Anton's voice in Comlink was completely broken. Only the loud static hissing sound left. Bimo tried to shout into his mic, but there was no response. The black energy dome above Sukuh Temple not only blocks sensors, but also cuts all forms of spiritual and electronic communication.
"Communication totally dead," reported Danu, knocking on the device in his ears in vain.
"We are alone," Riani added, rose to stand up and wipe the blood from her broken lips.
The figure of the black robe, the gatekeeper, still standing in front of the altar, with a black crystal that is now throbbing stable behind him.
"Welcome to the new phase," he said, his voice triumphantly. "Now, let's start hunting."
He lifted his stick, and a group of shadow creatures was bigger and more fierce than those previously emerged from the shadows around the temple. They issued a low growl and surrounded the Bimo group.
"Bimo, what's the plan?" Danu asked, preparing for the flow of water sparkling in his hand.
"We must destroy the crystal," Bimo answered, his eyes could not be separated from the gate guard. "That is a source of shield. Without it, the dome will collapse."
"But he takes care of him," Riani said. "And there are too many creatures."
Bimo looked around. They are trapped in the courtyard of the temple, surrounded by enemies. Fighting directly is suicide.
"We retreat. Entering the temple structure. It will narrow their space, forcing them to attack us in a smaller group."
Without waiting for further orders, the remaining guards formed a defense formation and began to move backwards towards a narrow hallway that led to the inside of the temple. Danu created a temporary water wall to hold the creatures, while Bimo released a burst of fire to give them time.
They managed to enter the dark hallway. The creatures followed, but as expected, they were forced to enter a few after some because the hallway was narrow. The guards easily overcome them.
The gate guard did not follow. He just laughed from a distance.
"Just run! There's no point! The whole complex is my bunch!"
After a few minutes of running, they found a small room that seemed to be used for storage. They entered the room and pushed a large stone rack to block the entrance.
"We are safe for a while," Danu said, panting.
Bimo immediately took over. "Check injury. Calculate ammunition. We need a quick assessment."
They lost three guards in the short battle earlier. Now only Bimo, Riani, Danu, and four other guards are left: a young man named Galih who can control the voice, a woman named Tari who can communicate with insects, and two siblings, Joko and Joni, whose strengths are complementary in making small energy shields.
"My strength is almost gone," Danu said. "Purifying water on a large scale is very draining."
"Me too," added Riani. "Feel the energy in this dome ... like trying to see through asphalt. Very dense and dark."
Bimo nodded. "We need a new strategy. We cannot attack directly. We must decide on the supply of crystal energy."
"What do you mean?" Tari asked.
"Every structure like this must have an energy source," Bimo explained. "The crystal does not appear just like that. It must be flowed by something. Energy channels, or may be surrounded by supporting rituals. If we can find and decide, we can weaken the shield for a long time to destroy crystals or at least send signals out."
"How do we find it?" asked Galih. "We don't have equipment."
"We have Riani," Bimo answered. "And we have all of you. Riani, can you try to feel the flow of energy in this temple complex? Looking for a 'river' that flows towards crystals?"
Riani closed her eyes, concentrated. His face furrowed in pain. "Very ... difficult. Everything is dark. But ... there is something. Like ... the flow of black electricity. It comes from below us. There is a tunnel under this room."
Joko and Joni immediately put their hands to the stone floor.
"He's right," Joko said. "There is an empty space below. And there is an energy vibration."
"We have to find a way down," Bimo said.
They left the storage space and carefully explored the dark temples. They ran into the patrol of shadows several times, but managed to avoid open battles.
After almost an hour of exploring, dance, which listens to a cockroach and spider whisper on the wall, stops in front of a wall that seems innocent.
"Here," he whispered. "They say there is wind from behind this stone. There is a secret path."
Joko and Joni put their hands on the wall. They concentrated, and with a slow shocking sound, the stones shifted, opening a narrow hallway that declined into the darkness.
"Here it is," Bimo said. "Galih, you are first. Use your voice as sonar. Tell us if there is something in front."
Galih nodded. He led the way, occasionally issuing a high frequency whistling that could only be heard by him, listening to echoes to map the hallway in front.
The hallway is narrow and dusty, clearly not used for years. They walked for ten minutes before arriving at a large basement.
The view in the room made them stunned.
The room was filled with dozens of people who were hugged on the wall. Black energy ropes wrapped their bodies, connected to larger energy pipes on the ceiling, all of which flowed in one direction to the top, towards the crystal. Their faces are pale and lethargic, their eyes are empty. Their life energy is slowly sucked up.
"This is ... this is the source of energy," hissed Danu disgusted and horror. "They use humans as batteries!"
