Talent Awakening: Draconic Overlord Of The Apocalypse

The air was thick with the scent of rotting meat and rusted iron. The crimson mist slithered through their ranks like a living thing, curling around their bodies, filling their lungs. It burned. It hurt.

Rael’s vision flickered with static as his HUD struggled to process the environment. Readings were corrupted. The life signs of his squad pulsed in and out, as if the very air was erasing them.

Then, the first one appeared.

A Union soldier. Or what was a Union soldier.

The tatters of a Union uniform clung to a body that was wrong. Its flesh rippled like something was crawling beneath it. Its fingers had fused into jagged, blood-soaked blades. Its jaw hung loose, unhinged, its teeth lengthened into shards of broken bone.

It should not have been alive.

It should not have been moving.

But it was.

Then, the mist shivered.

And they emerged.

One. Five. Dozens.

Once-men, their bodies bloated and twisted beyond reason, their bones jutting through their skin like spikes. Some dragged themselves across the ground with shattered limbs, laughing in wet, gurgling gasps. Others had too many eyes, lining their arms and necks, twitching and darting in every direction.

The Blue Seals froze.

Joran clenched his shield, his voice tight. “This isn’t right—this isn’t—”

The creatures screamed.

Not one at a time. Together.

Then they charged.

Rael barely had time to yell before the first of them crashed into their lines.

Gunfire roared. Flesh burst. Limbs snapped backward from the impact. Black ichor splattered across the ground. But they didn’t die.

They didn’t die.

Joran caved in a skull with his shield—only for the splattered remains to writhe. The thing’s arms spasmed, its spine bent backward, and then it kept moving.

Kell buried his daggers into a lung—only for the creature to grab his wrists, snap his fingers apart, and drive its teeth into his throat.

“GAHHH—”

Viessa shot the thing off him. Half its head detonated. It hit the ground—then it twitched. Bone snapped back into place. It rose again.

“They’re not staying down!” she screamed.

Rael turned—only to see another soldier burst apart, his armor peeling open like wet paper. His body twitched, veins swelling, boiling beneath his skin. His helmet cracked as his skull pushed outward, forming jagged horns of exposed bone.

His fingers twitched.

And then—he turned on them.

“Oh, fk—”

Viessa pulled the trigger.

The bullet punched through his forehead. He fell.

Then she turned to Rael, her hands shaking.

“They’re—” her breath was ragged. “They’re changing. We’re breathing this in.”

Rael’s gut twisted. The mist was alive. It was infecting them.

Another scream.

He turned—just in time to see Joran ripped in half.

The creature that had done it stood taller than the rest. It wore what used to be a Union officer’s uniform—now in shredded ribbons, fused with its flesh. Its grin was too wide, its teeth layered in rows, spiraling down its throat.

It raised one jagged hand.

And the mist moved.

The ground shook. Bodies twitched. The fallen rose again.

Viessa’s rifle trembled in her hands. “Rael…”

The thing’s grin widened. It didn’t speak. It didn’t need to.

It was letting them understand.

There was no victory. No salvation.

No one was coming for them.

The only fate that awaited them was to join the horde.

…

…

White Comet Guild – Strategic Command Room

The massive strategy room was cast in dim, ambient lighting, the only source of illumination coming from the flickering holographic table in the center. The air was thick with tension.

Alister stood with his arms crossed, his sharp gaze locked onto Yuuto, who stood atop an elevated podium, ready to address them. Seated around the holographic table were the team leaders of the White Comet Guild—Ren, Hiroshi, Kaida, Goro, and Razorgrin, each with their respective teams standing behind them.

Yuuto’s expression was grim. “Aiko, kill the lights.”

Aiko, standing near the control panel, flicked a switch. The room went dark, except for the ghostly blue glow of the holographic display. A 3D map of Sector I materialized, rotating slowly. A specific area—the third ring—blinked a menacing red.

Yuuto exhaled as he waved his hand and caused it to zoom in. “Last night, there was an attack in a hospital here.”

The room stayed silent.

“Recently, strange dungeons have been appearing, causing disappearances. But this…” He tapped the podium, and the hologram shifted to a distorted security feed. “This is different.”

The footage was glitchy, flickering, but the horror it displayed was unmistakable.

A hospital hallway. Blood smeared on the floor. Dim flickering lights.

In the center of the frame, a man convulsed violently, his skin stretching grotesquely, as though something inside was trying to tear free. His veins pulsed bright red, bulging unnaturally.

A squad of Union officers stepped forward, weapons raised.

The creature’s head snapped toward them.

Then it moved.

Too fast.

It lunged.

In an instant, bones cracked, flesh tore, armor crumpled like paper. Screams filled the hallway. One officer—his leg half-severed—tried to crawl away, dragging his mangled body across the floor.

But then—his own fingers twitched.

His veins darkened. His body jerked uncontrollably. He let out a distorted, gurgling wail, his jaw unhinging as his eyes rolled back into his skull.

