Offering For The Carrion Flower Devil

"Aren't you a human yourself?" grumbles Adanu Raksa. "Now I know you are not a pure demon. You are a human who takes a goat demon shape by making a pact with the devil. A pure demon doesn't need any human sacrifice to gain that characteristic. After all, I haven't seen any demons ate their fellow kins."

He then begins slashing the shaman's body, cutting it into small pieces. That heads screams in his agony, crying and pleading to Adanu Raksa to end his misery.

"Not this way. I beg of you, please!" he pleads. "Just kill me! Just stab my head already."

"No! I'll let you live with that condition. That's the price for making a pact with the devil," Adanu Raksa denies as he is busy shoving all the little pieces of the shaman's body part and organs into the ravine. "You sow what you reap! I'll let you live without a body. If you want to die, just kill yourself then."

"How am I supposed to kill myself like this?" the shaman cries.

"You can stop crying and bite your own tongue, you stupid!"

It's not clear how long it will be before dawn comes. Adanu Raksa sits there at the edge of the cliff, hitting and knocking the forest demons who try to get onto the cliff from down below.

It's safer for him to stay there at least until dawn, while the shaman keeps pleading to just be killed.

"I promise, I'll never do any bad things again. I'll even help people without asking anything. But I beg of you, just kill me already," he pleads.

"What kind of request is that? There's no way you can help people if I kill you now," sneers Adanu Raksa, shaking his head while only showing his back to that shaman.

And yet, the shaman keeps asking for help. But something Adanu Raksa doesn't know, the shaman is chanting some spell in whisper between his pleading.

Unbeknownst to Adanu Raksa, more and more evil spirits are approaching that cliff. However, it seems like there's something holding them down and piling up below the cliff. Until then, Adanu Raksa realizes something strange from the shaman's request.

"You promised to never do any bad thing again?" he mumbles. "Seems like there's still something bad you can do with your current condition, huh?" says Adanu Raksa with a clown face, getting up and turning back toward that shaman.

Immediately, he is startled to find so many evil spirits already so close in front of him. No less than 20 evil spirits swarm together and penetrate his body. Adanu Raksa is buckled, and can no longer stand the effect.

Finding how weak Adanu Raksa is right now, all those evil spirits hold his head together, draining his life force while whispering some devilish words to control his mind.

"Let us delve into your mind. Stop fighting back."

"Stop struggling, branded child. There's no point in fighting anymore."

"When you die, everything will be over."

"Give us your soul, and you will find peace."

"Stop struggling and there will be no more pain and suffering."

As they keep swarming his head, Adanu Raksa's mind becomes more and more empty. But the evil spirits still couldn't delve into his deepest thoughts to touch his soul. They are still trying so hard to dive in due to how deep his vessel.

An old memory that once had been locked instinctively due to the trauma he had experienced, resurfaces in Adanu Raksa's mind.

<< Remember my words, Adanu Raksa. Don't let your desires blind you, no matter how noble your desires are. Especially when your desire is related to someone else's life >>

That word with a soft and lovely tone appears in his mind, taking him back to the incident in the distant past, a memory which he's never been able to dig up so far.

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Please, allow me to take you all back to an incident that happened 21 years prior.

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A baby is crying so wild in the night, soon after his mother died. Yes, the mother died after giving birth to him. And right now, the father is also crying over his loss.

But unlike the baby, the father cries soundlessly. He cries so deep within. Only himself, and the devil inside him can hear it. 

<< You know how great we are. We can just resurrect your wife. But remember, each desire requires sacrifice >>

"Shut up! Shut up!" the man mumbles to himself.

<< Why don't you just offer that kid to us. He is worth enough to bring back your wife. After all, wasn't he the one who caused your wife's death? >>

The man looks down, gazing upon one unique kris in front of him. It's a typical unique dagger with a wavy and asymmetrical shape. A moment later, he slowly averts his attention to his crying baby.

<< Yes, stab the kris to the ground now to summon that giant carrion flower, and offer that baby to us >>

But suddenly, someone knocks on the door and shakes the man's attention.

"Who is it?"

"Your Highness Jayantaka! It's me, Arkadevi! I heard you wanted to see me"

The man by the name Prabu Jayantaka, rushes to open the door, and gets that woman into his room. He is actually the king of Chakradwipa, a small kingdom in the northeastern of Javadwipa. It's not a great kingdom, which is only established about some years ago.

"Your Highness! You look so restless. Has the baby still not stopped crying?" asks Arkadevi, one of the palace maids.

Jayantaka picks the baby up and then hands it over to her.

"Arkadevi. I know you are in love with Rangkabhumi. Why don't you marry him, and then leave this Palace by taking my son with you?"

"Eh?" The girl looks so clueless by the king's request.

"Despite his position, Rangkabhumi is the man I trust the most. If not for his refusal, I could have made him The Supreme Commander in this palace right under me. I know he is going to be a good husband for you. You have my blessing."

"But…"

"This is an order. Please take the baby, and leave this palace in secret. Don't let anyone see you."

Without knowing the reason, the girl takes the baby to her house. And oddly, the baby who hasn't stopped crying for three days, suddenly calms down as soon as he gets out of the palace.

Not long after that, Arkadevi informs it to her lover, a low ranking knight by the name Rangkabhumi. Immediately, that handsome young man rushes to visit the palace, intending to voice his discontent regarding the king's decree.

Unlike any other knights, this one is quite close with the king, because they used to be fellow students who studied under the same teacher. Before reaching the king's chamber, he sees Jayantaka by himself in the middle of the night, in a small gazebo which is located on the top of a waterfall.

"Kangmas* Jayantaka!" he calls as he approaches the king. "What's the meaning of this? I know you are sad after the death of Anindyaswari. But you can't just throw away your child like this."

"No, I have to," replies Jayantaka, talking in a gloomy dark face while holding a mystical kris in his hands. And indeed, that kris immediately attracts Rangkabhumi's attention.

"That dagger? You still keep it?"

"Yes!"

"But the teacher told you to throw it away!"

"The teacher was right. I shouldn't keep this dagger. The devil! He was asking for it," mutters Jayantaka slowly.

"What was that?"

"A while ago, the devil asked for my wife. And I lost her," Jayantaka starts crying lowly with lifeless tone. "Now he is after my kid too."