In the middle of nowhere, there is a despot king. He runs the kingdom arbitrarily like a dictator. The king had fun on the throne while his people suffered. People are forced to pay tribute and stifling taxes.
One day, from the middle of the market, an old man was heard complaining about the king; the next day, he was punished by the executioner in the courtyard of the palace. Witnessed by the king. The residents were even more afraid. The king turned out to place his spies in all corners of the country.
"Even the walls have eyes and ears..." said a young man among the other residents who were witnessing the execution.
"Shhh...," a man immediately gave a sign by stepping on the noisy young man's big toe.
After the execution was over, the residents disbanded and returned to their respective homes. Along the way, people did not dare to look at each other. They prefer silence. They are scared. They even became suspicious of each other. They didn't want to end up on the gallows.
However, people did not know that in one corner of the market, under the smelly culverts and untouched by the royal spies, a group of people were planning. At the other end, a shady-faced man in his 40s looked at a piece of paper with a look like an eagle. Looks like he's the leader of this group. He was the man who stepped on the young man's feet during the execution earlier. In the man's hand was a piece of paper containing the plan earlier. Rebellion plan.
"Our determination is made up," said the man, half whispering.
"Three more days. Yes, in three days all this will end. All the misery that we have been going through will end. Be patient. Just three more days."
The words were greeted with a nod of hope. No less than twenty people crowded the culverts. The place was smelly and stuffy, but the royal spy would never have guessed that there lived a resistance group that would one day threaten the kingdom of the country.
The long-awaited day has arrived. According to the strategy, the attack went smoothly. The main guards were successfully paralyzed. The special forces that protected the main layers of the royal fort were also defeated very easily. The attack, unexpectedly involved almost a thousand people who had always expressed disgust towards the king. The king is not a human; he has a demonic nature and likes to kill people he doesn't like. As if no one was able to hold it. He had made himself a god. God of Death.
Through this unexpected rebellion, the king became pressed. The spies of the rebel group leaked to their leader, the eagle-eyed man, that the king had fled in fear to a room behind the palace. It is a special room. Rumors had spread that the king had unexpected powers. The eagle-eyed man immediately drew his sword to catch up with the king.
The man who will become a hero in the country also breaks down the secret door of the king. He walked bravely as if he was about to end everything with just one slash. However, unexpectedly, a creature who looked like a stranger stood blocking the slash of an eagle-eyed man. He was a king but in a very different form. The king, who usually looked old and frail, now looked much more manly. He appeared with a silver, black armor made of pure steel and a sword with a flame-emitting tip. The same light was also visible from the ends of his hair that dangled long like a fire whip dancing in the air.
The man couldn't do anything. He received more attacks. Every slash from the king made the grip of his sword feel crushed. As if the slash of the king was as heavy as a sledgehammer hitting the concrete. The man could not withstand the king's attack any longer. In the end, he bounced away and hit the fence behind the palace. One last slash made him bounce again and fall into a large ditch. His body was swallowed by water and disappeared. Forever.
At the same time, the strength of the royal army had recovered. The rebel group was repulsed. Running and diaspora. Most of the rebel troops were killed at the hands of royal soldiers. Others choose to hide. Those caught alive will be punished.
With a miracle, the man who was the leader of the rebels turned out to be safe. His body was stranded on a riverbank. The flow of the river has brought it to the place. He is now awake. His body was full of wounds and bruises. He remembered that the king had defeated him. He now believes in rumors that the king is allied with the devil.
"Finally you came too," suddenly a voice was heard as the man was examining the wounds on his body.
"Who is that???" The rebellious man immediately put up the horse holding a piece of wood he had just picked up from the riverbank.
The eagle's eyes prepared to catch anything that moved and was suspicious. However, there are only bushes. He looks wary by swinging wooden branches in their hands as if they were holding a sword.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time. I know you're coming. You're a man who has been prophesied in a prophecy. You're the one who's going to defeat the tyrannical king," the voice sounded again in the ears of the rebellious man. This time it was clearer.
