The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family-Chapter 197: Black Divinity

Alexandra stood alone at the center of the barrier control station, the lifeless bodies of Finn and Darius bearing silent witness to their failed mission. The Duke's massive hybrid form filled the shattered doorway, opalescent fluid flowing around him as his crystal appendages extended into the chamber. Homunculi poured in behind him, their silver bodies forming intricate patterns across the floor.

"A commendable effort," the Duke's layered voice resonated through the chamber. "But ultimately futile. The Convergence has progressed too far to be halted by simple desynchronization."

Alexandra raised her cyan-infused blade, its glow dimmer than before as her core energy depleted. Blood streaked her uniform from numerous wounds, but her stance remained defiant. She was the last survivor—the only one who could carry warning of what had happened here.

Through the viewing ports, she could see the Eternal Rift's barrier fluctuating wildly, violet energy coalescing into what resembled a massive doorway between worlds. Finn's final override had destabilized the system but failed to stop the Convergence—it had merely transformed it into something potentially more dangerous.

The Duke advanced, his hybrid form reconfiguring with each movement. "Your resistance has provided valuable data, but now the final phase begins. Those Who Wait Beyond approach the threshold."

Before Alexandra could respond, a change swept through the chamber—subtle at first, then undeniable. The temperature plummeted. The air itself seemed to thicken, becoming difficult to breathe. The lights throughout the chamber dimmed, not flickering but steadily darkening as if something were devouring the illumination.

The homunculi nearest the secondary entrance abruptly... unmade themselves. Not shattered or collapsed, but simply ceased to exist. Where they had stood, only dark ash remained, floating momentarily before dissolving into nothingness. The process spread outward, more homunculi turning to ash as a wave of absolute darkness flowed through the doorway.

Within that darkness, something moved.

The figure that emerged walked with unnatural grace, each step too fluid, too precise for human motion. Alexandra's heart stuttered when she recognized the face beneath the curtain of midnight-black hair.

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"Klaus?"

But it wasn't Klaus—not entirely. The body was his, but fundamentally altered. His once-silver hair had transformed into strands of absolute darkness that seemed to absorb light rather than merely block it. His eyes...

His eyes were voids—not merely black but abyssal, like holes cut into reality itself, showing something vast and ancient beyond.

The Duke's massive form stilled completely, his mechanical components ceasing their constant reconfiguration. For the first time, Alexandra sensed genuine fear emanating from the hybrid creature.

"What manner of interference is this?" the Duke demanded, his layered voice losing its mechanical precision as uncertainty crept in.

The figure wearing Klaus's form regarded the Duke with those depthless eyes. "Servant of the Opposition," he responded, Klaus's voice layered with resonances that no human throat could produce. "Your experiment concludes."

The Duke's hybrid form expanded defensively, opalescent fluid hardening into crystalline armor as mechanical components reconfigured into weapons. "Identify yourself!" he commanded, though fear now tinged his voice.

"I am Gluttony," the entity replied. Where his foot touched the floor, darkness spread outward in concentric circles. Every homunculus caught in this expanding void simply dissolved into ash.

The Duke attacked first, launching hundreds of crystal spears simultaneously. They never reached their target. Halfway to Gluttony, they simply crumbled to ash, unmade by the darkness that extended from his form without visible effort.

Gluttony raised Klaus's hand, revealing the obsidian rune now blazing with terrible intensity. "Pathetic," he observed. "You believe yourself evolved beyond humanity, yet you comprehend nothing of true power."

A wave of pure darkness erupted from his palm—not energy or magic, but the absolute absence of existence. Where it touched the Duke's hybrid form, opalescent fluid hardened and shattered into ash, mechanical components disintegrated, crystal structures collapsed.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Duke's voice distorted as sections of his body dissolved. With desperate effort, he drew energy directly from the Eternal Rift, violet light pouring through his remaining form to temporarily halt the spread of darkness. "The Convergence cannot be stopped! The threshold forms even now!"

Gluttony tilted his head at an angle no human neck should permit. "Your masters miscalculated. They believed no opposition remained to their plans."

