CHAPTER 238: CHAPTER 237 - INTERESTING NIGHT.

The stars still blanketed the sky when a fiery spiral tore through the heavens.

Ash-gray clouds over the Ashen Expanse trembled as something—no, someone—pierced through them, descending like a meteor with a screaming whistle of wind.

At the epicenter of the coming impact, the land shuddered.

BOOM—!!

The ground didn’t explode, but it sank. The ashen ground sizzled and cracked in a wide ring, and a crater the size of a small bath formed just outside the group’s cave.

Raven stood there, boots smoking, one knee bent, holding a certain silver-haired, smug-smiling princess in his arms.

"...Landing speed reduced. Nothing broken," he muttered with a tired breath.

Selena giggled softly from his arms, brushing a strand of hair from his face. "I really liked that," she whispered. "Let’s do it again sometime. Maybe with flips."

Inside the cave, everyone had woken up—because how could you not wake up when the world outside decided to yell "WAKE UP" with a fireball?

There was a moment of silence.

Then—

"INCOMING—!!"

Rufus launched out in his black-and-red nano-suit like an anxious toaster, his shoulder cannons glowing.

Jessy stepped out beside him, metal bracers forming into twin shields.

Clara was already weaving sound runes with calm fingers.

Siris burst out with glowing daggers drawn, muttering something about "blood taxes."

Jake stepped out quietly into place, scythe gleaming.

Alex stumbled after them with Nibbles riding his shoulder like a telekinetic war general, already lifting a nearby boulder just in case.

Lia flared up a dozen vine traps with a high-pitched, "W-What now?!"

Graye marched out last, her armored hips swaying with purpose. "Ooooh, I hope it’s a strong one this time!"

Then, as soon as their eyes fell on their guest, they all froze.

Raven was standing amidst the settling smoke.

He was perfectly fine. Not dying, bleeding, or fighting.

Just... holding Selena in his arms like he was modeling for a royal romance novel.

Rufus lowered his cannons.

Jessy blinked.

Nibbles dropped the boulder with a bonk onto Alex’s foot. "OW! I TRUSTED YOU, NIBBLES!"

"...You’re back early," Clara said first, her voice calm but her eyes narrowing in mock suspicion.

"Way early," added Jake quietly.

Graye gasped. "Wait, wait, did the date go so well you broke the timeline?!"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "We... came back early because reasons."

Selena just tightened her grip on him and nodded like a queen who required no explanations.

"What reasons?" Lia asked, crossing her arms with a pink flush. "You two said morning."

"Why? Miss me already?" Raven asked.

Lia instantly looked away. "Tch—As if! I was just—concerned! That’s all!"

"Sure," Siris drawled, flipping a dagger and catching it. "But seriously. Who needs that dramatic of a landing unless you were escaping assassins or something?"

"Yeah, I need to work on that landing," Raven muttered, nodding to himself.

"...Also, we may have fought a frost wolf the size of a two-story inn," Selena added casually.

"Oh, cool," said Graye, eyes sparkling. "Did you punch it?"

"Selena’s shadow ate its head," Raven added.

A beat.

Jessy blinked. "...Excuse me?"

Selena raised a dainty hand, and a shadow jaw the size of a carriage flickered briefly beneath her before vanishing.

"God, when did you get that?" Jessy took a step back.

Selena, however, smiled mysteriously. "You aren’t the only ones who were training, you know."

Jake nodded approvingly.

"I named that one Chewsday," Selena whispered. "He only eats enemies."

Clara sighed, pinching her nose. "You two always manage to escalate somehow."

"So?" Clara stepped forward, her expression curious. "How was the date?"

It was a question for Selena, and even Raven’s ears perked as he wasn’t able to get a perfect ending for the date.

He wondered if she didn’t like it.

Unlike what he had expected, Selena beamed. "It was the best day of my life."

Everyone could tell how genuine her feelings were because they all knew Selena. She never faked things—at least not before them.

"I’m glad you liked it," Raven smiled, relieved, making Selena grin.

"Mostly because you were romantic."

Before Raven could reply—

"I don’t think romance usually involves sky-blasting back from a date," Jessy muttered.

"It does now," Alex said proudly. "That was some cinema right there."

Nibbles pulled out a sign: "10/10 Landing. 1/10 Knees."

Raven groaned. "You guys are unbelievable."

"You love us," Clara said.

