Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 168 - 167 - The Message.

"You have a mistress, Raven?" Graye, the only one oblivious of Mistress’s identity, asked, her eyes wide. "What about Clara, Selena, and Siris?"

Raven’s eye twitched. "What?"

Clara deadpanned, "It’s not what it sounds like."

"Actually," Alex piped up, "it’s exactly what it sounds like, but worse. She once wore Selena like a meat suit and spoke in riddles."

Selena rubbed her temples. "Don’t make me recall that feeling."

"I can be your therapist if you want," Jessy proposed to her.

"You’re more like a metallurgist," Raven corrected.

Jessy shrugged. "We adapt."

Graye’s face went from mildly curious to horrified. "Wait. A demon possessed Selena, she calls herself ’Mistress,’ and you all... work with her?"

"She made a deal with us," Raven said. "Information for future help. She probably has some ulterior motives, but since they align with our goal, we allied."

"And she promised cookies," Siris added.

"She did not," Clara said immediately.

"She might have," Siris insisted with a dreamy look. "She seemed fine."

"...You were literally trying to kill her," Raven said slowly.

"That’s how I make friends."

Meanwhile, the Malformed King had been waiting this entire time, watching the group dynamics as someone stuck on hold with tech support.

"So?" Raven finally turned to him. "Is this Princess Zarethia the Mistress we know?"

The demon paused, his expression twitching.

Then, with a sigh, he nodded. "Yes. That’s... what she calls herself now, apparently."

One could tell he was feeling second-hand embarrassment.

Raven, however, was now thinking about something else.

He was wondering how the demon who was supposed to be loyal to the Demon Sovereign suddenly turned to the opposition.

Raven was sure something was going on.

So, as his eyes locked with the demon, he asked. "Why are you serving her?"

That question paused the Malformed King, his expression shifting between many feelings.

For a moment, the mana around him turned unstable, but one glare from Raven and a small soul shock were enough to bring the guy back to reality.

"I’m sorry, I was reminded of something unpleasant," the demon quickly apologized.

"So?" Raven raised a brow. "What happened?"

Malfo (short for Malformed King) lowered his head, his expression turning sad. "Seventeen years ago, the Sovereign killed my wife and son."

That shocked Raven.

’Why?’ Raven wanted to ask, but before he could—

"What? Why would someone do that? You don’t seem like a bad guy!" Graye asked the question.

"...I don’t know," Malfo replied. "All I know is that there were talks about me betraying them in the future."

"Your family was killed because of some rumors?!" Graye stood up and approached Malfo, patting his huge form as if she were his longtime friend.

Others didn’t say anything because things were going fine.

The questions they couldn’t ask, fearing they would be too personal, were so natural from her lips.

"I wasn’t the only one. There were also some others, but our lady saved us right then, giving us shelter. Since then, we decided to serve her."

Malfo’s words put Raven in deep thought, his expression serious.

’Something wrong is going on in the demon realm. First, Mistress, who was never even mentioned in the plot, and now all of these incidents.’

Raven was sure that it was because of him.

His presence was changing things, but he couldn’t tell how, especially because he didn’t have a friend in the demon realm yet—

’Wait...’ Suddenly, something clicked in Raven’s head. ’I don’t have any demon friends yet...’

Then he turned toward Malfo. ’But he was supposed to be my friend in the future and supposed to betray the demon sovereign.’

The reason why Malfo was attacked made sense now.

It was because he was supposed to be the protagonist’s supporter. It was similar to how all the young geniuses, especially those who were supposed to be close to the protagonist, were being targeted.

Raven clenched his fists, feeling like he was very close to uncovering something.

’What is it?!’ He roared in his head.

However, he couldn’t find that piece.

He couldn’t understand how the demons knew all of this.

’Is there another novel reader like me reincarnated in this book?’

There was a possibility, but Raven couldn’t be sure.

’But if it is true...’

Then it would be bad for Raven.

Because there would be someone in the dark while he remains in the light.

After all, he would be targeted by that person even if they didn’t know that he was a reincarnator.

He was the protagonist—someone who was supposed to destroy the demon realm.

So, if there was another person—someone on the demons’ side—and they were trying to kill any support of the Protagonist, it meant one thing: they wanted to rule over the demon realm.

Now, Raven had another thing to worry about.

But before he could dig too deep into his thoughts, Malfo coughed. "Should I deliver the message now?"

Raven, taking a deep breath, waved his hand. "Sure. Please. Tell us what our imperial, demonic associate wants."

The Malformed King nodded and sat cross-legged again—slowly, deliberately, with all the flair of someone trying very hard not to twitch.

He cleared his throat. "Mistress—Zarethia—asked me to deliver a message. A location."

He reached into a compartment in his chest plate. Everyone tensed.

"It’s a scroll. It’s a scroll," he kept repeating like a human trying to convince a cat that he only wanted to pet it.

"Could be a bomb," Rufus muttered.

"You are the guy who punched a diplomat," Clara hissed.

"I thought he was lunging!"

