Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 226 - 225 - Nibbles Evolved?

Chapter 226: Chapter 225 - Nibbles Evolved?

For a while, the divine domain remained calm—well, as much as it could be with a volcanic Alex still running circles in the background, tripping over his own excitement.

"I’M THE MAN!"

"I’M THE METAL-MELTING, LAVA-SPITTING, HOTTER-THAN-HOT MAN!"

"You’re also melting your pants," Siris muttered, twirling her dagger, coated with Cyrovoid.

She wanted to test it out in real combat soon.

Unfortunately, Raven still hadn’t permitted the use of power. They needed to wait until everyone had awakened their element. Until then, everyone was supposed to relax.

Alex, on the other hand, paused as he heard Siris’s words, looking down quickly. "Wait, really?!"

Without even noticing that his pants weren’t getting melted and Siris was merely pulling his leg, he instantly summoned rock boxers to preserve what little dignity he had.

"CRISIS AVERTED!"

On the cloud-throne in the sky, Raven sat with his favorite trio. Clara lay draped over his right arm like a smug cat, Siris fiddled with his other hand like it was a knife she wanted to carve hearts into, and Selena leaned on his shoulder, sipping tea conjured from a skeleton’s skull like a death goddess on a day off.

Arietta, meanwhile, floated just above them with her chin resting on Raven’s head. "If anyone else gets too hot, I’m charging divine rent for this cloud."

"I’m paying with cuddles," Raven mumbled.

Arietta narrowed her eyes on the other three girls. "Then the rest owe me interest."

Before Clara could fire back with another taunt, a faint pulse of psychic energy made them all pause.

Raven looked down toward the far edge of the floating islands.

"Nibbles," he muttered.

The small squirrel sat cross-legged, his tail gently swaying in the wind, his eyes closed.

At his side was a half-eaten berry, a book titled "The Way of Yeet," and a tiny hand-scrawled sign that read, "Disturb Me and Die."

A sudden WHOOOMP of telekinetic force slammed outward, parting clouds, flattening flowers, and flipping Alex onto his face.

"ACK—WHAT DID I DO?!"

Alex tumbled twice, rolled into a tree, then popped up. "Nibbles! Are you okay, little buddy?! Don’t ascend without me!"

A second pulse flared—gentler this time, but more potent. Then, with a flash of white light...

Nibbles evolved.

Not awakened—evolved.

Unlike normal beasts, who grew as they ate each other, Nibbles and the few other squirrels that had awakened mana thanks to the world achievement of surviving against the demonic gatekeeper were walking a new path.

It was a path no beast on this planet had ever walked on.

The path of racial evolution.

His already glorious tail multiplied into four—each tail long, fluffy, and glowing with psychic runes.

His eyes gleamed with translucent blue energy, and an aura of pure telekinetic pressure surrounded him like a throne of gravity.

He floated up into the air, hovering effortlessly, raising a single paw.

A boulder, one the size of a small carriage, came hurtling from the side of the floating island, probably thrown by accident by Alex three days ago.

With a flick—

CRACK!

The boulder shattered into dust.

"...He just Thanos-snapped a rock," Clara whispered.

Alex dropped to his knees, hands clasped in reverence. "He has ascended... my king has evolved... I am but a humble steed."

Nibbles turned, locked eyes with Alex, and then the squirrel flipped another sign: "RISE, MY ROYAL MOUNT."

"I shall be your throne!" Alex screamed, diving into position as Nibbles floated down and sat upon his head like a squirrel warlord on his war-chariot.

"...What am I watching?" Arietta deadpanned.

"Destiny," Raven said with a straight face.

As everyone applauded Nibbles’s transformation—except Clara, who casually gave him a snack as tribute—the next pulse came from the opposite side.

It was Jessy.

Her meditation zone had grown darker, denser—earth trembling beneath her as metallic veins began to run through the stones. Sparks flickered from her skin, and her fingers twitched with magnetic charge.

Then, with a clang, the ground beneath her split and lifted—an iron lotus blooming upward like armor opening.

"Whoa," Raven breathed. "Those are some cool effects."

Jessy’s eyes snapped open—pure silver. Metallic sigils danced down her arms, and the chunks of metal in the air bent toward her like gravity had reversed.

A sigil formed on her back: a hammer and compass, shaped like an orbiting magnet.

"Metal," Arietta confirmed. "A rare progression from Earth. It can be forged for defense, offense, and control. Good choice."

Raven nodded, already expecting this result.

Even in the plot, she was supposed to awaken the metal element, which was why he gave her magnetic field manipulation power in the first place.

Jessy now had magnetic field manipulation and metal magic. Only time will tell how strong she will grow with that combination.

