> “Leader of the Sorcerers, how can I become a champion without equal in the whole world? For if I do, nothing will stop me from multiplying the ظلم (oppression) I commit a thousand times over. I will wage war on all the cities surrounding my kingdom, so that I will increase the greatness of Zalmura and make it unmatched once again. Then I will station an entire battalion of warriors inside my palace.”
When King Balwanu reached this point in his speech, Sorcerer Kurbasu burst into that ugly, unpleasant laughter of his. Suddenly his face darkened and he said:
> “This is the first test I gave you, to see how deep you have gone in cruelty. And I have realized that you are no small tyrant. Therefore, right now I will give you a magical talisman. If you bind it to your body, you will become the champion of champions.
> Even a horse will not be able to carry you—only an elephant. And if you jump and land on the elephant’s back, it will drop dead. If you enter the midst of an army, no matter how many they are, they will not last even a moment before you.
But this talisman has conditions. If you violate them, the magic and sorcery within it will be destroyed.
> The first condition is that once you wear it, you must never show mercy to anyone. You must not pity anything—not even yourself.
> The second condition is that you must never act with justice; you must be an oppressor to everyone. If you allow yourself to show compassion, the power of the magic and sorcery in it will be broken. These two things you must avoid if you wear this talisman.
And once you bind it, it will fuse with your skin and will never come off, so that even your enemies will not be able to remove it.”
King Balwanu replied to Sorcerer Kurbasu:
> “I accept all the conditions you have stated, and I am ready to abide by them.”
Sorcerer Kurbasu smiled, raised his hands into the air, and began to chant powerful incantations. Suddenly lightning and thunder filled the rocky cave, as if it were about to collapse. Even King Balwanu covered his ears, the noise threatening to tear his eardrums apart.
From within the thunder and lightning, the talisman appeared in Sorcerer Kurbasu’s hand. At once, the thunder and lightning ceased.
Sorcerer Kurbasu handed the talisman to King Balwanu, granting him permission to wear it. With trembling hands, Balwanu took it, stood up, and fastened it as instructed. The moment he put it on, it fused to his skin, and sweat began to pour from his body, though he did not know why.
Then he saw his body swell and grow. His arms thickened and expanded until the robe he was wearing tore apart. His muscles twisted as if ropes had been tied around them. His eyes turned wild like those of a cat, his height increased, and even the shoes on his feet burst apart because of the swelling of his legs.
In short, the clothes on his body fell off in tatters, and in their place appeared strange, fearsome garments—jet-black, along with two enormous swords of terrifying size. Even one of these swords, if laid on ten iron anvils, could split them in two if properly wielded.
On his feet appeared sandals made of lion skin, as though the lion’s hide had been molded directly onto his feet.
Truly, anyone who looked upon King Balwanu at that moment would know that overwhelming destructive power stood before them—he had become a Demon of Warriors.
He himself felt a monstrous strength in his body, a power beyond words. He felt as if he could lift the great rocky cave of Darul Sibir, or fight all the champions of the world at once. He even felt that if the whole world rose against him, he could crush it.
Sorcerer Kurbasu stood up from the rock where he sat, looked at King Balwanu, and said:
> “O King, can you describe the power you now feel within your body?”
At this, King Balwanu burst into a wild, terrifying laughter that echoed through the cave, the laughter of a proud, mighty champion. Then he said:
> “Leader of the Sorcerers, I swear by the force I now possess, I cannot even describe the power raging within me. But I feel as if, even if elephants were to rain from the sky, I could chase them and catch them!”
Hearing this, Sorcerer Kurbasu smiled and said:
> “I knew it, Balwanu. Now what I want you to know is this: I have already cast a spell so that before SADAUKI MAI ZAKI reaches your kingdom, his journey will take twenty days instead of eighteen hours. By then, you will have had enough time to prepare how you will face him—though I know he will not last long before you kill him.
And along his journey I will keep sending him calamities through my sorcery and magic. I know he will not be able to overcome them. Before he even reaches your kingdom, I will destroy him, and you will be free of his threat.”
