Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 82 - 81 - Hit-and-run.

Chapter 82: Chapter 81 - Hit-and-run.

The clearing had gone silent.

The beast stood like a twisted shadow—six limbs snapping, stomach-mouth snarling, and a single eye twitching in agitation.

Then—

BOOM!

A sonic crack tore the silence apart as Raven disappeared from view.

The ground burst beneath his feet.

The demonic beast screeched, rearing up—THUD!—barely blocking the sweeping kick that slammed into its side.

Its body skidded a few feet, startled.

It wasn’t prepared for a sudden, speedy attack. Fighting with the squirrels had made its senses a bit dull.

Now, it was finally back to full form, and its speed returned to normal.

It hissed at Raven, who landed lightly, not even panting.

"Fast bastard," he muttered.

Despite taking the beast by surprise, he couldn’t land a perfect hit, as it had instinctively defended itself.

Without waiting for Raven to attack again, the beast lunged.

BOOSH!

Its claws raked the air where Raven’s head had been.

It was a breath later as Raven slid under its belly, dragging a line of flame aura along its underside.

He already had his sword aura activated, his sword in his hand.

As for where that sword came from, Raven had bought it from the store, and although it wasn’t high-ranked, it was strong enough to handle things for now.

Also, the attack he used right now was similar to the elemental sword attack he had seen before. The only difference was that it was just adding elements to his aura, not their properties.

Still, it was better than the normal aura, and it was clear from the way the beast screamed.

"GFROWHHHHH!!!"

The beast howled, twisting—

Raven spun, flipping backward, narrowly avoiding the venomous swipe of its tail.

Then—

His eyes flashed.

’Soul Ripple.’

His red eyes turned golden for a second, and the air shimmered.

A pulse of invisible force struck the beast’s mind.

Its body locked mid-motion.

’Now!’

Raven surged forward.

CRACK!

Rock covered his palm as he punched the beast’s side, followed by a geyser of water bursting from the earth.

The power of his dragon scales was already destructive, but now, a layer of earth element was added.

KRA-KA-THOOM!

Steam billowed from the clash of fire and water. The beast shrieked as it was hurled across the clearing.

Blood oozed purple.

Its claws twitched as it stumbled back to its feet—now limping.

From the sidelines, Selena clenched her fists.

’He’s... actually winning.’

But how?

She didn’t know.

She couldn’t tell.

But as Raven continued doing the same thing, using hit-and-run tactics, everyone slowly noticed something.

Rufus narrowed his eyes. "Wait... was that water magic?"

Jessy blinked. "No, no, I saw fire just now. That was definitely fire."

"Bro," Alex whispered, "he just used earth as well..."

Clara looked stunned. "...That’s three. Wait—"

FOOM!

A tornado surged up around Raven, forcing the beast to leap back. Blades of wind slashed at its legs.

Jessy’s jaw dropped. "FOUR!?"

"No way!" Rufus yelled. "He used all four elements?!"

"That’s illegal!" Alex shouted. "Okay—not literally—but how?!"

Siris also had her eyes narrowed.

No one knew about it yet, but she also had two elemental affinities. She thought she was abnormal, but now—

’That guy—he’s an anomaly.’

Even the voice in her head, the spirit that was teaching her common sense, was shocked.

She couldn’t believe there was a human like this.

Selena, on the other hand, stood still, finally realizing all of that.

She had been just too shocked to even notice it until now, but hearing others’ words made her realize it.

’Raven can use all four basic elements?!’

Even in the history she had read, two affinities were the most one ever had.

There had never been anyone with four affinities.

Lia was similar to Selena in this aspect.

Even she felt Raven’s absurd talent.

It was as if he was a mistake created by the gods.

’How can he not even get scratched while fighting a creature two levels above him?!’

She couldn’t understand.

She couldn’t even follow the movements.

As a second circle mage, she hadn’t even selected an element. She was weak enough to be called baggage right now.

So, when she looked at Raven, who was a blur in her eyes, although she felt awe, she also felt envy.

How she wished to have power like that.

All of her problems would be solved if she could.

But, she sighed, knowing it wasn’t possible.

Back in the fight, Raven kept using the same tactic, injuring the beast more and more.

All while trying to avoid getting hit by the beast, as a single hit could cause him a fatal wound.

