Inside Wagang Village, a handsome young man was leaning on a folding chair, busy with his handiwork (clipping his nails).
"Click."
"Click."
"Hmm?"
Just then, the main hall door of the village was violently pushed open, and an urgent and flustered voice came through.
"Boss! Boss! This is bad! Huff huff! ..."
The young man sitting on the folding chair stopped his work, lazily raised his head, and looked at his flustered subordinate.
"Ergou, how many times have I told you, knock before you come in."
"Our village isn't rich to begin with, and this door was just replaced. I want it to last a few more years."
"Understand?"
"The money for fixing the door will be deducted from your salary this month."
The subordinate named Ergou took a few deep breaths and hurriedly shouted, "Oh, Boss, what time is it? How can I worry about all that?"
"This time we've hit a snag; they've already come up the mountain!"
"We can't stop them at all!"
The young man slowly stood up and brushed off some crumbs from his body.
"Alright, alright, I already felt it just now."
"After doing this for so long, a big fish has finally come."
"Let's go, follow me out to take on this job!"
Outside the mountain stronghold,
A middle-aged man with orange slicked-back hair, some stubble on his chin, wearing a dark green cloak with shoulder pads, a robust physique, a dark vest, a wide belt tied around his waist, dark blue trousers, and brown boots.
He was smiling at the bandits opposite him, and after scanning the surroundings, he said, "Little brother, if you don't want to get hurt, it's best to step aside."
"My target this time isn't you. Let your boss come; it might save me some effort."
Upon hearing how arrogant this Mage was, the bandit immediately spoke.
"Just you? You're not worthy of fighting my boss. Haven't I dealt with enough Mages during this time?!"
"You won't be an exception either."
"Hand over all the money on you obediently, and I can give you a decent exit."
"The last one who spoke so arrogantly was stripped naked by my boss and hung in a tree for several days."
"Hahahahaha!!"
As soon as the bandit's subordinate finished speaking, the middle-aged man also laughed along with the bandit.
"Hahahahaha, you guys really are going too far."
"But if you want to hang me up, I wonder if your so-called boss has the strength for it."
"Also, is there no one else in your bandit's nest? I only met one of you on the way up?"
"No, counting the one who just ran back to report, that's two?!"
"Are you really bandits?"
San Mao looked at Gildarts with disdain.
"Tsk, what do you know?"
"Our boss said, it's not about the number of soldiers, but their quality. With me and Ergou, this wolong and fengchu, we are worth a hundred thousand elite soldiers!"
After saying that, San Mao proudly raised his head, his eyes full of pride.
"Uh…"
Gildarts felt a bit speechless looking at him. Although he didn't know what wolong and fengchu meant, he had a feeling it wasn't a good term.
Then Gildarts rubbed his head.
"Although I don't know what you mean, since you've become a bandit, you must have the corresponding resolve."
Suddenly, a massive surge of magical power emanated from the middle-aged man.
San Mao only felt an unprecedented pressure on his body. With his current physical fitness and mental strength, he simply couldn't withstand such pressure, and in just a moment, he collapsed onto the ground.
Just as Gildarts was about to make his move,
A bright light flashed in the distance on the mountain.
"Whoosh!"
"Disassembly."
As the bright light was about to reach the middle-aged man, it was directly Disassembled in mid-air.
The middle-aged man's eyes were fixed forward, only to see a young man appear in front of him at some unknown point.
After San Mao saw the familiar figure, he immediately felt confident, quickly climbed up from the ground, and ran behind the young man.
"Boss, you're finally here! This Mage is so arrogant. This time, let's strip him naked and hang him in a tree too."
The young man watched his subordinate, San Mao, chattering non-stop.
He then placed his hand on San Mao's face, and San Mao, who was speaking excitedly, immediately shut his mouth.
"Gen… Gently, please."
The young man pushed hard, and San Mao was directly sent flying sideways, landing on the grass.
"You're so noisy, San Mao. Didn't I just get here?"
San Mao abruptly stood up, returned behind the young man, and closed his mouth.
Then the young man looked at the familiar middle-aged man before him.
"Red… Red Hair?"
"No, no, you must be Gildarts!"
Gildarts was slightly surprised. He never expected this bandit leader to be so young and to recognize him.
"Hahaha, I guess I'm already that famous, huh? Are you my fan?"
"When I beat you up later, I might consider going a little easier on you."
Ye Yang looked at the somewhat unreliable Gildarts and said, "Kuwai Uncle, your magical pressure just now was as strong as a monster, truly terrifying."
Gildarts listened to what the young man said, and somehow it didn't feel quite right.
"You Stinky Brat, why were you so annoying just now?"
"Sorry, I take back what I just said. I must teach you a good lesson, kid."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gildarts raised his right hand, and a magic circle unfolded in his palm.
"Disassembly."
White lines had already appeared under Ye Yang's feet, and the ground was instantly Disassembled into small pieces of stone.
"Whoa! What is this?!"
San Mao, who was behind Ye Yang, felt his feet give way and fell directly into the Disassembled pit, covered by rubble.
At this moment, Ergou, who had rushed over, didn't see the collapsed ground ahead, and his feet lost their footing, causing him to fall as well.
"Oh my god! Who's so uncivilized as to dig a pit in the road?!"
Meanwhile, Ye Yang had already transformed into a golden light and vanished the moment Gildarts made his move, appearing beside Gildarts in the blink of an eye.
"Speed is power. Have you ever been kicked by light?"
"Lightspeed Kick!"
"Crush!"
"Boom—!!"
In an instant, Gildarts was enveloped in smoke.
Suddenly, Gildarts, who was in the smoke, saw a bright light appear in front of him. Under his perception, he immediately felt something was wrong. He pushed off with his feet and directly rushed out of the smoke.
"Boom—!"
The smoke slowly dispersed, revealing a crater on the ground with a radius of about 5m.
"That was close, that was close. I almost got hit."
Saying that, Gildarts' smile faded, and his eyes became slightly serious as he looked at the young man before him.
"Kid, what's your name? To possess such power at such a young age is truly surprising."
"Originally, I thought this was just a normal Subjugation mission, but the old man insisted I come."
"From your conversation just now, I've gathered some different meanings."
"After all, in this mountain near Magnolia Town, at the foot of the mountain is where a legitimate guild is located. To openly act as bandits here…"
"Either this person has absolute confidence in his own strength, or there's some unspeakable secret."
"It couldn't be that you yourselves issued the request, could it?"