The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family-Chapter 188: Desperate Measures

The rune on Klaus's palm burned with searing intensity as the opalescent torrent surged toward them. The ring on his finger—cold and unresponsive for so long—suddenly pulsed with dark energy that resonated with his arcane core.

Time seemed to slow as Klaus instinctively raised his hand. The ring liquefied, dark metal flowing up his arm like sentient mercury, coalescing and hardening with each passing heartbeat. No words were needed as Klaus recognized the familiar weight forming in his grip—Greed, responding to the immediate threat.

The transformation wasn't instantaneous. The sword's form wavered, edges blurring between solidity and shadow as its consciousness fought to manifest fully after so long disconnected.

{...Troublesome... situation...} Greed's fragmented voice whispered in Klaus's mind, the mental connection weak but present.

The Duke's half-mechanical face registered no emotion as the opalescent fluid continued streaming from his palms. "Anomalous energy detected," he stated with clinical detachment. "Pattern recognition failed."

Klaus didn't waste breath on words. Instead, he swung the partially-formed blade in a precise arc that intercepted the corrupting fluid. Where they met, reality distorted—arcane energy canceling out the alchemical substance through some fundamental opposition of their properties.

The Duke's attack faltered, the fluid stream disrupting as it encountered an energy that refused to be converted or consumed.

Klaus seized the momentary advantage. "Defensive retreat, thirty degrees east," he commanded, voice calm despite the chaos surrounding them. "Staggered withdrawal, precision intervals."

Team 55 responded with machine-like efficiency, their countless hours of training under Klaus allowing them to interpret his terse commands perfectly. Leone's remaining officers followed their lead, recognizing the disciplined withdrawal pattern from standard White Lion protocols.

"The eastern wall junction has minimal reinforcement," Klaus continued, eyes briefly glowing as his Four Eyes Mantra scanned their surroundings, perceiving weaknesses invisible to others. "Three-point convergence on my mark."

The Duke's body reconfigured, brass components sliding and clicking as his form expanded. The human elements distorted further, stretching into something wholly unnatural. "Resistance pattern identified," he stated, voice now emanating from multiple points within his hybrid form. "Adaptation initiated."

The homunculi surged forward in perfect unison, their movements synchronized with unnerving precision. Those in front extended crystalline appendages that lengthened into razor-sharp points, while those behind began secreting more of the opalescent fluid that pooled around their feet.

"Mark," Klaus called, swinging Greed's still-forming blade in a wide arc.

Alexandra and Juron struck simultaneously, their techniques converging on the eastern wall junction from different angles. The combined force caused the structure to shudder, alchemical reinforcement straining against conventional architecture.

Klaus followed through with a precise thrust of Greed's blade at the weakened point. The sword's edge flickered between physical and ethereal states, its unstable condition paradoxically allowing it to bypass certain material properties. Where it struck, the wall's molecular structure temporarily destabilized.

"Again," Klaus ordered, feeling Greed struggling to maintain cohesion.

{Insufficient... connection...} Greed's voice strained in Klaus's mind. {Need... more... energy...}

Klaus understood immediately. Without breaking stride, he channeled a measured stream of arcane energy through his palm into the sword. Not enough to reveal his full capabilities, but sufficient to strengthen Greed's manifestation. The blade solidified further, its edges becoming more defined, though still not reaching its complete form.

The second coordinated strike breached the wall, creating an opening barely large enough for a person to squeeze through. Beyond lay the containment zone—the buffer area between Northwatch proper and the Eternal Rift's barrier.

"Through, now," Klaus ordered, positioning himself to cover their escape. "Standard defensive intervals."

One by one, the survivors slipped through the breach. Leone went first, then his remaining officers, followed by Team 55 members. Alexandra lingered, her cyan aura crackling around her blade as she prepared to assist Klaus.

"Go," he said without looking at her. "Maintain command cohesion."

She hesitated only a moment before following orders, recognizing the tactical necessity even as her instincts urged her to stay.

The Duke observed their escape with mechanical detachment. "Tactical withdrawal acknowledged," he stated. "Containment protocols initiated."

