“Captain Reddy, we’ve caught a big fish this time!
The grimoire that boy has has four leaves!”
Kerr pointed at Yuno with a boastful, greedy grin.
“A four-leaf grimoire…
like the one used by the first Wizard King?”
Reddy, the burly leader of the Fierce Dragon Bandits, stared at the glittering grimoire beside Yuno.
His two rat-like eyes gleamed with intense, unfiltered greed.
That disgusting gaze made Yuno frown deeply in displeasure.
“Your name is Kerr, right?
You’re right about one thing—the surprise moment has indeed arrived.”
Asta stepped forward, a bright, dangerous smile on his face.
He scanned the ravine with a cool, calculating gaze, noting the exact positions of the 132 bandits scattered across the terrain.
Testing the heavy weight of his new blade against real combatants sounded like the perfect way to break it in.
“Time to test this out…”
SWOOSH!
Asta’s five-leaf grimoire hovered into the air, its dark, blood-red mana swirling as he pulled out the heavy Demon-Slayer Sword.
Gripping the massive hilt with both hands, his muscles bulged.
A pale green aura and blood-red chakra intertwined around his body like roaring dragons.
“Earth Creation Magic: Giant Shield!” Reddy shrieked in panic, instinctively sensing the terrifying pressure radiating from Asta.
CRASH!
Four towering, thick earthen walls burst from the ground, completely enveloping Reddy and Kerr in a fortress of rock.
“Is he just a paper tiger?” Reddy muttered inside the dark dome, wiping cold sweat from his forehead as he waited for an attack.
Outside, Asta didn’t even target the wall.
He simply took a deep breath, crouched low, and swung the heavy Demon-Slayer Sword in a massive horizontal arc!
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave of raw physical force and Anti-Magic compressed air swept outward like a tidal wave.
With just a single effortless swing, the compressed air blast crashed through the entire left flank of bandits!
“Gahhh!”
Over fifty hardened bandits were instantly scooped off their feet, thrown high into the air, and smashed into the rock walls of the ravine before collapsing into an unconscious, broken heap on the ground.
Without pausing, Asta pivoted on his heel and delivered a swift, backhand follow-up swing toward the remaining group.
BANG!
A second gale-force shockwave swept across the ground, instantly clearing out the rest of the surrounding bandits like bowling pins.
In less than two seconds and with only two simple swings, the entire 132-man bandit gang lay completely incapacitated in the dirt.
The young people watching from behind stood frozen in absolute, stunned silence.
The chubby boy’s mouth hung open so wide it nearly touched his chest.
Faced with the panicked onslaught of elemental magic from the right flank, Asta didn’t flinch.
Concentrating his internal energy, he unleashed the Second Gate: Gate of Rest from the Eight Gates Formation, causing pale green chakra and crimson energy to violently explode around his body like a roaring storm.
With his physical power leaping to terrifying heights, Asta jumped directly into mid-air and swung the heavy Demon-Slayer Sword in a massive horizontal arc.
The sheer physical pressure combined with the blade’s Anti-Magic properties swatted the entire barrage of fire dragons, wind blades, and ice spears right back at the attackers, vaporizing the remaining mages in a single, devastating counter-blast.
With only the bandit leader Reddy hiding behind an eight-meter-thick earthen fortress, Asta landed smoothly and walked up to the shell.
He didn’t waste time negotiating; concentrating his immense Gate-enhanced strength into his forearms, he thrust the flat edge of the Demon-Slayer Sword into the structure, completely unraveling the creation magic and shattering the barrier into dust.
Before Reddy could even beg for his life, Asta delivered a swift, casual backhand blow with the heavy blade, knocking the leader out cold against the cliff wall and wiping out the entire Fierce Dragon Bandit Gang.
“Is…
is it really over?”
“They were all defeated!”
“My God, we’re so lucky to have met such a powerful fighter!”
The group of young boys and girls burst into tears of joy.
For them, this was a true escape from the jaws of death.
Asta…
when did he become so strong?
Yuno stared at Asta in disbelief.
To outsiders, it always seemed as though Asta was chasing after him, but Yuno knew the truth—he had always been following in Asta’s footsteps, looking up at him from behind.
“Um…
thank you so much for saving us,” said Lisa, the most beautiful of the village girls, stepping forward with genuine gratitude.
“My name is Lisa, from Bluelin Village.
If you ever pass by, I’ll do my best to welcome you.”
“Oh?
Are you planning to head back?” Asta asked casually.
“We’ve only just left our village and already met such danger,” Lisa admitted, shaking her head.
“The road to the capital is long, and I can’t imagine what else lies ahead.
I’ve decided to go home.”
With Lisa giving up, the other two girls and several remaining youths realized how harsh the real world was and decided to turn back as well.
They said their goodbyes, while Asta and Yuno continued forward without delay.
As he walked, Asta kept his gaze sharp, his vision expanding smoothly.
Every subtle detail of the surrounding forest—the fine texture of distant leaves, the tiny insects crawling on tree bark, and the exact trajectory of a falling feather—registered instantly in his mind with hyper-clear precision.
His sensory perception had reached an entirely new echelon, allowing him to track movement long before anyone else could react.
“Now this is a true edge in combat,” Asta muttered with a subtle smirk, looking ahead toward the horizon where the Royal Capital awaited them.