Chapter 323: Another enemy

Noah found himself flying through the air—again.

The thought flickered through his mind with dark humor as he watched the crystalline landscape blur past him at terminal velocity. Some months ago on Cannadah, this would have been the end. Hell, Some months ago he wouldn’t have even been flying—he would have been paste on the ground after the first hit.

But now, wrapped in his Knight Grace armor with void energy coursing through his enhanced body, he had the luxury of tactical assessment even while hurtling through the atmosphere at bone-crushing speeds.

‘Amazing how perspective changes,’ he mused, activating his armor’s stabilization systems. ‘Used to be terrified of these things. Now I’m just… respectfully cautious.’

The ground rushed up to meet him with alarming speed. Noah hit the crystalline surface with enough force to create a crater fifteen meters wide, spider-web cracks radiating outward as his armored form plowed through the alien material. The Knight Grace set absorbed most of the impact, its void shell flaring brilliant purple as it dissipated the kinetic energy.

[Health Points: 1623/1750]

[Knight Grace Void Shell: 73% Integrity]

[Damage Absorbed: 127 HP]

Noah rolled to his feet, shaking crystal dust from his shoulders. The crater he’d created was impressive, but what was more impressive was that he was walking away from it. Some months ago, that impact would have liquefied him.

The Two-Horn Harbinger stood two hundred meters away, its massive form casting a shadow like a building. At over eight feet tall and built like a miniature bus, the creature moved with the fluid grace of something that had perfected the art of killing. Its cybernetic arm whirred with mechanical precision as it flexed alien metal fingers, each one capable of punching through starship armor.

“Still breathing, little human soldier?” the creature spoke, its voice carrying the weight of countless battles. “Impressive. Most don’t survive the first exchange.”

Lucas appeared at Noah’s side in a crackling blur of blue electricity, his soul form fully manifested. Lightning wreathed his entire body like living armor, and his eyes blazed with the same electric blue as the energy dancing around his frame.

“That thing hits like a freight train made of pure hatred,” Lucas said, electricity arcing between his fingers. “My ribs are still ringing from that last hit.”

“Welcome to fighting Two-Horns,” Noah replied grimly, adjusting his grip on Excaliburn. “They’re not like the scouts. These things have been killing since before humanity reached the stars.”

The Harbinger began walking toward them with measured steps, each footfall leaving deep impressions in the crystalline surface. As it moved, Noah could see the intelligence burning in its too-human eyes—calculating, assessing, planning their deaths with clinical precision.

“The black blade,” the creature said, its gaze fixed on Excaliburn. “I can smell the blood of my brothers from here. Clever little mammals, learning to make weapons that actually hurt us.”

‘It knows about Excaliburn’s properties. That’s… concerning.’

The Two-Horn suddenly exploded into motion, covering the distance between them in three bounding strides that left meter-deep craters in its wake. For something the size of a small vehicle, it moved like a bullet train—all devastating momentum and unstoppable force.

Noah saw the attack coming a split second before it landed. Faint white lines flickered in his vision, tracing the path of the Harbinger’s massive fist as it swung toward his head. The precognitive flash lasted barely a second and a half, but it was enough.

He threw himself sideways, feeling the wind of the creature’s punch ruffle his hair as it passed close enough to kill. The backwash from the missed strike sent spider-web cracks racing across the crystalline ground, the sheer force of displaced air enough to shatter stone.

‘Definitely not playing around anymore,’ Noah thought grimly. ‘That would have turned my head into red mist.’

Lucas was already moving, his lightning-wreathed form streaking through the air in a controlled arc. He came in from the creature’s blind side, electricity coalescing around his right hand into a concentrated spear of pure energy. The lightning lance struck the Harbinger’s flank with the force of a thunderbolt, scorching alien hide and leaving a smoking crater in its wake.

The Two-Horn spun with inhuman speed, its cybernetic arm whipping around in a backhanded strike that would have decapitated Lucas if he hadn’t ducked at the last possible second. The mechanical limb whistled through the air where his head had been, alien servos whining with barely contained power.

“Fast little insects,” the creature growled, its organic hand going to the burn on its side. “But speed won’t save you from inevitability.”

It lunged forward again, this time leading with its cybernetic arm. The mechanical limb moved like a piston, all compressed power and lethal precision. Noah barely managed to get Excaliburn up in time to parry, the mythic blade ringing like a bell as it deflected the strike.

