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.