Satya moved through a series of silent leaps—Shadow Steps—between ancient shadows.
Suddenly, he heard the voices of his Physics teacher, Bu Rina, and his disappointed father.
It was a Shadow Deception cast by Buto Ijo, preying on his sense of isolation.
Satya flinched, his Shadow Step faltered.
He clutched his head. Then he remembered Mbah Jono's instructions—to summon the cold focus of his academic discipline.
I am the Shadow. I am unseen. I do not care.
SHHHHK!
His Night Cloak hardened, silencing the voices instantly.
He continued moving and encountered a Hunter Tuyul, which only saw a ripple in the air—unable to detect him.
Satya escaped with a series of swift Shadow Steps, undetected.
Then he saw it: a massive footprint, five meters wide, with three distinct toes.
The Footprint of Kebo Edan.
He found faint carvings on a rock wall, sliced through by the monster's path—a Lotus Flower with Three Petals.
Satya analyzed: the Lotus represented Mutiara, and the Three Petals pointed to the Confluence of the Three Ancient Rivers in the southeast—a weak spiritual boundary.
He decided that the Confluence must be Mutiara's destination.
But as he turned, he saw a massive, swift shadow approaching from the opposite direction.
Kebo Edan had caught Mutiara's trail—and was closing in.
Satya tightened his Night Cloak.
ZZAP!
He vanished into the darkness.
He entered a natural tunnel where the Spiritual Darkness was so thick that shadows consumed everything.
He stopped abruptly.
The shadow ahead—his target—was unstable.
He realized a new weakness: Archdemons and their generals could corrupt pure Shadows with their spiritual power.
Outside the tunnel, he heard the thunderous stomps of Kebo Edan, barely two hundred meters away.
At the tunnel's end, he saw a Spiritual Wall, glowing faintly white—a fragile barrier of protection.
Kebo Edan had reached the Wall.
Satya knew he had to make one final Shadow Step through the distorted energy.
He didn't aim for the shadow before Kebo Edan—but for the shadow beneath the creature's own feet.
He would use his enemy as a gateway.
Focus. Discipline. Home.
ZZZAP!
Satya's shadow leaped—piercing the distorted shade and the Archdemon's toxic aura.
A horrific sensation tore through him as his body passed through the Dark General's shadow—burned by a freezing pain, as if every particle of his essence was reacting to Kebo Edan's poisonous green aura.
WHOOSH!
He was hurled out of the darkness, tumbling onto damp earth scented with river moss.
His Night Cloak flickered out. His body ached; he could barely breathe.
But he had made it—he was beyond the Spiritual Wall.
The Wall wasn't made of stone, but of a thin blue light, three meters tall, arcing between two ancient trees and merging with the water from the three converging rivers.
Before the luminous barrier, crouched beneath its frail protection, a young girl hurriedly packed a small burlap sack that clinked softly.
The girl, Mutiara, turned around.
She was about seventeen—Satya's age—but far tougher.
Her hair was tied simply, her clothes made from dyed bark, brown and green for camouflage.
Her face was both beautiful and stern; her dark brown eyes burned with determination, not fear.
Mutiara leapt to her feet, drawing a small silver dagger from her waist—a blade meant to banish evil spirits.
"Who are you?!" she demanded, her voice low and edged with suspicion.
"How did you jump through Shadows? And what dark power is that in your hands?"
She looked at Satya—his torn school uniform, the faint purple aura flickering around his palms.
She saw the darkness—the kind of energy that fed Buto Ijo.
"I... I'm Satya. Mbah Jono sent me," Satya managed, clutching his aching chest as he tried to stand.
"Mbah Jono? Impossible," Mutiara shook her head.
"He would never send someone cloaked in darkness! That's a trick of Buto Ijo—the demon shapeshifter! Your Shadow... belongs to the enemy!"
She took a battle stance, her silver dagger aimed at Satya's heart.
She was a Seed of the Hero, destined for purity—and to her, a youth wielding darkness was an insult to fate.
"I'm not a demon! I was thrown from another world. Mbah Jono told me to protect you—and the Four Sacred Seeds!"
Satya tried to explain, but his energy was fading. He couldn't summon the Night Cloak again to prove his calm rather than evil intent.
Suddenly, the Spiritual Wall behind them trembled violently.
BOOM!
A colossal hand—skin like cracked earth covered in moss—slammed into the barrier.
The wall bent, cracks spreading from the impact point.
"Mutiara! You won't escape!" roared the Dark General, Kebo Edan, his voice shaking the air.
The creature emerged fully from behind the failing barrier—a monstrous hybrid of man and buffalo, towering with rippling muscles and massive curved horns.
He wore rusted plates of armor, and his eyes burned with lethal green fire.
"Hand over the Sacred Seed! Archdemon Buto Ijo awaits you!"
Kebo Edan's grin split wide, revealing jagged fangs.
Mutiara dropped her dagger, glancing at Satya with conflict burning in her eyes.
Satya might be tainted, but Kebo Edan was pure evil.
And Satya was weak, gasping—not a trickster, but a survivor.
She grabbed her sack, inhaled sharply.
"I don't have time to argue, Shadow boy! If Mbah Jono truly sent you—prove it!
Buy me some time!"
Kebo Edan raised his fist again to crush the barrier.
Mutiara knew she couldn't win. Her mission was to flee—and protect the Sacred Seeds.
"Take this!"
She tossed a small pouch made of dried leaves to Satya. Inside, several glimmering seeds rolled—Cucumber Seeds, the first of the Sacred Seeds.
"Use them if you can't escape! Now run—there!"
She pointed to the strongest river current, then dashed in the opposite direction—to divide Kebo Edan's attention.
Now holding one of the most precious relics in Buto Ijo's Domain, Satya was forced to face the Dark General alone.
He looked down at the seeds in his palm, then up at Kebo Edan—whose blazing eyes were now locked on him.
The Archdemon charged, shattering the Spiritual Wall completely.
The light curtain exploded as Kebo Edan leapt into the Confluence of the Three Rivers, aiming straight for Satya.
"Little Shadow! The Archdemon will feast on you after the girl!" Kebo Edan bellowed with cruel laughter.
Satya knew he should run—but something deep inside him, a hidden knightly instinct buried beneath years of textbooks, ignited.
He couldn't run now.
He closed his eyes, calling upon the last remnants of his Shadow—turning cold discipline into desperate resolve.
I am the Shadow. I will not fail.