ALKISAH: Prayer for the World [1001 Indonesian Fantasy Stories]
STORY: The Killer Who Wanted Life

The bitter truth is a real monster in this world.

Zealians live only for one thing, that is; money. He needed a lot of money to support his three younger siblings. Although he had to plunge into a very dark abyss and was full of malice, he did not care, as long as he still got the money.

All means are prohibited for the sake of getting money, including stealing, and even selling prohibited items. And of all the evil jobs in the world, the one that makes the most money is being a hit man. And, yes, Zeal is a reliable killer. Although it was a great sin, he did not care, as long as his three younger siblings could live well.

In Indonesia alone, killing is an easy thing to do. It also happens that the state security does not have enough technology to solve complex and unnatural murder cases.

Zeal has a lot to use in the course of its work. All the habits that have been improved through long-term exercise, such as walking, groping, breathing, seeing, even hearing—all those ordinary things to him are deadly weapons.

His steps were as light as the wind. His breath was as calm as a dark valley. The touch is as smooth as silk. His gaze was even able to pierce and read the contents of the hearts of others. Also his ears are sharp, turning him into a dangerous predator.

It is undeniable that he is a professional killer.

However, right now he was completely unable to pucker up. Even with all the abilities he has, it is useless, because now he is really cornered. There's not even a small gap anywhere.

The skinny teenage breath dressed all in black and tight was gasping violently. His hair looks wet from a sweat bath. While his black eyes were like the darkness of night, it was still fixated on a single point far in front of him. His heart was pounding, and his eyes opened very wide whenever he heard voices from behind the door at the end of the hallway.

Zeal can't go anywhere anymore. The police have framed him into this isolated house. Really bad day. He never thought he would experience something like this.

"Give up!" voice from behind that door. "The house is nothing more than a special cage for you that we have prepared from afar to catch you!"

Zeal smirked thinly while wiping the sweat on the forehead. "Damn. Their patience must have run out. To the point of setting a trap like this for me." Yes, of course so, let alone Zeal is the only killer in Indonesia who has killed a hundred and thirty people.

His right hand reached for something behind his waist; a scabbard for a small sharp weapon. But unfortunately, there was nothing there. "Huh.really a bad day." Mumbled again. "The knife may fall!" He still did not expect, because he had dropped his dagger—the only weapon he had.

There are no regrets. Zeal kept repeating that phrase in his mind. But, at that very moment, he was thinking about his three younger siblings in the hut who might be waiting for him to come home at this time.

Zeal squinted. He tried to relax and not be too tense. However, his lips that formed a smile still did not stop shaking, because it was possible that today, he would not go home, and would not accompany his three younger siblings to brush their teeth again.

"HAVE DONE! JUST BREAK IN!" Calls for sound from outside.

Instantly, in panic, Zeal mounted the horses upon hearing the speech. He was getting ready to barge towards the door, and hoped to find an opportunity to escape the bullet rush.

However, something very surprising happened. The door was broken down in an unusual way. I don't know what made the door suddenly crash into Zeal very quickly. But, fortunately Zeal's incredible reflexes, able to make himself avoid the lunge of the door easily—he immediately bent.

"What the fuck!" Even so, he was certainly surprised. The door was blown away as if it had just been attacked by something as enormous as a tank.

However, Zeal has just made a huge mistake. He missed the chance to escape, being too fixated on the incident just now. But, as Zeal got up, he was again struck by a strange sight.

There was a girl standing at the end there. Her long, dense silver hair, coupled with her sky-blue eyes, as well as the giant sword she had plugged on the floor, made the girl wearing that kind of white wedding dress, look monstrous. His blank face even managed to make Zeal sweat cold.

"Where are all the police." murmured Zeal as he looked at the girl. It was truly an unreasonable sight in fact. The girl looked normal and it seemed like she was still eight dozen, but strangely, she came here while wearing a wedding dress, also carrying a crazy big sword. "Did she just run away from her wedding?"

"Zeal Longres, perpetrator of a serial murder in a city across Indonesia." The girl suddenly said. His flat voice combined with his empty face seemed to make it sound even more strange.