The demon pulled out an ancient, tightly bound scroll that radiated demonic mana like a passive-aggressive scented candle.

He held it up. "This contains the coordinates to a major demon stronghold. Near your capital. Hidden. Protected by wards, only people permitted could pass through."

"Why didn’t she just... tell us herself?" Selena asked, arms crossed, voice unreadable. "I haven’t been hearing her voice for a while."

"She’s been... a bit busy," Malfo sighed. "The other side had somehow found our coordinates, so she’s helping us settle in a new, safer place."

Selena blinked. "That’s... noble of her."

"She also mentioned she would need some days off for skincare after all this, as she was getting too much blood on her body."

Everyone stared at the demon, who, after glancing here and there, shrugged. "I’m merely answering your questions."

"Why is it that everyone I meet ends up strange?" Raven groaned, staring at the sky.

There was another bout of silence before Malfo continued with another cough. "She said the location is an underground fortress where high-ranking demon Warlords are being summoned—quietly, slowly. They’re planning something big."

Raven’s brow furrowed. "So a stealth build."

"Worse," the demon said gravely. "A turtle shell strategy."

"More trouble incoming," Jessy muttered in resignation.

Clara, on the other hand, frowned. "So if we find this place and take it down, we mess up their entire tempo."

"Exactly. Mistress said this is a chance to cripple their foothold before it stabilizes."

Raven took the scroll and scanned it, eyes flickering. "Coordinates check out. She even gave an outline of what would happen if we were to walk in, huh?"

Alex peered over his shoulder. "Wait, is that—wait, there’s a drawing of... is that me? Falling in a pit trap?"

Rufus leaned in. "Oh. That one looks like me... but I’m getting impaled? Wow. Very specific."

"She wanted to make it clear to you guys that you wouldn’t be able to defeat the beings inside," the demon said.

Graye, peeking into the scroll, blinked. "Wait—Where am I?"

"You aren’t even officially in the group yet," Raven said without looking up.

"What?!" Graye exclaimed. "I am a part of this group! You can’t deny that—"

She went on, but the others decided to ignore her for now.

Jessy, glancing at the scroll, added, "It has everything in it, huh? There is gore, meaning, and somehow it feels regal." fгeewebnovёl.com

The next to peer at the scroll was Siris. "Why am I not on this?"

"Who knows? Maybe she likes you, so she didn’t want to draw you getting killed?" Raven shrugged, only to find Siris hugging his arms.

"I don’t like women. I only like, love, and adore Raven."

Raven stared at her, eyebrow raised, before he chuckled. "You are getting good."

"Is she now?" Selena approached from the other side, whispering into his ears. "What about me?"

Clara, from the side, raised a brow, stepping forward to join, but then, she shook her head with a smile.

She didn’t want to disturb Raven.

After all, Malfo was still here.

Above all, Raven wouldn’t always be next to Selena and Siris. He would be free in time.

She would wait for that moment.

Malfo, however, got up slowly, brushing dirt off himself like a man emerging from a metaphorical and literal crater. "Now that I’ve done my duty, I think I should leave."

Raven nodded. "Thanks for the message. Sorry for the... pressure slams."

The demon gave a dry smile. "Better than most diplomatic missions I’ve had."

Selena raised a brow. "You’ve had worse?"

"Someone once tried to seduce me into defecting. She had a farm. Chickens. Nearly worked."

Everyone blinked.

Then Graye, who had been talking about how she was a part of the team, which no one was listening to—other than Nibbles, who was now perched on her shoulder—paused and turned toward Malfo.

"Bye-bye, Giant Demon!" She waved her hand with a smile, and Malfo smiled.

But then he paused.

"I forgot to tell you," he turned toward Raven, "There was another Warlord-Ranked demon in the area, and he seemed to have every intention of killing you."

The whole group tensed.

But Malfo quickly waved. "Oh, don’t worry. I took care of him."

It was as if he were talking about killing a bug.

But as they recalled the condition he had put Rufus and Alex in despite not using all of his powers, they realized that despite his attitude and nature, he was the strongest demon they had ever met.

"Thank you," Raven nodded to the demon, and the guy smiled again.

Then, he walked away.

This time, he didn’t turn back.

After reaching a distance, he slapped his head as if he had forgotten something, then shuffled in his spot before he vanished.

They all stared at the spot where he had vanished for a long time.

Then, Clara muttered. "He used a teleportation scroll, didn’t he?"

"Yes," Selena nodded.

"Couldn’t he have done it without walking that distance?" Clara rubbed her forehead.

"...Well," Raven answered her question despite knowing that she wasn’t expecting one. "People sometimes forget some things."

Clara shook her head, while Jake, who had almost been invisible this whole time, dove into his shadow, deciding to scout the surroundings.

The others, mainly Alex and Rufus, slumped on the ground.

But Jake, who hadn’t even gone farther than fifty meters, suddenly returned, his expression serious.

"Raven," he called out. "Royal knights approaching."

Everyone tensed, especially Selena.

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