Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer
Chapter 179: Interlude

Chapter 179: Interlude

It took them a while to leave, but Adrian ran out of energy once his ex-family left and collapsed on the sofa. He wasn’t delusional to think their meeting would have been any better, yet he didn’t know confronting them would drain so much out of him.

"You really ripped into them, huh?" George said, joining him on the sofa. "But then again, I expected you to be angry after so long."

"Shut it, asshole," Adrian replied, before they both broke down laughing.

The girls were a bit taken aback by their reaction. They had never seen Adrian laugh like that, and George noticed their curious gaze.

"Allow me to introduce myself," George said, exaggerating his greeting by bowing to the ladies. The name’s John Cen—I mean, George Jones, this idiot’s childhood friend, probably his only one."

Adrian rolled his eyes as quick introductions were made. But he knew George wasn’t lying. He was the only friend who saw him as something more than a bank.

Adrian’s life perfectly represented the words, ’I don’t have many friends. I just know some people.’ But George was the exception and always treated him as a friend.

While Adrian was lost in his thoughts, George couldn’t help but comment that Adrian had done well for himself, making a harem to get over one girl.

Thankfully, Adrian was the only one who heard him; otherwise, it would not have been good for George’s health.

However, the girls were quite interested in learning about Adrian’s past. George, the expert wingman he was, told them Adrian’s most humiliating childhood stories, which made them all laugh, including Adrian.

For a moment, he forgot about everything that happened hours ago. George ordered some food for them since the staff had left along with the rest of the family, but Adrian wasn’t worried about it.

In the upcoming days, he will have access to all his estate, and then hiring a bunch of people will be easy. Until then, George will arrange stuff for them since they have been separate from Earth for a while, and a lot has changed.

The girls got tired one after another, and Adrian showed them to their rooms before returning to George for drinks. Sitting in the dimly lit bar, the guys had their talk while George mixed and served the drinks.

"Everything has changed so much," Adrian mumbled, twirling the glass. "It’s hard to believe all this happened in just six years."

"You’re not wrong," George replied. "Ever since those damn dungeons started popping up all over the globe, everything’s gone to hell."

"Oh yeah? Colour me surprised," Adrian said sarcastically, but it seemed to have gotten over George’s head as he kept yapping.

"It’s not just the monsters, though they’re bad enough," George continued. "It’s the ripple effects they’ve had on everything else—the economy, politics, society as a whole."

"At first, the economic effects were massive," George explained. "With the sudden emergence of monsters, many industries were disrupted.

Agriculture, tourism, transportation—you name it. People are scared to travel, afraid to invest, and terrified to spend, which has had quite a ripple effect throughout the global economy."

But like Adrian expected, it wasn’t all bad. On the positive side, the emergence of dungeons created a whole new industry. There were new jobs for explorers, researchers, and monster hunters, all dedicated to exploring and combating the threats posed by the dungeons.

More importantly, the technological advancements spurred by the need to combat monsters led to incredible breakthroughs in various fields. Significant advancements were made in weaponry and defence technology.

"New weapons and armour designed specifically to combat monsters have been developed, along with enhanced communication and surveillance systems to monitor dungeon activity," George informed.

"Looks like I missed the party."

"A world close to its end sounds like a party to you?"

"Now that I think about it-" Adrian was about to say something, but George stopped him.

"Why don’t you and the girls become hunters as well?"

Adrian looked at him for a moment to see if he was being serious or not, which George was. Since he had said about becoming a hunter, Adrian wanted to know his reasons for saying so.

"If you become a hunter, the standard laws won’t apply to you; as such, you won’t require my help like you did tonight."

Adrian considered George’s words. He was planning on living a peaceful life, or at least try to. But it was worth looking into whether becoming a Hunter could offer him benefits to achieve those goals.

"Where can I get tested?" Adrian asked.

"The association, of course," George said, getting tipsy. "I’ll make some calls tomorrow and let you know. Meanwhile... I’ll take the couch in your room."

"Goodnight..." Adrian mumbled before gulping down the remaining liquor. "As I thought, the stupid poison immunity won’t even let me get drunk!"

***

Back in Nexaria...

The Pope arrived at the now-destroyed church. The cleric had a forced smile on his face while a silent storm raged inside. His heart pounded with fury as he surveyed the devastation before him, his once proud sanctuary reduced to rubble and ruin.

Beside him stood his paladins, awaiting further orders while most of them helped restore order in the city.

The Pope’s hands clenched into fists at his sides as he fought to contain his anger. His mind raced with thoughts of the setback and the losses they had incurred.

He couldn’t care less about those who died. After all, they were replaceable tools. But the artefacts that were stolen were invaluable. Years of work were reduced to nothing, and there wasn’t a single thing he could do about it.

The next moment, Bellion was brought to the Pope by the paladins. The paladins were kind enough to treat the regional leader of the Ravens beforehand to ensure his compliance.

"How could you let this happen, Bellion?" the Pope demanded, his tone laced with barely concealed fury.

"I... I don’t know," he stammered. "Most of us had been poisoned the day before the attack, rendering us useless-"

"Your incompetence has cost us dearly," the Pope cut him off. "Your mistake isn’t something that can be forgiven."

Turning to the paladins, he continued, "Round up the Ravens. Destroy their guild, root out every last one of them. I don’t want anyone to even remember them."

The paladins bowed, acknowledging the command and promptly acted on it by severing Bellion’s head right then and there.

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