"Hey, hey, hey...!" Wisesa stuttered; he might have forgotten or even never got used to having someone's arms wrapped tightly around his waist with such longing. "Let go! Get your hands off my body! Are you not ashamed to be caught in such an intimate embrace by two animals, idiot?"
Instead of obeying, her intention to squash Wisesa grew even more passionate. "S-sorry...," whispered the girl with glasses. "It just feels... like a long time ago."
"A long time ago...?" Wisesa's eyes then glanced at the Mothman rising with his insect wave, his body propped up, in unison with his wrath. The Bipedal Deer came up behind the mage, the hot vapour from its nose suffocating the noses of the others. The young lad understood. "You got it too, huh?"
Alicia still had her eyes clenched tightly, her breath sharp in her ears. She nodded.
Wisesa was pensive for a while, his eyes glaring towards the two black mages. The empathy emerged, and this time, he had no intention of hiding it, despite the scowl still plastered on his face. Sometimes Orb was not the only companion to soothe the sorrows of the heart. "Tell you what, Westerner." Wisesa smacked the girl's shoulder once. "If I praise you for your courage and endurance, will you please detach from my body?"
The physical interaction with Wisesa never felt comfortable. Indeed, it was almost like being beaten, but somehow Alicia managed a smile. She complied, the two intertwined arms separating. Her face looked up, waiting for the compliment.
Wisesa let out a resigned sigh. "We're fucked up kids, aren't we?" he said. "Tortured by the world and reality, yet we're the ones who have to clean up the mess."
The girl's lips parted with a stifled chuckle. "Is that your compliment? I've heard it before!"
"I've been kind. Don't push your luck.”
Alicia mimicked Wisesa's gesture, once again turning to face the two powerful mages of Khaos. "Those words," Alicia's lips twitched. "Does that mean you've decided to come with me travelling around the world of thaumaturgy?"
Wisesa laughed scornfully. "Don't even think about it."
"Too bad," Barong took to the air, interrupting the brief pre-battle conversation, its long fingers tickling the skin, creeping up to grasp Wisesa's shoulders. "But..., not really. On the bright side, I sense that you're starting to warm up to me. You don't want to let go, do you?"
"I am a man of firm convictions, Barong. I'm only doing this to shut you up. I won't be joining this Western Woman on her obscure journey, nor will I rely on your strength to the fullest. Make no mistake about that."
As the buzzing of the worker insects grew louder, the Mothman flew up and carried the magic seal box containing Orb. "I'm confused by you people hnnngggg. Especially you, Young Man!" his voice also buzzed, as if thousands of insects were his mouth. "You approached your girlfriend just so you could die together? What do you possess to stand against us?"
"Can't your round eyes see this annoying yellow spirit on top of my head?" pointed out Wisesa. Barong raised two hands, acting fierce.
"You're... so... sure... hnnnggggg... that your pet's power can match up to both of us?"
"Are you kidding me, insect? Don't know who I am?" Barong quipped. "Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition says defeating you is no more difficult than facing Calon Arang!" Barong's mouth then twitched slightly, whispering to Wisesa, "If you increase the use of my power just a little bit more, we can bully this arrogant magician with his own insects!"
Wisesa hissed in response, brushing away the orange spirit with a flick of his hand.
"Oh, maybe your intuition is right." The Deer Monster turned her back on her companion before she bleated like a real deer. "But saving the whole of Pulomas, even the world without Arcane?" The beast shook its hand that held a clay figure.
Seeing that, Wisesa was confused. He rummaged through every pocket he had on his clothes. "Fuck! Since when did you steal Bathara Kala's ushabti?"
The horned monster just laughed and snarled.
Both Wisesa and Barong gritted their teeth, blasting out waves of golden power that shocked the dust and crumbs of the building. Alicia took out another bamboo bar filled with riot foam with pursed lips. Her gaze was a manifestation of a bit of a disturbed mind. There was no way they could let the two beast-masked mages escape with the Divine Grace, let alone resurrect the Moon Eater as a parting gift.
While watching Barong's spirit, Alicia's mind sparked another curiosity. "Question! Can Barong share its power with me?"
Wisesa and Barong both turned to look at her. "Absolutely not," Barong replied. "You can back off now. It's our turn to show off our skills!"
Frowning, Alicia puffed up her cheeks. "Stingy spirit. But I won't back down, though. My alchemy tools are working alright."
