The moment their feet touched solid ground, the dizziness from teleportation receded like a tide.
Lin Qingyue opened her eyes.
Before her lay a vast and tranquil primeval forest.
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, their dense canopies allowing only mottled specks of sunlight to filter through.
The air was thick with the damp, earthy scent of soil and the fresh fragrance of plants.
High above, two suns of different sizes hung side by side, casting a slightly scorching light that bathed the unfamiliar land in a strange golden hue.
"The wilderness again."
Lin Xiyue tightened her grip on the heavy shield, Immovable Mountain, her muscles tensing as she scanned their surroundings with vigilance.
Su Wan's hand was already resting on the crystal atop her staff, her ice-blue eyes calmly analyzing the environment.
"The elemental concentration is high, but... extremely volatile," she murmured, her voice laced with gravity.
Xia Lian crouched down, her fingers lightly brushing the ground. "There are tracks of animal activity," she whispered. "Fresh ones. The creature was large. We need to be careful."
Just then, several lines of faintly glowing text silently materialized beneath each of their class panels.
[You have entered the Dungeon: Shattered Alliance]
[Rule 1: Chivalry]
[Description: Even in battle, chivalry must be upheld. Combat tactics that violate chivalry, such as sneak attacks and assassinations, will have their effectiveness reduced by 50%.]
Lin Qingyue raised an eyebrow, about to quip, "Good thing we don't have an Assassin on our team," when the second rule promptly slapped her in the face.
[Rule 2: Beauty is Justice]
[Description: Your Charisma will become the most dazzling beacon on the battlefield. The higher your looks, the more likely you are to draw the enemy's priority attacks.]
After reading the second rule, the relaxed expression on Lin Qingyue's face instantly froze.
She mechanically turned her head to look at her three teammates.
Her younger sister, Lin Xiyue, a valiant Paladin with long black hair shimmering under the forest's dappled light, winked playfully at her, as if to say, "You're the prettiest, Sis."
Their new teammate, Su Wan, a cold and aloof Ice Mage whose mage robes couldn't conceal her stunning curves, cast a cool glance her way, her ice-blue eyes lingering on Lin Qingyue's face for an extra half-second.
The other new teammate, Xia Lian, a shy and reserved Ranger, was currently avoiding eye contact, her cheeks slightly flushed. That rule felt like a public execution notice, making her so embarrassed her toes were practically trying to dig a three-bedroom apartment out of her boots.
The four of them stared at each other.
Eventually, an awkward silence settled over the group.
Fine.
Everyone's looks are on par with each other, so no one can laugh at anyone else.
A shared debuff is basically no debuff at all.
Theoretically, anyway.
Besides, the Dungeon creatures' sense of beauty might not be the same as humans'...
Lin Qingyue's expression darkened as she recalled certain Goblins...
"Let's... find a path first," Xia Lian said, forcing herself to ignore the mortifying rule and pointing in a direction. "There are tracks over there, worn down by creatures. They seem to form a trail, probably leading to a settlement or a lair."
"Let's go," Lin Qingyue said concisely.
Xia Lian's professional skills were top-notch. She acted like the most precise human radar, constantly reporting accurate information and guiding the team efficiently through the rugged mountain terrain.
"Thirty meters ahead and to the left. Twelve sets of tracks, no more than half an hour old."
"The bushes here have been trampled. They went in that direction."
Half an hour later, Xia Lian abruptly stopped, crouched low, and pointed toward a cave entrance concealed by bushes.
"We're here. It's a Kobold lair. Two sentries at the entrance."
"Leave it to me," Su Wan said, stepping forward, her voice as cold as ice.
She raised her hand, her pale fingertips tracing patterns in the air. The moisture in the atmosphere instantly responded to her will, condensing into lethal frost.
"Ice Cone Spell."
Swish! Swish!
Two diamond-sharp ice cones tore through the air with deadly chill, precisely piercing the throats of the two Kobold sentries.
They didn't even manage a whimper before their bodies stiffened and toppled over. The wounds were instantly frozen shut by the cold, not a single drop of blood spilling.
"Move."
The four of them crouched low and entered the cave in single file.
Inside, the cave was dim, and a foul stench—a mixture of dampness, rot, and excrement—assaulted their senses, nearly making them gag.
Ahead lay a spacious cavern where over twenty Kobolds, armed with bone clubs and rusty knives, had gathered.
