"Hold back your strength later. You need to pretend that it took you a lot of effort to defeat these people." Cyclops advised via voice chat, "It's fine to crush three A-rank brats, but crushing S-rank Heroes is hard to explain."
There are many villains who can rival S-rank Heroes, but those who can crush them are few and far between.
If two such big shots appeared out of nowhere, that would be a huge problem.
"Good." Melanie warmed up her wrists. Pretending to struggle against them was quite a challenge for her.
"While I'd like to urge you to surrender, judging by your movements, you don't intend to, do you?" The tall man standing at the front of the four heroes crossed his arms with a look of absolute confidence. In his view, having four S-rank Heroes meant there was no way they could lose.
"Slash!" Melanie didn't answer. Instead, she used her hand as a sword, channeling Star Sword Energy to strike down.
Melanie didn't waste words when fighting; it was her habit.
Of course, she hadn't forgotten Cyclops' warning, so the Star Sword Energy she used was only a tiny amount.
But even that tiny amount made the four S-rank Heroes treat it as a grave threat.
Watching the starry sky crushing down towards him, the tall man immediately set aside his slight contempt; this person in black was definitely a formidable opponent.
Take it head-on? Only a fool would do that when they could dodge.
The four heroes split into two groups and dodged the sword energy. Seeing this, Melanie didn't hesitate, immediately engaging the group with the tall man in a melee fight.
Through that initial probe, Melanie had basically figured out the strength of these four. How to put it? They were strong, but not that strong.
At least Melanie felt that if she got serious, the four of them combined wouldn't last a single move.
The two heroes on Melanie's side were held up, but because Melanie was deliberately controlling her strength, they didn't feel much pressure.
The other two heroes looked at the three already fighting, then at Leticia and Kira, who were still tugging at each other, and decided to go help where the fighting had started.
But as soon as they turned, a blazing red wall of fire appeared before them, blocking their path.
Leticia looked helplessly at Kira, who was gripping her right hand tightly. It was fortunate she was a mage, otherwise her strength would have been significantly compromised.
"Magic? Demon race?" S-rank Heroes could naturally tell that this fire wall wasn't a superpower creation, but pure magic.
Magic, only the Demon race could cast it.
Was that person in white a member of the Demon race?
"You two, don't ignore me." Leticia raised her left hand and gently clenched it towards them.
A giant flame palm appeared out of thin air and reached out to grab the two heroes.
The two heroes sensed a huge threat and hurriedly unleashed their superpowers, working together to shatter the palm.
"Since when did Sister's magic become so fragile?" Kira was a bit confused.
Leticia was the most powerful mage in the world; her magic couldn't be shattered so easily by these two.
There was only one possibility: Sister was holding back, and holding back a lot.
Thinking this, Kira turned her gaze towards the other battlefield.
Melanie had already suppressed those two heroes; it probably wouldn't take long before she defeated them.
Since Sister was holding back here, then Sister Melanie must be doing the same over there.
Melanie was someone who could make Kira feel a lethal threat; her true strength couldn't possibly be just that.
"The Hero Association's reinforcements are arriving. Get out of there quickly." Cyclops' voice reached Melanie's ears once again.
Get out quickly? Melanie immediately increased her output.
Instantly, the two heroes, who had been struggling to hold on, couldn't take it anymore. After being struck by a sword energy each from Melanie, they fell to the ground in a pathetic state.
"So strong. When did such a powerhouse appear in Central City?" The tall man, with several broken bones, asked while lying on the ground, his words slurred.
Who was he asking? Probably the brother in misfortune lying beside him.
"How would I know? This person is too strong; they aren't even in the same league as us." The tall man's partner was also lying on the ground. He didn't have broken bones, but his mobility had been temporarily sealed by Melanie's sword energy.
To be able to defeat them both so quickly, this person in black's strength was at least at the level of the top-ranked S-rank Heroes.
"Ah!" "What is this?!" Just as the two were puzzled, two screams came from the other side.
They hurriedly looked over and saw the other two being held in the hands of a giant snowman, then smashed hard against the ground.
After two dull thuds, the two S-rank Heroes blocked by Leticia also lost their ability to fight.
It had only been a few minutes, and the four S-rank Heroes who had arrived first were already lying on the ground.
"Go, go, go! Don't get surrounded." Leticia pulled Kira and ran towards the pre-planned evacuation route.
Melanie cast a complex look at the four heroes lying on the ground, whispered an apology, and followed Leticia.
A few minutes after the three left, the reinforcements from the Hero Association arrived late.
It was the familiar A-rank team. They rushed to the scene, and upon seeing the four senior heroes sprawled out on the ground, their jaws dropped.
The scene was too shocking; the usually high-and-mighty S-rank Heroes were now lying on the ground like dogs with broken spines.
It was truly unbelievable.
"Senior, what happened here?" The yellow-haired one hurried forward and asked the tall man who was still conscious.
The man blinked. He knew he looked embarrassing right now, but it seemed there was no way to salvage the situation.
"We were defeated by those two mysterious figures. One is a human, the other is from the Demon race. Their strength should be similar to the top-ranked seniors in the Association." After thinking about it, he decided to just tell the whole truth.
"We had hoped to catch them off guard, but we didn't expect them to be this strong."
"We'll chase them immediately!" The yellow-haired one said instinctively.
"Are you crazy?!" Kamanato quickly grabbed the yellow-haired one. "If we chase after them, won't we just get wiped out like last time?"
They were only A-rank, and those two were on par with the best of the S-ranks. Chasing them was definitely suicide.
"Let's report to the Association first and let them decide." Momo agreed with Kamanato's view; this matter was really not something the three newbies could interfere with.