Talent Awakening: Draconic Overlord Of The Apocalypse

He scanned the horizon, the eerie red mist curling around the edges of his vision like tendrils.

“And if I die,” he added quietly, “it’s going to be while fighting. Not starving to death like a trapped rat.”

“As expected of you, guildmaster,” Marcus growled, resting his massive blade against his shoulder. Blood—old and new—streaked across his armor. “Just give the word. I’ll clear a path even if I have to punch through a wall.”

Jarek groaned as he pushed himself back up. His shoulder popped. “You’re starting to sound like Naomi…”

“Naomi is brave, but wouldn’t have gotten us this far, the guildmaster has saved us multiple times already.” the silver haired woman, Gina muttered, her voice raspy from overuse.

She reloaded the core crystals on the side of her twin speaker cannons—massive black devices shaped like gothic megaphones mounted on gauntlets along her forearms. The wires wrapped around her spine flickered with violet pulses, reacting to her mana.

“Once we hit the bottom, I’ll clear us a path,” she added, rolling her shoulders. “You’ll want to plug your ears again.”

Jarek snorted. “Don’t worry. I’ve already gone half-deaf since the last time you screamed.”

“Then this next one’s on the house.”

Arden turned his head slightly, the faint green glow of his tired eyes cutting through the red mist as he looked back at Gina. “Can you tell what we’re walking into?”

Gina exhaled through her nose, adjusting one of the speaker cannons strapped to her arms. The wires snaking down her back flickered again, this time with a dull reddish hue.

“Not exactly,” she said, narrowing her eyes toward the distant ruined city below. “I’ve been trying to ping it with mana waves, but whatever’s down there… it’s definitely far stronger then what we’ve been facing so far.”

Arden’s brow furrowed.

“But I’ll say this,” she continued, her voice low. “There is something down there. It’s not just a mindless boss. It’s… Intelligent and it’s waiting.”

That made Warner shift uneasily, running a hand through his matted black hair. “Great. That’s what we needed. A psychotic dungeon core.”

Jarek clicked his tongue, tapping his fists together. “Long as it bleeds, I’ll knock its eyes right out of its skull.”

Gina smirked faintly, but the weight in her eyes didn’t fade. “Don’t underestimate it. Whatever it is, it’s not just sitting there. It’s waiting.”

She turned toward Arden, voice quieter. “And it knows we’re coming.”

Warner chuckled dryly, pulling a chunk of earth from the ground beside him with a sharp, upward tug of his palm. It shaped itself into a jagged broadsword, then split into six spinning shards. They hovered behind his back in a slow rotation. “Let’s keep chatter to a minimum. I can feel the vibrations under us. We’re not alone up here.”

“On me,” Arden commanded, his tone leaving no room for protest.

He descended the cracked slope first, green flames licking the soles of his boots, helping him slow-slide across the uneven terrain with controlled grace. The others followed.

But just then, he heard that strange sound again.

BZZZZZZZZZT.

He winced, his breath hitching as the familiar, intrusive static flooded his senses. His vision wavered—colors twisting, edges blurring—before a voice, distorted and ancient, spoke directly into his mind:

[Aspirant…]

[You stand at the threshold of a House-hold Domain.]

Arden’s jaw clenched. The world around him seemed to still, the buzz tunneling deep into his brain like a drill of raw information and weightless pressure.

[Warning… You do not possess a family name.]

[You are unclaimed. Unsanctioned. Without Crest or Contract.]

The voice echoed, layered like it was being spoken by a thousand mouths at once, all from different eras.

[Entry into a House-hold Domain without such binds is an act of desecration.]

[Proceed, and the Domain will judge you accordingly.]

Just as suddenly as it started, the buzz snapped out of his ear, leaving a soft ringing in its place. The red mist swirled back into motion. The world returned to its grim, crimson silence.

“…Tch.” Arden exhaled sharply and rubbed the side of his temple.

“Arden?” Gina stepped closer, her brow creased. “You okay?”

He gave a curt nod, eyes focused on the ruin ahead. “Yeah… no need to worry.”

They continued onward.

The mist thickened.

Then came the sound. Wet, dragging feet. Low, clicking growls. And then—too late—a screech.

“CONTACT!” Arden roared, slamming his foot down, sending a pulse of emerald flame to burst out around him in a wave. The fire cut a line through the mist, revealing a grotesque creature mid-pounce—jaws wide, limbs stretched unnaturally.

BANG—! A violet shockwave exploded through the valley as Gina stepped forward and screamed into her speakers. Her mouth opened wide, voice raw and full of rage. The sonic burst shot out in a concentrated cone, the pressure so intense it ripped the monster in half from the chest outward. Blood and bone splashed backward like a peeled fruit.

Behind her, Rainer, the water-elementalist with his short, tousled brown hair and piercing blue eyes, stepped forward into the fog. He pivoted on his left foot, twisting his right arm outward as a stream of water spiraled from the canisters strapped to his back. It wrapped around his wrist like a coiling whip. With a sharp flick of his fingers, the water hardened into a needle-thin lance, then fired forward, piercing through another monster’s skull.

To his left, Warner’s six earth blades launched forward at once, cutting horizontal lines through the mist. Each slice was a calculated arc—one blade cut low through the knees, another diagonally through the chest, while the third and fourth spun outward like buzzsaws, keeping the creatures from closing in. The last two hovered near him, forming a defensive cross as he gestured and repositioned them with practiced motions of his hands.

To the far right, Logan roared with laughter, swinging his chain-spiked mace. The iron ball, coated in a faint crimson glow, whipped through the air in an arc from left to right, smashing into two monsters’ heads in a single swing. Their skulls exploded like melons. The chain pulled tight as he yanked it back, then threw it forward again, this time low and sweeping, taking out the knees of a charging beast.

“Marcus! Behind you!” Warner yelled.

Marcus, heard and instantly noticed the danger, twisted his body on the balls of his feet and swung his sword in a full, 360-degree spin—his strength creating a shockwave that cleaved three monsters clean in half. His eyes burned with fatigue, but his stance never faltered.

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