Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 172 - 171 - Sweet Talking a Death Angel.

Raven’s fists clenched as he stared at the not-so-ethereal storm goddess in front of him—gloomy, gorgeous, and currently glowing with the pressure of four activated tales.

’Omni,’ Raven barked in his head, his eyes fixed on the lady before him. ’What are the tales? I need context to come up with a plan, or I’ll end up dead like a legendary fool!’

Omni crackled with unstable energy. "I’m trying, bro! These tales are high-level, so they seem like they were written by a drunk philosopher and encrypted by a lovesick oracle to me. I need a few more seconds to decipher ’em—stall her!"

’Stall her?!’ Raven asked as the goddess made a move again, shooting another knife at him.

’She’s not a tax officer—I can’t just distract her with small talk and coupons!’ He ducked under the blade as another divine knife shot past him, slicing the air with the hum of holy poetry. ’And where the hell is she getting all those knives from?!’

Omni, however, pretended not to hear those words. "You’ve got ten seconds, or you’re cosmic toast! DIVERT HER MIND! DO THAT THING YOU DO WITH GIRLS—TALK!"

’I don’t flirt with divine boss monsters, Omni!’

"You do now!"

Raven cursed under his breath. But fine. He had one tool left.

His mouth.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and took a calming breath—ignoring the blood running down his lip—and pointed at the approaching woman with a shaky but sincere finger.

"Wait! Before you kill me again! Can I just say something?"

The woman—no, the divine being—paused. Her glowing fingers dimmed slightly.

Raven exhaled.

Okay. First step: Observe.

’What kind is she?’ Raven’s mind raced. ’She’s the gloomy type, so I feel like complementing her would be the best option.’

With that, he decided to move forward.

The second step was giving genuine compliments.

He looked her over, from her moonlight hair to those melancholic crimson eyes.

"You’re... honestly kind of beautiful," he said, trying to sound casual. "Not in a weird romantic way—well, maybe a little romantic—but mostly in a ’you-walk-in-and-people-write-epics’ kind of way."

She blinked. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

Raven pressed on. Her posture had subtly softened.

"I mean—look, I’ve met a lot of scary things lately. There was a half-naked old man lit up with fire, demons, and even flying squirrels with PTSD. But you?"

With all the courage he could muster, he walked forward. "You’ve got presence. Not just divine pressure. Yours in like... I don’t know, tragic elegance? You look like the lead character of a story where you lose everything but still keep walking like the world doesn’t deserve your breakdown."

He raised a hand. "I know that sounds dramatic. But it fits you. You walk like you’ve lived too many centuries and trust too little... but your strikes? They’re clean. Purposeful. You’re not trying to destroy me—you’re trying to teach me something."

The woman’s lips parted slightly. No smile. No words. But something in her eyes shifted.

Hope?

Omni whispered frantically in his mind. "Yo... It’s working! Keep going!"

Raven nodded inwardly.

"Also, I’m not gonna lie—you’ve got some of the best hair I’ve ever seen. It’s not like I’ve seen any other goddess, but it is... good. Like it belongs in slow-motion shampoo commercials with harp music in the background."

Her breath hitched.

Was she... blushing?

Raven leaned in. "I bet people don’t say that to you. Not because it’s not true—but probably because of some other reason I don’t know of. But I’m just saying it ’cause I noticed it. That kinda elegance? It’s not something you need to hide. It is who you are."

For the first time since she appeared, her head tilted slightly.

"You... really think that?" She whispered. "Even though I look... gloomy? How am I beautiful?"

Raven blinked, stunned.

This time, he wasn’t pretending.

He was genuinely shocked.

’How the hell does she not know how beautiful she is?’

Raven was sure she had lived a long life, yet despite that, how was it that she didn’t know it?

"Because your beauty isn’t loud—it’s the kind that whispers. It’s in the way your eyes hold storms and silences all at once," he replied without missing a beat.

"It’s not something the world shouts about, but something I noticed... and couldn’t stop noticing. You’re beautiful in the way the moon is—quiet, distant, and impossible not to look at."

The divine glow around her faded ever so slightly.

A long, silent beat passed.

Then—

Omni’s voice cut in, excited. "I GOT IT! I decoded the tales!"

Raven turned slightly, muttering inwardly, ’And?’

"Well, I was only able to decode one, but hey—it’s one of those ’good news, bad news’ situations," Omni replied without a pause. "It’s a tale called ’One With Fake Immortality.’ Basically? No matter how many times you off her... she keeps coming back."

Raven didn’t start panicking. After talking to the goddess, he had calmed down, so he decided to think about Omni’s words seriously.

’Good news, bad news.’

While the goddess before him kept muttering this and that—something he couldn’t hear—his mind raced as he looked through the whole situation.

