King asked, "Execute me? Are you sure?"
After Garou escaped, Sweet Mask immediately locked his sights on King.
"A mere monster shouldn't be so arrogant!"
Sweet Mask was fuming with rage.
Garou's escape had already made him extremely frantic, and now, facing the calm and composed King, he could no longer hold back.
Boom!
Sweet Mask was once again sent flying by the bone tail, but this time, Metal Bat did not stand idly by.
"Who exactly are you? If you don't give me a clear explanation, believe it or not, I'll send you flying!"
Among the S-Class Heroes present, most were in poor condition, carrying various degrees of injuries. Only Metal Bat, who had arrived last, was currently at full strength. If King intended to attack the heroes, he would have to settle it here.
"Senpai, it's only been a short while, and you don't recognize me anymore?"
King did not continue his attack and decided to reveal his identity. He used to have a dual identity, hiding and sneaking around every day, but now he stood at the peak of this world. With absolute strength, he now feared no person or organization, including the Hero Association.
"Senpai? You're actually..."
Metal Bat's pupils constricted slightly as King's familiar manner of speaking suddenly reminded him of someone.
"I'll stop teasing you all. I am the hero, Dark Mask."
"What did you say?"
Metal Bat froze on the spot, and the other heroes around him also showed looks of disbelief.
Only Bang looked somewhat gratified, as if he had already suspected this in his heart.
"You... you're the B-Class hero, Underwear Mask, King?"
Sekingar was the first to step forward. He couldn't believe that the monster who had defeated Garou was actually the Dark Mask that Jess and Sitch had strongly recommended. Furthermore, he had already undergone Monsterization, standing on the opposite side of the Hero Association.
"Can you stop giving people random nicknames?"
King was somewhat speechless, though among those present, besides Saitama, he didn't really care about anyone else.
"So you're Dark Mask!"
"No wonder you gave me a familiar feeling. Oh right! Thanks for stopping Garou earlier!"
A smile appeared on Saitama's face.
He had seen King's actions of rescuing hostages from the monsters earlier. To Saitama, no matter what King looked like or what his identity was, his actions were entirely consistent with those of a hero.
"A hero... but he's clearly already a monster."
"He's just like Garou, a human who chose to fall. If you ask me, he should be executed."
"That's right, how can the Hero Association have a monster? How can the common people trust us then?"
The surrounding crowd erupted into a heated discussion.
The S-Class Heroes remained silent, they had seen all of King's actions.
But as others said, how could the Hero Association allow the existence of a monster?
Doing so would ruin the Association's reputation. Once it lost the trust of the common people, the Hero Association would become a target of public condemnation, and no one would be willing to join anymore.
The worst-case scenario would be facing a crusade from the common people and other organizations.
"I believe in Dark Mask. If he had truly become a monster, he wouldn't have stepped in to stop Garou." Bang was the first to stand up.
He had personally witnessed King's life-and-death battles against monsters several times. Especially his act of helping Garou just now made him certain that King was definitely not like the Monster Association.
"Yes, he was the one who saved me back in the Monster Association and allowed me to successfully bring the hostage back to the surface."
At this time, the somewhat shrunken Pig God also stood up. He could clearly feel that King bore no ill will toward the heroes.
"Come to think of it, it was the same when I was fighting the Dragon-level Monsters..."
Atomic Samurai recalled that although King had fled in the end, from start to finish, the other party seemed to be dealing with the monsters and hadn't made a move against him.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
A roar sounded, and everyone looked into the distance as Sweet Mask slowly approached.
However, he now seemed to understand the gap between himself and King and did not rashly attack again.
"You S-Class Heroes, do you even hear yourselves? A monster is a monster, justice must be executed immediately!"
Sweet Mask's face began to twist and deform due to anger, and a powerful killing intent burst forth.
"I am willing to vouch for him." Bang's expression was serious.
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, King had indeed stopped Garou. This favor had to be returned, and he also knew in his heart that with the heroes currently present, even if they all combined their forces, they probably wouldn't be King's match. Yet, he hadn't shown any hostility, which already explained everything.
"Silver Fang, there really shouldn't be a monster in the Association." Atomic Samurai spoke seriously.
He didn't want his old friend to get caught in a whirlpool of public controversy for King's sake.
"If only King were here, he would surely know what to do." Child Emperor stepped forward.
Seeing everyone arguing incessantly, he didn't know which side to take.
"Sekingar-san, you are the commander-in-chief of this operation. Please make a decision."
Child Emperor looked at Sekingar, who had a complicated expression in the back, and suddenly had an idea.
Sekingar was not only the commander-in-chief for this crusade against the Monster Association, but also an executive selected by the Association's higher-ups, possessing absolute disposal rights over emergencies.
"Me... Me?" Sekingar was slightly stunned.
Only then did he remember his status. Looking back, all the heroes were carrying injuries of varying severity. He knew he could no longer hesitate.
"I believe the top priority is to rescue the wounded. As for Dark Mask's matter, I will report it to the Association in a timely manner."
"A decision on how to handle you will be reached after the Association's higher-ups deliberate."
"But until then, you are not permitted to enter human cities, otherwise the Hero Association will immediately launch a crusade against you." Sekingar's eyes held a hint of helplessness.
After all, Dark Mask was someone Jess and Sitch had highly recommended, and his contribution to this battle was obvious to all.
The strength of the monsterized Garou at the end had far exceeded S-Class. If Dark Mask hadn't stepped in to defeat him, the heroes would likely have faced the risk of total annihilation.
But for the sake of the Hero Association's reputation, he had to do this. Not launching a crusade against him right now was already his bottom line.
"Are you kidding me!"
Sweet Mask voiced his opposition again, but this time he was stopped by Sekingar.
"Enough! The heroes have reached their limit! The most urgent task now is to rescue the wounded! There is no longer any need to continue fighting! Everyone must follow my command!" Sekingar spoke with authority.
Sweet Mask gave a cold snort and turned to leave.
"Dark Mask..."
Bang looked apologetic, but Sekingar's decision was already the Hero Association's greatest concession.
"Fine, I accept."