"Hey! You over there, Lobster Monster! Stop right there!"
A deep, thunderous shout echoed from the far end of the street.
Crablante slowly turned around. His crimson eyes locked onto the source of the voice.
A man in a white shirt was walking forward with steady steps.
"C-Rank Hero, Rank 88, Eight Extremes Fist Ethan Cole. I'm here to challenge you!"
Crablante split open a mouth full of jagged teeth and let out a hoarse laugh.
"Another hero coming to die?"
Seeing Ethan Cole's rank was even lower than his own, the injured Bullet Hero panicked.
He struggled to lift his head, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Run…! His shell… bullets can't even pierce it! Go call an A-Rank hero!"
Crablante ignored the dying man. His giant claw slowly lifted and pointed at Ethan Cole.
"Since you came… you're not leaving."
WHOOSH!
The claw sliced through the air.
Ethan Cole's eyes sharpened. He stomped down hard and slid sideways like a swimming dragon, the claw brushing past his nose and ripping through the air where he had just stood.
"Dodged it?!" Crablante froze for a moment.
That was not C-Rank speed.
Even so, it was still meaningless.
Ethan Cole stepped back and slowly took a stance from Eight Extremes Fist.
This was his first real monster encounter.
And a Tiger-level threat. He had to be serious.
His foot suddenly exploded downward.
The stone pavement cracked like a spiderweb.
In an instant, he shot forward and slammed his right elbow out like a cannon.
"Eight Extremes Fist: Ground-Splitting Heaven Cannon!"
BOOM!
Air burst between fist and shell.
Crablante's massive body was pushed back half a meter.
But there was no real damage.
"Is that all? Your punch is too soft," Crablante mocked.
"Useless hero. You can't protect anyone."
Ethan Cole exhaled slowly.
That armor was too strong.
Even after reaching peak "Hard Force" level, his full strike carried over fifty thousand jin of power.
Yet it still could not break through.
"No wonder it's a Tiger-level monster," he muttered.
"If Hard Force isn't enough…"
"Then I'll break through to Soft Force!"
Ethan Cole closed his eyes.
Inside his body, invisible blockages shattered like frozen ice.
Energy surged through every limb.
His muscles trembled violently as white steam rose from his skin.
The barrier between Hard Force and Soft Force broke.
This was the threshold of Soft Force.
[Name: Ethan Cole]
[Skill: Eight Extremes Fist (Soft Force 1%)]
[Physical: 3.5]
[Combat Power: 50]
Crablante immediately sensed danger.
His claw swung down like lightning.
"Die!"
Ethan Cole did not dodge.
He caught the claw with his left hand.
"Eight Extremes: Lifting Horse Reverse!"
He locked the claw in place.
Crablante tried to pull back, but it would not move.
Now it's my turn.
Ethan Cole struck upward with his right fist.
"Penetrating Force: Strike Through the Mountain!"
BOOM!
A seemingly light punch landed.
But Crablante's body jolted as if struck by thunder.
He staggered back and coughed up a mass of dark green fluid.
Internal organs shattered.
"Impossible… my shell… you didn't break it…" Crablante gasped in disbelief.
"Internal force," Ethan Cole said calmly.
"Your shell is hard, but your organs are still soft."
Crablante trembled.
Then something clicked in his mind.
He suddenly turned and ran toward the ruins of the shopping district.
He was no longer Ethan Cole's opponent.
Before dying, he would take someone down with him.
Ethan Cole stepped forward.
"Hey. Where are you going, monster?"
Crablante ignored him, muttering to himself.
"Crablante… Crablante… where are you… I will tear you apart…"
Ethan Cole appeared in front of him instantly.
"Sorry. I can't let you kill anyone else."
"Eight Extremes: Yama Three Strike Hand!"
Three bursts of internal force struck.
Crablante collapsed.
In a nearby garbage container, Dark Jin was curled up among rotten food and fast food boxes.
He had been hiding there the entire time.
"This useless hero… why won't he die?" he cursed.
Suddenly, he saw it.
Crablante's body on the ground.
Dead.
Joy filled him instantly.
He crawled out of the trash and ran toward the corpse.
He kicked it.
Then turned to Ethan Cole.
"Hey! Hero!" Dark Jin shouted.
"Do you even know what you're doing? It took you this long to kill it! Do you know how long I had to hide in that trash?!"
Ethan Cole said nothing.
His eyes darkened.
"Do you know how bad it smelled?! My suit cost 500,000! It's ruined!"
"I lose millions per minute! Do you know how much time you wasted?!"
"Pay me one million. I'll let this go. Otherwise "
Ethan Cole's killing intent flickered.
Crablante's body moved.
Its eyes opened one last time.
WHOOSH!
The severed claw shot out like a bullet.
BOOM!
It slammed into Dark Jin's back.
His body collapsed forward, blood bursting from his mouth.
He died instantly.
Crablante smiled faintly and closed his eyes.
Ethan Cole looked at both bodies.
"…He chose to die just to take him with him."
[Reward: Physical +0.1, Eight Extremes Fist proficiency +10%]
Hero Association rescue teams arrived and began securing the area, collecting the monster's body and documenting the report.