Then, he turned on his comrades.

The footage froze.

Yuuto’s voice was heavy. “According to the Union, this patient was supposed to be put down. Instead, it wiped out nearly the entire squad. Worse—those who were wounded mutated.”

Silence followed—thick, suffocating.

Alister narrowed his eyes at the footage.

A sudden pulse surged through his body. His vision sharpned, and then—

A dragon skull crest burned into his irises, a sensation like molten gold igniting in his pupils.

⫷『WARNING: You have encountered a Major Calamity—The Calamity of Death.』⫸

⫷『Cause of Mutation: Spread through blood. Exposure to infected mist accelerates transformation. Mutated humans burn their souls as fuel to animate their corrupted bodies. There is no cure. Only death.』⫸

⫷『Rate of transformation depends on magical aptitude. The higher the aptitude, the faster the transformation. Lower aptitude delays mutation.』⫸

⫷『The Dragon Race is immune.』⫸

Alister tensed.

His future self’s warning echoed in his mind.

‘Look out for the Major Calamities. Stop them, not only that, devour them, their power will be essential.’

Ren was the first to speak, his voice sharp. “This isn’t normal. What’s the nature of this mutation? How does it spread? Through bites? Blood? Airborne?”

Yuuto clenched his jaw. “We’re still trying to understand it. Not everyone mutates at the same rate. Some change instantly. Others take hours. As for how it spreads…” He hesitated.

Then, “One of our own got infected.”

A flicker of shock. Unease.

The hologram shifted again.

A hospital bed. Pale skin. Tubes and monitors beeping softly.

A young woman lay unconscious.

A pulsating red mark throbbed on her shoulder.

Alister’s breath hitched.

Lila.

Kaida immediately stepped forward. “Lila?! What the hell happened to her?”

Yuuto’s fists tightened. “She was injured during a visit to the hospital. The mutation has already begun.”

Kaida’s face darkened. “Is there a cure?”

Yuuto exhaled slowly. “The Union’s best alchemists are working on it. They’ve sent samples to top alchemists in every guild, including ours. They’re sharing everything they know. But right now?” He locked eyes with each of them. “There’s no cure yet.”

Silence.

Alister narrows his eyes again.

The system flared again.

⫷『WARNING: Subject is infected. Time until complete mutation—2 Days.』⫸

⫷『Only known cure: Dragonification.』⫸

⫷『Your trait: Fateless is reacting.』⫸

Alister’s jaw tightened.

‘Giving her my blood…?’ he muttered under his breath.

“It spreads through blood,” Alister suddenly spoke.

The room fell silent.

All eyes turned toward him.

Alister stepped forward, his voice cold, sharp. “If their blood touches a human, infection occurs. If a human gets wounded by them, they’re infected. If someone inhales mist created by the infected blood, they’re infected. Those with higher magical aptitude transform faster. Those with lower aptitude take longer, but they will turn all the same.”

The weight of his words settled like lead in the room.

Ren slowly adjusted his glasses, his sharp eyes gleaming behind the lenses. “That’s an… awfully detailed assessment.”

He studied Alister carefully. There was something unnerving in his gaze.

Ren’s voice was light, but there was an edge to it. “How exactly did you come to such a deduction?”

Alister met his gaze, his dragon eyes burning.

“Dragon magic.”

A slight tension filled the room.

Ren’s fingers twitched slightly before he chuckled. “As expected of our rising star.”

Some of the others exhaled, but Ren himself was still watching Alister closely.

Yuuto cleared his throat, refocusing the discussion. “Then we need to adjust our strategy immediately. We’ll double patrols around all known dungeon sites. No one moves alone. If you see signs of infection, you put them down. No hesitation.”

Hiroshi smiled as he asked, “Did your dragon magic also tell us if there was a cure for those turned?”

“Only death.” Alister said plainly.

“Yikes. That means we can’t afford to take any hits.”

Goro folded his arms. “You mentioned strange dungeons appearing. Are they connected to this?”

Yuuto nodded. “Possibly. Every report of a mutation so far has occurred near a dungeon. But the problem is…” He gestured toward the hologram.

A red portal.

“After attacking, the infected return to these.”

Razorgrin leaned forward. “And we have no idea where or when they’ll come back out?”

“Exactly.”

Alister, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. “Then our next course of action is obvious.”

All eyes turned to him.

“We increase patrols. We station squads near all known dungeon sites. If the infected return, we put them down before they spread.”

Yuuto nodded. “Agreed. I’ll personally be joining patrols.”

That made Kaida frown. “You? You’re joining us, Guildmaster?”

Yuuto’s expression was firm. “The people here need to feel safe. They can’t live in fear of whether they’ll wake up tomorrow.”

Ren nodded, his analytical mind already working. “Then we need a strategy. Patrol teams should rotate shifts to avoid exhaustion. We need an immediate response unit in case of an outbreak.”

Hiroshi added, “And we need containment measures. If someone is infected, we need a quarantine protocol.”

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