[Name]: Flame Adjudicator
[Rank]: Tier 5
[Power]: 414
[Description]: The ace unit among the goblin mechanical legions.
Before her stood a five-meter-tall metal giant, its body blazing faintly with molten lines. Hel's expression grew increasingly solemn.
So—this was the reinforcement the enemy had been waiting for.
Behind the Flame Adjudicator stood eight Tier-4 Mechanical Centurions, followed by a swarm of Tier-3 combat units.
Hel's side, however, was in far worse condition. All her Tier-3 forces had been withdrawn, leaving only one Tier-5 fighter and, including the skeletal archmage under her control, five Tier-4 combatants.
By sheer numbers, the enemy clearly held the advantage—
"Eighty thousand versus sixty thousand, how could we lose?"
—if only war were that simple.
The Skeletal Berserker Captain, blessed with a draconic bloodline and an Advanced Swordsmanship orange-tier trait, had a base combat power of 288 even unarmed.
Although he now wore only a set of purple rare-grade equipment, with its enhancements his total power reached 450.
So, 450 versus 414—
"How could I lose? The advantage is clearly mine!"
What's more, the Berserker Captain could activate his secret technique, Soul Ignition, briefly raising his power to 558.
As for the surrounding Tier-3 and Tier-4 enemies?
Hel could only sneer—
within her domain, they were all just walking offerings.
But the enemy had learned from experience. Having witnessed the devastating effect of her Soul Deprivation Field, they realized sending more cannon fodder was meaningless.
Instead, several Snow Elf Assassin Masters emerged from the ranks.
These assassins looked almost indistinguishable from normal elves—save for their petite builds and unnaturally pale skin. Each wore a black cloak and carried a longbow taller than themselves as they sprinted forward.
Once they passed the mechanical sentinels, they raised their bows and loosed a volley of arrows toward Hel.
Seeing this, Hel quickly ordered two Mechanical Centurions to step in front of her.
With their eight mechanical arms spinning rapidly, most of the arrows were batted aside. The few that did hit merely scraped harmlessly against their mithril-plated armor.
The Flame Adjudicator, seeing that the elves' attacks were useless, acted decisively. It seized a nearby Centurion with one massive hand—completely ignoring its struggles—and hurled it toward Hel's position with crushing force.
The unfortunate Centurion slammed into the two guarding in front of Hel, the collision producing a thunderous metallic crash.
Even with their immense strength, the two Centurions staggered backward under the impact. Moments later, a second and third were thrown the same way.
In mere seconds, the defensive formation before Hel had been torn apart—
and the enemy had sacrificed only three Tier-4 Centurions as disposable projectiles.
Such extravagance. Truly, wealth breeds recklessness.
But Hel didn't mind.
The three sturdy Centurions weren't seriously damaged—they had merely lost their souls to her field.
And since the Soul Deprivation Field was her spell, she could just as easily return those souls later.
When the time came, a flip of a switch, a shift in a sigil—
and she'd have three more Tier-4 units at her command.
A perfect trade: like throwing a meat bun to a dog—it won't be coming back.
Hel smirked inwardly. Time to show the enemy how cruel the world could be.
But now wasn't the time to start her modifications.
She had already been exposed to the sightlines of the Snow Elf assassins, and unlike the armored Centurions, her skeletal frame couldn't take more than a few arrows before shattering.
So, Hel did the most pragmatic thing possible—
she ran.
Behind her, two Skeletal Greatsword Guards stepped forward to block the incoming volleys, shielding her retreat.
At the same time, Hel recalled all remaining Centurions into storage.
As for the Skeletal Berserker Captain, he had already charged the Flame Adjudicator at her command, engaging it in a brutal duel.
Hel's order was clear: "Fight while retreating."
But the Flame Adjudicator, lost in the thrill of combat, refused to let up, pursuing relentlessly.
The two combatants—one blazing metal colossus, one bone-white warrior—clashed as they moved deeper into the tunnel, their battle echoing like thunder through the stone corridors.
Before long, they reached the sealed exit that Hel had reinforced earlier.
Even the Flame Adjudicator's immense strength couldn't shake the basalt wall she'd constructed.
Hel and her two Greatsword Guards had also withdrawn to that very wall, watching as the duel raged a short distance ahead.
Farther beyond, the enemy's Tier-3 and Tier-4 reinforcements held their distance, wary of being caught in the shockwaves between two Tier-5 monsters.
And indeed, Hel had underestimated how much size could matter in such a fight.
The five-meter Flame Adjudicator towered over the two-meter-tall Berserker Captain—
like an adult brawling with a child.
Though the Berserker held a numerical edge in raw power, he struggled to close the gap.
Then, as the two locked blades, the Berserker suddenly changed tactics.
He ducked low beneath the Adjudicator's heavy swing, darted behind it, and stomped the ground hard—launching himself into the air with explosive force.
His massive sword cleaved downward, aiming straight for the Adjudicator's neck from behind.
But the Flame Adjudicator wasn't so easily fooled.
The instant its attack missed, its body twisted in an unnaturally fluid rotation—
a full 180 degrees—
and the sword it had just swung forward now arced perfectly backward to meet its foe.
Clang!
The two colossal blades collided, scattering a storm of sparks through the air. The impact sent both combatants reeling backward.
The Adjudicator staggered several steps before regaining its balance.
The Berserker, on the other hand—still midair—was blasted away like a cannonball.
He flew over the heads of the Tier-3 and Tier-4 troops, crashing heavily into the ground behind them and sending up a cloud of dust and debris.
Having sent its foe flying, the Flame Adjudicator did not pursue the advantage.
Instead, it turned its burning gaze toward Hel.
It knew—she was the real threat.
If she managed to unleash that devastating magic again, even it—a Tier-5 construct—would not escape unscathed.
With a surge of power, it charged forward.
In the blink of an eye, it was upon her—so fast that even the two Greatsword Guards didn't have time to react.
They raised their blades in haste, but by then, the Adjudicator's flaming sword was already descending toward Hel.
And yet—neither the fragile, skeletal body of the projection before it, nor the true Hel behind the stone wall, showed even a flicker of fear.
Instead, both wore the same eerie smile.
"Checkmate."