The Aegis of the Storm hummed with a quiet, lethal power. It was not a wall; it was a web. Every azure thread was a conduit of Ren's will, a string on his new, terrifying instrument. The three mercenaries stood frozen, trapped between the churning sea and a cage of lightning they could not comprehend.
On the bridge of the submersible, the young noble of House Barracuda screamed into his comms unit. "What are you waiting for? Attack him! All of you! He's just one man!"
His panicked order was the spark that broke the mercenaries' stupor. Driven by greed and fear, they unleashed everything they had. The second merc fired his harpoon rifle, while the third summoned his own Soul Skill—a pair of vicious-looking whirlpools of water that he launched at Ren.
The attacks flew across the platform, a barrage of destructive energy and elemental fury. They all struck the Aegis. And they were all, without exception, simply absorbed. The chaotic energy of the attacks was drawn into the lattice, its dissonant roar silenced and converted into pure, stable power. The azure lines of Ren's shield glowed brighter, the hum growing deeper, more resonant.
He was not just defending. He was feeding. He was growing stronger with every attack they wasted against him.
Inside the Observatory, Anya's hands were a blur across her console. "It's not a shield," she whispered to herself, her voice a mixture of awe and terror. "It's a converter. A resonant converter. He's taking their chaotic, projected Aether and harmonizing it, folding it into his own technique… the efficiency is impossible. The energy loss is near zero. This changes everything we know about defensive arts."
The lead mercenary, seeing their attacks were not only useless but were actively making their opponent stronger, finally realized the true horror of their situation. "Fall back!" he roared. "Back to the sub!"
But Ren was not finished with his performance. He had shown them the Aegis's defense. Now, he would show them its offense.
"You came for a show of might," Ren's voice was calm, almost conversational, yet it carried over the howl of the storm. "It would be rude not to provide one."
He lifted his hand, and the humming of the Aegis changed. It was no longer a steady, defensive note. A new, sharper, more aggressive frequency was introduced. He wasn't just controlling the cage now. He was playing it.
He targeted the lead mercenary. He didn't launch a bolt. He simply flexed his will. A single, fine thread of azure lightning detached from the main body of the Aegis and shot forward with the speed of thought. It was not a Thunder's Needle. It was faster, more fluid, a living whip of pure energy.
The mercenary, a veteran of dozens of brutal skirmishes, tried to dodge. He was too slow. The lightning whip struck not his body, but the Aetheric shield surrounding it.
There was no explosion. The moment the whip made contact, it injected a high-frequency vibration into the mercenary's shield—a perfect, resonant counter-note. The merc's powerful defensive shield, which could have stopped a cannonball, simply dissolved into nothing, its structure unmade by the discordant frequency.
The mercenary stared in horror at his now-defenseless body.
A second whip of lightning shot out from the Aegis, striking him in the chest. The force of the blow was immense, throwing him backwards off the landing platform and into the churning, rock-strewn sea below. He vanished beneath the waves.
The two remaining mercenaries stared in pure, primal terror. Their most powerful attacks had been useless. Their defenses could be erased in an instant. They were not fighting a Spirit Master. They were fighting a law of nature.
They turned and scrambled for the edge of the platform, desperate to leap back to the relative safety of their submersible.
Ren let them go. He had made his point.
He stood alone on the platform, the magnificent, humming Aegis of the Storm slowly and silently dissolving into motes of light around him. He had not moved from his spot. He had not broken a sweat. He had defeated three powerful, veteran Apprentices and proven his absolute dominance.
On the bridge of the submersible, the young noble of House Barracuda stared, his face ashen, his body trembling. The sneer of the predator was gone, replaced by the terrified, uncomprehending stare of prey. He slammed his hand on the controls, and the submersible began a frantic, clumsy retreat, desperate to escape the monster on the shore.
Ren watched them go, then turned and walked calmly back into the Observatory. He had not killed them. He had not destroyed them. He had simply taught them a lesson.
Might was right. And the Lord of this manor had just made it clear that trespassers would not be tolerated.