Chapter: Chapter 368
There wasn’t a single sound in the abandoned factory. Perhaps it was because this was only the outer area, but Leticia didn’t feel any sense of danger.
After walking further inside for a while, Leticia finally noticed something was wrong. A thin layer of white mist permeated the factory.
“Is this the enemy’s doing?” Leticia cautiously stretched out her hand to touch the mist, her expression serious. She detected a familiar scent within the fog.
She hoped it wasn’t what she thought. Fog City was still intact. How could someone capable of wielding the power of the Mist God appear outside?
“Xiao Lu, Xiao Lu, can you hear me?” For safety’s sake, Leticia opened her communicator, wanting to contact Xiao Lu. However, only static came from the earpiece.
Did this mist have communication jamming capabilities?
Leticia began to consider retreating. The enemy hidden here was too bizarre. Although they hadn’t directly engaged yet, she didn’t dare to gamble on whether she could gain an advantage against the opponent while fighting with a debuff.
‘Should I just leave first?’ Leticia thought.
This seemed like a good idea.
*Shiu!*
But before Leticia could make a decision, a pitch-black arrow silently shot out from the mist, heading straight for Leticia’s back.
Such an obvious attack naturally couldn’t hit Leticia. A beautiful, colorful barrier appeared around her, effortlessly blocking the incoming arrow.
“Is it just a normal arrow? If it’s not enchanted, it can’t break my shield.” After blocking the arrow, Leticia felt confident again. The opponent using such a mundane item to sneak attack her only meant their strongest offensive weapon was likely this kind of ordinary object.
And for an ordinary item to break Leticia’s shield? Unless the wielder was a freak like Bai Ling, the weapon’s durability would be depleted to zero before Leticia’s shield even showed a crack.
‘If you can’t break my defense, what else should I be afraid of?’
Leticia’s confidence suddenly soared. This layer of mist had a similar effect to the Mist God’s heavy fog; it suppressed her perception abilities. However, their effects were vastly different. The Mist God’s fog would render Leticia almost blind, whereas this thin mist’s effect was not as potent.
When the enemy attacked, Leticia had already locked onto their figure with her mental power. Naturally, she knew where they had fled. Unfortunately, after a few seconds, she could no longer sense the enemy’s information due to the distance.
“I’m coming to find you.” With a light chuckle, Leticia rose on her tiptoes and pursued the direction the enemy had gone at extreme speed.
If not for those secret weapons suppressing her combat power, Leticia was confident she could have dealt with the person who just sneak attacked her.
Leticia moved swiftly through the abandoned factory, her peripheral vision catching sight of many traps left by the enemy. However, these were all placed on the ground, seemingly because the enemy hadn’t expected their pursuer to be able to fly.
On her pursuit, Leticia also encountered several S-rank heroes who had entered earlier. Their condition was much worse than Leticia’s. The enemy’s sneak attack seemed to have left them somewhat exhausted from dealing with it. However, no one was seriously injured; the most severe injury was merely a graze on an arm.
Glancing at them, Leticia didn’t stop to exchange pleasantries. She was on a mission now and didn’t have time to stop.
‘If you’re not strong enough, just stay put. Maybe I’ll even mock you when I finish my mission.’
“After shooting so many arrows, hasn’t that guy realized this kind of attack is useless against me?” Leticia said with a sigh, watching another pitch-black crossbow bolt hit her barrier. She pursed her lips, thinking the enemy was too stubborn.
Logically, the enemy only needed to escape into the fog and change directions a few times, and Leticia wouldn’t be able to find them. While Leticia was disoriented, wouldn’t it be better for them to deal with the other heroes?
Why insist on a stalemate with Leticia? Was their turtle shell not hard enough, or was the opponent too confident?
Or, perhaps, were they deliberately luring Leticia?
Leticia stopped. She looked at the large open space that had suddenly appeared before her and fell silent.
