Chapter 543: Radiated Giant Sandworm

The sky hung low and dim, casting a bleak shadow over the desolate land. Scattered bones lay half-buried in the dirt—skulls strewn across the ground like forgotten relics of a massacre.

In the distance, a group of people on horseback slowly made their way forward.

“So this is the radiation zone?” Chris glanced around, his tone casual. “Looks more like a wasteland to me. Doesn’t seem all that special.”

“This is just the buffer zone,” Aiden replied, eyes scanning the surroundings with caution. “We haven’t reached the real radiation area yet.”

“Oh, relax. You’ve got me here—nothing’s gonna happen,” Chris said with a grin, trying to reassure him.

But somehow, that only made Aiden look more nervous…

Ethan was also surveying the area. The place was dead silent, not a single sign of life. The only thing breaking the monotony were faint footprints in the dirt—evidence of vampires having rushed through here.

Where they’d gone, though, was anyone’s guess…

Elara, walking near the center of the group, was fiddling with a small device in her hand, scanning for radiation levels.

Brandon turned to her. “Hey Elara, if a human gets exposed to radiation, do they turn into some kind of monster?”

“Depends on the person,” she replied. “Awakeners have stronger bodies—light exposure won’t do much. But… if you stay in this kind of environment too long, well, that’s a different story.”

“Shit…” Aiden sucked in a breath, clearly spooked. “Then let’s not hang around.”

They kept chatting as they moved forward. At first, everything seemed fine—no threats, no surprises. But after a while, a foul, metallic stench began to fill the air.

The ground beneath their feet, once a dull yellow-brown, had turned a deep, uneven red. Some patches were still wet.

“What the hell…?”

Everyone’s brows furrowed. With their experience, they could tell right away—it was the smell of blood. The ground was torn up, scarred with trenches and signs of battle.

A brutal fight had gone down here. So much blood had soaked into the earth, it had stained the soil crimson.

“This must’ve been where Gunner led the Vampire Horde, right?” Mia asked.

Ethan nodded. “Yeah. I can still sense traces of them.”

“But if the battle was that intense,” Chris said, puzzled, “why aren’t there any bodies? Not even a bone.”

Ethan answered offhandedly, “Probably got eaten. All of them.”

“What?!”

Everyone froze, horrified. It was hard to believe.

The blood alone suggested a massacre—dozens, maybe hundreds of corpses. But for them to be completely devoured? What kind of creature could do that?

From the tracks left behind, it was clear: after Gunner led his horde of a hundred thousand zombies out of the city, this was where they clashed with something—and took heavy losses.

“Let’s hope it was a mutual kill,” Chris muttered. “Vampires dead, and whatever ate them died too.”

They stepped onto the blood-soaked ground. The soil was soft, almost spongy—probably from being soaked in blood. Every step left a deep print, and their boots were quickly caked in red mud.

Other than that, though, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The tension in the group began to ease.

Chris smirked. “Looks like Lady Luck’s on our side. Whatever monster was here must be long gone—or dead.”

“Uncle Chris, would you shut that jinx mouth of yours already?” Brandon shot back.

“Come on, when have I ever jinxed anything?” Chris scoffed.

But Elara suddenly frowned. “Something’s coming.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Everyone turned to her, confused.

Then they saw it—the device in her hand was flashing red, beeping rapidly. Radiation levels were spiking.

At the same time, the ground began to tremble—like the first warning of an earthquake. The soft, red earth started to ripple and shift.

Something massive was moving beneath them.

“It’s underground!” Elara shouted.

And then the earth exploded.

Thick, fleshy tentacles burst from the ground—each one nearly sixty feet tall and as wide as two people hugging it. They were grotesquely muscular, pulsing with life.

At the tip of each tentacle, the flesh peeled back like petals, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth—like gaping, monstrous mouths.

“What the hell is that?!”

Everyone’s eyes went wide. They’d seen their share of horrors, but nothing like this.

One thing was clear: the blood-soaked ground, the missing corpses, the eerie silence—it was all because of this thing.

“Oh my God! This thing’s insane!” Aiden shouted, his voice cracking with panic.

Mia’s eyes narrowed. Without a word, she drew her Stellar Fang katana in one smooth motion.

“Let’s see what happens when we slice a few of these off.”

Right on cue, two of the massive tentacles lunged at her like striking cobras. Despite their thick, clumsy appearance, they moved with terrifying speed.

The petal-like mouths at the ends of the tentacles opened wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth as they snapped toward the group.

Mia darted forward, blade in hand. Her movements were fluid and graceful, like a butterfly weaving through a storm. She twisted and spun, her katana flashing through the air.

Shhhk! Shhhk!

The two incoming tentacles were instantly cleaved open. From the gaping wounds, a strange blue liquid sprayed out—glowing faintly, almost like bioluminescence.

“What the hell? Glowing blue blood?” Chris stared, wide-eyed. “That’s a first.”

Elara’s device started shrieking, the beeping now rapid and urgent. “The blood’s loaded with radioactive material! This thing’s a full-on mutation—definitely radiation-induced!”

“Figures…” the others muttered, the pieces clicking into place.

Mia kept moving, a blur of steel and motion, slicing through every tentacle that came her way. But no matter how many she cut down, more kept bursting from the ground.

“Can it regenerate?” Ethan muttered, eyes narrowing as he studied the earth. He was starting to suspect the real body of the creature was still underground. The tentacles were just its weapons—disposable, replaceable.

In just moments, Mia had already severed dozens, but the number of tentacles wasn’t decreasing. If anything, they were multiplying.

Before long, the battlefield looked like a forest of writhing limbs—hundreds of them, all thrashing and reaching.

“Time to see what we’re really dealing with,” Ethan said under his breath.

He pulled out the Star Map tablet, then leapt high into the air. With a powerful swing, he hurled it down like a meteor.

BOOM!

The impact was deafening, shaking the sky itself. A shockwave rippled out, flattening the surrounding area. It was like a star had fallen from the heavens.

And with that, all hell broke loose.

The ground convulsed violently, groaning and cracking. Chunks of earth collapsed inward as something massive stirred beneath the surface.

Then came the roar—a deep, guttural bellow that shook their bones. It was so loud it felt like it came from inside their own skulls.

Chris and the others instinctively backed away, eyes locked on the trembling earth ahead.

And then they saw it.

A monstrous form erupted from the ground, towering like a mountain. It was a worm—no, a colossus—its body thick and armored, coated in layers of dirt and blood.

The tentacles were just its feelers, sprouting from its sides like grotesque whiskers.

But the worst part—the part that made everyone’s stomach turn—was its head.

The Radiated Giant Sandworm’s face was covered in skulls. Thousands of them. Human skulls, fused into its flesh, packed so tightly they looked like scales. Empty eye sockets stared in every direction, and the sheer density of them triggered a wave of nausea and dread.

Even the bravest among them felt their skin crawl.

…