Chapter 35: The Maze

"Why are they so weak?" Isla asked, though she couldn't hide the nervousness in her voice.

"Strength in numbers!" Kiro bellowed, he stepped forward and gave orders, "Princess, stay far away don't even think about getting close, pick them off one by one while you're on a tree or something. Healer don't leave Hiro's sanctuary. Stay there, and heal me and Isla. Hiro, don't let our healer die. I'll take care of the main attack."

His ability to command them was enchanting. It was as if he was a war veteran or something close to that.

Nobody questioned anything, they did exactly as he said, they did vote for him after all, thanks to Saanvi. Kiro started his attack with whirlwind, about 50 swamp apes got caught up. Isla had yet to attack.

"Any time now Princess, they're disorientated, they're easy targets. What are you waiting for?" Kiro said, while carving a path forward.

That shook her out of her stupor. She was nervous, but this was something else. Kiro attacked too fast, she honestly couldn't keep up. She was supposed to be the race that was blessed with agility, but here she was, losing.

She immediately took out her bow and quiver, and started her own attack. Arrows rained on the army of the apes, luckily Isla could fully control her attacks so she didn't make the mistake of hitting Kiro.

Down there Kiro could be seen causing havoc. The apes were weaker than him, but he didn't dare take it easy, he was smashing them with all his might as he would any boss monster.

He looked like a merciless god. That he could turn a blunt weapon, into one of the sharpest. The swamp apes were losing heads one after another.

"Healer, don't wait for my HP to be so low to heal me. What if I get one-shotted?" Kiro said, he couldn't hide his agitation.

"Yes, my liege." Saanvi said, rolling her eyes.

Even though the atmosphere was like this, they didn't hate it. As it meant everyone was being honest, and speaking their mind. This had become their new normal.

The small apes didn't stand a chance, after 10 minutes of battle, they were all defeated triggering the boss to appear. He was over 2 meters tall, he had armour on, his weapon was the same as his minions.

He got up, activated blink step and whirlwind, aiming for the arm of the boss ape, it was focused on Hiro as he attracted its aggro. He cut it off cleanly.

Right after this, Hiro used his axe to cut off its leg, which he had been trying to do for the past minutes.

Just as the monster was shocked at the turn of events, a surge of mana could be felt from behind, when they turned they could see mana travelling at amazing speeds, aimed at the monster. It exploded on impact. Its head was gone.

Isla looked visibly frustrated.

Ding!

[Congratulations on defeating the swamp army and its boss. You're awarded 10 000 EXP]

[Common steel armour. Rare Spear. Common boots. 10 000 coins]

"Lame rewards, the biggest reward was actually uncovering that my skill can do more than stunning." Kiro mumbled to himself. He looked at Isla expectantly.

"Before you say it, I'll say it, I made a mistake trying to rescue you back there. Your orders are absolute. Never going to happen again. It was just impulse. Sorry." Isla acknowledged her mistake, "however never speak to me that way again."

Kiro was dumbfounded. He tried to think of what he said exactly but couldn't remember because whatever he said, was a spare of a moment thing. His adreline was so high that some things even though they happened they didn't? In a way.

He was just really amazed by her arrow, that's why he was looking at her in the first place.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry." He said unsure, one thing he was sure of was he couldn't ask about the magic arrow attack now that things were a bit awkward.

Kiro made a mental note to never be in the zone too much lest he does something worse. At least after he apologised, Isla went back to being herself.

They divided the loot equally. Then started walking forwards. They could see something at a distance, Kiro knew it was a maze, a labyrinth of terror. They had to go through it, to get to the capital.