The Villainess calls hax

Seraphina pushed through the skirmish, her instincts guiding her toward the concealed sealer. With a surge of energy, she reached the source, her senses honing in on a cloaked figure attempting to maintain control over the seal.

Without hesitation, Seraphina channeled her cultivation power, her palms emitting a brilliant golden light that clashed with the sealer's energies. The two forces collided, causing a shockwave that momentarily stunned both sides of the battle.

Isabella and Sona took advantage of the momentary disruption, unleashing a coordinated assault that forced the remaining attackers to retreat temporarily.

As the invisible barrier dissipated, the sealer's control over the situation crumbled. The cloaked figure revealed their face, a mix of fury and defeat etched across their features.

"We will meet again," the sealer hissed before disappearing in a burst of smoke, leaving only a faint trace of their presence.

With their opponent vanquished and the remaining attackers in disarray, Seraphina's team swiftly regained control of the battlefield. The enemies were quickly taken care of, and their aura of superiority shattered.

"We need to move quickly," Seraphina urged her senses on high alert.

Isabella exchanged a glance with Sona, both recognizing the urgency in Seraphina's voice. "What is it?"

Seraphina's gaze shifted to a darkened corner of the cave, where the ambush had been sprung. She could sense residual energy, a lingering malevolence that was distinct from the attackers they had just defeated.

"Our plan was only semi-successful, we didn't get to the main facility. I can't sense the Cipher." Seraphina said, her voice low but resolute. "Tony was lead on this and implicated us in return."

"What do we do now, Seraphina. Do you have a lead?" Isabella asked her with a worried look. The plan they had assumed that this place was the main facility of the Duskin's creation. Now, everything seemed a bit pointless.

"Don't worry, my dear. We still have a chance to finish this by tonight. The underground sect is probably not alerted yet since we have elicited all of the variables on the field. But they will change shifts in about four hours. Until then, we'll locate and destroy the main base." Seraphina explained her reasonings to the team with a calculating look.

"And it can't be too far away since they'll have connection issues to the Cipher from what I have gathered from my intel." Sona followed up in agreement with Seraphina's idea.

"But what are we looking for? The forest is vast, and we don't have good visibility at night.

"Don't worry about that. There is a way of finding them, but I need some time to prepare. We're in luck because the people we have just killed belong to the same underground sect that had been collaborating with the Fallar." Seraphina said as she remembered how the Covenant used a special sealing formation to control their subjects.

It is on paper an unidirectional communication tunnel, but she knew that seals always had a loophole since they were created by human beings, and they can err. She had knowledge gathered from two worlds, and adding them to seal-making in this world makes her quite unique. She describes her tweaking around existing seals as a "Seal Hack". What she does is basically what a hacker would do to a victim's computer - gaining access and then privilege escalation.

'Aye! Let's fuck up the Covenant!' Seraphina mused as she imagined the troubled looks of certain higher-ups in the Covenant.

Under the faint glow of the moonlight, Seraphina meticulously worked on tweaking the communication seal she had acquired from the fallen Covenant members. Drawing on her unique knowledge and skills, she subtly altered the parameters of the seal, exploiting its vulnerabilities and using her expertise to create a backdoor into the Covenant's communication network.

One hour passed and Seraphina's efforts bore fruit – she had successfully gained access to the Covenant's communication channels and established a foothold within their secretive network.

"Now we wait," Seraphina said, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. "They won't even know we're listening." She mapped the Qi signals she'd been receiving to a map she had brought along with her. After a while, the signals gave her a good hint of where the main base was hidden.

"I must say, hidden in plain sight worked for them. I wouldn't have investigated there." Seraphina said and pointed straight to Serenity Hollow.

"Oho, looks like we have gained quite valued information due to your ingenious methods once again." Alexander said while raising his left brow in astonishment.

"Where did you learn this? Did the Coven change the curriculum or what did I miss?" Sona asked bewildered. She had been a member for quite some time and was well-versed in seals. But she had never seen anyone doing anything remotely resembling what Seraphina did to seals. It was quite perverted, but in a good way - if there is one.

Seraphina chuckled at Sona's incredulous expression. "Oh, this little trick? Let's just say I've had the privilege of gathering knowledge from more than one world. I've studied seals, runes, and various forms of magic from different cultures and dimensions. It's all about finding the common threads and exploiting the weaknesses." She winked playfully.

Sona pouted at Serphina's fake answer. "Fine! Don't tell me then."

Isabella grinned. "I always knew you were a quick learner, but this is on a whole new level."

Under the cover of darkness, they moved stealthily through the forest towards the hidden base. The moon cast a pale glow over the landscape as they neared their destination, their determination unwavering.

"We're close," Seraphina whispered, her senses attuned to any potential threats. Arriving here once again triggered memories of her fighting real-world danger experience. She remembered fighting Isolmeda and then the near-death experience with the ginseng. But everything she encountered made her stronger and she knew that she was ready to take on the next fight.

"We've got to put an end to this," Isabella whispered, her voice a mixture of anger and determination.

"Yeah, you can count on it." Seraphina said, her voice resolute as ever.