The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic-Chapter 518

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Waves of compressed wind crashed one after another, ripping through the shattered hall. The air screamed as Adele went into a complete rampage, slamming wind blasts everywhere without restraint. Pillars were torn from the ground, walls were peeled apart like paper, and chunks of stone were reduced to dust before they even hit the floor.

Kael ran through the chaos, his boots barely touching the ground as explosions chased him.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, coughing as debris filled the air.

"Have you gone crazy, you stupid woman?"

A massive blast caught him from the side.

Kael felt his ribs scream as his body was thrown backward. He twisted instinctively, flipping in midair while shards of stone flew past his face. His back slammed into a cracked wall with a dull thud, the impact knocking the breath out of him.

Before gravity could pull him down, he kicked off the wall.

The stone collapsed behind him as he launched himself straight at Adele.

Adele's eyes flashed. She lifted one finger.

The air screamed.

Hundreds of sharp wind blades formed instantly, thin and transparent, but deadly. They tore forward like a storm of knives, slicing through the space between them.

Kael gritted his teeth and swung his sword.

[Dimensional Slash: 2nd Form]

CRUNNNNNHGGG!

The blade cut through reality itself. The wind blades did not deflect. They split apart as if someone had taken scissors to the air. The storm shattered into fragments of broken pressure that dissolved harmlessly.

Adele's eyes widened.

"Whaaatttt!"

For a brief moment, shock froze her face. Then her expression hardened.

She stepped forward and drew her sword.

The wind around her twisted violently, wrapping around the blade until it glowed pale green. She slashed downward.

BOOOOOOOM!

Kael met her attack head-on.

Their forces collided in the center of the hall, and the impact sent a visible ripple through the air. The floor cracked in a widening circle. The ceiling above them caved in as if struck by an invisible hammer.

An entire section of the palace was erased.

Stone, metal, and wood vanished into nothingness as the shockwave blasted outward. Debris flew in all directions, smashing into distant walls and exploding into powder.

Kael skidded backward across the broken floor, boots carving long lines through shattered stone. He dug his sword into the ground to stop himself, sparks bursting as the blade scraped hard rock.

Adele slid back as well, her feet carving grooves into the floor. Her cloak was torn, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes burned brighter than before.

The wind howled around her body, lifting her hair and tearing loose stones into the air.

She laughed, low and sharp.

"You are really a cockroach," she said. "No wonder you survived this long."

Kael straightened, wiping blood from his jaw with the back of his hand. Dust clung to his face, and his chest burned with every breath.

"You talk too much," he snapped.

Adele raised her sword again, the storm around her growing louder.

Kael tightened his grip, his blade humming faintly as space around it warped.

Neither of them backed down.

The next clash would be even worse.

The moment their eyes met again, there was no space left for hesitation.

The air screamed.

Pressure collided with pressure, and the atmosphere itself shattered into jagged waves.

Wind and mana wrapped around Adele blade so tightly that it glowed white, turning the edge into a line of pure destruction. Every breath around her collapsed inward, crushed by the killing intent she poured into that single strike.

Adele moved first.

She vanished.

Not by speed alone, but by tearing through the air itself. Wind compressed around her body until her shape blurred, and she reappeared at Kael's left side in the same instant. Her sword was already descending, layers of compressed air stacked upon the blade, screaming like a living thing.

Kael did not retreat.

To retreat was to be hunted.

Instead, he twisted his wrist in a tight, controlled motion and invoked a technique few could even sense.

Spatial Displacement: Zero-Point Anchor.

He did not parry the sword.

He parried the space it occupied.

Between Adele's blade and his throat, the air folded again and again, like thin sheets layered on top of each other. Each fold absorbed a fragment of her momentum and bled it away into a hollow void. The sound that followed was unbearable.

A violent screech tore through the hall as raw mana scraped against fractured reality. Sparks burst like dying stars.

CLANG!

