Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 217 - 216 - Father and Daughter face-off.

Chapter 217: Chapter 216 - Father and Daughter face-off.

The cave had gone quiet again.

Well, mostly. Because occasional groans echoed as one of Raven’s party twitched or rolled over, still dazed from their chaotic emergence into the low-mana environment.

A soft crackle from Jessy’s sparking hair bounced off the stone walls.

On the side, now stuck between two rocks, Rufus let out a sleepy mumble and rolled over... only to groan in pain as his arm twisted.

Valeria sat at the edge of the cavern, arms crossed, her crimson coat pooled around her like coiled flame.

Her claymore rested against the stone beside her, gleaming with a dim but ready light.

Nibbles sat beside her on a flat rock, legs crossed, holding a sign that now read, "I survived divine cultivation, and all I got was this stupid burnout."

Talon paced restlessly near the entrance.

One of the guards had already been dispatched, dashing across the cracked Expanse to fetch Argon. The other two guards leaned against the wall, silent and alert.

Valeria hadn’t moved since she settled in. Her eyes never left Raven’s sleeping form.

"Still hard to believe," Talon muttered, flicking a pebble toward the wall. "That’s the kid everyone says died? How is he still here looking like he got punched by a demigod and liked it?"

Valeria didn’t respond.

Another spark shot from Jessy’s hair and zapped a shadow wolf sniffing her shoe. It yelped, then promptly went back to licking Alex’s forehead.

The wolves weren’t harming anyone.

They merely roamed around and maybe pissed on Alex’s feet, but that was alright.

Alex would understand... probably.

Valeria finally spoke, her voice soft but unwavering. "They’ve gone through something beyond training. You don’t just collapse like that from lifting weights."

Talon tilted his head. "Wait—Why are you still here?"

Valeria ignored the guy and continued her monologue.

"It must be the Patriarch." Her voice was steel. "He was the source of the news that Raven had died, and now, Raven is alive, and there are a bunch of his dogs in this area. So not suspicious."

Before Talon could respond, the temperature in the cavern shifted.

The corrupted air seemed to tense as though it, too, felt what approached.

The guards straightened. Talon’s posture stiffened.

Footsteps echoed from the entrance, but they weren’t fast. They didn’t need to be.

Each one was precise, deliberate, and heavy—not with weight, but with presence.

Argon emerged from the shadows, cloaked in black and silver robes, his expression a mask of perfect calm.

His eyes swept the scene once, cold and calculating.

The flicker of emotion that passed through them at the sight of Raven’s unconscious form was too brief for most to notice.

After all, he needed to show that he was still the same old Argon.

Even if Talon and the others were trustworthy, no one knew someone would turn out to be a traitor, especially when Damien, one of his friends, turned out to be a royal spy.

Valeria stood.

Talon stepped forward. "My Lord, as you instructed, we kept the cave sealed. The boy—Raven—he’s alive. But... there was no sign of him being here until some time ago."

Argon didn’t respond. He walked forward, stopping only a few feet from his unconscious son.

He said nothing. He didn’t kneel. Didn’t reach out.

Just stared.

His mana already scanned through Raven, and for a second, shock passed through his eyes as he noticed something, but he kept his calm.

Acting surprised would make others suspicious, and they might notice whatever he detected.

’Son, what did you do?’ He could only mutter inwardly, as Raven was still unconscious.

Valeria stepped between them.

"He’s not some experiment," she said, tone clipped. "So, stop looking at him like he is your test subject."

Argon’s gaze slid to her like the draw of a blade. "This doesn’t concern you."

He could recall how all of his children were out for each other’s blood, so he didn’t expect her to be any different.

Yes, she had never fought for anything until now, but that could mean that she was more cautious.

He didn’t want to take risks when it came to Raven, the only child who had never abandoned him and saw his true self.

Valeria, however, clenched her jaw. "He’s my brother."

"You’ve barely spoken to him in years."

"Yet I’m still here," she fired back, arms wide. "Still standing guard. Still trying to understand what happened to the only person in this family who had a damn soul."

Argon’s aura surged.

It wasn’t explosive—but oppressive, like gravity suddenly spiked tenfold.

The very air seemed to shudder. Dust lifted from the ground. The corrupted cave stone groaned under pressure.

Talon and the others instinctively stepped back.

Valeria didn’t move.

Argon’s voice was like sharpened glass. "You presume too much."

She took a step forward, eyes burning like twin embers. "And you hide too much."

Argon’s brow twitched ever so slightly.

Valeria didn’t stop. "You ran from your responsibilities as a father, let your children turn against each other, and only cared about power. Now I find my brother—your son—barely breathing after whatever it is you’ve dragged him into."

His silence was thunderous.

