Kawao slowly looked around.

The soldiers around him were slowly getting back on their feet.

Some were horrified that he had managed to defeat their commander.

The rest quickly picked up their spears again and began to surround him.

'Can I still handle them?' he wondered.

He needed to deactivate his new technique quickly to avoid serious damage, but he also couldn't afford to collapse.

He readied himself for another fight.

Suddenly, a door opened, and Koru stepped out.

He also looked exhausted, and part of his clothing was soaked with blood.

Kawao couldn't tell whose blood it was.

"Looks like you're done here too!" Koru said, smiling at him.

The soldiers looked at each other in disbelief.

They were the only ones left standing.

Then Kawao spoke up, "If you want to reach the mainland alive, throw your weapons overboard and start repairing the ship! If you refuse or dare to attack us, you can swim back!"

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They remained silent for a moment.

After realizing their situation, they threw their spears overboard and began repairs.

"Good speech!" Koru said, staggering over to him.

"You think so? They looked like they wanted to stab us at the first chance."

"It's for the best this way."

"We should find somewhere to rest."

"Down in our cells, we can remain relatively undisturbed."

"Good. We need a plan for when we reach the mainland."

They slowly made their way down.

On their way, Kawao caught a glimpse of the carnage Koru had left behind.

Unconscious or dead soldiers lay everywhere.

It looked as if they had all been put in a blender for a few seconds and then scattered on the lower decks.

A shiver ran down Kawao's spine.

It was a miracle they had won this fight.

Without Koru's help, he probably couldn't have beaten Paikon.

Only when they reached their former cells did he deactivate his technique.

He immediately collapsed and couldn't move for a while.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Phew! I tried a new technique, but my body can't sustain it for very long."

"Then you should save it for extreme emergencies! At least you were able to hold your own against Paikon."

"Without you, it would have been close!"

"I had my own fight down here."

Koru also collapsed and started coughing slightly.

Kawao could see out of the corner of his eye that there was blood.

"Will you make it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. One or two days, and I'll be back to full strength."

"Hopefully in just one day!"

"What do you mean?"

"We're supposed to arrive in Kurani tomorrow!"

"Really? Then we need to come up with a plan!"

Now that he thought about it, their journey had gone by pretty quickly.

On the first day, Paikon had captured him.

Today, they took over the ship.

And tomorrow, they would finally reach Kurani and the long-awaited mainland.

Now they just needed to arrive there safely.