"We have to free them!" exclaimed Riani.
Suddenly, the sound clapped slowly echoing in the room.
"Good. Very good. You really find the heart of everything."
The gate guard walked out of the shadow in the corner of the room. He is not in a hurry.
"But now, the game ends."
He raised his stick. The black energy ropes that wrapped the victims lit bright, and the victims screamed in pain when their energy was sucked faster.
"NO!" Bimo shouted. He jumped forward, the fire burned in his hand.
But the gate guard just laughed. He did not attack Bimo. Instead, he directed his stick to the victims.
"Attack me, and I will kill them all in an instant. Choose, the god of fire. Kill me and kill dozens of innocent people. Or surrender."
Bimo stopped in his place, locked by a terrible choice. The fire in his hand was extinguished.
"Don't care about us!" shouted one of the victims, a young woman whose face had begun to be wrinkled by the energy suction. "Destroy him! Destroy everything!"
"Shut up!" The gate guardian hard, and the woman screamed louder.
Riani looked around in panic. His eyes stopped at the energy pipes on the ceiling. He whispered something to Danu. Danu nodded, understood.
"Bimo," Danu whispered. "For him to be busy. Trust us."
Bimo understands. He stepped closer to the gate guard.
"You think you won?" Bimo said, trying to attract his attention. "You're just a servant. A card that your employer can throw."
"I'm more than just a servant!" The gate guard snapped, provoked. "I am part of a big plan!"
Meanwhile, Danu and Riani moved. Danu gathered the rest of his strength, not to attack the guard, but to manipulate moisture in the air around the energy pipes. Riani focused her psychic senses, not to read the mind, but to find the right energy frequency of the pipes.
"Now, Danu!" Riani shouted.
Danu raised his hand. Condensated water from the air suddenly froze into a very sharp and dense ice, forming a giant ice pillar that stuck hard into the main intersection of all energy pipes on the ceiling.
At the same time, Galih issued a very high frequency scream directed right into the ice pillar. Joko and Joni combine the power of their shields, focusing it not to protect, but to hit the ice pillars like Palu Godam.
Krak! Krak!
The energy pipes are cracked. The black energy that flows inside is gushed out like blood, splashing everywhere. The connection between the pipe and the victims broke up. Black energy ropes disappear.
The victims on the wall screamed, but this time the screams of relief, before they all collapsed, were unconscious, but free from the connection.
The gate guard was surprised. "No! What are you doing?!"
That is the opportunity that Bimo needs. When the gate guard off guard, Bimo mobilized all his strength. He didn't throw the fire. He ran, and his own body became a burning projectile. He bumped into the gate guard with full force, burning it with pure white god fire.
The gatekeeper screamed, bounced back. The mask burned, showing the face of an ordinary man who is now filled with pain and fear. The stick is broken.
"This is for them!" shout Bimo, and threw the last fireball at the body of the gate guard. His screams were cut off when his body burned ash in an instant.
With the destruction of the gatekeeper and the breakdown of energy supply, loud roar was heard from above.
"The Christ is!" Riani shouted. "The energy is unstable!"
"Get out! Immediately!" Bimo's command.
They also ran, leaving the basement. Some guards are still strong carrying unconscious victims. They followed the secret hallway and came out into the temple court on time to witness the black crystal in the altar cracked, trembled wildly, and eventually exploded with a terrible dark energy explosion.
The explosion threw everyone to the ground. When Bimo looked up, the black energy dome on the temple blinking and finally broke into pieces, disappearing into the sky.
The shield on the Sukuh Temple has collapsed.
With a collapsed shield, the comms in Bimo's ears suddenly came back to life. Anton's panic's voice immediately filled his ears.
"Bimo! Bimooo! Do you hear? We report! Shield on the Sukuh Temple collapsed! What happened? Are you safe?!"
Bimo panting, rose up. "Anton ... we are here. We survived. The gatekeeper was dead. The temple shield was destroyed."
"I'm grateful!" Anton's voice sounded almost crying. "The mountain team and the forest team are still trapped! Shields on Mount Ceremai and Sancang Forests are still standing! Communication with them is still cut off!"
Bimo looked at the ruins around him. Their victory is just a small victory.
"What is the status in Jakarta?" he asked.
"Calm down. There is no new attack. Looks like they focus on defense at those three points."
"Okay. Get ready. We will evacuate the victim here. Then ..." Bimo took a deep breath. "We have to find ways to undermine two other shields. We must save the mountain team and the forest team."
The battle for one card has been won at an expensive price. There are still two other active cards. And Bimo knows, the planner must have prepared something worse to welcome them.