BLOOD OF BORNEO

CHAPTER 4: REMNANTS OF HOPE

Damang stopped behind the thick foliage of a giant fern. Before him, the village of Long Baram, once lush and serene, had been transformed into an industrial concentration camp. A guard tower with halogen spotlights swept across the ground, hunting for any prey foolish enough to cross the barbed-wire fence.

"Bastards," Damang hissed. His voice was low, nearly drowned out by the roar of the generator.

"Who’s there?" A trembling voice emerged from behind a pile of burlap sacks near the ruins of a barn.

Damang drew the dagger he had obtained from Indung Inan with lightning speed. "Come out, or you die."

A young man with a gaunt, scarred face crawled out. His eyes widened when he saw Damang. "Brother... Brother Damang? Is it really you?"

"Dehen?" Damang lowered his weapon slightly. He recognized the young man as the village elder’s nephew. "Why aren't you in the barracks?"

"They threw me away, Brother," Dehen pointed to his leg, which was mangled and wrapped in filthy rags. A piece of metal was embedded in his shin—the mark of a Paladin mechanical trap. "They said I was no longer useful as a labor unit. They left me to starve to death as an example to the others."

Damang clenched his fist. Instantly, the tattoo on his arm burned, sending a jolt of agony through him that made his teeth grind.

"Where is my father? Where is Commander Nyarung?" Damang asked, his voice cold as ice.

"The Commander was taken to the Core Zone. Underground," Dehen sobbed, tears tracking through the grime on his cheeks. "But Brother... you have to leave. The Paladins... they aren't human anymore. I saw one of them lift a one-ton tree trunk with a single hand. You won't win!"

"I didn't come here to run," Damang stared at a medical container guarded by two soldiers near the gate. "Wait here. Don't make a sound, no matter what happens."

Damang bolted. His speed was unnatural. In seconds, he was behind the two guards who were busy smoking.

"Hey, did you hear something?" the first guard asked.

"Probably just a wild boar..."

CRACK!

Damang gripped the first guard’s neck and crushed his larynx with a single squeeze. Before the second guard could raise his rifle, Damang’s dagger had already pierced the gap in his helmet.

THUD!

Warm blood splattered onto Damang’s face. He felt no pity. He only felt the cold vibration of his tattoo, which seemed to grow thirstier. He quickly snatched an access card and entered the medical container.

"Antibiotics, regenerative bandages, stimulants..." Damang stuffed the items into his bag rapidly. However, his eyes locked onto a glowing data terminal. He inserted his stolen decryption module. A holographic map appeared, displaying the village's underground structure. There was a massive cylindrical structure beneath the ancient cemetery labeled: HARVESTER 01.

"So this is what they’re looking for," Damang muttered.

Suddenly, a high-pitched alarm blared. Red lights spun throughout the camp.

"SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR THREE! PALADIN UNITS, PROCEED TO THE LOCATION IMMEDIATELY!"

Damang grabbed his bag and dashed out. At the end of the path, three figures in pitch-black armor had already locked onto his position. The red sensors on their helmets glowed brightly.

"Target identified. Subject: Damang. Status: Eliminate," the robotic voice boomed heavily.

Damang drew the heirloom Mandau from his back. "Now or never."

SHING!

Instantly, unimaginable pain exploded in his right arm. The Mandau felt as heavy as a mountain. The blade refused to be swung, as if the iron possessed a magically shifting mass.

"Why... argh!" Damang fell to his knees, clutching his arm, which felt like it was being roasted over hot coals.

"You try to wield a legacy you do not understand, Native," the Paladin leader mocked. He lunged forward with a high-frequency sword that hummed with energy.

CLANG!

Damang parried the strike, but the force of the impact sent him flying three meters backward. His hand trembled violently. The nerves in his arm screamed in protest.

"Damn this Mandau! Why are you rejecting me?!" Damang shouted internally. "My blood is the blood of the Commander!"

But the Mandau only sent another wave of pain that made Damang vomit blood. He realized one thing: he was still holding this Mandau as a military 'tool,' not as a part of his soul.

"Surround him! Don't let him escape!" the Paladin ordered.

The three black-armored figures moved in a triangular formation. One of them activated an energy whip that crackled loudly.

Damang glanced toward Dehen, who was hiding. If he died here, Dehen would perish, and the village’s hope would be extinguished. He forced himself to stand, even though his legs were nearly paralyzed by the pain of the tattoo.

"You think I need this sword's permission to kill you?" Damang growled.

He didn't swing the Mandau vertically. He used the weapon's weight as momentum. As the nearest Paladin lunged, Damang dropped his body, letting the weight of the Mandau pull him into a brutal low spin.

CRASH!

The illogical weight of the Mandau slammed into the Paladin’s knee joint like a giant hammer. The titanium logic was defeated by mystical weight. The Paladin’s knee twisted and shattered.

Damang thrust the tip of the Mandau into the gap under the opponent's armpit. He had to press with both hands, exerting every ounce of his remaining strength just to move the heavy blade.

SPLIT!

Hydraulic fluid and black blood sprayed out. The Paladin convulsed and then went dark.

"One," Damang whispered, though his vision began to blur.

The other two Paladins immediately activated the sonic cannons on their shoulders. "Destroy him now!"

WUNGGG!

A sonic wave slammed into Damang’s position. The crates around him shattered into pieces. Damang’s ears bled. His world spun. In his semi-conscious state, he seemed to hear Indung Inan’s voice.

You are still afraid of the pain, Damang. That is why the sword hates you.

"I am... not afraid!" Damang roared.

He threw a bottle of antibiotics at the main spotlight as a distraction, then detonated a gas tank with a stolen grenade.

BOOM!

The explosion created mass chaos. Amidst the black smoke, Damang grabbed Dehen, hoisting him onto his left shoulder while his right hand dragged the Mandau, which was still as heavy as lead.

He kept running into the depths of the forest, ignoring the arm muscles that were likely permanently torn. Once he felt he was far enough, he laid Dehen down on a pile of dry leaves.

"We... we survived..." Dehen whispered hoarsely. "Brother... you actually did it."

Damang didn't answer. He stared at his hand. The tattoo was no longer black, but a bruised, inflamed reddish-purple. His father’s Mandau lay beside him, cold and untouched.

"I’m not strong enough yet," Damang muttered. He stared at his trembling palm. "This Mandau... it isn't rejecting me. It’s testing me."

"What do you mean, Brother?" Dehen asked weakly.

"It wants me to feel every ounce of pain from the deaths it has caused. If I cannot bear the weight of its sins, I will never be able to swing it properly."

Damang clutched his tight chest. He could endure this physical pain, but this sense of helplessness was far more agonizing. In the distance, the roar of Thorne’s helicopter engines began to comb through the forest.

"Brother, just leave me. You have to save the Commander," Dehen whimpered.

"Be quiet. I didn't save you just to let you die here," Damang hoisted Dehen back up. "These medicines will keep you alive. After this, I am coming back for Thorne’s head."

Damang stared toward his village, which was now burning. His fear was gone, but his anger now had a new form. It was no longer just the anger of a soldier, but the anger of a predator who had just learned that pain was the source of his strength.

"Thorne," Damang whispered with a silver glint in his eyes. "For every heartbeat you take from this land, I will replace it with every inch of your skin."

Damang vanished into the deeper darkness of the forest. Rain began to fall, washing away his blood trail, but it could not extinguish the fire of vengeance now coursing through his veins. He began to enjoy the pain in his arm. Because to him, pain was the sole proof that he was still alive to seek retribution.