"I'm here," said the voice. It finally appeared that the mysterious voice came from a small fish in the river. The man almost jumped in surprise.
"Who are you? asked the man.
"I thought you would never ask. I am the real king. The tyrannical king turned me into a fish," the fish told a long story. They seemed to be getting to know each other.
"Today I will reveal the secret behind the king's power. This is also his main weakness."
"Listen, to defeat the king, then you have to cut the ends of his long hair. If you can do that, the despot will lose. In addition, invite him to fight outside the palace. As long as he was in his secret chamber, his strength would always be restored. That's where he worshiped the demon who had given him strength."
Before the rebel leader left to avenge his revenge, the fish informed him that he had to take a special sword hidden behind a large rock across the river. Only the sword could cut the hair of the tyrant king.
"Don't forget, take me with you. Put me in the bottle," the fish asked.
Armed with the sword from the fish, the man walked towards the wilderness. Arriving in the middle of the forest, he began to whistle with a strange rhythm seven times. It was a code for the remaining herd. A moment later, dozens of people appeared from behind the bush.
"We thought you were dead."
They looked excited and immediately hugged the rebel leader. Immediately after the full meeting, the second rebellion plan began.
A few days later, the rebellion really exploded. How to compose the remnants of the power and successfully paralyze the left wing of the royal army, the rebel forces managed to push into the heart of the palace. As a leader, the eagle-eyed man was at the forefront. He had set up a strategy. Before the cowardly king ran to his secret chamber, he shouted.
"Look! Your king is running in fear!" He screamed so that his screams reached the ears of the royal troops.
"I challenge the king to fight one on one!" "If the king is a chivalrous spirit, he should dare to accept my challenge!"
"Here, in this place, right now!"
The king, who intended to run into the palace, immediately stopped his steps. Not because he heard the challenge sentence from the rebels but because he felt uncomfortable with his troops, who shouted excitedly as if they couldn't wait to see their king slaughter the rebels who were arrogant and ignorant.
The king turned around, and he, without further ado, immediately gave his first slash to a man who was not the leader of the rebels. The situation is certainly much different from their previous fight. This time, the slash of the great sword was parried very easily. The man even had time to smile faintly while throwing a slash in return. The slash shocked the king. He just realized that the sword held by the man was not random.
"Wusss...!" again the attack came quickly like a rocket.
"This time you will receive a reward for all your actions!" shouted the man.
The king tried to dodge every slash that felt more violent and barrage. He's exhausted. His troops looked worried. They wanted to help, but they were afraid that it would actually make the king furious.
"Wusss!" This time, mercilessly, the attack managed to cut the ends of the king's hail. His hair tail bounced into the air just before falling to the floor.
Suddenly the king shouted like a person in pain. His hands held his head, his eyes glaring up at the sky. His mouth gaped wide and then emitted fire. The fire shot out and disappeared into the air. At the same time, the king fell to the floor. His body narrowed, like a deflated balloon.
After the king's body disappeared like smoke, suddenly, the fish that had been in the bottle hanging on the waist of the rebel-led man jumped into the air, circled for a moment, and then turned into a man. Everyone was astonished, except the head of the rebel. He was very similar to the king who had just been killed earlier. The entire population of the country finally realized that they had been led by a false king. Long story short, the country was again led by the real king. The people are happy and live happily. The man who became the head of the rebels was appointed by the king's advisor.
Di suatu negeri antah berantah berkuasalah seorang raja lalim. Dia menjalankan kerajaan secara sewenang-wenang layaknya seorang diktator. Raja bersenang-senang di atas singgasana sementara rakyatnya menderita. Rakyat dipaksa membayar upeti dan pajak yang mencekik.
Suatu hari, dari tengah-tengah pasar terdengar seorang laki-laki tua mengeluh tentang sang raja, keesokan harinya dia dihukum oleh algojo di halaman istana. Disaksikan langsung oleh raja. Para penduduk pun semakin takut. Raja ternyata menempatkan mata-matanya di seluruh pelosok negeri.