’The area has my power cap, but she can use divinity, so it makes it impossible for me to win a fight.’

’She has a divinity that makes it impossible for her to be killed, so I can’t kill her—not that I want to. She looks pitiful.’

’But Omni said that this tale could be good for me—’

Then it clicked.

’Omni, you are a genius!’ He exclaimed inwardly.

The sword pulsed faintly, a bit confused since he hadn’t actually done anything. He had merely said that it was a good thing because he didn’t want Raven to feel worse—but he sure as hell wasn’t about to pass up a good compliment.

"Of course, I am," he said, smugness seeping into his tone. "I’m the god-slaying, reality-cutting, plot-twisting masterpiece of a sword. Legendary by design, iconic by attitude."

Then, after a pause, he added with mock modesty, "Even when I do nothing, I still shine. Damn, what a burden."

Raven then turned to look at the goddess before him, now blushing without hiding it.

The way she looked at him had also changed.

Her eyes now had a light that almost scared Raven.

’What the fuck?!’

He jumped two meters back.

"Bro..." Omni whispered in Raven’s head, his tone a perfect cocktail of nervous excitement and unhinged awe. "She looks scarier now... like way scarier. But get this—she stopped activating her Tales. She’s only running five right now."

He paused.

"Only five, my guy. You remember what Graye could do with two tales activated, right? Her tales were probably weaker than this lady here."

Then, he added, "But now she seems to be holding back, and I don’t know whether to feel relieved or scared outta my damn steel."

Another pulse.

"... Kinda hot though, not gonna lie."

Raven, on the other hand, couldn’t believe that he was complimenting this guy a moment ago.

Whoosh!

Just then, a chain made of divinity was shot toward him.

His instincts kicked in, and he leaped sideways like a startled monkey on a sugar high, twisting mid-air as a chain of divine energy slammed into the ground beside him.

It pulsed—no, throbbed—with a sinister rhythm that screamed, "Step on me and suffer, peasant."

"Woah—No, thanks!" Raven blurted, flipping over another chain that shot past his shoulder and coiled like a snake at his feet.

The divine chains didn’t return to the goddess.

Instead, they stayed—littering the battlefield like cursed spaghetti, twitching and glowing with a creepy celestial aura.

They hissed softly, echoing with ancient chants that probably sounded romantic in some forgotten language, but here?

It was pure boss-fight nightmare fuel.

Omni immediately piped up. "Don’t touch ’em. I’m getting serious ’you’ll-regret-stepping-on-them’ vibes off those chains."

"Great," Raven muttered, hopping backward as another chain tried to trip him like an angry elder sibling. "So they’re traps?"

"They’re worse than traps," Omni said, voice sharp with alarm. "My god-slaying senses are going off like a fire alarm in a bakery. This feels wrong-wrong. Like, ancient-bad-decision kind of wrong. The type of wrong that makes old dragons write emo poetry."

"So, it’s another one of her tales?" Raven swore under his breath as he ducked behind a floating chunk of shattered temple stone, narrowly avoiding another chain whip.

"Decode the damn tale! Quick, or I’m gonna get leashed like an unpaid intern at a god convention!"

"I’m trying!" Omni snapped. "These divine metaphors are dense. I feel like I’m speed-reading cursed philosophy through a kaleidoscope. Just gimme—wait—wait—"

A dramatic pause.

"Got it! Tale’s called ’The One Who Binds Everyone.’" Omni sounded like he just chugged an entire Red Bull laced with enlightenment.

"If anyone touches those chains, their power gets sealed. It doesn’t matter if they’re divine, demonic, or a hot mess like you. Touch it—boom! Powerless."

"Because why wouldn’t she have that?" Raven muttered, dry as a desert with sarcasm.

He slid under another divine chain that nearly lassoed his waist, then bounced off a fallen column, landing on the only unmarked patch of ground left.

His breaths were shallow and sharp. His blood was pumping faster, and his limbs ached—but his mind was clear now.

Clear, and annoyingly aware that this was going to hurt.

Raven took a deep breath, eyes scanning the battlefield, lips curling into a grin that spelled ’I’m about to do something stupid, and it just might work.’

"Alright," he said, exhaling. "New plan. I can’t overpower her. I can’t kill her. I can’t touch those chains without getting nerfed to level zero. So..."

He looked at the goddess again—still beautiful, still terrifying, and still somehow just a little bit into him now.

"...we counterattack. Not with power but with clever power."

Omni pulsed, unsure but intrigued. "Okay, I don’t know what the hell you’re planning—but I’m with you."

Another chain flew.

Raven backflipped over it, grabbed a nearby divine knife mid-spin thrown some time ago by the goddess, and smirked as it vibrated with stormy resistance.

"Good," he said, now crouched like a predator ready to pounce. "Because we’re about to make history... or die really stupid deaths trying."

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