Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 95 - 94 - Operation Nutstorm.

Chapter 95: Chapter 94 - Operation Nutstorm.

While the crowd in the Red Tower’s arena was expecting Raven and Galeon’s duel, in the dark corridors and hidden ducts of the tower, another war was being waged by beings much smaller and furrier.

They started moving right after Raven’s duel had begun.

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

Deep in the western wing of the Red Magic Tower.

Nibbles—head of squirrel intelligence, commander of reconnaissance, and certified menace to demonic entities—stood tall on a ledge the size of a coat rack.

Well, tall for a squirrel.

Behind him stood two elite squads.

The Clawtail Recon Squad—masters of infiltration and stealth.

The Nutfang Rapid Strike Unit—blazing fast, dangerously unhinged.

Tiny makeshift armor clinked as they moved, their acorn-sized crossbows loaded. Their whiskers twitched with purpose.

Raven’s instructions were clear.

"While everyone’s distracted, find out if the demons are making a move. And if something’s fishy... bite it, or at least report back before it bites you."

"We move in thirty seconds," Nibbles spoke with a stern expression. "You all know the mission. Find the source of demonic mana. If it bites, then it’s demonic. If it smells like sulfur and bad life choices, it’s demonic. Got it?"

"Got it!"

All of the squirrels saluted.

Then, they scurried through the rafters, through air vents, and through forgotten pipes.

They had to search everywhere.

They already knew the routes as they had searched the entire tower before, but they had to do it again, and fast.

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

Forty minutes later.

"Report status!" Nibbles squeaked, and the squads gathered before him.

"Perimeter clear! No signs of peanut hoarders!" Squeaky, the rookie squirrel still dragging around his oversized twig sword, piped up.

"We searched the alchemy labs, the library, and the entire nut vault," added Twitch, one of the reconnaissance experts. "Nothing demonic. Just a weird human watching soap operas."

"Good work. Stay frosty."

As they were supposed to, they searched everywhere they found shady, but they couldn’t find anything.

The places were the same as yesterday.

Everything was in place, but it felt... different.

The arena duel was a perfect distraction, as Raven predicted.

There were no patrols, no tower guards, and no mages arguing about potion formulas.

The whole tower was silent until—

—They heard it.

Voices coming from below them made Nibbles frown.

The squirrels around him tensed.

"Was there an underground floor?" Nibbles asked, but no squirrel had an answer, as they hadn’t tried looking for an underground floor or storage.

It wasn’t their fault, though.

They were never ordered to look for an underground floor.

"Look for the entrance! Now!" Nibbles, like a war general, squeaked, and the squirrels hustled away.

In less than thirty seconds, they found a wind duct going down, and all of them, including Nibbles, went through it.

The voices were now clear.

Nibbles raised a paw, and the squirrels paused.

They were two humans.

Above all, this wasn’t an underground floor but a maintenance tunnel.

"Is the thing ready?" One whispered.

"Yeah. The others are all distracted by the duel upstairs. Even the elders are watching the duel."

"But what about that squirrel? The one that senses demonic mana? What if he’s onto us?"

At those words, the other human closed his eyes.

For a while, there was silence.

His mana flared briefly, dark and oily, then he spoke.

"Nope. He’s still on the dumb one’s head. He hasn’t moved."

The demon worshiper, or maybe demon-possessed, however, didn’t know that the one above Alex’s head was fake.

Nibbles’ eyes narrowed. ’So he can sense through walls or something... but not well enough. Good.’

He turned to his troops and made rapid tail signals.

Plan "Operation Nutstorm" was a go.

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

The First Phase: Distraction by the Nutfang Rapid Strike Unit.

The hallway ahead was clear.

The demonic humans were leaning against the wall as the second one among them suddenly widened his eyes.

"Wait... that bastard is losing!"

He found out that Galeon was losing the moment he saw the situation in the stadium using his ability.

But then, the first one, who had been nervous for a while, suddenly trembled.

"Wait—! For real?"

The other human frowned, his eyes opening. "Why do you seem excited about it? Did you want Galeon to lose?"

The first human grinned. "I didn’t expect that Vaise guy to win, but yes, I wanted that."

"Why?"

"Because only when Galeon loses will he awaken the thing I put inside—"

His words were cut short, as suddenly—

Music.

Disco music?

Tiny lights reflected off scattered glass pieces, creating shimmering rainbows on the walls.

Squirrels had placed enchanted fireflies—who knows where they got them from—into colored jars and spun them like DJ lights.

Then, under the light, they danced.

Breakdancing, jazz hands, and fully synchronized group moves.

One squirrel moonwalked on a leaf.

Another had a tiny top hat.

Then—

A female squirrel strutted into the spotlight.

She wore a ridiculously tiny red feather boa and sparkly acorn shells. She winked. She twirled.

The two humans froze, eyes wide.

"...What the hell...?"

"Bro... am I seeing things, or are there dancing squirrels before us?"

"Why is she—are they trying to seduce us?!"

"...It’s working."

Their dark auras flickered. Focus lost. Brains fried. Mouths open.

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

Meanwhile...

The Second Phase: Infiltration by the Clawtail Recon and Nibbles.

The demons didn’t notice Nibbles and his elite few slipping past them like whispers in the dark.

They climbed through the ventilation grill and entered the room those two humans had been guarding.

Inside, Nibbles stopped.

So did his squad.

All goofiness vanished.

