The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family-Chapter 191: Awakened Power

The homunculi surged forward in perfect unison, crystal limbs extended like spears. Leone and the remaining survivors formed a tight defensive circle, weapons raised against the seemingly endless tide of artificial beings.

"We can't fight through all of them," Leone shouted, his blade severing a crystalline appendage that came too close. "There are too many!"

Blood continued seeping from Klaus's shoulder wound, his uniform now dark with saturation. His Four Eyes perceived the chamber's layout with perfect clarity despite his injuries, identifying potential routes to the surface. Every path was blocked by homunculi or the Duke's expanding form. Conventional tactics would fail.

Time for unconventional ones.

"Stay close to me," Klaus ordered, his decision made.

His physical eyes closed as he dove fully into his mind realm. Within that space, the Four Eyes of his Ten Eyes Mantra shone with increasing intensity. The Third Eye focused on healing, allowing Klaus to resonate with the natural mana in the air and shape it according to specific magical formulas.

Without warning, a glowing circular formation materialized in the air before Klaus—a physical manifestation of a magic circle identical to those conventional mages would laboriously draw or project. Magical symbols rotated within its circumference, patterns shifting and realigning with impossible complexity.

"Third Circle Magic: High Heal," Klaus intoned, voice carrying an otherworldly resonance.

Golden light erupted from the circle, washing over the survivors in waves of restorative energy. Wounds began closing, blood flow stabilizing, and fatigue dissolving as the magical power rewrote biological reality. Leone watched in astonishment as the gash on his forearm sealed seamlessly, not even leaving a scar.

The Duke's layered voice registered something akin to surprise. "You cast magic without preparation or external implements. Fascinating anomaly."

Klaus didn't respond, focusing entirely on maintaining the healing spell. The materialized magic circle slowly faded as the spell completed its work, the survivors now standing rejuvenated despite their earlier injuries.

"We need to create a path to the surface," Klaus said, blood still trickling from his eyes despite his own healing spell's effects. Some wounds were beyond conventional repair.

Alexandra stared at him with shock. "You just performed Third Circle Magic. That's high-level mage territory."

"Questions later," Klaus replied, watching as the homunculi regrouped for another assault. "We need to move now."

The Duke's massive form shifted, crystal appendages reconfiguring into more aggressive formations. "Subjects will not escape the Convergence protocol."

Klaus raised his hand, palm forward as he once again connected with the natural mana through his Second Eye. Another magic circle manifested in the air, this one with different patterns focused on spatial manipulation.

"Second Circle Magic: Force Barrier," he announced.

A translucent dome of energy expanded around the survivors, pushing back the advancing homunculi. The artificial beings crashed against the barrier like waves against a cliff, their crystal appendages unable to penetrate the magical construct.

"The barrier won't hold long," Klaus warned, strain evident in his voice as blood continued seeping from his eyes. "When it fails, I'll create an opening. Move fast and don't stop for anything."

"What opening?" Leone asked, grip tightening on his sword. "There's no clear path."

Klaus's expression remained focused. "I'll make one."

The barrier shattered moments later, fragments of magical energy dissolving into the air. Before the homunculi could surge forward, Klaus called upon both his First and Fourth Eyes simultaneously. For the first time, the survivors witnessed him manifest two magic circles at once—one to his left and one to his right, both rotating with increasing speed as magical symbols aligned into complex formulas.

"First Circle Magic: Dimensional Anchor," he intoned, the circle to his left pulsing with deep blue energy. "Fourth Circle Magic: Reality Fracture."

The strain of manifesting two high-level spells simultaneously caused blood vessels to rupture throughout Klaus's body. Red tears streamed from his eyes as his mind was pushed far beyond normal human limits.

Space itself visibly distorted around them, reality bending under the influence of the conjoined spells. A pathway appeared where none had existed before—not a physical corridor, but a temporary fold in the chamber's dimensional fabric, leading directly to a maintenance shaft that his Four Eyes had identified earlier.

"Through there, now!" Klaus commanded, maintaining the impossible passage through sheer willpower.

Leone didn't hesitate, immediately directing the survivors toward the dimensional fold. Alexandra lingered, her expression torn between duty and concern.

"Klaus—"

"Go," he ordered, blood now seeping from his ears as the strain intensified. "I'll be right behind you."

The Duke's massive form surged forward, crystal appendages lashing out to disrupt the spell. With visible effort, Klaus dismissed one of his existing magic circles and manifested a new one directly in the path of the Duke's attack.

"Second Circle Magic: Momentum Reversal."

The Duke's appendages struck the newly formed circle and immediately rebounded with equal force, crashing back into his hybrid body. The impact bought precious seconds as the survivors escaped through the dimensional fold.

Alexandra was the last to enter, her cyan-enhanced blade severing homunculi that ventured too close to the passage. "Don't you dare die here," she called over her shoulder, before disappearing through the fold.

Alone now, Klaus confronted the Duke, maintaining the dimensional passage with one spell while preparing another. His hand extended forward, palm outward with the rune glowing obsidian black.

"You think yourself beyond mortality," the Duke observed, hybrid form reconfiguring as it recovered from the magical counterattack. "Yet your physical vessel fails even now. The strain of wielding such magic tears you apart from within."

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Klaus didn't deny it. He could feel his body deteriorating under the extreme mental strain of casting such high-level magic. The Four Eyes of his Ten Eyes Mantra allowed him to perform feats impossible for conventional mages, but the price was physical - blood vessels rupturing, tissues failing under the pressure of channeling such immense magical power through his mind realm.