A figure shrouded in black, revealing no features, stood erect in the center of the open space. Although their eyes couldn’t be seen, Leticia could feel a sword-like gaze assessing her.
“Can I interpret this as you deliberately luring me here?” Leticia slowly floated into the open space. It felt like a coliseum, a battleground chosen by the opponent.
The black-robed figure remained silent. The moment Leticia stepped into the coliseum, they vanished from their position and abruptly appeared in front of Leticia.
*Bang!*
A dagger resembling a short sword pierced Leticia’s shield. If Leticia hadn’t reacted immediately with an evasive maneuver, her arm would have been in trouble.
“An artifact that breaks magic? Or something else?” With her shield so easily shattered, even Leticia felt something was off. The weapon in the black-robed figure’s hand was definitely not ordinary, as even the highest-grade anti-magic artifact couldn’t pierce her shield in such a short time.
With graceful steps, Leticia’s figure flickered several times, quickly creating distance. The opponent was a master of close-quarters combat. Engaging in close combat with such an opponent would be asking for trouble. Leticia wasn’t a sword saint like Bai Ling; she was just a delicate and frail mage.
Creating distance and blasting with magic was her forte.
After one final teleport, Leticia had opened nearly five hundred meters. Even with the black-robed figure’s speed, they wouldn’t be able to approach her in a short time.
Then, Leticia began to cast. A short, black and gold staff slid out from her sleeve, held tightly in her hand. While she certainly couldn’t bring her magic blade with her, that didn’t mean Leticia didn’t carry a magic staff with her.
After the awkwardness of fighting empty-handed in the previous few encounters, Leticia had spent some time acquiring a magic staff that she could carry for emergencies. And now, it had come in handy.
Having a magic staff was certainly better than having empty hands. Even though it was a hastily made one for emergencies, its quality was not low; it could be considered top-tier even among demons.
Any item produced by a Demon King was, after all, a fine product.
Releasing a barrage of spells at the fastest speed, Leticia unhesitatingly waved her staff, launching all the spells. Fire, lightning, frost, gale, earth spikes—countless magical constructs assailed the black-robed figure from all angles. While these were indeed low-level spells, how could low-level spells cast by Leticia be just low-level spells?
The black-robed figure evaded with a few leaps, dodging Leticia’s volley in a near-miss posture. Seeing the open space riddled with craters from the magical bombardment, a hint of solemnity flashed in her eyes.
‘This opponent is difficult to deal with.’
Her attacks being dodged didn’t affect Leticia’s next offensive. Or rather, Leticia never expected this wave of attacks to finish off the opponent immediately. Such a nimble individual couldn’t be taken down by these small spells.
Furthermore, she was currently under a debuff issued by a teammate. Who knew why something targeting gods would affect the magic she cast? When she released those spells, Leticia already felt something was wrong. The power of her magic had decreased by at least thirty percent.
‘Damn it, a full thirty percent!’
‘Human black technology is too outrageous!’
Fortunately, her casting speed wasn’t affected, allowing her to maintain her offensive advantage. Otherwise, it would be truly difficult for her to deal with this mysterious black-robed figure.
“Low-level magic is useless, but I’ve bought enough time.” Approximately ten large golden-red magic circles had appeared behind Leticia. The reason she had thrown out that barrage of low-level magic was precisely to delay the casting of these spells.
If she cast them directly, the time required to gather mana and chant would be enough for the black-robed figure to rush to her face and stab her with that anti-magic dagger.
What kind of tragic end would a fragile mage face when an assassin gets in close? It seems unnecessary to elaborate.
Leticia was indeed not an ordinary mage; she possessed some close-combat ability. However, asking her to fight toe-to-toe with an assassin clearly specializing in close combat was tantamount to asking her to die!
Therefore, Leticia would not choose close combat. Let me unleash ten Sunfire Blasts!
Ten dazzling golden-red beams erupted simultaneously, blocking all escape routes for the black-robed figure. Facing the scorching streams of light rushing towards her, the black-robed figure’s eyes showed no panic. She calmly gripped the dagger, then twisted her waist and lightly swung the dagger forward.
