Rhys stood confidently infront of the wounded and "weakened " Captor.
He had realised something during the battle between the armoured men and the Captor.
The only reason he was able to bravely challenge the Captor was because of that realization.
During the fight between the men in armour and the Captor he realised that none of the fighting parties were able to use any elemental powers or essence abilities.
He had also realised that there was no trace of mana present in the atmosphere of this new and strange place.
So, even though Rhys could not summon an elemental attack nor cast a spell, his presence as an elemental Cultivator and power allowed him to protect himself from attacks by the Captor who attacked with pure brute force and also launch air elemental attacks due to the mana stored in his enchanted ring.
This time, it would be his turn to do the attacking since he knew the Captor was too injured to attack properly.