Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 163 - 162 - The Demon Approaching.

The cave was warm now.

Not because of the scorched walls or the lingering golden aura, but because Raven was back—and glowing slightly like a freshly baked divine cookie.

He was now sitting cross-legged, looking mildly confused as six girls, one sword, one always silent guy, and one curious squirrel stared him down as if he were a mystery loot box with a legendary drop rate.

Clara was still hugging him tightly with the persistence of a tick on a divine beast.

Selena sat beside him, carrying the grace of a royal she was, her arms crossed.

Graye had somehow perched herself behind him like a cape, still clinging on.

Raven didn’t tell her off this time.

Siris had not moved from her ’I-will-protect-thy-glorious-abs’ position, one hand on his arm like she was guarding a sacred relic.

Lia stood off to the side with the I’m-not-jealous-but-don’t-make-me-come-over-there face.

Jessy remained seated farthest away, legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes narrowed with laser-like intensity—as if she were memorizing the glow-up frame by frame to deny it later.

Jake, like always, was silently observing everything.

Finally, Nibbles, who had come here right about five seconds ago to check up on them at Alex’s request, climbed onto a nearby rock, chest puffed out.

He was proud. He was feeling as if the king he served had returned from the light dimension—or possibly a skincare commercial.

But then, the questioning began.

"So, what exactly happened?" Clara asked, shaking him gently as if trying to wake a memory. "You were with us one second, and the next, Omni tells us that we shouldn’t touch you."

"Yeah!" Graye added. "What is that golden stuff? Are you a saint now? A sun god? A walking lamp?"

"Omni did say something about soul power, but I still don’t understand," Selena said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Is it related to souls, like, the things that define us living beings?"

Raven sighed, rubbing his face. "Can I stand up first?"

"No," four voices said at once.

"...Okay."

Jessy raised a brow. "If you’re done being worshiped, can you talk now?"

Raven chuckled, scratching his head as his golden eyes pulsed faintly.

Then, he turned toward the makeshift beside the altar.

He didn’t even ask them who it was because he knew.

"It was because of Bren," he whispered, his expression turning wistful. "He was a stubborn fellow. Even at his death, he gave me something that would never let me forget him." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Everyone quieted down the moment Bren was brought up, but then Raven noticed something.

"...Siris," he called, still staring at the grave.

"Yes, hubby?" Siris, sitting beside him, tilted her head innocently.

Raven stared at her, then back at the four heads planted near Bren’s grave.

Then he turned back to her, her expression righteous.

It was as if he knew what he was going to ask and she already had an answer, so he decided to end it with a sigh.

"Nothing."

Then, looking back to the grave, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "There was a condition for me to upgrade my soul power—it was to experience every emotion. I was missing rage, which Bren helped me with."

Another bout of silence, but this one was broken as soon as it descended as Omni spoke.

"Aight, look—I get all that, and I know what the conditions were, sure. But c’mon, tell me you ain’t never felt that fire in your gut when Crisaius laid you out like roadkill. That rage? That’s been brewing, man."

Omni’s question caused everyone to almost break into a chuckle.

Not because his words were hilarious but because of the expression Raven made.

The moment Crisaius was mentioned, Raven’s serious expression broke like glass smashed by a stone, and his nose scrunched up.

"I feel annoyed by him," Raven replied to Omni. "That hate is friendly. What my soul power wanted for me was to feel murderous rage."

"So, you needed to feel a rage that would want to make you kill?" Clara hummed.

"Yes, and the moment that condition was fulfilled, I was summoned to this place in my inner world where I was judged by an eye. Then, I had to devour a dragon soul—"

Raven paused, his brows frowning as he saw everyone looking at him as if they wanted to know more about something.

"...What?" He asked.

"...Judged by an eye?" Selena raised a brow.

"And you devoured a DRAGON’s soul?" Clara added.

Raven facepalmed, but before he could say anything, Omni chimed in.

"Bruh... y’all already seen demons, divinity, and the man literally go full god-dragon mode. And now you’re all losing your minds over some tiny little details? For real? Let my man continue."

Selena and Clara exchanged a glance, realizing that they were sweating about minor things before they nodded.

It was just that they had felt something when those things were mentioned. It was as if they knew that those things were something important, especially that eye.

Seeing everyone look at him again, wanting him to continue, he nodded his head. "So... that’s it. That’s what happened."

Silence followed before Lia coughed loudly. "You still haven’t said what it does."

