Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 50 - 49 - Desperate.

The air turned still.

That voice—calm, slow, and laced with venom—rolled down the staircase like a guillotine falling.

"So, you guys were the rats infesting my mansion."

It was Principal Gerax, and just the weight of his words was enough to make their blood run cold.

But it was nothing compared to what came next.

Tap... Tap... Tap...

His footsteps echoed in the iron cellar as he descended, each step slow and deliberate, like a Grim Reaper walking toward them.

The dim torchlight flickered violently, almost afraid of him.

Jessy looked at Alex, whose breaths were shallow, almost nonexistent. The emergency recovery pill had dulled the bleeding, but his body was convulsing slightly, muscles spasming under burned, torn flesh.

She turned to Raven, and their eyes met.

"Just a few more minutes..." Raven whispered, his voice trembling.

Jessy turned back to Alex, and seeing his state, her hands trembled as she clutched Alex’s shoulder, gritting her teeth.

She wanted to escape, but she didn’t think it would be possible.

Jake’s fists clenched so hard that blood dripped from his palms.

Clara’s wind circled around her as if instinctively preparing to attack.

Rufus looked at Raven, and what he saw made his breath hitch.

Raven wasn’t just pale.

He was ashen.

His breathing was ragged.

His normally calm eyes were filled with something none of them had seen before.

Was it fear?

No—it was urgency.

’We don’t have time...’ Raven thought, grinding his teeth.

When he looked at Alex, exchanging a glance with Jessy, he knew they didn’t have time.

His left eye twitched.

The soul power within him surged and twisted, ready to be used on a moment’s notice.

Gerax’s presence was monstrous.

His mana poured down the stairs like a tsunami, coating the room in invisible chains.

The walls creaked again, but this time, in submission.

Everyone froze.

Their limbs wouldn’t move. Their bodies refused.

It was like gravity itself had turned against them.

Even Raven had to plant his sword, which he took out from his inventory, to stay upright.

But even with their bodies locked in terror, their hearts screamed a single truth—

’If we don’t act now, Alex will die. We all will.’

Clara’s lips parted. "If even one of us escapes... he won’t be able to touch the rest."

Yes, if even one of them escaped, and the risk of someone finding out about this incident remained, Gerax wouldn’t dare to kill them.

After all, no matter who the guy’s backer was, they wouldn’t save him if he killed even one Vaise, much less five.

Jake narrowed his eyes, stabilizing his breaths. "We’ll make sure of it."

Jessy, her hand still pressed to Alex’s chest, nodded grimly. "I will do what I can."

Rufus, no longer trembling, exhaled sharply. "Let’s go."

Then, like a dam breaking—

"NOW!!" Jake shouted.

They moved.

Wind screamed as Clara launched a razor-sharp wind blade straight at Gerax’s chest.

Jake’s whip of condensed air cracked through the air toward his legs.

Rufus sent a piercing arrow of water aimed at Gerax’s eye.

Jessy, her magic rumbling from the ground, punched forward—an enormous earth fist exploding from the ground like a golem’s strike.

They didn’t rush with physical attacks because they would be killed, and they didn’t want that.

Their aim was distraction.

It was to give Raven a path out.

But they forgot something crucial.

"Fools," Gerax muttered, lifting his hand lazily.

WOOOOOOSHHH!!

In a terrifying display, their magic attacks twisted midair.

The wind blade turned toward Raven.

The whip bent unnaturally, crashing into the Earth-fist shot by Jessy and Rufus’s water arrow.

Their wind attacks were used against them, all because of the ability a seven-circle mage had.

It was to redirect, nullify, or absorb attacks of weaker mages with similar elements.

Jake and Clara had the wind element, and unfortunately, Gerax had the same.

"RAVEN, MOVE!!" Jake roared as he saw this, but Raven didn’t flinch.

He already knew this would happen.

He knew there was no escape, and he knew how strong Gerax was, so he didn’t underestimate the guy.

As the wind blade moved toward him, he rushed forward.

His teeth were clenched, his heart pounding, and his legs burning from the earlier strain on his body, but he didn’t stop.

