Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 153 - 152 - “WIND SCREEEEEEAAAM—!”

Chapter 153: Chapter 152 - “WIND SCREEEEEEAAAM—!”

RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

"...A hundred what now?" Jessy asked, eyes narrowing as if hoping she’d heard wrong.

"A horde of demons!" Alex chirped far too cheerfully for someone who was coated in infernal goo some seconds ago. "Big ones, small ones, screaming ones, squishy ones, some with way too many legs—and one that looked like a giant baby with knives for teeth! Real creative fellas down there."

"You led them here?" Selena asked, her smile frozen and very polite.

"I wouldn’t say led, exactly." Alex scratched his cheek, unconsciously smearing soot covering his fingers across his face like tribal war paint. "I merely made a heroic escape... and those demons followed me."

"You fled upward into us," Raven said flatly, his smile now gone as he rubbed his temples as if trying to massage the stupidity out of the air.

"Raven," Rufus said calmly, adjusting the sword at his hip, "I suggest we run."

"Man, is cowardice in your veins?" Raven turned to him with a frown. "Are you forgetting that you have an armor suit that could literally vaporize the demons?"

Rufus’s eyes widened as he looked at his chest, the nanocore pulsing as if trying to remind him of its presence.

Then he turned back to Raven, his hand scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "...Sorry."

Raven shook his head, wondering if it was the right choice to give Rufus the nanocore.

’Maybe I should’ve kept it—

"Yo! I can hear your damn thoughts, you know!" Omni pulsed sharply from his place in Raven’s hand. "Why you thinkin’ about other folks when you got me, huh? Talk about ungrateful!"

’Not my fault that you don’t have cool features like the nanocore,’ Raven shrugged inwardly.

But Omni was offended.

Because this was now about his image as the strongest artifact.

"Ain’t my damn fault you a weak-ass," he snapped in Raven’s head. "Toss me some divine artifacts, and watch me level up past your sorry stats in no time. Even draggin’ your weak-ass with me!"

Before Raven could respond—

"I suggest we slice them," Siris said with eerie calm, pulling out her bone blade, her fingers clenched around it.

"I suggest we dig another tunnel," Alex offered helpfully, still stuck on digging as a universal solution.

Graye raised her hand. "I suggest we scream into the wind now."

"No one is screaming into the wind!" Raven sighed.

"Except the demons," Blargh mumbled ominously. "They will scream. And they will eat your spines."

Clara reached for her sword. "How far are they?"

BOOOOOM.

The question was answered for her by a loud boom and the tree line’s shaking.

A wave of heat and shrieking mist rolled in like the breath of hell.

They could imagine trees evaporated into ash as shadows writhed through the haze. Glowing eyes. Clicking jaws. Spindly limbs. Wings of bone. Crawling horrors.

They were close.

They were already here.

"Well," Raven sighed, clenching Omni. "Welcome committee’s arrived."

Nibbles on his shoulder let out a low, guttural war squeak and pulled out a tiny acorn-shaped whistle. He blew.

FWWEEEEEEEEEEEEET—!!

Moments later, the treetops shook, and dozens of squirrels leaped into view like a rodent tsunami.

Clad in tiny armor, armed with nut blades, seed bombs, magical abilities, and suicidal courage, the Clawtail Recon Squad and the Nutfang Rapid Strike Unit arrived with tiny battle cries.

"GLORY TO ACORNIAAA!!" One of them roared in squirrelish from atop a battle mole, his squirrel eye patch gleaming.

Lia blinked. "Are we seriously letting squirrels fight demons?"

Jessy deadpanned, "They’ve got a better kill count than most human armies."

"Foolish demons," Clara said as her blade began vibrating. "Coming here."

Selena’s shadow twitched, multiple maw-like structures appearing above it. "They’ll regret it."

Siris stared at the horde with the calm of a disturbed lake. "I will have my memento this time."

Graye raised both hands and cheered, "WIND SCREEEEEEAAAM—!"

"NO!" The group shouted.

Raven took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the moment, of the lives standing behind him.

Behind them, a squirrel choir sang a high-pitched war anthem composed entirely of battle squeaks and rhythmic acorn clapping.

He could imagine the demon horde surging closer—some slithering, some galloping, some flying—each twisted, feral, and reeking of rot and old blood.

It wasn’t that he or anyone else in the group was scared. They were uncertain.

This would be their first fight after the power-up, and it turned out to be a mini-war with their group against a large horde of more than a hundred demons.

Above all, the demons’ power levels were unknown.

Travis, who was supposedly their leader, was level seven, so if they were all level-six demons, which is equivalent to a plate-six magic swordsman, then there was no certainty that they would win.

Yes, they were all strong enough to take on plate-seven magic swordsmen, but even they could lose to that many demons.

However, they trusted Raven to make the right decision. They knew he wouldn’t send them into a fight without a plan.

True to their thoughts, Raven already had a few plans crafted. One of them was to beat Graye up and make her strong enough to wipe all the demons out with her ultimate attack.

Her ultimate attack takes some time to perform, but defending her for that long wouldn’t be hard for them.

It was then that Jake stepped beside Raven. "Orders?"

Raven turned toward Graye, making the girl innocently tilt her head. ’Why is he looking at me like that?’

Then, a sudden thought struck her. ’Is he finally accepting my feelings?!’

Her eyes widened in surprise as she passed him the best smile she could.