As is well known, most assassins play in close combat, but who says an assassin cannot have ranged attack methods?
When Sword Saints have abandoned traditional swordsmanship and started using sword qi, is it too much for this little black-robed assassin to unleash a few blade lights?
*Boom boom boom!*
The pitch-black blade light collided with the golden-red beams, emitting a deafening roar.
When the commotion subsided, Leticia saw, without surprise, the black-robed figure standing unharmed in place. She knew this opponent wouldn’t be that easy to deal with.
The black-robed figure seemed to be catching her breath, as if releasing such a move was also a burden for her. But after only a short while, she regrouped and charged towards Leticia again.
“Tsk.” Leticia hummed softly. If her magic power hadn’t been weakened, how could the blade lights that this guy unleashed possibly block the Sunfire Blast, known for its destructive power?
Not to mention that this was the nth version of the Sunfire Blast · Demon King Modified that Leticia had optimized based on the inheritances of past Demon Kings. Throwing this out would at least create a hundred-meter crater.
Fortunately, Leticia knew that these few Sunfire Blasts wouldn’t be able to deal with the black-robed figure, so she had already conjured several more spells while the beams and blade lights were colliding.
Several agile blue water ropes were the first to meet the black-robed figure. Their purpose was to restrain the black-robed figure, allowing Leticia’s other spells to hit their mark. However, even the most agile water ropes seemed clumsy in front of the black-robed figure.
With just a few leaps and dodges, the black-robed figure successfully broke free from the interference of the water ropes. She even had the leisure to use her small dagger to block the piercing beam that Leticia casually flicked out.
“Strange…” Watching the black-robed figure’s agile movements, Leticia felt something was wrong. This guy seemed a bit unpracticed?
This person’s footwork was excellent. Leticia compared it with the Bai Ling in her memory and found their footwork to be almost on the same level. Ordinary homing magic couldn’t hit her at all.
To hit such a slippery target, one could only force them into a situation where they had no choice but to take the magic head-on, such as when their previous momentum was exhausted and their next move was not yet generated, or when all possible escape routes were sealed.
However, in stark contrast to her footwork, her dagger skills were… well, Leticia wouldn’t mince words, this guy used his dagger like a beginner, relying entirely on brute force.
If it weren’t for this guy’s formidable brute strength, with his dagger skills alone, he would have long drowned in Leticia’s sea of magic.
Twisting her body to dodge the black blade light swung by the black-robed figure, Leticia retaliated with a searing beam of light, forcing the black-robed figure to roll on the ground to evade.
However, such a spell could only force her to reposition. To inflict actual damage, more flexible and powerful spells were needed, or perhaps, more insidious spells.
Quietly preparing a shadow-element spell, Leticia continued to suppress the black-robed figure with her firepower. With the distance widened, the black-robed figure, who specialized in close combat, was indeed being chased and beaten by Leticia.
But Leticia couldn’t relax. After all, the black-robed figure was constantly looking for opportunities to counterattack while dodging her attacks. If Leticia showed any opening, that guy would definitely seize the chance to pounce.
However, for a master mage like Leticia to show an opening, it would require her mana to be depleted, at the very least. And presently, Leticia’s mana bar was still quite long!
Unable to find any opening, when did this guy become so powerful? The black-robed figure was now flustered. She wanted to find an opening in Leticia to initiate a thrilling close-quarters battle, but Leticia gave her no such opportunity. As soon as she sensed any intention to close in, Leticia would flash away to create distance and continue her firepower suppression.
‘Why is this guy using Flash so skillfully?’
‘And does this Flash have no cooldown? Coach, someone is cheating here!’
Helplessly dodging the overwhelming barrage of magic, just as the black-robed figure was becoming slightly numb, a chilling sensation suddenly crept up her back.
That was Leticia’s surprise.
