The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family - Chapter 227

Chapter 227: The White Lion’s Stand (2)

On the opposite side of the estate, Nicholas Davoss moved with calculated precision through darkened corridors. Unlike the chaotic retreat of estate personnel fleeing the cultist intrusion, his movements followed a predetermined path, each turn bringing him closer to the Frost Chamber’s location.

Four cultists appeared at the intersection ahead, amber energy pulsing around their ritual daggers. They spotted Nicholas immediately, spreading out to block his advance.

“Another defender,” one observed, ritual scars glowing faintly on his face. “Without mana enhancement, like the others.”

Nicholas stopped, assessing the situation with calm efficiency. The null field’s effects permeated the entire estate, severing conventional practitioners from their mana cores. These cultists, however, retained their abilities through the specialized energy channels created by their Inverted Core Ritual.

“Surrender, boy,” another cultist called. “The nullification field has rendered you powerless. You cannot hope to defeat enhanced opponents.”

Nicholas reached into his pocket, extracting a small, obsidian blade. Without speaking, he drew it across his palm, opening a precise incision that followed a line already marked by faint scarring. Blood welled from the cut, but instead of dripping to the floor, it seemed to flow into his skin, tracing patterns beneath the surface.

“What is he doing?” one cultist asked, uncertainty entering his voice.

Nicholas closed his eyes, focusing on the blood channels he had meticulously inscribed into his body since the beginning of this life. From the moment he understood this would be his ninth and potentially final incarnation according to the life ring1 he’d discovered in the Babel Tower, he had prepared for every possible contingency. The Ancestral Circuit represented knowledge accumulated across all his previous lives—particularly his fourth, when he had accessed ancient texts containing techniques from the Third Age when practitioners utilized energy systems fundamentally different from modern methods.

“Ancestral Circuit,” Nicholas intoned, his voice steady despite the pain beginning to radiate through his body. “First Gate: Awakening.”

Crimson light erupted beneath his skin, following precise runic patterns that covered his arms, chest, and face. The carefully inscribed channels—created through months of painful self-modification—filled with blood that glowed with internal energy, forming an alternative pathway that circumvented conventional mana systems.

The cultists stepped back instinctively, confusion evident in their expressions. “Impossible,” one whispered. “The null field should prevent any energy manipulation.”

“Your Null Array targets standard mana pathways,” Nicholas explained, crimson light pulsing visibly through the runic patterns covering his body. “The Ancestral Circuit operates on different principles entirely.”

From his studies in previous lives, particularly his fourth incarnation where he had accessed ancient libraries, Nicholas had learned of energy systems predating the standardized mana core approach. The Ancestral Circuit was among the oldest—a technique requiring physical modification to create blood channels that could conduct energy independent of conventional methods.

In his current life, Nicholas had spent months inscribing the necessary runic patterns into his flesh, preparing for contingencies exactly like this current situation. Each pattern had been precisely calculated, each channel carved with excruciating care to create a system that modern practitioners wouldn’t recognize, let alone know how to counter.

The lead cultist overcame his initial surprise, amber energy intensifying around his ritual dagger. “Whatever technique you’re using, you stand alone against four. Surrender now.”

Nicholas raised his hand, crimson light coalescing around his fingers. “I’m never truly alone,” he replied. “I carry the knowledge of multiple lifetimes.”

The cultists attacked simultaneously, moving with the coordinated precision characteristic of the Icarus cult’s training. Their amber-enhanced speed and strength would have overwhelmed any conventional opponent deprived of mana enhancement.

Nicholas was anything but conventional.

Crimson energy flowed through the runic channels inscribed in his skin, enhancing his physical capabilities beyond standard limitations. He sidestepped the first cultist’s attack with fluid grace, his counterattack leaving a glowing crimson arc through the air as his blade severed the man’s arm at the shoulder.

The second cultist lashed out with a ritual dagger transformed into a whip-like appendage. Nicholas’s runic blade intercepted it, crimson energy disrupting the amber enchantment that maintained the weapon’s transformation. The dagger reverted to its original form, leaving its wielder momentarily vulnerable. Nicholas exploited the opening with lethal efficiency, his blade finding the cultist’s heart.

The remaining pair attacked from opposite directions, attempting to divide Nicholas’s attention. He responded by activating a secondary runic sequence along his spine, crimson light intensifying as he executed a movement technique that left momentary afterimages in his wake. One cultist’s blade passed harmlessly through an afterimage while Nicholas materialized behind the other, his weapon already completing its lethal arc.

Three cultists lay dead in less than ten seconds. The fourth backed away, amber energy flaring defensively around him. “What are you?” he demanded, genuine fear entering his voice for the first time.

“Someone who has seen the consequences of Icarus’s return,” Nicholas replied, crimson light pulsing visibly through the runic patterns covering his body. “Someone who won’t allow it to happen again.”

