Chapter 49: Trapped
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'Tsk',
Jiang Cheng's figure appeared deep within the building—this place was the headquarters of the Association's Faithful faction.
"Warning: the building is under heavy attack, power system reboot failure, access control will be disabled after power shutdown. All security personnel, please remain alert,"
A cold female voice broadcast throughout the building, warning the survivors inside.
"Remain alert, huh,"
Jiang Cheng curled her lips into a cold sneer. "It's not going to make much difference, is it?"
With a faint smile, Jiang Cheng stepped forward through the main door, which had opened due to the access system's failure.
"Footsteps—someone's broken in!"
Thanks to divine arts amplifying her hearing, Jiang Cheng heard their whispered communications loud and clear.
"Stay alert, hide in advantageous positions, watch for sneak attacks from the entrance and elsewhere."
With the power of her divine arts, Jiang Cheng could even clearly hear the voices coming through their earpieces.
Want to ambush me?
Jiang Cheng smiled mildly; after all, she was a magic class professional.
Magic classes were most afraid of ambushes and assassinations, so naturally, they had plenty of spells to counter those things.
She snapped her fingers, and a few red-marked figures appeared in her vision.
Due to the cost, Jiang Cheng felt a stabbing pain in her eyes whenever she looked at these figures, so she only gave them a brief glance, memorized the positions of their ambushes, and then shut off the perception spell for murderous intent.
Ambushes were indeed a useful tactic, but if the other side had wall-hack-like abilities, it was bad news.
Even a skilled expert couldn't beat a "prodigy" with hacks. Oh, no, in this case—a prodigy girl.
Jiang Cheng picked the figure hiding in the farthest spot, then lightly stomped on the ground.
Her shadow slowly crept up her body with a touch of malice.
With a wave of suffocation, Jiang Cheng crawled out from the shadow behind the person, now right at his back.
"Hi there, friend,"
Jiang Cheng grinned mischievously, her smile bright. "You'd better check what's behind you~"
"Who—?"
As expected, the core members of the Association were all strong—he swiftly turned around alertly at the moment Jiang Cheng appeared.
But all he saw was Jiang Cheng's wicked grin and her demon-like hands reaching for him.
As expected, this generation's Saintess was a terrifying demon... That was his only thought before his vision went dark.
Letting go of his neck, which she had twisted and broken, Jiang Cheng massaged her wrist.
"Haaa, my physical abilities really aren't great. Even strangling someone makes my hand sore."
It was a pity that Lyle was the one who fought with his body. The role given by the system for her had always been a magic class.
With a shrug, Jiang Cheng sent a blood mist flaring out toward the rest of the people ahead who hadn't noticed her yet.
The next second, the blood mist turned into thick black smoke, spreading and filling the room.
Those members still lying in ambush for Jiang Cheng didn't even have time to fire a shot; as they inhaled the smoke, they crashed heavily to the ground.
"For such a big Mechanist Association, you don't even issue gas masks to your members?"
Jiang Cheng clicked her tongue.
"So stingy."
"Oh, right, you don't believe in technology, so never mind. Let's see if your god can protect you from poison."
With another shrug, Jiang Cheng glanced at the corridor ahead; her figure disappeared and advanced deeper inside.
"Hey, hey, what are you still looking at?"
Jiang Cheng's figure appeared behind a sniper aiming far down the corridor.
She pressed her fingers together—poof—and pierced right through the sniper, shrugging again.
"I don't even know who you thought you'd be sniping at. Is Adventurer City's defense against magic classes really this lax?"
Along the way, Jiang Cheng had killed quite a few members of the Faithful, but she still hadn't found any valuable clues.
There were plenty of interesting equipment and divine techniques from the Mechanics faction, though. Some with quick reactions:
They quickly discovered Jiang Cheng, used divine arts to generate a shield ahead, then began throwing incendiary and explosive devices toward her.
Such a crazy fighting style, regardless of the building's safety or their own lives, actually became quite a nuisance for Jiang Cheng.
In the end, to avoid wasting more time and energy, she had no choice but to constantly teleport behind them and eliminate them.
A stately, noble divine arts user—played by her almost as an assassin.
She checked the time. Jiang Cheng's expression darkened; by her estimates, Lyle would lose in five minutes—she couldn't drag this out any longer.
There was only one place ahead controlled by the Faithful that hadn't been checked yet.
What bad luck—Jiang Cheng didn't check this spot until the end.
With a sigh, Jiang Cheng's figure vanished, surging toward the lab ahead.
*Buzzzzz*—a sharp, drawn-out alarm blared the moment Jiang Cheng appeared in the laboratory.
The next second, the sounds of mechanical gears and chains echoed all around.
Before Jiang Cheng could react, metal walls sprang up on four sides of the narrow space, fitting tightly together and trapping her completely.
"I told you, this security feature I proposed for the lab is the best."
On a screen embedded in the wall, a young man with glasses appeared.
"Hello, Saintess. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the Association's Chief of Security—the security system of this lab is my work."
The chief smiled as he spoke, "As you see, this laboratory is divided into countless grids,"
"The grid edges are all separated by these precious magical metal lift-walls,"
"There are always six regular lab personnel in the lab, so... when a seventh extra person enters, the grid they step on is triggered, the metal walls shoot up, and the intruder is trapped."
"Hah, I'm such a genius," the chief snapped his fingers with a grin. "And you must have noticed by now,"
"This metal suppresses all magic~"
Inside the cage, Jiang Cheng tried using divine arts for the nth time—she still failed.
Furious, she slammed her fist against the wall—crack—the sound of bone breaking rang out, her pale fingers twisted and broke.
Suddenly reminded of something, Jiang Cheng kicked off the ground, shooting toward the ceiling.
*Boom*—her body crashed down hard. Still, nothing happened.
"It's useless, miss Saintess," the chief said, smiling. "I wouldn't leave such an obvious loophole. The whole lab is made from the same metal."
"What do you want to do?"
Jiang Cheng frowned, looking at the chief on the screen.
"Hah, what do I want? Of course—to kill the Saintess responsible for all this, to vent our anger!"
"Do you really dare?"
Jiang Cheng retorted coolly. "You should be aware of your status—I am not just an ordinary Saintess."
"I know, I know~" the chief shrugged. "The one and only Saintess. So what?"
?
He knew I was the only Saintess—the same hope of salvation as the Hero—and he still dared to kill me? Either he had a problem, or I did.
"Anyway, even if the world is destroyed, the Lord will deliver us. That's our firm belief,"
The chief's next words made Jiang Cheng feel a chill like falling into an icy abyss. She was done for—he was a fanatic.
Negotiating with religious lunatics like this was pointless. It was over.