However, she wasn’t the only one who was struck with a sudden idea. Raven was the same.

’Why did I not think of that before?!’

"’Cause you a bumass with a slow-ass brain, that’s why," Omni huffed, still salty from earlier.

Raven sighed at those words. ’I’m sorry, alright?’

He admitted his fault, and after a short silence, Omni replied, "Aight... it’s fine, I guess. Just don’t go comparin’ me to other weapons, ya feel me? I got pride too, y’know. I ain’t just some shiny scrap metal."

’I get it, I won’t do it,’ Raven nodded inwardly, and Omni decided to forget this incident.

"Aight, so I ain’t gonna lie—that idea you just had actually sounds solid. Go on with that thought, man."

Raven nodded his head and willed for the trade channel. Then, he clicked on the Skill Tier-Up Voucher.

Then, without waiting, he thought of the Dragonification.

The moment he did, new notifications popped up before his eyes.

[Confirm Skill Tier-Up?

Target: Dragonification.

New Tier: Voidborne Variant.

Warning: You may experience minor discomfort, slight temporary psychosis, and an intense need to scream like a kaiju.]

"Raven?"

It was then that Clara’s voice echoed as she and Selena approached him, their expressions displaying their trust in him but also confusion about his silence.

"Oh, my bad," Raven chuckled as he closed in and grabbed their waists. "I suddenly had an amazing idea."

Selena and Clara tilted their heads, expressions curious.

Raven smiled wider, finding their confused expressions curious; he gave them both a kiss on their heads, making their faces bloom with smiles.

The noise from the background, the tremble in the ground, and even the scent of blood in the air made it clear that the demons were almost here, but Raven remained relaxed.

"So, I would be—"

But before he could continue, Siris stepped before him, staring at him without saying anything.

Raven didn’t even need to ask what was going on, as her expression said it all.

With a chuckle, he leaned in and kissed her head.

"Happy?"

"Un," Siris nodded with a smile.

Raven parted his lips again, ready to announce what he was going to do—

"Ah-hum!"

But he was interrupted again. This time, it was Graye, staring at him with her head tilted forward.

The group stared at her.

Clara deadpanned, Selena narrowed her eyes, while Siris gripped her dagger.

"What is it, Graye?" Raven asked despite knowing the answer.

"I want mine, too," she replied.

"You think this is a birthday treat that everyone is supposed to get?"

"Isn’t it?"

"No," the reply came not only from Raven but also from Clara, Selena, and Siris.

"I can still get it, right?" Graye closed in. "After all, I like you."

Raven sighed again. "We aren’t at that point yet, Graye."

Graye’s expression froze, and just when it seemed like she would deflate like a balloon, a wide grin appeared on her face. "You said ’yet.’"

Before Raven could say anything, Graye was already gone, jumping before others and saying, "He said ’yet.’"

It was as if she were telling everyone that she was getting married.

Raven shook his head and turned back to his girls, who seemed to be already staring at him.

Siris was looking at him without an expression, while Selena was doing the same, her expression filled with silent judgment.

"Yet?" Clara voiced from his right. "Does that mean you want her?"

"Well, ye—"

Before Raven could complete his words, Omni echoed.

"Yo, when you gonna tell ’em you’re takin’ on the whole damn horde solo, man?!" His voice was filled with urgency, as he didn’t want Raven to complete his words.

The moment Omni’s voice was heard, everyone, including the squirrels, paused in their tracks.

Well, all except Graye, who still couldn’t hear Omni’s voice.

"Hm? Hm?" She curiously tilted her head. "What’s going on?"

Selena’s eyes narrowed. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Crisis averted," Omni sighed in Raven’s head, and Raven thanked him for that before he turned to Selena.

"He’s telling the truth," he replied while letting go of Clara and Selena, making some distance between them.

The demons could now be seen.

They were no farther than 50 meters.

Everyone tensed, their minds fixated on fighting alongside Raven, but Raven looked into their eyes.

One by one, all of them saw the light in his eyes.

It was not the light one had when they were about to sacrifice themselves. That was the light of excitement.

"...You are going to try something new, aren’t you?" Clara asked, her expression filled with doubt.

"Bingo!" Raven smiled before he turned toward the demons. "Now, I might not be able to differentiate between enemy and friends for a while, so I would want you guys to step back, please."

He didn’t even need to repeat his words as everyone distanced themselves, their bodies still tensed and their stance ready to join battle anytime, but they didn’t step in right now.

It was because they believed in Raven.

However, everyone noticed something.

Graye didn’t seem worried. She didn’t object to Raven’s plan even once.

"You aren’t worried about Raven?" Lia asked, frowning.

She was annoyed when she saw Graye stepping forward to ask for a kiss from Racen when she, who had been liking Raven for far longer, couldn’t, so now, she decided to corner Graye.

She wanted others to think that she wasn’t worried about Raven because she didn’t care, but her reply was completely different from what others expected.

"Hm?" She tilted her head, confused. "Why would I be worried?"

Before Lia could say another word, Graye smiled. "If Raven can defeat me, then there’s no way he would lose to some demons."

’Some demons...’

Those words echoed through their minds before they all shook their heads.

They simply accepted that Graye’s mind worked differently from theirs.

Raven, on the other hand, now around 40 meters away from the demons, pressed the confirm button, and then it happened.

The transformation.