Mateo didn't stay idle.
He sent another team to Mount Rinjani—this time under a new guise: a scientific expedition. To the Indonesian government, he presented it as an international research mission to study the caldera's geological structure, geomagnetic activity, and geothermal potential.
Of course, the "scientists" were nothing more than well-armed mercenaries in lab coats.
To erase any public suspicion, Mateo even recruited locals—trackers from the native tribes of Lombok and East Nusa Tenggara. People who knew how to read the mountain's whispers through soil, stone, and wind. They were paid handsomely, given gear, and promised that they were serving science.
They found the last known location of Diah and Rendra. Footprints. Traces of a makeshift camp. Burnt fragments of advanced equipment.
The discovery shocked the local trackers. But they said nothing.
Was it the money?
One thing remained elusive—the entrance to the cave that was said to lead underground, into another world.
Even the traditional guardians who had joined the expedition—the so-called "keepers of ancestral heritage"—stood baffled before a silent rock wall. No cracks. No seams. No shadow of a door.
"This place has closed," whispered one of the elders. "The mountain no longer grants passage."
---
– Days Before
Local government officials welcomed the foreign scientists with enthusiasm. Rarely did an overseas research mission of such scale visit Rinjani.
Their appearance was striking—broad-shouldered, stiff-faced, moving with military precision.
"Maybe Western scientists really are like that," thought a conservation staffer.
Some were impressed.
"So disciplined. Almost like... soldiers."
"You just don't know," one man chuckled. "They have mandatory military service over there."
He had no idea how close to the truth he was.
Not everyone bought the act.
Some of the locals—trackers, spirit guides, even tribal elders—felt something was off. These people were too calm. Too fast along the trails, as if they already knew where to go.
"Too quiet for newcomers," muttered an old guide. But he didn't join the team. The foreigners had picked their own escorts—youngsters who barely knew the mountain's moods.
The senior guides stayed out of it. They weren't decision-makers.
Besides, who in their right mind would venture into the belly of Mount Rinjani? That place was dangerous. Many had vanished. It was haunted—so the elders said—a dwelling of restless spirits, souls awaiting release or revenge.
So if these outsiders were so eager to dig into the depths of Rinjani, let them.
"They're chasing death with flair," a seasoned climber scoffed.
But Mateo and his team didn't care.
Their hidden objective: locate Hulio and the two people possibly working for Antonio Moreira. All three must be found—dead or alive.
With official permits in hand, they drilled, dug, and if necessary, would blow up anything that stood in their way.
---
– Beneath the Mountain
While chaos reigned above, time flowed differently below.
Diah, a geology PhD, felt trapped between science and something she couldn't explain. She ran her hands along the damp, silent walls, searching for a hidden crack—but there was none. The stone seemed to be waiting—not to be opened, but to be acknowledged.
Rendra paced, breath growing shallow.
"Are we seriously gonna be stuck down here forever? I haven't even gotten married yet!"
Diah shot him a glare. "Not funny."
Hulio gazed up at the cavern's ceiling. "The mountain doesn't allow it."
"What do you mean? We've been here for three days! Our time's almost up." Rendra pressed, then laughed bitterly. "I could be anybody once we get out. Rich. Famous. Like you once were, Hulio. But you can't go back to that, right? Now you're a fugitive. Enemy of your own family. Cool life, huh?"
"Enough. Shut up," Diah snapped.
Hulio remained quiet. Above them, a faint purple light pulsed across the stone.
"Three days are not over. Because it's not time that needs to end... it's us."
Diah sank to the ground, watching blue light ripple through the stone.
This place wasn't just a cavern—it was another world. But a scientist without evidence sounded like a lunatic.
"If only I could bring back one recording..." she whispered.
Then her eyes lit up. "I want to stay here longer."
Rendra leapt. "Diah, are you forgetting why we came?"
"I know our mission's complete. We found Hulio. But he's no longer just a missing climber. He's been touched by something far greater than us."
The cave rumbled—not like an earthquake, but like an ancient breath awakening.
Hulio turned toward a stone corridor.
"They're coming," he said quietly.
"Who? Mateo?!" Diah and Rendra shouted in unison.
A mist began to creep along the walls.
---
– What Wasn't Meant to Open
No footsteps yet, but their presence echoed through the stone like silent thunder.