"I'll initiate!" Lin Xiyue roared, no longer suppressing her aura. Hoisting her massive shield, Immovable Mountain, she charged forward like a human heavy tank.
"Su Wan, cover me!"
"Understood." Su Wan stood at the rear of the team, tapping her staff lightly on the ground. A ring of icy blue light instantly erupted from her position.
"Frost Nova!"
Vwoom—!
A bone-chilling wave of cold swept through the cavern. Most of the Kobolds' movements instantly slowed, their bodies coated in a thick layer of white frost.
At that moment, Lin Xiyue crashed into the mob!
Shield Bash!
The Kobolds at the front were sent sprawling. She secured a perfect position, firmly blocking the attack routes of all the monsters.
Xia Lian's movements were equally swift and deadly.
She drew the shortbow from her back and fired a rapid volley of arrows. Each shot precisely struck the knees of the un-slowed Kobolds attempting to flank.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingyue calmly cast a shield on her charging sister, ready to heal at a moment's notice.
A textbook Warrior-Mage-Priest-Ranger party.
Perfect coordination, balanced in both offense and defense.
Yet, in the next instant, the battle plunged into an incomprehensible abyss.
The Kobolds, which should have been tightly controlled by Lin Xiyue's shield and Su Wan's frost, suddenly fixed their chaotic eyes on a single direction as they scanned the four girls.
It was a gaze filled with a mixture of greed, fanaticism, and a morbid craving.
They ignored the Paladin right in front of them, smashing her heavy shield into their faces.
They ignored the Ranger at the rear, relentlessly firing cold arrows.
They even ignored the Mage who had cast the wide-area frost spell.
Their target was singular.
Lin Qingyue!
Her soft pink hair, in the dim light of the cavern, became the most conspicuous and alluring color in the entire chamber.
"Gah!"
"Roar—!"
The nearest Kobolds, as if injected with the wildest stimulant, completely disregarded Lin Xiyue, who was frantically swinging her shield before them.
They paid no heed to the bone-chilling frost spreading beneath their feet.
Low growls rumbled from their throats, their murky eyes glowing with a bizarre fervor as they desperately pushed toward Lin Qingyue
"Hmm?" Lin Qingyue raised an eyebrow.
"Don't even think about getting past me!" Lin Xiyue reacted fastest. She slammed her shield diagonally into the ground, bracing its back with her long, powerful legs, transforming herself into an insurmountable barrier.
Her shield parried left and right as she tried to physically force the Kobolds attempting to bypass her back into the encirclement.
Xia Lian's fingers moved like a gale, the shortbow's string vibrating incessantly. Feathered arrows precisely struck the charging Kobolds' ankles and knee joints, aiming to slow their advance as much as possible.
The ice-blue crystal atop Su Wan's staff flared brightly as she unhesitatingly channeled her magic power once more.
"Ice Ring: Expand!"
A second, even more frigid wave of frost erupted in a ring around her, desperately trying to envelop more monsters in the slowing field. The ice solidifying on the ground sought to lock down their frenzied claws.
The trio's coordination was lightning-fast, a testament to their experience and synergy. They managed to hold the majority of the Kobolds back behind their defensive line.
However, the Kobolds whose eyes reflected only the pink glow of Lin Qingyue's hair displayed an extraordinary obsession and brute force.
They would rather have their bones shattered by the shield, their limbs frozen stiff by the frost, or their flesh pierced by arrows than stop. Roaring, shoving, and crawling, they surged toward their one and only target.
Ultimately, this fanaticism that ignored both pain and tactics tore several gaps in the defensive line.
Three particularly strong Kobolds, bristling with arrows and coated in ice shards, finally broke through the gaps with guttural howls. Their eyes burned with twisted desire as they brandished rusted clubs and blades, charging straight for Lin Qingyue!
"Qingyue, watch out!"
Xia Lian's face paled. She instantly stowed her bow, drew her blade, and turned to provide support.
Su Wan's brow furrowed. She had just cast a wide-area spell and needed a brief moment to channel her next skill.
But her ice-blue eyes swept across the battlefield, instantly grasping the truth—Rule Two: Beauty is Justice.
In the eyes of these Kobolds with their completely warped aesthetics, that dazzling pink hair, still radiant in the dim cave, was the ultimate beacon of "peerless beauty"!
She finally understood what "the higher your beauty, the more likely you are to draw the enemy's priority attacks" truly meant.
This wasn't just "more likely to attract."
This was a goddamn forced taunt