Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 73 - 72 - Demonic Order 1.

Chapter 73: Chapter 72 - Demonic Order 1.

The squirrel that used to sit above Alex’s head wasn’t normal.

Raven had known that since the first day that squirrel had settled on Alex’s head.

But he didn’t say anything, as that squirrel was supposed to become friends with Alex anyway.

Even in the plot, that squirrel had helped their group differentiate between humans and people related to demons.

And right now, while the tea steamed on Travis’s lap, soaking into the fine fabric of his pants, no one moved.

Because Raven had said something no one had expected.

All eyes were now on him.

More specifically, on the words he’d just spoken.

"That squirrel... it can sense demonic mana."

Raven had said those words with utmost seriousness, but they meant nothing to most of them.

They didn’t know what or who demons were.

Clara furrowed her brows. "Demonic... mana?"

Alex blinked, looking at the squirrel like it had suddenly grown a second head. "Wait, are we talking like... capital D demon? Or is that just a nickname for bad vibes?"

Jessy tilted her head. "Is that a new cultivation technique? Sounds edgy."

Even Siris, usually the first to jump to conclusions, was strangely still—her smile faltering as she looked at Raven’s unreadable expression.

Only two people truly understood the weight of what was said.

One was Raven.

And the other was Selena Velmoria.

Her blood ran cold.

’How did he know?!’

She didn’t dare let her face change, but inside, panic howled like a storm.

’No, no, this can’t be happening. He wasn’t supposed to know. No one was supposed to know anything about demons!’

Her breathing was controlled. Regal. Calm. But her heart thundered in her chest like a war drum.

Because she knew.

She knew that Travis was a demon worshiper and why he was kicked out of his house.

It was because he was caught doing things asked by the demon he worshiped.

She knew it all because she was also connected to a demon.

She had made a deal because she wanted the strength to endure everything.

But that didn’t mean she liked the powers or the demon.

No, she hated it, and that was why she disliked Travis, who, unlike her, was worshiping a demon by choice.

Now, she found out that there was someone other than demon worshipers and followers who knew about them.

Worse, he didn’t seem to like them and had a way to identify them.

And he was the boy she—

’No. Focus. I’m not like Travis.’

Selena tightened her grip around her ornate chopsticks and forced a benign smile on her face, just in time to hear Raven step forward.

"Travis," he said, tone not loud but sharp enough to cut.

The blond boy stopped nursing his bitten hand and looked up. His smile was still in place, but it was thinner now. Strained. "Whoa, whoa, demonic mana? That’s a big accusation for a squirrel bite."

Raven didn’t laugh.

No one else did either—because they didn’t get it.

"Demonic energy," Raven said coldly, "corrupts mana and poisons the soul. It doesn’t belong here. Anyone who aligns themselves with it either doesn’t know what they’re messing with..."

He narrowed his gaze.

"...Or they know exactly what they’re doing—and don’t care."

Selena flinched.

Only slightly.

But Raven noticed.

He frowned, finding it strange as Selena seemed to know something about demons.

’Did that incident happen?’ He wondered, but then he quickly shook his head.

’No. If it had, then Selena wouldn’t be alive.’

The suspicion, however, still remained.

He just didn’t act on that suspicion because Selena was the second and the most normal heroine he had met until now.

He decided to wait, as the truth couldn’t stay hidden for long.

If it was as he had thought, then he would know.

Travis, meanwhile, let out a nervous chuckle. "Hey, buddy, I think you’re going a bit far. It’s just a squirrel. Maybe it didn’t like my cologne."

The squirrel, however, hissed again.

Raven’s voice dropped lower, calm but ice-cold. "That squirrel has never bitten anyone. It’s rather cheerful around people, but it still bit you."

Clara, Siris, Jake, Alex, Rufus, and Jessy still didn’t know who the demons were, but from the way Raven was reacting to it, they realized it was something bad, and they were on alert.