The impact sent shock waves up his arms, the Knight Grace armor’s joints whining under the stress. Even with his enhanced strength and void-forged equipment, blocking a direct hit from this thing was like trying to stop a falling building.

[Health Points: 1598/1750]

[Knight Grace Void Shell: 68% Integrity]

‘Can’t keep trading blows like this. It’s stronger than me, tougher than me, and that cybernetic arm doesn’t seem to have any weak points.’

Noah activated his Void Striders, the mythic boots flaring with purple energy as they enhanced his movement beyond normal human limits. He blurred backward, putting distance between himself and the Harbinger while Lucas continued his aerial harassment.

“Void Bullet!” Noah called out, extending his hand toward the creature. Multiple projectiles of pure void energy materialized around his fingers, each one homing in on the Harbinger’s center mass.

The Two-Horn’s response was to simply tank the hits, letting the void bullets slam into its rhinoceros-like hide and explode in bursts of purple flame. Where the projectiles struck, the creature’s scales turned black and began to smoke, but the damage was superficial at best.

“Disappointing,” the Harbinger said, brushing smoking debris from its chest. “I expected more from the one who killed my brothers.”

It was on them again before Noah could react, moving with that impossible combination of size and speed that made Two-Horns so terrifying. This time it went for Lucas, who was hovering just out of reach and raining down lightning bolts like an angry god.

The creature’s leap was incredible—eight feet of pure muscle and alien engineering launching itself fifty meters into the air with casual ease. Its cybernetic claws raked across Lucas’s lightning barrier, alien metal shrieking against controlled electricity.

Lucas managed to avoid the killing blow, but the creature’s organic hand caught him across the ribs with enough force to send him spinning through the air. He hit the ground hard, electricity flickering as his soul form struggled to maintain cohesion.

“Lucas!” Noah started toward his teammate, but white lines flickered across his vision again—another killing blow incoming.

He threw himself into a roll just as the Harbinger’s foot slammed into the ground where he’d been standing. The impact created a crater twenty meters wide, chunks of crystalline debris flying in all directions like shrapnel.

‘This thing is getting faster. It’s adapting to our tactics in real-time.’

Noah came up from his roll with Excaliburn already moving, the void-touched blade carving a line across the creature’s extended leg. Black blood sprayed across the ground, and for a moment he felt a surge of satisfaction.

Then the Harbinger’s cybernetic arm caught him across the chest with a backhand that felt like being hit by a speeding hover car.

[Health Points: 1401/1750]

[Knight Grace Void Shell: 45% Integrity]

[Critical Damage Sustained]

Noah bounced off the ground twice before coming to rest in a smoking crater, his armor’s void shell flickering dangerously. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and he could feel at least two ribs grinding against each other with each breath.

‘Okay, definitely felt that one.’

The Two-Horn was already advancing, its massive form casting a shadow over Noah’s prone form. But before it could deliver the finishing blow, Lucas streaked out of the sky like a falling star, his entire body wreathed in lightning so intense it turned the air itself into plasma.

“THUNDER DRILL!” Lucas roared, all of his lightning coalescing into a single, devastating attack.

The concentrated energy struck the Harbinger square in the back, boring through alien hide and muscle with the force of a shaped charge. The creature staggered forward, black blood pouring from the smoking hole in its torso.

But it didn’t fall.

Instead, it spun around with a snarl of pure fury, its cybernetic arm extending toward Lucas with mechanical precision. A strange red energy crackled along the limb’s surface, building to lethal intensity.

“Rarrrgghhh!” the creature roared, unleashing a concentrated beam of alien energy that turned the air between them into superheated gas.

Lucas barely managed to throw up a lightning barrier in time, electricity and plasma colliding in a display that lit up the entire battlefield. The clash of energies sent shock waves racing across the crystalline surface, shattering windows in buildings kilometers away.

When the light faded, both combatants were still standing, but Lucas was clearly struggling. His lightning barrier was flickering, and Noah could see the strain in his teammate’s face.

‘We’re running out of options. This thing is too tough for conventional attacks, and getting close enough for Null Strike is suicide.’

Then Noah saw it—a brief flicker of white lines tracing paths through the air. Not targeting him this time, but showing him something else entirely. Attack patterns, movement vectors, a brief glimpse of where the creature would be in the next few seconds.

