The air at 2,700 meters above sea level felt like a thin blade slicing through my lungs. Every breath was a struggle, as if the oxygen had been drained from the mountain's atmosphere by greed—or perhaps by the Saptapala machines roaring in the distance.
I dragged my body past the final tree line. Behind me, the dense, humid Arcopodo forest had vanished, replaced by an endless, sloping expanse of black sand. Before me, Mahameru stood tall, a gargantuan cone touching the gray sky. There were no trees to hide behind; I was merely a small black speck on a vast canvas of ash. A perfect target.
My right hand hung limp at my side, no more than a lifeless hunk of flesh wrapped in tattered cloth. The pain was gone, replaced by a cold numbness. This was the price for the energy explosion on the slopes below. My nerves were scorched.
"Don't stop, Satria. This sand will swallow you if you linger too long," Mbah Gembong's voice sounded calm, though he himself appeared to be struggling. He approached with strides that didn't seem to touch the unstable grains of sand.
"Two minutes left..." Dirga's voice echoed, no longer as a whisper, but as a clear military instruction within my skull. "Two minutes before the Gatotkaca radar locks onto our heat signature. Move to the left, find cover behind that large boulder. Now!"
I didn't argue. At the threshold of death, ego is a luxury I cannot afford. I forced my legs to move. Every step in this sand was a battle; one step forward, two steps back. The Synchronous Rate on my wrist throbbed at 89%.
Suddenly, the heavy thrum of rotor blades sliced through the mountain's silence. Not a small drone like before, but a Gatotkaca-V2 Attack Helicopter. A steel monster with a glowing red sensor nose emerged from behind the mist of the lower slopes.
"Get down!" Dirga commanded.
I threw myself onto the harsh, hot sand. A second later, a volley of 12.7mm caliber bullets shredded the position where I had just been standing. Trak-trak-trak-trak! Sand erupted like small explosions, creating death pits just inches from my head.
"Mbah!" I screamed, but Mbah Gembong had vanished behind the veil of mist. He had left me again. He wanted me to settle this on my own.
The helicopter banked, positioning its cannon directly toward the rocky crevice where I sought shelter. I could feel the vibration of its engine deep within my bone marrow. Oxygen grew thinner, making my consciousness begin to waver.
"Satria, listen to me," Dirga's voice now sounded so close, as if he were standing right behind my ear. "Your right leg. Redirect the Kalabendu residue into the tendon muscles. Force your nerves to fire an electric signal ten times stronger. We need a burst of speed to reach the crater's edge before that pilot locks his thermal missile."
"If I do that... my leg will be shattered, Dirga," I whispered with what strength I had left.
"Better to lose a leg than to lose a life. Do it! Now, or we die together here!"
I shut my eyes tight. I imagined a thick, black fluid boiling in my left arm moving toward my right leg. The sensation was like pouring molten lead into my veins. I screamed, but no sound came out, only a plume of white vapor from my parched mouth.
The Rajah on my arm flared brilliantly, its light piercing through my filthy clothes. I felt my leg muscles tense to the absolute limit, nearly tearing the skin.
JEDAR!
As the helicopter fired its first missile, I lunged. I was no longer running; I was gliding over the sand like jagged lightning. The missile explosion behind me sent a heatwave that propelled me even further upward.
I kept pushing my legs, even as I heard a sickening crack from within my calf. My muscle tissues were tearing. Fibers snapping one by one under a power load the human body wasn't meant to withstand. Every step was agony, yet this speed was my only shield.
I reached the edge of the sandy ascent. Before me, the maw of the Jonggring Saloko crater gaped open, spewing thick, sulfurous white smoke. And there, standing as an illogical steel structure, was a gargantuan tower piercing the mountain's vent: Sector Zero.
The Gatotkaca helicopter tried to pursue, but the crater mist, thick with sulfur, scrambled its optical systems. It swerved, tumbling at the edge of the sharp crater.
My legs went numb. Truly numb this time. I looked down and saw my trousers torn, revealing skin that was blackened and unnaturally swollen. I had traded my ability to walk for a few seconds of speed.
"Welcome to the gates of hell, Satria," Mbah Gembong emerged from behind the sulfur smoke, staring at the magnificent yet terrifying Saptapala steel structure.
I looked up at the steel tower standing in the middle of the erupting crater. From up here, I could feel a familiar heartbeat. Not my heartbeat.
It was the heartbeat of the pillar. The original heartbeat of Dirga, which was being bled dry by Saptapala's machines.
"Are we going in there, Mbah?" I asked, trying to drag my broken leg.
"Not us, Satria. Only you. I will only open the door," Mbah Gembong replied as he stared at a giant sensor portal beginning to scan our presence.
I took a deep breath, inhaling the sulfur poison that now tasted sweeter than oxygen. I had lost my right hand, my home, and now my leg muscles. I wondered, what would be left of me when I reached the summit?
"Quiet, Dik..." Dirga's voice softened for the first time. "I will help you walk. Until the end."
ANTARALA GLOSSARY [Chapter 9]
Gatotkaca-V2: A Saptapala heavy-class attack helicopter equipped with thermal sensors and pillar energy residue trackers.
Neural Overclock: A dangerous technique forcing pillar energy into the motor nerve network to instantly increase physical capabilities, at the cost of permanent damage.
Sector Zero: The code name for Saptapala's core facility built directly within the active crater of a mountain pillar.