Chapter 126 : Ambush
Ambush
After a brief analysis, Cecilia quickly came to a conclusion.
The sound had come from the second floor above her head.
Although she didn't know how the other party had gotten in, she decisively stood up. After thinking for a moment, she said to Gu Yanxi across from her, "Stay here on the first floor, don't move around. If you want to go out and watch the auction, that's fine, but it seems someone has sneaked into the second floor. I'll go take a look."
"Are those the people who want to cause trouble? Do you need me to go with you?"
Gu Yanxi looked up at Cecilia, then asked with concern.
Although her class was a priest without much combat capability, all her skills were real, practical Shadow Magic. Not only was the damage outrageous, but she could even ignore the pain simulation settings of enemies, directly dealing damage to their consciousness. It was the perfect way to handle this kind of situation.
Although Cecilia really wanted to bring Gu Yanxi along, she pondered for two seconds and eventually dismissed the idea. She slowly shook her head and said, "It's not very suitable. If I go alone, they might not notice me, but if you come along, it'd easily alert them and scare them away."
"Alright then,"
Gu Yanxi replied, knowing Cecilia was right and not insisting. She just nodded obediently.
After that, Cecilia opened her private message window and sent a message to Little Persimmon Puppy, letting her know what she had just discovered. Then she opened the room door and stepped out into the lobby.
At this time, most players were still watching the auction on stage with great interest. After all, it wasn't often one could see so much rare equipment at once. Only a small group had heard the clicking sound of high heels striking the ground.
Turning toward the sound, they saw a stunning girl dressed in a black suit skirt, her long hair tied up in a high ponytail. She had exceedingly striking silver-white long hair, and with her sharply contoured, exquisite features, she exuded a natural coldness and pride.
Her expression was indifferent, her skin sickly pale, and her complexion was so immaculate it seemed as if she'd been carved from the finest jade. With a straight face, she gazed ahead, her light blue eyes frozen like millennia-old ice. Yet beneath that icy exterior, her passionate black stockings paired with several-centimeter-high heels gave off a distinct allure.
A few people were instantly entranced, their eyes locked on the girl's slender, perfectly shaped legs, unable to look away.
Noticing that someone was staring at her legs, Cecilia felt both shy and annoyed inside, but she was helpless. The auction was still in progress, and she couldn't just dash forward and beat the offenders up by the collar. She could only frown slightly, pretend not to see anything, and shift her gaze toward the stage, where Little Persimmon Puppy was.
Little Persimmon Puppy had also seen Cecilia's private message and learned about the situation. However, the auction had reached a crucial moment and simply could not be interrupted.
So, she could only cast a silent, pleading look at Cecilia. Seeing Cecilia nodding slightly, she then put on a bright smile again and began introducing the next auction item to the players below.
Cecilia turned and walked toward the stairs to the second floor.
It was only when she reached the stairway that she realized, in her haste, she'd forgotten to change out of her black suit skirt. She was still not in her battle-ready Rose Maid set.
She originally wanted to return to the reception room to change equipment before going upstairs to confront the enemy. But then Cecilia immediately realized she still didn't know how strong she really was without the equipment boosts.
She opened her personal panel once again. Since the bonuses from her main and off-hand weapons were still active, the rest of her stats had dropped significantly, but her attack power was still much higher than the other players.
Closing the window, acting almost on instinct, Cecilia did not return to change equipment. Instead, she drew her flintlock pistol with her left hand and gripped the silver table knife in reverse with her right hand, advancing quietly toward the second floor.
She wanted to see if, even without the full bonuses from Maid Outfit Mastery, she could still completely overpower other players as she used to.
After all, a one-sided massacre brought little fun.
Increasing the game's difficulty a bit for herself would be more beneficial for her mental and physical health.
If, in the end, she really couldn't win, she could always switch back to the Rose Maid set.
Imagining all the possible scenarios that might unfold, Cecilia quickly arrived on the second floor, fully focused and listening intently for sounds around her.
Although she no longer had the extra boost from Maid Outfit Mastery, her hearing was undiminished. Besides, this building was small—just over two hundred square meters—so, fully engaged, Cecilia soon located the source of the disturbance.
It was at the end of the corridor, an unused empty room.
If Cecilia remembered correctly, the window in that room faced the back of the building.
"So... they climbed in through the back window, did they?"
Thinking this, a cold smile surfaced on Cecilia's lips.
Judging by the sounds, quite a few people had sneaked in, and their roles were clearly divided—a sure sign they'd come prepared.
At least five people were acting as support inside the room, with more than a dozen breaths coming from beyond the window. There were surely also lookouts nearby.
Cecilia had originally thought she was just catching a few petty thieves. She hadn't expected to catch such a big fish.
Tonight, it seemed there would be quite a party.
After confirming the number of enemies, Cecilia finally got serious, planning to retreat to the reception room on the first floor to switch back to her Rose Maid set.
With her current non-boosted equipment, she might as well be naked. She could probably handle a few level-ten players, but against dozens, she would be significantly outmatched.
However, she had barely taken a single step back when a sharp sound of something cutting through the air suddenly came from behind—a assassin!
While inwardly confused and a little surprised at how she hadn't heard any breathing or footsteps, Cecilia's wealth of combat experience took over, and she responded without hesitation.
Since the enemy assassin was ambushing from behind at extremely close range and the dagger was already almost touching her back, it was too late to turn around and counterattack with her weapon.
So Cecilia simply whipped her ponytail, turned her body sideways, and less than a second later, a pixelated dagger nearly grazed her cheek as it passed by!
At the same moment, the girl suddenly bent her knee and, lifting her right leg clad in black stockings, drove the pointed heel of her shoe hard into a rather sensitive spot between the attacker's legs!
-987!
A bright red critical hit number floated up, and a moment later, an inhumanly shrill scream echoed through the bustling wooden building.