The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family

The Frost Chamber echoed with the clash of steel against ritual daggers. Bodies of cultists and fallen guards littered the corridor, testament to the ferocity of the ongoing battle. Alexandra pressed her advantage against two cultists, her blade moving with lethal precision despite the absence of mana enhancement. Her White Lion training had prepared her for scenarios where energy enhancement failed, honing physical skills that many practitioners neglected.

"Fall back to secondary position," she ordered the three remaining Lionhart guards. Blood ran from a gash on her forehead, partially obscuring her vision, but her strikes never faltered.

The cultists fought with unnerving coordination, their movements enhanced by amber energy that should have been impossible under the null field's effect. Each bore identical ritual scars across their faces—the mark of Icarus etched into flesh through painful devotion.

Beyond them, at the corridor's far end, Sister Myrith observed the combat with clinical detachment. Her ritual-scarred face betrayed no emotion as she studied Alexandra's technique.

"Impressive physical prowess," she remarked to the cultist beside her. "Most mana practitioners become helpless without their enhancement."

"The extraction team reports the Frost Chamber's inner defenses remain operational," the cultist responded. "They require the secondary array."

Myrith nodded once. "Proceed with the next phase. I will handle the White Lion soldier myself."

She stepped forward, amber energy coalescing around her ritual dagger. The patterns carved into her flesh began to glow with internal light, casting eerie shadows across the corridor. Alexandra noticed the shift immediately—the cultists engaging her suddenly disengaged, creating space for their leader.

"Alexandra Lionhart," Myrith called, her voice carrying the resonant quality unique to high-ranking members of the cult. "Your devotion to the vessel is admirable, if misguided."

Alexandra adjusted her stance, blade angled for maximum defensive coverage. "He's not your 'vessel.' He's my cousin, and you're not taking him."

"The Worthy One's path was determined long before your birth," Myrith replied, closing distance with measured steps. "Three thousand years of prophecy cannot be denied by a single devoted relative."

Without warning, Myrith attacked—her movements so fluid they seemed to defy natural motion. Alexandra parried the first strike, the impact traveling up her arm with numbing force. The second nearly slipped past her guard, amber energy trailing from the ritual dagger as it missed her throat by millimeters.

Alexandra countered with a spinning slash, utilizing the Crescent Moon technique from White Lion's physical combat doctrine. Myrith evaded with unnatural precision, her body bending at angles that shouldn't have been possible.

"The nullification field affects only standard mana pathways," Myrith explained, almost educational in tone as they exchanged strikes. "The Inverted Core Ritual creates alternative channels—a technique requiring considerable sacrifice to master."

Alexandra said nothing, conserving her breath as she defended against Myrith's increasingly complex attack patterns. Each exchange drove her back a step closer to the Frost Chamber's sealed doors.

Behind Myrith, more cultists emerged from the access panel, carrying crystalline devices toward the Frost Chamber. Alexandra recognized their purpose immediately—specialized equipment designed to breach the chamber's defenses.

"You won't succeed," she stated, parrying another strike while watching the cultists' approach from her peripheral vision. "The Frost Chamber's security system will—"

"Was designed by the Ethereal Confluence using standard preservation runes," Myrith interrupted. "Our knowledge extends beyond conventional understanding. What your healers created over decades, we've been studying for millennia."

The cultists reached the Frost Chamber's massive doors, placing their crystalline devices at precise intervals along the seam. Amber energy flowed between the devices, forming a network of light that began to interface with the chamber's runic defenses.

As Alexandra fought to keep Myrith engaged, her mind raced through possible strategies. The remaining Lionhart guards were focusing on the cultists with the breach devices, but they were clearly outmatched. Without mana enhancement, even elite imperial guards struggled against opponents who retained their energy techniques.

"You fight well for one deprived of her abilities," Myrith acknowledged as they circled each other. "Most practitioners rely so heavily on mana enhancement that they forget fundamental technique."

"White Lion operatives train for all contingencies," Alexandra replied, conserving breath between precise strikes. "Including energy disruption scenarios."

Her blade traced a complex pattern through the air, a technique designed to create momentary openings in an opponent's defense. Myrith countered with uncanny anticipation, her ritual dagger meeting Alexandra's sword at the perfect angle to deflect its force.

"Your training is impressive," Myrith conceded. "But insufficient."

The ritual-scarred woman suddenly changed her approach, amber energy intensifying around her weapon. The dagger elongated, transforming into a whip-like apparition that moved with serpentine intelligence. The living weapon curved around Alexandra's guard, scoring a painful gash across her ribs before she could adjust her defense.

