Chapter 44: To the minotaur''s kingdom (6)


    "Damn it, who didn''t blow their whistle?" General Emilio cursed.


    "W-what do we do, general?" Caleb asked. He was starting to feel better about the operation a while ago, but now he could feel his heartbeat getting faster and faster again.


    "We stick to our n. Remember, we only go back if we''re missing 2 whistles," General Emilio answered and he continued to walk forward, "we should pick up our pace if you don''t want to lose another whistle. The sun is starting to set."


    "Yes, sir..." Caleb answered weakly.


    "Dmitri, release the birds again. Keep 2 for us, and tell the rest of them to go assist the other groups." Hemanded.


    "Yes, sir!" Dmitri answered and then turned to face the boy who was holding his hand tightly, "Wolf, we need your help again."


    "Yes." The boy''s reply was short, but he delivered their order wlessly.


    After the birds had been released, they immediately continued their journey carefully with the help of the other bird and Wolf.


    --------


    Meanwhile, a moment ago when the sun was still at its highest, general Jeanne was leading the group to navigate through the maze. After witnessing the hallway trap, tension could be felt rising among the entire group. When they stumbled upon 2 choices of pathways, they were forced to stop and carefully weigh their options.


    "This is troublesome... We got separated from Wolf..." Jeanne mumbled under her breath.


    ''Chirp, chirp!''


    "A branching path... We should check for traps." She put her hand on her chin.


    ''Chirp, chirp, chirp!''


    "Ah, what to do...?"


    ''CHIRP!''


    A bird swooped down andnded on her head, gently.


    "Huh? Oh wait, are you our bird?" Jeanne asked, finally noticing the little bird that was flying around her since a while ago.


    ''Chirp, chirp!'' The bird flew on top of her hand and jumped a few times in approval.


    "I see. Sorry, I didn''t notice you there," Jeanne smiled and stroked its head gently with her finger, "now, would you kindly lead the way for us?"


    ''Chirp!'' With a little chirp, the bird shot up towards the sky, and flew towards the path to their left.


    "So the right path leads to a dead-end... Now the problem is, does the left one have a trap?" Jeanne muttered under her breath.


    "General, should we check?" The squad leader who was with her, Oliver, walked beside her to ask.


    "Yeah. Try throwing some rocks." She answered.


    "Yes, general!"


    Oliver threw some rocks at the ground, and then at the walls, but nothing happened.


    "Phew... So it''s safe!" Oliver eximed happily as he took a few steps ahead.


    "No, wait a moment." Jeanne tried to stop him.


    "Eh?"


    ''Pssht!''


    An arrow flew straight towards the space between Oliver''s dark brown eyes. Thankfully, Jeanne was fast on her feet, and she instantly grabbed the arrow right before itnded.


    "A-ah..." Oliver stuttered as he looked at the arrow that was just 3 centimeters away from his forehead.


    "Don''t move carelessly. I thought you''ve learned your lesson from thatst trap, but apparently you haven''t." Jeanne red at him angrily.


    "Yes, general. I''m sorry..." He backed away slowly.


    Jeanne observed the slimy arrow she just caught and said, "this is most likely a poisoned arrow. We don''t know the effect it may have, so let''s avoid touching it."


    "Eek--!" Oliver squeaked.


    "Everyone, crawl! This trap is probably activated based on height, so we will crawl through this path! Make sure to cover yourselves as much as possible to avoid idental poisoning!" General Jeannemanded to the group behind her.


    "Yes, general!"


    They advanced through the path by crawling, and sure enough, general Jeanne''s hypothesis was right. Not a single arrow was fired at them, and they sessfully crossed that path.


    "Now, where do we go next..." Jeanne stood up once they had finally passed the long hallway, and gazed upwards to look for the guide bird.


    ''Chirp!'' The bird flew away to the path to her right.


    "Okay, we''ll go this wa--"


    ''Chirp!!''


    ''THUD!''


    "The bird!" Jeanne cried out in surprise.


    The bird who was just flying around cheerfully had been knocked out by a rock that came from their right path. Its little body flopped to the ground, and it twitched a few times, trying its best to fly away. However, its wings were already bent the wrong way, and the blood stter showed how much of an impossible feat that was.


    ''ROAAAR!''


    A deafening and angry roar came from the direction of the rock, and from there emerged a huge, huffing minotaur. It was carrying a huge rusty axe that was chipped all over.


    "A minotaur! Prepare to engage! Take formation!" Jenne immediately shouted an order, and everyone followed.


    The tanks gathered at the front, forming a barricade with their shields while leaving small spaces here and there to poke their spears out. Behind them, the attackers were ready to mow down the huge minotaur, and the mages and healers were positioned at the very back.


    ''ROAAAR!''


    The minotaur charged at them at full speed and swung its axe. The ground seemed to shook a little with each step the minotaur took.


    Everyone managed to dodge the iing attack as its huge axe hit the ground, and the tankers took this opportunity to pierce the minotaur''s wrists with their spears.


    ''ROARR!''


    The minotaur let out a loud cry in response, and raised his arm again to attempt another swing.


    "Not this time!" Jeanne used her wind magic to propel herself upwards, and immediately sliced its wrist off, earning another cry from the minotaur.


    With a loud thump, its axe fell to the ground, and the soldiers quickly closed in to deal some damage to the weakened minotaur.


    ''RAAAH!''


    After losing its hand, the minotaur thrashed around with its other arm, hitting a few soldiers to the wall.


    "Urgh--!" Blood spurted out from a soldier''s mouth as he crashed against the wall.


    "Healers! Take care of everyone!" Jeannemanded while she clung onto the minotaur''s hand, and summoned two spears to pierce the minotaur''s eyes.


    "Yes, general!" The healers responded, and immediately got to work.


    After some time, they had managed to subdue the minotaur pretty smoothly, due to Jeanne''sbat prowess. A few soldiers were injured in the process, but it wasn''t anything healing magic couldn''t fix.


    "Good. We should quickly smear this minotaur''s blood on ourselves before we advance again." Jeanne said as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.


    "G-general! This is bad!" A soldier approached her in a hurry.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Th-there... I see minotaursing from there, too!" The soldier pointed at the left path.


    "Wha--"


    "General Jeanne! Reporting! General Owen is currently engaging with a horde of minotaurs that wasing from the back!" Another soldier ran up to her.


    Jeanne''s eyes went wide upon hearing those reports, "we''re surrounded."