Ice Island Palace Chapter 29

"Can we? Of course, we can! However, we request that you do not interfere with or disturb us while we forge the swords!"

Said Nila Dewi.

"That's right."

Mahendra nodded repeatedly.

"We request a separate location and do not wish to be disturbed. No matter how profound your martial arts skill, Mutiara Hitam, in the forging of a *po-kiam*, especially using sacred materials like this, you certainly know nothing. Therefore, do not interfere with our work."

Mutiara Hitam nodded repeatedly.

"Very well, I trust you. However, the sample sword must be like this!"

Mutiara Hitam used her index finger to draw a sword on the ground and explained the model, size, and other details, which the two Indians observed, nodding. As experienced experts, they knew at a glance exactly what kind of sword they needed to make.

"You may use the two caves to the left there; they are clean and quiet. We will not disturb you, but you must give us a timeframe—how long will you be able to complete the swords?"

Mahendra and Nila Dewi pondered, furrowing their brows and calculating.

"To prepare the furnace and the forging area, a few days will suffice."

Said Mahendra.

"Hmm, what we must consider is how to heat this metal so it softens and can be hammered and shaped!"

Nila Dewi said while weighing the round metal object in her hands.

"We need to investigate this first," Mahendra added, then he turned to Mutiara Hitam.

"We request three months, or one hundred days! If the swords are not finished within one hundred days, it means we are no longer capable."

Mutiara Hitam sighed and nodded. The two sword makers were strange people, and she believed that once they made a promise, they would certainly fulfill it. She did not know how they would forge swords from the two strange metal stones, but secretly, she hoped they would succeed in creating the pair of swords she longed for.

The two white objects were extremely strange; when placed together, they could move on their own. There was a miraculous energy within the two objects; at one end, they could attract each other, and the other end emitted a repulsive force, pushing each other away! The pair of caves used by Mahendra and Nila Dewi to forge the swords were quite far from the cave occupied by Mutiara Hitam, her husband, and her two disciples, so they could not see what the two Indians were doing. They only occasionally heard sounds of *klang-kling-klang* like two hard objects clashing, and sometimes saw the glow of fire from inside the caves. Sometimes, days would pass in silence, as if the two people had left the caves without saying goodbye.

"Subo, what if they run away?"

Can Ji Kun asked Mutiara Hitam.

"Indeed, I also don't believe those two demonic humans will be able to forge swords from those two pieces of sacred metal!"

Ok Yan Hwa also said. Mutiara Hitam swept her gaze over the faces of her two disciples, her brows furrowed, then she spoke, admonishing them,

"Engrave this in your minds: in the world of heroes, whether they belong to the white or black faction, the righteous or the unorthodox path, there exists a certain honor that will not be violated, even if it costs their lives. I believe they will fulfill their promise. For a hero, there is no trait lower than failing to keep a promise!"

The two disciples backed away fearfully and dared not ask again. However, the situation in the pair of caves grew stranger as heard from their location. One night, high-pitched screams of small children were heard repeatedly emanating from the two caves.

"Damn it!"

Tang Hauw Lam, who usually maintained a cheerful and calm demeanor, now seemed unable to restrain his patience any longer.

"They kidnapped children!"

However, Mutiara Hitam sat cross-legged calmly, not moving at all, as if she hadn't heard the screams.

"Eh, must we simply allow them to harm children? They might be killing them!"

Mutiara Hitam sighed.

"Did we not promise not to interfere with their work forging the swords?"

"We are indeed not interfering with the sword forging work. But if they kill children, I cannot simply allow it. Are they permitted to slaughter innocent children right under the nose of Pek-kong-to? Hmph, before I die, that will not happen!"

Tang Hauw Lam, who was usually cheerful, stood up and grabbed his saber, ready to approach the two caves and attack.

"Wait, my Husband!"

Mutiara Hitam said, her voice full of seriousness.

"Do you intend to violate our promise not to interfere with their work forging the swords?"

"Who intends to interfere? What does the kidnapping of children have to do with forging swords?"

Tang Hauw Lam stopped and turned to his wife, exasperated.

"Have you forgotten the tales we once heard from the western world about precious metals that can only be made liquid and soft with certain mixtures?"

Tang Hauw Lam stared at his wife for a moment, his eyes wide, then his face turned pale.

"You.... you mean.... those children....?"

Mutiara Hitam nodded.

"Even if they might need children to validate their black magic, they would not dare do such a thing near us. If they are doing it anyway, it must be related to the forging of the swords. If you are curious, you may ask tomorrow; my suspicion will likely not be wrong."

Hauw Lam's face grew paler.

"In that case.... those swords.... will become a Pair of Pedang Iblis....!"

Mutiara Hitam nodded.

"If our suspicion is correct, then so be it. Thus, we must be even more vigilant to ensure that this pair of swords does not fall into the hands of others. If this pair of swords truly becomes Pedang Iblis, we are obligated to destroy them ourselves so they do not cause catastrophe!"

Tang Hauw Lam nodded, then snapped at his two disciples to sleep, as they were still listening intently to the conversation between their two masters. The next morning, Tang Hauw Lam, feeling exasperated, approached the pair of caves from a distance and shouted.

"Mahendra! I will not interfere with your work, but come out, I have a question for you!"

The pair of caves remained silent. After Tang Hauw Lam repeated his question, Mahendra's voice was heard grumbling.

"Damn it! By disturbing my *samadhi*, you have made me fall a day behind Dewi, Pek-kong-to! What do you want to ask? Hurry!"

"Only about the screams of children last night...."

"Pek-kong-to! If I didn't see the face of Mutiara Hitam, your wife, I would consider this question interference in our work, and you would be breaking your promise! You fool! Inside a liquefied human body, there is a certain substance not found in the bodies of other creatures. And that is what is needed, because only with that mixture can this metal be liquefied! What else?"

Tang Hauw Lam felt his legs trembling.

"That's enough!"

He said, and he ran back to the cave where his wife was still sitting cross-legged with a grim expression.

"It's absolutely true!"

Hauw Lam said, dropping down near his wife.

"It is truly no coincidence that we found that metal. The swords are being made—a pair of swords with an extremely evil nature; even before being shaped, they have already drunk the blood and lives of two children. We must destroy those swords!"

"True, we only need to wait until the pair of swords is finished."

From that day on, the loud sound of metal being hammered was heard daily inside the pair of caves, a sign that the two Indians were extremely busy forging the swords ordered by Mutiara Hitam. These two people were indeed strange. They genuinely loved each other, but they were also always competing, unwilling to lose.

Especially now, they were both competing to forge the best possible sword for Mutiara Hitam, swords that shared the same material and the same shape! Naturally, they began competing to create the most excellent swords! Indeed, their method of forging the swords from the white metal was terrifying. After several days of failing to make the metal melt or soften, they both went out and kidnapped children from a village far away. Mahendra kidnapped a girl, while Nila Dewi separately kidnapped a boy. Why did Mahendra kidnap a girl and Nila Dewi kidnap a boy? Actually, both were mistaken and driven by the spirit of rivalry. Mahendra thought that Nila Dewi would surely forge a 'female' sword.

So he kidnapped a girl and began forging a 'female' sword

Using the blood and body of a girl. Similarly, Nila Dewi, unwilling to lose, thought that Mahendra would surely forge a 'male' sword

So she began forging a 'male' sword

To defeat her rival! Unbeknownst to them, driven by the desire not to be outdone, Mahendra was forging a 'female' sword

While Nila Dewi was forging a 'male' sword. The children they kidnapped were hung upside down, and then they cut their arteries to drain their blood. It was with this blood that the metal was "washed."