Rendra pressed his ear to the ground. "Vibrations. Rhythmic. Humans."
Hulio nodded. "They're forcing their way in. The mountain doesn't like that."
The altar's blue glow turned deep purple. The symbols on the stone throbbed like a wounded heart.
In the distance, a muffled explosion. Rocks cracked. Mist swirled. One side of the wall shook violently.
"They bombed the entrance..." Rendra muttered.
But there was no door. What had they destroyed?
"The protective layer," Hulio answered.
"The barrier between our world... and the one that isn't ours."
From the mist emerged a figure—tall, floating, faceless. Spirals and watery lines coiled around it. At its center: a glowing third eye.
"A guardian," Hulio whispered. "But not from here."
The being didn't speak. Its thoughts struck their chests like thunder.
"You are not finished."
"If they breach the gate before it's time… you will all be erased."
Rendra staggered. "Why us?!"
"Because we are the bridge," said Hulio. "Our bodies are still human. But our souls... have touched the deep."
The figure raised its hand. The altar shook. Its golden eye swept over them. Then, it vanished into the air.
Only its message remained:
"Your time is short. The third eye has opened. But the gate remains unsealed."
---
– Cracks from Above
For two days and two nights, Mateo's team blasted through a natural stone wall sealed tight.
What they found was emptiness.
The cavern was vast, silent—untouched by man.
Still, they pressed forward. "They can't have just disappeared."
On the third day, their ground-pressure sensors screamed. Rhythmic tremors. Too subtle for earthquakes—but real.
"We're detecting a massive cavity below. And it's... moving."
"Natural activity?"
"No. It's... breathing."
Mateo's leader gave the command: detonate the point.
The first blast shook the ridge. White mist rose from the crater—thick and silent. Some local trackers collapsed, consciousness slipping away.
An elder clutched his beads.
"They have awakened something... that should've stayed asleep."
Meanwhile, deep inside the mountain, the altar glowed crimson. Stone cracked. Mist thickened.
Diah stared at the ceiling as fractures formed.
"What are they doing up there?"
"They don't know what they've unleashed," Hulio said.
Dust rained down. Then a sound—a soft crack, like fire crawling through bone.
Rendra swallowed. "It's not just a shield that's broken. It's the wall between worlds."
Hulio nodded. "And if it opens before its time... they won't find us.
They'll awaken something... that even the ancient Masters couldn't control."
---
– The Burning Rift
Fractures spread across the cavern ceiling like forcefully reopened wounds. Protective stone turned brittle, shedding glowing dust like sacred ash.
Diah stood frozen, eyes wide. Symbols she hadn't seen before lit up on the walls—ancient circles, now burning from within.
"That's not natural geology," she whispered. "Those are carvings... from inside the rock."
Hulio stepped closer.
"It's a seal. This place is protected by a force modern man doesn't understand."
"And now we know why they couldn't find the door from above," Rendra added softly. "Because it doesn't open from the outside... but from within."
Mist filled the cave—not white, but charcoal-gray. Like smoke from a dream-forest set ablaze. The air thickened with the scent of iron and ancient earth.
Suddenly, the altar shimmered—not blue, purple, or red—but gold. Not blinding. Calming.
"The altar is responding," Diah whispered. "Maybe to the pressure above. Maybe... to us."
She stepped onto the altar. The stone pulsed beneath her, like welcoming her presence.
Rendra tried to stop her, but froze when he saw her eyes—clouded like mist, with a faint glowing triangle on her forehead.
"Diah..." he whispered. "Are you okay?"
"I hear a voice," she replied, as if someone else spoke through her. "Not human. From the stone. It says: if the rift opens fully... nothing can seal it again."
Hulio's eyes sharpened. "They're close to breaching."
As if in answer, a deafening crash shook the cave. Not just an explosion—something like the movement of ancient bones.
The earth trembled. Mist spread. A deep, guttural roar echoed from the corridor—too low for ears, but bone could feel it.
"Rendra," Hulio snapped. "Grab your pack. We have to prepare."
"P-Prepare for what?"
"To escape?"
"No," Hulio said calmly. "To survive."
Diah sat calmly in the golden light. She wasn't afraid. But she knew the world had shifted into something that could no longer be undone.
And whatever waited beyond that rift... would not know mercy.
---
–