All Chapters of Toward the Sun: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Everyone was forced to tell the story of Suwung Saketi and Remak.Ki Lembu’s face went pale when the story finally reached the matter of the palace’s secret arts, and how Pangeran Langit had secretly taught them to Jaladri.“Good God...! Allah Almighty...” he whispered.“What is it?” Ki Gede Nipir demanded. “Do you know something more about this?”“Tell us about Kartika Wuni first. Whatever you know!”The hairs on the back of Jaladri’s neck stood up.“One night, a low-ranking palace soldier came to see me. He told me that one of the Crown Prince’s concubines had suddenly died and could no longer care for the baby she had just given birth to. The soldier said the Crown Prince was worried about leaving the baby in the Kaputren, the Palace’s harem, where she would be raised by a nurse or foster mother. Her stepmother, another concubine of Prince Mangkubumi, might resent the child and fail to care for him properly. So he wanted the baby raised outside the palace instead, by loyal servants

Wisnumurti leaped lightly to the bottom of the cliff from a height of about two spears. There was, in fact, a narrow path behind the main compound of the school, descending the nearly vertical cliff face in a series of steep steps. Only locals familiar with the terrain could move quickly along it. Since Wisnumurti was an outsider and had no idea of the lay of the land, jumping straight down was obviously the better option.Rinjani arrived barely a second later. She could not spring down nearly as gracefully as the young man.“Watch out!”Rinjani stumbled backward a step. A powerful gust of wind swept past her.She froze in awe.Less than five steps ahead, open space stretched into a bottomless void. In the darkness of night, the cliff was practically invisible. The glow of distant fires helped reveal just how deep the drop was.Keeping well clear of the edge, she began walking along the very rim of the cliff at the summit of Mount Wijil.“Who are you, anyway?” she asked, still gasping

Ki Gede Nipir, Ki Randu Alas, and the others stood ready near the pendapa. They crowded around Ki Lembu Narawara, Ki Gagak Panolih, and Ki Demung Banar.But as it turned out, they did not need to move yet.Sultan Giriwangsa shot forward, and Tanpa Aran, who had been toying with the Sun Sword School guards, suddenly stopped.“I told you. You’ll have to get through my dead body first!”Tanpa Aran’s sword came slashing down.“With pleasure.”The two bodies collided in six rapid exchanges that made the Earth tremble.Then sand and gravel exploded beneath a series of increasingly violent blows. Pratiwi and Prince Wiratmaka stared in stunned silence.Tanpa Aran was clearly around their age, yet he could hold his own against a figure of the sultan’s stature with equal strength.If anything, he had the advantage in sheer physical power, and he was obviously trying to use it to end the fight as quickly as possible.Ki Gede Nipir was forced to admit that the young man was extraordinary. Perhaps

And he still had trouble believing that one fact. Then there was Sultan Giriwangsa’s promise that tonight he would receive something of great importance.Jaladri had no time to think about any of it. One moment of distraction, and his own head could just as easily end up rolling across the ground.The next thought that crossed his mind was that he had not eaten since breakfast in Paranggelung. He had still felt his stomach cramp when a sword had grazed his waist, and one kick had slammed squarely into his cheek. But the moment he got back on his feet and launched a counterattack, he had forgotten all about his hunger.This was no time to think about rice!Then everything happened in a blur. Jaladri launched a kick.Pratiwi grabbed their opponent around the waist and threw him.And suddenly there was nothing there.Jaladri’s foot struck nothing but air. His target had abruptly collapsed like a freshly felled tree.Pratiwi herself went tumbling because her throwing motion met no resista

Almost simultaneously, Tanpa Aran, Suwung Saketi, and Remak charged forward, pincer-attacking Tandapati from three directions at once. A blood-reeking blade sliced clean toward his neck, but the sickening crunch that followed didn't come from a severed throat.Tanpa Aran’s eyes bulged. His bamboo hat suddenly felt like a runaway jet, yanking him violently off balance. He flipped in midair, his grip slipping from his sword. The moment his head dropped inverted, Tandapati’s knee drove flush into his chest. The force sent the young man flying, his hat exploding into splinters. As he plummeted backward over the cliff's edge, a shock of long, silver-white hair whipped wildly in the wind before he vanished into the dark abyss.Spotting an opening between Tandapati’s spread legs, Suwung Saketi ducked low and drove inside. His fist felt as dense as red-hot forged steel as he unleashed his signature strike—a blow bearing his very own name. Demonic entity or not, Tandapati had to have a weak sp