Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 219 - 218 - Date with Siris.

Chapter 219: Chapter 218 - Date with Siris.

The sun in the Ashen Expanse didn’t shine.

It mostly glared—an oppressive, smog-filtered glow that seemed to say, "Hope? Hah. Try again."

It was the kind of sky that made even birds consider taking a break from existing.

Beneath it, deep in the cracked stone valleys of the Level Six Corruption Zone, stood Raven and Siris.

There weren’t any levels in the Ashen Expanse since any beast could appear anywhere, but there were some zones where you could predict the level of the beasts coming.

This area was one of those.

It was an area frequented by the level six beasts.

He was here on the promised date with Siris.

Raven stood straight in full black battlewear, Omni always with him in the tattooed form.

And Siris...

Wore a delighted, slightly crazed grin.

Her daggers glinted like silvered fangs.

She wasn’t using her usual bone dagger but a pair of twin daggers that she had found lying somewhere.

Her wild hair danced in the stagnant wind. Her eyes sparkled not with affection but with the unfiltered bloodlust of a girl on her dream date.

She twirled, arms spread wide, and let out a cheerful, unhinged giggle. "This... is the best day ever."

Raven nodded, deadpan. "So romantic."

"Stabbing is romantic," she replied sweetly, hopping from one foot to the other like a bunny made of knives. "You brought me to a corruption zone that smells like wet death and emotional trauma. That’s peak boyfriend material."

A distant roar trembled through the cracked valley wall, followed by the thundering gallop of something angry.

Siris perked up like a cat spotting a laser dot. "Ooh! Is that a four-armed wolf-drake?! I’ve always wanted to stab one of those."

Raven gave a little shrug, adjusting his sword. "Might be. Level six corruption types are unpredictable. They evolve fast."

Another roar. Closer.

Something massive barreled over the ridge—hulking, stitched with tumor-like growths, and positively leaking mana corruption like a busted faucet. Its mouth unhinged three ways.

Siris tilted her head. "Aw. It’s cute!"

The monster roared like it took offense.

Then Siris vanished.

She launched upward with a high jump that cracked the stone beneath her feet, flipping once before crashing directly onto the beast’s back and stabbing.

Multiple times.

It screamed. She laughed.

"HAH! Spinal confetti!"

Raven calmly walked forward lazily. The beast was right next to him, but he didn’t even bother moving.

He was sure that the beast wouldn’t have time to focus on him.

Then, the beast stumbled in pain, falling right next to him, making him tap the beast’s skin.

"Growl?" The beast turned to him, confused.

But then Raven pointed forward. "You shouldn’t look away from her."

The beast’s eyes widened as its head snapped forward, but it was already too late.

Siris used the momentum to swing around its neck like a gymnast of violence.

She landed near Raven, covered in black ichor, eyes shining.

She leaned close, nose-to-nose. "Did you see that? Did you see how it twitched when I severed the mana gland?"

"I did," Raven replied, eyes locked with hers. "It was disturbingly graceful."

She blinked. Then suddenly kissed him—fierce and fast, like a prize being claimed mid-war.

Then she turned around and stabbed the beast again as it tried to stand back up.

"You’re the best," she murmured. "This is the best. Everything is sharp and bleeding and beautiful."

The beast, mangled but not quite dead (thanks to its temporary death resistance), let out a gurgling growl.

Siris turned around, threw one dagger into its skull without looking, and it finally slumped, dead for real.

She turned back to Raven, hands behind her back like a blushing maiden in a flower field—if that maiden had just disemboweled something with a smile.

"I want this to be our anniversary spot."

"This is the first time we’ve gone on a date."

"Exactly. It’s our stabbing-versary."

Raven smirked. "So, are we counting stabs instead of candles?"

Siris nodded eagerly. "We’re at twelve. Let’s aim for more than a hundred. That’s the number of ribs I accidentally pulled out in my dreams last week."

Raven blinked. "...You have strange dreams."

"You’re in all of them."

She leaped forward again, this time toward a trio of shadow bats with skeletal wings.

One opened its mouth and tried to scream—then stopped, mostly because its face was suddenly upside-down.

