Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 159 - 158 - Bren Clockfred.

Chapter 159: Chapter 158 - Bren Clockfred.

"What?" Graye looked around, wondering if she had said anything wrong.

The others, however, didn’t know what they should tell her as she wasn’t technically wrong, so all of them merely shook their heads, now focusing on more pressing matters.

Raven stared down at the pale, sky-eyed figure on the altar, wondering what he was.

"He’s alive," Clara said, her voice measured. "Barely."

Raven’s fingers tightened around Omni’s hilt.

Something about the boy felt wrong—off in a way that scraped at the edges of instinct.

Thanks to his soul power, he could sense the boy’s soul. It was there but flickering like a candle in a storm.

If his prediction was correct, then this guy was about to die.

He turned toward Lia.

"Can you try healing him? Just enough to stabilize him."

Lia blinked. "I will do my best."

"Thanks," Raven smiled at her. "I knew I could depend on you."

Lia’s expression froze for a heartbeat before a cheery smile marred her face.

Without a word, she stepped forward, kneeling beside the altar.

Her fingers hovered over the boy’s chest, glowing with faint emerald light.

The group stayed alert, forming a loose semi-circle behind her.

The moment Lia’s magic brushed the boy’s skin, his body convulsed.

Not violently—but enough to make everyone take a step back.

Then, he gasped.

His eyes snapped open—wider now, the pupils dilated, searching.

"...Where...?"

Raven stepped forward, his palm caressing Lia’s back, who turned to him, only to see him nod at her.

Without a word, she got up, letting Raven take over as he kneeled beside the guy.

The boy turned his head toward Raven, his eyes, covered with burned flesh, widened.

This tensed others.

Clara gripping the hilt of her sword wrapped around her hand. Jake raised his scythe.

Siris’s eyes turned cold while Lia’s stance wavered.

Jessy was ready to manipulate the iron dust and even Graye seemed to have turned serious.

But then—

"...Why am I seeing a naked guy after death?" The boy’s voice came out wheezing.

It seemed like he was using all of his power to speak.

But as soon as his words fell, the atmosphere stilled and everyone exchanged a glance.

"...What?" Raven stared back at the guy, his expression blank, before he groaned. "Man, I’m wearing damn pants!"

The boy, however, sighed. "It doesn’t matter."

Then, with a cough, he continued, "What are you? An angel or a devil? Both of them are said to look divine, and you look half of each."

"Should we have left him for dead?" Raven muttered out loud.

"I can decapitate him if you want!" Siris perked up, feeling like it was finally her moment.

But the moment her voice was heard, the half-dead boy finally saw the whole scene.

"...This isn’t heaven," he muttered.

"Wow. So wise of you to finally realize that," Raven clapped his hand, passing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"Neither is it hell," the boy stared into Raven’s eyes.

"Nope."

"...Where am I, then—?"

Before the boy could complete his question, his gaze fell on the altar, and his eyes widened.

"Ah..."

Everything came crashing down on him as he finally realized what was going on.

"...So, it was finally my turn, huh?" He muttered, trying to raise his hand, only to find out that the most he could do was twitch.

"You can’t move. You might break."

Raven’s voice made him recall something again as he trembled. "Yeah, those flames. They burned me."

Raven scratched his head, but before he could say anything, the guy sighed in relief. "Thank god they burned me."

"What?" Raven, who had nearly apologized, frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Those flames freed me from more suffering. Giving me this rare chance to at least die with my mind stable," the boy replied, making others step closer.

"...What are you?" Raven asked after a pause.

"Me? I am—or at least was, a human until a year ago. At least before I was dragged away to a place I couldn’t understand."

"What’s your name?" Raven asked.

Just because the guy said that he was a human didn’t mean they would believe it.

The boy stared at Raven, then smiled?

Raven felt like he smiled, but he couldn’t tell for sure since any movement on his body or face seemed like a twitch.

"I am Bren Clockfred. The son of Count Clockfred from the Velmoria Kingdom."

Raven flinched as soon as that name was mentioned, and even Selena frowned.

Raven’s reaction, however, alerted everyone else.

"What’s wrong, Raven?" Clara asked, and Raven finally calmed down.

He turned to her and replied. "He’s one of the guys who was said to have died about a year ago."

"Is he someone from the list of names you asked Sinclair about?" Jessy asked, her expression curious.

"Yes," Raven nodded.

"Bren Clockfred," Selena chimed in, finally realizing where she had heard that name. "He was said to be someone who had suddenly grown stronger, but then mysteriously, he died."

Others didn’t know, but Raven knew who this guy was better.

He was an important support character in one of the future arcs of the story.

He was supposed to become powerful enough to rival the protagonist at one time.

Of course, he had also mysteriously vanished at one point. But while he remained in the plot, he was someone who was respected by the protagonist.

Yet here he was, lying on the floor, breathing some of his last breaths.

"Is that what you guys know?" Bren rasped, his voice weak and wistful. "But I guess this is what happens when your family sells you away."

"What happened?" Raven asked, his voice level but eyes burning. "Where have you been?"

Bren’s voice darkened. "The demons took control of my brother, and using him, they poisoned me. Before I realized it, I was in a place with no return—the demon realm."

