The Grand Duke's Soulmate-Chapter 561: The Khasif Unbound (I)

"No!" Adam cried, desperate for Kyren’s life.

He forced himself upright and lunged forward, but his body collapsed instantly with a loud groan of pain.

The injury in his thigh was far worse than he’d thought. Blood streamed down his leg, and a searing bolt of agony tore through him as the muscle ripped from the sudden movement.

Fear and shame swallowed him whole. Before he could even lift his head, he heard it—

’Shing!’ and then, ’Baam!’

Brone’s body ricocheted violently, thrown backwards as if he had slammed into something impossibly solid. He crashed onto the ground with a deafening thud.

On the far side, Derek flinched at the noise. Had Brone launched a brutal attack on Kyren solely to kill him and completely ignored Anna’s life, the very person they were after?

"Sh*t!" The mage cursed and sprinted toward the scene.

Brone must have lost his mind if he had actually done that. So much for a man obsessed with another’s head for revenge when he himself couldn’t even keep his own mind!

But when the mage reached the top of the fallen trunk, what he expected was nowhere in sight.

Through the thinning haze of scattered snow and dust, something unreal came into focus.

Derek had long wondered why Anna, a direct descendant of the Ro’an Emperor, showed none of the extraordinary power her lineage should have bestowed upon her.

For someone born of that sacred clan, her frailty made no sense. Now he understood everything.

The princess stood with both arms, raising a brilliant, golden shield before her; luminous, pulsing, and powerful enough to deflect Brone’s attack and hurl him across the ground.

Then Derek noticed it: a golden cord, glowing with magnificent light, streaming from the grand duke and anchoring itself to the princess.

Energy surged along it, flowing from him into her in an overwhelming torrent. The sheer magnitude of the binding spell made the air vibrate.

At last, his questions were answered.

This Ro’an bloodline bearer was never weak—her strength had been sealed away, held by her husband. Her claims that she was the Great Khasif and Kyren was her guardian were all true.

However, out of arrogance and pride, he and Brone had dismissed the possibility entirely. How had he failed to see it?

"Th-this... this can’t be real... No—no!" Derek choked out.

Anna turned her glare towards the mage. A shiver ripped down his spine.

Derek was now facing the Great Khasif. No spell he possessed could suppress the kind of power he sensed. He had taken only a small amount of her blood to craft his magic, and it was nowhere near enough. Nowhere nearby.

And then he saw the fierce blaze in the princess’s emerald eyes.

In that instant, he knew: he and Brone had already dug their graves. She would finish them. Completely. Mercilessly.

Down on the ground, Adam could only stare in shock at the miraculous, terrifying sight before him. The princess panted, her breath uneven, but her stance was unwavering; her hands were still lifted in defence.

The golden shield faded just as Kyren exclaimed hoarsely, "Anna! Help me out! I can fight! Just get this thing off me!"

Anna turned just in time to see Derek leap off the trunk, boots thudding against the ground on the other side as he prepared to bolt.

The princess didn’t spare Kyren a glance.

In the space of the moment, Anna pushed off the snow, driving her foot hard into the ground.

The force propelled her upward; her foot tilted against the rough bark of the trunk, using it to gather momentum. Her shoe scraped along the surface, kicking loose flakes of bark as she pushed off the tree like a ramp.

With a second drive— sharper and heavier —she launched herself, her knees tucked, arms driving her forward in a clean arc.

Derek never even sensed her closing in.

As he sprinted, Anna’s hand clamped around the back of his neck, fingers digging mercilessly into his skin.

"Heuk!" A choked gasp tore from Derek’s throat as she yanked him mid-stride.

With a harsh, quick tug downward, she yanked his head forward as she dropped her weight. Her heel pressed into the back of his knee, causing his stance to collapse immediately.

In the same motion, she hammered his face into the ground with a brutal, ringing crack. Snow erupted upward from the impact.

Anna didn’t release the mage. Leaning over his pinned form, she fisted the back of his robe and dragged his bloodied face up, her breath sharp, her eyes blazing with fury.

She would not let either of them escape. Not this time.

"You like hurting people, don’t you?" she hissed. "You mocked my men when your magic harmed them, didn’t you? When they screamed?"

Her grip tightened.

"Now... Why don’t you feel a little of what you’ve done?"

She leaned closer, voice dropping to a chilling whisper.

"Don’t worry... I’ll make it ’nice and slow’ so you can savour every moment!"

Derek’s split lips trembled.

"Ple... please..."

The word leaked out so faintly she almost missed it. Even now, half-broken and bleeding, he still couldn’t beg properly... or maybe arrogance clung to him tighter than life itself.

Anna fisted a handful of his hair and yanked backwards.

Derek screamed raw and hoarse, the same way he’d made her cry. His torso jerked up by the scalp alone, knees grinding into the snow as his body writhed under the pain.

She struck him.

Her palm cracked across his cheek, sharp enough to whip his head sideways. Heat bloomed instantly on his skin—burning and stinging.

She grabbed the back of his neck again, shoving his face toward the snow. "You’re going to feel—"

But, suddenly...

’Puk!’

A violent force slammed into her spine from behind.