His sword in his hand got covered in a wild and chaotic aura, indicating his low power as a plate-three magic swordsman.

Gerax, seeing Raven charge at him despite his weak power and the attack aimed at him, scoffed.

"You’re coming to me? Hah!" His laughter echoed off the walls.

But then—Slip!

Raven rolled on the ground, making Gerax turn the attack toward the ground, but before the attack could hit Raven, he twisted mid-roll under it.

Clang!

The attack crashed into the iron ground, creating a metallic sound.

Gerax’s laughter died in his throat, momentarily surprised.

BOOM!

Raven used this opportunity and zoomed toward Gerax at a breakneck speed. He was right before Gerax—a blur of black scales and molten eyes, his dragon-clad fists glowing with energy.

"RRRAAAHHHH!!"

The sword arced through the air toward Gerax’s neck—faster than anyone expected.

Then—

TING!

Time froze for Gerax as his eyes widened.

For a second, his body locked.

A cold pulse had hit his soul—Raven’s soul power.

He couldn’t move for that period, but that wasn’t enough.

The time was too short.

Before Raven’s sword could hit Gerax, the guy snapped his fingers—

WHOOOM!

A pale blue barrier burst into place. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

The sword clanged against it, stopping just inches from Gerax’s throat.

The impact echoed, the basement trembling from the force as the power behind Raven’s attack matched that of a plate-six magic swordsman.

Gerax raised a brow.

"A solid hit. But pointless," he said coldly.

"This is basic magic—any Fifth Circle mage can form a defensive barrier like this. You can’t break through without a solidified aura—something you, a plate-three, can’t use without a sudden leap in your level."

He sneered, preparing a spell.

But then, Raven screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

Mana swirled wildly around him.

The sword pulsed, trembling in his hands.

From chaotic flow to—

CRACK!!

—A solid, wave-like aura enveloped the blade.

Raven’s body surged.

He was no longer Plate Three.

He had just advanced.

He had forced himself to advance as he was buying time.

"What?!" Gerax’s eyes widened.

Jake, Jessy, Clara, and Rufus gasped in unison.

Then—

CRAAACK!!

The barrier fractured.

Raven’s sword pushed forward—closer to Gerax’s throat, now centimeters away.

But—

POM!

A second barrier snapped into place.

Then another.

POM! POM! POM!

Layer upon layer, like glass domes encasing him.

"HAHAHA!!" Gerax laughed, stepping back slowly as each shield formed between them.

"What will you do now? Can you break all of them?" The Principal mocked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. "Summoning a blade out of air, freezing me for a moment, suddenly jumping a level mid-fight, and these dragon-like scales..."

The curiosity in his eyes turned into greed.

"You’ll make a perfect test subject."

But before anyone could think or act. Before Jake and Clara could even scream. Before Rufus’s eyes could go wide—

—Raven grinned.

His eyes were heavy, and his limbs were numb, but he grinned.

Because he could see something others couldn’t.

[Plot Armor activation countdown: 00 Seconds.]

His plot armor ability, which he activated the moment he saw Gerax, needed five seconds to activate.

He had sacrificed 4000 instead of 3000 points to use the plot armor, and it asked him to survive for five seconds.

Those five seconds were over now.

So, Raven, despite not knowing what the plot armor was, grinned, and Gerax, seeing that grin, similar to the one he had seen in the arena, frowned.

"What are you up to—?"

Before he could complete his words, pressure descended on everyone.

BOOM!!

It was heavy—heavier than Gerax’s pressure ever could be.

Everyone, including Alex and Raven, was pressed into the ground, worsening their conditions.

Then, a voice was heard.

"What is going on here?"

Turning his eyes up with all his efforts, Raven turned to look above, only to see a man standing on the ground above them, the top of the mansion gone.

Shadow covered his face; only red eyes, similar to Raven’s, were visible, but looking at the Greatsword, great body, and arrogant stance, Raven could tell who it was.

’Father...’

It was Argon Von Vaise, and he had erased Gerax’s mansion simply because he felt a familiar aura from the mansion’s basement.

Now, looking at the scene, his eyes turned cold.