The swarm of poisonous insects blocked all views of the building complex and the exits. The two parties had not yet taken off when a new light suddenly pierced through the wall and scattered insects. Again, the other daredevil charged into the cloud of black insects, quickly snatching the magic seal box from the flabbergasted Mothman.
"Looking for this?" The ruddy man landed beautifully, raising the magic seal box.
"Gareng!" Alicia exclaimed, her spirits lifting.
"Better hurry up and take it," Gareng advised, "The magi are going nuts."
Alicia heeded his words, immediately spun the box and sent Arcane synchronisation throughout her body. "We meet again, Orb!"
I saw what happened, Orb hummed. It's a good thing you're alright, Alicia!
"All thanks to Mama," Alicia replied.
Not just your mother. You have resilience and a deep knowledge of magic. As my wielder, I sincerely hope that you continue to utilize both in the future.
Orb, optimistic as ever, always had a way to flatter the bookworm and spread genuine laughter. Even in the face of danger like a pair of angry black mages right before Alicia. With a touch, she tied the Arcane threads around her fingers. Her stance was both firm and graceful. On the other hand, Bagong's yellow aura on Wisesa was fierce and primal. Gareng's body was burnt by some kind of supernatural sun, smoke rising from his increasingly smouldering skin. To the two absurd animal-headed mages, their pose was ludicrous. The Mothman's rage boiled over, trying to conceal the shame of relinquishing that momentary grasp of victory.
"Great powers you possess, hnnngggg, but in the end, you are merely lucky little wretches!" The waves of insects emanated a dense mauve aura, soaring and destroying whatever they touched. Alicia created a wide, star-studded blue field that engulfed the repulsive waves, then launched the field forward. The Deer Monster leapt over rooftops and balconies, its sharp claws lunging at Alicia from above.
How the Divine cursed the Deer Monster. A sudden, round projectile shattered the fur-and-flesh-clad mage's ribs and sent her flying into another room. Fortunately, the residents had already run away when Alicia was blown into their place. But still, what kind of bullet would have almost as much power as an Arcane projectile to knock a giant deer off its feet?
It turned out that a cannon was to blame.
The cetbang cannon was indeed smaller than a normal cannon. However, its projectiles split the air into nothingness, and its destructive power was terrifying. And if it was assembled by a burly midget, the self-proclaimed Hephaistos of Yawadwipa, carrying it around like a giant toy, it became even more dangerous.
Alicia looked at the man, and her morale skyrocketed. "Bagong! You come too!"
But Bagong squinted at the girl's divided gaze. "Alicia! Your glasses!"
Alicia pointed to the Mothman like a whiny child. "He did it!"
The Mothman turned his head towards the individual in question. Bagong had already raised his eyebrows, his cetbang poised, and its barrel aglow. However, the insect mage was not idle; thousands of insects, woven into tentacle-like formations, were already squirming before him.
Bagong pulled the trigger of the cannon. His enraged shout matched the explosion's report. "How dare you destroy my craft, Brood Insect!"
Successive cannon blasts resounded. All of the Mothman's cherished insects in the vicinity fell, the black ones blackening further, and their hollow forms crumbling into ashes upon contact with the ground. Yet, the Mothman obscured the area with new insect swarms in mere seconds, and some of them coalesced into a serpent that slithered in accordance with the Mothman's gestures, spiralling around the location of the incoming shots. It infiltrated the cannon's barrel, obscuring its brilliance, and causing the weapon to burn its wielder's fingers. Bagong hurled the cannon away, only for the Mothman to hurl it right back at them.
Gareng was about to lunge at the reddened cannon, but Alicia promptly ensnared him with Arcane threads. "Don't!" she cried. The man was pulled away, and Alicia summoned an Arcane power field. Bagong's cannonball blew up several residential terraces!
"What were you thinking, Red Ass?" snapped Wisesa. "Trying to act badass by destroying your leg in front of her, Read Ass?"
"Shut it, Wisesa!" replied Gareng, averting his gaze. "I would’ve been fine. Just because you've got Barong, you think you can strut your stuff now? I've got Brajamusti magic, in case you didn't know!"
Barong's spirit stormed into Gareng's face, his bulging eyes staring with ferocious intent. The faint unease in the ancient red man was plain to see. "I mean, this show-off hasn't even used his magic yet," sneered the beast spirit, who was more ancient than Gareng himself.
Gareng just snorted, a blush appearing on his face. "Whatever you say. You're lucky, Wisesa, the current Barong isn't totally a jerk—"
"Later, pals!" Alicia barked.
