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Chapter 167: Into the night [1]

Chapter 167: Into the night [1]

London, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium...

The final of the promotion tournament was finally over.

(Promotion Tournament:)

(Final:)

>Chaos Inc. vs Iron Dominion<

>Champion: Echelon<

The moment the final bell rang, the entire Tottenham Hotspur Stadium exploded into chaos. A chaos of roaring euphoria, cascading cheers, and unfiltered jubilation.

From the beginning of the Promotion Tournament, there was always this lingering feeling that Echelon was bound to win the 3rd slot of the Pro Alliance.

Despite knowing this, still, watching them do it was nothing short of exciting.

The massive arena, converted into a hybrid eSports colosseum with towering LED displays and holographic projections shimmered in golden light as the words blazed across the central screen.

---<VICTORY>---

[CHAMPIONS- ECHELON]

It was like a comeback declaration.

The retirees. The discarded legends. The anonymous upstarts who climbed from the shadows as an entirely new team, and they had won it all.

They actually went all the way.

Well, in hindsight, it was only normal that they did.

Echelon’s fans, once a niche, a tight-knit crew were now an ocean of screaming, weeping, and dancing maniacs.

Flags bearing the team logo waved high.

They chanted excited.

"Echelon forever!"

"Doomless but ruthless!" They echoed as if rehearsed.

The meaning of their chants would not take a smartass to understand. They meant that even without Lord Doom, their captain, their team had what it takes to win at the highest stage of professional Warstar.

The Promotion Tournament could not directly be compared with the Pro Alliance yet, but well, dominating here was a start.

And when the team eventually stepped onto the grand stage for the trophy ceremony, even without their captain Lord Doom, the crowd greeted them like returning war heroes.

Benjamin, with that ridiculous crown he pulled out of nowhere made a pun so bad the audience cried with laughter.

Aria? She was stone-faced as usual, but some fans thought they noticed a single tear escape her eye when she lifted the story as the interim captain.

As for Genevieve, she was radiant and elegant as usual, waving at the front row fans like she was royalty.

And they responded; they loved her.

Caleb, cool as ever nodded at the cameras, waving a hand at a fan or two.

And in the more opulent seats in the stadium, thousands of neutral viewers became instant converts. Kids, teens, and even rival fans were on their feet, screaming excitedly as the spectacle today stole their heart.

Echelon had become more than a team; they were now a symbol.

A symbol of resilience, of rebellion, and of resurgence.

While all this happened, the pro players, some of the biggest names in the scene watched with calculating eyes.

As expected, the cameras panned in their direction to see their reaction.

When the camera panned in his direction, Gabriel simply offered a polite smile and waved, eliciting a reaction in the stadium.

When the cameras panned towards Jonathan though, he was not as polite as his younger counterpart.

Scarlet Rose’s captain grinned and said. "Noah is a coward as usual. Sitting back and letting his team do all the work, so shameless".

The cameras quickly panned away; Jonathan’s grin widened as he laughed.

But then, out of the spotlight, he could not help but sigh heavily. He had once ordered and let the hit on Aria to suppress Echelon, but by now, those ageless bastards already showed that their desire to keep on playing was not waning yet.

There was no denying it now, Echelon was real and next season..., they were coming for everybody.

Jonathan grinned again. "Come on bastards," he muttered. "I’ll give you guys a friendly welcome".

There were whispers of excitement and curiosity all across the stadium, but chief of them all were conversations about Lord Doom, God Noah.

Noah’s absence was the elephant in the stadium, a mystery that sparked theories and debates in real-time across social media despite Nightingale’s explanation.

Talking of Nightingale, for some reason, shortly after the end of the game, the celebrity didn’t stay to appreciate the festivities as he left.

Strangely, Echelon’s players didn’t stay either, not even for the interview.

They quickly left the stadium about a dozen minutes after lifting the trophy.

To them, winning the final of the promotion tournament was just the prelude. The real story was still unfolding.

The real battle, the war for Noah’s body, their redemption, and their vengeance, was only just beginning.

...

England, Club Echelon Building...

About a dozen minutes after the game, the executives of Club Echelon were gathered inside a room in the building.

The atmosphere inside the room was thick, a fusion of adrenaline, anticipation, and dread. The cheers from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were still echoing across the city, but within these walls, it was dead silent.

The players sat clustered around a massive screen, Nightingale standing at the front, arms crossed, eyes laser-focused.

