Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 213 - 212 - Gifts for Selena and Siris.

Chapter 213: Chapter 212 - Gifts for Selena and Siris.

Under the endless golden sky of Arietta’s divine domain, Raven sat cross-legged at the center of a pristine marble platform hovering above the gardens.

Before him: Selena, Siris, Lia, and Graye.

Behind them: a beautiful mess of vines, cracked tiles, and melted boulders—proof of their "relaxing training week."

Next to Raven sat Arietta, who had latched onto his arm like a particularly affectionate barnacle with celestial privileges.

Her cheek rested against his shoulder, a possessive smile glowing brighter than her halo.

"I thought you wanted these items for yourself," she spoke lightly, her fingers gently drawing patterns on his forearm while her eyes glanced at the other with an unkind glint. "If I knew it was for them, then I wouldn’t even have tried."

Raven gave her a sideways glance. "You made us tea from starlight and crushed hydra bones. You support this, remember?"

Arietta frowned. "...Yes, well. I was in a generous mood. I blame divine estrogen."

Before she could elaborate (which Raven absolutely didn’t want), he cleared his throat and looked forward at the four girls seated in front of him.

Selena: poised, back straight, aura like midnight silk with murder stitched into the hem.

Siris: lounging on her side like a cat, blade across her lap, sharp eyes watching his every move with a smile that said, ’I love you and also might stab someone soon.’

Lia: regal but fidgety, hands folded, secretly wishing she wasn’t blushing under Raven’s gaze.

Finally, Graye: sitting upside-down on a floating chair she had suplexed into the sky earlier. Somehow, it hovered obediently.

He had gathered them here after waking them up from their meditation—something Graye was reluctantly doing because she didn’t want to be left behind—to give them their promised gifts.

He had said that he would give them something when he was helping Clara, Jessy, Rufus, Alex, and Jake power up.

Of course, Graye wasn’t there at that time, but he couldn’t leave her out now.

Not when she was already a member of the group.

"Alright," Raven said, pulling out a small obsidian vial sealed with glowing runes. "Selena. You first."

Her violet eyes narrowed slightly in curiosity as she leaned forward, accepting the vial with a graceful nod. "It looks special. What is this?"

"It’s a power infusion—Shadow Devourer class. Extremely rare," he said, recalling how lucky he was to find it. "It matches perfectly with your power."

Arietta muttered, "I still don’t understand why you had to go so far for her. Couldn’t you have given her anything? Any peak-mortal grade item would’ve helped her grow stronger."

He turned to her, smiling, "I don’t feel like it is enough to help them grow. I want them to evolve, and for that, I will need something that suits them."

Selena and Lia smiled as they heard those words.

Siris twirled her dagger. "I’m so excited to see mine that I could stab Graye."

"Huh?" Graye tilted her head, confused. "Why me?"

Arietta went quiet as she saw this.

Selena, on the other hand, uncorked the vial, and a pulse of thick black energy oozed out, seeping into her shadow like ink dropped into water.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then her shadow twitched.

A jagged black maw split open along the floor beneath her, revealing glistening teeth and void-filled eyes.

A beastly hiss followed.

Then, it crawled out of her shadow like a panther born from nightmares.

Then another.

Then five more.

The devourer beasts, slick with living shadow, surrounded Selena in a chaotic swirl of tails, claws, and ghostly growls. Their hunger-filled eyes locked onto her.

There was a pause before all of them rushed at her.

"Wha—" Graye tried to get up and save her, but Lia stopped her.

"Those are her summons," Lia reminded.

Then everyone heard it.

Selena was giggling.

The shadowy beasts were licking her ankles.

"...Ticklish," she said softly, reaching down to stroke one of the beasts’ heads. "So affectionate."

Arietta stared. "They are beasts who can later evolve into planet devourers, you know?"

"Well," Selena rubbed below the chin of one of the beasts, and it purred, its behind swaying like a happy dog. "They’re cute."

Raven frowned. "They look like they’re going to eat you."

One of the beasts snapped toward Selena’s cheek with a tongue the length of a scarf.

