game is game

Meanwhile, as Ikami's party started fighting the tree and its vines to free their teammate, in the very opposite direction, the idiot squadron made their way towards the ice giants. The team was led by the man with eye bags and a lab coat; he also wore black rubber gloves for some reason. Duke just yawned while walking behind him; he was bored, more or less.

"Why couldn't I be on the pretty lady's team?" Amir spoke while walking with both his hands behind the back of his head. He was seemingly bored being stuck with a bunch of dudes.

"At least the road so far has been safe; be thankful, man," the other guy said, who seemed to be on his guard all the time. Whether it was situational awareness, PTSD, or anxiety, no one was sure. Maybe it all combined together. 

"I'd rather fight a hundred monsters to stay in her group, man. Maybe she will fall for me." Amir said with a cheeky smirk on his face as Yves simply sighed.

"You're either stupid or delusional," he commented without missing a beat, continuing forward.

Before Amir could retort, their team leader spoke up instead. "Both," he said with a smile that seemed creepy if anything, causing both Amir and Yves to shut up in the moment. Meanwhile, the duke sulked in depression.

"We have been walking for five hours; why has nothing attacked yet?" He said, his face a mixture of annoyed and disappointed.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yves spoke slightly confused; they had already spent a month and a few weeks fighting for their lives. A few hours of peace weren't going to kill anyone.

"Not really, I want to fight something; there is no way I am catching up to Jack like this," the Duke said in a firm tone, making Yeves and Amir sigh while Pyotr looked confused. Since he was the only one who hadn't fought Jack,.

"I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon," Amir spoke up, remembering how during the free for all, out of fucking now, that giant was summoned. 

Yves felt goosebumps emerging on his body thinking about that; honestly, he would rather not fight Jack ever again. Suddenly, the duke stopped and looked at Amir closely.

"Look, I know I'm handsome, but come on, personal spa-" Before he could finish his sentence, Duke spoke up as well.

"You were the one who killed the giant, the guy with the giant light sword." Even Pyotr's eyes turned on those words; unfortunately, he was not in that stadium, so he had no idea, but the crazy scientist listened anyway.

"Yeah," Amir asked, but instead of a reply, the next thing he saw was the duke's fist flying towards his face, which he dodged just in the nick of time. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"You're strong, so fight me," Duke said as he put up his hands in a boxing pose, but before things could escalate, a familiar voice was heard.

"I swear to God, I leave you guys alone for a few hours and you start trying to kill each other." As everyone looked at the source of the voice, they found Pyotr holding the communication amulet, with Jack's voice coming from it. "Duke, if you try anything else, I will prohibit you from fighting at all and send you to the fields for good. We can always use more farmers. Now get back to work," Jack said from the other side as the rune on the amulet stopped glowing. 

Duke looked more dejected than ever and just slouched while walking, and Amir took a sigh of relief as he spoke. "Crazy fucker.." 

Yves, who had been watching from the corner, was so glad it was not him in Amir's place as the duke walked, depressed. Pyotr spoke up, trying to cheer him up. "You can fight the ice giants when we get there."

Instantly, all the depression vanished as the man's eyes were now filled with excitement and hope. "I hope they are strong."

"I hope we don't have to fight," Yves said without missing a beat as he walked along with the rest of his party.

"I hope there's a female giant." Amir spoke nonchalantly, and as the words left his mouth, all the boys stopped and looked at him. "What? Game is game." 

At that point, the rest three just nodded their heads, giving him a look of both disappointment and respect at the same time, as they couldn't disagree that game is game. Even if the game is to climb a giant ice mountain.