Alexandra gasped but maintained her stance, blood soaking her uniform as she pivoted to track the unnatural weapon's movements. The living dagger retracted, resuming solid form in Myrith's hand.

"Transfiguration techniques," Alexandra recognized, adjusting her strategy against this new threat. "Forbidden since the Mage Accords."

"Forbidden by those who fear true knowledge," Myrith corrected, the ritual dagger elongating once more. "The ancient techniques preserved only by those willing to embrace necessary sacrifice."

The transformed weapon lashed out again, splitting into multiple tendrils that attacked from several angles simultaneously. Alexandra executed a spinning defensive maneuver, blade moving in precise arcs that intercepted most threats. One tendril slipped through, opening a cut along her left arm.

Behind them, the cultists working at the chamber doors called out, "Alignment at sixty percent! Secondary array activation imminent!"

Alexandra knew time was running short. The Frost Chamber's defenses were formidable, but the cult had clearly prepared specialized countermeasures. Once breached, Klaus would be completely vulnerable.

She abandoned conventional defense, launching into an aggressive assault that momentarily caught Myrith off-guard. Her blade sliced through the amber energy surrounding Myrith, drawing first blood as it cut across the cultist's shoulder.

"Impressive," Myrith acknowledged, genuine surprise coloring her voice. She touched the wound, examining her own blood with clinical detachment. "Few have penetrated my defenses in decades."

"I'm just getting started," Alexandra replied, pressing her temporary advantage with a series of strikes that forced Myrith to give ground.

For a brief moment, hope flared in Alexandra's chest. If she could disable Myrith, perhaps the extraction team would falter without their leader's guidance. She poured everything into a combination attack that had felled many opponents during her White Lion operations.

Myrith's eyes narrowed, recognizing the genuine threat. The air around her shimmered as amber energy intensified, ritual scars pulsing with inner light. Just as Alexandra's blade approached her throat, Myrith executed a technique unlike anything Alexandra had witnessed before.

Reality itself seemed to bend around the cultist, space folding as she stepped sideways through dimensions that shouldn't exist. Alexandra's strike met empty air as Myrith reappeared behind her, ritual dagger already in motion toward her exposed back.

Alexandra sensed the attack too late to fully evade. She twisted, transforming what would have been a fatal spine strike into a deep gash across her shoulder blade. Pain lanced through her body as she stumbled forward, barely maintaining her balance.

"Spatial displacement," Myrith explained, almost apologetic. "Another technique your modern practitioners have forgotten."

Alexandra turned to face her opponent once more, blood flowing freely from multiple wounds now. Her breathing had become labored, each movement requiring conscious effort to execute properly. Even with her exceptional training, blood loss and fatigue were taking their toll.

"Breach at eighty percent!" called one of the cultists at the chamber door. The crystalline devices pulsed with increasing intensity, amber light seeping deeper into the seal between the massive doors.

Alexandra knew she couldn't hold much longer. Two of the remaining Lionhart guards had already fallen, their bodies lying motionless near the chamber entrance. The third fought on against three cultists, his swordsmanship extraordinary even without enhancement, but his situation was clearly hopeless.

Still, she fought on—each second gained potentially crucial.

"You've delayed us admirably," Myrith acknowledged, amber energy flowing visibly through the patterns carved into her skin. "But the inevitable cannot be prevented."

The ritual dagger in her hand transformed again, this time into a curved blade that seemed to drink in the ambient light. The weapon moved with preternatural speed, weaving patterns that forced Alexandra into increasingly desperate defenses.

A strike slipped past her guard, opening a gash along her thigh. Another followed immediately, catching her across the forearm. Alexandra's counter-attacks grew slower, less precise, as blood loss and exhaustion mounted.

"Breach achieved!" announced one of the cultists at the door. The crystalline devices flared with blinding light, then seemed to melt into the seam between the Frost Chamber's massive doors. Amber energy raced along the intricate preservation runes that had maintained the chamber's integrity for a year, transforming their patterns into new configurations.

With a low grinding sound, the doors began to part.

Alexandra abandoned all defensive considerations, launching herself at Myrith in a desperate all-or-nothing attack. "You will not take him!" she cried, blade moving faster than she had ever pushed herself before.

Myrith's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected ferocity. She parried the first strike, dodged the second, but the third caught her across the shoulder, drawing genuine blood for the first time in their encounter.

"Enough," Myrith stated, amber light intensifying around her. "This ends now."

She made a gesture that seemed to fold space itself, amber energy creating a momentary distortion between them. Alexandra's next strike met empty air as Myrith stepped through the distortion, reappearing behind her. Before Alexandra could turn, Myrith's ritual dagger plunged toward her unprotected back...