Chapter Eighteen: Hearts Versus Red Hat (Please Vote and Show Your Support)

The once thin mist thickened steadily, and its blood-draining effect grew ever more potent. At that moment, a little girl emerged from the fog.

Her appearance was utterly ordinary; she carried an old hunting rifle on her back, draped in wolf fur, and wore a hood that was half-burnt. By all appearances, she was just a young huntress.

Yet merely looking at her sent shivers down everyone’s spines. It seemed as though restless spirits hovered around her.

With a single raised hand, she instantly drained the vitality from the soldier cards and the hearts soldiers, leaving only the mighty heart knights barely standing their ground.

At this moment, even the little monkey could no longer keep the sofa steady, and the Queen of Hearts fell to the ground.

But the Queen had no time to scold them. She rose from the sofa, cradling a chubby little pink pig in her arms.

Only now did her full stature reveal itself—barely reaching one and a half meters tall—bringing to mind the fierce imagery of a celestial tiger covering the land.

What was most striking was her head, disproportionate to her small frame.

A dark mist swirled around her, repelling the encroaching fog. As a result, she alone in the entire scene remained unaffected by the mist’s life-draining power, untouched by its siphoning.

Even now, she held onto her proud bearing. Her small body stood tall, her head raised high—not looking up to anyone. Instead, she floated into the air, gazing down imperiously at Little Red Riding Hood.

“You’re Little Red Riding Hood?” Her voice was sharp and far from pleasant.

Little Red Riding Hood looked up. Hearing her name called felt distant, as if from another lifetime.

Yet now, she no longer cared for these mortals. Had it not been for the destruction of her divine realm, she would never have appeared here.

Resurrected, she had returned to the place where her “older sister” once lived, according to the memories she retained.

She had wished to preserve this place forever, to keep those remembered safe from death, and thus had chosen this path.

But now, all had been destroyed. The town lay in ruins, all souls scattered. She was powerless to revive them.

Their bodies had long decayed over the ages; it was only her deathly divine power that forcibly maintained their souls.

Yet time and again, outsiders disrupted this balance. Though she slew them each time, the divine realm grew ever more unstable.

Standing amid the ruins of the town, only the aura of death lingered around her.

“It’s all gone!” Little Red Riding Hood’s voice was chilling, laden with sorrow.

With the poker army’s potential gone, Ye Cangyi no longer needed to grapple with the heart knights and withdrew to the group.

Ding Xiang focused on maintaining the protective barrier, resisting the mist’s erosion.

Seeing this, Octodin chose to lend him the Golden Blue Tyrant Talisman temporarily.

After all, their divine power could not be replenished naturally; it could only be seized by hunting gods. Giving Ding Xiang this equipment now would benefit them all.

Previously, while inside the protective barrier, they had been spared the mist’s assault and thus saved on using potions—why not conserve resources?

After all, it was only a loan.

“I don’t care if you have it or not!” The Queen of Hearts, seeing Little Red Riding Hood’s lack of response, grew furious. She hated being ignored.

“Those who kill me will pay!” she snarled. Her crown radiated a dark, ominous light.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Dark beams flew like sharp swords toward Little Red Riding Hood.

But a deathly divine aura surrounded her, repelling these attacks before they could reach her.

After the Queen’s assault, the remaining heart knights rallied to the attack.

Though no longer at their peak, a group of heart knights still posed a formidable threat.

Yet Little Red Riding Hood didn’t even glance their way. Her aura expanded, enveloping the charging heart knights, then contracted, and all who appeared again lost their life force.

“Ah—!” The Queen of Hearts screamed in rage. She had painstakingly built her forces over time; while the hearts soldiers were expendable, the heart knights were not so easily replaced. Losing them all at once was a devastating blow.

“You deserve to die!” Enraged, she tossed aside the little pig and summoned dark orbs of magic, which swirled around her before hurtling toward Little Red Riding Hood.

But a gulf existed between dark magic and deathly divine power.

