All Chapters of THE GOD'S OF CHOSEN WARRIOR : Chapter 541
- Chapter 550
584 chapters
The Omen
King Surajaya stood frozen in the doorway, watching as his daughter fled down the corridor, her shoulders shaking with sobs. The sound of her tears cut through him like a blade, leaving him feeling hollow and uncertain—emotions he had not known in decades of rule.Could my daughter truly have dreamed of my tragic end? he wondered, his mind swirling with doubt. Or is this merely a clever ploy to make me abandon the pleasures that keep my strength sharp?For long moments, he stood lost in thought, his usual confidence crumbling beneath the weight of Larasati’s words. Though he had dismissed her fears as foolishness, a seed of unease had been planted in his heart. At last, he made up his mind—he would seek out the palace seer, Ki Jalandra, and ask him to look into the matter. Perhaps the old man could shed light on whether the dream was a warning or merely the product of his daughter’s overactive imagination.With heavy steps, Surajaya made his way through the palace’s winding corridors,
The Terrible Terms
Aji stepped out of his chambers into the cool night air, finding sleep impossible to grasp. He made his way to a long bamboo bench that sat beneath a canopy of frangipani trees just outside his door, its woven surface smooth and familiar beneath his hands. Here, in the quiet darkness of the palace gardens, he could let his thoughts wander freely—though they inevitably turned to one place, one person.Ratih, he mused, his gaze fixed on the stars that dotted the velvet sky above. Alone in that inn room, so far from the safety of our home. How is she faring now? Has she grown worried by my delay? For years, they had rarely been apart for more than a day or two, and the empty space beside him in the palace’s lavish bed felt more foreign than any wilderness he had ever traversed.What if something has befallen her? The thought sent a sharp pang through his chest, and he clenched his fists against the worry that threatened to overwhelm him.“Lost in thought, are we?”The soft voice cut thro
The Soldiers’ Fury
Ki Jalandra offered a thin smile, the lines on his weathered cheeks deepening with the effort. “I knew full well Your Majesty could never bring yourself to accept the first condition,” he said gently. “Thus, last night I beseeched my master for an alternative path—a way to alter fate without demanding such a terrible sacrifice.”“Speak quickly, Ki!” Surajaya roared, slamming his fist against the desk once more. “I have no patience for delays—I feel my very life hanging in the balance!”“The second condition, Your Majesty, requires you to unite with twenty-one virgin maidens, all between the ages of seventeen and twenty, within five days’ time,” the seer explained, his voice heavy with regret. “And after each union, you must take their lives and drink one cup of their blood.”A wave of relief washed over the King, though his mind still reeled with worry over his daughter’s pleas. He could easily gather twenty-one maidens in a day or two—his guards had done so before, though never with
A New Sanctuary
As a warrior trained in the ancient arts, Ratih refused to surrender so easily. Even cornered and outnumbered, she fought with the ferocity of a tigress protecting her den, every muscle coiled with determination to escape the soldiers’ grasp.In that desperate moment, she recalled the teachings her husband Aji had imparted to her—how to turn the very walls of one’s prison into weapons. With lightning speed, she planted her foot against the wooden planks of the room’s far wall, pushing off with all her strength to launch herself at the nearest guard.The soldier never saw the blow coming. Ratih’s heel struck him square in the temple, a sharp crack echoing through the small room as his body crumpled under the force. He was thrown backward, slamming into the wall so hard that splinters flew and the wood gave way, leaving a gaping hole in its place.Seizing her chance, Ratih dove for her fallen sword, her fingers wrapping around the familiar hilt just as two more guards lunged at her. Ren
Leaving the Village
“So many soldiers patrol the streets outside—you will never make it out of this village unnoticed,” Setiaji said to Ratih, his eyes scanning the pile of fallen guards within the room. The former warrior’s gaze lingered on each body, his mind working swiftly to forge a path to safety.“What are you thinking, Uncle?” Ratih asked, noticing the calculating look in his eyes.“Nothing good—but it is our only hope,” he replied, stepping toward one of the soldier’s corpses—its uniform stained with only a few splatters of blood, still largely intact. “We must disguise ourselves. Some of us will need to pass as King’s men—and that includes you, my dear.”He gestured to the cleanest uniform. “You will wear this. Go to my room now and wait—I will prepare the garments first.”Ratih understood at once. She could not stay to watch as he stripped the uniforms from the dead, so she hurried from the room and into his quarters, closing the door behind her to give him privacy.A short while later, a soft