Raven’s eyes flared, shifting from blood red to brilliant gold.

Instantly, every beast froze mid-bounce.

They turned slowly toward Raven, ears drooping like punished puppies, and with terrified yelps, dove back into Selena’s shadow like it was home base and they were grounded.

Selena looked up at Raven with a serene smile. "Are you getting jealous, Raven?"

"...No."

"They’re all girls, by the way," she added with a smirk. "If you’d like, I could groom them into beast girls. Devoted, fluffy, obedient—"

Raven’s eyes began to shine as he heard the word beast girls, but before he could even think about it—

Shink!

Siris’s blade was already halfway out of its sheath, while Arietta’s arm tightened around Raven’s like a vise. "Finish that thought, and I’ll erase them and the skill that girl has."

Raven coughed, chuckling. "I’m good. No new girls required... for now."

Graye raised a hand. "So... no beast girl waifus?"

"Sit down, Graye," Lia muttered, facepalming.

Raven, before more chaos could erupt, pulled out a golden coin with an arrow sign. It pulsed with mysterious power.

"This one’s for you, Siris."

It was a skill upgrade card.

It could be taken out of the system—something Raven realized after talking to Arietta.

Of course, it was something he wanted to use for himself since even with Arietta’s connections, it was hard to find.

He had to talk to seven gods—all of them people Arietta suggested—to find it.

People mostly used it on themselves, so it was rarely sold, but it was sold, and Raven found it.

The assassin blinked, looking slightly confused. "A coin? Is this some artifact that changes shape? Or is this coin the weapon itself?"

"It’s a skill upgrade card," Raven said. "I promised I’d find you something unique, didn’t I? This was the item hardest to find."

Her lips curved into a victorious smile as she smirked at Selena, as if flaunting her gift, but the Velmorian princess merely shook her head.

"So, what do I do?" Siris asked, her eyes bright with eagerness.

"Focus on your antimagic and push your mana into the coin. Don’t fight the pull."

Siris, without hesitation, pressed the crystal to her chest.

A flash of gray light engulfed her, the energy whirling around her like a divine maelstrom.

Her body levitated slightly as the very essence of her antimagic rippled outward.

Then—boom.

The light collapsed inward, and Siris landed with her blue eyes glowing faint silver.

She opened her hand.

With no weapon, no medium, nothing—a wave of pure null energy bloomed from her palm, disintegrating the marble at her feet into dustless nothingness.

No mana leak. No backlash.

Just erasure.

"...It evolved," she whispered. "From antimagic to... null."

Raven nodded. "Now you don’t need to coat it around a blade. You can use it however you want."

It wasn’t just that. Now, Siris’s attacks wouldn’t erase only magic—they could now erase anything.

Siris turned to him, eyes wide with something almost like reverence.

Then she launched forward and kissed him full on the lips.

Selena and Lia blinked.

Graye started clapping. "GET HIM, SISTER!"

Raven fell to his back, Arietta’s grip on his gone, as Siris now lay above him.

Arietta stared at this, her smile twitching so hard it could’ve shattered glass.

But she didn’t do anything.

Raven had promised her that if he were to kiss anyone once, he would kiss her twice, so she was fine with Siris getting one.

She would get more than that soon.

"Wha—How long is she gonna do that?" Graye asked as she saw Siris going on even after a minute.

The sloppy sound of them sucking on each other’s lips made her bite her lips.

She was feeling strange, fidgeting.

But she wasn’t the only one.

Even Lia was the same.

The only one unbothered—or maybe a little bothered—was Selena, as she had patience.

As for Arietta—

"That’s enough," she muttered, her eyes cold as she pulled Siris away from Raven, who chuckled with a smile.

"Don’t be too harsh to her, Arietta," he said, sitting up straight. "She was just too happy."

Arietta glanced at Siris, who was now sitting in her place, licking her lips with a dreamy look, and huffed, muttering, "Don’t forget that you owe me two long kisses now."

"Of course," Raven nodded.

Then, he turned toward Lia and Graye. They were about to get their gifts now.