A Sacrificial Altar

Adanu Raksa is worried that the girl is being possessed by the same type of evil spirits who always hunt him on the night.

He doesn't want to get any closer, because his odd condition which has been branded as an offering for the devil, always agitates the evil spirits around him. There's a risk that evil spirit will become even more mad and attacks him by using the girl's body.

Until then, something silly suddenly crosses his mind. "Chief, tells the other to let the girl leave," he suggests.

"What? Are you out of your mind?" The Chief responses in a confused face.

"If she is really being possessed by the evil spirit that works for the shaman, we can follow her to find where that shaman is," Adanu Raksa explains.

Quite understanding with Adanu Raksa's idea, The Chief tells the others to let the girl leave. Of course, some villagers objects to it, especially the girl's parents.

The chief whispers to some of them and also to the girl's parents about Adanu Raksa's plan. Only after that, they let the girl leave.

Since there is no more distraction, the girl's ruthlessness and madness seem to lessen. She is walking staggered in the middle of the main village street, with a few people still looking so alert in following her.

"Sir, I need to get back to the woods. I'll keep following you guys from there," says Adanu Raksa.

"Why?" asks the chief.

But Adanu Raksa just ignores him and then jumps over one house heading back to the woods.

"Just keep following the girl," he shouts before landing on the backyard of that one house.

He climbs one tree and then follows them by jumping from one tree branch to another tree branch. He has no other choice. It would be a disaster if the demons come after him in this kind of situation.

After reaching the north part of village border, the girl gets into the woods ascending the hill. She keeps walking in the depths of that rain forest for quite a while, with Adanu Raksa keeps observing her from the trees.

Until at some point, Adanu Raksa notices a glimpse of a small bonfire on the top of a cliff in a distance. He then comes down and approaches the village chief.

"Sir, that's enough. Get the girl and take her back to the village."

"Have you found the shaman's whereabouts?" asks The Chief.

"I'm not so sure. But it will be too dangerous to let her go any further. Please, leave the rest to me," says Adanu Raksa, immediately leaving him without waiting for his affirmation.

Adanu Raksa moves quickly, ascending the hill with the intention to check the place with that small bonfire he just found.

On the way, he comes to a large river. There he stops on a tree branch, looking surprised to find the river so dry, with hundreds of forest demons piling up like building a dam at the top.

"What are they doing there?"

He finds the water level of the river is already quite high to be held by the dam those demons have created. There he begins to understand where that sudden flood came from.

It makes him confused why these demons do that. As far as he knows, those forest demons and undeads had always been acting like creatures without any intelligence. Building a dam like that is not a work of some stupid demons, he believes.

"What moved them to act like this?"

More and more forest demons from across the river, descend and jostle with the others in blocking the river.

Some part of the river is still dry downstream, and indeed Adanu Raksa intends to cross the river to search for the whereabouts of the shaman.

He ignores them, and continues his search, coming down from the tree intending to cross that dry river. However, when he is getting closer to those forest demons and undeads, he attracts their attention.

And then, Adanu Raksa realizes a part of the dam those demons create together is starting to weaken.

"You stupid. Just mind your business, would you?" he shouts with an annoyed face.

Knowing the dam is going to break, he rushes to leave the river. And yes, the dam of those forest demons is toppled over, leading to a sudden flood. Luckily, Adanu Raksa has already reached the other side.

"Hopefully that much water won't damage the villagers' paddy fields."

Some of those forest demons are swept away. But some of them managed to leave the river, and are now continue hunting him.

He looks around, finding more of them approaching him from all directions. The evil spirits are also hovering between the tree. He has no other choice but to release the ribbon wrapping his sword, and fights them.

He is back to his nightly labor, slaughtering those forest demons and evil spirits by himself. It creates commotion in the woods as more fleshes scattered around. The evil spirits keep screaming with Adanu Raksa butchers them one by one. But their numbers don't seem to be decreasing.

"I have no time to do this kind of shit all night. Need to leave."

He knows there won't be an end to them until the dawn comes, while he still needs to check that one cliff with the bon fire on the top of the hill.

He only slaughters a few of them just to open the path, so he can keep ascending. He keeps moving, leaving traces of so many fleshes of forest demons all around the places.

Upon reaching the top of the cliff, he finds several headless bodies of girls in naked, piling up in a place that looks like an offering altar. It is an altar made from a remain of a large tree that has been cut down, with a few of torches on the edges.

Meanwhile, a shirtless man is sitting there behind those headless corpses. Adanu Raksa can only see his back from behind. But he is so sure that's the man he is looking for.

"Finally!" Adanu Raksa looks so relieved as he wipes his forehead.

The mysterious man grabs his long wooden staff and looks back. He does look quite young for a shaman, and quite similar to the bounty poster given by the village chief.

"So it's true you're the mastermind behind all this? Intentionally creating havoc in Kulonsewu village, and then offering a help by demanding a sacrifice?" utters Adanu Raksa rhetorically.

That mysterious man is still looking composed, gazing upon Adanu Raksa with a devilish look. He looks curious instead of panicked or shocked after being exposed.

"You?" he mumbles curiously, as if realizing something different in Adanu Raksa. "Now I understand why those demons and evil spirits are so hard to control. They are attracted by you, someone who has been marked as an offering for the Carrion Flower Devil."