Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer-Chapter 243: A Hunter’s World (2)

[The forest is under attack by a mysterious group that is causing widespread destruction and threatening the delicate balance of its ecosystem.]

[Find and eliminate the said group before they consume the forest!]

[Weeping Forest’s consumption has begun.]

[Current Progress: 2.61%]

Adrian and Sophia clung tightly to Fenris’s back as the mighty wolf took massive strides. Other than the first explosion, countless small explosions kept happening around them.

As much as Adrian wanted to stop and deal with the mess to slow the consumption, he first needed to find the rest of the team.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like the group behind the attack was interested in killing women, or else they’d have found Felicia’s corpse along with the others.

It brought Adrian some peace that the girls should be alive. However, there were scenarios where death was better than living, and he hoped that wasn’t the case this time.

"Hold on tight!" Adrian shouted over the roar of the blasts, his voice barely audible above the chaos.

He kept one hand firmly planted on Fenris’ thick fur, the other gripping Sophia’s hand to keep her secure while she cast magic to protect them from the blasts and helped Fenris speed up.

Fenris leapt over a cluster of rocks, landing with a thud. Just then, another explosion went off to their left, spraying debris in their direction. Sophia used her wind magic to form a barrier around them.

"I can sense them," Sophia yelled. "Just a little further!"

"Faster, Fenris!"

Fenris dodged another explosion, unfazed by the loud noises around him.

[Current Progress: 2.97%]

"There! Head for that clearing!" Sophia exclaimed, pointing ahead.

With a final burst of speed, Fenris charged toward the clearing, leaping over the last of the explosions and skidding to a halt in the open space. Adrian and Sophia slid off Fenris’ back, ready to fight.

However, there weren’t any people left to fight. The girls had killed everyone. The corpses lay scattered on the ground, which had turned into a mush of blood and mud.

"Look who decided to show up," Seraphina smirked, walking up to them. "Late to the party, as usual, Adrian."

Adrian rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He couldn’t care less about their taunts, but he was happy to find them alive and well.

Amelia stood nearby, wiping blood off her face with a grimy cloth, probably belonging to one of the attackers. Even with one arm, she wielded the Minotaur’s Broadsword better than Adrian ever did, and it showed with all the corpses around her.

Vesper and A’Mila were standing on top of beastmen corpses, their weapons drawn.

"It wasn’t too bad," Vesper shrugged, trying to act tough in front of her student, but her injuries told a different tale.

A’Mila, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. Her eyes were busy looking for any other dangers that might be headed their way.

Sophia and Seraphina didn’t waste any time and got to heal everyone, while Amelia gave some food and water to Fenris.

"Hold still," Seraphina instructed Vesper, who had a deep gash on her arm. "This might sting a little."

Vesper grunted but didn’t flinch as the wound closed under Seraphina’s healing magic.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Meanwhile, Adrian knelt beside one of the beastmen corpses, his brow furrowed as he used [Analysis] on them. The creatures were formidable, their muscles bulging, their claws sharp, and they were brimming with mana, but something about them didn’t add up.

The beastmen were strong. He had no doubts about that, but were they capable of consuming the entire forest? He had his doubts.

Just to confirm his suspicions, he turned to one of the other corpses, examining its hands and teeth. Sure enough, they were built for battle but not for large-scale destruction.

’For a group that has access to technology like mana bombs, they are wearing awful quality armour...’

<They are slaves, master. Look at the tattoos around their necks.>

’Tattoos?’

When Adrian used [Analysis], nothing regarding tattoos showed up. Heck, he couldn’t even see them, but upon Lucina’s mention, Adrian used [Eyes of Absolute Truth], and the tattoos appeared around their necks.

’Slave marks... these are from Nexaria!’

Nexarian nobility had their fair share of slaves. At first, there were only monster slaves, so no one cared about it. But, as usual, greed had no boundaries, and soon, they began enslaving anything they had their sights on.

These beastmen had similar tattoos engraved upon them. Whoever was responsible for this clearly didn’t want to be caught, so they used some magic to conceal their slave marks, which unravelled once Adrian used his blessing.

The beastmen being slaves would also explain why they had such worn-down armour. After all, anyone using slaves for dungeon exploration wouldn’t equip them with the best gear and end up losing money if they were killed.

However, all the theories depended on one question. How did Nexarians get into their dungeon?

’Could it be another linked dungeon?’

Adrian could only think of one reason the Nexarians were in the dungeon: the dungeon they were in must be connected to another dungeon on Nexaria, just like the one they used to come to Earth.

If that was the case, which Adrian was confident it was, it could be their ticket to Nexaria. However, did Adrian was to return just yet?

Adrian looked at himself. He was undoubtedly stronger than he had ever been. But was he strong enough to take care of the church and the elves? The answer was a big fat no.

’What the hell am I even thinking about? This is a Quest Dungeon. We cannot leave this place and get to Nexaria while fulfilling the quest given to us as Earthlings.’

However, that wasn’t all. If the Nexarians were the group that would consume the forest, then it meant they were the ones who killed Lucas and kidnapped Felicia.

’... they’re probably going to turn Felicia into a slave and sell her once they get out of here. Those nobles would pay hundreds of Radian shard for an enslaved outworlder.’

<What are you planning to do?>

’As much as I dislike her, I should save her. After all, I wouldn’t look good if I let all of them perish. I could also complete my ascension quest while at it.’