Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer
Chapter 53: Face-Off (2)

Chapter 53: Face-Off (2)

Before Adrian could gather his bearing after meeting A’Mila, he was dragged out of the tent like he had been brought in.

The next minute, he was tossed into a cage made of tough wood from a tree called Darkwood, held together by ropes. Adrian recognised it because destroying it was a test for them back when he was a hero trainee.

While their task was to break the wooden bark by any means, all the heroes failed to even make a dent in it. Once they were tried and defeated, the instructors revealed that Darkwood wasn’t something that could be chopped by mere strength and a tool. It required a particular skill only a handful of blacksmiths seemed to have in Nexaria.

While Adrian reminisced about the past, slowly, the tribals began arriving and formed a circle around the cage, cheering like it was a big show.

Adrian thought he would be getting a weapon since he was supposed to fight someone. But Akila was there to rain on his parade.

"The Matriarch wants you to fight bare-handed since the tribal law forbids us from handing a weapon to an outsider."

"I see..."

Those were the words that came out of his mouth, but on the inside, he was calling A’Mila every disgusting word that he could remember. He was sure A’Mila just wanted to toy with him or wanted him dead, and that’s why she was making up weird laws on the spot.

Still, Adrian didn’t argue; he just let out a sigh, knowing arguing wouldn’t help his case.

’Think of it as an exercise! There’s no need to panic over a little surprise!’

But that wasn’t the end of the surprises. Out of nowhere, a monster that looked like a black puma with two tails and six legs headed his way.

"I thought I was fighting one of you!?" Adrian asked Akila, sounding a bit desperate. "Not a Shadowstalker."

"Bakira... is the Matriarch’s hunting pal," Akila casually told Adrian as the creature entered the big cage. "If you want her acknowledgement, you gotta beat it."

"Who the heck wants that psycho’s approval?" Adrian wanted to say that to Akila but, on second thought, decided to keep the words to himself.

Bakira let out a low growl, almost as if it could hear Adrian cursing its owner in his head. But strangely enough, the creature didn’t attack him.

’It’s well trained... as expected from a beastmaster,’ Adrian thought as he stared into the creature’s menacing emerald eyes.

Just then, the roaring crowd went silent, and as Adrian looked back, A’Mila had finally graced them with her presence, along with the rest of the council.

Maybe Adrian was just seeing things, but he noticed the council members laughing at him.

’Not fond of men, are you?’ Adrian scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Fighting a Shadowstalker wasn’t a big deal... if he had a weapon. Thankfully, the Veil had only taken Adrian’s clothes away, not the Broadsword, which was in his inventory.

Sure, A’Mila didn’t want him to use a weapon, but in her hastiness to make a law, she overlooked a crucial thing. The law stated that the tribe couldn’t give him a weapon, but nowhere did it say he couldn’t fight with one.

’But where will be the fun in that?’ Adrian thought as a twisted smile appeared on his lips.

With the Minotaur’s Broadsword, he could have finished the fight in a matter of seconds. But that wasn’t enough for him. Ever since waking up, the fuckers had humiliated him over and over.

But due to his position, he couldn’t do anything to them. However, things were different regarding A’Mila’s beloved ’Bakira’. The mighty Matriarch wanted him to fight her prized creature, so Adrian would do just that and humiliate her through her pet.

Would it be an underhanded thing to do? Absolutely. Would such a thing considered to be unbecoming of a hero? Definitely. But did Adrian give a crap about it? Not one bit. After all, he wasn’t a hero anymore.

’Besides, if she had heard about me through Teach, then A’Mila most likely thinks I’m weak. I can’t wait to see her face when I’m done playing with her pet.’

Once the council people assumed their seats, A’Mila nodded, and Bakira jumped towards Adrian. He tried to dodge, but the beast caught him, slamming him to the cage’s edge. However, that was just the start.

Suddenly, Bakira turned around, its tails lashing out like whips. Adrian saw the attack coming and threw his elbows to protect his face. Though he managed to block the hit, the force behind those whips caught him off guard, leaving his hands numb and him defenceless.

Before Adrian could shake off the numbness in his limb, Bakira struck him again. Only this time, the Shadowstalker used its claws to graze Adrian’s face and chest. Blood immediately gushed out of Adrian’s wounds as he struggled to keep up with the beast.

"This is a waste of time," A’Mila sighed.

While she had expected Adrian to be weak, based on what Vesper told her, she never imagined he’d be a complete failure. A’Mila took a final look at the mess, disappointment on her face.

She was ready to call it off and turned away. But then, out of the blue, something odd happened. She heard her beloved pet yelp for help.

As A’Mila turned around, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was Adrian, locking the beast’s head in a headlock with one hand and landing punches with the other.

But what surprised her more was that all the cuts and gashes Bakira had given him were gone like they never existed. If not for the blood all over him, she would have thought Adrian wasn’t hurt at all.

Everyone was scratching their heads, trying to make sense of it. But while they did, Adrian did something entirely unexpected from someone Vesper mentioned being weak.

Adrian suplexed Bakira into the cage and kept punching until the beast was too tired to fight back. Then, he got creative, tying the creature’s feet with its tails and sat on it like Bakira was his throne. All while grinning at A’Mila.

"What’s next?" he asked before sighing as if he was bored.