CHAPTER 371: PURGE RETURNS- A NEW THREAT

The figure in black moved with predatory grace, his blade wreathed in that distinctive red-white energy that made Noah’s blood run cold. Dark chi. The energy signature was unmistakable—corrupted, hungry, fundamentally wrong in a way that made reality itself recoil.

"Lucas!" Noah shouted, his voice carrying desperate urgency. "Behind you!"

Lucas spun, his soul form blazing as he caught sight of the approaching threat. His eyes widened in recognition and horror. "Purge," he breathed, electricity crackling around his form in defensive patterns.

The dark chi soldier was already moving, his blade cutting through the air in a perfect arc aimed at Lucas’s throat. The young soldier threw himself backward, his soul form flickering as the corrupted energy passed inches from his neck.

That’s when Noah noticed the sand.

The particles that had been kicked up during their battle with Kruel hung motionless in the air, suspended like they were frozen in time. But it wasn’t just the sand—Noah could see the void energy around Kruel’s wound was perfectly still, caught mid-consumption. Someone was manipulating time itself, holding that entire area in stasis.

"Ambush," Noah realized, his enhanced perception catching movement in his peripheral vision. "We’re surrounded."

They emerged from the suspended sand like ghosts materializing from mist. Two dozen figures in black tactical suits, each one moving with the disciplined precision of elite soldiers. But these weren’t EDF—their gear was different, their weapons wreathed in that same corrupted energy.

The Purge had found them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lucas snarled, his soul form blazing brighter as he faced the dark chi soldier. "This is a restricted military operation!"

The soldier’s response was a laugh that sounded like breaking glass. "Military operation? You mean your pathetic attempt to stop the inevitable?" His blade swept in a complex pattern, dark chi trailing behind it like smoke. "The Purge has been watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

Noah’s mind raced as he assessed the situation. Kruel was still down, but something was wrong. The void energy eating away at his back had stopped—not healed, not contained, but frozen. The black fire that should have been consuming his flesh was motionless, suspended like everything else in that localized area. The Purge soldiers were moving to surround them, their dark chi weapons creating a perimeter of corrupted energy.

And in the center of it all, their leader—the one facing Lucas—moved with speed that rivaled an awakened human.

’Chi augmentation,’ Noah realized. ’He’s using dark chi to enhance his physical capabilities.’

[Combat Analysis: Active]

[Threat Assessment: Multiple hostiles detected]

[Warning: Dark chi energy signatures detected - Void abilities may be compromised]

The first Purge soldier to reach Noah died before he could even raise his weapon. Excaliburn swept through his torso in a perfect horizontal cut, the void energy erasing him from existence. The second soldier managed to get his dark chi blade up in time to block, but Noah’s follow-up Null Strike punched through his guard like paper.

"They’re just humans," Noah called out to Lucas, his blade work cutting through another pair of attackers. "Enhanced, but still human."

But even as he said it, he knew the real threat wasn’t the foot soldiers. It was their leader—the one currently forcing Lucas to give ground with a combination of speed and skill that spoke of years of training.

"You always were arrogant, Academy boy," the leader said, his blade work forcing Lucas into a defensive pattern. "Did you think your little lightning tricks would save you forever?"

Lucas’s eyes narrowed. "I remember you. Interschool competition. You were there when the Purge hit Academy 7."

"And 8, and 9, and 10," the leader replied, his blade carving through Lucas’s electrical barriers like they were made of paper. "We’ve been cleaning up the EDF’s mistakes for years. Training better soldiers, preparing for the real war."

Noah felt his rage spike. The interschool competition—where hundreds of students had been killed or wounded, where the Purge had revealed themselves as more than just dissidents. Where Lila had been forced to choose between her father’s organization and her friends.

"You bastards," Noah snarled, his blade work becoming more aggressive. Three more Purge soldiers fell to his strikes, their dark chi weapons unable to match Excaliburn’s void energy. "Those were kids!"

"Kids being trained to die in a pointless war," another voice called out. A new figure emerged from the suspended sand—a woman in commander’s insignia, her entire body wreathed in dark chi energy. "We were saving them from a worse fate."

Noah’s enhanced perception caught something else—movement near Kruel’s position. Two Purge soldiers were approaching the downed Harbinger, but they moved carefully around the edges of the temporal distortion. The void energy was still there, still deadly, just frozen in place like a snapshot of destruction.

"They’re going for Kruel," Noah realized. "Lucas, we need to—"

His words were cut off as the leader’s blade swept toward his throat. Noah threw himself backward, Excaliburn coming up in a defensive posture. The dark chi energy met void energy with a sound like tires screaming.

He felt the tremor as he held his blade upright. How was a mere human this strong?!

The void energy around Excaliburn flickered, wavered, then stabilized at a much lower intensity. The dark chi wasn’t just resisting his attacks—it was actively suppressing them.

"Surprised?" the leader asked, his blade work becoming more aggressive. "I know what that power of yours does. But you should know, Chi is fundamental energy, boy. It existed before your precious void, and it will exist after. You cannot erase what is essential to existence itself."

Noah’s mind raced as he processed this information. Dark chi was fundamental—that’s why his system couldn’t classify it properly, why his void abilities seemed to glitch when they encountered it. It wasn’t just corrupted energy—it was primal, essential.

’But if it’s fundamental, then it has rules. And rules can be exploited.’