Siris instantly reached for her blade. Raven didn’t stop her this time—he just narrowed his gaze.

Bren continued each word like a dying ember. "I didn’t know how I was brought there, but it was probably a realm crack. It was one of the early rips—or so I heard the demons saying."

"Were there any others like you? Did they have more captives there?" Raven asked, his voice tense as he realized that he was very close to solving one of the mysteries.

"There were many others," Bren muttered. "Hundreds of them."

Those words again silenced the surroundings.

Because everyone now knew that this wasn’t about this one half-dead guy anymore.

Clara knelt beside Raven, her brows furrowed.

"Why?" She asked Bren. "Why are they kidnapping all of you?"

"To use us," Bren said. "Not as fighters. Not as sacrifices. As batteries."

Everyone froze.

Jessy asked, "Batteries?"

Bren nodded. "Our souls... they figured out how to tether them. They don’t extract them completely. They use it as a source of power. They don’t kill us—no, they rather try to keep us alive for as long as they can."

His voice cracked, and he swallowed blood.

"They called it ’The Cage’—the place where we were kept. By using us, they could somehow summon demons from anywhere. However, we were rarely used, as most of us died on a single use."

"So, you have already been used more than once?" Selena stepped forward with royal grace. "Is that why you know all this?"

Bren froze as his eyes landed on Selena.

"...Is that the princess?" He glanced at Raven, and seeing him nod, he chuckled.

"What an honor," he chuckled—or at least that’s what it seemed. Then, he answered her question. "And no, this was my first time. There was one guy who survived more than three turns. He was some commoner called Ray."

The moment that name was mentioned, Raven’s expression froze.

’...Not him as well.’

It was one of the male characters Raven didn’t want to die. He was the commoner who was supposed to meet them during the First-year trial.

Raven couldn’t find the guy in the academy, so he had a bad feeling, but he decided to believe that he was at least alive.

However, it seemed like he was facing something worse.

"...Is he still alive?" Raven asked Bren while the others quieted down, feeling that Raven somehow knew this person.

Bren nodded. "Yes. I don’t think I’ll be able to meet him anymore, but I must admit, he is a great guy."

Those words brought Raven some relief, but he couldn’t say for sure if he could say Ray.

After all, he wasn’t strong enough to survive in the demon realm.

He gritted his teeth but then sighed, realizing that he was getting too angry for someone he didn’t even know.

He needed to control his emotions and think about all of this rationally.

After a pause, he asked. "How are you guys treated there?"

Bren, having a hard time breathing now, turned to look at the girls before he shook his head. "I don’t think I can answer that before so many girls. But know this—we are kept alive. No matter what."

The sound of fists clenching and teeth grinding was heard. Even Graye, the one who never got serious, seemed ready to go to war.

There was a long silence again before Bren chuckled out loud, only to cough out blood.

Then he smiled weakly. "No need to feel sad for us. We have all decided to die there. We don’t expect anything from anyone. Some of us... don’t even remember their past."

Those words, meant to offer consolation, ended up doing the opposite.

Those words made them realize how weak humans were against an attack from a new race.

Bren was genuinely saying those things, but to them, it sounded like sarcasm.

Gasp!

Bren suddenly gasped, his breath now slowing down.

"Lia!" Raven called, his voice urgent.

She didn’t even need to say anything as Lia quickly knelt beside the guy, her palms glowing green, her eyes red, and her teeth clenched.

Bren wheezed weakly, "It won’t help."

He turned to Raven, somehow lifting his hand—which Raven held with a serious expression, his teeth clenched.

"I forgot to tell you something."

Bren’s breath was now almost gone, but he held on.

Because he needed to tell this last thing to Raven.

"The demon... that brought me here—cough!" He coughed more blood, making Raven clench his free hand hard enough that it bled.

Lia was crying now. She was trying to heal him, but she knew it wouldn’t matter.

She turned to Raven, looking at him, hoping for an answer since he always seemed to know a way out, but Raven didn’t say anything.

For the first time, he averted his eyes, turning to Clara, who nodded, helping Lia move away.

Raven then turned to Jake, who nodded, appearing next to them, helping the guy sit upright with his back against the wall.

Bren, still holding Raven’s hand, continued. "That demon... said something about... you being able to—cough... kill the real demons."

As soon as his words were heard, Raven’s eyes widened; even Omni, who had been silent this whole time, vibrated in shock.

But Raven quickly turned his focus back on Bren since that guy needed more attention right now.

"Ha..."

Bren sighed as if a heavy burden was lifted off his chest.

He didn’t know how important this information was, but it was the first time he had seen a demon panic, so he knew that this news was worth dying for.

Suddenly, he saw Raven’s pants and chuckled, which sounded more like a sigh at this moment. "You really were wearing pants, huh?"

Raven smiled, but it seemed forced because he couldn’t smile.

Not like this.

"I didn’t want to die forgotten," Bren suddenly murmured. "Now I won’t."

"You won’t," Raven whispered.

Bren nodded lightly, closing his eyes.

Then, he exhaled.

Once.

Twice.

Then nothing.

The silence that followed felt heavier than stone.

Everyone winced—not in pain but in overwhelming sadness.