Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 189 - 188 - The King’s Truth.

Just as Raven and the Vaise group reached the edge of the throne room, Nibbles lifted his tiny paw and squeaked—softly, almost solemnly—toward Raven as if asking for his permission.

Alex, sensing something secret going on, translated silently, "He says, ’Should I start?’"

Raven nodded as they neared the broken door leading out of the room.

Nodding, Nibbles turned to the squirrel with a monocle, hiding on one of the last functioning chandeliers in the courtroom, and saluted.

The squirrel tensed before it returned the gesture.

Then before anyone could even guess what was going on—

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEAK!"

From the decorative arches above, from chandeliers, curtains, and god-knows-where, dozens of squirrels in tiny, black-ops gear dropped like angry meteors.

The Clawtail Recon Squad and the Nutfang Rapid Strike Unit came crashing down, wielding nut-blasters, mini spears, acorn-shaped smoke bombs, and at least one squirrel riding a goose like a cavalry unit.

"FOR ACORNIA!" One squeaked mid-air before slapping a glowing rune onto a ceiling pillar.

Chaos erupted.

A hailstorm of enchanted nuts launched toward the King like arcane artillery.

One acorn exploded into a flashbang; another expanded into a bouncing jelly blob that screamed insults in squirrel dialect.

A third launched like a missile, its casing carved with ancient squirrel war runes and the ominous words, "Your face offends Acornia."

The royal guards flinched.

The king, taken completely off guard, raised his arm, his ring hand glowing.

Surprised and following his instincts, the king’s hand ignited with golden fire—hot, divine-looking, holy to the eye... and yet—

"SQUEAK?!"

Nibbles, still on Raven’s shoulder, stiffened.

His tail puffed up like a cotton ball exposed to static lightning. He let out another squeak—this time, with trembling paws and eyes wide with horror.

Alex gasped, whispering quickly. "He says... ’That’s not divine fire. That’s demonic fire. Powerful. Ancient. Dangerous.’"

The squirrel commandoes screeched to a halt mid-attack, half of them hanging from ropes, frozen in mid-swoop before all of them jumped out of the windows or cracked walls.

They were done with their mission; now, they run.

No one even knew what was happening.

Even Raven’s group remained oblivious to what was happening behind them, as it was just too fast.

But Raven’s face hardened.

’I knew it,’ he muttered inwardly as he was now sure that the king was being controlled by a powerful demon.

However, the king, who finally broke out of his surprise, caught a glimpse of the squirrels running away and roared.

"RAVEN VON VAISE!! You dare try to assassinate me?!"

Before the Vaise group could step out of the room, they paused.

Crisaius groaned the moment he heard the King shout Raven’s name.

"What is it now?" He muttered, rubbing his temples like a man who’d been asked to babysit feral children while fasting.

The Vaise group came to a slow halt, all of them turning around in sync with varying degrees of confusion and exhaustion.

Clara looked annoyed. Siris had already drawn a knife without hesitation, and Alex was staring at Nibbles like he didn’t even know what species they shared anymore.

Jake’s fists were clenched as even he, the one who rarely showed much reaction, looked irritated.

"Can’t he let us have some peace?!" Jessy groaned, turning around, while Rufus was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Across the throne room, the nobles and remaining royals stood frozen in a mixture of disbelief and absurd horror.

Duchess Elvarine blinked, staring at the retreating tail of a squirrel vanishing into a broken wall.

"What... what was that?" Muttered one duke.

"Were those—were those squirrels using magic?" Another whispered.

The King, furious, raised a trembling hand, golden fire still licking his fingers. "You dare try to assassinate me, Raven Von Vaise?! With squirrels?!"

Raven tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. "Assassinate you? What, me? Personally?"

"You—those rodents—you sent them—!"

Raven raised a hand, cutting him off with a calm, matter-of-fact tone. "Your Majesty, I’m not someone who controls every squirrel in the world. That would be... a lot of squirrels. Even I have boundaries."

He motioned toward the nearby pillar, where a squirrel banner flapped slightly from residual mana: "Your face offends Acornia."

Raven pointed. "See? It seemed a personal matter between you and the squirrels. They’re upset about your face. I’d take that up with the squirrel union, not me."

The nobles squinted at the banner. One of them stifled a laugh before turning it into a cough.

Raven clapped his hands once. "Well then. As we were saying—farewell."

Crisaius turned with a dramatic swirl of his coat.

Argon followed silently, his frown deepening but his blade fully sheathed.

The rest of the Vaise group trailed behind, leaving a thoroughly confused and offended royal court behind.

The King trembled with rage. "This isn’t over—!"

But then—

A deep voice echoed in his mind, ancient and cold like a buried tombstone dusted with flame.

"Enough."

The King’s eyes widened.

"You’ve already lost the moment Crisaius and Argon walked through those doors. Do not dig deeper."

"...One more chance," the King whispered in panic, his voice barely audible. "Give me one more chance."

There was no reply.

Just the cold echo of failure ringing in the silence that followed.

However, the king knew that he had one more chance.

His daughter was still in his grasp, and once today, after he delivered her to the Cradle of Molten Veins, he would gain more power.

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

A while later in the Vaise mansion in the academy city.

Nestled in the main hall, the group finally had a moment to breathe.

Sort of.

