Vortex Origins
Chapter 56: Chaos at sandworms valley - 1

Chapter 56: Chaos at sandworms valley - 1

Nightfall strangled the desert in its grip, the cold creeping in as the wind hissed through the dunes. The caravan moved as one, their footsteps crunching against the shifting sand. Every breath felt heavy, every shadow stretched too long.

Max’s fingers curled into fists.

’There has to be a way out this situation.’

His mind clawed for a solution, but the weight of exhaustion made it hard to think.

Ash trailed behind, his sharp gaze cutting through the darkness. Then—his eyes widened.

’There.’

He vanished.

The next instant, he reappeared at the front, the air around him still humming from the afterimage of his movement.

"I see it!"

His voice cut through the thick tension.

"We’re close!"

Ahead, the dunes gave way to jagged rock formations—the boundary. The end of Sandworm Valley.

A ripple of hope spread through the group. Their steps quickened, the distant escape pulling them forward.

Then—

A shudder beneath their feet.

Someone’s voice broke.

"It’s... awake."

The cart trembled. A groan of shifting stone. The worm strapped to it—the Creature they thought they had beaten. That all this was finally over—was stirring.

Panic ignited. The caravan shattered into chaos.

People ran. A mad, desperate sprint. Sand kicked up in thick clouds, blurring their forms as they fled toward salvation.

Max’s heart slammed against his ribs.

"Wait! Don’t go too—"

CRUNCH!

The sound didn’t echo. It was swallowed.

A man at the front—gone.

One step too far. That’s all it took.

The sand had opened beneath him, a maw of glistening teeth breaking the surface. A sandworm—not the one they carried—one that had been waiting.

It surged up, the man’s scream severed before it fully formed. Blood misted the air. The worm’s jagged maw clenched, crushing its prey before it slipped—slow, deliberate—back into the sand.

The desert fell silent.

The worm hadn’t left. It was Watching them. Waiting for anyone who would dare step out of their safe zone.

And they were still in its territory.

Max’s nails bit into his palms. His teeth ground together.

"Everyone—STAY STILL!"

His voice ripped through the air.

Everything stopped.

The desert itself seemed to hold its breath.

The sand quivered beneath their feet. Something massive shifted in the deep.

Then, the tier 6 sandworm rose.

A grotesque behemoth, its slick, eyeless head gleamed under the moonlight. Chitinous plates overlapped in uneven ridges, pulsing as if the creature itself was breathing. The thing didn’t move, didn’t attack—just loomed, silent and watching.

Kael stood too close. Far too close. Yet, he grinned.

"I’ve been waiting to fight you."

Max’s gut twisted.

’Wrong. Something is wrong.’

The worm... didn’t strike.

It was waiting.

A sick realization crept up Max’s spine, freezing the air in his lungs.

Then the sandworm turned its head—not at them—toward the endless abyss of Sandworm Valley.

Max spun toward Ash. His stomach dropped.

"Ash! Get everyone out sandworms valley—NOW!"

No hesitation.

The voice echoed in his mind.

"[Activating Skill: Phantom’s Stride]"

Ash vanished. A blur through the dark, a phantom in motion. He grabbed people—ripping them from their spots, pulling them away, faster than the eye could follow.

Max turned back.

"Kael, stop it! Don’t let that thing escape!"

Kael’s smirk faded.

"Escape?"

The worm plunged into the earth.

A quake ripped through the valley. Sand surged in waves. The ground convulsed, splitting at the seams.

Max’s blood turned cold.

’No. No. No.’

Then—

The world exploded.

Sand erupted in thick, suffocating clouds. The air filled with something far worse.

Screeches.

Deep, bone-chilling, ear-shattering screeches.

The dunes came alive.

Maws burst from the earth—not one. Not two.

Dozens.

A swarm.

Each one writhed, their gaping maws stretching wide—flesh-ripping, bone-crushing monstrosities.

Screams tore through the night.

Limbs disappeared into rows of jagged teeth. Blood spattered across shifting dunes. The scent of iron tainted the air.

The night had become a bloodbath.

The air was thick with the sounds of bodies being torn apart—the sickening crunch of bone, the wet slurp of flesh being consumed. The sand, once golden and untouched, was now stained deep red, gleaming in the moonlight like something alive.