As the explosion's fiery remnants subsided, the scorched outlines of the once-terraced house were revealed, now devoid of insect infestation but marred by burnt patches. Gareng looked around for his short brother Bagong. Fortunately, the boy was sheltered by a blooming songsong parasol. It was definitely not an ordinary noble umbrella when in the hands of Hephaistos of Yawadwipa.
The Insect Man came out from his pet sanctuary, which had also been reduced to a heap of ashes. The vibration of his throat grew stronger, disrupting the slumber of more beetles and bees from the Lojitengara jungle. Their ranks melted into a cloud that enveloped the entire compound.
"Destroy my millions of insects and tens of millions more shall rise. Destroy hundreds of millions and billions will gnaw at you. Hnnnnnggggggg if I don't leave without that Arcane Orb hnnnnggggg, then no one gets out of here anyway!" The Mothman brandished his staff high, and his body was once again supported by a throng of beetles. "I challenge you! Exert all that magic power you so glorify!"
Again, the tentacles of the insects were slackened, this time by a rush of yellow smoke from behind. A lady was the culprit, but not Alicia this time. She had black hair tied in a braid, and brown armour secured by a bathik cloth around her waist. The same catapult as Alicia's was in her hand.
However, she did not realise the ventilation holes of the house and the sewer openings behind her concealed lurking insects.
Alicia saw that. She recognised the woman. Her heart hammered. She instinctively channelled Arcane energy into Gareng's body, without his consent.
Gareng felt his being meld with the pulsating blue light, a thrilling sensation that washed over him in waves of euphoria and rejuvenation. "What is this–"
"Save her! Quickly!" Alicia's urgent voice snapped him back to reality.
Gareng grinned. Though he yearned to savour this elating sensation for a bit longer, he was happier to heed Alicia's plea, which relied on him. As he replied, "Will do, Miss!", he defied the gravity once more, then launched himself towards the Mothman, colliding him using his Arcane-sheathed shoulder before soaring through the clouds of insects.
The woman in brown survived. She found Alicia running towards her and greeted her with an embrace.
"Cahyaningrum!" said Alicia as she finished her hug. "Thank goodness you're okay."
Cahyaningrum held both arms of the bespectacled girl. "I thought... I thought couldn't be the same person again... due to yesterday's events."
A pair of ruby eyes remained locked on Cahyaningrum's face as it slowly descended.
"Thanks to Ki Semar and Nyai Kanastren, thanks to the story of you told by them," Cahyaningrum looked up again, "I have decided to study alchemy and gather the Knowledges of shamanism, then I will join the Bhayangkara unit. I put a mandate on myself to protect the villagers, and their children!"
How could such determination not stir Alicia's heart and manifest in a smile? "After this, it's not just Tumaritis village that needs to be protected."
"Oh, yes. You're right." Both girls shared a laugh.
"And I hope you achieve those dreams. I put my faith in it," Alicia added. "And as for the first step: we defeat those two scunnered mages!"
"Yes! I heard there was another mage beside him. That wretched deer-man! That guy really can't be allowed to escape!"
Alicia turned to the giant hole in the shape of a man with forked horns. "She was just cannonballed by Bagong and is lying in that building. We must intercept her while we can—"
The shattered building in question rumbled once more, and a number of cries and groans could be heard. drawing all eyes toward the Deer-Woman who soared through the air and crashed into the courtyard, with two others alongside her.
"Probably not necessary." Bagong corrected them.
The Deer-Woman struggled to crawl, but a lanky man seized her by the neck. Another man, a hunchback, summoned a vivid green spirit, and both ruthlessly smashed the deer's head into the ground repeatedly until it finally cracked. As wise and benevolent as their faces were, both the green spirit and its summoner were equally merciless.
"Before you catch up with them, please accept this!" Alicia closed her eyes and blessed Bagong, Wisesa, and Cahyaningrum with the might of Arcane. Then, they rushed towards those two men.
Meanwhile, the Mothman shrieked as he swooped down with Gareng and crashed in the same courtyard where the Deer-Woman felled. He might be a proficient insect magician, all his pets were full of magic and their venom was painful. However, Arthromania practitioners did not know defence and superhuman strength as Gareng did. Not to mention he was blessed with Arcane. The Mothman lay sprawled on his back. His ribs were crushed on both sides. He barely felt his body. Worse, he might have been suffocating from his own blood.