Raven followed, stepping lightly, as he brought Omni out. "What’s wrong, man? You are silent today."

Without a second’s delay, Omni’s annoyed voice echoed in his head.

"Man, I didn’t wanna feel like a third wheel, so I dipped into nap mode till you woke me up. And now what? You really wanna use the god-slaying sword to chop up these bargain-bin corrupted beasts?"

"What can I do, partner?" Raven shrugged lazily, swinging Omni in a straight arc, cutting a beast that was mid-lunge in half. "You are the only one I have."

"W-Well, if you say it like that—"

Before Omni could even complete his words, Siris flashed before Raven, pouting.

"What do you mean that he’s the only one you have? You have me. You can use me in whatever way you want."

Raven paused as he heard those words, staring into her eyes filled with crazy obsession, and leaned forward, kissing her lips gently yet possessively.

Two beasts lunged at them from the sides, believing that it was the best moment to attack, but—

Slash! X2

Raven and Siris waved their hands.

Omni bisected a beast in two, while Siris’s dagger punctured the head of another, but they didn’t stop the kiss.

When they finally parted their lips, Siris was breathing hard, but her eyes were now brighter.

After that, they moved like a pair of synchronized nightmares—Siris bouncing from enemy to enemy like a skipping stone of carnage, Raven calmly slicing through anything too large to be punctured.

"What were you saying back then?" Raven asked Omni, who had gone silent again.

"Don’t wanna say it," Omni replied, clearly annoyed.

"Come on, man. You were gonna say it, so what’s wrong now?" Raven glanced at Omni, curious to know what the sword was going to say.

Omni, however, huffed. "The vibe’s dead, man. The whole atmosphere was destroyed. Now it’s straight-up awkward."

Before Raven could reply, he raised a brow as a huge beast approached.

It was a bull-beast charging at him.

He froze it mid-charge with Soul Freeze, letting Siris gut it like a melon.

Every time she stabbed something, she’d turn and flash him a blood-soaked grin.

Every time he did something precise or clever, she’d sigh and murmur, "So hot..."

When they passed the twisted remains of a corrupted tree, Siris plucked one of its black blossoms and tucked it behind Raven’s ear.

"There," she whispered, grinning widely. "Now you look like a deadly garden prince."

"You’re into that?"

"I’m into you. Whether you’re dressed for death or tea time, I’d still stab someone to protect your smile."

"...You say that, but you stabbed me once."

"Accidentally."

"You yelled ’incoming romance’ first."

"That’s foreplay."

A pause.

Raven turned his head, still wearing the wilted, toxic flower.

Stabbing Omni in the ground, Raven stared into Siris’s eyes, his expression deeper than ever.

Siris didn’t know what was happening, but she felt her heart beat faster than it had a while ago when she was doing the thing she loved to do—stabbing.

Her heartbeats could be heard on the outside as she stared into Raven’s eyes with her eyes wide.

It was then that Raven’s lips moved.

"I love you," he said.

The atmosphere froze.

Siris’s already wide eyes expanded.

For a second, she couldn’t even react.

Then she tackled him—daggers clattering to the ground as she kissed him again, harder this time.

Not quick and greedy, but deep and warm, like she was trying to brand the moment into her soul.

He kissed her back, arms around her waist, corrupted beast corpses all around them like wedding guests at a very cursed ceremony.

When they broke apart, her forehead pressed against his, Siris whispered, "Don’t ever leave me."

"Wasn’t planning on it."

"Good. Because if you do, I’m gonna kill you, then kill myself."

"...Noted."

There was one thing no one noticed.

This was the first time Raven had said ’I love you’ to anyone.

It meant that Raven had finally started to see the girls in the way they wanted him to.

Suddenly, a shriek echoed in the distance. Another massive aura surged.

Siris gasped, eyes sparkling. "Level six mantis-hydra hybrid. I can smell it."

She spun, kissed him once more, and said, "Last one to dismember it has to do laundry."

Raven raised a brow. "You’ve never done laundry."

"Exactly."

Then, she launched again.

Raven sighed fondly, pulled Omni from the ground, and followed her.

It was a strange date.

But it was perfect.

For them.