Chapter 439: Heavily Armored Tyrant

Inside the narrow cavern of refuse rock, the intense heat made the very air distort.

Gazing at the all-consuming blaze, a glimmer of hope flashed in the team members’ eyes—after such a meticulous, multi-stage ambush, even a Level 5 Warrior should have fallen.

Just as everyone thought the dust had settled, the sea of fire suddenly churned violently, as if some behemoth was awakening within.

“SCRREEE—SNAP.”

A cringe-inducing screech of twisting metal emanated from the heart of the inferno.

The long spear that had pierced his knee was wrenched out by a hand encased in a heavy gauntlet.

No blood.

There wasn’t even the faintest sound of tearing flesh.

Adam casually snapped the steel spear in two, as if it were a brittle twig.

“CLANG.”

The broken spear clattered to the ground.

The orange-red Blazing Fire Glue was still burning, but the tall figure had already strode through the flames.

Completely unscathed.

A dark red light flowed across the surface of his black plate armor, insulating him from all the alchemical flames that clung to it.

But what sent a chill down their spines was his leg.

Through the gap in the armor torn by the spear, they could see what lay where his knee should have been.

It was a perfectly smooth metal limb. It gleamed with a cold, silver light, its surface utterly seamless, as if forged by nature itself.

“A construct modification?”

One of the more experienced team members cried out, his voice trembling.

“Oh, yeah.”

Adam cracked his neck, his vertebrae letting out a series of sharp pops.

He glanced down at his mechanical legs, still smoking faintly, his tone laced with pride.

“For these legs, I sawed off my own weak, fleshy ones. It hurt so much I almost pissed myself.”

“But…”

“It was worth it.”

The moment the words left his mouth,

Adam’s figure vanished.

No.

He was just too fast.

It was the explosive burst of power that only pure machinery could provide, utterly shattering the limits of his original, flesh-and-blood body.

The immense counterforce of his launch gouged two deep craters into the ground.

“Look out!”

Kael’s warning exploded in their heads.

But it was half a beat too slow.

The wind pressure.

A terrifying blast of wind pressure, like an invisible wall, slammed into their chests.

Adam’s giant warhammer was already in motion.

No fancy techniques.

Just a simple, horizontal sweep.

“BOOM—!”

The air, compressed to its limit, let out an explosive roar.

The two heavily armored vanguards at the front, along with Kael, were sent flying backward like leaves in a hurricane.

“Ugh…”

Kael twisted in mid-air, planting his feet against a stone pillar to absorb most of the impact.

Even so, a dull, throbbing pain spread through his chest, his insides churning.

The two vanguards weren’t so lucky.

They slammed hard against the cavern wall, their armor caving in as they were knocked unconscious instantly.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

Adam stood his ground, effortlessly holding the warhammer—which must have weighed hundreds of pounds—in one hand. He wore the savage grin of a cat toying with a mouse.

“Too light.”

“Too weak.”

“You couldn’t even scratch an itch.”

He turned his head, his eyes locking onto a nearby Ranger.

The Ranger was raising a crossbow, trying to aim for the gaps in Adam’s armor.

“Trying to scratch an itch for me, little bug?”

“WHUMP.”

The hydraulics in his mechanical legs violently compressed, then released.

Adam shot forward like a black cannonball.

He crossed a dozen meters in the blink of an eye.

The Ranger didn’t even have time to pull the trigger.

A giant, metal hand was already clamped around his head.

“Goodbye.”

“SPLAT.”

It was the sound of a watermelon being crushed.

Blood and brains splattered across Adam’s black faceplate, making him look like a fiend straight from hell.

The body was casually tossed aside, landing in a pile of waste slag.

Deathly silence fell over the cavern.

This was a Level 5 Warrior.

This was an alchemically augmented killing machine.

Even in these tight quarters, even after falling for their trap, he still possessed the absolute, overwhelming power to crush everything in his path.

‘Dammit… Is this guy a monster?!’

Mia hid behind a huge boulder, so terrified her tail had coiled up on itself.

Though she was complaining in her head, her hands never stopped moving.

As a competent Mage, she knew exactly what to do.

Her hands flew through a series of seals.

Purple Magic Power coalesced at her fingertips.

‘Hold still, you damn tin can!’

A Tier Two Spell—[Human Body Immobilization Skill].

A purple ring of light materialized from thin air, encircling Adam.

Adam’s forward charge came to an abrupt halt.

‘It worked?’

A surge of joy went through Mia.

However.

The next second.

Adam’s black plate armor suddenly lit up with a blinding red light.

The Anti-Magic Runes etched into the inside of the plates seemed to come alive, frantically devouring the ambient Magic Power.

“CRACK.”

The purple ring of light shattered like fragile glass, dissolving into countless motes of light.

The spell failed.

He had shrugged it off using nothing but the anti-magic properties of his gear.

Adam slowly turned his head.

A chilling voice emanated from beneath the blood-splattered faceplate.

“A Mage?”

“I hate Mages more than anything.”

“Cowardly rats, always hiding in the back and taking cheap shots.”

Being stared down by those scarlet eyes, Mia felt her blood run cold.

‘Oh, dear… It looks like I’m in big trouble now.’

Mia let out a hollow laugh, but her body betrayed her as she instinctively shrank back.

“Die!”

Adam completely ignored the others’ attacks.

He had locked onto Mia.