"I don't need to defeat you," Klaus replied, blood dripping from his chin. "I just need to delay you."

With that, he closed his physical eyes once more, all Four Eyes within his mind realm focusing on a single purpose. To the Duke's visible surprise, Klaus dismissed his existing magic circles and materialized a single, massive one above his head—easily twenty feet in diameter, its symbols rotating with blinding speed. The chamber's temperature plummeted as reality itself protested against the violation of its fundamental laws.

This was the true revelation of Klaus's power—not just that he could use magic, but that he could cast Fourth Circle Magic, the domain of Archmages.

"Fourth Circle Magic: Absolute Zero."

The air crystallized instantly as all molecular movement ceased within the spell's area of effect. The Duke's massive form, caught in the radius of absolute nullification, froze in place—not with conventional ice, but with the absolute cessation of energy. Even the opalescent fluid that composed much of his body solidified, motion becoming mathematically impossible as temperature reached the theoretical minimum.

The effect would be temporary—nothing could maintain absolute zero for long—but it created the window Klaus needed. With the last of his strength, he backed through the dimensional fold, maintaining it just long enough to pass through before severing the connection.

The passage collapsed behind him, reality snapping back into conventional alignment with an audible thunderclap. Klaus staggered into the maintenance shaft where the others waited, his legs nearly buckling beneath him.

Leone caught him before he could fall. "That was... I've never seen such magic."

"You manifested Fourth Circle Magic," Alexandra added in disbelief. "That's Archmage level."

"And you're a Swordmaster too," Juron continued, equally stunned. "No one can master both paths. The training requirements alone would take multiple lifetimes."

"We need to keep moving," Klaus managed, wiping blood from his face and ignoring their questions. "The effect won't hold him long. His systems will adapt."

The maintenance shaft led upward, a narrow service ladder providing access to higher levels of the containment zone. One by one, the survivors climbed, Klaus taking the rear position despite his deteriorating condition.

They reached a junction where the shaft branched in multiple directions. Klaus's Four Eyes revealed energy signatures flowing through the surrounding structure—power conduits leading to various systems throughout the containment zone.

"The barrier control station is this way," he said, pointing to the leftmost passage. "We need to—"

A tremendous impact shook the entire shaft, dust and concrete fragments showering down from above. The Duke had already broken free of the Absolute Zero spell, his adaptive systems overcoming even that fundamental limitation.

"He's tracking us through the structure's energy grid," Klaus realized, his Four Eyes perceiving the flowing patterns. "We need to move faster."

They hurried through the passage, the sound of destruction growing louder behind them. The maintenance tunnels were never designed for combat—narrow confines that limited movement and forced them into a vulnerable single file.

After several hundred yards, they emerged into a smaller control room—a secondary monitoring station for the barrier systems. Banks of equipment lined the walls, status displays showing the containment field's current configuration.

"Can you use this to send another signal?" Leone asked, securing the entrance while the others caught their breath.

Klaus examined the systems, his Four Eyes revealing their connections to the primary barrier. "No, but I can access the override protocols from here. If I can reconfigure the harmonic resonance between the barrier and the miniature rift, it might buy us more time."

His fingers danced across control surfaces, intuitive understanding guiding movements that shouldn't have been possible without years of specialized training. Once again, knowledge surfaced from somewhere deep within his consciousness—not memories, exactly, but understanding that felt primordial.

As he worked, a familiar sensation tingled at the edge of his awareness. The rune on his palm warmed slightly, and for the briefest moment, he sensed Greed's presence attempting to reconnect.

{The technology...}Greed's fractured voice whispered in his mind.{ Arkdieu origin...}

The connection faded before Klaus could respond, but the revelation sent a chill through him. Arkdieu technology—created by the same entities that had chosen Apostles throughout history. The implications were staggering.

Before he could process this further, the floor beneath them buckled as something massive struck from below. The Duke had found them.

"We're out of time," Klaus announced, inputting final commands into the console. "The override is in place, but we need to reach the surface to confirm it took effect."

A crystalline appendage punched through the floor, narrowly missing Finn as he leapt aside. More followed in rapid succession, the Duke's hybrid form pushing through the structural barrier separating them.

"Go!" Klaus shouted, manifesting another magic circle in front of him. "Second Circle Magic: Blink!"

Space folded around him as he teleported across the room, appearing beside a secondary exit just as the Duke's grotesque form erupted through the floor where he had stood. Unlike conventional teleportation magic that required line of sight, Klaus's Four Eyes allowed him to perceive his destination through solid barriers.

"This way!" he called, throwing open the access hatch to reveal a vertical shaft leading upward.

One by one, the survivors scrambled through, Klaus covering their retreat with yet another manifested magic circle. This time, instead of drawing upon natural mana, the rune on his palm flared with obsidian light as he channeled energy from his black arcane core.

"First Circle Magic: Arcane Flames!"

Black fire erupted from the circle, engulfing the advancing homunculi in flames that consumed matter itself. Unlike his previous spells, this one didn't just shape existing mana—it unleashed the destructive power of arcane energy, something beyond conventional magic.

The Duke's layered voice carried above the inferno, unperturbed despite the temporary setback. "You delay the inevitable. The Convergence cannot be stopped."

Klaus was the last through the hatch, sealing it behind him as they ascended toward what they hoped would be salvation.

But as they climbed, the rune on his palm burned with renewed intensity—a warning that the worst was yet to come.