"Bahkan dinding pun punya mata dan telinga...," ucap seorang pemuda di antara para penduduk lain yang sedang menyaksikan eksekusi.
"Sssst...," seorang laki-laki segera memberi tanda dengan cara menginjak jempol kaki pemuda berisik tersebut.
Setelah eksekusi usai, para penduduk pun bubar dan kembali pulang ke rumah masing-masing. Sepanjang perjalanan orang-orang tidak berani menatap satu sama lain. Mereka lebih memilih diam. Mereka takut. Mereka bahkan saling curiga. Mereka tidak ingin berakhir di tiang gantungan.
Namun, orang-orang tidak tahu bahwa di salah satu sudut pasar, di bawah gorong-gorong yang bau dan tidak tersentuh oleh mata-mata kerajaan, sekelompok orang sedang mengatur rencana. Di ujung sana, seorang laki-laki berwajah teduh yang berumur 40-an tahun memandang secarik kertas dengan tatapan mata seperti seekor elang. Sepertinya dia pemimpin kelompok ini. Dia adalah laki-laki yang menginjak kaki pemuda sewaktu eksekusi berlangsung tadi. Di tangan laki-laki itu ada selembar kertas berisi rencana tadi. Rencana pemberontakan.
"Tekad kita sudah bulat," kata laki-laki itu, setengah berbisik.
"Tiga hari lagi. Ya, tiga hari lagi semua ini akan berakhir. Semua kesengsaraan yang selama ini kita alami akan berakhir. Bersabarlah. Hanya tiga hari lagi."
Kata-kata itu disambut dengan anggukan penuh harapan. Tidak kurang dari dua puluh orang yang menyesaki gorong-gorong tersebut. Tempat itu bau dan pengap, tetapi mata-mata kerajaan tidak akan pernah menduga bahwa di tempat itu hidup sebuah kelompok perlawanan yang suatu hari akan mengancam kerajaan negeri itu.
Hari yang ditunggu-tunggu pun tiba. Sesuai strategi, penyerangan berjalan dengan mulus. Para penjaga utama berhasil dilumpuhkan. Pasukan khusus yang melindungi lapisan utama benteng kerajaan juga dikalahkan dengan amat mudah. Penyerangan itu, dengan tidak disangka-sangka melibatkan hampir seribuan penduduk yang sejak dulu memang menaruh rasa muak terhadap sang raja. Raja itu bukanlah manusia, dia memiliki sifat iblis yang suka membunuh orang yang tidak disukainya. Seakan tidak ada yang mampu menahannya. Dia telah mendaulat dirinya sebagai dewa. Dewa Kematian.
Melalui pemberontakan yang tidak disangka-sangka ini, sang raja pun menjadi terdesak. Mata-mata dari kelompok pemberontak membocorkan kepada pimpinan mereka, laki-laki bermata elang, bahwa raja telah kabur ketakutan ke sebuah kamar di belakang istana. Itu adalah kamar khusus. Desas-desus sempat menyebar bahwa raja punya kekuatan yang tidak terduga. Laki-laki bermata elang pun segera menghunus pedangnya untuk menyusul sang raja.
Laki-laki yang akan menjadi pahlawan di negeri itu pun mendobrak pintu rahasia sang raja. Dia melangkah dengan gagah, seakan-akan hendak mengakhiri semuanya dengan satu tebasan saja. Namun, dengan tidak disangka-sangka, sesosok mahluk yang terlihat asing berdiri mengadang tebasan laki-laki bermata elang. Dia adalah raja, namun dalam wujud yang amat berbeda. Raja yang biasanya tampak tua dan ringkih kini terlihat jauh lebih gagah. Dia muncul dengan zirah berwarna hitam keperakan terbuat dari baja murni dan pedang dengan ujung yang mengeluarkan api. Cahaya yang sama juga terlihat dari ujung rambutnya yang menjuntai panjang seperti cemeti api yang menari-nari di udara.