Meanwhile, the Deer Monster was still struggling with a force stronger than her own. The knees were not enough to press against her nape, so the captor put all his arms and legs into locking the wild deer. With all five fingers still free, the Deer Monster called out to the doors and cooling condensers of each towering building to catch her captors off guard. She spun around with her long, thick claws, successfully nicking a number of the tall man's fingers!
"Petruk!" Bagong and Gareng rushed to his aid.
"Damn! That unhinged deer!" screamed Petruk, cradling his bloodied hand.
The Deer Monster was on the verge of slicing Petruk in half, but Alicia immediately launched an Arcane blast at her.
"Alicia?" The two men turned to see Alicia approaching.
"Ki Semar. Petruk." In a moment of urge, Alicia still managed to gesture a courteous slouch. However, her attention was quickly shifted to Petruk's mangled fingers. She knelt beside him and took his hand. "This might hurt," she cautioned.
"Really?" Petruk replied, his tone belittling. "We befriend with pain!"
Arcane kissed the gory holes in Petruk's fingers, sprouting tissue, muscle, and bone until the fingers regained their shape before being wrapped in a leather tarp.
"See, it doesn't hurt, does it, tole?" Petruk pretended.
Ki Semar patted the lass' shoulder, supporting her to stand. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Thank you very much, Ki Semar." Alicia smiled. "I understand the situation now. We have only one problem to solve. That Deer Witch."
As all eyes were on the already crawling backwards Deer Monster, the six people began to circle around her. Her fur shed and her stature reversed to that of an ordinary woman. The split mask crushed by Semar and Petruk's fists showed that its flesh beneath was still "alive", warm, and throbbing. But it now served nought but succumbing to decay, thus the Deer-Woman abandoned it as she began to rise, dragging her feet.
No more deceptions. Her true form was unveiled once again. Alicia's guess remained sure.
Penelope's eyes wandered towards the Mothman acting a corpse. Gareng was about to give him one last jab before joining the other six.
"Go," Penelope moaned. "Tell the others."
"May we all be gods..." The Mothman's body shuddered and disintegrated into wormlings of olgoi khorkhoi, startling Gareng as one unsuccessfully gnawed at his heel before burrowing into the earth.
Now only Penelope remained. Her eyes were wild, her hair dishevelled like the inmates of an insane asylum. In the eyes of the others, with all the deeds she had committed and her motivations, she was rightfully insane.
"Who are you, Aunt Penelope?" Alicia interrogated while pointing Orb. "Who are they? If you cooperate, they will carefully consider not taking your life. Please, Auntie. For your safety, I dinnae want any more of my family to die either."
"My safety?" Penelope spat blood onto the ground. "You are the only curse standing between my safety and that of everyone else! Maybe Ulysses was right. I'm as soft as Alasdair. I should have killed you when I had the chance. Being a Bastard is not enough for you, is it, Alicia?"
Penelope flashed Bathara Kala's ushabti across the sky.
"Auntie, no!"
"I don't fear death. I will rise again as greatness!"
She crushed the small Moon Eater statue, and tendrils of mauve energy surged up her arm. A burst of smoke and thunder accompanied the ushabti.
A whirlwind engulfed them all!
"Stop it, Auntie!"
"May... we all... be gods!"
The entire city of Alas Purwo had to welcome the blinding light of absolute divinity that erupted like a new sun. The shattering caused an earthquake that pulverised the foundations of buildings and howling winds that spared nothing in their path. Divinely instituted catastrophe. A curse that strained the heart until the burst.
As the radiant lightning vanished, the city lay in ruins. Most of its structures were roofless, split in half or more. The darkness of the night was further accentuated by the presence of a monstrously flat, grinning face that eclipsed even the moon itself.
And that face was right above them, as high as the ceiling of a house.
There was always a first time Alicia witnessed an unforgettable sight, one that made her gut churn and her legs buckle beneath her. This was one of them.
The dome of the Divine Grace that protected the seven flickered and disappeared. Her bum hit the ground, rooted there ever since.
Wisesa, too, was struck by a terror he had never experienced before. Those eyes... those eyes glided through the heavens, watching them like a god would. The lad's mind reeled with fantastical visions: perhaps this was what the gods looked like. Beyond comprehension, inviting awe, either leading to euphoria or fear like death. For once he stopped belittling the gods with his foul mouth. All he could do was scream, "Fuck me!" []
"Hey, hey, hey...!" Wisesa stuttered; he might have forgotten or even never got used to having someone's arms wrapped tightly around his waist with such longing. "Let go! Get your hands off my body! Are you not ashamed to be caught in such an intimate embrace by two animals, idiot?"
