Extra's Revenge: Reincarnated As A Slave-Chapter 92: The Duke’s Guards

WHOOSH!!

The guards moved with practiced coordination, decades of training evident in their synchronized assault.

The first guard came from Rey’s left, blade flashing in a precise arc aimed at his throat.

The second circled right, positioning himself to strike at Rey’s exposed flank. Both were clearly veterans—their movements economical, their timing perfect.

Rey didn’t move from the chair.

His left hand rose lazily, the perception-enhancing ring glinting as he tracked both attacks with supernatural clarity.

Time seemed to slow as his enhanced senses processed every detail—the angle of each blade, the weight distribution of each attacker, the micro-adjustments in their footwork.

The first blade came within inches of his neck.

Rey activated the speed-enhancing bracers.

His body blurred, moving with velocity that made the guards’ "fast" attacks seem sluggish. Rey slipped between the two blades, rising from the chair in a fluid motion that brought him face-to-face with the first guard.

The man’s eyes widened in shock—one moment his target had been sitting, the next he was inside the guard’s reach, too close for the sword to be effective.

Rey’s gauntlet-covered fist crashed into the guard’s sternum.

The force-generating Artifact activated on impact, and the punch that would have merely broken ribs instead launched the guard backward with explosive force.

"Guh!"

The man flew across the observation chamber, crashing through an expensive viewing screen before crumpling unconscious against the far wall.

The second guard recovered quickly, adjusting his attack mid-swing to account for Rey’s new position. His blade came down in a vicious overhead chop that would have split Rey’s skull.

Rey raised his left arm, the bracer intercepting the strike.

Metal rang against enchanted metal, and the guard’s eyes widened as his blade failed to cut through.

The bracers weren’t just for speed enhancement—they were reinforced with defensive enchantments capable of deflecting edged weapons.

Before the guard could withdraw his sword, Rey’s right hand shot forward, grabbing the man’s wrist. The strength enhancement from the elixirs combined with the gauntlet’s force generation created a grip like a mechanical vice.

The guard tried to pull away. Rey twisted, and bone snapped with a wet crack.

The guard screamed, dropping his sword. Rey didn’t release him—instead, he pulled the man forward and drove his knee into the guard’s face. Enhanced muscles delivered force that shattered the man’s nose and knocked out several teeth.

The guard staggered backward, blood streaming from his ruined face.

Rey pursued, not giving him time to recover.

His movements were precise, economical—no wasted motion, no unnecessary flourishes. Just pure efficiency backed by Artifact-enhanced capabilities.

A palm strike to the solar plexus drove the air from the guard’s lungs. A sweep kick, amplified by the speed bracers, took his legs out from under him. As the man fell, Rey’s elbow came down on the back of his skull with devastating force.

The second guard went still, unconscious or dead—Rey neither knew nor cared.

Two guards eliminated in less than thirty seconds.

Rey stood amid the wreckage, not even breathing hard. The elixirs had enhanced his stamina along with everything else—exertion that would have left his old self gasping barely affected him now.

Duke Kahn hadn’t moved.

The nobleman stood behind a shimmering barrier that had materialized the moment the fight began. The protective field surrounded him completely—a hemisphere of translucent energy that pulsed with defensive enchantments.

"Impressive," the Duke said, his voice carrying clearly through the barrier despite the magical interference. "I was told you had deep potential. I see those were not exaggerationa."

Rey turned his full attention to the Duke, studying the barrier with his enhanced perception. Multiple layers, each one redundant with the others. This wasn’t some hastily activated Artifact—this was a permanent installation, built into the observation chamber itself.

’He planned for this,’ Rey realized. ’A Duke doesn’t become wealthy by being careless. He anticipated that someday, someone might come for him.’

"You’re protected," Rey observed calmly. "That barrier looks expensive. Military-grade defensive enchantments, if I’m not mistaken."

"Grade 7 defensive Artifact, integrated with the chamber’s structure," Duke Kahn confirmed, some of his confidence returning now that his guards had bought him time. "It can withstand sustained assault from multiple High Sequence Techniques. Even if you somehow managed to breach it, automated defenses would activate, and reinforcements would arrive within minutes."

Rey nodded slowly, as if considering this information.

Then he smiled. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Your guards were impressive," Rey said. "Well-trained, properly equipped, excellent coordination. They lasted almost half a minute."

The Duke’s face tightened. "They were meant to buy time, nothing more. I don’t need to defeat you personally—I simply need to wait until Category A Guards arrive. And they’re already on their way."

"Are they?" Rey asked mildly.

He reached into his spatial belt and withdrew a small crystalline device. With enhanced perception, he’d spotted it the moment he entered—a communication Artifact, designed to send emergency signals.

Rey had destroyed it hours ago, when he’d first infiltrated the chamber. The Duke’s call for help had gone nowhere.

Understanding dawned in Duke Kahn’s eyes, followed quickly by mild apprehension.