Noah reached deep into his training, remembering Master Anng’s lessons about energy manipulation. Light chi—the positive counterpart to dark chi’s negative influence. Internal energy versus external corruption.

"Lucas," Noah called out, his voice carrying absolute conviction. "Remember Academy training. Master Anng’s lessons about energy balance."

Lucas’s eyes widened in understanding. "Light chi counters dark chi. Internal energy versus external corruption."

"Exactly," Noah replied, his free hand beginning to glow with soft white light. "These bastards want to play with fundamental forces? Let’s show them what balance looks like."

He acted at once. Feeling the energy flow around his core. And immediately channeling it outwards.

A light chi shield erupted around Noah just as three Purge soldiers attacked simultaneously. Their dark chi weapons struck the barrier and simply... stopped. The corrupted energy met its positive counterpart and neutralized completely.

"Impossible," the commander breathed, her own dark chi aura flickering. "You’re just Academy students. You shouldn’t have that level of mastery."

"Academy 12," Lucas replied, his own light chi beginning to manifest around his electrical abilities. "We learned to adapt or die."

The battle shifted. Where before the Purge had held the advantage through superior numbers and energy suppression, now they found themselves fighting opponents who understood the fundamental nature of their power.

Noah’s blade work became a combination of void and light, Excaliburn’s edge supported by barriers of positive energy that made his strikes impossible to block. Lucas moved like lightning given form, his electrical attacks enhanced by light chi until they burned through dark chi defenses like acid.

But the leader was still a problem. His chi augmentation made him fast enough to match Noah’s enhanced reflexes, strong enough to contest Lucas’s electrical strikes. And he was learning their patterns, adapting to their combined assault.

"You cannot protect the Harbinger forever," he snarled, his blade work forcing Noah to give ground. "The Purge has plans for that one. Plans that transcend your limited understanding."

"Plans?" Noah’s voice was ice-cold. "What the hell do you want with Kruel?"

The leader’s smile was sharp as a blade. "You’ll find out soon enough. But first, you need to—"

His words were cut off by a sound that made the entire battlefield freeze.

A roar.

Not Kruel’s voice—something else entirely. Something that carried the promise of death and destruction on a scale that dwarfed even the Harbinger’s fury.

Through the suspended sand, Noah saw it approaching. Red mist, spreading across the battlefield like a living thing. And within that mist, shapes moved—massive, angry shapes.

"Nyx," Noah breathed, understanding flooding through him. The dragon had completed his preparation. The assignment was done.

The Purge soldiers began to shift nervously, their dark chi weapons flickering as they sensed the approaching threat. This was Nyx’s fear aura at work. Even their leader seemed momentarily distracted by the wall of red death rolling toward them.

That’s when the other commander acted.

Her hands spread wide, dark chi energy erupting from her form in a massive wave. The attack wasn’t aimed at Noah or Lucas—it was a area-of-effect blast designed to clear the battlefield, to create chaos in the moments before Nyx’s arrival.

White light erupted around both Noah and Lucas, positive energy meeting negative in a collision that sent shockwaves through the frozen sand. The explosion was deafening.

When the debris settled, when the light faded and the dust began to clear, Noah opened his eyes to a scene that made his blood run cold.

A portal hung in the air behind the Purge commander, its edges crackling with dark chi energy. And through that portal, Noah could see other figures—more Purge soldiers, advanced equipment, facilities that spoke of long-term planning and resources. And the sky, the sky wasn’t Earth’s. The sky was red in colour.

But what made his heart stop was the sight of Kruel’s body being dragged through the portal by two Purge soldiers. The Harbinger was still caught in the temporal stasis, the void energy around his wound frozen like black ice. Whatever power was holding time in place was being maintained even as they moved him.

"No," Noah whispered, his voice carrying absolute horror. "What the hell are you doing?"

The commander’s smile was triumphant as she stepped backward toward the portal. "Saving humanity from itself, boy. The war against Harbingers is unwinnable—but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn their power to our advantage."

"You’re insane," Lucas snarled, electricity crackling around his form. "You can’t control a Harbinger!"

"Control?" The commander laughed, the sound echoing strangely as she passed through the portal threshold. "Who said anything about control? We’re going to do something far more interesting."

The portal began to collapse, its edges flickering as the dark chi energy destabilized. In moments, it would be gone, taking Kruel and the Purge soldiers with it.

Noah’s mind raced, trying to process what he’d just witnessed. The Purge had been here, waiting, watching the battle with Kruel. They’d timed their intervention perfectly, striking when the Harbinger was at his most vulnerable.

But why? What could they possibly want with a four-horn Harbinger?

The portal collapsed with a sound like breaking glass, leaving only empty air and the spreading red mist of Nyx’s approach.

"What the hell just happened?" Lucas asked, his voice hollow with shock.

Noah stared at the empty space where the portal had been, his grip tightening on Excaliburn. "I don’t know," he admitted. "But whatever the Purge is planning, it’s bigger than we thought."

The red mist reached them, and through their bond, Noah felt Nyx’s confusion and rage. The dragon had been preparing to end Kruel once and for all, only to find his target vanished.

"We need to report this," Noah said, his voice carrying grim determination. "Command needs to know that the Purge has Kruel."

But even as he said it, questions burned in his mind. What did the Purge want with a Harbinger? What were they planning? And how long had they been watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?

The war had just become far more complicated.