‘There. The cybernetic arm has a recharge cycle. Three seconds of vulnerability after that energy discharge.’

Noah activated his Void Striders’ Phantom Step ability, leaving behind multiple void energy decoys as he moved. The Harbinger’s attention was split between Lucas and the afterimages, its cybernetic sensors struggling to lock onto Noah’s true position.

[Void Striders: Phantom Step Activated]

[Energy Cost: 50 Void Energy]

Noah appeared behind the creature just as its cybernetic arm completed its recharge cycle. He could see the vulnerable joint where alien metal met organic flesh, a hairline gap that even the Two-Horn’s incredible durability couldn’t fully protect.

But he wouldn’t use Null Strike yet. Too risky, and he needed to create a better opening.

Instead, he activated his Knight Grace armor’s special ability for the first time in combat.

[Knight Grace: Dimensional Shift Activated]

[Energy Cost: 80 Void Energy]

[Duration: 3 Seconds]

Reality shifted around Noah as he phased slightly out of sync with normal space-time. The world took on a ghostly quality, colors bleeding at the edges while he existed in the spaces between dimensions.

The Harbinger spun toward him, cybernetic claws raking through the space where he stood—and passing through him harmlessly.

“What—” the creature started to say, genuine confusion flickering across its alien features.

Noah didn’t give it time to adapt. He solidified just long enough to drive Excaliburn deep into the joint where the cybernetic arm met organic flesh, void energy tearing through alien technology and corrupted biology alike.

The Two-Horn’s roar of pain and fury shook the entire landing pad, its cybernetic arm sparking and twitching as critical systems failed. Black blood mixed with alien coolant as the limb began to shut down.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” the creature bellowed, its remaining organic hand going to the ruined joint. “No weapon should be able to—”

Lucas’s lightning lance took it in the chest before it could finish the sentence, concentrated electricity boring through alien hide and into the creature’s vital organs. The Harbinger staggered backward, both hands going to the smoking wound.

And that’s when Noah saw his opening.

He was seeing red right now. He had to put an end to this thing before it healed up. Especially now when the creature’s defenses were at its lowest. The Harbinger was wounded, distracted, and most importantly—stationary.

Noah activated his Void Striders’ Mach Transcendence, accelerating toward the creature at speeds that turned his armored form into a blur of void-infused motion. The world became a tunnel of compressed time and space as he closed the distance in a fraction of a second.

The Two-Horn saw him coming and tried to react, but it was too slow, too wounded, too surprised by the sudden shift in tactical momentum.

Noah’s hand found the creature’s chest, his knuckles hitting the alien hide that had been softened by Lucas’s lightning attacks. For a split second, he felt the Harbinger massive heart beating beneath his touch.

“Null Strike.”

Void energy erupted from Noah’s fist like a miniature black hole, erasure spreading outward from the point of contact. The Harbinger’s eyes went wide with shock as its chest cavity simply ceased to exist, reality itself rejecting the creature’s presence.

The Two-Horn’s mouth opened as if to speak, but no sound emerged. There was nothing left to make sound with.

The massive creature toppled backward, its body hitting the crystalline surface with a sound like falling thunder. Where its chest had been, there was now only empty space—a perfect sphere of nothingness that spoke to the absolute nature of void energy.

[Essence Harvest Activated: +1,247 Void Energy Absorbed]

[Experience Gained: +3,200 XP]

[Two-Horn Harbinger Eliminated]

Noah collapsed to one knee, his body finally registering the toll of the fight. His Knight Grace armor was cracked in multiple places, void energy leaking from damaged seals like purple mist.

[Health Points: 1401/1750]

[Void Energy: 1843/2200]

[Knight Grace Void Shell: 23% Integrity – Repair Recommended]

Lucas landed beside him with a controlled burst of electricity, his soul form flickering as exhaustion took its toll. “Did we actually just kill a Two-Horn?”

Noah looked at the creature’s corpse, at the impossible sphere of nothingness where its chest used to be. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Looks like it,”

Around them, the sounds of battle were fading as the remaining Harbinger pods were dealt with by Nyx and the EDF forces. But for a moment, Noah and Lucas just stood there, staring at proof that they’d crossed another threshold in their evolution as soldiers.

Some months ago, a Two-Horn would have been a death sentence. It had taken the help of Nyx to survive Cannadah.

Now, it was just another enemy they’d learned to kill.