The cultist turned to flee, likely intending to warn his comrades. Nicholas didn’t allow it. His runic blade flashed once, and the final opponent collapsed, life extinguished before he hit the floor.

Nicholas paused, allowing himself a moment to adjust to the Ancestral Circuit’s effects. Unlike conventional mana enhancement, which drew power from an internal core cultivated over years of practice, the blood-based system utilized his own life energy directly. Each technique extracted a physical toll, burning through vitality that couldn’t be easily replenished.

The runic patterns covering his body pulsed with steady crimson light, providing enhanced capabilities at significant cost. Nicholas had calculated he could maintain the First Gate’s activation for approximately thirty minutes before risking permanent damage. If necessary, he could push further—opening additional gates would grant greater power but with exponentially increasing risk.

He continued through the estate, following the most direct route toward the Frost Chamber. His connection to the Ancestral Circuit allowed him to sense energy fluctuations throughout the building—particularly the dense concentration of amber energy near his destination. Based on these readings, the extraction team had already reached the chamber and begun their attempt to breach its defenses.

Time was running short.

As Nicholas approached the central wing, a sudden spike in amber energy made him pause. Something significant had just occurred—a substantial power expenditure consistent with a major ritual. He quickened his pace, crimson light intensifying around his runic blade as he prepared for imminent confrontation.

The corridor ahead filled with cultists—a secondary defense team positioned to intercept reinforcements. Nicholas didn’t slow. Crimson energy surged through his Ancestral Circuit as he activated a combat enhancement sequence.

“Second Gate: Crimson Overflow,” he whispered.

Power flooded through the runic channels, temporarily overclocking his capabilities beyond safe parameters. Pain lanced through his body as the channels expanded beyond their designed capacity, but Nicholas pushed through it, focusing on the objective ahead.

The cultists raised their weapons, amber energy flaring in preparation. They clearly recognized the threat he represented—an opponent somehow capable of energy manipulation despite the Null Array’s effects.

Nicholas struck first, his crimson-enhanced speed allowing him to close distance before they could properly coordinate their defense. His blade carved through amber protections with surgical precision, each strike targeting vulnerabilities in their formation.

Two cultists fell immediately, their enhanced reflexes insufficient against Nicholas’s unexpected capabilities. The others adjusted quickly, forming a defensive pattern that limited his angles of attack. Nicholas recognized the formation from previous encounters with the cult—a standard protection array designed to counter single opponents.

He shifted tactics, activating a different runic sequence along his forearms. Crimson energy coalesced around his non-dominant hand, forming a secondary weapon composed of pure energy. The cultists hadn’t anticipated this capability, their formation optimized against a single-weapon opponent.

Nicholas exploited the gap in their defense, his energy construct bypassing a cultist’s guard to pierce her heart while his physical blade engaged another’s ritual dagger. The remaining cultists fell back, reconfiguring their formation to account for the unexpected threat.

Too late. Nicholas pressed his advantage, crimson light leaving afterimages as he moved faster than unenhanced human eyes could track. Within moments, all six cultists lay dead or dying, their amber enhancements proving insufficient against techniques they couldn’t comprehend.

A dying cultist grasped Nicholas’s ankle as he passed. “What manner of practitioner are you?” he gasped, amber light fading from his ritual scars. “The null field should prevent—”

“The Ancestral Circuit predates your Null Array by several millennia,” Nicholas replied, though he knew the explanation meant nothing to the dying man. “Your cult has forgotten more than it remembers.”

He continued forward, sensing a massive energy discharge ahead—likely indicating the Frost Chamber’s defenses had been breached. The Ancestral Circuit burned beneath his skin, each pulse of crimson energy extracting a physical toll that would eventually become unsustainable.

Nicholas pushed his body harder, ignoring the growing pain. He had to reach the chamber before the extraction team secured Klaus. Everything depended on preventing the cult from initiating the Ascension Ritual—a ceremony Nicholas had witnessed in his second life, one whose consequences still haunted him across multiple incarnations.

As he approached the final corridor leading to the Frost Chamber, Nicholas sensed a singular presence ahead—an individual whose amber energy signature dwarfed those of regular cultists. He knew immediately who awaited him.

Sister Myrith—the extraction leader, whose ritual scarification marked her as among the highest-ranking members of the Icarus cult. Behind her, the Frost Chamber’s massive doors were beginning to part, amber energy disrupting the preservation runes that had maintained its integrity for the past year.

Nicholas rounded the corner just in time to see Myrith stepping through a spatial distortion, reappearing behind Alexandra Lionhart. The White Lion soldier was bloodied, clearly exhausted from extended combat, unaware of the ritual dagger plunging toward her unprotected back.

There was no time for subtlety. Nicholas activated the Third Gate technique, crimson light blazing from his runic patterns as he launched himself forward with explosive speed.