"Eh? Y-you're who?" ask Zeal hesitatingly. This girl is really strange. Zeal often played games, so he knew how absurd fictional characters of power were in the game world. And this girl really looks like a fictional character. "If you were a girl, I wouldn't hesitate." Zeal said coldly as he gulped.

The girl drew her sword from the floor, as if it was nothing. Though his own hands are very thin compared to the blade of the sword he lifted. "Number of victims, one hundred and thirty. And the punishment imposed from the government is, the death penalty." Clearly pointing his sword at Zeal.

"I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you're doing here, but, I'm sorry, because I can't let a single witness live." Murmured Zeal while thinking of a way to kill this strange extraordinary girl. "Yes, the only way is to twist his neck." His whisper.

Zeal steadied his footing, then with a single breath, he very quickly darted straight towards the girl.

The girl suddenly raised her sword up and prepared to slash forward.

Zeal grinning. Although the girl looked scary, but Zeal was sure, she was definitely just an amateur. What kind of madman would come to a place like this wearing a wedding dress?

Zeal continued to bathe as if he had won this fight. Zeal could have attacked him from the front, but the sword actually managed to give me goosebumps. "All right then!"

In the eyes of Zeal, time seemed to be going very slowly, as his heart beat accelerated.

When Zeal got close enough to the girl, he increased his pace, then jumped and retraced on the wall to his right with both feet. His movements were completely shrewd and as light as the wind. He immediately jumped behind the girl. But strangely, the girl was still standing still like that.

And finally, it was time to twist the girl's neck.

The two Zeal hands immediately reached the head of the strange girl from behind. But everything feels very strange. In fact, not once did this girl turn to Zeal who was clearly behind her.

Zeal believes this is not a trap. And the frightening aura that the girl emitted was also not a mere trick. Whether he's stupid or it's part of his plan, but even so, Zeal wouldn't waste the slightest chance.

"Well..."

The quiet, silent sound of breath from the girl, without reason brought a terrible feeling into Zeal. It was as if a violent gale had struck Zeal and smashed it into tiny pieces. Zeal's eyes instantly widened, and his instincts beckoned him to run all the way from there immediately.

But everything is too late. The girl kept her slash forward, and—Boom! Accompanied by a blinding white flash, there was an explosion that was so terrible that it destroyed everything.

Zeal crashed far behind—to the outside of home—until he hit a tree. It felt really painful, especially on his back. Even though he had finally left the house, but this very unpleasant feeling was still inside him. Even that feeling makes Zeal seem unable to control its body anymore.

"Why can't my body move..." Zeal was now lying helplessly on the muddy ground. "Oh, comeon!" He kept trying to force his body to move, but even a single finger did not respond to his orders at all. "Damn it! What exactly just happened!? I'm sure I didn't touch anything!"

What happened just now is generally no longer acceptable to the human mind. A violent explosion occurred because of nothing, and it was at the same time as the girl swung her sword.

It doesn't make sense! Screeched Zeal in the heart.

Suddenly, the bridal-clothed girl landed in front of Zeal with the giant sword she was still holding.

Zeal has completely run out of sense. He closed his eyes and imagined a death that might pick him up in a moment. Although his tears wanted to gush out, but Zeal kept holding him back, and kept screaming in his heart. There are no regrets! There are no regrets! There are no regrets!

"What do you feel when you kill someone?" Ask the girl.

Zeal was really surprised when he heard the question slide out of this girl's mouth. A very strange-sounding question in Zeal's ears. What did he feel when he killed? Yes, of course sometimes Zeal feels disgusted and horrified, also sinful, of course.

"You are young, and your path is long. But, why did you choose a path like this?" The girl raised her sword once more, and it seemed that she was preparing to behead Zeal.

"If this way, my three sisters and I can survive in this broken world, it seems like it's okay... " Bisik Zeal.

"Sin is sin... So, I'll see you."

Zeal is feeling rather calm now. His fear of death seemed to just disappear, upon hearing the question from this girl. Yes, although Zeal knows that his death is in front of his eyes, but deep down, he is actually very afraid to leave his three younger siblings.

"Sella Stop!" Someone's right behind Zeal.

Zeal suddenly awoke from his daydream. But he still could not move his body.

