After the vines slowly retracted and went back to the ground, the Goblins stood back up. They helped each other to get up.
Ioki approached them and helped as well, giving them small Potions.
"Let me help you, Ioki," The Priest said while healing the Goblins.
Seeing their injuries healed by the light from the Priest, the Goblins were confused at first... But, slowly, they smiled at the Priest.
Upon seeing the usual mob they hunt gave them a smile. The party was dumbfounded... They hunt these creatures on a daily basis without ever thinking past that these creatures are simply hostile characters meant to be killed.
But, after seeing how they helped each other and smiled back at them... A seed of change was planted on each individual witnessing this moment and the ones experiencing it.
Slowly, the ripples will affect the others when that time comes? Hopefully, Ioki is still playing Ashen Fantasy.
Rosaria and Sweet Lily could be seen helping Ms. Maria while scolding her.
"These mobs are simply level 17 at best! How could you possibly lose to them when you are level 30?! Not to count on top of that, you actually have the strongest secret class out of the three of us!" Sweet Lily rambled.
"Hehe~ what can I say? I wanted to finish them quickly and hug Ioki~" Ms. Maria replied with her tongue out.
"Ughh... Babe, I, too, want to snuggle him. But, please... You are making me feel ashamed," Rosaria chimed in.
Ioki doesn't pay attention to them; he goes around and asks each of the Goblins whether or not they are fine.
When he reached the last Goblin, Mr. Kross approached him and rubbed his head against Ioki's clothes again.
"What is it, Mr. Kross?" Ioki asked as he patted Mr. Kross.
Mr. Kross barked in return and kept running back and toward Ioki and the Battalion.
"Do you want to join them, Mr. Kross?" Ioki asked as he observed.
Mr. Kross then nodded while barking excitedly.
"Sure, let's do that, buddy! I can't let them have their way against us!" Ioki replied as he caressed Mr. Kross's back.
Ioki approached Ms. Maria's group.
"Look, who do we have here~ Do you want to be cuddled that much by these big sisters of yours? Hm? Hm?" Ms. Maria asked Ioki with a smug expression.
"I---I want a rematch! Best out of 3!" Ioki tried to reply proudly but found it hard to concentrate as the three women before him teased him.
"Well, we said it ourselves. Practice with us till we---" Before finishing her sentence, Ioki cut Ms. Maria off.
"Th---the winner can ask of anything from the loser! I have my own pride to fight for here!" Ioki replied.
After hearing Ioki's offer, the three of them couldn't hold their expression back as they smiled.
"No take backs! No matter what the result is, you won't complain, right?" Ms. Maria asked with fiery eyes.
Ioki smiled smugly and replied, "Hehe, yeah, no takebacks."
Ioki put out his right hand, and Ms. Maria shook his hand.
He then returned to the Goblins and assumed his position as their commander.
The reason for his smug smile before was that if Ioki lost the battle after this, he would ask for a rematch again because that match was the first of the three matches.
But, if he wins the battle right after this, then he would say that this is the second out of three matches. Ioki gave himself another chance.
Seeing his smug smile, the opposite side was starting to have thoughts in their head.
Doesn't matter what kind of thoughts they have, but they indeed have thoughts about Ioki...
"Be careful, he had his smug expression every time he was up to something..." Sweet Lily said while pondering the meaning behind Ioki's smugness.
"Hehe~ I want to turn his smug expression into something else later on when I get my hands on him~," Ms. Maria said with a drool on her lips.
"I wonder if he would still be able to pull that smug expression later on if I bind him with my chains..." Rosaria said with a slight smirk.
Seeing their expressions, the other party watching them could only scratch their head and laugh.
"They are on different levels, huh? Ms. Maria's party..." The Warrior said while trying to break the ice with her party.
"Don't worry, we too will be able to reach their level if we keep on practicing!" The Mage replied as she put her hand on the Warrior's back.
The Warrior could be seen as about to shed a tear before she wiped it off and took a deep breath.
She looked at her party and found them smiling at her.
"But, Ioki himself is strong, you know! The reason they won was simply because Ioki hadn't gone and helped the Battalion!" The Archer replied.
"Yeah, but this was because he wanted to train them... We shouldn't ignore the fact that Ioki excels at commanding them and the way they followed his command exactly the way he instructed them as well." The Priest explained.
As they had a discussion about the sparring, the three were seen to be preparing their position.
Ioki could be seen doing the same. The whole Battalion lined up again; behind them stood Mr. Kross, wagging his tail with his jaw ready to chomp them down.
