Vortex Origins
Chapter 87: The Third creature wave - 5

Chapter 87: The Third creature wave - 5

Kael stood atop the final Lantern Maw, his fist buried in the creature’s ruined face. Black ichor coated his knuckles, still warm, still pulsing. Bone cracked beneath his blows until the skull gave in with a sick snap.

He rose to his feet, chest rising with each breath. Smoke curled from his arms.

"That was fun."

he turning toward the wall.

Then he froze.

Max.

The one-eyed brute had him pinned. Each of its fists came down like falling mountains, shaking the earth with every strike. Cracks spread across the battlefield. Max’s body was half-buried in the crater forming beneath him, motionless under layers of broken soil and stone.

The creature stopped. Breathing heavy. It turned its gaze to the wall and began to move.

Then—rumble.

It paused and looked back.

From the shattered earth, Max began to rise.

His armor was torn, pieces dangling from exposed circuitry. Sparks jumped across the gaps. Dirt and blood clung to him like war paint.

Max rolled his shoulder. A sharp breath escaped his cracked helmet.

"Well... that hurt. A little."

His voice was calm.

"Guess the damage reduction worked after all."

He faced the creature.

"Hey, We’re not done yet."

The one-eyed monster bellowed, its roar slicing through the battlefield. It lunged.

Something dropped from the sky—metal and momentum. A chest plate slammed against Max’s torso, locking in place with a magnetic snap. Nanobots hissed, crawling like silver veins across his body, rebuilding the armor in seconds.

Max launched backward, barely avoiding the creature’s grasp.

Then—impact.

A spear of gleaming metal dropped like divine judgment. It pierced through the monster’s wrist and slammed into the ground, pinning its arm in place. The beast staggered, snarling, trying to wrench itself free.

Max’s new suit gleamed beneath the battle-scarred sky. He stepped forward, boots crunching through shattered debris.

The creature strained. Muscles bulged. The pole didn’t move.

Max looked at the reflection dancing on its surface.

"Yeah."

His voice cold through the helmet.

"That’s not coming out."

The beast screamed and swung with its other hand.

Another spear fell.

It pinned the second arm clean through.

The monster thrashed, trapped like a beast in chains.

Max laughed under his breath. The sound was hollow through the helmet, distorted and sharp.

"You lost the moment that ship showed up."

He raised his arm. Fire sparked in his palm.

"This—"

He looked up at the ship above, a god in orbit.

"—is my domain now."

From above, the sky cracked open again.

Metal poles rained down like divine punishment. Each one found its mark—through flesh, through bone—driving the creature’s massive frame into the ground. The final pole struck its spine, and the tremor that followed rippled across the battlefield like the breath of a dying god.

Max stepped forward.

The creature twitched. Its one eye shifted slightly, locking on him. It wasn’t dead. Not yet.

Max met its gaze. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips beneath the helmet.

"Yeah, Don’t worry. It’s over now."

The last spear dropped from the clouds like the judgment of the stars.

It drove straight through the beast’s skull.

The creature jerked once, then went still.

Silence fell.

The battlefield held its breath—no sound except for distant blasts as the bots clashed with lingering tier four beasts. Smoke curled from broken machines. Ash drifted on the air.

Kael approached, his boots dragging through the scorched soil. He whistled low.

"Well... I’m impressed. You actually killed it."

Max didn’t answer.

Kael frowned and stepped closer.

"Max? You good?"

Max’s gaze stayed on the corpse.

"I heard it."

His voice low. Distant.

Kael raised an eyebrow.

Max took a step closer to the still-twitching corpse. Black blood pooled beneath it.

"’Abominable Titan. So that’s what it was called."

————

The northern gate groaned open.

Ash stepped out.

Smoke choked the air, thick and hot, curling around broken ground and scattered bodies. Gunfire cracked through the haze, sharp and endless. Screams followed.

He scanned the battlefield.

Chaos.

The teams were spread thin, barely holding the line. Their movements were sharp, desperate. Flames lit the wreckage, and ash fell like snow.

Then he saw him—Alex. No grin on his face now. Just focus. His eyes locked on a Grimhorn ahead.

The beast moved like a man—tall, lean, too intelligent. A jagged blade clutched in its hand. Its horned skull twisted as it lunged.

Alex’s arm split into wind. One smooth motion—he drove the blade of air straight through the creature’s chest. It collapsed.

But Alex didn’t relax.

Neither did the body.

Dark smoke bled from the Grimhorn’s corpse. Limbs twitched. Bones cracked. Then it rose again, eyes hollow, moving with something else’s will.

A puppet now.

Ash’s stomach turned as he watched Alex face it once more, blade ready.

Then he heard it—screeches, distant but growing.

He turned.

His eyes widened.

Above the smoke, the sky was breaking apart. Fire rained down. Insects the size of wolves dove from the clouds, wings ablaze, spitting flame.

Emberdrifts.

A swarm.

They didn’t come alone. They never did.

One crashed into the wall and was torn apart by a laser turret—but that wasn’t the end. A heartbeat later, it exploded in a blaze that swallowed two soldiers.

Ash’s hands clenched.

The problem with Emberdrifts wasn’t strength.

It was numbers.

And every time one died... it took more with it.

Ash turned, eyes locking onto a distant corner of the battlefield.

Mia stood her ground there—calm, focused. Her stone golems moved around her like giants of judgment, fists smashing through the wave of undead and Grimhorns. Each strike sent bones and black smoke flying.

To the right, Team Galeforce was locked in a brutal clash. They faced a towering knight clad in pitch-black armor. One sword. One presence. But even that was enough. The team’s movements had slowed—shoulders sagging, steps dragging. Their breaths came hard. This wasn’t a battle to win.

It was a battle to break them.

Ash turned again, scanning the edge of the wall.

Julia.

She moved with sharp precision, eyes hard and body rooted like a fortress. Wind blades tore through undead as they tried to climb the barrier. Her hands never stopped moving. The air around her shimmered, bending to her will.

Then she looked his way.

A flicker of a smile. A small wave.

Ash nodded.

He took one step toward the field—

And froze.

Julia let out a cry.

A black blade had pierced her from behind. Blood stained the wind.

Ash’s heart dropped.

Behind her stood another black knight. Taller. Silent. Its armor was thick like shadow made solid, and the face behind the helm was lost to darkness.

Ash turned back toward Team Galeforce—still battling their own.

His chest tightened.

’There were two of them.’