The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family-Chapter 189: Depths of Deception
The diamond formation sliced through the frozen air of the containment zone, each survivor moving with the grim precision of those who've accepted their odds of survival. Klaus maintained point position, Greed's unstable form sending ripples of darkness through the air with each movement. The sword's edges phased between solidity and shadow—present, but far from its true power.
Alexandra and Juron anchored the flanks, their enhanced combat awareness creating a protective net around the formation's perimeter. Leone secured the rear, veteran instincts perpetually scanning for pursuit. The four remaining survivors—Finn and Darius from Team 55, plus two of Leone's officers—filled the intermediate positions, maintaining the formation's integrity despite their mounting fatigue.
Across the containment field, monitoring stations rose like silent sentinels, their sensor arrays tracking every movement. Defensive pylons stood at regular intervals, dormant but vigilant, designed to eliminate anything that breached the Eternal Rift's barrier.
Klaus's Four Eyes—each containing a fully formed magic circle swirling with arcane formulas—revealed what the others couldn't perceive—energy patterns flowing beneath the surface, connecting every structure in an intricate web that pulsed with alchemical purpose. This wasn't merely a defensive zone; it was a vast machine disguised as a military installation.
"Energy spike, left quadrant," Klaus warned, his enhanced perception detecting the power buildup before any visible signs appeared.
The group adjusted course without breaking stride, years of training allowing them to respond to commands with instantaneous precision. Seconds later, the ground where they would have been erupted as a defensive pylon activated, unleashing a searing beam of concentrated energy that melted permafrost into steaming puddles.
"The defensive systems are targeting us," Leone observed, voice controlled despite the implications. "They're designed to attack Rift creatures, not humans."
"We're no longer registered as human," Klaus replied, his Four Eyes revealing the shifting energy signatures surrounding them. "The Duke has reclassified us in the system."
Behind them, the transformed Duke's progression was methodical and relentless. His hybrid form had continued expanding, assimilating more homunculi with each passing moment. What had once been a nobleman now resembled a living mountain of brass, crystal, and flowing opalescent substance, towering nearly twenty feet high.
More disturbing was the organization evident in his movements. This wasn't the mindless pursuit of a predator—it was a coordinated herding action. The Duke was systematically eliminating escape routes, forcing them toward a specific section of the containment zone.
"Multiple contacts ahead," Alexandra warned, cyan aura flaring around her blade as she detected movement. "They're forming a blockade."
Silver figures emerged from behind the monitoring stations, their human pretense abandoned. These homunculi had evolved beyond the transitional forms they'd encountered in the research facility—their bodies composed entirely of the mercury-like substance interwoven with crystalline structures and mechanical components. Runes pulsed beneath their translucent surfaces, complex formulae that shouldn't have been possible with conventional alchemy.
"Maintain discipline," Klaus ordered as the distance closed. "Target the focal points of their runic arrays."
The first wave struck with unnatural coordination, crystal limbs extending into weapons of impossible sharpness. Klaus met the lead homunculus with economical precision, Greed's fluctuating form passing through its defenses to sever a critical juncture where multiple runic formulas converged. The effect was immediate—cascading failure that caused the artificial being to collapse into inert components.
Alexandra and Juron adapted instantly, modifying their techniques to target similar vulnerabilities in their opponents. The rest of the formation followed suit, creating a devastating counteroffensive that carved through the homunculi blockade with surgical precision.
Yet for each artificial being they dismantled, two more emerged from the surrounding structures. The Duke was throwing resources at them with calculated abandon, sacrificing pawns to maneuver them into position for some greater purpose.
They were halfway to the barrier control station when a subsonic vibration shook the ground beneath them. The massive energy barrier containing the Eternal Rift fluctuated, violent energies destabilizing before reforming in a slightly different configuration.
Klaus's rune burned with sudden, searing pain. Within his mind realm, all Four Eyes focused on the distant barrier, perceiving something that sent ice through his veins—the barrier wasn't failing.
It was changing.
"The Duke is reconfiguring the containment systems," he warned, watching as homunculi across the field suddenly froze in perfect unison, awaiting new instructions. "This isn't a containment breach—it's a controlled adjustment."
Leone scanned their surroundings with narrowed eyes. "They're herding us. But why?"
Before Klaus could respond, every defensive pylon within five hundred yards activated simultaneously. Targeting lights converged on their position as energy built to catastrophic levels. There was no time for conventional evasion.
At that moment, Klaus made a critical decision. He stopped moving, his body suddenly perfectly still as his consciousness dove deep into his mind realm. The Four Eyes—each containing a fully formed magic circle—began rotating rapidly, arcane formulas within them realigning to form a specific, devastatingly powerful spell.
"Get behind me!" he shouted, his voice carrying an authority that brooked no argument.
In the next instant, the First Eye—Anubis—projected its magic circle outward from Klaus's mind realm into physical reality. The circle materialized in front of him, a massive wheel of black arcane symbols that rotated with impossible speed, its diameter spanning nearly ten feet.
"Gravitational Singularity," Klaus intoned, channeling massive arcane energy through the projected circle.
Space warped visibly around them as a second magic circle materialized above the first, then a third to the right, and a fourth to the left—each one a physical manifestation from one of the Four Eyes. The air distorted as the gravitational spell took effect, bending the trajectories of the incoming energy beams. The deadly attacks curved inward, drawing toward a central point thirty feet above their position where they collided in a blinding flash of controlled devastation.
The resulting explosion shook the entire containment field, sending shockwaves that toppled nearby monitoring stations and disrupted the targeting systems of the defensive pylons. A rain of crystalline fragments showered down as overloaded energy nodes ruptured across the field.
