Vortex Origins
Chapter 97: Duneheaven Reborn

Chapter 97: Duneheaven Reborn

The worm slammed its massive body sideways, toppling stone and bone alike. Then its mouth opened—wide enough to swallow a cart whole—and bit down.

Screams cut short.

Dozens vanished in an instant, torn from the world before they even knew what hit them.

Max clenched his fists and spun toward Eir.

"What now? People are dying!"

Eir staggered, both hands gripping his hair.

"I... I don’t know! We’re finished..."

Max’s eyes tracked the beast. Every tremor it made stirred memories of Dunehaven. The smoke. The blood. The faces he couldn’t save.

He wanted to run.

He wanted to freeze.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t let what happened to Dunehaven happen again.

He tapped the side of his wristband.

"Deploy Max Alpha and Max Beta."

A second later, the sky split open.

Two giant shapes descended, cutting through the dust like falling gods. Each one landed with a crash that cracked the stone beneath them. They towered above the crowd, sleek metal brutes. One bore the word Alpha carved across its chest in dark plating. The other, Beta.

Alpha lifted an arm. Its forearm split open, forming a glowing plasma blade that hissed in the air.

Without waiting for a command, it drove the blade straight into the worm’s flank.

The beast screamed—not with sound, but with pressure, like the sky itself had twisted.

Beta launched upward, its shoulder ports flaring to life. Beams of light tore from its cannons, crashing into the worm’s side in a storm of fire.

Max didn’t pause.

He turned to Eir.

"Get everyone to the hangar. It’s still the safest place left."

Eir nodded, dazed, then spun to the elders, shouting for movement.

Max looked skyward.

"Kael! Can you use your fire wall and block the northern path? Those things are almost here!"

Kael blinked once. Then a grin spread across his face.

"Ha! Why didn’t I think of that?"

He raised both arms.

The ground before the wall cracked open, and flame poured from the fractures. The fire stretched—slow and steady—forming a wall of heat and death. It clawed skyward, sealing off the northern breach with a curtain of fire.

Kael floated above it all, laughing.

"Am I awesome or what?"

Max exhaled, the pressure in his chest loosening. Just a little.

But he knew this wasn’t over. Not even close.

Another horn screamed from the southern wall.

Max froze.

Then fire roared from beneath his boots as his gear flared, launching him toward the source. Dust whipped around him as he flew, wind howling in his ears.

He landed hard on the battlements—and what he saw made his stomach twist.

More Hollowbound. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Rushing across the sands like a black tide, limbs like blades, eyes missing, faces hollow. Their bodies shimmered faintly, feeding off the soul energy in the air.

Max clenched his teeth.

"Kevin!" he shouted. "Can you wall this side off?"

Wings of light unfolded behind Kevin. He lifted off the ground, rising to Max’s side. His face held no fear, only ice.

"I can."

He raised a hand. A rush of cold swept over the wall. In seconds, a towering glacier burst from the ground, stretching far and wide, equal to Kael’s firewall.

But he didn’t stop there.

Kevin thrust his palm forward. The wall shuddered—then it began to move.

The air snapped with frost as the barrier crawled forward like a frozen tide. Every creature it touched slowed, stiffened, and shattered beneath the creeping weight of ice.

From across the battlefield, Kael watched.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I can do that too."

He outstretched his hands again.

The wall of flame surged forward, mimicking Kevin’s advance. Where fire met flesh, Hollowbound screeched, collapsing in smoldering heaps, bones and blades turning to ash.

Max stood between the two blazing fronts.

A breath escaped his lips. The walls were holding. Just one thing left.

He turned, eyes locking on the writhing worm still thrashing in the center of the settlement. Alpha and Beta were locked in battle with it, sparks and flesh flying.

Max lifted his voice, cold and sharp.

"Take it down."

His helmet snapped shut with a hiss of pressure.

"Let’s end this wave."

The air split with the sound of motion.

Alex raised both hands. Wind spiraled into a tight sphere, pulsing with force. He hurled it at the worm’s flank—only for it to break apart on impact, vanishing like mist against steel.

Mia knelt beside shattered stone, face pale. No time to call her golem. She pressed her palm to the dirt. Earth shifted. Jagged pikes erupted beneath the worm’s side, driving deep into its flesh.

Black blood hissed on stone.

A whisper echoed in Ash’s mind.

"[Soul Pool: 50%]"

He was already moving. The world dragged around him like it was trapped in tar. Faces blurred. Screams echoed behind glass. He pushed forward, cutting through the weight of time.

But then—he stopped.

Something cut his eye.

It was kael.

He stood still, hovering above the battlefield. His eyes locked on the horizon, wide.

Ash had seen him furious. Laughing. Cocky. But never like this.

Kael shouted into the wind.

"What the hell—why are there so many?!"

Max turned, following Kael’s gaze. And saw them.

Four shadows charged from the distant dunes, each towering like the worm... maybe worse.

The first thundered forward on a dozen legs—its golden armor gleaming like metal caught in firelight. A scorpion, massive and hateful. Its stinger glowed purple, pulsing like a heart.

Next came the salamander. Red as molten rock. It ran on two limbs, fire spilling from its maw. Its eyes burned—a fire that lived, not just devoured.

Then came the beast. Part wolf. Part gorilla. Pure power. Its roar shattered the wind, and each step cracked the land beneath it. The ground shook where it ran.

Last was silence.

A skeletal figure floated behind the others, wrapped in rotting robes. No feet touched the ground. No hands moved. It hovered with arms crossed behind its back, head tilted forward under a cracked crown. Magic flickered beneath it, a cold shimmer that warped the air.

Max stared.

His fists tightened.

"What the hell... what are they really after?"

The answer didn’t come. Only the sound of marching death.