drunken King Fist to memory — movements Ki Ageng had unknowingly demonstrated in their earlier exchanges. Now, slowly but surely, Aji began to weave those very techniques into his own fighting style.“Cur! So that’s why he let me strike him earlier — to learn the Drunken King Fist,” Ki Ageng muttered to himself, and despite everything, his admiration for Aji deepened. Even as an enemy, the young warrior commanded respect.Aji was still unaccustomed to the form, his movements lacking the fluid grace that

With the last vestiges of strength coursing through his weathered frame, Ki Ageng strained to unleash a final, desperate strike. He had been driven to the brink—forced to call upon the Forbidden Art, a technique so perilous that even his own master had forbidden him from ever uttering its name, let alone wielding it. For this dark power demanded a terrible price: the very soul of its user, to be claimed the moment the art was cast.“If I must die here,” Ki Ageng hissed, his voice like grinding stone, his eyes blazing with a madness that matched the shadows twisting around him, “then you shall burn with me in the abyss!”Aji furrowed his brow, confusion clouding his sharp features. The words hung in the air like poison mist, and he could not fathom their meaning. In that moment of bewilderment, a soft, familiar voice echoed within the depths of his mind—warm yet tinged with the sorrow of ages past.“My dear grandson, Aji… You are the only hope your grandfather has to bring closure to t

As the procession drew to a halt before the gates of the Duchy’s palace, Rangga and Bargowo gestured for the elite royal guards of the Cakrabuana Kingdom—led by Antasena—to enter. Hundreds of soldiers, already arrayed in formation by Duke Hanggareksa, watched in awe as the elite force marched past. Though the Cakrabuana Kingdom boasted a standing army of over one hundred thousand men, this contingent of elite guards numbered a mere one thousand—and yet, their presence carried a weight that made the Duchy’s soldiers straighten their spines in respect.To be counted among the Cakrabuana Kingdom’s elite guards was no small feat. It required surviving a gauntlet of trials so harsh, so unforgiving, that many who attempted them fell by the wayside, their bodies and spirits broken. For those who succeeded, it was a source of immense pride—a honor that burned bright in their hearts every time they donned their polished armor and took up their weapons. And their families, too, shared in that g

“Might I see them, My Lord?” Antasena interjected, his voice carrying a note of quiet curiosity. For in the corner of his mind, a faint memory stirred—he felt as if he had laid eyes on those twin spears before, in some distant time that now seemed lost to the mists of years.Duke Hanggareksa nodded slowly, his gaze lingering on the ancient weapons for a moment longer before he turned to Aji. “Show them to Antasena.”Aji rose with graceful ease, his fingers closing around the hilt of each spear in turn. The metal felt cool against his skin, thrumming with a silent power that seemed to hum through his very bones. He carried them across the chamber and passed them to Antasena, then returned to his seat beside the commander of the Cakrabuana Kingdom’s Royal Guard, his posture calm and unassuming.Antasena held the twin spears up to the light, his eyes narrowing as he studied every curve, every engraving that danced across their polished surfaces. The metal gleamed like captured starlight,