The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic-Chapter 517

Across the shattered hall, another battle erupted..

It did not roar like Kael’s battlefield, nor did it explode with wild force.

This was quieter, sharper, and far more suffocating.

Martina moved leaving behind blur. Her boots scraped against broken marble as she twisted her body, raising her sword to strike again and again.

Each strike rang out clearly as it clashed against the dark, crystalline spears Rein formed with nothing more than a flick of his fingers.

Clang!

A spear shattered inches from her face, shards flying past her cheek. Martina bent low, rolled across the ground, and came up with her blade already swinging. Rein stepped back half a pace, his robes fluttering as another magic circle formed beneath his feet.

Unlike Adele’s storm or Kael’s brutal slashes,

Rein’s dictated the field precisely.

He stood at the center of overlapping magic circles that rotated slowly around him. Symbols burned with dull purple light, and thin lines of mana connected them like a web. Every time Martina advanced, another spell snapped into place, forcing her to adjust or die.

"You were always too slow, sister," Rein said calmly.

His voice carried easily through the noise, cutting straight through the chaos. He did not raise it. He did not need to.

With a simple motion of his hand, three crystalline spears formed in midair and shot toward her from different angles.

Martina reacted instantly. She twisted her wrist and deflected the first spear upward. She ducked under the second, feeling its edge tear through a strand of her hair. The third scraped across her shoulder guard, sparks flying as she staggered back a step.

She did not answer him.

Speaking meant meant losing focus.

Losing focus meant death.

Rein watched her closely, his eyes sharp and calculating. He moved his hands slowly, weaving spell after spell without strain. The web of energy around him grew thicker, pressing Martina from all sides.

"Still charging forward without thinking," he continued. "That habit never changed."

Martina’s jaw tightened.

She waited.

She watched the flow of his mana instead of his body. Every spell had a rhythm.

She needed to understand the rhythm and attack in the brief gap.

Her muscles burned as she dodged again. Sweat ran down her back, soaking into her clothes, and her grip tightened painfully around her sword hilt. Each breath scraped her lungs, but she kept her stance steady.

Then the air shifted.

From the other side of the hall, Adele’s failed wind strike tore past, ripping through broken pillars and sending a violent gust across the chamber. Dust and stone fragments burst into the air, briefly blinding everything. The glowing rings of Rein’s magic circles flickered for half a second as his attention was drawn by them.

That was enough.

Martina lunged ahead.

Her foot slammed into the ground, cracking the marble beneath her as she pushed forward. The force ran up her leg and into her spine, but she did not slow. Her sword sang as it cut through the dust, the sound sharp and lonely, like steel crying out. She aimed straight for Rein’s chest, her eyes locked on his heart.

Rein’s eyes widened slightly.

He snapped his fingers.

A thick barrier formed in front of him in an instant. It was not a simple wall. Layers of transparent crystal stacked over one another, rotating slowly like plates of glass. Martina’s blade struck it with a shrill screech. Sparks exploded outward, and the shock ran through her arms, numbing her fingers.

The rebound flung her backward.

She twisted in midair, forcing her body to turn, and landed hard on her feet. The floor cracked again under the impact.

Before she could move, dark mana surged.

Chains erupted from the ground around her, thick and heavy, covered in jagged runes. They wrapped around her legs and pulled tight. Martina slashed downward, cutting through the first chain. The second shattered a moment later. The third caught her ankle and yanked hard.

She hit the floor and rolled, stone scraping her back. A dark spear slammed down where her head had been a heartbeat earlier, shattering the ground and sending fragments flying.

Rein stepped forward at last.

With each step, the magic circles behind him shifted and reformed. New symbols appeared, glowing faintly as if the room itself was responding to his will.

"You should have stayed away," he said quietly.

"Coming here to die..How foolish."He snorted.

Martina pushed herself up slowly. Her breathing was heavy, but controlled. Blood ran from a shallow cut on her brow and slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away with her sleeve and raised her sword again.

"Keep talking," she said coldly. "You always did that when you were scared."

For the first time, Rein’s smile faltered.

The air around him tightened.

He raised both hands.

The floor trembled, and shadows peeled themselves off the walls. They stretched and twisted, taking shape as tall figures with hollow faces. Illusions, but dangerous ones. Each shadow moved a fraction slower than the last, creating overlapping afterimages that made it impossible to tell where the real attack would come from.

They rushed her all at once.

Martina did not retreat.

She stepped into them.

Her sword flashed in wide arcs, cutting through shadows that burst apart like smoke. She listened instead of watching, trusting the sound of movement and the pull of mana. When a real blade formed among the illusions and struck for her side, she turned just in time and blocked it, sparks flying inches from her ribs.

Rein flicked his wrist.

The ceiling above cracked open, and a rain of black crystal shards poured down like hail. Martina spun her sword in tight circles, deflecting what she could. Shards sliced into her arms and shoulders, tearing cloth and flesh, but she kept moving, teeth clenched.

She leaped forward through the falling storm.

Rein’s eyes sharpened.

The space between them twisted. Distance stretched unnaturally, turning three steps into ten. Martina felt the resistance immediately, like wading through deep water.

She roared and forced herself forward anyway.

Her sword glowed faintly as she poured her will into it. The resistance cracked. She broke through the warped space and slashed.

Rein barely raised his arm in time.

The blade cut through his sleeve and left a long gash across his forearm. Blood splashed onto the floor.

Rein staggered back one step.

The hall shook as his magic surged violently in response.

His calm finally cracked.

Dark light burst from his body, knocking Martina back again. She skidded across the floor and slammed into a broken pillar, coughing as the air was knocked from her lungs.

Rein glared at her, blood dripping from his arm.

"You really think," he said, his voice low and sharp, "that stubborn courage is enough to defeat me?"

"You are already in bad shape so just surrender and give up struggling.I swear not to kill you my dear sister."Rein smiled.

Martina pushed herself upright with her trembling legs

"No," she replied, lifting her sword once more. "But it’s enough to keep you busy."