Once, Chain Scythe had raved about the strength and greatness of B-class heroes. To put it bluntly, though, B-class heroes were no longer a match for my current self.
Of course, it wasn't always a flawless victory. Every time I defeated someone, I gained small wounds on my body.
On the other hand, A-class was definitely different. I had only fought two A-class heroes so far, including the one in front of me, but I figured I knew how strong they were.
It was a position attained only when a person with immense talent overcame many hardships and was blessed with luck. The result was a top-tier group that consisted of less than a hundred out of the thousands, or perhaps more, members of the Hero Society.
Of course, just hearing "A-class" didn't necessarily make them seem that strong. Perhaps that was due to the mercenaries having adopted a similar rating system.
However, a single A-class hero was strong enough to be considered the most powerful person in a small or medium-sized city.
That meant even if they didn't join the Hero Society, they could play the role of a knight captain, a guard knight, or a leader of an escort team. They also raked in a huge amount of money.
If they were magicians, the magic towers would scramble to recruit them. If they were mercenaries, they would be called S-class or higher, and would be promised the highest treatment in any mission.
Now thinking about it, calling them S-class mercenaries makes them sound really impressive. I inwardly laughed.
For Luan, who had once died as a C-class mercenary, the rank of an S-class mercenary would have been unreachable.
Was Kaela, the Mercenary King, Kayan's adopted daughter? I had only heard about people like that in rumors. I'd never once met one in person. Forget S-class, I'd barely even met any A-class mercenaries.
In this way, I had a relatively accurate sense of what level I was at.
Currently, I was probably in the upper tier of the Hero Society's A-class. Of course, if I used a technique like the purple flames, then most A-class heroes wouldn't be able to face me.
"I looked at Laura quietly. How would this woman respond? Would she enter the second round without a weapon, or just give up here? There were still plenty of opponents left to fight.
Of course, it would be better for me if she gave up, but I felt like I would be fine even if we kept going. I'd realized during the battle that fighting with this hero was quite fun, and I had a lot to gain.
Having lost her weapon, Laura quietly looked at me for a moment. Then she slowly shook her head and said, "I concede. Moongarden will withdraw here. It was a good match, Golden Fairy."
It was unclear whether this was a good thing, but Laura seemed to be thinking about stepping down.
Did the others not like her easy retreat?
Zach asked from the rear, "Dame Laura, don't you still have the strength to fight?"
Laura's cold gaze turned toward him and she responded, "That's right. If I continue the battle and drag it out into a battle of attrition, I can tire Golden Fairy out more and you can discover his remaining abilities. I know that is what you want. However, I will surely fail if I fight with my bare hands. The outcome has already been decided, so I don't want to fight anymore."
"Can I take this as the will of Moongarden?" Zach asked. His words made Laura's expression turn even colder.
"How insolent." The voice that slipped out of Laura's mouth after a moment of silence was low and rough.
Mana started swirling wildly around her, and her eyes shone brightly as she stood in the center of the mana storm. She added, "Don't cross the line, human. The reason why I agreed to such an embarrassing ambush was that our master owed you a debt from the past. The fight that just happened, or rather, me coming here today, was enough to pay off that debt."
Zach didn't respond.
"I have done my job. You can take care of the rest." Laura's tone had changed, as if she had become a completely different person.
I thought to myself that this was perhaps Laura's true nature.
It wasn't strange, since she was a fairy. They were a race known for their immense pride. Rather, the politeness she had just shown me was what was unexpected.
In any case, once Laura finished her criticism, she bowed slightly toward me and left the alley.
I looked at her retreating figure silently. The situation hadn't improved, even though I'd won. I felt that there was no one within A-class who was easy to deal with.
I had thought from the start that Laura was someone who hadn't done her best for some reason. It turned out she'd been dragged into a fight she hadn't wanted to be in from the beginning.
Judging from the concentration and pressure of the mana she'd released during her outburst, I could roughly guess the amount of power that Laura had hidden. Even if we had both gone all out, I might not have won so easily.
To put it bluntly, it still wasn't an easy victory. I smiled as I looked down at my bloodied hands. If not for the Hidden Scales Armor I gained from the capital, I would've suffered injuries serious enough to expose bone.
If the remaining A-class heroes were on the same level as Laura, I was sure I could win the next two times, but it would be hard to guarantee a third win. Perhaps I would even have to risk my life in the fourth battle.
Realistically, though, I likely only had two good fights left in me. There could be someone stronger than Laura among the remaining A-class heroes, and there were still many B-class heroes left. Among the remaining B-class heroes, there could even be some that were equivalent to A-class.
My condition would only get worse if they rushed to consume my physical strength.
Damn my right arm, I cursed inwardly. If I hadn't blocked with the Setting Sun Barrier, I would be in much better condition for the fights ahead.
But that was just hindsight talking. It was also possible that things only hadn't gotten worse because I used the Setting Sun Barrier. I knew that Heavy Sword Heero wasn't an opponent I could look down on.
Still, I was actually happy with the current situation. There were now thirteen opponents remaining; of those, four were A-class and nine were B-class.
I took a slight breath before calling out, "Next?"
At that moment, the surroundings suddenly became darker and a man appeared between the heroes. Why did he look a bit familiar?
"I am Peter Fang, the leader of Full Moon," he said.
"Aha," I murmured. It was the wolf beastman who had been standing at the rear and taunting me the whole time.
