Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer
Chapter 120: Rock And A Hard Place (2)

Chapter 120: Rock And A Hard Place (2)

There was a long-standing saying in Nexaria, ’The dungeon provides all that one requires to conquer it.’

That saying had never left Adrian’s mind since he became a hero. This time, it was the same situation.

The spider’s exoskeleton could withstand even the sharpest blades, making things difficult for them. But thankfully, there was a solution before his eyes, a way to weaken the creature’s armour and level the playing field.

’If I can lure them into the pond, their exoskeleton might melt away like the stone,’ Adrian thought, tightening his grip on his sword. ’Handling them without their armour would be a piece of cake.’

Adrenaline filled Adrian’s body as he made his choice.

"Everyone back up," he murmured. "Help Sophia get rid of the webs."

"What are you up to?" Amelia shot back, but deep inside, she knew what he was about to do.

"Buy you some time," Adrian smiled back before rushing towards the Queen.

He was gone before anyone could protest, not like Vincent cared about it. On the other hand, Sophia doubled her efforts, and so did the rest of them.

Meanwhile, Adrian dashed forward, his heart pounding as he faced the massive spider beast. The Queen lunged at him, venom dripping from her fangs.

But Adrian was ready. With a quick slide between her eight legs, he wielded his blade, slicing through the air and severing a couple of the creature’s limbs. The Queen recoiled in pain while Adrian stopped after digging the blade to the ground.

He didn’t expect his attack to succeed. He figured the spider’s legs were also covered in a tough shell, but he was mistaken, as he easily sliced her legs.

"This will be easier than I thought," Adrian smiled, charging at the Queen again.

The spiderling heard their mother’s scream and rushed to protect her. However, there was one thing they had forgotten.

While it was difficult to kill them, it was easy to push them away. The only reason they were able to kill Marcus and the tribals was because of their sneak attacks. Adrian could easily dodge them as long as they were on the surface.

Out of the three critters, one charged as soon as it set its eyes upon Adrian. Expecting the attack, Adrian turned sideways to avoid it before hitting the spider with his sword’s broadside like a baseball bat, flinging it into the pond.

The splash was followed by a loud explosion as the spiderling turned to dust. Confident of his plan, Adrian got to work on the rest, and soon, only one of the spiderlings remained.

"Where is it?" Adrian mumbled, scanning the area and then the spiderling emerged from the ground, about to bite his ankle.

Thankfully, he managed to jump away in time, saving his leg. The spiderling clicked its pincers before trying to slip away, but Adrian wasn’t about to allow that and grabbed the creature by its legs, ready to fling the beast into the pond, when something bit his hand.

A sharp pain shot through his hands, but he fought it and threw the spiderling into the pond. He then looked at his left hand; it had already turned blue from the Queen’s poison, and it was spreading rapidly through him.

"Fuck..." Adrian gritted his teeth as the pain turned his legs to jelly.

The poison was spreading, and the healing properties of the troll couldn’t do shit about it. Adrian looked up, and there was the Queen. He wasn’t sure, but it felt like the damned creature was smiling at him, knowing it had won. However, that was far from the truth.

"You think you’ve won? THINK AGAIN!" Adrian smiled like a lunatic, clenching his teeth. With rage in his eyes, he swung the blade and cut off his infected arm in one fell swoop.

***

Meanwhile, back at the entrance...

The heroes were almost done cleaning the webs. As such, Sophia was about to leave and try to help Adrian escape with them, but an explosion shook the cave just then.

"What was that?" Sophia asked and rushed towards the boss’s room, only to find that the passage had been blocked.

The explosion must have loosened some boulder that fell, blocking the path.

"Like hell, I’d let anything tear Adrian away from me again!" Sophia yelled.

She unleashed a flurry of spells at the boulders, shattering one rock after another. But each time she destroyed one, another appeared in its place. Eventually, Amelia had to step in, halting Sophia’s assault.

"Stop it, Sophia! You’ll end up making things worse!" She yelled, shaking Sophia to her senses. "We need to leave and get help ASAP. Have some faith in him!"

"She is right, Soph," Clara chimed in. "We need to get help."

As the girls were busy consoling Sophia, Vincent couldn’t help but smile. The entities hadn’t abandoned him just yet. The blocked passage would be Adrian’s grave, and the Queen would be his grave keeper. After all, he had no intentions of ever returning to the place.

"Come on, let’s go!" Vincent urged, putting on a fake facade. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get help for Adrian."

Everyone agreed and left. Sophia glanced at the blocked passage, promising to return with help. Little did they know what awaited them once they exited the cave.

They dashed outside, hoping for safety. But their relief was short-lived when they came face to face with Ahuli and the tribesmen.

"Chieftain! Thank goodness you’re here. We need your help!" Vincent panted, pointing towards the cave. "Unfortunately, your people died-"

Instead of replying, Ahuli raised his hand, and the tribesmen launched a volley of darts at them. Vincent watched in shock as Sophia and Amelia fell to the ground, knocked out by the poisonous darts.

He and Clara were still on their feet, probably because of the antidote they had drunk earlier. But the situation didn’t look good for them.

"Vincent, what do we do?" Clara grabbed her sword, panic evident in her eyes.

Vincent clenched his fists, his mind racing. "We need to get out of here, Clara. Fast."

"I would like to see you try," Skaha commented, getting off his Tiak. "All of you... will be our slaves from this moment on!"