Throughout Northwatch, alarms began to sound—not the chaotic blaring of conventional warnings, but an ordered, rhythmic pulse that seemed to resonate within the very structures of the city. In response, buildings began to shift, architectural elements sliding aside to reveal hidden mechanisms and deployment chutes from which more homunculi emerged.

Klaus was the last to back through the opening, Greed's blade held in a defensive position as the Duke advanced. The hybrid creature's form had continued evolving, growing more elaborate with each passing moment. Additional limbs sprouted from his central mass, each one a unique combination of mechanical components and flowing, mercury-like substance.

"Your energy signature requires further study," the Duke stated, analytical interest evident despite his increasingly inhuman form. "Cataloging incomplete."

Klaus didn't dignify the observation with a response. Instead, he channeled another pulse of arcane energy into Greed, feeding the sword just enough power to execute a specific technique.

Sword Ink of Destruction—Third Chapter—First Stance: Ink River

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Greed's blade left a trail of darkness as Klaus swept it in a horizontal arc. The darkness expanded rapidly, flowing like liquid shadow across the breach and solidifying into a temporary barrier between them and their pursuers.

{Won't... hold... long...} Greed warned, his manifestation flickering again as the technique drained his limited reserves.

"It doesn't need to," Klaus replied, turning to join the others.

The containment zone stretched before them, a half-mile expanse between the city walls and the massive energy barrier that contained the Eternal Rift. Monitoring stations and defensive emplacements dotted the landscape, designed to track and neutralize any threats emerging from the Rift—not to defend against dangers from within Northwatch itself.

The survivors had taken cover behind a monitoring station approximately fifty yards from the breach. As Klaus approached, Leone stepped forward, his expression a mixture of gratitude and suspicion.

"That sword," he said quietly. "What is it?"

Klaus met his gaze steadily. "A family heirloom," he replied, the technical truth serving in place of a more complicated explanation. "It responds to certain threats."

Leone clearly wanted to press further, but the immediate danger took precedence. "We've lost four," he reported grimly. "Two of mine, two of yours. That leaves eight of us total."

Klaus nodded, processing the information with outward calm despite the weight it added to his conscience. Two more Team 55 members gone—people he had personally trained, whose families would receive formal notifications of their deaths in service to the Empire.

"The primary barrier control station is located near the main gate," he said, studying their surroundings. "Approximately four hundred yards northeast. If we can reach it, we might be able to signal for reinforcements."

"Assuming there's anyone left to receive the signal," Juron muttered, his massive sword resting against his shoulder.

"Either way, it's our best option," Klaus replied. "The alternative is attempting to cross the tundra on foot—a death sentence without proper supplies."

Behind them, a cracking sound announced the failure of Klaus's ink barrier. The darkness shattered like black glass, fragments dissolving into nothing as the Duke and his homunculi poured through the breach.

"They're coming," Alexandra warned, cyan aura intensifying around her blade. "And there are more approaching from the city gates."

Klaus scanned the containment zone, Four Eyes Mantra allowing him to perceive details beyond normal human senses. Homunculi were indeed emerging from Northwatch's main gates, moving with coordinated precision to cut off their escape routes.

"We move now," he decided. "Diamond formation, rotating point. Conservation of energy until we reach the control station."

As they set off across the containment zone, Greed's form continued to fluctuate, the sword struggling to maintain physical cohesion. The connection between Klaus and the ancient weapon remained tenuous, damaged by whatever had occurred during the black egg incident.

{Can't... maintain... this... form... much longer...} Greed warned, his mental voice strained.

Klaus glanced down at the wavering blade. "Hold together just a bit longer," he murmured. "I have a feeling we're going to need everything we've got before this is over."

In the distance, the Duke's transformed body grew larger, absorbing nearby homunculi to increase his mass. The hybrid creature now towered nearly fifteen feet tall, a grotesque amalgamation of mechanical components and flowing, mercury-like substance, all centered around the half-human, half-mechanical face that still bore the Duke's features in mockery of his former humanity.

Behind them, Northwatch continued its transformation, buildings reconfiguring into something less like a city and more like a massive machine designed for some incomprehensible purpose. And beyond the barrier ahead, the Eternal Rift pulsed with violet energies that seemed to respond to the changes occurring in the city built to contain it.

Whatever the Duke had set in motion, it was only beginning.