"Onwards! Charge at them! Don't let the Mage cast her spell again like before!" Ioki instructed.
The Goblins charged forward.
Ms. Maria rushed in as well; with her wooden sword in her right hand, she swung it.
The Goblins with shields grouped up and took the blow quite well, even though some could be seen knocked back by the force from Ms. Maria's blow.
Without being affected by what just happened, the Goblins reorganized and even launched some counterattacks from the second row where the spears are.
"The third and the fourth row should break off from the formation and back up the ambush squad!" Ioki shouted.
"Nice try, brat! Such tricks won't work twice on me!" Sweet Lily shouted back.
While the rest of the Goblins made their way through the chains, some were covering their comrades by keeping the end of the chain occupied.
"Triple Tempo!" Rosaria shouted.
All of a sudden, the chains started to move even faster than before, whipping the Goblins because they couldn't keep up with the speed.
As the Goblins in front were holding Ms. Maria, Rosaria observed the battlefield before her expression slowly changed into a panic.
The bush near Sweet Lily is moving suspiciously; sometimes, the bush could be seen growing a gray tail wagging left and right.
"Mr. Kross, Now!" Ioki shouted.
"Lily, watch out!" Rosaria pulled all her chains and pointed them at the bush.
...
...
...
Nothing happened... The bush simply wags its tail left and right without doing anything.
While Sweet Lily's chant was stopped because of the sudden warning, Ioki wasted no chance.
"Now! Get her foot!" Ioki shouted again.
All of a sudden, the spear-wielding Goblins throw their spears in Rosaria's direction.
After throwing their spears, they opted for small knives and started to change their formation against Ms. Maria.
"The one with shields bash her repeatedly while circling around her! After that, make space for the one behind you so they can slash her right after!" Ioki commanded.
As Rosaria pulled her chains again to block the incoming spears, the speed seemed to revert to normal speed.
*Clang*
*Clang*
*Clang*
Of course, it's not enough to bring her down... She blocked all of it with her chains.
*Slash*
"Ackh!" Rosaria screamed in pain.
Because of all the distractions Ioki had done, Rosaria lost her concentration and didn't pay attention to the fallen Goblins that slowly crawled and attacked her from below.
Some of the Goblins made their way through to Sweet Lily; after seeing them approaching, she canceled her casting and fended them off with her staff.
Of course, the Goblins had an easy fight as they managed to disarm and incapacitate her immediately.
Seeing how Sweet Lily had fallen and Ms. Maria was having a hard time winning against the position they put her in, Rosaria's expression changed.
Her anger peaked because she failed to protect her teammate against these low-level Goblins.
She unconsciously directed her chains toward Ioki.
The chains bound Ioki from his feet, slowly lifting him up as they wrapped and coiled his small body.
"AAGH! HEY, THIS IS NOT PART OF THE SPARRING!" Ioki shouted.
Suddenly, everyone had their eyes on Ioki hanging in the air with the chains swinging his left and right.
"What are you doing!?" Ms. Maria ran toward Rosaria.
"Ah, sorry... I thought it was because this is a battlefield. Shouldn't we attack the commander first?" Rosaria replied sarcastically.
Ms. Maria knows what's happening, she has been with Rosaria for quite some time... The expression on her face is not good at all.
"This is your win, we forfeit this round." Ms. Maria said to Ioki with a bitter expression.
As Ioki hit the ground because Rosaria released her chains out of surprise, she grabbed Ms. Maria's wrist.
"Why?! Why did you say that?!" Rosaria asked furiously.
"Rosaria... It's my fault," Sweet Lily stood up as the Goblins helped her, "I'm sorry for not being cautious... But Ioki hadn't done anything wrong. He used deception and all his cards even though the odds were stacked against him..."
Rosaria knows they are right, but it's hard for her to admit it. She simply looked at her party with a bitter expression and distanced herself.
"You hear that? We've won!" Ioki screamed in joy.
The Goblins shouted in unison, "Chief Ioki!"
Without paying attention to their injuries, the Goblins were cheering for themselves. They are jumping for joy because they have won against strong opponents.
The Goblins throw Ioki and Mr. Kross in the air, celebrating their victory.
"Hey, brat! This is best out of three; we are in a draw here. Don't get ahead of yourself just yet!" Ms. Maria shouted at Ioki.
"Whatever you say, big sis, blee~" Ioki put his tongue out.
"Grrh! I swear to God, you won't be able to walk straight after I'm done with you!" Ms. Maria muttered.