Instead of obeying, her intention to squash Wisesa grew even more passionate. "S-sorry...," whispered the girl with glasses. "It just feels... like a long time ago."
"A long time ago...?" Wisesa's eyes then glanced at the Mothman rising with his insect wave, his body propped up, in unison with his wrath. The Bipedal Deer came up behind the mage, the hot vapour from its nose suffocating the noses of the others. The young lad understood. "You got it too, huh?"
Alicia still had her eyes clenched tightly, her breath sharp in her ears. She nodded.
Wisesa was pensive for a while, his eyes glaring towards the two black mages. The empathy emerged, and this time, he had no intention of hiding it, despite the scowl still plastered on his face. Sometimes Orb was not the only companion to soothe the sorrows of the heart. "Tell you what, Westerner." Wisesa smacked the girl's shoulder once. "If I praise you for your courage and endurance, will you please detach from my body?"
The physical interaction with Wisesa never felt comfortable. Indeed, it was almost like being beaten, but somehow Alicia managed a smile. She complied, the two intertwined arms separating. Her face looked up, waiting for the compliment.
Wisesa let out a resigned sigh. "We're fucked up kids, aren't we?" he said. "Tortured by the world and reality, yet we're the ones who have to clean up the mess."
The girl's lips parted with a stifled chuckle. "Is that your compliment? I've heard it before!"
"I've been kind. Don't push your luck.”
Alicia mimicked Wisesa's gesture, once again turning to face the two powerful mages of Khaos. "Those words," Alicia's lips twitched. "Does that mean you've decided to come with me travelling around the world of thaumaturgy?"
Wisesa laughed scornfully. "Don't even think about it."
"Too bad," Barong took to the air, interrupting the brief pre-battle conversation, its long fingers tickling the skin, creeping up to grasp Wisesa's shoulders. "But..., not really. On the bright side, I sense that you're starting to warm up to me. You don't want to let go, do you?"
"I am a man of firm convictions, Barong. I'm only doing this to shut you up. I won't be joining this Western Woman on her obscure journey, nor will I rely on your strength to the fullest. Make no mistake about that."
As the buzzing of the worker insects grew louder, the Mothman flew up and carried the magic seal box containing Orb. "I'm confused by you people hnnngggg. Especially you, Young Man!" his voice also buzzed, as if thousands of insects were his mouth. "You approached your girlfriend just so you could die together? What do you possess to stand against us?"
"Can't your round eyes see this annoying yellow spirit on top of my head?" pointed out Wisesa. Barong raised two hands, acting fierce.
"You're... so... sure... hnnnggggg... that your pet's power can match up to both of us?"
"Are you kidding me, insect? Don't know who I am?" Barong quipped. "Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition says defeating you is no more difficult than facing Calon Arang!" Barong's mouth then twitched slightly, whispering to Wisesa, "If you increase the use of my power just a little bit more, we can bully this arrogant magician with his own insects!"
Wisesa hissed in response, brushing away the orange spirit with a flick of his hand.
"Oh, maybe your intuition is right." The Deer Monster turned her back on her companion before she bleated like a real deer. "But saving the whole of Pulomas, even the world without Arcane?" The beast shook its hand that held a clay figure.
Seeing that, Wisesa was confused. He rummaged through every pocket he had on his clothes. "Fuck! Since when did you steal Bathara Kala's ushabti?"
The horned monster just laughed and snarled.
Both Wisesa and Barong gritted their teeth, blasting out waves of golden power that shocked the dust and crumbs of the building. Alicia took out another bamboo bar filled with riot foam with pursed lips. Her gaze was a manifestation of a bit of a disturbed mind. There was no way they could let the two beast-masked mages escape with the Divine Grace, let alone resurrect the Moon Eater as a parting gift.
While watching Barong's spirit, Alicia's mind sparked another curiosity. "Question! Can Barong share its power with me?"
Wisesa and Barong both turned to look at her. "Absolutely not," Barong replied. "You can back off now. It's our turn to show off our skills!"
Frowning, Alicia puffed up her cheeks. "Stingy spirit. But I won't back down, though. My alchemy tools are working alright."
