Is this really a Game?!

"Ahhh, I just wanna lie down and sleep right now!" Shadow says as he lies down on a rock that was nearby. Hundreds of ape corpses littered the area around him and the others as they had finally managed to finish the battle. The three bosses that Reign, Wolf, and Tank were busy dealing with had finally been defeated after the others had joined them. The one that needed the least help out of the three was Wolf as his ability was simply cheat-like when dealing with such enemies.

Tank was the one that needed the most help, even though he would have been fine with only one person helping him as he was more than enough to block the powerful attacks of the ape boss. With so many apes dead the party was certain that there wouldn't be any more large scale attacks, even if the apes numbers were many times higher compared to their initial estimates there was no way they could continue launching troops like this at them, the long time that the apes needed in order to prepare such an attack were also the reason why they thought that.

Even though they had stopped counting the number of apes they had killed a while ago, they were certain that there were at least 500 that they killed, and that was their minimal estimate. With so many dead there shouldn't be any more attacks during their journey towards the giant tree, even if there were there would be a maximum of 1 more army.

They were now relatively close to the giant tree and they estimated that they would need about 1.5 to 2 hours to arrive. The party first took a rest nearby, the stench of blood was almost unbearable but that also meant that the plants and potentially other monsters wouldn't get close. Usually, blood would draw such monsters in, but the loud explosions and fierce auras that were released during the fight should have scared off all of the monsters in a wide radius around them.

After taking about half an hour to rest the party continued forward, their mana was almost full right now and their stamina had been replenished to a sufficient level as well. Thanks to their high levels and stats all of them could function at their peak state for much longer compared to normal humans and even though they had gone through multiple battles against powerful enemies the party only needed a short period of time to rest.

Slowly they made their way toward the giant tree, it wasn't hard this time as nothing attacked them, it seemed that the plants had truly become frightened after the large battle from earlier and were simply hibernating.

Their initial estimate was that they would need about 1.5 to 2 hours to arrive at the giant tree, but in the end, it took them longer as they needed to stop after a while and use Beast's eagle in order to orient themselves and to make sure they were on the right track.

Upon reaching the location, however, they were stunned by the sight. The gigantic 100-meter-tall tree stood proudly as a waterfall was located right behind it and created a lake. There were no other trees in more than a 100-meter radius around the giant tree, hundreds of apes however could be seen standing in front of the tree and staring at Reign and the others while a huge 20-meter tall figure was resting on the tree.

Upon realizing that intruders had arrived the giant ape opened his eyes and glared at Reign and the others before the other apes attacked them. There was only 1 boss leading the apes this time and the party soon clashed with them. Compared to the other apes this one was stronger, not only was it more powerful physically, his appearance was different as well as none of the other apes had any noticeable scars or injuries on them, this ape, however, was full of scars and his fur was pitch-black.

Compared to the other ones this boss was also more experienced and fighting it was much harder, not only would the boss use his troops in a more efficient manner but he would also attack the party with different styles and attacks. Wolf's fire also didn't have much effect on him as the latter was able to protect his body with mana, even without that his fur seemed to be much tougher and harder to burn compared to the others.

Over 200 apes were currently attacking the party and they were doing everything they could in order to quickly deal with them while conserving as much mana as they could. It seemed that the giant ape didn't have any thoughts about joining the battle right now as it simply continued lying on the giant tree while sometimes yawning.

The battle raged for over 10 minutes before the party had managed to get rid of the ape army and focus on killing the black ape. Even after their firepower had increased and they were sending powerful skills at the ape it was still able to fight against them quite effectively, not only was the ape powerful but it was also smart and would use the environment to its advantage.

They had just come out of the jungle when they were attacked and because of that, the black ape would occasionally go into the jungle and quickly move from tree to tree while throwing branches and other things at the party. After a while, it would suddenly speed up before launching itself from the jungle and attacking the party from close range again.

The speed and strength of the ape were definitely a notch above the other bosses, but it was its incredible defense that made this battle as hard as it currently was. The party couldn't afford to spend a great deal of mana right now as the final boss was right in front of them, even though the giant ape was simply relaxing right now there was no telling when it would launch an attack on the party, part of their attention was also focused on it as a surprise attack could prove to be fatal.

Slowly but surely they were wearing the black ape down, the longer the fight went on the slower the ape became as it was not only getting tired but the wounds it had received from the Reign and the others were finally starting to affect it. Even though none of the wounds were serious, when tens and even hundreds appeared it would still be dangerous. Not only had the ape lost a fair amount of blood ever since the battle had started but his muscles, tendons, and even bones were injured in some places and that created even more problems for it.

The ape breathed heavily as it stared at the party with hatred in its eyes, it was obvious that he was incredibly angered by the situation but it seemed there was more to his hatred than that. It could be the fact that almost all of the apes that had once lived here with him and the giant ape behind him had been slaughtered by Reign and the others. Of course, there could be another reason that was simply not known. The party was also a bit confused, it had been more than 20 minutes since they had arrived at the area and the giant ape was still doing nothing, it seemed that it was quite comfortable and unbothered with his brethren being killed while the strongest of the monsters under it was fighting a losing battle.

There was a possibility that the giant ape was angry at the other apes and decided not to save them, even before the game had started, apes were known all over the world for their intelligence, the chimpanzee for one was the smartest animal in the world. Next to their intelligence, another fun fact was that they could become jealous, hold grudges, feel remorse, and more.

After the game had started however all of the animals in the world had undergone a great change and become more powerful and smarter compared to before. If something had happened that made the giant ape dislike his brethren then it was possible that the only reason it was not joining the battle was because of the grudge is held. It seemed ludicrous to even think about it, but the more the party thought about it the more viable the theory became.

The black ape was near its deathbed, its body was filled with wounds and it was clear to the party that the battle between them was over. As the ape fell down to his knees it turned its head around to glare at the giant ape with hatred. That was the first time the party had seen the black ape even acknowledge the existence of the giant ape, it was also the first time that the giant ape made any kind of reaction.

With a bored look on its face, the giant stared at the black ape until the latter started swaying its body and collapsing. The giant ape suddenly looks at the party before jumping down from the giant tree. The whole tree shook from the giant ape's action as the latter landed on the ground and created a small-scale earthquake.