"You think this family’s legacy is power and fear," she went on, chest heaving, "but Raven? He still laughs. He still fights for people. He still feels."

Her hand clenched. "You stopped being our father the moment you decided that power was more important than us. But don’t expect me to do the same. I care for him. I always have."

Argon’s aura flared again—but this time, it wasn’t a warning.

This time, it was pressure, crushing and ancient, the weight of a thousand expectations and regrets wrapped in steel.

The cavern trembled.

Still—Valeria stood.

Face pale, body shaking slightly... but unmoving.

"If you want me gone," she growled, "you’ll need more than your fancy aura and empty title. You’ll need a better reason than keeping a sister away from her brother."

For a moment... just one fragile breath of time... Argon’s expression cracked.

His eyes, hard as glacier glass, blinked slowly.

As he looked into Valeria’s eyes, he could tell that there were no schemes in her eyes.

There was worry, determination, and defiance in her eyes, but her momentum was defensive.

The way she stood between him and Raven, she did it to defend if Argon were to do anything, not to attack.

So, after a long stare-down, Argon exhaled once, long and low, and the crushing pressure lifted.

He turned away.

"You’ve seen him. There’s no point hiding it now."

Valeria’s eyes widened slightly in surprise—but she didn’t move.

Argon approached a stone and leaned against it.

"If you wish to stay... do so. But don’t interfere."

She blinked. "...You’re letting me?"

He didn’t look at her. "If you had ill intent, you wouldn’t have waited for me to arrive."

With that, Argon closed his eyes, as if thinking about something or merely meditating.

Though he did wave toward Talon and the other, who bowed their heads and left the cave, guarding the outside.

Valeria remained frozen for a moment, trying to process everything.

Then, slowly, she turned to face Raven’s group once more. Most of them were still twitching in their respective puddles of burnout.

Rufus moaned in the background, trying to crawl away from Graye, who was now muttering about protein shakes to the rock she was spooning.

Valeria exhaled and smiled faintly.

"...Idiots," she murmured.

Nibbles flipped a sign beside her that said, "Damn right."

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

A while later.

The first groan came from Clara.

Then Siris.

Then a chain reaction rippled through the cavern as, one by one, the squad began to awaken like cursed zombies rising from a mana-deprivation hangover.

"Ow—my spleen..." Rufus croaked, trying to stretch and promptly rolling face-first into a rock.

"Where’s my dagger...?!" Siris muttered, flailing blindly until she impaled the ground next to Clara’s foot.

Clara jolted upright.

Jessy groaned next. "Who turned off the mana Wi-Fi...?"

Jake sat up, eyes still closed, then opened them only to realize he was resting against one of Selena’s devourer wolves... which had, at some point, claimed him as its new plushie.

Alex blinked, dazed, then sniffed the air. "Why do I smell cosmic wolf pee?"

Graye shot up with a gleam in her eye and a handful of pebbles.

"Let’s spar!!" She yelled, trying to suplex the boulder she’d been cuddling.

"...Please go back to sleep," Lia muttered, facepalming as she healed the minor bruises everyone didn’t even notice yet.

Selena was the last to stir. She rose gracefully, yawning like royalty, her hair flowing like she’d slept on silk instead of the jagged cave floor. "Mm. That was... unpleasant. Is everyone al—"

"OW! MY FOOT!" Rufus screeched as Jessy accidentally stepped on him while checking her sparks.

"Clara’s trying to hug my dagger again," Siris whined.

"I thought it was chocolate..." Clara defended.

"Why is Jake covered in wolves?" Jessy added.

"...Protein rock?" Graye asked no one in particular, holding a rock like a baby.

Selena blinked. "Never mind."

Then a voice cut through the noise.

"...You’re all awake, I see."

The chaos halted.

Like an orchestra cut mid-note, every head turned.

Raven stood there, the mana around him calm, his hair tousled, and his red eyes focused.

But it wasn’t the fact that he was up and looking normal again that made them go quiet.

It was the two figures standing before him.

Valeria stood with her arms folded, eyebrow raised high, clearly trying not to laugh at them.

Beside her, Argon leaned against the rock, radiating judgment like a nuclear-powered disappointed dad.

They weren’t saying anything.

They didn’t need to.

Their faces screamed one thing. "Really now?"

A long, dead silence filled the cave.

Then Nibbles, sitting like a tiny monk between them, flipped a sign that read: "Behold: the elite heroes of legend."

"...I want to go back to sleep," Jake mumbled.

Clara quietly tried to hide behind Siris.

Graye saluted. "R-Ready for duty, Sir Father-in-law!"

Selena placed a hand to her temple. "We should have died with dignity..."

Raven just sighed and facepalmed himself.