Little Red Riding Hood was a god now—at worst a demigod—far beyond the Queen, who hadn’t even reached legendary status.

The divide between gods and mortals was vast and insurmountable.

The dark orbs were powerful, enough to send low-tier players fleeing, yet before Little Red Riding Hood, her deathly aura repelled them all, leaving only faint ripples.

“Are you the one who destroyed everything?” Little Red Riding Hood finally fixed her gaze on the Queen.

“So what if I am?” The Queen, stubborn as a dying duck, arrogantly took the blame despite not being the culprit.

“Then you shall die!” Light blossomed within Little Red Riding Hood’s deathly eyes, brighter than the stars that once shone in the sky.

“Ah—” The Queen staggered back, awestruck by the overwhelming divine power radiating from her. The vast difference between them was as if a mountain stream faced the ocean.

“Charge!” A roar came from the side.

Zeus, spear in one hand and shield in the other, launched his assault once more.

As the frontline, his task was to distract and engage the enemy.

This time he was not alone; Ye Cangyi and Zhong Ye flanked him, lending support.

Little Red Riding Hood was indeed formidable, but she wouldn’t annihilate them outright, giving them a chance.

Amid the ruins of the town, the battle erupted.

Ding Xiang concentrated on sustaining the barrier against the mist’s encroachment, while the others launched an all-out assault on Little Red Riding Hood.

Yet, remarkably, she remained unscathed.

The Queen, seeing her dark magic failing, ceased her attacks and began chanting a powerful spell.

Having studied dark magic since childhood and gifted with an exceptional talent, she was also a puppet master—allowing her to build her poker army and command the mighty heart knights.

Octodin and the others did not idle either.

Though many of their techniques were unusable, they searched for openings to wield their strength.

Murong Xun, wielding the Shadow of Slaughter, moved stealthily on the flanks, seeking attack opportunities.

He dared not get too close; with his slight frame, one blow could overwhelm him.

Meanwhile, Ye Cangyi finally yielded, sheathing his spear and drawing the Starry Sword from his back for close combat.

With more people involved, the sword proved more effective than the spear.

Little Red Riding Hood donned the wolf fur once more, transforming into a werewolf.

Since the four mythic warriors’ attacks could still harm her, the wolf skin allowed her to evade the greatest damage.

Seeing her attacks futile, the Queen abandoned dark magic and summoned the poker soldiers.

A rift tore open behind her, pouring forth a fully armed poker army.

The werewolf Little Red Riding Hood could not wield deathly divine power, but her damage output remained terrifying.

Her claws flew like blades, swatting foes away with ease.

Attacks against her felt like mere tickles, almost negligible.

The damage reduction was staggering, leaving physical attackers desperate.

Seizing a moment, Murong Xun used Aurora Flash to close distance, but even his sword could not pierce her defense, let alone injure her.

Against such a formidable foe, a low-tier player like him was powerless.

Zhong Ye’s Eight-Faced Banner shifted constantly; later, he ceased transformations, fixing the 'Qian' rune upon himself, switching to melee attacks.

Only when facing Zeus and Kelde’s assaults did Little Red Riding Hood dodge; otherwise, she often braved attacks head-on.

Watching the chaotic battle, Murong Xun for the first time felt truly weak.

Though the dungeon exceeded the level he was meant to handle, he understood his lack of strength was the cause.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be like this.

He recalled the inherited skill from his predecessor: the Sealing Shadow Slash—a technique never used in real combat.

In simulations, he wielded it freely, since there was no cost, but in the dungeon world, it was unusable or unavailable, so he had never tried it.

This was both an offensive move and a charge-up skill.

He stood still, entering a charging state.

His energy drained rapidly, but so did the power of his impending strike grow.

Energy poured into the Shadow of Slaughter in his hand, his aura swelling mightily.

Little Red Riding Hood noticed him but was too occupied with the others to pay him any heed.

At last, after charging nine-tenths of his energy, Murong Xun used Aurora Flash to close in beside her, then swung his blade in a decisive strike.