"First Moongarden and now Full Moon? What's next? A clan called Crescent Moon or something?" I remarked as I greeted him with a smirk, but my body remained tense. I'd known from the beginning that this beastman wouldn't be an easy opponent.
Even though I openly mocked him, Peter Fang's expression remained blank. There was no provocation or mockery from him, unlike before. That restraint manifested as a sharp presence.
The moment the outstretched mana coming from him touched my skin, I almost sighed. I'd hoped I was wrong, but he was a strong opponent I couldn't guarantee victory against even when I was in good shape.
Besides, he was a beastman, so he had to be good in close combat. Because of that, the advantage only I'd had in the alleyway was gone. He must've realized that and chosen to step up at this moment.
The other heroes murmured among themselves.
"Hmm..."
"So it's Peter Fang's turn."
Even more remarkable was their attitude. They visibly relaxed the moment Peter Fang stepped forward. Some of them even sheathed their weapons. Even though I had just won overwhelmingly against several B-class heroes and one A-class hero, they were confident that Peter Fang would win.
I concluded that he had to be top-tier among the A-class, maybe even the strongest. I didn't know how Laura would compare, but one thing was obvious: Peter Fang was stronger than Heero.
Our eyes met. Beastfolk like him always made people flinch when seeing their eyes at night. It was because their eyes absorbed the moonlight and shone brightly.
Peter Fang's figure soon disappeared from sight, but I didn't panic. After all, the battlefield was an alley. The only attack routes were from the front or from the air.
But thinking that would be a rookie mistake. I immediately kicked off the ground and stepped back.
The air itself audibly tore apart, and Peter Fang's upper body emerged from the shadows. It was hard to imagine that a man so massive could emerge from below in such an unexpected ambush.
The figure that emerged from the shadows looked no different from a wild beast. Moments ago, he'd still looked half human, but now, bright yellow eyes stared directly at me.
Grrrung...
Thick saliva flowed down from Peter Fang's jaws as he growled fiercely at me. Then he disappeared into the shadows once more. I had never seen anything like it, but it reminded me of a crocodile lurking in a swamp.
I quietly laughed. I'd heard that some beastfolk races had increased combat power under a full moon. This guy had to be one of them.
The unfortunate fact was that I was the complete opposite. I'd lured my opponents into this alley to make the most of the White Sun Eclipse. But just like with Laura earlier, and now with Peter Fang, I strongly felt that this move had backfired.
Every crisis is an opportunity , I told myself .
I didn't know about anything else, but this Peter Fang was definitely at the top of A-class. This time, I decided to use my internal energy to the fullest. As if that wasn't enough, I also used the power of the divine beast for the first time in a long time.
I started seeing the world through the eyes of a snake. At the same time, I felt a change in my appearance. I didn't like this form very much, but now wasn't the time to care about looks. Still, my form changed so drastically that someone could give me a new nickname based on it.
What surprised me was what happened next.
"Huh?"
The snake eyes showed me something I hadn't seen before. There was something that resembled black slime clinging to the alleyway.
Of course, it wasn't real slime. It was a place where there had been nothing just moments ago. Moreover, there was a bestial silhouette that moved back and forth between the slime as if teleporting. I wondered if this was the shadow space where Peter Fang could hide.
I was a bit surprised, but I didn't show it. Instead, I pretended to be guarding a spot away from where Peter Fang actually was.
He seemed quite confident in his ability and approached me without any doubts. This time, he seemed to be trying to attack from the shadow of the wall I had my back to. He reappeared, his claws bent like hooks as he grabbed at my neck.
Calling it a mere grab was misleading, though. If I took that blow without any defenses, my neck would be torn to shreds. Perhaps those claws could even tear through metal.
Just before they touched my neck, I spread my arms wide on both sides.
Baaam!
Of course, I didn't block the claws head-on. Instead, I defended by striking at Peter Fang's inner elbow. Judging from the impact, it felt like he'd fractured his left arm.
Peter Fang seemed surprised by my immediate response, but he didn't panic and attacked again. He aimed a bite at me with wide-open jaws.
"Ick!" I hurriedly lowered my head to avoid his bite. In the process, some of his saliva splashed onto my face.
"How disgusting, you son of a bitch," I muttered as I quickly slammed a fist upward at Peter Fang's chin. He yelped for a moment before hiding in the shadows again.
I continued tracking him as he disappeared into the slime, and plunged my fist into the spot where he landed.
Baaang!
As the wall completely shattered, the slime splashed everywhere and revealed Peter Fang hiding in the shadows. He roared like a wild beast and rushed toward me. Instead of flinching, I took a big step forward and exchanged blows at close range.
Peter Fang now fully exposed his entire body and attacked fiercely, biting at me and swiping his claws at me. The relentless assault was naturally quite threatening.
It was much more effective to infuse mana or internal energy into one's body than into a weapon. I also knew that because I fought with my bare hands.
Peter Fang had claws that could easily tear through skin even without such an infusion. So if he did use mana, the synergistic effect was probably greater for him than it was for me.
That didn't mean I lacked my own strengths, though.
The opponent was someone with a werewolf-like appearance. His legs were bent strangely, making it difficult for him to attack with his feet. Was that a limitation of his physical structure?
Meanwhile, my legs were free. That meant I had more options than this guy.
Baam!