Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 138 - 137 - “BLARGH!”

Alex’s fingers trembled as he slowly popped the seal on the test tube.

Click.

The black, viscous mass inside didn’t wait.

With a wet SKREEEEEEE! that could only be described as a cross between a war cry and a toddler stepping on a LEGO, the symbiote leaped out like a rubber band shot by an overcaffeinated squirrel.

"GAH!" Alex screamed as the gooey mass slammed into his chest like a living shadow tsunami.

It wasn’t subtle. Or gentle. Or respectful of personal space.

In an instant, the symbiote exploded across his body like it had been dying for a host—and Alex, poor Alex, was the unlucky soul who was the first being it saw and was closest to it.

His clothes disintegrated in a blaze of harmless heat as the symbiote merged with his fire affinity, igniting like matchfire over gasoline.

The black mass rippled, twisted, and reformed—armoring him in bulky, molten-black muscle with flaming crimson cracks glowing from underneath.

Then it opened its massive jaw, filled with razor-sharp teeth that somehow grinned, and let out a guttural, demonic, and entirely too gleeful howl.

"BLAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"

It roared like a kid at a candy store that had no doors, no parents, and infinite sugar.

The flaming figure turned and ran straight through the wall.

BOOM.

It left a two-meter-huge hole in the side of the war room.

"...Should we be worried?" Rufus asked, peeking through the smoking gap.

"No," Raven deadpanned. "We should be very worried."

Before anyone could stop it, the blazing black creature sprinted across the courtyard like a banshee at full volume, screaming, "FIRE!! WIND!! NO WALLS!! FREEDOM!! BLARGH IS REBORN!!"

Alex’s voice came muffled from inside the chaos suit. "Okay, okay! I love the enthusiasm! BUT PLEASE—LET ME BREATHE—"

The symbiote skidded to a stop like a rebellious puppy getting yelled at.

A moment passed.

Then, the black mask split open like flower petals, revealing Alex’s very sweaty, very nervous face inside, now breathing heavily.

He wasn’t tired or anything.

He merely needed some fresh air, as Blargh had been sucking his blood like crazy, and it hurt a lot.

It was fine now, as it seemed like that bloodsucking was part of the bonding process, but Alex still needed some air.

By then, however, everyone was outside the mansion, standing some meters away from him, staring at him cautiously.

"...Hi," he said weakly. "Still me."

"Oh, thank god," Jessy muttered.

"Lies," Siris, appearing beside him in a flash, poked his flaming leg. "He’s just hiding. The real Alex is probably unconscious inside."

Jake blinked. Slowly. Disbelievingly. Then poked him too. Harder.

"Ow!" Both Blargh’s and Alex’s voices sounded in sync before Alex spoke to Jake. "It’s me! Stop that, man!"

Clara squinted. "Prove it."

Even Raven narrowed his eyes because although he knew the symbiote wouldn’t be able to take control over Alex, it didn’t hurt to be sure.

Alex stared at all of them, unable to find anyone who seemed to be believing him.

Even Nibbles, his best buddy, was cautiously standing behind Raven’s foot.

Alex sighed, knowing that he had no other choice, and spoke.

"Uh... I once mistook a cursed mushroom for a grilled marshmallow, and Raven made me clean squirrel latrines for two weeks as punishment?"

"...Yeah, that’s him," Raven said. "Only Alex would do that and tell us afterward."

Everyone relaxed a bit.

"Guys," Alex said, touching his own body, which was now covered with Blargh. "This thing—this thing is amazing."

The symbiote pulsed. "Blargh is amazing."

Alex nodded. "Blargh is amazing. I feel stronger, lighter, faster—and somehow... sassier?"

"Blargh is the apex of goo. The sultan of slick. The king of ker-splatter."

Alex raised a flaming claw proudly. "And I can feel his thoughts. He’s loyal to me. He even came with a manual in my head. It says that he can also shift to others, but only with my permission. And he can’t disobey my orders. Like, ever."

"Wait..." Selena narrowed her eyes. "So you have a flaming murder-goo with an ability to take over others... and it listens to you?"

"...Yup."

"Great," she said, voice flat. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Nibbles, meanwhile, had been silently watching.

Now, without anyone realizing it, he reached near Alex, raising his tiny paw, and he jabbed it into Alex’s foot.