On screen, a squad of elite marines armored in black tactical gear with Echelon’s private security insignia moved in formation along a narrow cliffside road.

Yes, this was the elite security squad sent to retrieve Noah’s body.

Nightingale did not know what to expect, but Noah’s situation could be described as a twisted case of kidnapping.

This was why he didn’t let Aria or the others anywhere near the location. Afterall, they may be formidable existences in the world of Warstar but in the real world, they were just like him, civilians.

Nightingale focused back on proceedings on the screen, tense.

The camera, fixed on a drone above revealed a bleak, ocean-bitten facility, a forgotten compound overlooking the churning waters.

A single rusted sign read,

[Project H.A.R.P- Restricted Access.]

The operation was live, real-time.

This was it.

These were all heavily armed and highly trained elite marines, the best of the best from the military. But still, Nightingale could not help but feel uneasy, because the progress was maybe too swift for his liking.

After months of tracking the bits and pieces of clues to this building, he expected more from it considering to what lengths the owners went to kept it hidden in this remote location.

He expected his marines to engage in a furious battle against the defenders of the building. But that was what left him uneasy.

This was because, nothing happened.

Yes, despite invading into the premises of the building already, there was no reaction from inside the building like the leader of the marines predicted.

It was just ghostly, eerie silence.

The marines breached the gate.

Despite how haunting this building was, the marines moved swift and professional, no random shots fired as they went deeper.

Inside the gate was also eerily silent. No alarms, no defenders, no traps. The squad leader gave a tense report.

"Facility’s cold".

"No heat signatures. Whatever was here...," the man hesitated, then continued in his deep, rough voice". "It’s gone".

Hearing that, Nightingale let out a deep breath he never knew he was holding. Looking down, he noticed that his hand was shaking.

He frowned and focused back on the screen. "Keep searching".

"Look for the main objective".

"Roger that".

The marines moved inside the building.

As they moved, Nightingale could not help but frown.

He went all out this time, utilizing his money and connections to piece the tiny bits of information and clues to find this place.

His analysts were so sure of their deductions and tracking, and he believed them. So why was this place so empty?

Suddenly, a thought that Nightingale didn’t want to entertain came.

What if this was just a dead end?

What if Noah’s body is not here?

Or what if... it’s a trap?!

Nightingale’s body tensed, but he could do nothing, he could say nothing. The marines were the professionals, he left the mission to them.

Moving inside the building, they swept room after room; bunkers, labs, observation stations, they left no stone unturned.

Dust clung to the walls like it had been abandoned for days. Terminals were wiped clean hard drives missing. There were signs of a hurried escape, chairs overturned, papers scattered, even blood stains leading to empty restraints.

Seeing this, Nightingale felt cold and tense, wondering what the hell kind of research happened here.

But at the same time, this was evidence that people once stayed in this facility. ’My analysts were not wrong, after all’.

After going through the whole building, to its deepest parts, when Nightingale was about to give up about the main objective, that was when it happened...

...They found him.

In the heart of the facility, inside what looked like a heavily reinforced containment chamber, there he was.

Noah’s real body.

Silence. Nightingale could not breath.

Noah’s body floated inside a cryo-stasis capsule, pristine, unharmed, suspended in a faint blue glow.

His face was peaceful, unnervingly so. Not a scratch on him.

The marine medic ran quick vitals.

"Heartbeat... steady".

"Neurological activity low but present, he’s alive".

Nightingale exhaled. The others around him were not feeling much better; Aria, Benjamin and the others were so tense their foreheads were covered by a thin layer of sweat.

For a moment, no one in the club building spoke.

Benjamin’s mouth just hung open.

Genevieve’s hands covered her lips, tears forming.

Caleb muttered. "They just... left him?"

Aria’s voice was low, shaking with restrained rage. "They used him... and discarded him like a failed experiment?"

But Nightingale, eyes narrowed, whispered.

"No. This isn’t abandonment. This is bait".

He turned to the others, voice calm but ice-cold.

"They’re watching. They want us to find him". His eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is the start of something deeper, something darker".

As the marines began extraction, lifting the stasis pod into a secure case, the camera zoomed in on a final detail.

Carved with a scalpel onto the wall behind Noah’s capsule was a single phrase.

"This body is no longer needed".

"The real game has already begun".

And with that... the screen went black.