The swarm of poisonous insects blocked all views of the building complex and the exits. The two parties had not yet taken off when a new light suddenly pierced through the wall and scattered insects. Again, the other daredevil charged into the cloud of black insects, quickly snatching the magic seal box from the flabbergasted Mothman.
"Looking for this?" The ruddy man landed beautifully, raising the magic seal box.
"Gareng!" Alicia exclaimed, her spirits lifting.
"Better hurry up and take it," Gareng advised, "The magi are going nuts."
Alicia heeded his words, immediately spun the box and sent Arcane synchronisation throughout her body. "We meet again, Orb!"
I saw what happened, Orb hummed. It's a good thing you're alright, Alicia!
"All thanks to Mama," Alicia replied.
Not just your mother. You have resilience and a deep knowledge of magic. As my wielder, I sincerely hope that you continue to utilize both in the future.
Orb, optimistic as ever, always had a way to flatter the bookworm and spread genuine laughter. Even in the face of danger like a pair of angry black mages right before Alicia. With a touch, she tied the Arcane threads around her fingers. Her stance was both firm and graceful. On the other hand, Bagong's yellow aura on Wisesa was fierce and primal. Gareng's body was burnt by some kind of supernatural sun, smoke rising from his increasingly smouldering skin. To the two absurd animal-headed mages, their pose was ludicrous. The Mothman's rage boiled over, trying to conceal the shame of relinquishing that momentary grasp of victory.
"Great powers you possess, hnnngggg, but in the end, you are merely lucky little wretches!" The waves of insects emanated a dense mauve aura, soaring and destroying whatever they touched. Alicia created a wide, star-studded blue field that engulfed the repulsive waves, then launched the field forward. The Deer Monster leapt over rooftops and balconies, its sharp claws lunging at Alicia from above.
How the Divine cursed the Deer Monster. A sudden, round projectile shattered the fur-and-flesh-clad mage's ribs and sent her flying into another room. Fortunately, the residents had already run away when Alicia was blown into their place. But still, what kind of bullet would have almost as much power as an Arcane projectile to knock a giant deer off its feet?
It turned out that a cannon was to blame.
The cetbang cannon was indeed smaller than a normal cannon. However, its projectiles split the air into nothingness, and its destructive power was terrifying. And if it was assembled by a burly midget, the self-proclaimed Hephaistos of Yawadwipa, carrying it around like a giant toy, it became even more dangerous.
Alicia looked at the man, and her morale skyrocketed. "Bagong! You come too!"
But Bagong squinted at the girl's divided gaze. "Alicia! Your glasses!"
Alicia pointed to the Mothman like a whiny child. "He did it!"
The Mothman turned his head towards the individual in question. Bagong had already raised his eyebrows, his cetbang poised, and its barrel aglow. However, the insect mage was not idle; thousands of insects, woven into tentacle-like formations, were already squirming before him.
Bagong pulled the trigger of the cannon. His enraged shout matched the explosion's report. "How dare you destroy my craft, Brood Insect!"
Successive cannon blasts resounded. All of the Mothman's cherished insects in the vicinity fell, the black ones blackening further, and their hollow forms crumbling into ashes upon contact with the ground. Yet, the Mothman obscured the area with new insect swarms in mere seconds, and some of them coalesced into a serpent that slithered in accordance with the Mothman's gestures, spiralling around the location of the incoming shots. It infiltrated the cannon's barrel, obscuring its brilliance, and causing the weapon to burn its wielder's fingers. Bagong hurled the cannon away, only for the Mothman to hurl it right back at them.
Gareng was about to lunge at the reddened cannon, but Alicia promptly ensnared him with Arcane threads. "Don't!" she cried. The man was pulled away, and Alicia summoned an Arcane power field. Bagong's cannonball blew up several residential terraces!
"What were you thinking, Red Ass?" snapped Wisesa. "Trying to act badass by destroying your leg in front of her, Read Ass?"
"Shut it, Wisesa!" replied Gareng, averting his gaze. "I would’ve been fine. Just because you've got Barong, you think you can strut your stuff now? I've got Brajamusti magic, in case you didn't know!"
Barong's spirit stormed into Gareng's face, his bulging eyes staring with ferocious intent. The faint unease in the ancient red man was plain to see. "I mean, this show-off hasn't even used his magic yet," sneered the beast spirit, who was more ancient than Gareng himself.
Gareng just snorted, a blush appearing on his face. "Whatever you say. You're lucky, Wisesa, the current Barong isn't totally a jerk—"
"Later, pals!" Alicia barked.