Selena, still seated, quietly turned her head. Her fingers were white from gripping the edge of her lunchbox.

’Please, Raven. Don’t get involved with this. They aren’t some people you can mess with.’

Unlike Raven, she knew some things about the demon worshipers, as she had met someone from their group.

They had come to ask her if she wanted to join them.

They were very strong—Selena had felt it in her nerves—but they had left the moment she had said no.

However, that one meeting made her realize that this demon-worshipping organization was powerful.

Just then, Raven did something that made her heart stop.

He looked directly at her.

No smile.

No snark.

Just a long, unreadable stare.

Selena looked back with every drop of noble pride she had, trying not to blink.

’Does he know about me?’

She trembled as she imagined that possibility but calmed down, trying to appear normal.

Her acting was so good that Raven started doubting if he had seen right earlier, or at least that’s what he made it seem like.

’She doesn’t seem to know anything...’ He muttered inwardly. ’Was she just surprised earlier?’

Then, he turned back to Travis.

Selena almost collapsed in relief.

Almost.

"Let me say this once," Raven said, stepping closer, his shadow stretching over the sitting boy. "If you’re hiding something unnatural—something cursed—you’d better come clean now."

Travis smiled.

But it didn’t reach his eyes.

"Relax, Vaise. I’m just a transfer. I like tea, pastries, and not dying. That’s all."

Raven didn’t reply.

He simply stood there, watching. Waiting. And contemplating.

The silence lingered like fog.

Then Clara spoke, her voice low. "Raven. You okay?"

He glanced back and nodded, just once. "Yeah. Just being careful."

He kept staring at Travis, and the guy stared back at him.

Selena, on the other hand, remained still, but inside, she was crumbling.

’Please, Raven. Let him go...’

She wished—hoped—Raven would let Travis go.

Not because she wanted Travis to live, but because she wanted Raven to live.

She was where she was because she got involved with the dark side. She had stared into that abyss in desperation when her royal chains felt too tight.

She’d done it to survive. To grow stronger. To feel free.

But now she was bound.

She didn’t want Raven to follow, so she wished he would stay away from this.

Yes, she was different from others, but that was because she was lucky.

She never killed an innocent person.

She never hurt an innocent person.

She never summoned anything evil, nor did she commit anything evil.

All because she was lucky.

Not everyone could be lucky.

Worse, she couldn’t imagine what Raven would do if he found out she was associated with demons as well.

’He seems to hate demons.’

’What if he finds out that I’m similar to Travis?’

’What would he say?’

’Would he look at her like he looked at Travis now?’

’Would he—’

She forced the thoughts down and sipped her tea with perfect posture, even as her hands trembled beneath the table.

But just then, Raven moved.

His hand blurred, moving toward Travis at a breakneck speed.

No one could see the attack as it was too sudden, but before Raven’s attack could hit Travis—

Thunk!

—A tentacle-like thing appeared from Travis’s back, blocking the attack, and the guy, finally realizing what had happened, jumped back.

The tentacle that had blocked Raven’s attack vanished, making Travis sigh in regret.

"Man, that was a life-saving treasure, you know?"

But as he looked up, he saw everyone pointing their weapons at him, not looking at him as if he were a human.

He looked like a monster to them.

"Well, this is awkward," he said, rubbing his head before he turned to Raven.

"Listen, man. I was here to recruit you—"

Before he could complete his words, Raven drew his sword. "Shut up."

Travis stared at them for a while, his gaze stopping at Selena for once before turning back to Raven.

"Is that your stance?" He asked, but Raven said nothing.

"I will take that as a yes."

Then, he put one hand in his pocket, taking something out.

"Shit! Stop him!"

Selena, realizing what it was, quickly yelled, running toward Travis herself, but before anyone could reach him—

Rip!

—Travis tore the paper he took out of his pocket, and when he did, a white light enveloped him before he vanished.

The only thing left behind was his final words.

"Man, you’re gonna regret saying no to us."