I Became the Martial God's Youngest Disciple Episode 256

Episode 256

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 ti I defeated soone, 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 , but I figured I knew how strong they were.

It was a position attained only when a person with imnse talent overca 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, mbers of the Hero Society.

Of course, just hearing "A-class" didn't necessarily make them seem that strong. Perhaps that was due to the rcenaries 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 dium-sized city.

That ant 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 rcenaries, they would be called S-class or higher, and would be promised the highest treatnt in any mission.

Now thinking about it, calling them S-class rcenaries makes them sound really impressive. I inwardly laughed.

For Luan, who had once died as a C-class rcenary, the rank of an S-class rcenary would have been unreachable.

Was Kaela, the rcenary King, Kayan's adopted daughter? I had only heard about people like that in rumors. I'd never once t one in person. Forget S-class, I'd barely even t any A-class rcenaries.

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 flas, then most A-class heroes wouldn't be able to face .

"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 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 for a mont. 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 seed to be thinking about stepping down.

Did the others not like her easy retreat?

Zach asked from the rear, "Da 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 outco 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 mont 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, 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 beco 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 imnse pride. Rather, the politeness she had just shown was what was unexpected.

In any case, once Laura finished her criticism, she bowed slightly toward 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 soone who hadn't done her best for so 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 sa level as Laura, I was sure I could win the next two tis, 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 . There could be soone 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 so that were equivalent to A-class.

My condition would only get worse if they rushed to consu 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 mont, the surroundings suddenly beca 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 the whole ti.

"First Moongarden and now Full Moon? What's next? A clan called Crescent Moon or sothing?" 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 mont 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 mont.

The other heroes murmured among themselves.

"Hmm..."

"So it's Peter Fang's turn."

Even more remarkable was their attitude. They visibly relaxed the mont Peter Fang stepped forward. So 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 t. 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 imdiately kicked off the ground and stepped back.

The air itself audibly tore apart, and Peter Fang's upper body erged from the shadows. It was hard to imagine that a man so massive could erge from below in such an unexpected ambush.

The figure that erged from the shadows looked no different from a wild beast. Monts ago, he'd still looked half human, but now, bright yellow eyes stared directly at .

Grrrung...

Thick saliva flowed down from Peter Fang's jaws as he growled fiercely at . Then he disappeared into the shadows once more. I had never seen anything like it, but it reminded of a crocodile lurking in a swamp.

I quietly laughed. I'd heard that so 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 ti, 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 ti in a long ti.

I started seeing the world through the eyes of a snake. At the sa ti, I felt a change in my appearance. I didn't like this form very much, but now wasn't the ti to care about looks. Still, my form changed so drastically that soone could give a new nickna based on it.

What surprised was what happened next.

"Huh?"

The snake eyes showed sothing I hadn't seen before. There was sothing that resembled black sli clinging to the alleyway.

Of course, it wasn't real sli. It was a place where there had been nothing just monts ago. Moreover, there was a bestial silhouette that moved back and forth between the sli 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 seed quite confident in his ability and approached without any doubts. This ti, he seed 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 re 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 tal.

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 seed surprised by my imdiate response, but he didn't panic and attacked again. He aid a bite at with wide-open jaws.

"Ick!" I hurriedly lowered my head to avoid his bite. In the process, so of his saliva splashed onto my face.

"How disgusting, you son of a bitch," I muttered as I quickly slamd a fist upward at Peter Fang's chin. He yelped for a mont before hiding in the shadows again.

I continued tracking him as he disappeared into the sli, and plunged my fist into the spot where he landed.

Baaang!

As the wall completely shattered, the sli splashed everywhere and revealed Peter Fang hiding in the shadows. He roared like a wild beast and rushed toward . 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 and swiping his claws at . 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 .

That didn't an I lacked my own strengths, though.

The opponent was soone 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?

anwhile, my legs were free. That ant I had more options than this guy.

Baam!