Ash stood frozen. His chest tightened, his throat constricting with every scream, every desperate cry for mercy. He had seen death before, but never like this. Not with such ferocity, not with such speed. It wasn’t even a fight. It was slaughter.

Then a sharp grip yanked him back.

Max’s face, tight with fury, filled his vision.

"Ash! Snap out of it! Get everyone out—NOW!"

The command tore through the haze in Ash’s mind. His heart pounded in his ears.

"[Activating Skill: Phantom’s Stride]"

Ash was a blur—a shadow among the chaos. He moved faster than the eye could follow, snatching up the survivors and dragging them away from the carnage.

His feet barely touched the sand as he weaved through the wreckage—sliding past snapping jaws, dodging whips of sand that lashed at the air.

Every time he reached the edge of the valley, he would drop them, then vanish again—into the nightmare.

But it wasn’t enough.

More were still dying.

Kael was fire incarnate.

He stood amid the chaos, his body ablaze, golden flames licking up his arms like serpents, his form a radiant, living inferno. A massive sandworm shot from the earth, mouth wide, ready to swallow him whole.

Kael didn’t flinch.

He waited.

Then—

BOOM.

A violent explosion of flames erupted from his hands, the sheer force of it turning the sand to glass. The worm’s skull shattered like fragile bone, the creature convulsing in its death throes before crashing back to the earth, its body splitting and smoldering.

Kael let out a breath.

"Next."

Another worm erupted from the ground, this one bigger, faster, meaner.

It struck in an instant.

Kael rolled away just in time, his body hitting the ground with a hard thud. He slammed his palms into the earth.

A wave of fire ripped through the valley—the air was suffocating, scorching. Sands melted under the intensity of the blast. The smell of charred flesh filled Ash’s nose, mixing with the heavy stench of burning earth.

Still, the worms kept coming.

Too many.

Too fast.

The valley had become a graveyard, its sands consumed by monsters and the cries of the dying. Ash could only keep moving, pulling survivors from the abyss, one after the other—until he couldn’t.

Max’s eyes scanned the battlefield, desperation creeping in. The screams, the chaos—it was all too much.

He had no more tricks left. No more options.

And then, he saw them.

A small group of survivors—veinflow users. They were battered, faces pale, eyes wide with terror. Weak, but alive.

Max’s breath quickened.

"You—can any of you fight?"

A young man, hands shaking, stepped forward.

"I—I can move earth... but not much..."

Max’s teeth ground together.

"Then move it. Now."

The earth user hesitated, but the look in Max’s eyes was enough. He gulped, his fingers curling into fists. Then he slammed them into the ground.

A massive jagged wall of stone shot up from the earth, blocking the path of an oncoming sandworm—if only for a moment.

It wasn’t much—but it was something.

The ground trembled as the worm’s massive head appeared, its grotesque mouth opening wide, snapping at the wall.

Not enough.

The others moved quickly. An ice users stepped forward, their hands raised in unison. A frigid wind howled through the air as they froze the ground beneath the worm, making it harder for the creature to burrow back under the earth.

Earth users followed, flinging jagged shards of rock, the sharp stones slamming into the worm’s body, but it barely slowed.

It wasn’t about winning.

It was about buying time.

Ash reappeared beside Max, his breath ragged, his skin slick with sweat.

"Almost... done..."

Max barely heard him. His eyes were fixed on the battlefield, where the worms continued to rise, one after another.

Another scream shattered the night.

A young woman—one of the ice users—was snatched from the ground. Her body was lifted, arms flailing as she screamed for help.

Max’s chest tightened, his muscles tensing. He pushed forward, toward her, but he was too slow.

The worm’s mouth snapped shut with a deafening crack.

The woman’s screams were silenced as her body disappeared into the abyss between the creature’s jagged teeth. Blood sprayed across the sand, dark and slick.

Max’s stomach churned. He turned away, his hands clenched into fists, his heart pounding with rage.

Kael’s flames continued to burn—wild, untamed. Ash was a blur, moving faster than any man had a right to.

But Max knew the truth.

They weren’t fast enough.

And the worms weren’t stopping.