"Uh..." Alex looked down. "What’s up, little guy?"

Nibbles pointed at Blargh. Then he pointed at himself. Then he gave a thumbs-up.

He wanted in.

"Blargh," Alex whispered. "Can you... like... share a piece with Nibbles?"

Blargh was silent for a beat. Then—

"For this tiny warrior, I shall not even cease my majestic form. A pinky shall suffice."

A black tendril snapped off like a piece of taffy and slithered toward Nibbles, who sniffed it cautiously.

Then he touched it.

A beat later—

FWOOSH.

In one glorious, lightning-fast sequence, Nibbles transformed into a pint-sized demon squirrel.

Black flaming armor. Glowing red eyes. Razor-sharp claws. A tiny tongue that flicked out like a cartoon villain.

With a flick, he bolted toward Alex, reaching his head in an instant.

Everyone stared.

"...I can’t tell if I’m terrified or in love," Jessy whispered.

"KNEEL BEFORE THE NIBBLE." Blargh’s voice echoed from Nibbles’ mouth, distorted but somehow even more dramatic in high pitch.

Then Nibbles roared—a very cute, very squeaky ROAR—and blasted a tiny flame toward the sky.

It was majestic.

It was horrifying.

It was...

"...kinda adorable?" Lia muttered.

Then Siris raised a hand. "Can I try it next?"

"No," Raven, Clara, Selena, Jessy, and literally everyone else said it instantly.

"Why not?" Siris pouted.

"Because we like having a world that still exists," Raven muttered.

As the group was still recovering from the glorious, horrifying, and vaguely adorable transformation of Demon Squirrel Nibbles, Raven clapped his hands once.

"Alright," he said, drawing everyone’s attention. "Next."

Jake silently stepped forward, pulling something from the folds of his coat—a fist-sized obsidian orb that pulsed with a dull, ominous glow.

He looked at Raven, raising an eyebrow slightly as if asking, ’This the part where I explode?’

Raven nodded. "Crush it."

Jake crushed it.

No hesitation.

Not a blink. Not a flinch.

Just crack.

Then—

FWOOOOOM!

Darkness erupted like a geyser from the orb, swallowing Jake whole in an instant and forming a sphere of absolute shadow around him.

The sudden surge of power knocked back a few loose stones, making the courtyard feel ten degrees colder.

Everyone jumped to their feet.

"What the hell—?!" Clara hissed, hands lighting up with mana.

"That doesn’t look friendly!" Jessy said.

"We need to do something, right?!" Selena demanded.

Even Siris was charging her anti-magic slash.

Raven’s eyes widened as something clicked in his mind. "Oh crap."

"What?" Clara asked.

He recalled the warning written in the Inheritance’s description.

It was the inheritance of an Evil God.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me," Raven muttered, rushing toward the sphere. "Jake’s inside an evil god’s inheritance—I didn’t think he’d CRUSH it that fast!"

He pulled out Omni and tried to slash at the darkness—but before he could move, Omni’s voice echoed.

"Relax, bossman," he said, his voice calm. "No need to break your nails. No matter how evil the god, the inheritance transfer is always smooth. No corruption. It’s like a really intense sauna. Just wait."

"You’re sure?"

"On my nonexistent mama’s grave," Omni said. "Trust it when it comes from the most evil sword in existence."

So they waited.

One minute.

Three minutes.

Twelve.

Fifteen.

By that time, everyone had sat down in the grass, forming a kind of picnic circle around the ominous doom ball.

Rufus had dozed off.

Selena was filing her nails.

Siris was chewing a stick.

Nibbles, still in demon-squirrel mode, had started doing push-ups.

Alex was now back to normal, as Blargh’s transformation was hard for his body. He currently couldn’t keep it up for more than ten minutes.

Nibbles was fine because the toll was falling on Alex’s body. Though Nibbles’s transformation was bearable.

Alex didn’t think it would be a problem to let Nibbles stay like that for an hour or so.

However, suddenly—

CRACK.

The sphere shattered like black glass evaporating in reverse. Shadows coiled inward and vanished, revealing Jake standing silently in the center.

His skin was a shade paler. His hair now had streaks of gray and black. His eyes... were darker, unreadable, almost abyssal.

But the real standout?