The beast’s blood was demonic, and if that wasn’t all, it was also corrupted.

No demonic beast is of pure blood. They were all corrupted, and that was why these beasts died on their own.

The problem here was that there was a village nearby, and if they let the beast go, hoping it would die on its own, they were risking the lives of the people in that village.

Raven didn’t want that.

So, he fought with everything.

But since the beast was too fast, it was hard not to get hit—

—That was if he was alone.

From Raven’s shoulder, Squeaky squeaked.

The little squirrel’s eyes locked onto the beast’s single glaring eye.

Without a warning, it launched.

"CHIEK, CHIEK!!" (DIE, BEAST!)

Raven didn’t understand what Squeaky was saying, but he didn’t need to understand.

BONK!

Squeaky landed on the beast’s face like a holy comet, smacking its eye with his tiny wooden club.

"CHIT CHIT—TAKE THAT, YOU FURRY FRAUD!"

The beast screeched and flailed, trying to claw its own face off.

That second was all Raven needed.

He sprinted forward—magic circling him like a storm.

His fist collided with its midsection.

BOOM!

The beast skidded backward, tearing grooves into the dirt.

"Thanks, partner," Raven muttered as Squeaky bounced back on his shoulder.

Whenever it felt like Raven would get hit, Squeaky would jump in as a distraction.

Of course, it was taking a huge risk.

A touch of the beast’s claw could kill it, but it wasn’t a coward, and it had promised to avenge everyone. It wouldn’t back down.

However, Raven was there to save the squirrel, so there was no problem.

Soon, even the beast realized its disadvantage.

It could tell that Raven couldn’t be defeated by it.

No matter how strong or fast it attacked Raven, a single soul attack rendered its movements restricted.

It realized that for any beast, Raven was the perfect counter.

After all, no matter how strong beasts were, their mental defenses were always low.

Raven’s soul power was, in a way, the nemesis of all beastkind.

The beast shrieked and shivered.

It could feel it now.

Its soul was cracking.

Another pulse of Soul Ripple made it stumble again, momentarily blind.

The corruption inside it churned, reacting violently.

It had now realized that it wasn’t the hunter and it might die.

Faced with an enemy like Raven, it was getting desperate.

It shrieked louder than ever, its veins pulsing.

Its spikes were darkened now.

Then, suddenly—

BOOM!

A shockwave blasted out from its body.

It howled and surged forward, faster than before, burning mana recklessly as it made a desperate break for it.

"IT’S RUNNING!" Rufus shouted.

It was their time to act.

But then, they saw where it was headed.

"I-It’s headed toward Jessy!"

Jessy, on the other hand, didn’t move, her eyes narrowing as she took a stance.

"...Oh, sweetie," Raven shook his head from behind. "Bad choice."

It chose the worst opponent out of all.

Jessy had the strongest defense among them all.

When she was a plate four, she could withstand one of Raven’s full-power attacks.

Yes, Raven was a plate-three at that time, but it was still commendable.

However, now, she wasn’t plate four anymore.

With the Soul Kiln Purification Method’s aid, everyone in the group, excluding Raven, was now at plate five.

They could now easily defeat a plate six magic swordsman if they worked together.

And the one responsible for taking on all of the attacks was always Jessy.

Even now, she activated her Impenetrable Fortress, bracing for impact.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop the beast, but she didn’t need to.

All she needed to do was delay the beast by a second.

After all, Raven was already rushing toward her.

But just then, the beast changed its direction.

"Wait—! What?!"

It rushed past Jessy and whooshed toward Selena, who was being guarded by Alex.

"You want a piece of me?!" Alex roared as he saw this, his anger for the squirrel squad exploding. "Come! I’ll tear you apart—!"

But the beast was too fast.

Worse, Alex wasn’t among the fastest bunch.

Slash!

"GAH!"

Without being able to see the attack, he was slashed from the side before the beast moved toward Selena, frozen in her spot, her eyes wide.

"ROAR!!"

The beast’s jaw opened wide as it rushed straight at Selena, disregarding its defenses as it knew that Selena was weak.

The others also panicked.

"SHIT!"

Raven’s eyes went wide as he increased his speed, wondering if he would have to use the plot armor again.

But something shocking happened, and he paused—no, everyone paused.

The air itself stilled.