Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 223 - 222 - Going back to Arietta.

Chapter 223: Chapter 222 - Going back to Arietta.

That night.

The estate of the Vaise family stretched silent beneath the weight of moonlight, its many towers casting jagged shadows like the ribs of a sleeping beast.

Somewhere deep inside, in a chamber veiled with runic silencing scripts and a thin trace of cold incense, sat Zephyr.

He didn’t move. Not even a twitch.

His silver robes were immaculate. His eyes—cold and dark violet—remained fixed on the figure kneeling before him.

The subordinate’s breath caught in his throat, sweat trailing down his brow.

He had been reporting the progress every five minutes, but Zephyr hadn’t said a word.

"They’re... still not responding," the man muttered at last, lowering his head further to the stone floor. "We believe the resonance link is broken. It’s been almost five hours. We’ve sent out a dozen search parties, but we—"

A sound. A single tap. Like bone on obsidian.

Zephyr’s index finger rapped against the side of his throne’s armrest.

Once.

Then silence again.

The subordinate swallowed hard.

"They’re dead."

The words dropped from Zephyr’s mouth with the weight of finality. Cold. Flat. Certain.

They had lost contact with the ten undead they had sent to hunt down Valeria.

It had been more than five hours, and yet, much less returning, they hadn’t even been in reach.

It wasn’t that the subordinate had never thought of the possibility that they were dead. It was merely too hard to envision something like that happening.

The subordinate’s head jerked up. "D-Dead? Sir, with all due respect... that’s not possible! Those ten—those weren’t just experimental undead! They were combat-honed—strengthened with various beastly bloodlines!"

The subordinate paused, taking a deep breath before he continued. "Even the Patriarch would struggle to take down more than five at once! And Valeria—Valeria’s strong, yes, but she—she couldn’t possibly—!"

Zephyr didn’t even spare him a glance. His gaze remained fixed on the moonlight filtering through the wide, paneled window, casting long shafts across the floor like the bars of a gilded prison.

"She wasn’t alone," Zephyr said quietly.

The subordinate froze.

Zephyr finally turned his head. "Those ten only attack if they detect no known faces. They carry every imprint we’ve logged, every image... burned into the blood and bone of their constructs."

His voice was still calm.

"So why did they attack her?" Zephyr continued. "They shouldn’t have moved if a single elder or above elder-level strength face was nearby. Even a cousin."

The subordinate’s lips moved, but no sound came out.

"It wasn’t someone they were programmed to avoid," Zephyr said, his voice darkening. "It was someone we don’t know. An outsider."

A pause. The wind whispered against the windows like something ancient breathing against glass.

Yes. As Zephyr said, those undead hadn’t moved until Argon, Talon, and the other three subordinates of Argon had gone away.

Unfortunately, unlike what he thought, it wasn’t some outsider. It was Raven’s group.

The only problem was that they weren’t registered as a threat to avoid in the memories of the undead.

The silence remained for a while, and only after a good amount of time passed did Zephyr move.

Then he rose—slowly. Gracefully.

He stood tall, the silken folds of his robe shifting like smoke. He walked toward the window, folding his hands behind his back.

"I’ll go," he murmured. "To the Ashen Expanse."

He wanted to see who was helping Valeria. If a new element had entered the fight, then he needed to know who or what it was.

Then, after determining whether they were dangerous or useful, he would decide what to do with them.

"T-That’s a wonderful idea, my lord! Would you like me to accompany you?" The subordinate perked up.

What followed was another bout of silence.

Then—

With a sound like thunder muffled by magic, Zephyr vanished from the window and reappeared directly before the subordinate, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the floor in one seamless, horrifying motion.

The man barely had time to scream.

Zephyr’s violet eyes glowed with eerie clarity, staring into the man’s soul.

"Who are you?" He asked softly.

The subordinate’s mouth twitched.

Then... it twisted.

Into a wide, crooked, unnatural grin.

His skin darkened. His eyes turned yellow, slit-pupiled. Horn-like ridges broke through his skull with a sickening crunch.

"A demon," Zephyr muttered. "No wonder he was talking so much."

The demon’s voice, oily and broken, wheezed out.

"A shame, really. We were hoping you’d be slower—"

He didn’t finish.

A burst of silent, violent light surged from Zephyr’s palm—cold, violet flame devouring the demon in less than a breath.

The creature didn’t even have time to scream.

Ash drifted down in its place, scattered across the marble like snowfall laced with sulfur.

Zephyr dusted his hand off without emotion.

"The tenth attempt," he murmured to himself. "They never learn."

His voice, so calm it was almost kind, held a razor’s edge beneath the words.

Then, eyes narrowing, he turned back toward the window. This time, the moonlight seemed distant. Tainted.

"If they’re getting bold enough to infest ’my’ subordinates," he whispered, "then this demon matter needs to be solved. Permanently."

Poor Zephyr still didn’t know that his uncle, the king, was also a demon worshiper.

It makes one wonder what he would do when he realized it, because Zephyr hated demons.

He hated how cowardly they were.

If they were a bit more direct and daring enough to attack people head-on, then maybe he would’ve thought about working with them.

After all, a snake like him, who hides from the dark, could never work with another person who strikes from the dark.