The impact still shook Kael to the bone. His arms screamed in pain as he slid backward, boots carving trenches through shattered stone. The wind exploded outward, ripping pillars apart and tearing the walls into dust.

Adele did not stop.

She pressed forward with ruthless focus. Every strike came faster, heavier, more precise. Each swing carried crushing pressure, as if the air itself was trying to tear Kael apart.

Slash.

Crash.

Boom.

Kael blocked, twisted, and ducked. Wind blades grazed his shoulder and tore flesh free. Blood sprayed across broken tiles, but he did not slow. His breathing stayed sharp and controlled.

"You're sloppy," Adele said coldly as she stepped in again. "Relying on tricks instead of strength."

She raised her sword overhead. The wind around it spiraled wildly, compressing tighter and tighter until it formed a rotating drill of killing force.

"Cleave."

She brought it down.

Kael felt the pressure before the blade even reached him. The ground beneath his feet cracked and sank as if crushed by an invisible mountain. His lungs tightened, and his vision shook.

He inhaled once and shifted his grip.

[Dimensional Slash: 3rd Form]

He slashed sideways, not at Adele, but at the space between them.

CRRRRNNNGGG!

A jagged space tore open in the air. The wind drill struck the rift and vanished instantly, swallowed by nothingness. The sudden loss of pressure sent a violent backlash through the hall, hurling both fighters apart.

Adele landed first, skidding but steady. Kael rolled hard across the floor, coughing as blood dripped from his mouth.

Adele frowned.

"Tearing space again," she muttered."Annoying."

She stomped her foot.

The wind exploded outward.

Loose debris lifted from the ground and began to spin. Broken pillars snapped and shattered midair. The entire hall turned into a roaring storm as compressed air wrapped around Adele like armor.

"You won't get another chance," she said calmly. "I'll crush you here."

Kael pushed himself up, chest heaving. His vision blurred for a heartbeat, but his eyes never left her.

"You talk like you've already won," he said hoarsely. "That's when people die."

Adele charged.

The storm moved with her.

Kael stepped forward instead of back.

He slashed downward.

[Dimensional Slash: 3rd Form]

Another rift opened, wider than before. It tore straight through the storm, ripping the wind apart as if it were paper. The air screamed as it was dragged into the fractured space.

Adele forced her way through it.

Compressed wind wrapped around her body like a shell, letting her pierce the distortion. She appeared right in front of Kael, her blade flashing toward his neck.

Kael twisted his body at the last instant. The blade passed inches from his throat. He stepped inside her guard and slammed the hilt of his sword into her ribs.

CRACK!

Adele staggered back, blood spraying from her mouth. Her eyes widened for just a fraction of a second.

Before she could recover, Kael raised his sword with both hands.

The world seemed to hold its breath.

[Dimensional Slash: 4th Form]

Adele's eyes widened and she moved her sword.

[Wind Blast.]

She again tried to compress the air and detonate however..

CRINNNNNHHGGGG!

Kael slash expanded and tore across the space.

Space itself split open.

A massive rift tore across the hall, cutting through walls, floor, and air in the same instant. Everything froze for a single heartbeat. The wind stopped. Dust hung motionless. Even the sound vanished.

Silence fell.

Then reality caught up.

The palace section collapsed inward as if erased. The storm vanished. The air rushed back with a deafening roar, throwing debris across the ruins.

Amidst this Adele body stood straight filled with shock.

For a moment, she looked untouched.

Then a thin, dark line appeared across her neck.

Her head slid slowly from her shoulders.

The cut was so clean that even gravity took a moment to act.

Her head hit the ground with a soft, unreal thud.

Shock rippled through the battlefield.

Before her body could fall, Kael was already there. He appeared in front of the collapsing form like a ghost and placed his hand against her chest.

[Devour.] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

WHOOOSH!

A violent suction force erupted. Adele's remaining energy, blood, and life were torn free in an instant and swallowed into Kael.

BOOOOOOM!

Her body withered, cracked, and collapsed

across the ruined floor.