Chapter 11: Hunting the Gods

Because she hated wolves, after returning she hunted down every wolf she could find, stripped off their hides, and stitched them into this robe. Only when she looked upon it could the bone-deep hatred in her heart be eased, if only slightly.

“She’s getting desperate! She’s getting desperate!”

Zeusis continued bombarding her with taunts, utterly unconcerned that he had become the primary target.

Trash-talking was part of their strategy as well. As the tank, attracting enemy aggression was precisely what he was supposed to do.

By then, Sals’s blessing had descended upon the others, causing their strength to surge for a short time.

As they unleashed their divine power, the surrounding mist was temporarily held at bay, unable to erode them.

They had refrained from using this method earlier because divine power was precious. Although it could regenerate, they themselves had no ability to produce it and could only seize it from others. Naturally, they were reluctant to waste it.

Now that battle had begun, however, they no longer had such concerns.

As Zeusis confronted the giant wolf transformed from Little Red Riding Hood, the other three attacked her in their own ways.

What astonished them was that when their attacks struck Little Red Riding Hood, she seemed completely unaffected, as though she felt nothing at all.

At that moment, her eyes held only Zeusis.

She intended to tear the foul-mouthed human into pieces and condemn his soul to eternal torment.

“Roar!”

The giant wolf let out an enraged howl. Her two enormous claws slammed against the Zeus Shield, forcing Zeusis backward again and again.

He was the god of thunder, wielding the divine power of lightning. Yet when his thunderous might struck his opponent, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, producing not the slightest reaction.

Instead, the overwhelming force of the giant wolf’s attacks left him barely able to defend himself.

“This won’t do! She’s far too strong, and our divine attacks don’t seem to have any effect!”

“I’ll do it!”

Okudin moved to the very front, Victory Sword of the Dragonheart in hand. Against any deity, he possessed an enormous advantage.

The Victory Sword of the Dragonheart had one especially important attribute:

+30% damage against deities, -20% damage from deities!

That single attribute had allowed them to triumph against every deity they had faced in the past.

Thus, he was filled with confidence.

Little Red Riding Hood’s divine power was not particularly formidable. Naturally, they had assumed she would not be difficult to defeat.

The next moment, however, reality struck him hard.

His trump card, the Victory Sword of the Dragonheart, struck the giant wolf—and inflicted no damage whatsoever.

He could not even breach her defenses.

“What?”

Okudin was stunned, but in that brief instant, the giant wolf swiped him away with a single claw.

“What’s going on? The sword’s suppression effect didn’t work. Could she not be a deity?”

Zeusis had taken his place, but he could only struggle to hold back the giant wolf with the Zeus Shield. He had no time to answer.

“It’s that robe of hers!”

As the support of the group, Sals had enough time and energy to observe everything else. He immediately shared the information he had obtained with the others.

[Wolfskin Cloak: Filled with the boundless hatred of a dead deity.]

[Quality: Legendary—Gold]

[Attributes: Defiance of Death: No one can use supernatural power to attack a god of death.]

[Physical Resistance: Woven from the hides of countless wolves, granting it immense defensive power.]

[Death God’s Sigh: The sigh of a god is also a curse.]

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When they saw these attributes, the four of them were stunned.

It was the first time they had encountered a legendary item without a single skill. Yet the two visible attributes were so terrifying that even without being able to see the final three—or understand what the third one meant—they were already close to despair.

The first attribute had completely nullified their plans to attack with divine power. Divine power, magic, and everything else of that nature fell under the category of supernatural force, and all of it had been forbidden.

That meant they could only rely on physical attacks.

But the second attribute directly countered physical attacks.

It was not as absolute as the first, which offered one-hundred-percent resistance, but it clearly granted an extremely high degree of resistance. No wonder the Victory Sword of the Dragonheart had been useless.

Anyone would have despaired upon seeing such attributes.

After realizing that the dragonheart sword was of little use, Okudin immediately put it away and replaced it with the Spear of Victory.

Zeusis remained at the front. No matter how the giant wolf charged, he could accurately intercept her. Although he could not withstand her attacks unaided, Sals continued reinforcing him from behind, allowing him to hold the line.

Kelde attacked from the flank with the Immortal Sword, using his own methods to relieve the pressure on Zeusis.

Once Okudin joined the battle with his spear, the giant wolf finally retreated for the first time. Clearly, even she dared not allow the three of them to strike her freely.

