He shook his head, laughing and waving his hands about, dancing around the women.“There he is, Boss! That bloody Zaqqy who’s been causing trouble at the market until the people there won’t pay us their protection money anymore!” reported Ijun, pointing at Zaqqy with a grin and a glare. “Hey, you, Zaqqy! Tonight you’ll die right here and no one will ever find your body! Hahaha! We’ll bury you right there!” said Ijun, pointing towards the space under the table, which was littered with empty tuak cups.​"You lot are just a bunch of crazy, self-important thugs! It’s my fault I didn’t kill you straight away. Maybe if I’d killed you, you wouldn’t be causing so much trouble on this earth,” replied Zaqqy without a hint of fear. He walked towards everyone, looking at them one by one. His fists were clenched tightly, the throbbing growing stronger. He could see a faint glow reappearing in both his hands.​“Do you want to kill us? You won’t be able to! Hahaha! There are plenty of us here!” sai

Meanwhile, the man standing not far from Sapto also set off on his luxury motorbike. He rode off at high speed.“I have to catch up with that young man. Finally, I’ve found someone worthy,” he muttered. He twisted the throttle further and sped up even more, trying to catch up with Zaqqy, who had already left ahead of him. The motorbike’s speed and the intensity of his gaze were focused on the road as he searched for Zaqqy. Finally, at a red light, the man spotted him. He accelerated further and pulled his motorbike alongside Zaqqy’s, which had stopped there.​“Hello! Can we have a word?” said the man, lifting the visor of his helmet and turning to look at Zaqqy.​“Who? Me?” Zaqqy was a little surprised and immediately pointed at himself.​“Yes, you. I saw everything—what you were doing earlier at that illegal nightclub,” the man said again. Hearing this, Zaqqy fell silent. “Come with me. I just want to talk for a moment and I’ll offer you something. I don’t think you’ll refuse it.”

The man sat cross-legged, his posture upright, his fingers interlaced to form a star. His eyes gazed straight at the seven kantil flowers arranged like a spear and the burning black candles. His lips moved silently as he recited a summoning incantation. He lifted the small vessel and dripped the dried blood onto the seven kantil flowers.​"Seven kantil, silent witnesses,dried blood becomes the key.From the darkness, from the pain,I summon the formless one.O woman of the dark realm,whose name is not spoken in the light,come… come forth from your hiding place!Bind the heart, bind the soul,I offer the path, I offer the gate.If you hear, if you wake,come to me…become my shadow, become my strength!By the oath of dried blood,do not live again under the name of darkness!Emerge… now…and bow to the one who calls!"​The scent of the kantil flower, once gentle, slowly turned foul, like old blood stirred to life. In the midst of the circle of flowers, the earth turned black. Sraa

The large mirror before him shattered into a thousand pieces, shattering into fragments. Fresh blood flowed from Dwitoro’s nose. “Arrrghh…” He clutched his chest, which felt intensely hot, as though the attack he had unleashed had rebounded to strike him with tenfold force.​“Who… who is protecting him?!” growled Dwitoro, his face deathly pale.​The man clutched his aching chest and wiped the blood from his nose. He drew in a breath and exhaled slowly, channelling the energy within him that had been struck by that colossal force.Dwitoro’s gaze fell upon the shattered mirror, where he saw the black candles and the seven incense sticks burning. The vessels were now completely mangled beyond recognition; he swallowed hard.“An extraordinary power. Who is that person? Whose power is that?” muttered Dwitoro, utterly intrigued. He rose from his seat, surveying his utterly chaotic room. The man chose to leave his private chamber and walked towards the balcony, gazing up at the night sky

The same went for Zaqqy, who had already been paid. He immediately headed to Wak Jul’s stall, where he sold fish. There, he saw a young man helping Wak Jul. Zaqqy walked over to him.​“Come on, Zaqqy, get straight to serving the customers, will you? I’ve got something I’d like to discuss with you later,” said Wak Jul. Zaqqy simply nodded and set to work as usual. He did everything with such care. As the market was so busy, Wak Jul’s stall sold out quickly. There were only a few pieces of fish left. The clock had already struck 13:00 WIB.​“Here’s your wages; just take the fish,” said Wak Jul, handing the wages to Zaqqy. “But I need to apologise, Zaqqy. It looks like you can’t work here anymore,” said Wak Jul in a rather quiet voice.​“Why, Wak? Was my work not good?” Zaqqy asked in return. He was a little surprised, then counted the wages from Wak Jul, which turned out to be different from the previous pay.​“Yes, because my nephew from the village has come. So, I can’t pay many peop