[Srengseng High School – Middle Yard]
The crowd of Srengseng High School students, who were supposed to block the intruders, were instead busy arguing among themselves.
"If weaklings like you are given this task, the enemy will surely get through!"
"Weak? If you're calling me boss, fine. But from a fellow coward? Ugh!"
They insulted each other, cheered loudly, and pointed fingers at one another.
Amid the chaos,
"I'm going first. I'll defeat their King," Arca said lightly.
Like an arrow released from a bow, Arca jumped high, soaring through the gang's ranks without anyone noticing. The roar of the argument covered his movement.
Aswa wanted to follow Arca, but he stopped. He looked back... seeing someone standing still with a confused expression—Mondy.
Instead of following Arca, Aswa returned. He stood beside Mondy, smiling faintly.
"Let's just have a duel, whoever wins first!" shouted one of the students from Aswa's building.
"ALRIGHT!!" shouted the others.
As the two groups challenged each other, the students from Arca's building only remained silent, their faces serious. They seemed to fight out of obligation… not because they wanted to.
Suddenly, all attention focused on Aswa and Mondy.
"Hey! Where's your friend?!"
"Maybe he ran away?"
Mondy casually answered,
"He went to the bathroom."
"Oh, alright then... NOW IT'S TIME TO DESTROY YOU!!"
"ATTACK!!!"
The crowd of students charged forward. But before they could reach Aswa and Mondy, a calm voice came from behind:
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you. Have you seen an old man carrying a wooden stick?"
A man with messy blonde hair and cloth wrapped around his waist approached. His steps were calm, but there was a strange aura about him—either innocence or overconfidence.
"Oh, am I disturbing too much?" he smiled at Aswa and Mondy.
"Who is he? Your backup?"
The blonde man looked at the crowd, then to Aswa. He patted his shoulder.
"Son, do you need help?"
"Of course we do!" Mondy quickly replied.
The man stepped to the center.
"You all gang up like this?"
He shifted his feet into a silat stance. Upright and stable.
The crowd hesitated.
"T-that stance… isn't that silat?"
"Yes, the legendary martial art!"
But the doubt didn't last long.
"Don't be afraid! Silat or not, he's still just one person!"
"ATTACK THE INTRUDER!!!"
They rushed at them.
"Intruder?" the blonde man murmured, looking at Aswa.
Aswa just waved his hand, smiling.
Mondy? Pretended not to know.
BAM!!
The man was thrown back. The crowd's attack blasted his body against the wall. Dust rose.
"Huh? Weak silat master too?"
"Just a little hit, already down."
"Forget it! Now attack the two of them!"
Aswa stood firm. Mondy hid behind him. But as Aswa prepared to fight…
"Wait."
A woman's voice sounded. Soft but commanding everyone to stop.
Footsteps approached.
An elegant figure with long hair wearing white clothes stepped in. The students opened a path without being told.
"That... that's the White Rose!"
Someone pointed at the garden ruins.
"Were you the one fighting in that building?"
"Yes," Aswa replied flatly.
"Why are you so cruel to the flowers?"
"...Flowers?"
"Yes. The white flowers in the garden died. You knocked them down."
Aswa was about to apologize. But…
Suddenly the world went silent.
Everyone stopped moving. Breaths. Steps. Dust in the air. All stopped, except two people: Aswa and the woman.
"What is this? Illusion of pressure... no, this is—Psychological illusion!" Aswa thought.
The woman stared sharply.
"I will make you answer for this, human... who possesses no Amanah (trust)."
Aswa smiled faintly, bowed lightly, then prepared himself.
The battle with Rosa the White Rose began.
– TO BE CONTINUED –