The wolfskin cloak could nullify most of the damage, but it was not completely impervious. Their divine power could not be used to attack, but it could still strengthen themselves and increase their physical might.

“Hmph!”

The giant wolf suddenly gave a delicate snort, sounding like a young girl. Then Little Red Riding Hood removed the wolfskin cloak, leaped into the air, and opened some distance between herself and the others.

“Now!”

Seeing his chance, Zeusis shouted excitedly. He seized the spear and hurled it at her.

Then he charged forward with his round shield.

Little Red Riding Hood remained unmoved. Behind her, a long firearm slowly materialized.

“Bang!”

The shot rang out.

Zeusis had charged swiftly, but he was sent flying backward even faster.

The sudden gunshot caught the others off guard.

After all, the opponents they usually faced were various kinds of deities, and gods naturally did not use firearms.

Little Red Riding Hood, however, had no concern for what they thought. Holding a flintlock in her hand, she fired once and, without needing to reload, immediately aimed at her next target.

“Don’t block it—run!”

Zeusis, who was staggering toward them from a distance, shouted without hesitation.

Only he understood how terrifying that gun truly was.

If he had not possessed the Zeus Shield, that single shot would already have killed him.

Hearing his warning, the other three did not hesitate. They scattered at once and fled in different directions.

Floating in midair, Little Red Riding Hood took aim at the fleeing prey, just as she had once done while hunting.

“Bang!”

Another shot rang out.

Without warning, Okudin collapsed onto the ground. With no protection and no chance to resist, he was killed by a single bullet.

That shot possessed a lethal effect known as Instant Death.

Anyone struck by it had no possibility of escape.

When Okudin fell, the other two ignored him and hurried to find cover, intent only on escaping the immediate danger.

Zeusis was running toward them from the opposite direction.

Little Red Riding Hood reveled in the pleasure of the hunt. Once she had selected her target, she fired again.

“Bang!”

Kelde collapsed.

“We’ve lost far too much!”

Sals’s face was filled with pain. He took out a large quantity of potions from his personal storage and poured them down his throat.

Anyone watching his condition would have seen his health rapidly declining, while his divine power had already been cut in half.

No wonder he looked so anguished.

Since they had begun hunting deities, they had never before lost two members at once. This was the first time that ability had been activated.

To suddenly lose half of the divine power they had accumulated over such a long period was naturally heartbreaking.

Still, it had been worth it.

That much was obvious when the fallen Okudin and Kelde climbed back to their feet.

Having roamed the mythological world and formed a mythic party dedicated to hunting deities, they naturally possessed special abilities of their own.

The power to resurrect from nothing was one of their team skills.

When Little Red Riding Hood saw the two who had already died stand up again, confusion flashed across her childish face.

Her limited experience made it impossible for her to understand what had happened.

But as a deity, she had no need to understand.

“The dead belong to death!”

Her lips parted slightly, and she pronounced a divine edict.

The power of death spread through the surrounding area.

Sals’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly released his own deathly power to interfere, then frantically summoned fallen angels to chant a sacred hymn and restore their condition.

The two who had just been resurrected had merely shared his life force. Although he had replenished himself with potions, the process would still take some time—and their opponent clearly had no intention of granting them that time.

A row of fallen angels hovered above Sals, chanting their hymn. Specks of radiance descended upon the group, and their lost health began rapidly recovering.

But compared with Little Red Riding Hood, Sals’s deathly power was far too weak—especially after half of his reserves had just been depleted.

Before long, Little Red Riding Hood’s deathly power forced his aside and coiled around Okudin and Kelde.

The health that had been recovering began to plummet.

The expressions of the two men changed as well. They hurriedly poured potions into their mouths while using their own divine power to resist the corrosive force of Little Red Riding Hood’s deathly power.

Though their efforts were like a cup of water against a blazing fire, they could at least lessen their losses.

At that moment, their hearts were bleeding.

They had hunted geese all their lives, only to have their eyes pecked out by one.

They had gained nothing, yet they had already spent a fortune on potions, preliminary intelligence gathering, and all the other preparations. Not to mention the price they had paid to enter this world.

They had finally found their target—only to discover that they could not defeat her.

They would have been better off never encountering her at all.

Then they would at least have had sufficient grounds to confront the broker.

Now that they had met her, the loss of potions was still a minor matter. They could simply purchase more with Paradise Coins, and Paradise Coins did not provide them with an especially significant boost.

But the divine power consumed in battle, along with the power expended to resurrect the fallen, was truly painful to lose.