The Pursuit of the Soldiers
"Halt in your tracks!" the soldier cried out, striding forward to give chase to Setiaji and his companions.Ratih’s heart hammered against her ribs like a caged bird beating its wings against iron bars. As the sole woman among their party, she ought not to have disguised herself as a soldier—rather, she should have taken on the guise of a captive, for such a role would have allowed them to spirit her away with far greater ease.Yet the die was cast, and there was no turning back from the path they had chosen. All she could do now was steel her mind and plot an escape should her deception be laid bare.Setiaji and his four companions shared much the same thought. They cast about frantically for any possible avenue of retreat, for the sudden summons had struck them like a clap of thunder in a clear sky.In scarcely three heartbeats, the calling soldier was upon them.His gaze, sharp and suspicious as a hawk’s, lingered upon Ratnasari for a long moment."Is something amiss?" Setiaji inqu
The Aid of Jaya
In the blink of an eye, Setiaji’s company scattered like leaves before a gale. Each member moved with silent purpose, their eyes scanning the forest floor and canopy for trees thick enough to shield their forms, or undergrowth dense enough to swallow them whole. The ancient woods of Kalingga were vast and wild, and in its depths, even a band of men could vanish like smoke if they knew where to hide.Setiaji himself, alongside Ratih, slipped behind a massive thicket of thorny brush—its branches woven so tightly together that not even a shaft of sunlight could pierce through to the ground below. From their concealed vantage, they peered out between the leaves, their gazes fixed on the direction from which Setiaji had sensed approaching hoofbeats. He had guessed correctly that these riders belonged to the royal forces of Kalingga, and now every muscle in his body was coiled tight as a spring.The mounted company—some fifteen strong, their armor gleaming like polished silver beneath the d
The Disguise
“Can it truly be so—that great beast is Lord Jaya?” Setiaji asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, his face etched with a disbelief so profound it seemed carved from stone. Even as he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the tiger, watching as it paced slowly before the line of royal soldiers, its massive head tilted as if assessing each man with cold, calculating intelligence.Ratih offered him a small, reassuring smile, the corners of her lips curving gently despite the tension that hung heavy in the air. “If you do not believe me, Uncle, watch closely. The tiger will not raise a claw against us—not now, nor ever. Its fury is reserved solely for those who would hunt us down.”The certainty in her gaze was unshakable, like a beacon cutting through the fog of his doubt. Taking a slow, steady breath, Setiaji felt the tight knot of anxiety in his chest begin to loosen. He turned to his companions, who stood clustered together with weapons still raised, their faces pale with fear and
Entering the Palace
After riding for what felt like hours through the winding paths of the forest, they at last reached their destination—a structure of considerable size, its stone walls weathered by time and gnawed at by countless generations of termites. Thickets of thorny brush clawed at its foundations, while vines as thick as a man’s arm crept across its facade, draping the windows and doorways in a tangled curtain of green. Moss grew in dark patches across the crumbling mortar, and the air around it carried the scent of damp earth and decay—a smell that spoke of long years of abandonment.Setiaji’s face broke into a warm smile as he looked upon the building. “A most remarkable hiding place,” he said, his voice echoing softly in the quiet of the woods. “No soul in all Kalingga would ever suspect that human hands dwell within these walls. The very appearance of it repels all who might draw near—they see only ruin, not refuge.”“Let the exterior remain as it is,” Jaya replied, his eyes sweeping over
Breaking the Curse
“Aji…?” Jaya whispered to himself, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes narrowed to slits, as if trying to pierce through the half-light of the corridor and the veil of his own disbelief. The figure seated at the desk ahead was bent low over a scattering of parchments, their shoulders hunched in concentration—but even from this distance, there was something familiar in the set of their spine, the way their fingers moved across the pages as if tracing words they knew by heart.Still uncertain, Jaya took slow, deliberate steps forward, his boots making no sound against the polished marble floor. The palace corridors were quiet at this hour, save for the distant tread of guards and the soft crackle of torches mounted on the walls. Each step brought him closer, and with every pace, the truth of what he saw became harder to deny.“Aji…” he called out softly, his voice carrying just far enough to reach the seated man when he was barely five meters away.The figure lifted their head t