"Oh, right." Raven cleared his throat and held up his fingers. "So far, I think it grants me soul-based regeneration, like auto-healing, and I can now manipulate pure soul power—usable as buffs or blasts—"

But before he could continue—

BOOOOOOM!!! BOOOOOM!!!

A deafening explosion roared from above, shaking the entire cavern like an angry god had belly-flopped into the sky.

Dust fell from the cave ceiling. Cracks trembled through the ground. Everyone’s expressions instantly turned serious.

"...An attack," Jake muttered, finally speaking as his scythe appeared in his hand.

Clara let go of Raven, eyes sharpening. "Why do I have a feeling that it was Alex or Rufus who were responsible for that attack?"

Raven stood, light dimming but his golden eyes narrowing. "It could be a signal for help."

Selena’s shadow twitched, and the temperature around her dropped. "We can’t have one peaceful conversation without interruption."

Lia was already rushing toward the exit; the tree roots she had summoned before retreated into the ground like racing snakes.

Graye jumped onto a rock and kicked her boots off as her armor clinked. "I want in on that fight!"

Siris gripped her dagger, smiling a little too much. "They’ve interrupted his divine afterglow. Unforgivable."

Jessy finally stood, pulling her iron dust into her palms. "Let’s go."

Raven didn’t say anything else. He merely turned toward the exit, the golden glow returning.

...............................

Above—a few seconds ago.

The sun above was burning low, its golden rays slanting lazily from above the cave.

A gust of wind swept through, rustling the trees, but it wasn’t nature that stirred the tension in the air—it was something else.

Something heavier.

A shadow dropped from the canopy with a whump, landing on the cracked stone path with liquid ease.

Blargh-Alex—more teeth than man, more goo than sense—stood upright, his inky-black with red cracks semi-liquid form glistening under the light.

Towering with claws and sinew pulsing under his molten lava-like skin, he casually popped a twig from his shoulder like an afterthought.

"Yo," he said, voice like a bubble popped in a blender. "Rufus, you might wanna gear up."

Rufus, who had been reclining against a mossy boulder near the cave entrance like a bodyguard on union break, blinked.

He looked almost casual, if not for the massive black-and-red armored suit wrapped around him like some futuristic death machine.

"What is it?" He asked, not bothering to turn fully.

"There’s a guy," Alex said, cracking his neck with an audible glorp. "But not, like, a guy guy. He’s... uh... tall."

Rufus finally turned, both brows rising behind his helmet visor. "Tall?"

Alex nodded gravely. "Like taller than me tall."

That got Rufus moving.

With a sharp hiss-click, his armor responded instantly.

Sleek black plates folded over his head, forming a full-faced helmet.

A faint hum of magic surged to life as glowing crimson veins of light flickered through the suit.

"Visual mode. Zoom—full range," he muttered.

The visor flashed, and the world magnified—trees, rocks, and birds speeding by in his sight until—

There.

Moving like a nightmare through the forest, the thing was massive.

Its frame was humanoid but grotesque—twisted with blackened flesh, bone horns spiraling from its head, and glowing red eyes burning with intent.

Clawed feet crushed boulders with ease, and demonic mist oozed from its joints like leaking venom.

"That’s not a man," Rufus said quietly. "That’s a demon."

Alex, now hanging from a nearby tree branch upside-down like a massive wet bat, asked, "So... diplomacy, or...?"

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Because Rufus had already raised both hands.

FWWMMMM—KZZZAAAAAM!!!

BOOM!! BOOM!!

Twin blasts of concentrated light magic erupted from his palms, painting the forest in a blinding white light.

The air cracked with energy as beams tore through trees and slammed into the advancing creature.

An explosion followed—raw and seismic—launching smoke, dirt, and windy howls into the sky.

The forest shook.

Somewhere, birds panicked and fled.

Rufus’s palms were still glowing as he lowered his arms.

Alex, watching the plume of dust rise like an angry storm, grinned.

"...No diplomacy, I guess."

Then, he jumped down from the tree and added. "That power, however, is crazy, man."

Turning to look ahead, he observed the sight before him.

There were two straight lines of burned ground where those beams had passed through.

It was like Raven’s breath attack. It was just weaker and more concentrated.

After all, the whole area was charred by Raven’s one dragon breath, and Rufus’s laser beam made a line above them.

However—

Boom-Boom-Boom!

Heavy footsteps sounded, making Rufus and Alex pause, their gaze turning back to stare ahead, only to see the demon they thought would’ve vaporized by the last attack walking forward unscathed.

"Well, shit..." Alex muttered, realizing that the thing walking toward them was no normal demon.

Rufus was the same, his mana charged for another attack.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