There were cages—dozens of them.

Each one of them was glowing faintly.

Inside them were pitch-black crystals, pulsing like hearts.

Around those cages were tools, magic circles, and diagrams in languages the squirrels had never seen before.

This wasn’t just storage.

It was something worse.

Maybe a demonic summoning array.

Worse...

’The crystals inside the cages... they are alive.’ Nibbles thought with a grim look on his cute, furry face.

Some of those crystals had faintly visible eyes, distorted faces, and souls screaming silently.

Like people who were compressed and trapped.

Nibbles clenched his tiny paws.

Even Clawtail’s bravest fighters stepped back in horror.

"We can’t stop this." Nibbles closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before his eyes opened again, more resolute. "But we know someone who can."

With that, the infiltration team vanished as fast as they came—whisking themselves through shadows and ducts, heading to find Raven.

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

Back at the dance.

The demonic humans were clapping along. One was openly crying. "It’s so... pure..."

Suddenly—WHAM!—the dance lights cut out.

"Wait—what happened?!"

They spun around.

The hall was empty.

No more squirrels.

No more lights.

Just... silence.

The demonic humans looked at each other.

Then, without a second’s delay, they rushed into the room, their expressions filled with panic until they saw the crystals.

"Phew... they haven’t been touched."

"Yeah. Our supervising reaper would’ve killed us if someone touched them."

"...I can’t believe we were distracted by a squirrel dance."

"It was good, though..."

"...yeah. They were talented."

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

Back in the Arena.

The crowd was still roaring from the chaotic end to the duel, some cheering Raven’s victory, others gawking at the damage Galeon had left on the stage.

The Vice Tower Master was roaring at the medical attendants, asking them to hurry toward the arena.

But Raven’s group stood apart.

Jake remained silent as always, watching with narrowed eyes.

Jessy tilted her head. "Why do I feel things are far from over?"

Siris just stared, her gaze locked not on the arena but on the surroundings, like she was waiting for something—or someone.

And then—

Splat!

A small furry figure dropped dramatically from a banner pole in front of Alex.

"CHIK!" (Mission complete!)

Nibbles stood proud, fur slightly ruffled, armor scuffed, but dignity intact.

Alex blinked.

Then blinked again.

Because...

"Wait," he mumbled, reaching up to touch his head. "Then... who the hell...?"

The squirrel sitting on his head turned toward him slowly.

It grinned.

Then, poof—in a puff of glitter and fur, it leaped down, morphing mid-air into a sleeker squirrel with polished fur and a tiny monocle.

Scrumbles.

He bowed gracefully to Nibbles like a second-in-command paying respect to a war hero.

Then, without another word, he vanished into the crowd like a phantom with a mission complete.

Alex’s mouth hung open. "Wha—He—But—I—"

Rufus finally spoke. "You okay, or did the squirrel give you brain worms?"

Nibbles, on the other hand, didn’t wait.

It knew how important the news he had was.

He jumped onto a bench and looked Alex dead in the eye. Then he squeaked out everything he knew. His words were short, sharp, and urgent.

Alex’s expression changed as Nibbles went on; his eyes widened.

His goofy confusion turned to stone-cold seriousness.

He turned to the group, his voice low and clipped. "They found it. The demons are here. Something related to rituals and living crystals."

Jessy’s expression darkened instantly. "...That’s not just bad. That’s tower-toppling bad."

Siris smiled.

But it wasn’t a happy smile.

It was the kind that said, ’I’ve been waiting for an excuse to go berserk all week.’

Only Ilzara looked confused. "Wait, what? What are you guys talking about—?"

She didn’t even know what was going on, as everyone was in the dark about the demons.

However, before she could finish her words, something happened.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the arena.

Because Raven, who was about to leave the arena, had stopped dead in his tracks.

His feet hovered over the edge of the platform, eyebrows raised as he looked ahead.

The barrier around the arena.

Tap-Tap!

He drummed his fingers against it, but nothing changed.

The shimmering dome of protection that normally dropped the moment a fight was over stayed firm and unyielding.

Tower Master Vernix stood to the side, hands raised, channeling his power into the control crystal nearby. "What in the world... this system has never—"

His words cut off as he frowned deeper, sweat forming on his brow.

"No... It’s not a malfunction. Someone’s tampered with the system."

Jessy, staring at everything happening, inhaled sharply. "They’re trapping him."

"Or isolating him," Lia muttered, clutching the railing tighter. "So that others can’t interfere."

Lia knew her hunches were always right, but she wished she were wrong today.

Because anyone who wanted to isolate Raven wouldn’t do it without a plan.

As if to confirm their worst fears—

A twitch.

Barely visible.

On the stage behind Raven.

Then another.

Galeon, still lying broken and unconscious, began to shudder.

Veins blackened across his skin, spreading like cracks in marble.

His fingers curled.

His mana surged, but now it was wrong, warped, and oily.

Raven didn’t turn around.

He just let out a sigh.

"I knew it."

The others, still seated in the VIP seats, stood up, their expressions serious.

They wanted to rush forward, but they couldn’t do anything.

The barrier surrounding the arena was something even an eight-circle mage, Vernix, couldn’t confidently say that he could break.

All they could do was hope that Raven overcomes whatever was about to be thrown at him, like he always does.

From within the barrier, the air shifted.

The audience stopped cheering because Galeon’s body had just started to levitate.

His eyes were now pitch black.

And he was smiling.