Chapter 50: Sensory Disruptor

Craig collapsed onto his knees, the cold ash of the forest floor swirling around him as he struggled to catch his breath.

His battle suit was torn to ribbons, soaked in a mixture of his own blood and the black, viscous fluid of the dead alpha.

Sweat dripped down his nose, stinging his eyes as he stared intently at the quiet, mangled corpse resting before him.

This was the second 1st-Tier Abomination with an awakened trait that he had slain completely on his own in his new life.

The first had been the Demon of Speed back during his awakening—a kill that had unlocked his terrifying Draconic Devourer skill.

Now, standing over this massive, fallen apex beast, that same primal, instinctual hunger flared up from the deep abyssal roots of his core.

It was a suffocating, undeniable urge to consume, to digest, and to claim the beast’s power for himself.

Ignoring the agonizing pain throbbing through his fractured arms and crushed legs, Craig dragged his broken body across the dirt.

He reached the side of the alpha rhino and, without a single second of hesitation or disgust, drove his sharp dragon claws into the tough, scorched hide.

He began to dissect the creature with brutal efficiency.

Handful by handful, bite by bite, Craig devoured the abomination.

He tore into the raw, mana-rich muscle, drank the thick black blood, and chewed through the stone-hard bones, his draconic jaw easily grinding the dense skeletal structure into dust.

He ate with frantic, mechanical focus, leaving zero scraps behind.

Every scrap of hide, meat, horn, and marrow was consumed entirely.

The moment the last piece of bone slid down his throat, a sharp, blinding light flickered in his dark vision.

[ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE CONSUMED A TARGET ORGANISM ]

[ INITIATING DIGESTION MODE... ]

The familiar, transparent cyan panel materialized before his eyes, glowing brightly amidst the dark mist of the Jeju Forest.

Immediately, a wave of liquid fire erupted within Craig’s stomach, surging through his bloodstream like molten steel.

Under ordinary circumstances, consuming raw, unrefined Abomination flesh would instantly corrupt a human’s mana core, rotting their internal organs and turning them into a mindless ghoul within minutes.

However, beneath the influence of his draconic nature, the process was entirely different.

Craig threw his head back, his eyes glowing a blinding gold as his core went to work.

The raw, toxic abyssal properties infecting the consumed flesh were violently dissolved, neutralized, and refined into rivers of pure, radiant mana.

His internal reserves expanded exponentially, doubling, then tripling in size, filling his core until it buzzed with terrifying density.

Simultaneously, the biological restructuring began.

Inside his shattered limbs, bones snapped back into alignment with loud, wet clicks.

Torn muscles, ruptured tendons, and bruised internal organs knit themselves together at visible speed.

The lacerations across his chest closed, leaving behind pristine, unblemished skin.

The deep fatigue weighing down his mind vanished instantly, replaced by an overwhelming surge of biological vitality.

Craig slowly pushed himself up, stepping off the blood-soaked soil and rising to his feet.

He held up his hands, flexing his fingers and rotating his shoulders as he thoroughly examined his reconstructed body.

Every single wound had vanished.

His limbs felt stronger, denser, and infinitely more responsive.

He felt remarkably lighter than before, as if gravity itself had lost a fraction of its hold on his frame.

The glowing cyan screen flashed once more, updating its text in real-time.

[ DIGESTION MODE COMPLETE ]

[ ASSIMILATION WITH 1ST-TIER ABOMINATION: SUCCESSFUL ]

[ YOU HAVE AWAKENED A NEW TALENT ]

• Talent: Sensory Disruptor (A-Grade)

• Status: Awakened

• Description: Temporarily disrupts the senses of a designated target by linking a specific body part of the host to a corresponding sense of the target. When activated, the sensory block remains absolute until the linked body part of the host suffers physical damage.

Craig read through the description line by line, a dark, wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Sensory Disruptor... an A-Grade Talent," Craig chuckled, his voice low and vibrating with excitement. "So that’s why that beast was so terrifyingly destructive. It linked its three heads to my primary senses."

He ran a hand through his messy crimson hair, connecting the dots of his previous battle.

"The moment I crushed its middle head, the link broke, and my vision returned instantly... Thank goodness I possess the Draconic Devourer skill. Taking the core traits of my prey directly into my own origin is an absolute cheat."

He looked up toward the dark obsidian clouds above, his eyes narrowing with grand ambition. ’If I keep hunting and devouring high-tier targets like this, I will easily accumulate at least a hundred powerful talents before the Second Apocalypse arrives.’

"My Lord! Lord Craig!"

A loud, frantic shout shattered Craig’s train of thought.

’Huh?’

Craig turned his head toward the southern tree line.

Bursting through the burning iron-wood thickets on horseback were Ser Hughway and Ser Gunther.

Both Rankers were covered in black beast blood, their eyes wide with intense anxiety as they galloped wildly toward the smoking clearing.

Seeing Craig standing alone amidst the scorched earth, Ser Hughway leapt off his charging stallion before it even came to a complete stop, slamming onto the ground and rushing toward his young master with his sword held low.

Ser Hughway came to a skidding halt right in front of Craig, the heavy steel of his boots plowing through ash and dirt.

His breath came in ragged, panicked hitches beneath his visor, and for a terrifying second, his heart skipped a beat.

He stared at the fifteen-year-old Viscount with an expression of unadulterated horror.

Craig was stood in the center of an absolute slaughterhouse, his dark crimson battle suit so thoroughly drenched in thick, viscous black blood that the original leather was barely visible.

Surrounding him were the mangled, gutted remains of seven 1st-Tier Three-Headed Rhinos—including the colossal, headless carcass of an Alpha variant whose chest looked like it had been struck by a siege weapon.

Yet, despite looking like he had stepped straight out of the deepest pit of the Abyss, Craig simply stood there with a relaxed posture.

Noticing his Guardian Knight’s wide, trembling eyes, Craig subtly flashed him a playful wink.

"M-My Lord..." Ser Hughway choked out, his hand trembling slightly on the hilt of his broadsword as Ser Gunther finally caught up, his eyes bulging at the sight of the butchered herd.

"By the gods... what in the world happened here?!"