Blood streamed from Klaus's nose and eyes, the strain of projecting four physical magic circles simultaneously and manipulating gravity on such a scale taking a severe toll even on his enhanced physiology. His legs nearly buckled as the circles faded, returning to their place within his mind realm.
"What... what was that?" Leone stammered, staring at Klaus with a mixture of awe and fear.
"No time," Klaus responded, wiping blood from his face with a sleeve. "Northwest perimeter, service access point. Move!"
The survivors followed without question, shock momentarily overriding their curiosity about Klaus's unexplained abilities. They reached a maintenance tunnel entrance partially concealed beneath one of the larger monitoring stations, a narrow access shaft leading beneath the containment zone's surface.
One by one, they descended the ladder, Klaus taking rear position to ensure no one was left behind. The passage was cramped, forcing them to move in single file through the dimly lit confines.
Greed's form destabilized further in the tunnel, the blade fragmenting into wisps of darkness that struggled to maintain cohesion. {Interference... patterns... not natural...} the sword's consciousness strained, its mental voice fragmenting like its physical form.
"What do you mean?" Klaus asked under his breath, channeling another measured stream of arcane energy to stabilize the connection.
{This place... wrong... older than it appears...}
Before Klaus could press further, the tunnel branched into three separate passages. His Four Eyes revealed subtle energy differences between them—the left passage contaminated with trace amounts of opalescent fluid, the center one leading toward the barrier, and the right one descending deeper beneath the containment zone.
"Center path," he directed, recognizing the energy signature of barrier control systems ahead. "Quickly."
They advanced approximately two hundred yards when the walls began to vibrate. Dust and concrete fragments showered down from above as tremendous force was applied to the surface structures directly overhead.
"He's searching methodically," Alexandra observed, cyan aura instinctively flaring around her blade. "Destroying everything until he finds us."
The vibrations intensified, then abruptly ceased. A terrible stillness fell over the tunnel, broken only by their controlled breathing and the distant hum of machinery.
Juron exhaled slowly. "Did we lose him?"
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Klaus shook his head, Four Eyes revealing energy surges converging on their position from multiple vectors. "No. He's—"
The ceiling exploded inward fifty yards ahead as a massive crystalline appendage punched through reinforced concrete with terrifying precision. Opalescent fluid poured through the breach, flowing along the tunnel floor toward them with unnatural intelligence.
"Back!" Klaus shouted, already turning to retreat.
Another deafening crash sounded behind them as a second appendage smashed through the tunnel, cutting off their escape. The Duke's voice—now a chorus of perfectly synchronized mechanical tones—filtered through the breaches.
"Convergence achieved," the layered voice announced with clinical satisfaction. "Subject isolation complete."
Left with only one option, Klaus directed the group down the right passage—the one leading deeper beneath the containment zone rather than toward their destination. The tunnel sloped sharply downward, taking them far below the standard maintenance level into areas that hadn't been included in any schematics Klaus had studied.
The passage eventually opened into a vast underground chamber that stopped them in their tracks. Massive machinery filled the space, much of it ancient beyond reckoning, covered in symbols that predated the Empire by centuries. What appeared to be recent additions were grafted onto these older systems—alchemical conduits merged with eldritch technology in a disturbing hybrid that pulsed with violet light.
At the chamber's center stood a perfect miniature of the Eternal Rift itself—a controlled tear in reality contained within a complex array of crystals and rune-inscribed pillars.
"What is this place?" Alexandra whispered, her disciplined composure momentarily shaken.
Klaus studied the chamber, Four Eyes revealing energy patterns that sent chills down his spine. "It's not a containment system," he realized with growing horror. "It's an amplification array."
Leone approached one of the control consoles cautiously. "These designs... some of these components are ancient. Pre-imperial, possibly even..."
"Pre-Catastrophe," Klaus finished, recognition dawning from knowledge carried across lifetimes. "From before the Great Rift War."
The rune on his palm burned with excruciating intensity as he approached the miniature rift. Something about its frequency created a dissonant harmonic with his arcane core, as if they were fundamentally opposed forces.
Greed's form destabilized completely, the sword dissolving back into the ring. {Can't... maintain... beware... this place...} the weapon's consciousness managed before falling silent.
Klaus examined the nearest console, recognizing symbols that shouldn't have existed in this era—formulae developed by civilizations long vanished from the continent. "This chamber predates Northwatch by centuries," he said quietly. "The city wasn't built to contain the Eternal Rift..."
"It was built to use it," Darius concluded, the implications sending a chill through the group.
A methodical pounding began overhead—the Duke, tracking them to their new location. With each impact, dust and fragments showered down from the ceiling, marking the countdown to their discovery.
"Can we use any of this to call for help?" Juron asked, gesturing to the ancient machinery.
Klaus's eyes traced the power conduits leading from the miniature rift to distribution nodes throughout the chamber. "Possibly. These systems are connected to the main barrier. If we can reconfigure them to send a directed energy pulse, we might be able to reach White Lion headquarters."
"How long would that take?" Leone demanded, already organizing the survivors into a defensive perimeter.
"Ten minutes to understand the system architecture," Klaus estimated, mind racing through possibilities. "Another five to execute the necessary adjustments."
As if in response to his timeline, the pounding overhead intensified, cracks spreading across the ancient ceiling with alarming speed.
"You have seven minutes," Leone stated flatly, drawing his sword as opalescent fluid began seeping through the forming cracks. "After that, I don't think it will matter."
Klaus moved to the primary console, Four Eyes fully engaged to decipher the hybrid symbology. What he found sent ice through his veins. This wasn't merely an attempt to harness the Rift's power—it was something far more insidious.
"The Duke isn't trying to transform Northwatch," he said, voice steady despite the revelation. "He's using Northwatch to transform the Eternal Rift itself."
"Transform it into what?" Alexandra asked, the question hanging in the air as the ceiling began to give way above them.