"You’re trapped in here with me," Rey said quietly. "And your barrier won’t last forever."

But even as he spoke, Rey heard something—his enhanced hearing picking up sounds from below. Footsteps. Multiple sets, moving with military precision.

More guards were coming.

’He had backups,’ Rey realized. ’Of course he did. The communication device wasn’t the only security measure.’

The door to the observation chamber burst open.

Four more guards entered, these even more heavily equipped than the first two. Their armor was superior, their weapons glowed with enchantments, and their movements suggested skill beyond mere veteran status.

Elite guards.

Personal protectors of a Duke who dealt in blood sport and dangerous secrets.

They assessed the situation instantly—two of their comrades down, an intruder standing free, their employer protected behind the barrier.

They showed no hesitation whatsoever.

They simply attacked.

The formation was perfect—two engaged Rey directly while the other two positioned themselves to cut off escape routes. These weren’t simple soldiers; they were tactical operators trained for exactly this scenario.

Rey’s perception ring tracked all four simultaneously, his enhanced mind processing their movements, predicting their attacks, calculating optimal responses.

The first guard’s spear thrust came with impossible speed, the weapon’s enchantments adding velocity that made it blur. Rey twisted, the spear passing millimeters from his ribs, and grabbed the shaft behind the point.

His enhanced strength held it firm despite the guard’s attempt to withdraw. The force-generating gauntlet channeled energy down the spear’s length, and the weapon shattered in a explosion of wooden splinters and failed enchantments.

The guard stumbled, off-balance from the sudden resistance. Rey released the broken spear and drove his palm into the man’s throat with clinical precision.

The guard’s windpipe collapsed.

He went down choking, hands clutching uselessly at his ruined neck.

But Rey had been forced to focus on one attacker, which meant the others had openings.

A sword came from his blind spot, aimed at his kidney. Only his enhanced perception saved him—he sensed rather than saw the attack, throwing himself sideways.

The blade still caught him, slicing through his cloak and scraping against the magical shielding provided by his necklace. The defensive Artifact held, but Rey felt the drain on its stored energy.

’Limited uses,’ he noted clinically, even as he rolled to his feet. ’Can’t rely on it forever.’

Two guards pressed the attack, working in perfect coordination.

High strikes alternating with low, forcing Rey to constantly adjust his defense. The speed bracers let him keep up, but barely—these guards were simply better than the first two.

Rey’s hand dipped into his spatial belt, withdrawing the cutting dagger—the Grade 4 Artifact designed to pierce magical barriers.

He didn’t have time to carefully aim or plan sophisticated attacks.

He just moved.

The dagger flashed, and one guard’s sword—previously glowing with defensive enchantments—simply ceased to exist. The blade sheared away at the hilt, the Artifact’s cutting edge ignoring the magical protections as if they didn’t exist.

The guard stared at his ruined weapon in shock.

Rey’s gauntleted fist took him in the face, enhanced strength crushing facial bones. The guard dropped without a sound.

Three down.

But the final guard had used the opening. He’d positioned himself perfectly, his weapon—a heavy war hammer that crackled with lightning—already mid-swing toward Rey’s skull.

No time to dodge. The attack was too close, too fast.

Rey activated the invisibility cloak.

His form vanished from sight for a crucial second. The hammer passed through empty space where he’d been standing, the guard’s momentum carrying the weapon past its target.

Rey reappeared behind him, having used the brief invisibility to reposition with his speed bracers. His hands grabbed the guard’s helmet and twisted with enhanced strength and brutal efficiency.

The neck snapped with a sound like breaking wood.

Four elite guards eliminated in under two minutes.

Rey stood among the bodies, his breathing slightly elevated now. The combination of Artifact use and enhanced physical exertion was beginning to tax even his stored Ether reserves.

But the fight wasn’t over.

More footsteps below. More guards responding to the emergency. The Duke had layers of security, each one more formidable than the last.

’How many more?’ Rey wondered, assessing his remaining resources. The invisibility cloak was depleted—one use only. The defensive necklace had taken damage. His stored Ether reserves, while vast, weren’t infinite.

The door opened again.

But this time, it wasn’t more guards.

It was something worse.

A single figure entered the observation chamber, and immediately the atmosphere changed. This wasn’t a guard, wasn’t even human in the traditional sense.

The construct stood seven feet tall, its body composed of enchanted metals and crystallized Ether. A combat automaton, but far more sophisticated than the ones Rey had claimed from the Desgarron estate. This one moved with fluid grace, its artificial intelligence clearly advanced.

"Combat Construct Alpha," Duke Kahn’s voice carried from behind his barrier, confidence restored. "My personal protector. It cost more than most Noble Family’s annual budgets, and it’s killed people far more formidable than you are."

The construct’s eyes—glowing orbs of concentrated magical energy—fixed on Rey with mechanical precision.

Then...

WHOOSH!!!

It instantly attacked.