The massive obsidian scythe resting across his back, longer than he was tall, was etched with runes that flickered like dying stars.

The wind hushed.

"...Cool," Raven finally said, stepping forward. "You alright?"

Jake nodded once.

"What’s it do?"

Instead of answering, Jake glanced down at his own shadow.

Then—fwip—he melted into it.

Gone.

Everyone blinked.

"...Did he just—"

Suddenly, rustle—Jake emerged out of the shadow of a nearby tree, ten meters away, like some dark magician ninja.

He dusted off his shoulder, expression unreadable.

"Okay," Raven blinked. "Shadow teleportation. I can respect that."

"What else can it—"

SCHING—!

Before Raven could finish, Jake swung the scythe in a wide arc. A crescent blade of shadow shot out, cleaving through the air with a low hum.

FWOOOSH—CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—

The arc sliced through seven trees in the distance like paper. They all tilted for a beat before falling simultaneously in a perfect domino crash.

Everyone gaped.

Jessy’s glasses (who knows where they came from) fogged up. Clara let out a low whistle. Selena blinked like she was watching a physics experiment fail gloriously.

Even Siris’ eyes twinkled with rare admiration.

"...That," Raven said slowly, looking at Omni. "That’s the kind of attack every man dreams of."

Omni, still in his hand, snorted. "Pfft. I can slice through that."

"Show me."

"I’d rather not waste my mojo on trees."

"Cop-out."

"Try me, fate-boy."

Meanwhile, Jake was examining the blade as it retracted back into shadow. Raven crossed his arms.

"Alright," he said, "I know better than to think that an evil god’s inheritance came with zero strings. So what’s the catch?"

Jake was silent for a moment.

Then, finally, he spoke. His voice was deeper now, but calm.

"...Sacrifice."

The mood instantly shifted.

Clara sat up straighter. Rufus stopped pretending to sleep. Even Alex, along with Nibbles, who was in the middle of a one-armed pushup, froze.

"What kind of sacrifice?" Raven asked warily.

Jake looked down at his hand. "My body."

There was a beat of silence.

"Define ’body,’" Selena said, her eyes narrowing.

Jake replied calmly. "Blood. Bones. Limbs. Organs. Even life itself. The greater the sacrifice, the more power I can draw."

Everyone stared.

"...That’s horrifying," Jessy said, still sounding impressed.

"But..." Raven muttered, eyes narrowing. "You’re a Vaise."

Jake nodded. "We regenerate."

Raven whistled low. "So as long as the fight ends... you grow it back?"

"Yes."

"And during the fight?"

"It stays gone."

Siris clapped. "Oh! So if he sacrifices his arm to get power, he fights one-armed till the end of the battle? Fun!"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Not fun."

Jessy rubbed her temples. "So basically, Jake’s now the team’s self-harming murder ghost."

Jake, still silent, lowered the scythe to his side. A shadow pulse flickered at his feet.

Then Raven smirked.

"Well. You got a cool upgrade."

Jake gave the smallest of smirks.

Then—

"WAIT."

Everyone turned.

It was Alex. He pointed at Jake, eyes wide.

"Bro. If you sacrifice your legs—do you, like... fight while crawling?"

Jake paused. Raven coughed into his fist.

"...Actually a good question."

Everyone else also nodded.

After all, one had to wonder. What would Jake do in such a situation?

They got their answer soon.

Jake turned toward Alex. "No. I dive in my shadow."

"Oh, good," Alex muttered. "Because, like, imagine a terrifying scythe dude scooting toward you with no legs. That’s not scary. That’s sad."

Rufus shivered, imagining that scene.

Clara giggled while Selena shook her head.

Lia, somehow silent today, huffed.

She seemed to be more affected by the Raven not having anything for her than Siris and Selena, who were his girlfriends.

Even Raven had noticed that, but for now, he decided to ignore it.

He didn’t want any new girl right now, as Selena and Siris’s dates were still pending.

Siris, on the other hand, had her gaze fixed on Nibbles, whispering, "I still want the goo."

"Denied," Raven said immediately.

Shrugging, Siris loosened her body, acting like Blargh, before she spoke, "Blargghhhh."

She tried to perform Blargh’s roar, but instead of looking terrifying, she ended up looking like a kid throwing a tantrum.

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