Laki-laki pemberontak itu tidak bisa berbuat apa-apa. Dia lebih banyak menerima serangan. Setiap tebasan dari sang raja membuat genggaman pedangnya terasa remuk. Seakan tebasan raja seberat palu godam yang menghantam beton. Laki-laki itu tidak bisa menahan serangan sang raja lebih lama. Pada akhirnya, dia terpental jauh dan menghantam pagar di belakang istana. Satu tebasan terakhir membuatnya terpental lagi dan jatuh ke dalam parit besar. Tubuhnya ditelan air dan hilang. Untuk selamanya.
Di saat yang sama, kekuatan pasukan kerajaan pun telah pulih. Kelompok pemberontak dipukul mundur. Lari dan diaspora. Kebanyakan di antara pasukan pemberontak tewas di tangan prajurit kerajaan. Sebagian lagi memilih bersembunyi. Yang tertangkap hidup-hidup akan mendapat hukuman.
Dengan sebuah keajaiban, laki-laki yang merupakan ketua pemberontak ternyata selamat. Tubuhnya terdampar di sebuah pinggiran sungai. Aliran air sungai telah membawanya ke tempat itu. Dia kini terbangun. Tubuhnya penuh luka dan memar. Dia ingat bahwa sang raja telah mengalahkannya. Dia kini percaya dengan rumor bahwa raja bersekutu dengan iblis.
"Akhirnya kau datang juga," tiba-tiba terdengar sebuah suara saat laki-laki itu sedang memeriksa luka-luka di tubuhnya.
"Siapa itu???" laki-laki pemberontak itu segera memasang kuda-kuda dengan memegang sepotong kayu yang baru saja dipungutnya dari pinggir sungai.
Mata elang laki-laki itu bersiap menangkap apa pun yang bergerak dan mencurigakan. Namun, hanya ada semak-semak. Laki-laki bersikap waspada dengan cara mengayun-ayunkan ranting kayu di tangannya seolah sedang memegang sebilah pedang.
"Aku sudah lama menunggumu. Aku tahu kau akan datang. Kau adalah laki-laki yang telah dinubuatkan di dalam ramalan. Kau adalah orang yang akan mengalahkan sang raja lalim," suara itu terdengar lagi di telinga laki-laki pemberontak. Kali ini semakin terdengar jelas.
"Aku di sini," sambut suara itu.
Akhirnya tampak bahwa suara misterius itu berasal dari seekor ikan yang ada di dalam sungai. Laki-laki itu hampir melompat saking terkejutnya.
"Siapa kau? tanya laki-laki itu.
"Aku kira kau tidak akan pernah bertanya. Aku adalah raja yang sesungguhnya. Raja lalim itu mengubahku menjadi ikan," ikan itu bercerita panjang lebar. Mereka pun tampak mulai akrab.
"Hari ini aku akan mengungkap rahasia di balik kekuatan raja. Ini sekaligus menjadi kelemahan utamanya."
"Dengarlah, untuk mengalahkan raja, maka kau mesti memotong ujung rambutnya yang panjang itu. Kalau itu bisa kau lakukan, raja lalim itu akan kalah. Selain itu, ajak dia bertarung di luar istana. Selama dia berada di dalam kamar rahasianya, kekuatannya akan selalu pulih. Di sanalah dia memuja iblis yang selama ini memberinya kekuatan."
Sebelum laki-laki pemberontak itu pergi untuk membalaskan dendamnya, ikan tersebut memberitahu bahwa dia harus mengambil pedang khusus yang tersembunyi di balik batu besar di seberang sungai. Hanya pedang itu yang bisa memotong ujung rambut sang raja lalim.
"Jangan lupa, bawa turut serta bersamamu. Taruh aku ke dalam botol," pinta sang ikan.
Berbekal dengan pedang dari sang ikan, laki-laki itu berjalan menuju ke hutan belantara. Sesampai di tengah hutan, dia mulai bersiul dengan irama aneh sebanyak tujuh kali. Itu merupakan kode untuk kawanannya yang tersisa. Sesaat kemudian, puluhan orang muncul dari balik semak belukar.
