The Saptapala sirens wailed in the distance, piercing the silence of Mount Semeru like a blade scraping against glass. I released Adistya's throat—leaving her gasping and coughing on the damp earth—just seconds before the tactical team's searchlights swept through the treeline. My breath came in ragged bursts, hot vapor escaping my lungs with every gasp of the freezing mountain air.
My right hand throbbed violently, its rhythm syncing with my frantic heartbeat. Beneath the charred and blackened bandages, the Surya Majapahit sigil glowed a visceral reddish-orange, sending waves of heat searing into my bone marrow. This was no longer just a tattoo or an experimental subject's ID; it felt like a second heart being forced to beat outside my chest. The heat was so real, as if my very blood had begun to boil beneath my skin.
I ran blindly through the towering Pinus Mercusii trees, which stood like rigid, menacing giants. The Semeru mist descended, thick and bone-chilling, swallowing the moonlight until I was forced to rely on a sudden, predatory instinct. On my wrist, the Saptapala vital sensor vibrated incessantly, emitting a painful static hiss—a sign that the device had failed to lock onto my coordinates amidst this energy anomaly.
Snap!
I stopped dead. Atop a fallen branch draped in hanging moss that looked like a corpse's hair, a shadow moved. A Javan Leopard. Its black-and-gold coat shimmered with dew, muscles tensed with a lethal elegance. Its silver eyes locked onto mine, not with a predator's hunger, but with a cold, primordial judgment.
It let out a low growl—a frequency that vibrated deep within my ribcage—before vanishing into the mist without a sound, as if it were nothing more than condensed smoke.
"Don't stop, Satria... This forest knows your blood better than the steel in your hands," Dirga's voice whispered. It no longer sounded like a hallucination; it was a heavy, gravelly echo, as if he were speaking from beneath deep water.
I kept climbing, pushing through vegetation that grew wilder and denser. Ancient trees with massive roots protruding from the earth looked like skeletal hands trying to drag me into the soil. My breath grew shallow as oxygen turned thin, replaced by the faint scent of sulfur and the distinct aroma of burning wood.
In a rocky crevice sheltered by a banyan root said to be centuries old, I found the "answer" to my flight.
An old man sat cross-legged before a small fire that danced in the mountain wind. He wore a faded beskap and a kawung-patterned udeng weathered by time. They called him Mbah Gembong. His wrinkled hands, rough as tree bark, calmly turned cassava over the embers, as if the military helicopters circling above were nothing more than annoying flies.
"Sit, Cah Bagus," he said without looking up. His voice was faint, yet possessed an authority that instantly locked my feet in place. "You come carrying the weight of seven entwined souls, yet you still wear those iron 'shackles' on your wrists. Futile."
He let out a small chuckle—a sound like river stones grinding together. From behind his tattered cloth, he pulled out an object that made my heart race. A Copper Mirror. The metal was dull with age, etched with intricate ancient vines, with a large crack splitting the center of its surface.
"Look into this. Stop seeing the world through Saptapala's eyes, which only know numbers and data," he commanded.
I approached hesitantly, driven by agonizing curiosity and deep-seated fear. As soon as my eyes met the dull surface of the mirror, my world flipped. Time and space faded, replaced by a vision both horrific and magnificent.
The reflection of my face shattered, distorted by the crack in the metal. Behind it, I saw another dimension. At the base of the Semeru crater, glowing with purple lava, stood a powerful man—my brother, Dirga. His massive body, covered in tiger sigils, was bound by glowing red energy chains. He groaned, each heavy breath making the earth beneath my feet tremble. He wasn't dead; he was holding back something far greater than himself.
"That is your brother, the Main Pillar of this island," Mbah Gembong said, now standing tall, his figure appearing more imposing under the firelight. "Your Father didn't kill him out of hatred. He sealed Dirga there to be a stake, holding back the sin of Avarice that your organization seeks to harvest for military power. But look... the chains are cracking because the lust of those men in black has become uncontrollable."
A Saptapala helicopter suddenly roared directly above the mist of our crevice. Their searchlights combed the area aggressively, but strangely, the light seemed to bend, unable to penetrate the supernatural veil of the rocky hollow.
"You are the Vessel, Satria. The only key left," Mbah Gembong continued, his ancient eyes piercing through my deepest memories. "You have only two choices: remain a compliant weapon until your soul shatters into pieces, or perform the Manunggal at the peak of Mahameru to free your brother and reclaim your destiny."
The earth shook again, harder this time, dislodging stones from the ceiling. Near my feet, a cluster of white Edelweiss—the "eternal flower"—suddenly turned black and withered, scorched by the aura of Wiyangga corruption leaking from the summit pillars.
I clenched my right fist. The heat of the Surya Majapahit sigil no longer felt like a torment; it felt like a calling that had been delayed for years. The memory of the photo in Adistya's pocket resurfaced, incinerating the last of my doubts.
"Take me to the peak, Mbah," I said, my voice steady and deep, casting aside the fear Saptapala had planted in me. "I'm going to get my brother. I'm going to demand an explanation from this mountain."
Mbah Gembong smiled. "A costly choice, Cah Bagus. The path of a warrior never promises safety—only the truth."
He extinguished the fire with a single flick of his hand, and instantly, the forest around us felt alive, as if the pine trees themselves were shifting to open a path toward the forbidden summit.
ANTARALA GLOSSARY [Chapter 3]
Surya Majapahit Sigil: An ancient symbol etched into Satria (Subject 07). It acts as a metaphysical energy circuit connecting Satria's soul to the seven mountain pillars of the archipelago. When active, it emits heat radiation capable of disintegrating physical objects.
Javan Leopard (Panthera pardus melas): An endemic predator which, in the ANTARALA universe, acts as a manifestation of the "Guardian Spirit" (Dhanyang). They guide the "Vessel" chosen by nature.
Mbah Gembong: A mysterious hermit living in the Semeru anomaly zone. He is the last member of an ancient order tasked with maintaining the balance between humans and Wiyangga before Saptapala intervened with modern technology.
Majapahit Copper Mirror: A ritual artifact made of sacred alloys. It reflects spiritual frequencies (Aura) instead of physical light, allowing the user to see the "Pillars" sealed within mountain dimensions.
Manunggal (Soul Unification): The concept of merging a human subject (Vessel) with a Pillar Soul. It is extremely dangerous; if the subject's psyche is weak, they will be consumed by the ego and sin attached to the Pillar Soul.
Edelweiss (Anaphalis javanica): A sacred flower in Javanese mountains. In this story, it acts as a natural sensor; its sudden withering indicates a critical leak in the mountain's seal of sin.