Above all, their motive wasn’t clear, and he felt like these demons were the type who carry a blade behind their backs while wearing a smile on their faces.

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

Back in the cave in the Ashen Expanse.

The night in the Ashen Expanse was still and cold, but the inside of the leafy, Lia-crafted cave remained warm and breathable—thanks to living moss, vine-threaded insulation, and a faint floral scent that somehow blocked out Rufus’s shoe-stench aura.

Raven’s group lay sprawled across their natural bedding like fallen warriors after a feast, except the feast had been pain, explosions, and zombie Wi-Fi corpses.

The first sign of morning wasn’t the sun, but the grumble of Jake’s stomach.

"Mrrgh... bacon..." He muttered, half-asleep, hugging a rock he thought was a pillow.

The rock cracked under pressure and whimpered. (It was actually Alex who was pretending to be a rock.)

Alex oozed into a humanoid shape with a groan. "I... was having the best nap, man..."

Jessy sat up next, hair wildly disheveled like a chicken in a hurricane. "Wait... did I sleep? Am I... alive? Is this heaven?"

"No," Clara muttered, eyes still closed. "If it were, there’d be fewer people snoring."

"Not my fault," Siris yawned, stretching like a smug cat. "Raven’s chest is built for optimal acoustics."

"I am not a mattress," Raven said, eyes still closed.

"Shh. Pillows don’t talk," Selena whispered, poking his cheek.

Graye sat up, yawning so wide she nearly unhinged her jaw. "Is it time to fight again? I had a dream I punched a thunderstorm. It was delicious."

Lia quietly stood, already brushing stray leaves off her dress.

She looked far too put together for someone who had spent the night as a human bedroll. "Everyone still alive?"

Rufus wiggled out of a bush. "Physically, yes. Mentally? Jury’s out."

Meanwhile, at the mouth of the cave, Argon remained seated on a boulder, unmoving—like some ancient statue carved by a tired god with unresolved family issues.

Valeria sat nearby, upright and alert, but glancing at Raven’s pile like it had personally offended her dignity.

"Are they always... like this?" She finally muttered.

Argon cracked one eye open. "Unfortunately."

Right then, Raven’s eyes suddenly flared with golden light as a ding echoed in his mind, followed by a notification he had been waiting for.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Grandpa_Hot_Pot:

"Raven! I have recovered enough, so you guys can come now! I’ll send the link."

[Link: 𝕬𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖆_𝖘𝖎𝖒𝖕𝖑𝖞𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖊𝖘.𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖉𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"...Alright," Raven said out loud.

Selena peeked over. "What happened?"

"Well, it’s time to go back."

Clara looked. "Arietta?"

"Yep. She finally finished setting up the domain," Raven muttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "So, we can move anytime."

Jessy groaned. "I wanted to sleep some more."

Siris rolled off him and stood up. "So? Are we going?"

Raven stood too, brushing vines off his back. "Yeah. She’s expecting us. If we don’t show up, she’ll probably destroy some poor god’s sanctuary out of spite."

Graye pumped her fists. "Training montage time?"

"Probably," Raven muttered.

Nibbles popped up behind a rock, saluted with his stick, and held up a sign: "Operation: Enter Simp Dungeon. Commence."

Alex got up, stretching. "Let’s not keep the goddess waiting."

Everyone gathered in a loose circle.

As all of them stood up, gathering, Argon finally moved, approaching with arms crossed.

"Leaving again already?" He said.

Raven glanced back. "I guess we are."

Argon stared at him for a while, as if thinking something, before he finally said, "Well, don’t push yourselves too hard."

They all blinked.

Then he added, completely deadpan, "...If you break a sweat, just be sure to work it out."

Raven winced.

Everyone else groaned in sync, even Nibbles, who held up a sign: "Why?"

Valeria stared in silent horror. "...Did you just make a dad joke?"

"Your ears do not deceive you," Argon replied solemnly.

Raven facepalmed, deciding that it was better to go to Arietta before Argon spoke more of his dad jokes.

"Alright, hold on," Raven said. "Transport in 3..."

"Wait, do I have time to get snacks?" Jessy asked.

"Too late," Rufus mumbled.

"...2..."

"I still have leaves in my pants!" Graye screamed.

"...1."

Then, their bodies started to blur. Slowly.

As Raven and his group began vanishing one by one into thin air—pulled away by the divine summons—Valeria’s eyes widened.

"What the hell—" She started, watching in disbelief as even Nibbles poofed away, holding a new sign that read, "Goddess Wi-Fi Connected ✅."

In panic, she turned her head toward Argon, who didn’t seem bothered at all. He kept staring at them as they were slowly turning into light particles.

She narrowed her eyes in panic. "What’s happening?! Why aren’t you doing anything?!"

Argon let out a long sigh and tilted his head toward her, his voice as flat as ever.

"They’re getting... spirited away."

The air froze, and even the teleportation seemed to have paused before it continued.

Then Alex’s voice echoed faintly mid-teleport from the light. "OH COME ON."

Then—poof!

They were gone.

"Wha..." Valeria stood there with her mouth wide open, unable to understand anything.

She turned toward Argon. Again.

But before she could ask anything, he spoke.

"Don’t try to think too hard about it. It’ll only hurt your brain."

Valeria tried to do it, but she ended up with a headache.