The Duke's form rippled as he channeled more energy from the Rift, rebuilding his disintegrating body faster than Gluttony's darkness could consume it. "The Opposition has waited millennia for this moment! One interferer cannot prevent what comes!"

"Human girl," Gluttony said without turning his abyssal eyes from the Duke, "leave this chamber immediately."

Alexandra realized he was addressing her. She gripped her sword tighter. "I can still fight."

"This is not your battle," Gluttony replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. "What comes next is beyond your capacity to endure."

The Duke launched another desperate assault—this time, the entire chamber shook as he channeled power directly from the threshold. Violet energy coalesced around his form, manifesting as spectral appendages that struck at Gluttony from multiple angles simultaneously.

Gluttony didn't move or defend himself. He simply closed Klaus's eyes for a brief moment.

When they opened again, absolute darkness flooded the chamber like a physical wave. Everything it touched—crystal, metal, even the very air itself—turned instantly to dark ash. The Duke's attack disintegrated before making contact, and half his newly regenerated form crumbled away once more.

"You continue to resist," Gluttony observed with something approaching curiosity. "Interesting, but ultimately futile."

With terrifying speed, he thrust his hand toward the primary node at the chamber's center. Dark energy erupted from the rune, striking the crystalline structure with surgical precision. The node's violent glow shifted instantly to obsidian black, though it remained stable—for now.

"What are you doing?" the Duke demanded, genuine terror now evident in his voice.

"Redirecting," Gluttony answered simply.

The chamber shuddered violently as the node's energy patterns shifted. Through the viewing ports, Alexandra could see the archway-shaped threshold around the Eternal Rift beginning to change, its energy flows altering in ways that defied comprehension.

Before she could process what was happening, Gluttony stood directly before her—not having walked the intervening space, but simply existing where he had not been a moment before.

"Time for you to leave, human girl," he said, those abyssal eyes briefly meeting hers. Something flickered across Klaus's face—recognition, perhaps, or some fragment of his original consciousness struggling to surface.

He placed his hand on her shoulder.

Reality collapsed.

Alexandra experienced a sensation of infinite compression followed by explosive expansion. Everything—light, sound, substance—blurred into an indistinguishable chaos before suddenly resolving into solidity once more.

She found herself standing on a distant hillside, miles from Northwatch. The city was visible on the horizon, surrounded by the violet glow of the Eternal Rift's barrier. Despite the impossible distance, she could see it with perfect clarity, as if Gluttony had enhanced her perception along with displacing her.

Within the city, darkness was spreading—not merely shadow but active consumption. Buildings, streets, entire sections of Northwatch were turning to dark ash, crumbling from the inside out as Gluttony's power expanded from the barrier control station.

The Rift itself remained, its vast archway now fully formed, the threshold between worlds clearly visible even at this distance. The energies were shifting, realigning according to some incomprehensible pattern as Gluttony executed whatever plan had brought him to this place.

Alexandra stared in horror and awe at the unfolding catastrophe. Gluttony's casual display of power had been beyond anything she could have imagined. The Duke—who had seemed invincible just moments before—had crumbled like paper before the Arkdieu's absolute darkness.

And Klaus—the swordmaster who had led Team 55, who had fought to protect his comrades with unwavering determination—was now merely a vessel for something ancient and terrible.

With sudden urgency, Alexandra found herself running toward the distant city, her heart pounding with desperate hope. For a moment—just before sending her away—something had flickered across Klaus's face beneath Gluttony's control. A flash of recognition, a fragment of his true self struggling to surface.

"He's still in there," she whispered as she ran. "Klaus is still fighting."

Despite everything she had witnessed, despite the terrifying display of Gluttony's power, Alexandra couldn't abandon him. If there was even the slightest chance that Klaus could reclaim his body from the ancient entity that possessed it, she had to be there. She had to help him.

And so she ran, each step carrying her back toward a city that was slowly turning to ash beneath the shadow of an ancient power, driven by the desperate belief that the swordmaster who had led them with such quiet determination could somehow return.