The hit wasn’t a shove. It was a full-bodied strike, like a battering ram. Air punched out of her lungs as she lurched forward, lost all footing, and tumbled. Snow spun around her as she rolled—shoulder, hip, back—until she skidded to a stop on her side.

Anna hitched her breath. Her palms dug into the cold ground. She snapped her head up and saw him.

Brone was there.

The Bargesian brute loomed over Derek like a wall of iron, his shadow swallowing the mage curled at his feet. His knuckles still hung in the air from the massive, reddened, steaming strike.

Snow clung to his boots as he stepped in front of Derek, planting himself firmly between them. His eyes locked onto Anna, unblinking.

Derek clawed desperately at Brone’s boots, his fingers trembling as he tugged at the Bargesian leader’s feet.

"Brone... don’t—don’t fight her! You can’t win against that power!" he rasped in terror.

The Bargesian leader glanced down at his companion with a scoff, shaking his leg free as though swatting off a bothersome insect.

"Pathetic," he mocked. "You’re trembling over her?"

He cracked his neck to both sides, rolling his shoulders with slow, deliberate confidence.

"I’ve watched that timid little woman cower behind her knights," Brone scoffed. "Ro’an blood or not, she’s still just a frail woman. Don’t compare me to her. I am a southern warrior."

"No, Brone! You don’t understand! She’s the kha—!"

"I don’t care who she is!" the Bargesian leader snapped arrogantly. "Even if she’s good enough for a proper brawl, I’ll face her myself! Unlike you, coward!"

He pushed Derek aside like discarded baggage.

The mage hissed, anger flashing in his eyes.

Fine! If Brone wanted to die today, that was his business. However, he wouldn’t remain to see it happen or endure the same fate.

Derek pushed himself up, ready to flee, but as soon as he put weight on his leg, a sharp pain burst behind his knee. The mage crumpled back to the snow with a strangled gasp.

He hadn’t felt that injury before. Then he remembered. Anna’s heel; the clean, precise stomp she delivered to the back of his knee.

’Did she dislocate my joint with just that kick?’

He writhed, clutching his leg as the pain surged.

"Sit there, Derek!" Brone barked, noticing the mage’s feeble attempt to move. "Try to run again, and I’ll break your leg into three pieces!"

The Bargesian leader’s lips curved into a cruel smirk as he stepped forward, fully confident in his strength... and fatally underestimating the woman he mocked. Derek’s annoyed look was now irrelevant.

"So... you’ve gotten stronger all of a sudden, huh?" Brone sneered. "Good. Then we can start the true fight now. I’ve long wanted to test the waters with a Ro’an."

Anna pushed herself up from the snow and rose steadily. But the moment she found her footing, a sharp pinch bloomed low in her abdomen.

Her breath caught. Her hand hovered instinctively over her belly, and her eyes widened—not from fear of Brone, but from the cold surge of dread for the life inside her.

The pain had only just begun, caused by the brutal fall she had taken moments earlier.

The princess hadn’t been thinking clearly as rage consumed her, her mind tormented while torturing Derek, and Brone had seized that opportunity.

Now, the delayed impact of his strike continued to ripple through her body with relentless persistence.

’Not now... please, not now... Please hold on, my child...’

Her heart clenched painfully.

She should have stepped back... should have guarded herself. But she couldn’t—not when Kyren was trapped under the fallen trunk, not when Adam lay wounded, and certainly not while Derek and Brone still drew breath.

Anna lifted her gaze again. Her expression hardened, swallowing her own pain.

On the other side, Kyren strained against the weight trapping him and shouted the moment he heard the clash, "Anna! Don’t fight him! Release me! I’ll take him! Anna, listen to me!"

He pushed against the massive trunk, heedless of the danger.

"Your Highness, stop! The branches are going to snap!" Adam shouted.

"No! Anna cannot face them alone! It’s too dangerous! I have to get to her!"

"Hang on, Kyren! I’ll come to you!" her voice rang out from the other side; strong, but laced with strain.

Brone let out a slow, mocking chuckle at her reply.

"Just as I thought. The princess runs behind someone the moment things get real. That little barrier trick was just for show, wasn’t it?"

Anna’s jaw tightened. His words struck deep—an old scar, a familiar guilt.

Brone had once destroyed the castle she called home. He had taken the lives of Jessy and her people. He seized her kingdom under Kaizer Ronan’s shadow. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He took everything that she ever had and ever knew.

Now she was determined to confront him and settle the score.

However, the moment she heard Kyren’s voice, her heart twisted sharply. If she disobeyed him, he might cut off the mana flow in a desperate attempt to shield her.

No... Kyren wouldn’t be foolish enough to do that. It would leave her exposed and vulnerable.

But Brone’s sneer...

His challenge...

His insult toward her strength...

It ignited something fierce inside her. If he wanted her, she would face him fully. Her grip steadied, her resolve hardening into something unbreakable.

"If it’s me you want... then come," she hissed, beckoning her opponent.

Retreat wasn’t an option. Not now and not against them. It’s time to control the fury and put an end to this for everyone’s sake.

Derek’s eyes flew wide. Panic flooded his face because, for the first time, he believed the princess could.