Chapter 331: Chapter 330 - Nibbles and Alex.
Morning sunlight crept across the capital, cutting through the smoke of last night’s raids.
The city was quiet, as though holding its breath. Inside the guest chambers of the royal wing, Raven’s companions rested—or pretended to.
Rufus and Jessy had yet to return with the last group of captives, so they were waiting for them.
Once everyone was here, they would put Nibbles to work and start the purge of the demons.
Right now, in one of the smaller rooms in the palace, Alex sat hunched on his bed, elbows pressed to his knees.
His fists trembled, still flecked with dried lava, as if they couldn’t forget the violence of yesterday.
Beside him, Nibbles sat cross-legged on the pillow, a tiny red scarf folded neatly across his chest, and a board and chalk floating by his side.
Alex’s jaw clenched, his voice raw and low.
"There are demons captured, and even if more are coming, and it would be more efficient to eliminate them all in one go, what am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait?!"
He recalled how he had yelled at Raven a while ago, speaking about how he wanted to kill them all himself, and his jaw clenched harder.
Nibbles, on the other hand, calmly raised his chalk and scribbled in sharp strokes. "Revenge is an endless road. At the end—only nothing."
Alex’s teeth ground audibly. "Don’t—Don’t you dare start that wise-chicken crap with me. Not right now."
The squirrel tilted his head, calmly scratching another line.
"I’m not saying forget. I’m saying don’t let it eat you."
Alex surged to his feet, lava sparking at his knuckles. "Then SAY it! Not this damn sign language again! What happened to our brotherhood, huh?! What happened to the days when I could understand every squeak you made—when you didn’t need this charade for anyone else?!"
Nibbles froze, paw hovering above the chalk. His tiny whiskers twitched. Alex’s voice broke, hoarse and ragged.
"You know how much I hate it. Watching you wave signs at others—like we’re not... like we’re not the same anymore."
The squirrel dropped the chalk. His beady eyes glimmered in the sunlight as he squeaked softly.
"Alex... I never stopped talking to you. You’re the only one who ever listened."
Alex staggered. His chest tightened, but the anger boiled still. "Then why... why preach at me about emptiness?!"
Nibbles puffed his cheeks, then squeaked again, sharper this time.
"Because I’m not telling you to give up your revenge. I’m telling you to carry it wisely. Anger is a sword. Hold it too long, and it cuts your own hand."
Alex blinked.
Slowly, the lava receded from his fists. His breath came rough. "You mean... only unsheathe it when I see them. Not against everyone else."
"Yes." Nibbles’s whiskers quivered as he squeaked on, his tone calm and sage-like. "Lately, you’ve swung it at your friends. At your family. You forget—they are the last people you have left. Your mother, this group... me."
Alex sat back down heavily, hands raking through his hair. His voice cracked with guilt.
"...I’ve been pushing them away, haven’t I?"
Nibbles squeaked gently, paw pressing against Alex’s hand.
"Think of Raven. He never wanted anyone on his side to die. Yet he still carries every failure. Do you think it’s easy for him? Watching neutrals fall while he couldn’t stop it?"
Alex swallowed hard, throat burning.
He couldn’t even imagine it—the weight Raven carried, quiet behind those crimson eyes. His anger faltered, replaced with shame.
Nibbles’s tiny voice squeaked softer now, almost kind. "So don’t add to that weight. Don’t make your grief into theirs. Save your rage for the ones who deserve it."
Silence settled between them. Alex closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, letting the fire in his chest simmer instead of consuming.
When he finally opened them, there was clarity where fury had been. His lips twisted into a wry, broken smile.
"...You’re still a bossy little rat, you know that?"
Nibbles smirked—or at least the squirrel equivalent—before scribbling a new sign in exaggerated strokes:
"Bossy? I’m literally saving your dumb ass."
A laugh broke from Alex’s throat—rough, shaky, but real. He wiped at his face quickly, hiding the wetness gathering at the corners of his eyes.
"Yeah... yeah, you are."
He looked toward the door, shoulders squaring.
"I should talk to the others. Apologize. They didn’t deserve me lashing out like that."
Nibbles squeaked in approval, puffing out his chest proudly.
"That’s the Alex I chose as my best buddy."
Alex chuckled, softer this time, reaching out to scratch the little sage’s head.
"...Best buddy, huh? Guess I’d better start acting like one."
The sunlight crept further into the room, and for the first time since the night before, Alex didn’t feel crushed beneath his anger. He felt lighter.
Because for once, he wasn’t walking that road alone.
But before Alex could reach the door, a thunderous cluck echoed through the palace halls.
Then came a crash.
The stone courtyard shook, dust raining from the rafters. Everyone who had been resting stirred at once, Raven’s companions jolted by the sound of something heavy slamming into the ground.