As the explosion's fiery remnants subsided, the scorched outlines of the once-terraced house were revealed, now devoid of insect infestation but marred by burnt patches. Gareng looked around for his short brother Bagong. Fortunately, the boy was sheltered by a blooming songsong parasol. It was definitely not an ordinary noble umbrella when in the hands of Hephaistos of Yawadwipa.
The Insect Man came out from his pet sanctuary, which had also been reduced to a heap of ashes. The vibration of his throat grew stronger, disrupting the slumber of more beetles and bees from the Lojitengara jungle. Their ranks melted into a cloud that enveloped the entire compound.
"Destroy my millions of insects and tens of millions more shall rise. Destroy hundreds of millions and billions will gnaw at you. Hnnnnnggggggg if I don't leave without that Arcane Orb hnnnnggggg, then no one gets out of here anyway!" The Mothman brandished his staff high, and his body was once again supported by a throng of beetles. "I challenge you! Exert all that magic power you so glorify!"
Again, the tentacles of the insects were slackened, this time by a rush of yellow smoke from behind. A lady was the culprit, but not Alicia this time. She had black hair tied in a braid, and brown armour secured by a bathik cloth around her waist. The same catapult as Alicia's was in her hand.
However, she did not realise the ventilation holes of the house and the sewer openings behind her concealed lurking insects.
Alicia saw that. She recognised the woman. Her heart hammered. She instinctively channelled Arcane energy into Gareng's body, without his consent.
Gareng felt his being meld with the pulsating blue light, a thrilling sensation that washed over him in waves of euphoria and rejuvenation. "What is this–"
"Save her! Quickly!" Alicia's urgent voice snapped him back to reality.
Gareng grinned. Though he yearned to savour this elating sensation for a bit longer, he was happier to heed Alicia's plea, which relied on him. As he replied, "Will do, Miss!", he defied the gravity once more, then launched himself towards the Mothman, colliding him using his Arcane-sheathed shoulder before soaring through the clouds of insects.
The woman in brown survived. She found Alicia running towards her and greeted her with an embrace.
"Cahyaningrum!" said Alicia as she finished her hug. "Thank goodness you're okay."
Cahyaningrum held both arms of the bespectacled girl. "I thought... I thought couldn't be the same person again... due to yesterday's events."
A pair of ruby eyes remained locked on Cahyaningrum's face as it slowly descended.
"Thanks to Ki Semar and Nyai Kanastren, thanks to the story of you told by them," Cahyaningrum looked up again, "I have decided to study alchemy and gather the Knowledges of shamanism, then I will join the Bhayangkara unit. I put a mandate on myself to protect the villagers, and their children!"
How could such determination not stir Alicia's heart and manifest in a smile? "After this, it's not just Tumaritis village that needs to be protected."
"Oh, yes. You're right." Both girls shared a laugh.
"And I hope you achieve those dreams. I put my faith in it," Alicia added. "And as for the first step: we defeat those two scunnered mages!"
"Yes! I heard there was another mage beside him. That wretched deer-man! That guy really can't be allowed to escape!"
Alicia turned to the giant hole in the shape of a man with forked horns. "She was just cannonballed by Bagong and is lying in that building. We must intercept her while we can—"
The shattered building in question rumbled once more, and a number of cries and groans could be heard. drawing all eyes toward the Deer-Woman who soared through the air and crashed into the courtyard, with two others alongside her.
"Probably not necessary." Bagong corrected them.
The Deer-Woman struggled to crawl, but a lanky man seized her by the neck. Another man, a hunchback, summoned a vivid green spirit, and both ruthlessly smashed the deer's head into the ground repeatedly until it finally cracked. As wise and benevolent as their faces were, both the green spirit and its summoner were equally merciless.
"Before you catch up with them, please accept this!" Alicia closed her eyes and blessed Bagong, Wisesa, and Cahyaningrum with the might of Arcane. Then, they rushed towards those two men.
Meanwhile, the Mothman shrieked as he swooped down with Gareng and crashed in the same courtyard where the Deer-Woman felled. He might be a proficient insect magician, all his pets were full of magic and their venom was painful. However, Arthromania practitioners did not know defence and superhuman strength as Gareng did. Not to mention he was blessed with Arcane. The Mothman lay sprawled on his back. His ribs were crushed on both sides. He barely felt his body. Worse, he might have been suffocating from his own blood.
