Rika sat frozen in shock. Tears streamed down her face, her body trembling violently as she saw the figure she believed to be her mother now trapped in the grip of the mysterious man. The man looked at Arya seriously, his voice heavy and firm.
"Take the jasmine flower at the heart of that tree. If you don't, your time here will run out," the man said.
Arya stared at him sharply, but before he could react further, the man began chanting in Old Javanese. The figure of Rika's mother, caught in his grasp, suddenly let out a piercing wail, her body convulsing as a black aura engulfed the area around them. But before the chant could finish, a massive explosion of energy erupted, sending the man staggering backward. He immediately turned, searching for the source of such overwhelming power.
"What is this?!" the man hissed.
Arya stood with his aura blazing wildly, his eyes burning with rage. Rika was still sobbing behind him, hugging her own knees. Arya stepped forward, staring at the man with an anger he could no longer contain.
"What have you done?!" Arya shouted, his tone full of menace. His body trembled, struggling to hold back the power that seemed to flow endlessly without control.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Hmmm… So this is why you were able to enter this world."
Arya didn't answer. He lunged straight at the man, his first punch nearly landing on the man's face, but the man managed to deflect it at the last second. A fierce fight broke out. Arya threw punch after punch, but his surging power only made his movements harder to control. The man, though far more trained, began to struggle against Arya's ever-increasing energy.
"If this keeps up, he'll die," the man muttered, gripping Arya's arm tightly, trying to suppress the increasingly wild explosion of energy.
"Why are you so angry with me?!" the man asked, trying to stay calm even as the pressure from Arya grew stronger.
Arya shoved him with all his strength. "You think I could just sit back and watch a girl cry because her mother is being treated like that?! Do you have no heart?!"
The man shot back sharply. "Have you lost your mind?! They're not human—she's nothing but a deceptive illusion!"
"Human or not, no one deserves to be treated like that!" Arya fired back, his anger reaching its peak. His energy blazed wildly, cracking the ground around him.
On the other side, the figure of Rika's mother, her body severely wounded, crawled slowly toward Rika. Her hand reached out, trying to grasp her daughter. But the man quickly noticed and formed a wall of light between them with an intricate hand seal.
"Don't get in their way!" Arya screamed, his fury burning even hotter. He leaped with incredible speed, landing a hard punch on the man. The man staggered backward, nearly losing his balance.
"Have you completely lost your mind?! They're not mother and daughter!" the man snapped, retaliating with full force and sending Arya crashing to the ground.
Arya, his body now covered in wounds from the fight, paused for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked, the rage still burning in his eyes.
The man approached, his breath ragged. "Are your eyes failing you? There's no way they share blood. Use your brain! She's just an illusion created to deceive you and that girl."
The man's words echoed in Arya's ears. He tried to understand, but his mind was clouded by emotion. Meanwhile, Rika, still sitting and sobbing, heard their exchange. Her eyes fixed on the figure of her "mother," who kept trying to reach her despite the wall of light. Her heart was filled with doubt.
The fight was not over, but the truth just revealed began to shake the convictions of both Arya and Rika. And Rika herself began to remember her childhood.