As Lolo Gani was stepping to the side, on Busau’s body he saw a familiar face. The moment he saw that face, all the fear, and even the pain he felt when he lost his left arm vanished; it was replaced by boundless fury and rage! On Busau’s left arm, Lolo Gani saw Elsie's face, but her face was emitting malice and madness. At that moment, in a battle of life and death, Lolo Gani was able to piece all the puzzles together and realized that it was this scarily powerful monster that killed tiya Elsie. It was also this monster whose presence he felt when Lumawig did the ritual to accept his abyan.

“It was you! It was you all along!” Lolo Gani shouted in a taut voice. Rage is evident on his face, and the abyan perching on his shoulder has its fur raised in anger as well.

“I-I should’ve killed you that time!” shouted Lolo Gani in rage and attacked Busau.

Busau, even though he appears to be a monster is able to understand Lolo Gani, and hearing the old man’s words, it emitted a disdainful and mocking laugh.

As Busau was laughing in mockery and disdain, Lolo Gani’s sundang flashed and headed for the monster’s head.

“I do not care who or what you are, I will make sure to avenge all the people you have killed, especially Elsie!” Lolo Gani shouted in fury while attacking Busau.

The old man’s sundang flashed many times, attacking different parts of Busau’s body, but the monster just let the old man hit it. After a few seconds, Lolo Gani has already attacked close to a hundred times. He was blinded by his rage to notice that Busau is only standing there, letting him attack.

A few breaths later, Lolo Gani stopped attacking, and noticed that the monster in front of him was covered in many cuts, some parts were even almost severed. But to his shock and horror, all the cuts he inflicted started to close up at a speed visible to his eyes. The mocking smile on Busau’s face did not disappear, but instead grew wider and more sinister. At that instant, the deity of destruction stabbed Lolo Gani with one of its arms, but the old man was on high alert, and the moment Busau moved, he also moved, narrowly avoiding the attack.

It was at this time that Lumawig had finished chanting, and the inside of the cavity started to glow in a golden light. Seeing that the cavity has been engulfed in golden lights, Lolo Gani quickly retreated inside and picked up one of the candles in the altar and threw it on the black viscous substance on the ground which he poured earlier. The instant that the flame of the candle touched the black viscous liquid, a blazing flame immediately flared up. Coincidentally, Busau was standing on it, and it was also caught up in flames. The fire and heat that was produced by the black viscous liquid, was so intense, that if a person sticks an iron rod in it, the metal will melt in less than a minute. This concoction was not something made by Lolo Gani, but instead given to him by his Inang Selia. As for its composition, Lolo Gani has not the slightest idea.

Caught up in the intense flame, Busau was visibly affected by the intense heat, and has even taken some damage because of it, releasing shrill screams of pain. Busau stepped away from the flames and tried to suppress the fire on his body, with little result. It seems that the fire is also burning its vitality, as the previous transformation it had is slowly being undone. Realizing what is happening, Busau looked up into the sky and swallowed the remaining life essences it had collected. All of its minions are now dead for having their life essences sucked out, but these life essences gave Busau another boost in power as it tried to suppress the flames on its body.

Seeing Busau retreating due to being burned, Lolo Gani breathed a sigh of relief. Then right after, the soft, white, and dark green glow covering his body faded away. Exhaustion is evident on his face, and the severed arm started to drip blood in copious amounts. He immediately stopped the bleeding, but the amount of blood he lost was enough to make him turn a shade paler.

“Good job apò!” Praised Lolo Gani.

“Lolo! Your arm! What happened? Is this a barrier lolo? Will it be enough to hold that creature back?” asked Lumawig in wonder.

“No, this is not a barrier. This narra tree is in fact, a spirit point. Us babaylans and anyone who is carrying an agimat can use this so long as they know the chant. It will take some time to fully activate, but it is fine, as the flame outside will keep that monster away for a while. Enough to give us ample time until this spirit point is fully activated.” Lolo Gani answered Lumawig’s inquiry, in a relaxed tone.

“What happened to your arm lolo?” Lumawig repeated his question, seeing that his lolo did not answer him.

“Listen apò and listen well. That creature outside is not a normal supernatural creature. I do not know of its origin, and this is the first time I have seen it! However, in my brief fight against it, I was able to know two things. First, that creature was the one whose presence I felt on the day that you received your abyan. Second, that creature is also the one that killed your tiya Elsie!” Lolo Gani told Lumawig of what he discovered in a serious tone.

“What?! Is that true lolo? Is that really the creature that killed tiya Elsie?!” A look of shock decorated Lumawig’s face when he heard his lolo’s revelation.

“Yes, I am sure. For…I…I…saw her face on its body! As for the reason why, I am not sure. I can only speculate that the people it consumes, their face will be added to its body. That thing can also not be hurt by my sundang!” a hint of lament was evident on Lolo Gani’s face as he shared his observations to Lumawig.

“Do not worry, there will come a time that we will be able to avenge tiya Elsie’s death.” Consoled Lumawig.

Just then, a furious roar was heard. It was Busau who was clearly enraged. It has tried for quite some time, but it has still not fully put out the flames on its body, coupled with the effects of the poison it ingested earlier, even with the hundreds of life essences it has consumed, suppressing both of the burning and poison effects is proving to be quite a challenge to it. This has irritated the deity of destruction to no end. It still is a deity of destruction and though mindless as Busau may appear, it still has its pride as a deity. Suffering such humiliation on the hands of a single human is unacceptable!

Busau then tried to attack the flames, many times in an effort to reach inside the cavity. Once it kills Lolo Gani, it will be very easy for it to kill Lumawig as well and retrieve the librito on his possession. However, no matter how much it tried, all of its attacks are burned off by that strong flame, and it only added to its fury. However, it suddenly stopped attacking and walked towards the flame and only stopped a few steps away from it.

Then six more arms appeared from its back and stretched towards the flame. As these arms touched the flames, it only took a few seconds before they burned off. Busau continued to attack the flames in similar fashion for a couple of minutes. However, Busau’s arm becomes more resistant towards the flame the more it attacks it, and Lolo Gani has no idea that something as terrifying as this is happening.

“But lolo, you are so strong to be able to kill all those monsters outside!” Lumawig’s eyes were bright as he praised his lolo’s prowess, just a little short of worship.

“Hehe… I am not that strong. I was only able to do it because I prepared in advance.” Lolo Gani replied humbly, but he could not help but also feel proud of his achievement.

“Maybe that dream is not going to come true after all.” Thought Lolo Gani.

“Oh, before I forget, lolo. Now that I have become a second stage babaylan apprentice, will you start teaching me how to concoct potions?” Lumawig asked excitedly. He can still remember how his lolo prepared quite a number of potions just for this night alone.

“Of course! You better get ready, as I will not go easy on you.” Answered Lolo Gani, a soft smile appearing on his lips. Even though he lost an arm tonight, at least he was able to protect his beloved apò from the onslaught of the monsters and the unknown supernatural creature.

The glowing light suddenly became brighter, and the inside of the tree’s cavity started shaking softly. The cavity’s entrance also started to get translucent, although at a slow pace.

“It seems that we are about to leave this place. Brace yourself apò.” Instructed Lolo Gani.

“Do you know where we are going to end up, lolo?” Lumawig asked, a hint of excitement evident on his face. “Yes. It’s the mystical city of Co-!” Lolo Gani was just about to tell Lumawig their destination when he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his chest. Suddenly, blood also trickled down his lips.

“LOLO!!!!” Lumawig shouted in despair, his pupils constricted, and his face lost all its color.