"Did you deliberately avoid calling the S-Class Heroes just so you could keep all the credit for yourself?"
Garou was covered in white bandages, with blood seeping through many of his wounds, but he didn't care at all. He looked teasingly at the only remaining hero, Death Gatling.
"Do you see it clearly now? This is a victory for the monsters."
"Go to hell!"
Death Shower!
Bang... Bang...
Several bullets were fired, engulfing Garou's figure.
However, Death Gatling soon realized something was wrong. Every single bullet was being deflected by Garou using Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Even after his ammunition was exhausted, he hadn't managed to harm Garou in the slightest.
"Are you kidding me? He didn't get hit once!"
Cold sweat poured down Death Gatling's face as he looked at Garou, showing an expression of fear for the first time.
"Out of bullets? What a shame, you supporting characters. If you had just obediently called an S-Class Hero over—any one of them—things might have turned out differently." Garou mocked him with a feigned tone of regret.
"S-Class again... Are those of us outside S-Class only fit to be backups? S-Class heroes are indeed powerful, but we are heroes who risk our lives too!"
"Watch closely! The one who defeats the hero hunter who beat an S-Class hero is me! A-Class hero, Death Gatling!"
Death Gatling pulled out a dagger that shimmered with a cold light, a look of madness appearing on his face.
"I will defeat you and prove the value of our existence!"
Death Gatling's body turned into an afterimage as he charged toward Garou.
"How ridiculous. The one who cares about rankings the most is actually you."
Boom!
With a single punch, Garou sent Death Gatling flying dozens of meters, where he crashed to the ground and lost consciousness.
"Honestly, these heroes... Good thing I made that kid leave ahead of time."
Garou muttered to himself, not even sparing a glance at the fallen heroes, and prepared to find a quiet place to recover from his injuries.
...
"Dammit, is it still not enough?"
B-Class Rank 21, Glasses, leaned against a tree covered in blood. He struggled to pick up his phone, preparing to call the Hero Association headquarters for backup.
At that moment, a figure descended from the sky and stood before him.
"Garou, we meet again!"
King looked at the scene calmly. All eight heroes were down and unable to get up, the battle had been exceptionally brutal.
"It's you again!"
Garou naturally wouldn't forget the man in front of him. After all, he had already lost to him twice.
[Ding! Mission triggered: Defeat Garou in his initial evolution state. Reward: 500,000 Talent Points and one random Talent.]
As King expected, meeting Garou again triggered a system mission. This was exactly why he had come alone.
'I need to defeat him before Bang finds this place.'
Boom!
King's Fighting Spirit erupted, and the terrifying airwave nearly blew Garou away.
"Is that Dark Mask? Thank goodness."
Seeing that the newcomer was Dark Mask, Glasses felt relieved and completely blacked out.
'Damn it, why now? My body won't stop bleeding. The toxin from those arrows is spreading too, and my consciousness is getting blurry.'
Garou gritted his teeth, calmly analyzing the situation. Right now, he was clearly no match for Dark Mask.
'Should I force him into his initial evolution? I'll have to push harder then. Otherwise, once Bang and Bomb arrive, there won't be anything left for me to do.'
Bang!
King shot toward Garou, throwing an incredibly fierce punch.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!
Garou subconsciously used Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist to parry, but in the face of absolute power, any technique seemed pale and weak.
Boom!
Garou's body only stopped after smashing through three trees in a row. At this moment, he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
"Cough, cough! What kind of power is this?"
Garou coughed up blood incessantly.
He felt like more than half the bones in his body were broken, and his vision was gradually becoming blurred.
"In the end, you're only at this level. I don't understand why the Association cares about a minor character like you." King's voice sounded, filled with disdain.
A wave of monstrous rage surged into Garou's heart. "Who did you say... is a minor character?!"
He let out a frantic roar and dropped to all fours, charging at King like a hound.
"It's useless! Just like the last two times, just stay down!" King continued to provoke Garou with words.
With a flicker of movement, he appeared behind Garou and kicked him to the ground with a bang.
"Die!!!"
Boom...Boom...
King threw a flurry of punches at the nearly unconscious Garou, the attacks causing cracks to spread across the ground.
'Damn it, these attacks feel just like that old man's. Am I going to die?'
'Dammit, I haven't even faced the old man yet. How can I die in a place like this?!'
"Aaaaaahhh!!!"
Rumble!
Garou sent King flying with a punch and roared at the sky. One of his eyes was completely bloodshot, and his hair had turned from gray to red.
'He finally evolved!' King was thrilled to see this.
At this point, Garou had touched the threshold of Dragon-level, though his strength was barely at the bottom of that tier.
"A pity, but this is as far as you go."
King didn't plan to drag this out. Otherwise, once Bang and Bomb arrived, he wouldn't be able to make a move.
Cross Fang Dragon Slayer Fist!
Buzz!
Two air currents converged in King's hands.
Seeing this, Garou's pupils constricted slightly, as if he were seeing the scene of his first defeat at King's hands.
"You bastard!"
Rage rose in Garou's heart. Repeated failures had constantly crushed his self-esteem, he absolutely could not lose to this man again.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!
Rumble!
A shockwave blasted out, and Garou met it head-on.
When the dust settled, Garou's broken body lay powerlessly on the ground. He had lost after all, but a close inspection would reveal that his wounds were actually healing slowly.
"Damn you! Again and again..."
[Ding! Defeated Garou in his initial evolution state. Reward: 500,000 Talent Points.]
[Random Talent obtained. B-Class Rank 43, Gun Gun. Talent: Firearms Mastery. Skill: Joint Shot.]
"Gun Gun? What the hell..."
King looked at the random talent from the system and was speechless. Luckily, he had extorted the Devour skill from Pig God earlier, otherwise the system would have cheated him again.
"Tsk tsk, poor kid."
King looked at the dying Garou on the ground and felt a bit embarrassed. To complete his missions, he had defeated the guy three times in a row.
Crack!
At that moment, the ground suddenly split open, and countless monsters swarmed out.
'They're here!'
King's eyes grew sharp and with a single hand strike, he cleaved the leading dozen or so monsters in two.
Thud!
A massive figure suddenly appeared behind King, a huge fist smashing down.
Bang!
Before King could even act, the monster's body shattered into several pieces.
"Garou is indeed here."
"Brother, I'll leave these monsters to you."
Two figures walked out of the woods.
The corners of King's lips curled up slightly. 'S-Class Rank 3, 'Silver Fang' Bang. And the founder of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, Bomb.'