Chapter 2 Conquering Aslup City

In the paranungsa world, there are two types of people who have superpowers. They are esper and witch. Any human can become a superpower user known as an esper. However, most humans cannot reach the starting point of becoming an esper. As a result, some impatient humans will use instant methods. Armed with treasures as offerings to Holy Beings, they obtain powers similar to those of esper magic. Those who make contracts with Holy Beings for the sake of magic power are called wizards commonly known as 'mages' which means magic power users.

About a thousand years ago, the group of continents known as the Ring of Frozen Dragon experienced a period of humanitarian crisis that greatly affected the harmony between Esper and mage. At that time, the kingdom called Land of Lenka, known as the tarnisher of the ancestral covenant, declared the extermination of mages throughout the continent.

The queen of the Land of Lenka kingdom Alice D Lenka, who had been taught from childhood that mages were the cause of destruction, realized her will. Millions of lives were killed under her command. Although in the end Alice D Lenka's madness was conquered by the alliance of the Artshimmeri and Lotrofd kingdoms, until now the mages continue to anticipate that the nobles might commit genocide like Alice D Lenka did.

As a result of the harmony between Esper and mage being disrupted, many people have bad suspicions about each other. Mage became divided into two camps, one of which wanted to coexist with the esper and the other camp chose to live in groups not wanting to deal with the nobles.

Time goes on and the anti-noble mage camp begins to think badly that the group must be stronger than the esper to overcome events like what happened in the Land of Lenka kingdom. Because every increase in the level of the mages relies on treasures in the form of gold and silver coins as offerings, as a result, it is not uncommon for this camp to commit robbery. And the man named Saber who has power over Kidnagan's independence is one of this camp.

Under Saber's less restrictive upbringing, Kidnagan became a very talented esper. In just five years, Kidnagan was able to become a second-level esper. This meant that Kidnagan's strength was comparable to a third-level mage.

When Kidnagan was eleven years old, Kidnagan went to Rooben's orphanage and managed to kill Rooben and four of his subordinates.

As time passed, Kidnagan became a 4th-level esper at the age of 13. Saber also recruited many mages to enlarge his bandit group. When he was 15 years old, Kidnagan showed extraordinary achievements by becoming an esper who was able to reach the 5th level. With this achievement, Kidnagan became the only teenager capable of sitting at the highest peak of the paranungsa title.

Relying on Kidnagan's strength that had never failed to defend the second base despite being repeatedly besieged by soldiers belonging to other nobles or bandit groups, Saber decided to try to fulfill his childhood dream of conquering all kingdoms. Six years later, Saber planned to conquer a city as the first step in realizing his goal.

*Aslup City, Artshimmeri Kingdom.*

In the eastern part of Aslup City, two camps have now formed that are ready to fight. One of them was the Aslup City camp. With five thousand troops, Erdan V Aslup as the landlord certainly hoped to win against the bandits who were too bold to declare the seizure of his territory.

In the other camp, Saber as the leader of the bandits seemed so relaxed because he felt that victory was entirely on his side. Although his followers only numbered a thousand and those ordered to fight were only about five hundred, he did not show the slightest fear of seeing ten times more enemy troops.

Saber tried to take control of Aslup City because it was often used as a stopover for royal soldiers who wanted to attack his group.

Sitting on a throne on the front lawn of the 'walking house' carried by forty people was proof of Saber's insanity. Even earlier, Aslup's city envoy who was the 'war negotiator' had turned pale when he saw the house moving quickly over the large river that served as a barrier to movement. For Saber, this 'walking house' was his pride. He didn't want to be compared to other leaders who simply rode horses into battle.

All this madness didn't start as nonsense. Saber's group was widely recognized as the strongest bandits. This was because they had a young man whose strength was believed to be on par with the legends.

Kidnagan's silent demeanor, mask-covered lower face, and closed clothes like an assassin made Kidnagan seem mysterious and frightening.

Outsiders did not know that the young man standing next to Saber was a genius capable of strengthening the bandit group. With just one proof of theory and the breaking of an ancient code, Kidnagan was able to make Saber and his followers into mages that were stronger than the level they should be. This war was a showcase for the second theories on mineral elements that were not commonly learned by 4th-level mages.

Seeing that the enemy spokesman had returned to the ranks, Saber raised his right hand to signal the troops across the river to advance.

The bandits looked eager to take over Aslup City. The five hundred men of 3rd and 4th level mages who were in the camp near the river rushed over.

"Time for action! Let's prove that we are not to be disturbed!"

"What's there to prove? From the start, Aslup City wasn't even considered by Saber. The Aslup city massacre was just a war drumbeat aimed at the universe!"

Hearing that joke, all the bandits laughed.

By running so fast, the twenty-meter-wide river designed as a natural defense seemed like a mere joke to the Saber group. They had come to the city of Aslup by cutting down large trees just so that Saber's 'walking house' and two 'walking kitchen' buildings could be carried. Surely such a small river could not possibly impede their movement.

***

The war horn was sounded by Aslup City. They took the initiative to attack first before Saber came out of the farmland area on the outermost side of the city.

"Attack!"

Erdan V Aslup certainly did not waste the advantage of geography and the number of his troops. The troops on the periphery ran faster than those in the center. With the change in line pattern that turned into a curve, he hoped that the Saber troops who were still not united could be easily defeated. Moreover, Saber's troops remained neatly lined up following the road that stretched straight as if they didn't think about setting foot in the field area. It was Saber's arrogance that could be used as another advantage. Erdan left only 300 Gold Troops, the 2nd best troops, and 65 elite troops including nobles to move slowly.

"Attack!" the soldiers responded with a loud voice.

The soldiers of Aslup City were getting more and more excited. Their mentality grew stronger and there was no more fear - as if they had forgotten who their opponents were.

However, Saber was still sitting relaxed even though he saw five thousand enemy troops starting to show a 180-degree attack formation.

"Kidnagan, can this 'walking house' be placed on the border of the farmland?" asked Saber while looking at Kidnagan.

"You want to put this house in the middle of the enemy troops?" asked Kidnagan back without looking at Saber.

Saber burst out laughing. "No-no! It's because the vegetables on this land are ours from now on. Of course, all our possessions must not be destroyed by the enemy," said Saber.

"Whatever you want. Other than the task you gave me, I don't care."

"Alright!" Saber stood proudly and motioned for the man carrying the 'walking house' to come forward. "Troops, charge!" he ordered loudly.

The troops behind Saber who had joined in also moved forward. Surprisingly, after the house was set down, the forty people carrying the house immediately ran back.

The troops of Aslup City cheered. They were even more excited as they realized that some of the opposing troops were behaving like losers. As the ideal distance for a long-range attack had been reached, Aslup City's troops simply attacked using fire and water magic; throwing spears and releasing arrows reinforced with esper vibrations.

However, who would have thought that Kidnagan's one move could cancel out all the attacks?

Kidnagan took a high jump and flung both hands forward until a massive wave of wind reversed all the attacks. The gust of wind was so strong that the rear troops of Aslup City were also affected.

The nobles were naturally shocked after observing the features of the young man who unleashed such a powerful force. Even Erdan V Aslup was pale-faced when he saw him.

"How is that possible?! He... he is the Demon Boy! Why would he join the battle?" Erdan hardened his jaw and clenched his fists tightly. "Mobilize the Golden Army to kill him!"