Alex froze mid-step, his gut twisting.
"...That wasn’t—"
Another cluck, this one weaker and filled with pain.
They rushed.
The group spilled into the courtyard, boots slamming across polished marble, breath sharp in their throats.
There—among broken stone and panicked soldiers—stood a sight that stole the breath from all of them.
A massive, snow-feathered chicken lay crumpled in the dirt, wings trembling, blood soaking through the once-pristine white. A red scarf fluttered around its thick neck, torn and frayed.
Selena’s eyes widened, the calm mask slipping as she whispered, "Cluckles..."
The colossal bird staggered, feathers molting as its body glowed faintly.
With a pained groan, the chicken shrank, the towering frame collapsing in on itself until only a small, wounded snow chicken remained. Its eyes, usually sharp with wit, now flickered with exhaustion.
The soldiers encircled it, their weapons raised. They didn’t know if the creature was friend or foe.
"Stand down!" Raven’s voice rang from the stairwell, commanding and sharp.
As the soldiers backed away, he strode into the courtyard, crimson eyes flashing like burning coals.
Cluckles weakly lifted his head, his voice strained but still carrying that sage-like tone.
"...Cluckles... has returned."
The group rushed forward.
Clara was the first to kneel, her gentle hands hovering above Cluckles’s torn feathers, afraid to touch, afraid to worsen the damage. "He’s hurt badly."
Siris bared her teeth, daggers flashing into her hands. "Who did this to him?!"
She nearly lunged at the soldiers before Raven’s hand caught her wrist.
"It’s not them," he said, his tone flat.
Huffing, Siris crouched by the bird, her pale hair brushing his feathers. "Who the hell hurt you? Tell me where they are and I’ll gut them all, Cluckles."
"Easy," Clara murmured, though her own eyes were tight with worry.
Lia knelt, palms hovering above Cluckles as her plant-laced mana stirred faint green threads into his wounds. "The roots whisper of poison in the blood... but he still holds strong."
Then, without a word, she started healing the chicken, silence once again enveloping the area.
Omni’s voice broke through, gruff yet oddly comforting.
"Yo, Birdy, you look like you went ten rounds with a meat grinder. Spill the beans already—what happened?"
Cluckles gave a slow, heavy breath, tilting his head toward Raven and the others gathered close. "Cluckles and the panther roamed. For two days, we searched. Many beasts fell, not by hunt, but by the panther’s games. Yet... it was not wasted. For Cluckles saw."
Alex stepped forward, fists clenched, expression hard. "Saw what?"
The chicken’s tone dropped, quiet yet sharp as a blade. "A crater. A maw in the earth. Five hundred beasts at least, drawn by corruption."
Cluckles coughed, and feeling the warmth spreading through his body, he continued, "Twelve stood above the rest—beasts whose eyes bled moons, whose ribs were jaws, whose hands twitched upon their skin. They fed the smaller ones into the pit... endlessly."
A chill swept the courtyard.
Even Graye, usually quick to crack a smile, felt her throat dry. "Fed them... into what?"
Cluckles shook his head. "Cluckles does not know. But it was wrong. Wrong as the void itself."
Selena’s gaze darkened, her calm mask unshaken, but her grip tightened on Raven’s arm. "And the panther?"
The chicken’s head lowered, a rare shadow of grief in his sage-like tone. "The panther stayed. To buy Cluckles time. To see Cluckles free. Now... the panther is taken."
The words dropped like stones in water.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke. Then Siris’s daggers slid into her hands with a hiss, her grin sharp and feral. "Then we carve a path back. Whoever cages that beast dies screaming."
"Not without thinking," Clara cut in, calm but firm. "If what Cluckles says is true, five hundred corrupted beasts are gathered in one place, and that seems strange."
Lia’s hands trembled against Cluckles’s feathers, but her voice was steady. "He needs healing, and since corrupt mana is filling his inside, it would take some time. I don’t even know how the panther must be doing."
Alex’s jaw was set, lava sparking faintly across his fists. "Screw the numbers. We can’t wait here. We have to move."
Raven’s crimson eyes flicked across them all—each face brimming with resolve, anger, and loyalty. His hand brushed over Omni’s tattoo, feeling the sword stir beneath his skin.
Omni chuckled darkly. "Well, boss... It looks like the chicken brought home more than just feathers. This smells like a storm."
Cluckles, even bloodied and weak, lifted his head high. His voice was hoarse but steady.
"Cluckles asks not for pity. Cluckles asks for vengeance. Save the panther. End what festers in that crater."
The courtyard fell silent.
And in that silence, Raven spoke, his voice low and unyielding. "Then we will move soon. We’ll get him back."
The others nodded, the weight of what Cluckles had seen pressing heavily upon them all.
The sun burned high above, but the shadow of the crater already stretched across their hearts.