Sukrosono waited for Sumantri in Mega Malang. He had waited a very long time for the opportunity to come. In this transitory place, he had abandoned all his possessions, including his supernatural powers. The only one remaining was the power stored in his right fang. While he was resigned to giving up everything he owned, he would have rescinded the fangs too had it been not for the beautiful memories he found too dear to erase. On his way to Jatisrana back then he came across Dewi Tunjung Biru who he later rescued from being chased by the giant Kaladaru. As a token of gratitude, the beautiful princess had let Sukrosono guzzle on her breasts. Indulging on her breasts appeared to be the only love Sukrosono had ever experienced. Dewi Tunjung's breasts gave him a different warmth than his mother's that he had suckled when she came down from the transitory place to visit him in the Jatirasa forest. While letting Sukrosono relish her breasts, Dewi Tunjung Biru used her life-empowering spell on him. Slowly she released her breasts from Sukrosono's mouth before disappearing. Sukrosono returned to soberness and felt at a loss. But he immediately realized what he was missing was actually stored in his right fang. In his right fang, he harbored the love that would not desert him even after his death. So when he was killed at the hands of his brother he ascended to the Mega Malang transitory realm and gave up everything he had, except for the fang. The right fang was the fang of love he would rescind only for the sake of love. He kept waiting for when that love would come so he could remove it.
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Finally, the time came. He came down from his waiting place in Mega Malang, diving into the mouth of the Ganges River, which had turned into a battlefield. Everything was gripped in silence. Everyone was at a standstill as Rahwana grappled with his last breath.
Rahwana's head lay motionless. It was no longer possible for the giant king to revolt. Sumantri approached Rahwana's head to make sure Rahwana really had perished. Rahwana was dying, motionless. But as Sumantri took a closer look at the giant’s head, Rahwana felt his fangs being tickled. He felt as if something was entering his fangs. It appeared that Sukrosono, after swooping down from the sky, was intruding into Rahwana's fangs.
The tickling in his fangs made Rahwana aware that he was still alive. Seeing Sumantri come closer to his head, without a second thought he immediately snatched Sumantri with his fangs.
The bite came so quickly and beyond Sumantri’s expectation. He felt the fangs were biting his neck affectionately. For a moment, it crossed his mind that if it had come from Rahwana's fangs, the bite would not have been so affectionate. It was not Rahwana's fangs, but Sukrosono's. He had embodied Rahwana to reach out to Sumantri. That's when Sumantri perished. He died not from Rahwana's vengeful fangs, but the fang of love of his brother, who had harbored love for Dewi Sri before her incarnation into Dewi Citrawati.
The warring army thought Sumantri had perished because of Rahwana’s cruel bite, yet he had died because of affection.
Sukrosono had no intention of taking revenge. He bit his brother just because he wanted to take him back to Jatisrana for eternity. And Sumantri was gone, not through cruel mortality, he felt the bite as a welcoming greeting with love, a gentle invitation to death he had longed for. The warring army thought Sumantri had perished because of Rahwana’s cruel bite, yet he had died because of affection.
Both the Maespati and Alengka sides were taken by surprise at what had happened. Having initially thought that Rahwana would have perished, they saw Sumantri die, instead. They became more stunned as they watched Sumantri's body suddenly disappear. A pair of beautiful lights were seen rising to the sky. The moon was shining brighter, and a shower of flowers suddenly came down. For a moment the battlefield was filled with flowers, the fragrance overpowering the rancid smell of blood. As the fragrance wore out, the pair of lights disappeared behind the clouds. No one knew where that pair of lights had gone. Those on the battlefield had no vision of them anymore. As the pair of lights disappeared, the moon no longer gave out any light. The battlefield was shrouded in darkness, and not long after there was a loud growling sound. The voice roared out from the mouth of Rahwana, who came back to life after biting Sumantri. Soon after, his separated head found his body, Rahwana was back as a terrifying demon of death. He was unperturbed by the moon that no longer gave out light because he himself was the darkness. Once his head and body were united, he regained his power to recover all the heads that had been slashed by Sumantri. The heads rolled between the legs of the soldiers who either dodged or fled in fear. The heads merged into Rahwana's body again and he transformed into a Dasamuka (a 10-faced immense giant).
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Rahwana was back as he had been before. But more than before – now he became a more furious demon of death. As he growled, hundreds of arms poked out from his body. He growled again, and out of the hands flared flaming torches. The battlefield became bright instantly with the fire of Rahwana's anger. He raged around, destroying many of Maespati's armies with the fire. He ran amok. Anyone getting in his way fell prey to his merciless rampage. He could not distinguish anymore between comrades and foes. Even many giants of Alengka fell victim to his wrath.
Dawn was approaching and Rahwana did not stop venting his anger. Many of Maespati's troops perished. Others fled to save themselves, though many were unsuccessful as the demon of death would chase them anywhere to devour them. Realizing that the Maespati troops were on the brink of annihilation, Patih Suroto blitzed away toward the mouth of the Ganges River. He believed that only his teacher Prabu Arjunasasrabahu could save Maespati's troops from Rahwana's wrath.
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
