Heir Of Chaos

The worm coiled on itself and launched at Dale like a spring.

The latter barely had time to react so he did what he could. He hardened his torso and shut his eyes as the mass of muscles slammed into him, sending him flying.

He barely managed to get his footing, skidding to a stop. Before he could gain his sense of direction, the worm was already on him again.

This time, he managed to coat himself with lightning, dodging at the last second.

As the worm landed beside him, it quickly unraveled its body, throwing a lot of sand into the air.

Dale shut his eyes again. ’How dastardly.’

If someone had told him a year ago that he’d be fighting against a worm that used dirty tricks just to avoid being killed, he would have called the person crazy.

And all this was because he was sure that the military wouldn’t share the crystals with anyone. In fact, he was sure that nobody aside from a select few was made aware of the existence of the crystals.

A massive force landed on his chest sending him flying back. He scraped his skin against the sand while trying to slow the speed at which he was launched.

He gritted his teeth and forced his right eye open. Sand particles entered it, sending waves of pain through him but it was worth it to see where the damn beast was.

’It is intelligent.’ Unfortunately, it seemed to be.

Dale pointed his saber at the worm and launched a lightning bolt at it.

The worm turned abruptly to swerve out of the way of the lightning bolt yet it suddenly changed direction and struck the hilt of the saber that was still stuck on it.

The sudden shock temporarily paralyzed the worm allowing Dale to close in on it.

Orange lightning coated him, turning his movements into a blur. He charged directly into the worm.

The beast sprang up and attacked again. Dale smiled and leaned forward.

Both arms lifted into the air and his right leg squatted while the left went to the side.

’The Winged Snake.’ He pivoted himself off his right foot, using the left to rotate himself.

As the worm passed by him, he reached for its head and gripped the handle of his saber. The thought of pushing it down further into its head flashed in his mind but he thought against it.

Dale pulled the blade out of its head.

With every second, it hurt more to keep his right eye open because of the grains of sand in it.

He would only close it after ensuring that there would be nothing that would also get rid of his left eye.

The worm recovered from its failed attack and shook its head, black blood dripping on either side.

"Not so nice is it when you’re the one with a nagging pain?" Dale tutted as he glared at the worm.

Admittedly, while the beast was clearly just Awakened, it was far more difficult to fight than Dale had imagined.

If the fight dragged on a little longer, he would escape. At least he had his weapons.

He tightened his grip around both sabers and lightning coated him and their edges.

Sweat ran down his forehead, making his already hurting eyes feel like hell. He had to end it soon.

The worm spun around, swinging its tail and sending a small wall of sand flying at him.

Dale sucked his teeth and jumped back to prevent it from entering his eyes. Before he could land, the wall of sand was breached by the encroaching worm.

He barely had time to cross his sabers as a last-minute, makeshift defense.

The worm slammed into him, sending him crashing into the sand.

His right eye involuntarily shut, forcing him to open his left eye just as the beast was in the air, aimed at him.

Dale rolled out the way, watching as rows of sharp, serrated teeth barely missed him. He had almost died a horrible death.

’That would have been horrible.’

With less than a meter between them, Dale couldn’t activate any of the weapon skills in time to prevent it from going underground.

He sucked his teeth and prepared for the pain as he used his ability skill. Energy Pulse ran into the sabers, making them flash bright orange for a split second.

A wave of lightning surged from the sabers in all directions, sending both Dale and the worm into involuntary convulsions.

All of Dale’s senses were shut down for a split second. In that time, he tried to grip his sabers.

By the time his vision came back, he could see his surroundings. Luckily, he was fine and still in one piece.

The same didn’t necessarily apply to the worm. The beast’s skin had become incredibly pale and waves of smoke rose from it.

Even the wound on its head had dried up.

Dale managed to push himself to his feet. He dragged himself forward and grabbed his saber as he approached the worm.

As he dug through its flesh, a frightening realization dawned on him. There was no crystal inside it.

"You have got to be kidding me!!" After going against his usual ideals of not putting himself in unnecessary danger, there was no reward.

He wanted to cry but that would take more water away from his body. With how tired he was, he felt as though he could pass out.

Naturally, he wouldn’t allow himself to. The moment he gave in, he would die.

If the heat didn’t kill him then a beast would. Dale pushed all emotions aside and gripped the handles of his sabers.

’I regret it.’ Had he known, he would have remained inside the watch tower where it was safer.

He leaned forward and let lightning coat him. Every muscle in his body ached from the last attack he had unleashed but at least he survived.

’Still not worth the effort.’ Then he dashed back to Watchtower One.

As soon as he got there, he locked the door behind him and dropped on the bed, passing out from exhaustion.

It didn’t take long before the lull of sleep pulled him in.

Barely two hours had passed when a knock on the door woke him up. Dale pushed himself off the bed and walked to the door.

He was about to open it when the situation hit him.

Firstly, he was in the middle of a dead zone, in a desert so it couldn’t be a random person. Secondly, the military would have told him if they were coming.

Not to mention that the person hadn’t even said anything.

He took a few steps back and grabbed his sabers, hiding them behind his back.

The person knocked again so Dale replied. "Hello? Ian is that you? You’re back early."

There was a moment of silence then a deep voice replied, "Yeah, it’s me. I realized I forgot something. Please open up."

That was the last bit of confirmation Dale needed. Something was definitely up.

"Okay, I’m coming. Let me find the key." He replied as he reached for the phone. As soon as he grabbed it, he started walking to the top floor to get a view of who was at the door.

Just as he went to the contact list and was about to dial, a loud bang boomed through the watch tower.

The door had been blown off its hinges.