Meanwhile, the Deer Monster was still struggling with a force stronger than her own. The knees were not enough to press against her nape, so the captor put all his arms and legs into locking the wild deer. With all five fingers still free, the Deer Monster called out to the doors and cooling condensers of each towering building to catch her captors off guard. She spun around with her long, thick claws, successfully nicking a number of the tall man's fingers!
"Petruk!" Bagong and Gareng rushed to his aid.
"Damn! That unhinged deer!" screamed Petruk, cradling his bloodied hand.
The Deer Monster was on the verge of slicing Petruk in half, but Alicia immediately launched an Arcane blast at her.
"Alicia?" The two men turned to see Alicia approaching.
"Ki Semar. Petruk." In a moment of urge, Alicia still managed to gesture a courteous slouch. However, her attention was quickly shifted to Petruk's mangled fingers. She knelt beside him and took his hand. "This might hurt," she cautioned.
"Really?" Petruk replied, his tone belittling. "We befriend with pain!"
Arcane kissed the gory holes in Petruk's fingers, sprouting tissue, muscle, and bone until the fingers regained their shape before being wrapped in a leather tarp.
"See, it doesn't hurt, does it, tole?" Petruk pretended.
Ki Semar patted the lass' shoulder, supporting her to stand. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Thank you very much, Ki Semar." Alicia smiled. "I understand the situation now. We have only one problem to solve. That Deer Witch."
As all eyes were on the already crawling backwards Deer Monster, the six people began to circle around her. Her fur shed and her stature reversed to that of an ordinary woman. The split mask crushed by Semar and Petruk's fists showed that its flesh beneath was still "alive", warm, and throbbing. But it now served nought but succumbing to decay, thus the Deer-Woman abandoned it as she began to rise, dragging her feet.
No more deceptions. Her true form was unveiled once again. Alicia's guess remained sure.
Penelope's eyes wandered towards the Mothman acting a corpse. Gareng was about to give him one last jab before joining the other six.
"Go," Penelope moaned. "Tell the others."
"May we all be gods..." The Mothman's body shuddered and disintegrated into wormlings of olgoi khorkhoi, startling Gareng as one unsuccessfully gnawed at his heel before burrowing into the earth.
Now only Penelope remained. Her eyes were wild, her hair dishevelled like the inmates of an insane asylum. In the eyes of the others, with all the deeds she had committed and her motivations, she was rightfully insane.
"Who are you, Aunt Penelope?" Alicia interrogated while pointing Orb. "Who are they? If you cooperate, they will carefully consider not taking your life. Please, Auntie. For your safety, I dinnae want any more of my family to die either."
"My safety?" Penelope spat blood onto the ground. "You are the only curse standing between my safety and that of everyone else! Maybe Ulysses was right. I'm as soft as Alasdair. I should have killed you when I had the chance. Being a Bastard is not enough for you, is it, Alicia?"
Penelope flashed Bathara Kala's ushabti across the sky.
"Auntie, no!"
"I don't fear death. I will rise again as greatness!"
She crushed the small Moon Eater statue, and tendrils of mauve energy surged up her arm. A burst of smoke and thunder accompanied the ushabti.
A whirlwind engulfed them all!
"Stop it, Auntie!"
"May... we all... be gods!"
The entire city of Alas Purwo had to welcome the blinding light of absolute divinity that erupted like a new sun. The shattering caused an earthquake that pulverised the foundations of buildings and howling winds that spared nothing in their path. Divinely instituted catastrophe. A curse that strained the heart until the burst.
As the radiant lightning vanished, the city lay in ruins. Most of its structures were roofless, split in half or more. The darkness of the night was further accentuated by the presence of a monstrously flat, grinning face that eclipsed even the moon itself.
And that face was right above them, as high as the ceiling of a house.
There was always a first time Alicia witnessed an unforgettable sight, one that made her gut churn and her legs buckle beneath her. This was one of them.
The dome of the Divine Grace that protected the seven flickered and disappeared. Her bum hit the ground, rooted there ever since.
Wisesa, too, was struck by a terror he had never experienced before. Those eyes... those eyes glided through the heavens, watching them like a god would. The lad's mind reeled with fantastical visions: perhaps this was what the gods looked like. Beyond comprehension, inviting awe, either leading to euphoria or fear like death. For once he stopped belittling the gods with his foul mouth. All he could do was scream, "Fuck me!" []