"Please take your restraints off her, Sella." Voice command it—s voice that sounds old and fragile—which is clearly the voice of an old man.

Zeal heard the sound of opportunity there.

"Good, Sir." The girl replied while sticking her sword to the ground, and at that moment, Zeal regained her body.

Zeal immediately rose up, and intended to take hostage the man who gave orders to this terrible girl. But, not only did Zeal stand upright, one kick landed right into the face of Zeal, and immediately made him pushed back. But fortunately, the terrible girl held back Zeal.

"Ughh! S-so sick!" squealed Zeal while groping his reddened face. Blood poured out of his nose that was made broken. "W-what are you doing!?" Hardik Zeal on a tall tall young man, a yellow blond haired and dressed in a black suit like a servant, who stood beside the old man.

"Of course, I'm just protecting my Master." Obviously the young man while shaking off a small smile. But suddenly, inexplicably the smile on the young man's lips vanished, and his murderous eyes, staring intently at Zeal, made him shudder in horror. "You should be thankful that you can see my Master's true form." He said with an ice-cold tone.

Zeal broke away from the girl while wiping away her cold sweat. "W-who are you guys!? W-what do you want!?" ask Zeal annoyed. "And what have you done to all those cops!?"

"I ordered them all to return to headquarters" the grandfather replied. From the looks of it, he looks like a kind person. His voice was also soft, and his face looked sincere. "Because I'm sure none of them can touch you."

"Eh?" Zeal was surprised to hear the grandfather. In fact, he did not look like a high-ranking policeman at all. Moreover, he could order the entire fleet to return to the headquarters just like that, while the target they had been looking for all this time was in sight. I don't know how much influence he has on the police. Or maybe, in this country.

"Formerly, introduce, my name is Relanar Allefren. You can call me Relan. And, I am a merchant." Grandpa Relan continued. "The girl behind you is Sella, she's one of my many Guards. And so is Nak Tom who is beside me." Grandpa embraces the young man—Tom— with his familiar.

"Huh? What the fuck!? What does a merchant need a bodyguard for!? And after all, what kind of bodyguard were these two!? They're not even human!" squeak the increasingly irritated Zeal.

Grandpa laughed softly before he spoke up. "Yes, they're human, but they have the extra power I give them."

Zeal tried to digest every sentence that came out of the lips of the grandfather. "Power? what exactly does Grandpa mean?"

"With that power, you can at least make this world a slightly better place. A power capable of changing reality."

"What...he means...?" Zeal's confusion has reached its peak.

"That's it. Come to this address." The old man thrust a piece of paper at Zeal. He even walked towards Zeal without hesitation. "I want you to be my bodyguard, Zeal boy. Your abilities will definitely be of great use to help with my troublesome work."

"Huh!? Become a controller—"

"The salary per day is ten times to a hundred times the cost of killing one person." That fact made Zeal speechless in a thousand languages. "And as for this matter of your great criminal record, you can hand it over to me."

Suddenly, Tom's phone rang, leaving Zeal shocked.

"The others are on their way home, sir." Tom said after reading the incoming message.

"Oh, okay." The grandfather then turned and walked away, followed by Tom and Sella behind him. However, they had stopped before completely disappearing into the darkness of the forest. "I'm sure you need the money, Zealander. So that your three sisters can survive." Clearly, until the end, the three people had completely vanished invisible to the darkness.

"Huh?" zealhe's eyes opened very wide to hear Grandpa's words just now. Zeal was very surprised because the grandfather knew about the whereabouts of the Zeal brothers. Zeal rubbed his lips and spat out the blood that had coagulated in his mouth because of Tom's crushing kick.

Zeal looked at the paper with purpose.

To be honest, he was very interested in the strength that Grandpa Relan meant. Power that can change the world. Zeal began to think that if he had such power, he might not have had to kill people for money.

However, the two people were—Sella and Tom, is clear evidence that Grandpa's words were true. Their incredible strength, which could not be compared to normal human strength in general, was evidence too real to pass up.

"All right then... I'll do it." Zeal said full of determination. "For my three brothers."

Finally, Zeal's new life began. However, he was completely unaware that the fate that awaited him before his eyes was something more terrifying than death itself.