I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 448 448: Overwhelmed

Wind Step carried him away from two of the strikes, but the third caught him across the ribs. The ice spear punched through his armor's outer layer.

Not deep enough to cause severe damage, but enough to draw blood and make him gasp in pain.

'Rhys!' Slyph's concern flooded through their connection.

"I'm fine," Rhys gritted out, though his ribs disagreed.

The Tempest Lord's Regalia had absorbed most of the impact, but the force behind a Dread-rank creature's strike was nothing to dismiss.

He retaliated immediately, both daggers slashing in a pattern Pho had drilled into him.

Low thrust to the center mass, diagonal slash across the central points, wind-enhanced spin to create distance.

The snowman that had struck him came apart in chunks, its magical animation disrupted by lightning coursing through its structure.

The other two snowmen adapted instantly, changing their attack patterns to account for his speed and reach. One created an ice wall between them while the other circled to flank.

Rhys couldn't fight defensively against Dread-rank enemies with tactical intelligence.

Pho's lessons echoed in his mind: "When facing coordinated opponents, break their formation before they can establish dominance."

He needed to be more aggressive.

"Slyph," Rhys said aloud, knowing she could hear him from within. "I'm activating the contract state."

'Already?' Her voice carried surprise. 'You know it drains your stamina faster than...'

"I know. But I need the power boost now."

'...Okay. I'm ready when you are.'

Rhys took a breath, then reached for the connection that linked him to Slyph.

Green tattoos spread across his skin, visible even through his armor as wind magic infused every cell of his body. The tattoos were intricate patterns that resembled flowing air currents, and they glowed with the same green light that characterized Slyph's aura.

Power flooded through him. His wind magic amplified by thirty-five percent, his physical capabilities enhanced, his connection to Slyph became so intense that her thoughts almost overlapped with his own.

'This feels amazing every time,' Slyph's voice carried pure joy. 'Like I'm actually part of you instead of just living inside you.'

The snowmen reacted to the transformation by attacking with renewed aggression, clearly recognizing that Rhys had become more dangerous. Ice bolts flew from the one behind the wall while the flanking one charged with its spear raised.

Rhys met the charge head-on, but now he was faster.

More in tune with the wind magic that had always been his primary affinity.

Wind Step carried him forward at nearly double his previous speed, and he was inside the snowman's guard before it could adjust.

His daggers moved in a blur. Each strike enhanced by both lightning and wind magic working in perfect synchronization.

The snowman tried to counterattack, but Rhys was already moving, ready to strike from a new angle. The green tattoos covering his body pulsed with each passing second.

The snowman collapsed in pieces, its structure too damaged to maintain cohesion.

The remaining snowman abandoned its defensive position, clearly recognizing that the wall wouldn't save it.

It charged forward, ice spear thrust toward Rhys's chest in a desperate strike.

Rhys didn't dodge. Instead, he activated one of his armor's special abilities.

"Lightning Form," he whispered, and felt his body transform.

For five glorious seconds, Rhys became living electricity.

His physical form dissolved into pure lightning that could move at speeds approaching instant teleportation, was immune to physical attacks, and could pass through most obstacles.

The ice spear passed harmlessly through his electrical form, and Rhys flowed around the snowman like water around a rock. Then he reformed behind the creature, his daggers already moving in the killing strikes that would end the fight.

Lightning discharged directly into the snowman's core, and the creature exploded into fragments of ice and snow.

Rhys stumbled slightly as the Lightning Form ability deactivated, the transformation taking more out of him than he'd expected.

The ability had a sixty-second cooldown, which meant he couldn't rely on it for every dangerous situation.

'You okay?' Slyph asked, her concern evident through their enhanced connection.

"Fine," Rhys replied, though his stamina was draining faster than ideal. The combination of the Contractee state and Lightning Form was powerful, but expensive.

He looked around the entry hall, taking stock of remaining threats.

Four yetis were approaching from different directions, coordinating their movements to prevent easy escapes.

Two ice demons were preparing a spell, frost gathering around their clawed hands. And three more ice buffalo were positioning themselves to charge simultaneously.

"Nine enemies," Rhys muttered. "All Dread-rank, I presume."

'We've faced worse in training,' Slyph reminded him.

'Remember that exercise where Pho made you fight while standing on ice pillars over a pit of freezing water?'

"I remember nearly dying five times."

'But you didn't die. You can do the same here.'

She was right. Pho's training had been designed to push Rhys past his comfort zone, to force him into situations where fear and hesitation would get him killed.

This was just another test. More dangerous, but the same challenge: adapt or die.

The ice demons completed their spell simultaneously, and twin blasts of freezing energy erupted toward Rhys.

The attacks were faster than ice bolts, more concentrated, designed to flash-freeze anything they touched.

Rhys raised both daggers and channeled his enhanced wind magic through them. "Storm Current!"

The electrical web that spread around him was significantly larger than before, empowered by Slyph's boost.

When the freezing blasts entered the web, the lightning struck them, superheating the magical ice so rapidly that the spells detonated mid-flight.

The explosions created clouds of steam that filled the area, obscuring everyone's vision.

Rhys activated Wind Step and used the steam as cover, moving through the obscured space.

His enhanced connection to wind magic let him sense the air currents around the enemies, tracking their positions even when he couldn't see them directly.

The nearest yeti, a formidable presence, failed to notice something crucial.

Rhys rapidly closed the distance, his daggers finding their mark before the creature registered his presence.

Slash across the tendons.

Thrust into the kidney area.

Lightning discharge to disrupt internal organs. Wind blast to create distance for the next target.

The yeti collapsed with a roar that turned into a death rattle.

'Two more yetis closing from the right!' Slyph's warning came at the perfect time.

Rhys spun, both daggers raised defensively as two massive shapes emerged from the steam.

The yetis were coordinating their attacks.

One high, and one low.

Trying to force him into a position where at least one strike would land.

But Rhys had trained against multiple opponents with Pho, who'd made fighting two opponents simultaneously seem easy through sheer brutality and tactical awareness.

He dropped low, letting the high strike pass over him, and thrust both daggers upward into the second yeti's extended leg.

Lightning channeled through the wounds, and the creature's leg spasmed, compromising its balance.

Rhys rolled sideways as both yetis adjusted, then came up and immediately cast his water magic. "Water Prison!"

The spell caught one yeti completely, trapping it in a sphere of liquid that left it thrashing helplessly.

The second yeti tried to help its companion, its claws swiping at the water sphere, but that just gave Rhys the opening he needed.

Both daggers thrust forward, lightning erupting with enough intensity to make the air crackle.

The electricity spread through the water sphere, striking the trapped yeti from every direction simultaneously.

The creature's death was almost instant.

The remaining yeti roared in rage and charged directly at Rhys, abandoning tactics for raw aggression. Its claws swung in wide arcs that would have torn him apart if they connected.