I Attack 10,000x Times Stronger-Chapter 25: Teaming Up 2

"It... it died?" Hector muttered in disbelief.

Igris calmly shook the blood off his blade and sheathed it. "When it ejected that poison cloud, it left its mouth wide open. The roof of its mouth connects directly to the brain. A fatal flaw."

He made it sound so incredibly simple, but the team knew that pulling off a precision strike like that against a terrifying beast required god-like speed and absolute fearlessness.

"You’re amazing, Collins!" Ivy cheered, her previous fear entirely replaced by awe.

With the threat neutralized, Hector lit a torch and ventured deeper into the cave. When the light illuminated the back wall, he gasped loudly.

"It... it isn’t a Bio-Genesis Poison Plant. Heavens... it’s an Extreme Bio-King Plant!"

"What?!" Vonn and Levon shouted in unison, rushing forward.

Growing out of the damp stone was a seven-inch-tall plant. Its stalk was ink-black, intertwining to form a circular shape, while its seven leaves fanned out perfectly like the crown of a dark king.

Even Igris’s heart skipped a beat. A Bio-Genesis plant was worth maybe 20,000 Crowns. But an Extreme Bio-King Plant? It was a legendary alchemy ingredient used to temper a Player’s body to grant absolute immunity to low-level poisons.

"One of these easily sells for 100,000 Iron Crowns!" Leon practically drooled.

"Split six ways, that’s nearly 20,000 Crowns each," Hector calculated, his hands shaking as he carefully dug the plant up and sealed it in a jade box. He turned to Igris. "Brother Collins, it might take a while to auction this off in the fortress. How about we pool our current funds and pay you your share of the bounty right now in cash?"

Igris wasn’t an alchemist, so he had no use for the raw plant. He readily agreed.

Hector, Leon, and the others transferred exactly 20,250 Iron Crowns to Igris’s System account, securing his share.

Igris smiled in satisfaction. He was just about to speak when his Asura Bloodline’s Killing Intent passive suddenly flared, warning him of intense malice nearby.

"We have company," Igris whispered, his eyes narrowing.

Hector immediately put the jade box away and drew his spear. "Who goes there?! Reveal yourself!"

"Hahaha! Students from Marlin Academy are always so arrogant, aren’t they?"

The heavy brush rustled, and eight heavily armed, muscular men stepped out of the shadows. The leader was a horrifyingly ugly man with half his scalp missing, revealing scarred, grafted tissue beneath.

"I am arrogant. So what?" Leon sneered, raising his sword.

Hector’s face, however, drained of color. He recognized the crude, mutated flesh on the leader’s head. "The Ancient Chimera Syndicate..." he whispered in horror.

They were rogue Players—terrorists who grafted monster parts and genes directly into their bodies to forcefully bypass the System’s leveling restrictions.

"We’re a bit tight on cash lately, kids," the scarred leader, Iron Skull, chuckled darkly. "Hand over the Bio-King Plant, and all your Crowns. Do that, and I might let you live. Oh, and leave the pretty Elf girl. I need to relieve some tension."

The bandits laughed lewdly. Ivy turned deathly pale, biting her lip in terror.

"You’re in Academy hunting grounds!" Hector shouted, gripping his spear tightly. "If you touch us, our academies will hunt you down!"

"Hehe. I’m counting to ten," Iron Skull smirked, resting his massive saber on his shoulder. "Ten. Nine. Eight..."

"Are you really going to do this?" Leon asked coldly, readying his stance.

"Five. Four." Iron Skull didn’t reply. He just looked at the teenagers like they were already corpses.

Igris and Leon shared a brief look. They understood.

"Three! Fuck it, KILL THEM!"

Iron Skull didn’t wait for ’one’. He violently kicked off the ground, swinging his massive saber directly at Hector’s neck to end the strongest threat immediately. It was a classic, underhanded bandit trick.

But Igris was already moving.

[ Asura Physique Activated. ]

Igris’s muscles instantly violently inflated. Terrifying, thick veins popped beneath his reddened skin, pumping torrential amounts of blood through his system. The sheer density of his body made the air around him hum.

CLANG!

Igris intercepted Iron Skull’s saber with his iron sword. Sparks exploded like fireworks as the two blades locked.

"What?!" Iron Skull gasped, feeling the overwhelming, monstrous physical strength pushing against his blade. A mere freshman was matching him in raw power?!

"Bloodline skills?!" Iron Skull cursed, assuming Igris was burning his lifeforce.

Igris didn’t speak. He twisted his wrist, letting the bandit’s saber slide off, and aggressively stepped into Iron Skull’s guard.

"Die, brat!" Iron Skull roared. He forcibly stimulated the grafted beast core in his chest.

RIIIIP!

The flesh on Iron Skull’s back tore open in a shower of blood and amniotic fluid. Two massive, scaled tentacles erupted from his spine, instantly coiling together to form a rapidly spinning, bio-organic drill.

"Sonic Drill!"

The tentacle drill shot toward Igris’s chest with the speed and rotational force of a heavy artillery shell.

"Igris, watch out!" Hector screamed.

Igris’s dual-colored eyes remained dead calm. Time seemed to slow down as he tapped into the lecture he had just comprehended an hour ago.

Dual-Skill Casting.

Igris channeled his DUST energy into his legs, activating a rapid-movement burst, while simultaneously channeling the 10x Multiplier into his arms for a heavy slash.

BOOM!

The ground beneath Igris’s feet shattered into a spiderweb crater. He moved so fast he literally vanished, completely sidestepping the lethal tentacle drill.

Appearing directly behind the overextended bandit, Igris swung his blade.

The void seemed to tear apart. A singular, brilliant arc of light flashed through the darkened forest. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

SHLUCK.

Igris stood silently behind the bandit, slowly shaking the blood from his blade.

For a moment, the forest was dead quiet. Then, a thin red line appeared across Iron Skull’s neck. A second later, the mutant leader’s head slid clean off his shoulders, and his massive body collapsed to the dirt.

[ Human Killed (Level 8) Killed. ]

[ +3,000 EXP. ]

[ Ding! Host has reached Level 2! ]

Igris’s bloody face broke into a mad grin. He finally understood his own power level. A Level 8 Mutant, killed in a single, flawless strike.