Soon, Jessy stood, raised her hands—and the metal around her circled like blades. She clenched a fist.

Everything slammed into the ground, precise, controlled, and perfect.

However, everyone knew that this was merely the least she could do.

With her eight-plate power consolidated, she could now use magic like metal storm while utilizing her magnetic and metal powers.

One must know that even a firestorm was known to be a city-level magic, much less a metal storm.

"...She’s gotten way cooler and stronger," Siris muttered as if she weren’t the same.

"Yeah," Clara agreed, rubbing her temple. "She used to be all snarky and lazy. Now she looks like she can build a Gundam in thirty seconds."

Jessy walked calmly toward them, magnetic rings floating like miniature satellites behind her.

Raven raised a hand. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could staple metal to the moon," she said with a confident smile.

"Welcome to the shiny club," Clara said, patting Jessy’s shoulder.

"Thanks," Jessy replied. "...I also bent Alex’s belt buckle by accident. Might wanna warn him."

"I HAVE METAL PANTS NOW!" Alex shouted from across the clouds, flexing.

Then suddenly, everything darkened.

The shadows rippled—not naturally, but unnaturally. It was like they were being sucked toward one point.

"Jake," Raven muttered. "It seems like he’s the next one."

Everyone turned toward the lone figure now surrounded by slithering, hissing strands of darkness. His scythe—massive, black, and gleaming—floated beside him.

It moved on its own.

Then, it suddenly roared.

Yes, the weapon roared.

The shadows from all across the domain surged toward the scythe like water to a drain. The stars above blinked. Even Nibbles paused in awe and vigilance.

"...That’s not normal," Arietta said, eyes narrowing.

Yes, Raven could tell.

Although Jake was awakening the shadow element as he was supposed to, the scythe was not something he had in the original plot.

"Can you suppress it?" Raven asked quickly.

"Well."

Arietta lifted her hand. A divine net of golden light surged down—crashing into the scythe like a thunderbolt.

However, unlike what everyone thought, the scythe didn’t stop.

It shrieked—an unholy sound, like a god screaming underwater. The scythe fought back, pushing against Arietta’s suppression with vile, clawing force.

Then, Raven felt it.

Something was inside.

Not a will. Not a soul.

A fragment.

They could all see a reflection or something or someone flashing past its surface as if they were in pain.

Arietta’s divine power must be hurting like hell.

"There’s a consciousness inside it, isn’t there?" Raven asked, frowning.

Arietta nodded, serious now. "A piece of a god. One of the old ones. Darkness. Madness. If left alone, it’ll eat Jake’s mind. Corrupt him slowly. He’ll become something else."

Raven was warned by Windy that there could be problems in the inheritance, but he didn’t think it would be to this extent.

Still, he could tell why that fragment, which wouldn’t have revealed itself, suddenly did.

It had sensed Jake’s darkness element, and since the fragment was of an old god, it must’ve thought that it could take over Jake’s consciousness.

Heck, Raven was sure that if they had grown normally in the real world, it would’ve devoured Jake’s consciousness, and they wouldn’t even have the power to stop it.

However, that ’if’ didn’t happen.

Right now, they were in the domain of another stronger god.

So, Raven turned toward Arietta. "Can you kill it?"

Arietta blinked.

Then she smiled. "Of course. All I needed was permission."

She snapped her fingers.

The shadows screamed.

Then... silence.

The scythe stopped writhing. The domain returned to light.

Jake stood slowly, scythe in hand, now calm. His eyes glowed with a shadowy hue—but there was no madness, only clarity.

He looked at Arietta.

"...Thank you."

Arietta floated down, brushing imaginary dust from her shoulder. "You’re welcome, quiet one."

Jake nodded, then walked away silently to sit on a rock and sharpen his shadow-blade like nothing happened.

"...That’s probably the most words he’s said for a while," Clara whispered.

"Do you think he even blinks?" Siris asked.

"No," Selena answered calmly. "He stabs instead."

"No," Siris frowned, turning toward Selena. "That’s what I do. He..." She paused, thinking of the right word. Then, in a second, her eyes flashed with realization. "Yes, he slashes."

Back on the cloud, Raven exhaled deeply.

Six down.

Four to go, and that included him.

Alex was now holding up a tiny scepter for Nibbles, Jessy was testing magnetic fields on Siris’s dagger, and Jake was pretending he didn’t nearly become a god-host.

Raven, on the other hand, somehow felt like this was the calmest moment they’d had all week.

Yes, Jake’s case would’ve caused a problem, but it was handled well, so it wasn’t counted as a problem.

He leaned back into the cloud.

"This divine domain," he said, "is starting to feel like home."

Arietta leaned over, kissed his cheek, and smirked. "Then maybe I will start charging rent."