Lin Han instinctively stumbled backward, cold rain trickling down his face. There was no time to react. The shadow lunged upward from beneath the bridge, a foul wind accompanying its rapid movement.
"Cilaka!" Noya's reaction was instant. Her kris flashed through the downpour, tracing a deadly arc through the air.
CLANG!
The sharp ring of metal clashing against something solid echoed through the storm. Sparks flared briefly in the darkness.
Lin Han barely caught sight of the figure as it skidded across the slick bridge, landing in an unnatural crouch. It moved on all fours, limbs disturbingly elongated. Its fingers—if they could still be called that—were long, bony, and blackened, the nails twisted and sharp like claws.
"Walau eh! What the hell is that?" Lin Han's breath hitched, his pulse hammering in his ears.
The figure slowly lifted its head. Rainwater dripped from its grotesquely wrinkled skin. It had a human face—or at least, it had once been human. Its milky white eyes rolled upward, unfocused, and its lips were stretched into a grin that split all the way to its ears. From its mouth, black sludge dripped onto the ground, carrying the scent of rot and decay.
"Pontianak…" Noya whispered, her knuckles whitening around the hilt of her dagger.
Lin Han felt his stomach drop.
"Wait, you mean the ghost? The one that sucks the life out of men?"
A Pontianak—the vengeful spirit of a woman who died a violent death. Legend had it that they lurked in dark corners, luring victims with their shrieks before tearing them open with claw-like fingers to feast on their insides.
"This isn't a normal Pontianak." Noya's tone was grim, her eyes never leaving the creature.
The creature remained eerily still for a moment—then, tilting its head in an unnatural angle, it suddenly grinned wider.
And then, it screamed.
"Close your eyes!" Noya yanked Lin Han backward with a forceful grip, sidestepping just in time—
The scream was unlike anything Lin Han had ever heard. It wasn't just loud—it pierced into his skull, vibrating through his very bones. His mind reeled, the world tilting violently. His stomach churned, bile rising in his throat.
"Shit!" he gritted his teeth, fighting to stay conscious.
The Pontianak was already moving again—rushing straight at them!
The Pontianak moved with an unnatural grace, twisting mid-air as its shriek tore through the storm. Lin Han clenched his jaw, forcing his eyes open—
And what he saw wasn't the world as it should be.
Thin golden threads crisscrossed the air around him, forming an intricate web, stretching between people, objects, even the rain itself.
"Karmic threads?" His heart pounded.
Ever since the Batu Caves blood ritual, his right eye had harbored this eerie ability—to perceive unseen connections between beings and their fates. And right now, there was one thread that stood out among the rest.
A black karmic thread, writhing like a venomous serpent, coiled tightly around the Pontianak—
And its other end led directly to Noya.
"Move!"
Lin Han lunged forward, yanking Noya away just as the Pontianak's razor-sharp claws swiped through the air where her neck had been mere seconds ago.
The wind howled with the force of the attack. Cold, deathly cold.
Noya sucked in a breath and reacted instantly—her kris shot forward in a counterattack, stabbing deep into the creature's shoulder!
Shhk!
The blade sank in. The Pontianak let out a bone-chilling wail. But instead of blood, a strange black mist hissed from the wound, curling into the air with the stench of decay.
"Damn it! It's not dying!" Noya gritted her teeth, yanking the blade free and retreating a step.
Lin Han's eyes darted back to the black karmic thread.
"No… It's bound to something!" His mind raced. "It's not that it won't die—it can't die because its karmic fate isn't complete yet!"
His gaze followed the thread. It stretched beyond the Pontianak, beyond the rain—
It disappeared beneath the bridge.
"There!" He pointed. "Its soul anchor is down there!"
Noya blinked before realization hit her. "You're saying… that's its tether point?"
Lin Han nodded, pulse pounding. "If we destroy whatever it's tied to, it might vanish for good!"
But before they could act, a deep voice rumbled from the shadows—
"Tuan-tuan, awak sudah masuk kawasan larangan…"
Both of them turned.
Emerging from the darkness beneath the bridge was a tall figure clad in a flowing black robe. His face was partially obscured by his hood, but pinned to his chest was a gleaming gold emblem—
—Genting Group.