001 - The Greed

Where there is desire, there is sacrifice. And the greediest thing that ever occurred on earth had sacrificed the fate of humanity.

  

After World War 3 turned most of the habitable lands into deadly zones, several small meteorites also started raining down to the earth each year, creating catastrophes in so many earth surfaces.

  

Those who survived the meteor collision were still affected by the mysterious energy radiation. However, only a few of them were able to survive and experienced evolution.

  

One of them is this 28-year-old swordsman named Arifin Tetsuo. He is considered as one of the awakened warriors, due to his unique ability in creating a shapeless repuslive barrier.

  

It’s great, right? Not at all. Because of this ability, he is alway exhausted almost all the time due to the burden it creates in his mind.

  

He almost never uses his sword to fight monster. And just like any other day, he spends most of his time in the medical tent, unconsciouness.

  

That morning, he wakes up by the little commotion near the medical tent. Several soldiers are making a ruckus with a heated debate.

  

“You can’t abandon the sanctuarium that long,” says the Sanctuarium Chief.

  

“But they are threats to our safety during the night,” argues Zaw Min, the leader of the sanctuarium protector.

  

The Chief glances around to look at all the awakened warriors amongst the soldiers he has at his disposal.

  

“You can only bring seven awakened warriors, and you can’t take Grace with you.”

  

“What? She is crucial in the battlefield. She is the only medical soldier here,” Zaw Min yells with a mad face.

  

“Chief, let me go with them,” says Grace.

  

Suddenly, Arifin appears and joins the debate. “If you want to take Grace, then you have to bring me too.”

  

All the soldiers avert their attention to Arifin with wrinkled faces. One of them even mocks him with a despised sneer.

  

“Dude, you are only going to be a deadweight for the team.”

  

“I can’t believe you still have the nerve to join this conversation.”

  

Arifin stares down those soldiers. He doesn’t trust them, because these people are always occupied by the drive of their adrenaline in fighting monsters.

  

“Who is going to protect Grace then?” he asks.

  

“Cih! Don’t act so high with yourself! Weak ass!”

  

“No, we need him,” Zaw Min interrupts. “He may not be effective in fighting, but his barrier is needed to protect our medical lady.”

  

Immediately, Arifin’s facial expression changes drastically. He looks so inspired that the hero he looks up to is now acknowledging him.

  

In less than five hours, those soldiers reach the one ancient shrine in the middle of Borneo's rainforest. It is said that the purpose is to clear the area from monsters. But the truth is, Zaw Min only cares about hunting treasures.

  

The shrine is not that big. There’s one small stupa at the terrace, a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine, with one Budha statue sitting inside it.

  

Zaw Min enters the shrine first to lead the team. Somehow, Arifin isn’t moving, and attracts Grace’s attention.

  

He is currently getting a clear voice talking directly to his mind. As if there is someone inside the shrine welcoming him.

  

<< Come here! I’ve been longing for you for so long. It’s almost like an eternity >>

  

Arifin is petrified, until Grace shakes him. “Hey!”

  

“?”

  

“Let’s go!”

  

Grace just enters the shrine. In the end, Arifin has no other choice but to follow her. It is his job to ensure her safety.

  

There are indeed some treasures in the bottom floor of this ancient shrine. Those soldiers look so ecstatic, howling like wolves as they collect their loot into the bags.

  

But then, the earth suddenly shakes so hard. Some bizarre zombies emerge from the ground.

  

Arifin and Grace are just stepping the first stair leading to the underground floor. But a commotion from the others soldiers occurs like they are being attacked by something.

  

“We better get out of this place!” says Arifin.

  

“What about the others?” asks Grace.

  

Those soldiers appear, running so wild climbing the staircases. One of them accidentally knocks Grace, and makes her fall on the stairs.

  

“Hey!” Arifin shouts in a mad face.

  

That soldier doesn’t even care to say sorry. Arifin just rushes to help Grace. But then, he sees so many zombies approaching.

  

“What are they?” mumbles Grace.

  

“Forget about it! Let’s get out of here!”

  

The condition outside the shrine is just as weird. The ground has been lifted along with the shrine.

  

There are something like two giant flower petals emerging from the ground around the shrine. They look like some nasty slimy flesh.

  

These petals are closing, like a giant carrion flower trapping the entire shrine inside it. Right after it finishes trapping the entire shrine, the earthquake slowly wears down.

  

“What’s going on here?” asks one of the soldiers, a Thai warrior named Jaidee Tanasugarn.

  

There is only one small space left so high at the top, where the light from outside can still get in. They are trapped, while they know there are also so many zombies coming to them from inside the shrine.

  

“Jaidee, block the entrance with your ice!” Zaw Min issues.

  

“What about Grace and Arifin?”

  

“We don’t need to split these treasures with those deadweights.”

  

Jaidee starts creating a layer of ice block just when Arifin and Grace almost reach the corridor leading to the exit. He actually can see them coming, but he keeps creating that ice block.

  

“Hey!!!” Arifin shouts. “What the fuck are you doing? We are still here!”

  

Arifin draws his sword and starts butchering those zombies one by one. But there’s no end to them.

  

He then runs so fast toward the exit. He creates a kinetic barrier in front of him by keeping his momentum.

  

“Grace! Follow me!”

  

Fortunately, the ice block that Jaidee has created isn’t that thick at the moment.

  

Arifin manages to break it. He grabs Jaidee’s tactical uniform on the chest by showing his mad face.

  

“What’s the meaning of this? Why are you leaving us? I know you had seen us coming, yet you still blocked the entrance with your ice?!”

  

Jaidee coldly shoves Arifin's hands away. “Don’t ask me. I’m just following orders.”

  

Jaidee continues his job. Meanwhile, Arifin is still silent, looking down with so much disappointment.

  

“Why?”

  

“It was a decision that I had to make to ensure the safety of my team,” answers Zaw Min.

  

Arifin notices all the treasures in their bags. He knows those warriors never care about others’ safety but their greed.

  

Out of nowhere, an amusing laugh occurs from inside the shrine. And Jaidee, he is thrown by something. Blood spurts out of his mouth, and his chest receives two wide cuts.

  

A mysterious man, with a unique appearance like some warrior from the ancient Java Kingdom, appears from inside the shrine.

  

His right hand looks like some devil’s hand, long and big with some muscle tissue emerging from the flesh. But his left hand looks normal, holding a “Kris”, a unique dagger-like weapon with asymmetrical and wavy shape.

  

Some flesh tendrils are slowly crawling from inside the shrine. The zombies are also appearing as if they answer this monster’s command.

  

The mysterious man notices Grace treating Jaidee’s wounded chest. One second later, the man is already so close waving his Kris toward them. But somehow, it is stopped in midair by Arifin’s shapeless barrier.

  

“Hoho! Not bad!” that monster grins. “But, how come I sense Rangkahasa’s corrupted blood in you?”