The black creature let out a horrifying laugh, its voice deep and thunderous.
It raised one hand to chest level, and moments later, the sharp black claws on its fingers began to grow longer—claws resembling those of a bear. They extended to nearly the length of two adult hand spans. Its glowing red eyes blazed intensely, while thick white smoke poured from its nostrils.
Meanwhile, Mr. Broto stood in a low fighting stance, his spear pointed directly at the creature. His sharp eyes stared intensely at the black monster before him. His lips moved continuously as he chanted a spell to strengthen his attacks.
A moment later, Mr. Broto shot forward at incredible speed toward the monster.
Clang! Clang!
The spear collided against the sharp claws, sending sparks flying.
Attack after attack was unleashed by Mr. Broto, and the black monster retaliated just as fiercely with brutal strikes. Yet despite his old age, Mr. Broto agilely leaped and dodged the attacks of the fifteen-foot-tall creature towering like a house.
However, after some time, Mr. Broto began to struggle. He could no longer keep up with the monster's overwhelming speed and strength. Gradually, he was pushed onto the defensive.
The young man who had arrived with him—none other than his grandson Herman—did not remain idle. He immediately charged forward with his kris dagger.
This time, the young man was also dressed entirely in black. His kris spun through the air, slashing and thrusting repeatedly.
He was clearly skilled with weapons, showing that he had undergone serious training.
But the combined attacks of the two men failed to injure the creature at all. The monster blocked every strike from their sacred weapons using nothing but its claws.
Then—a shockwave erupted from the monster's body. The released energy exploded outward like an energy bomb.
The shockwave blasted both attackers several feet away.
Then—from the creature's side—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Inspector Jayadi fired again, followed by his two fellow officers. Apparently, they too wanted to put down the evil creature as quickly as possible.
The monster roared furiously. In an instant, it was standing before Inspector Jayadi, and the officer's body was lifted into the air.
Slash!
The sharp claws pierced through his body and out his back. Fresh blood poured from the wound.
A heartbreaking scream of agony echoed through the forest before Inspector Jayadi's body went limp and lifeless.
"You bastard! Damn you!" Officer Irwan aimed his revolver at the black creature.
But the monster suddenly leaped directly in front of him. This time, it opened its palm and thrust it rapidly toward Officer Irwan's chest, directly over his heart.
It made a pulling motion.
Officer Irwan instantly collapsed weakly and fell to the ground.
In the monster's grasp appeared a glowing white crystal sphere the size of a ping-pong ball. It seemed to have been forcibly extracted from Officer Irwan's body.
A blue prism emerged from the black bracelet on the creature's left arm, and the crystal sphere was absorbed into it.
The black creature grinned wickedly.
Moments later, it leaped toward two SAR officers and repeated the same act, ripping crystal spheres from their bodies. Both men collapsed to the ground.
Nearby, Mr. Broto sat cross-legged with both palms pressed together before his chest. His lips moved continuously in prayer.
Then he raised his right hand high into the air and shouted,
"Buto Ijo! I summon you!"
He slammed his hand onto the ground.
Suddenly—something emerged from beneath the earth in a bizarre manner.
Before them appeared a gigantic figure.
The being resembled a giant standing nearly ten feet tall, wearing only short pants. Its face looked terrifying, with glowing red eyes and sharp fang-like teeth protruding past its lips. Its hair was wild and tangled like thick dreadlocks. Its entire body was green, covered with coarse hair. In its hand it carried a black machete-like blade known as a badama.
"Buto Ijo, destroy that evil creature!" Grandpa Broto shouted while pointing at the black monster.
The being called Buto Ijo growled, then leaped toward the black monster and swung the black blade in its hand.
Then—a massive collision erupted, producing violent tremors throughout the area.
The giant Buto Ijo rampaged with the badama in its hand.
The black creature then summoned a spiked black mace.
It growled fiercely as thick white smoke poured from its nostrils. It clearly looked enraged by the presence of the Buto Ijo summoned by Mr. Broto. The crown upon its head burned even brighter.
Moving at incredible speed, it charged forward and slammed the spiked iron mace into Buto Ijo.
Buto Ijo roared in pain as blood burst from its chest where the mace struck. It retaliated by smashing its weapon into the black creature's body.
Clang!
The impact sounded like iron striking solid stone.
Blow after blow rained down from the giant Buto Ijo upon the black monster. But the creature was unbelievably powerful. It did not even flinch. Its strength far surpassed that of Buto Ijo.
Instead, the brutal strikes from the spiked black mace gradually overwhelmed the green giant. Its body became drenched in blood, and its breathing grew ragged.
Then the black creature unleashed a devastating strike that sent Buto Ijo flying through the air. Its body crashed into a palm tree.
Buto Ijo roared in anger. It ripped the palm tree out of the ground and lifted the trunk like a giant spear. Then it charged forward at incredible speed, preparing to impale the black creature.
The palm trunk slammed into the giant black being, but the creature caught it with its hands.
The two enormous beings began struggling against each other in a brutal contest of strength.
The black creature eventually tore the palm tree away and smashed it against the green giant's body.
Buto Ijo roared and collapsed. The black creature brutally grabbed the giant by the hair.
The two monsters wrestled violently across the ground, rolling through the dirt while clawing at each other.
At last, the battle between the two monsters came to an end.
The giant Buto Ijo stood covered in blood, swaying unsteadily before finally vanishing.
Mr. Broto was shocked.
"That evil black creature… it actually defeated Buto Ijo. This is bad!"
He quickly rose and assumed a fighting stance once more. His black spear pointed forward.
Again, he chanted a spell before dashing toward the black monster.
His black spear collided against the spiked black mace, and Mr. Broto was thrown backward.
Before he could stabilize his footing, the creature leaped forward and slammed him with the spiked mace.
And—Grandpa Broto rolled violently across the ground.
But strangely, the old man rose again almost immediately without showing any sign of pain.
It seemed Mr. Broto possessed invulnerability techniques. Weapons and physical attacks could not injure him.
Seeing this, the monster growled furiously.
"So, tiny creature… there are still those who possess power."
"I will take your soul crystal."
The monster muttered before attacking swiftly and grabbing Mr. Broto.
Its hand shot toward the old man's chest. It intended to perform the same pulling motion used on the others—to extract his crystal.
But then—a powerful impact erupted!
A machete slammed into the black creature's head.
A tall, thin middle-aged man around his mid-forties with green cap stood beside Mr. Broto, wielding a rectangular machete about two hand spans long, it was Mr. Ahmada.
He quickly struck the hand gripping Mr. Broto, forcing the creature to release him.
Mr. Broto leaped backward to create distance.
Meanwhile, the man continued slashing at the creature with his machete. But the monster still did not budge.
Enraged, it threw a powerful punch at the man, sending him flying nearly twenty-five feet away.
"Village Chief, quickly contact the others! Find help immediately! That creature is incredibly powerful!" Herman shouted to the village chief.
"I'll try. Hopefully the telecommunications signal is working again," the village chief replied quickly while digging through his bag for his phone.
"Hopefully Mr. Broto and Mr. Ahmada can hold that evil creature back."
***