A violent tremor shattered the night's silence in the Segara residence. The wooden walls groaned as if about to collapse. From Rian's room, an inhuman roar—filled with rage and darkness—echoed through the halls, thick enough to choke the air.
Ranjana and Sinta burst from their rooms, protective mana flaring around them. The sight in the corridor froze them: Rian's door lay in splinters. Amid the wreckage stood a silhouette they knew, yet didn't—Rian. His eyes burned blood-red, vacant of reason. A spiked aura of pure darkness pulsed around him, his lips parted to reveal glistening fangs. The noble prince was gone. In his place stood pure fury incarnate.
"Rian!" Sinta cried, her voice raw with fear.
Another roar answered her. Rian lunged—not with his trained grace, but with brute savagery. His right fist, wreathed in darkness, smashed into the wall beside Ramdan's head, cratering the timber. Ramdan stood paralyzed, the icy breath of dark mana prickling his skin.
"Sinta, shield Ramdan!" Ranjana barked, his usual levity replaced by the focus of a war-hardened legend. "Ajian Belenggu Bayu!"
A miniature cyclone erupted around Rian, razor-edged winds coiling to restrain him. But the berserk prince only snarled. Tendrils of darkness shredded the storm apart.
"Barrier! O Sang Hyang Tunggal, lend me thy might! Frozen Seruni Wall!" Sinta chanted, her ice-clad spellbook flaring. Glaciers surged from the floor, caging Ramdan—yet Rian shattered them with a single strike.
"He's too strong! The dark mana's amplifying him wildly!" Ranjana barely dodged a swipe that tore the air where his neck had been.
"Dad! Mom! Listen!" Ramdan finally found his voice. "This is my fault! I triggered a cursed seal in his ring!"
The adults froze mid-motion.
"I can fix it—but I need time! Just hold him!" Ramdan's eyes burned with unchildlike resolve. "Trust me!"
For a heartbeat, Ranjana didn't see a seven-year-old. He saw a crisis technician, calm in the eye of disaster. He nodded sharply.
"Sinta! Full containment! Whatever it takes!"
"If the house gets wrecked again, you're sleeping outside for a month!" Sinta shot back—yet her hands were already weaving another spell.
The battle shifted. No more attacks—only restraint. Ranjana became the wind itself, diverting Rian's lethal blows. Sinta conjured pressurized water chains, slowing his movements. Every restraint shattered, but the two legends bought precious seconds.
Dingg!! [Virtual Lab v3.0 – Activated]
Ramdan's world dissolved into white. The lab materialized around him, crimson alarms blaring:
[Warning! Sample integrity critical! 3 minutes until permanent corruption!]
On the dissection table, Rian's agate ring pulsed with malignant black light.
"Focus on contamination source! Initiate emergency purification!"
[Procedure started. Isolating dark mana structure…]
A hologram bloomed—Rian's azure mana circuits strangled by viral black tendrils. Ramdan's fingers flew across holographic panels. This wasn't magic. This was cosmic-quality control. One misstep, and the system would crash.
"The virus is counterattacking! It's merging with his core mana!"
[Recommendation: Deploy opposing attribute firewall. Darkness thrives on stagnation/chaos. Utilize your QC subclass traits—'order' and 'purpose'!]
"Genius!" Ramdan focused on his subclass's essence—standards, protocols, meticulous order—and injected it into the simulation. Golden firewalls of gleaming code erupted, caging the darkness. The virus thrashed, shaking the lab.
[1 minute remaining!]
"Purge it!"
A sterile white beam—the embodiment of "nonconformity eradication"—lanced forth. No explosion. The darkness simply disintegrated into binary dust.
[Purification complete. 100% dark mana neutralized.][Critical abnormality resolved. EXP +1000!][Level Up! Ramdan has reached Level 7!]
Back in the hallway, Rian collapsed, the darkness evaporating like smoke. Melati rushed to heal him as the adults panted, stunned.
Meanwhile – Jawadwipa Island, Volcanic Temple
Seven robed figures knelt around an obsidian coffin etched with forbidden runes. Thick streams of dark mana flowed from their palms, reviving the corpse within—until one stream snapped violently.
"Failure! The process is disrupted!"
"My seal—the one placed on Salakanagara's prince—has been purified!" The figure coughed black blood, rising in fury. "Someone interferes with our grand design!"
"Who could cleanse ancient curses?"
The leader gestured. Shadows coalesced into a lithe assassin, eyes glinting behind a mask.
"Track the meddler," he hissed. "Use the curse's residual traces. Do not return without their heart."
The assassin bowed—and melted into darkness.
Next Morning – Journey to Salakanagara
Bima Sakti, the royal guard captain, arrived at dawn. After Ramdan's (heavily edited) explanation, Ranjana made a decree:
"Melati comes with us. Her awakened Mage Healer powers are rare. She needs royal training to protect Rian—and herself."
The farewell was tearful. Sinta hugged Ramdan, pinching his cheeks one last time:
"Behave, my hero. Or my pinches will reach the capital!"
Soaring on Bayuprabawa's back, they beheld Nuswantara's crown jewel. Towers of ivory twisted into clouds, their peaks gilded. Bridges of light connected floating districts. Artificial waterfalls cascaded from the sky, painting eternal rainbows. Below, humans, elves, dwarves, and spirits mingled in harmony.
At the grand palace gates, a tomboyish princess with a razor-sharp gaze tackled Rian in a hug, then immediately sized up Ramdan.
"So you're the genius who wrecked Taruma Village?" Princess Nadira smirked. "You look underwhelming. Hey, kid—you're not exploiting my brother, are you?"
Ramdan gaped. This girl... is a walking compliance violation!
Melati whispered: "She's protective of him."
Bima Sakti cleared his throat. "His Majesty awaits."
The golden doors groaned open, revealing the Sri Baduga Maharaja—ruler of Salakanagara