"Kami kira kau sudah tewas."
Mereka tampak girang dan langsung memeluk sang pemimpin pemberontak.
Segera setelah pertemuan penuh haru itu, rencana pemberontakan kedua pun dimulai.
Beberapa hari kemudian, pemberontakan betul-betul meledak kembali. Raja berang bukan main. Dia tidak menyangka dengan serangan tiba-tiba ini. Penduduk juga kembali bergabung dengan cara menyusun sisa-sisa kekuatan dan berhasil melumpuhkan sayap kiri pasukan kerajaan. Pasukan pemberontak berhasil mendesak ke jantung istana. Laki-laki bermata elang berada di garda terdepan. Dia telah mengatur strategi. Sebelum raja yang pengecut berlari menuju kamar rahasianya, laki-laki bermata elang berteriak.
"Lihatlah! Raja kalian berlari ketakutan!"
Dia berteriak sehingga teriakannya sampai ke telinga pasukan kerajaan yang sedang bertempur di jantung istana.
"Aku menantang raja untuk bertarung satu lawan satu!"
"Kalau raja berjiwa kesatria, dia harusnya berani menerima tantanganku!"
"Di sini, di tempat ini, saat ini juga!"
Raja yang berniat lari ke dalam istana pun segera menghentikan langkah. Bukan karena mendengar kalimat tantangan dari pemberontak tadi, namun karena merasa risih dengan para pasukannya yang berteriak penuh semangat seakan tidak sabar ingin melihat raja mereka membantai sang pemberontak yang sombong dan tidak tahu diri.
Raja pun berbalik, dia tanpa basa-basi segera memberi tebasan pertamanya kepada laki-laki yang tak merupakan pimpinan para pemberontak. Keadaan tentu jauh berbeda dari pertarungan mereka sebelumnya. Kali ini, tebasan pedang besar itu ditangkis dengan sangat mudah. Laki-laki itu bahkan sempat tersenyum tipis sembari melayangkan tebasan balasan. Tebasan itu amat mengejutkan raja. Dia baru sadar bahwa pedang yang dipegang oleh laki-laki itu bukanlah pedang sembarangan.
"Wusss," lagi-lagi serangan datang dengan cepat seperti roket.
"Kali ini kau akan menerima balasan dari semua perbuatanmu!" teriak laki-laki itu.
Raja berusaha mengelak setiap tebasan yeng terasa semakin ganas dan bertubi-tubi. Dia kepayahan. Pasukannya terlihat prihatin dan khawatir. Mereka ingin membantu, tetapi mereka takut itu malah akan membuat raja marah besar.
"Wusss!" kali ini, tanpa ampun, serangan itu berhasil memotong ujung rambut sang raja. Potongan rambut itu terpental ke udara sesaat sebelum jatuh ke lantai.
Tiba-tiba sang raja berteriak seperti orang kesakitan. Kedua tangannya memegang kepalanya, matanya melotot ke langit. Mulutnya menganga lebar lantas mengeluarkan api. Api itu melesat muntah lalu menghilang di udara. Bersamaan dengan itu, sang raja jatuh ke lantai. Tubuhnya mengerucut, seperti balon kempes.
Setelah tubuh raja itu lenyap seperti asap, tiba-tiba ikan yang selama ini berada di dalam botol yang tergantung di pinggang laki-laki pimpinan pemberontak itu pun melompat ke udara, berputar-putar sejenak lalu berubah menjadi sesosok laki-laki. Semua orang keheranan, kecuali sang kepala pemberontak. Ia mirip sekali dengan sang raja yang baru saja dibunuh tadi.
Seluruh penduduk negeri itu akhirnya sadar bahwa selama ini mereka dipimpin oleh raja palsu. Singkat cerita, negeri itu pun kembali dipimpin oleh raja yang sebenarnya. Rakyatnya pun sejahtera dan hidup bahagia. Laki-laki yang menjadi kepala pemberontak pun diangkat penasihat raja.