Raven was lounging sideways across a plush couch like a Victorian villain on vacation, one leg hanging off dramatically.

Clara sat beside him, leaning on his with her eyes closed.

Alex was feeding Nibbles dried fruit like a devout servant.

Siris was sharpening her knife while glaring at a houseplant.

Jessy was upside down on a chair.

Jake was doing pushups to cope.

Rufus stared into the fireplace, muttering something about squirrels.

Then there was Crisaius, pressing two fingers into his temple like he was holding back a magical migraine from the seventh realm.

He had already asked Raven how he knew about the ring, and Raven had said that he knew it from a dream.

He had deadpanned but decided not to pursue the matter.

But there was another thing he needed to know, and he believed he would get the answer for this one.

"So..." The old man drawled, "My dear disciple. Would you care to explain why Lorian’s fingernails almost exploded with hellfire during a squirrel attack orchestrated by what appeared to be a tiny airborne militia?"

Raven stretched luxuriously. "Would you believe me if I said I don’t know anything about it?"

Crisaius blinked. Then sighed. "I would believe you if you said you were a sentient hallucination caused by magical caffeine poisoning. But continue."

At that, Raven sat up a bit, his tone shifting from relaxed to serious. Nibbles hopped up onto the armrest beside him, standing at attention like a fuzzy, traumatized general.

"Well, I was going to tell you anyway. The squirrel attack was real. And yes, it was me and Nibbles who coordinated it."

Rufus’s eyes widened as he stared at Raven. "What?! You mean you actually planned that?"

Clara muttered, "Of course he did. That banner had a custom insignia."

"The attack had Raven’s name all over it. I don’t know how you didn’t get it," Jessy added.

Jake also nodded, while Alex merely fed another dried fruit to Nibbles.

Crisaius rubbed his face like it physically hurt him. "Why?"

"To verify something," Raven said. "Nibbles has a unique ability. He can sense demonic mana."

Others weren’t surprised, as all of them already knew, but Crisaius was.

"...He can do what now?" Crisaius asked, blinking.

"Nibbles isn’t an ordinary squirrel," Raven said with a solemn nod. "He’s... a divine rodent of justice."

Nibbles squeaked with pride, puffing out his chest.

"And during the battle," Raven continued, "he sensed something from the King. The man was using demonic fire. And not some minor one either. It was ancient. Powerful. Malevolent."

Crisaius leaned forward, his eyes sharpening. "You’re sure?"

Raven nodded. "Dead sure. More importantly... Selena’s still in their hands. We need to get her out of there."

Crisaius blinked. "Wait. Your princess girlfriend? Damn, no wonder I didn’t see her for a while."

Then, he rubbed his chin with a thoughtful hum. "But why do you think she needs saving? Is there something else I don’t know?"

Raven scratched his head. "It’s complicated. She’s in a contract. With someone... very important."

"...A demonic contract?"

"Yes."

"Are you saying she’s a villain now?"

"No," Raven said immediately. "She’s the victim. But if we wait any longer, they might force her to become something else."

Crisaius exhaled slowly. "Then who’s the villain here, exactly?"

Raven leaned back, voice low. "The King... and the evil demons."

"...There are evil demons now? Are there good ones too?"

"I’ll explain later," Raven waved off. "Right now, we rescue Selena."

Crisaius stood, stretching. "How are you going to do that? You can’t kill the King. No Vaise can even think of harming the king. Ever. Our bloodline makes it impossible for us to do it."

Raven wanted to say that he could, but since they were pressed for time, he decided that he could do that later.

He nodded slowly. "I know. I won’t kill him. I merely want to get her out."

"Of course, you know it." Crisaius sighed. "Must be another dream."

Raven didn’t reply to that question and reached into his coat, handing over a folded letter, old parchment.

"What’s this?" The old man asked.

"A letter," Raven said. "From a good demon. He gave it to me earlier. It has the location of a demon base hidden in the capital."

Crisaius stared at the letter. His fingers didn’t shake, but the tension in them was obvious.

"How trustworthy is this source?" He asked quietly.

Raven hesitated. "...I’m not sure. But I’m taking the first leap of faith. It could be a trap."

The old man’s eyes flickered.

"That’s why I want you to go with Father," Raven added. "Take some of the others. If it’s a real base, we take it down."

"If it’s a trap," Rave turned away, whispering, "I’d rather you spring it than me."

"This brat!" Crisaius slapped his head. "How can you send this bag of bones on such a risky mission?! Do you have no conscience?"

"So you want your disciple, who probably won’t even survive that place, much less run away if it were a trap, to go?" Raven covered his lips, his eyes wide with pain. "How can you, as a master, do that to me?"

Crisaius deadpanned. "You’re getting good at this."

"Learned from the best," Raven grinned, making Crisaius do the same, just wider.

"...Fine," the old man then said. "But you stay alive, Raven. I swear to every magical god in history, if you die chasing this girl, I’ll raise you just to kill you myself."

Raven smirked. "Aww, how sweet of you."

But as he saw Crisaius’s smile, he realized his mistake.

"I’m sweet, right?" The old man stepped forward, his arms wide. "Come, give your master an emotional hug."

Raven inched away, but he already knew that he had lost.

"... Dammit, old man."

Crisaius huffed playfully. "You are still too young to win against me."

With that, preparations for two missions began—one to infiltrate darkness and one to chase it from within.