Wiro Sableng

Wiro Sableng Book 4 Chapter 2-1

It was the second day after the fall of Banten’s throne to the rebels led by Parit Wulung. The atmosphere in the Capital which was full of panic and anxiety on the previous day was then starting to subside. However, all over the places, people can see soldiers of the rebel army lurking around, while every place that was considered vital, especially the ones along the border, were heavily guarded by the army.

That morning, the third morning of the reign of the rebels, two people could be seen walking. One of them was old and hunchbacked, while the other one was still young. Both of them were wearing clothing full of patches and ragged. Their skin and faces were also smudged and dirty, while their hair were unkempt. From how the two of them looked, even in a glance people would be able to guess that they were beggars. And every single person that pa.s.sed by them on the street wouldn’t care about them for one bit! But who would dare think that these two were important people that were under search by Parit Wulung and the other rebel ringleaders!

The old one was the advisor of the palace, Mangkub.u.mi Mintra while the one who was still very young was none other than the Sultan of Banten himself, Hasanuddin! When the coup broke out, and the palace was already under siege, these two people had managed to escape through a secret pa.s.sage. And it was not only their safety that was of utmost importance, as the two of them managed to smuggle the enchanted symbolic kris of the kingdom, the Tumbal Wilayuda kris, the kris that had been the symbol, as well as the prerequisite that whoever owned

the kris, then he would be the legitimate heir of the Banten Kingdom’s throne. And it was this very kris that had been sought for by Parit Wulung and the other rebels!

Each of these person carried a small bundle with them. Actually, both Mangkub.u.mi Mintra and Sultan Hasanuddin were people with excellent martial arts, and one with a high level to boot! But when faced with the much bigger number of rebels and in order to rescue the kingdom’s legacy kris, both of them were forced to decide to resign from the battlefield with a hevy heart.

And thus, by means of disguise, both of them managed to escape the Capital. The morning had yet managed to dry up the dew drops on the leaves, but its heat had heated the skin of both men. They managed to pa.s.s through the gates of the Capital without any obstruction even though it was heavily guarded by twenty men.

The old Mangkub.u.mi Mintra heaved a sigh of relief along with the Sultan. But then, the old advisor faintly said, “We are far from safety, my liege. I only have one advise for you, if anything that you don’t wish is bound to happen, you have to quickly leave and run to the family of Wirya Pranata in Ujung Kulon…”

The youth nodded his head, but his face showed a faint sight of reluctance that reddened his dirty cheeks. It signified that there was a bit of history between him and that Wirya Pranata family in Ujung Kulon.

The young Sultan sighed once more, “Hopefully we can stay in safety, Lord Mangkub.u.mi” he said.

“That is indeed what I hope for. May G.o.d protect us”. They were now near the border. Along the line, one can see that the number of

of soldiers guarding were getting aplenty. Both of them were checked by several soldiers, with each of their bundle searched. Luckily, Sultan Hasanuddin had hid the Tumbal Wilayuda kris inside the folds of the cloth that he was currently wearing! And both men managed to get through the border check. They hurriedly made some distance from it.

“It’s safe now…” said Sultan Hasanuddin. But as he finished his words, a group of cavalries approached. The head of the group, a rebel officer, waved his hands, signaling a stop to his men. The officers brought his horse before the two men.”

“Hey you, filthy beggars!” barked the officer. “Did you see to escapees pa.s.sing through this place? The two of them were Mangkub.u.mi Mintra the palace advisor and Sultan Hasanuddin.” While asking that, the eyes of that officer stared inquisitively to the two men before him.

The old man replied. “We see none of them, my Lord…”

The respectful reply and the use of high, soft words from the old man instead made the officer suspected them (TL Note: Javanese/Sundanese regional language has “levels” in which the language that common people, n.o.bles and palace people use are different). Usually these kinds of beggars spoke in the common language. Thus, a seed of suspicion emerged in the heart of the officer. “We’ll search you!” he said.

“Ah… we are just some lowly, abandoned ragged beggars sir… what’s the use in searching us?”

“There is indeed no use to search this filthy humans, milord” said one of the soldier standing beside the officer. “It’ll just dirty our hands! They stink so bad that my nose feels like falling off!”

The officer indeed agreed with his subordinate. But when his sharp pair of eyes saw how the palms and fingers of the two men before

men before him were really smooth, unlike the palms and fingers that beggars normally have, he ordered, “Arrest these lowly humans!”

Mangkub.u.mi Mintra, knowing that their disguise would definitely be seen through, immediately moved forward and said, “You are going overboard! Even people like us are still being pestered!” this shout was also fumed by the vengeance he stomached towards the rebels.

“d.a.m.n ingrates! How dare you speak rudely to me, huh!” the officer scoffed and swiftly unsheathed his sword, while half a dozen of his men abruptly surrounded them.

Mangkub.u.mi Mintra didn’t just stay still. From under his beggar outfit he took out a sword.

“Hmm… very good…! Now it is much clearer who you really are you old d.a.m.nable b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

The officer hacked his sword to the head of Mangkub.u.mi Mintra. The old man shouted loudly and took several steps back while the other six soldiers took out their own swords and a.s.saulted him together in unison.

Mangkub.u.mi Mintra spun his sword furiously. The sword light came out in waves. Dang… Dan… Dang…! The sounds of swords clas.h.i.+ng came in droves! When his sword was clas.h.i.+ng against the soldiers’, Mangkub.u.mi felt like he was facing nothing, but when it clashed against the weapon of the commanding officer, the old man was badly started. His hand felt so hot and was shaking badly. Mangkub.u.mi Mintra let out a groan. Apparently the officer had mastered a high level martial arts!

Thus Mangkub.u.mi Mintra shouted to Sultan Hasanuddin, “Sultan, run away and save yourself. Please let me face off with these rebellious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!

“No!” replied the Sultan. “Living or dying, we shall be together, Lord Advisor!”

“Don’t be a fool, Sultan! Run, I say!” the old man spun his sword fiercely. One of the besieging enemy let out a bloodcurdling shriek and was blasted awaywas blasted away with his chest mangled by the tip of Mangkub.u.mi’s sword!

“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” cursed the rebel officer. He jumped down from his horse. While jumping, he sent out a fierce attack, as nimble as a swallow.

His sword rushed in, hacking towards the neck of Mangkub.u.mi Mintra. At that time, the old man was in the middle of blocking an attack from another soldier. He had to cancel the block with a jump and in return he spun his sword to handle the sword strike from the officer! But the officer apparently had mastered the swordsmans.h.i.+p from the Southern Sh.o.r.e branch that was well known for its formidability as he swiftly and unpredictably altered that furious hack into a sinisterly sharp and striking stab instead!

The offcer chuckled. It was a deadly technique from the sword art that he had learned, named the “Hacking the Mountain Stabbing the Hill!”

Of course, the changes made the block of Mangkub.u.mi Mintra to vain. The old man hurriedly tried to change the positioning of his weapon, but it was for nothing as the enemy’s sword had already stabed his chest! Thus the terrible groans of pain was let out from the old man’s mouth.

At that moment, Sultan Hasanuddin had managed to escape from the siege of the rebel forces, and albeit with heavy heart, he was forced to run with his tails between his legas, not just to save his life, but also to take away the enchanted Tumbal Wilayuda kris in order to retain and re-establish the Banten Kingdom in the future! But when he heard the groan coming from Mangkub.u.mi Mintra, the Sultan halted his escape and turned his body back. He was enraged to see that the old man had fallen on the ground, bathing on his own blood.