Chapter Fifty-Eight: A Fraud?

When the mechanism closed, Vivian’s expression darkened. Though they were trapped, neither Zhou Tian nor Vivian showed the slightest fear. To be chosen as a combatant for the Church’s campaign against demonkind, even Vivian, an auxiliary professional, possessed abilities beyond ordinary comprehension. For most people, such a trap would suffice to imprison them, but for Zhou Tian and Vivian, it posed little threat.

Vivian’s sour mood stemmed not from the danger, but from the outrage the situation provoked. The Church, while not rulers of the continent, stood among its strongest factions. As a prominent member of the Radiant Church, Vivian was accustomed to being courted by local authorities wherever she went; few dared to cross her, even if they didn’t flatter her. Yet now, with her guard down, she had been outmaneuvered by the corpulent city lord she had always dismissed. Thinking of his past deeds and his scheming today, Vivian’s hatred for him nearly consumed her.

Zhou Tian, by contrast, felt little about the ordeal, perhaps because he had only recently begun working for the Radiant Church. He too disliked falling into a trap, but his reaction was far milder than Vivian’s.

“So, shall we leave now, or wait to see if that dead pig comes?” Zhou Tian scanned the iron bars around them with disdain and asked Vivian, already preparing to unleash his serpents and destroy the enclosure.

Vivian, however, replied, “No need to rush. Since the founding of the Radiant Church, this is the first time its members have been ambushed by imperial officials. I’d like to ask him why he’s targeting us.”

“Pointless,” Zhou Tian muttered, unimpressed by her reasoning, but he didn’t argue further. He simply retreated to the side, coiling himself on the ground.

They didn’t have to wait long. Perhaps the city lord thought they posed no threat; about ten minutes after they were trapped, he arrived with his entourage. Soldiers surrounded the iron cage, and the city lord, supported by several warriors and mages, strode forward with arrogant confidence. He glared at Zhou Tian and Vivian and sneered, “Didn’t expect you’d end up like this, did you?”

“How dare you ambush a messenger of the holy sanctuary! Such nerve!” The moment the city lord appeared, Vivian’s rage flared anew. She fixed him with a deadly glare and snapped out her accusation.

He looked at her as if she were a fool and replied to Zhou Tian and Vivian, “That’s what I ought to say to you! How dare you impersonate a divine envoy—you frauds are truly brazen!”

“What?” Zhou Tian was taken aback. The city lord was calling them imposters? He couldn’t fathom why the man would mock them this way.

The city lord was quite pleased with their stunned expressions. He scoffed and continued, “Did you really think you could fool me with forged documents? Ridiculous! You underestimate me. You’re not even good at this—divine envoys are noble, how could one possibly be a woman? And you claim your squad leader is a snake? Do you really think I’m stupid? Women are just tools for men, and snakes belong on our dinner plates. With such glaring flaws, you still hoped to deceive me? You deserve your fate.”

After his ‘brilliant’ analysis, Zhou Tian and Vivian found themselves at a loss for words. They exchanged a helpless glance, and Zhou Tian teased, “Have you ever encountered anything like this before?”

Shaking her head, Vivian managed a wry smile. Perhaps it was her first time dealing with someone as absurd as the city lord; all her anger seemed to dissipate. She surveyed the iron bars and said, “Captain, I think we’d better leave now. It seems this mission is up to us alone.”

The city lord, though ridiculous, was not without sense. Hearing Vivian’s words, he realized what they intended to do. His face changed; he retreated behind his followers and hastily ordered, “Kill these two frauds at once!”

The soldiers obeyed without hesitation, drawing their bows and firing arrows at Zhou Tian and Vivian.

As the attack began, Zhou Tian could no longer sit idly by. Had he been alone, he might have indulged the city lord’s antics a while longer, but with Vivian—an auxiliary professional—by his side, he couldn’t risk her being injured. He immediately activated the powers of the Serpent Basin.

A few enormous pythons materialized before Zhou Tian and Vivian. Their tough hides and the enhancements from the Serpent Basin rendered them nearly impervious. Though scores of arrows struck the snakes, they suffered only minor wounds.

Enraged by their injuries, the pythons lashed out, their massive tails smashing the iron bars around the cage. Pythons already possessed tremendous strength due to their size, and after being fortified by the Serpent Basin, their power had grown terrifying. Without magical or martial energy, relying on brute force alone, the snakes easily battered the iron bars away in a few blows.

Zhou Tian stretched, shot the city lord a venomous look, and unleashed a swarm of poisonous snakes, sending them slithering toward the corpulent man...