Selena smiled and leaned her head on Raven’s shoulder. "He does."

As the group filed back into the cave, a chorus of questions followed Raven.

"Did you at least eat something good?"

"Did Selena kiss you first, or did you—?"

"Did you really blow up a wolf?"

"Wait, was there an evil villain? Or just snow?"

Raven sighed, walking through the cave entrance with Selena still in his arms.

"...Next time, I’ll fake a date just to get some peace."

"Next time?" Selena echoed sweetly as she heard his whisper.

Raven froze. "H-Haha, I was kidding."

Selena squinted her eyes but didn’t say anything. She was satisfied with what she had.

They followed the group into the cave.

But before they could all walk in—

CLUCK!!

A loud sound was heard as everyone stepped out. Again.

WHOOOOSH—!!

A gust of wind blew a feather straight into Rufus’s face.

"GAH—!" He sputtered, wiping soot and dust off his helmet visor. "What now?! Another dramatic return?"

Graye pointed skyward, her head tilted.

"Uh... guys?"

A silhouette sliced through the misty clouds like the arrival of a divine omen. Wings the size of a carriage flapped with thunderous grace. Upon closer inspection—it was...

"...A giant... pigeon?" Jessy squinted.

"No," whispered Alex, squinting like he was experiencing divine revelation. "That’s... that’s a Roc Hawk. Level five beast. It has feathers like metal. Beak like doom. Wingspan of nightmares."

No one asked how Alex knew all that since they all knew that he had these small episodes now and then, when he turns so wise that even the Wiseman’s grandchild would feel ashamed.

Siris then asked a question that was on everyone’s mind. "...Why is it flying in slow circles around our cave?"

The answer arrived seconds later.

With a majestic caw and a somewhat less majestic flump, the Roc Hawk landed beside the cratered cave edge.

On its back stood a small, proud, two-foot-tall chicken. His scarlet scarf fluttered in the wind.

His feathers were perfectly preened. His eyes shimmered with sage-like wisdom—and undeniable poultry-based arrogance.

He raised a wing and bellowed in a shrill, regal tone, "Cluckles the Wise has ARRIVED!"

Everyone blinked.

"...He followed us?" Raven muttered.

Cluckles jumped off the Roc’s back and gently patted its talon. "Cluckles thanks the majestic sky turkey for its noble service. You are now free to pursue worm-based enlightenment."

The Roc gave a low rumble—like a contented coo—and launched skyward again, vanishing into the horizon with a shimmer of silver feathers.

Cluckles turned to the group, wings spread. "Cluckles has followed the smoke of destiny! This humble chicken now presents himself to the Meat-Giver!"

Raven massaged his temples. "You didn’t have to follow me all the way here, you know—"

"Cluckles must! A life debt binds stronger than egg whites on a hot pan!"

Jessy blinked. "Did... Did he just compare an oath to breakfast?"

"Yup," Rufus confirmed. "I’m not even mad. It made sense."

Jake nodded at those words.

Selena giggled, brushing her silver hair behind an ear. "Let him stay."

"Wait—what?!" Raven turned. "He’s a talking chicken!"

"A chicken that can talk to beasts and probably ask for help from them," Siris added.

"Honestly?" Clara said, crossing her arms. "That’s more useful than half of us when we started."

"Hey!" Several voices protested.

Graye kneeled beside Cluckles, eye-level. "Can you punch things?"

Cluckles puffed his chest. "Cluckles pecks with the fury of fallen suns!"

Graye gasped. "...That’s a yes."

Nibbles held up a sign: "NEW PARTY MEMBER UNLOCKED—CHICKEN GOD."

Raven sighed, already regretting everything.

"Fine. Just don’t wake me up at dawn with some rooster nonsense."

Cluckles nodded solemnly. "Cluckles shall only sing at the hour of existential truth."

"That’s worse," muttered Jake.

However, one thing was fixed now: the party gained a new, ridiculous companion—one scarfed, sage-like poultry whose presence somehow made sense in this ridiculous world.

Raven glanced up at the heavens.

"...Why is my life like this?"

Selena leaned her head on his arm. "Because fate’s a chicken."

Cluckles raised a wing to the sky.

"DESTINY PECKS AT THE DOOR!"

The cave echoed with laughter, groans, and the sound of one chicken trying to drag his bedroll inside with his beak.

It was going to be an interesting night.