The Grand Duke's Soulmate-Chapter 562: The Khasif Unbound (II)

Terror flooded Kyren’s eyes when he heard Anna’s voice. Though faint and distant, muffled by the fallen trunk, it was clear to his ears.

"Anna, no!" he shouted.

The thought of his wife facing Brone alone filled him with a panic sharper than any blade. He couldn’t allow her to do this. He wouldn’t.

For a moment, a desperate thought of cutting and sealing the mana flow flashed through his mind. It was the only way to stop her, given his condition, but his reason slammed back just as quickly.

If he severed the power, Anna would be left defenceless. Adam was injured while he was trapped. There were no knights nearby or available. No one could protect her.

At the very least, as long as the mana still surged through her, she had a chance to shield herself.

Kyren’s breath shuddered; tears slipped down his cheeks. He braced both hands and pushed his back against the heavy trunk, heedless of Adam’s frantic warnings.

"Your Highness, stop!"

But Kyren ignored him entirely.

He shoved again, muscles trembling, veins standing out against his skin, his shoulders blazing beneath the crushing weight. The trunk didn’t budge—not even a shiver, only the branches continued cracking.

No matter how desperately he strained, how fiercely he pushed, his body refused to give him more.

He might have been a guardian of Khasif, a warrior blessed and trained beyond ordinary men, but he was still human. And no human could lift a fallen giant of a tree with strength alone.

"I have to get to her," he rasped. "I have to—"

A shadow moved. He looked up, hoping it was Anna. But...

"Your shouting really grated on my ears, Grand Duke," Brone growled, eyes narrowing with exaggerated irritation.

The Bargesian leader had leapt over the trunk in a single, heavy bound, landing on Kyren’s side with a thud that shook the snow.

"Don’t you touch him! It’s me you want to fight!" Anna yelled as she burst into view from the opposite side.

Brone’s earlier kick had sent her rolling several meters away from the fallen tree—far enough that she’d had to claw her way upright before she could sprint back. By the time she rounded the trunk, the Bargesian leader was already looming over Kyren.

That heartbeat of delay was all he needed.

"I swear, I’ll beat you senseless once I get my hands on you!" the grand duke roared. "You haven’t even felt the Guardian of the Khasif’s true might!"

"Guardian, my *ss," Brone scoffed. "You can’t even lift yourself out from under a tree. Pathetic. Truly pathetic."

Anna’s fingers clenched until her knuckles turned white, and her glare grew tense.

"How dare you belittle my husband..." she hissed.

"What are you going to do, huh? Spit on me again?" Brone mocked her, tilting his head in contempt as he planted his hands on his hips and barked out a laugh.

That did it.

The sound grated across her nerves like steel on bone. Heat surged through her, anger she had tried to hold back snapping free. The Bargesian leader needed to be put in his place. Now.

Anna jumped forward before Brone could finish laughing and struck him directly in the jaw with her fist. His head snapped back, and the substantial impact pushed his body flying backwards, causing him to tumble through a low thicket.

For a brief moment, he was gone from sight. Anna turned immediately towards Kyren.

He was still bracing both hands against the ground, pushing himself upright.

"Anna—help me! Quick!" he gasped. "Don’t face him alone! Let me up!"

The princess dropped to her knees beside him, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder. Kyren looked up, startled by the calm, resolute expression on her face.

"This is my fight, Kyren. Not yours," she said softly.

His eyes went wide.

"Nonsense!" he barked. "I’m your guardian! I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you!"

The princess didn’t flinch. She simply raised her hand and set it against his temple.

Kyren immediately grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?!"

"I’m sorry..."

He tried to pull away, but the spell was already flowing.

Mana surged from her palm in a tight, controlled pulse. Kyren’s muscles locked, and his breath caught, but the enchantment overrode raw strength with quiet inevitability.

His eyelids fluttered. Drooped.

"Anna... don’t..." he mumbled, his voice slurring as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Another pulse and his grip weakened. And then his hand slid off her wrist entirely.

Anna gently supported his head as it fell and laid it on the ground. Relief flooded her as she saw the spell had taken effect ideally, just as Callis had said.

Though she hadn’t started her formal training in magic, the combination of the Mederian Princess’s descriptions and insights into a few magics, and her Ro’an heritage made the spell’s workings feel innate, as if it had always been part of her.

"Forgive me, my love," she whispered, softly brushing her thumb over his brow. "But you must not interfere, as I am the one who must end this."

Kyren’s body slackened into deep, spellbound sleep. It was the only way to keep him from severing the mana flow in a moment of panic once the battle resumed.

Footsteps pounded loudly from behind, fast and terrifying.

"My lady, watch out!" Adam’s shout echoed as Brone burst from the foliage, lunging towards the princess.

The Bargesian leader’s scorpion-like pincer drove forward in a straight line, aiming to smash across her face.

She dropped her weight, letting the strike sail over her head, then braced her palm against the ground and kicked upward in a tight arc.

Her heel connected with Brone’s ribs, hard enough to stagger him but not drop him.

"Hiargh!" the Bargesian leader roared from his mistake.

However, he recovered almost instantly from the strike and lunged in with a low grab meant to sweep her legs.

Anna hopped back, shoes digging into the snow for traction. The Bargesian leader pressed forward, heavy and fast, his left fist punching towards her gut.

"Huk!" The princess deflected with a forearm parry, redirecting the blow past her hip, then twisted inside his guard.

Her elbow shot up toward his throat, but Brone jerked his chin down, taking the hit across his collarbone instead.

"Urgh!" he snarled.

Anna retreated two steps, adjusting her stance as she gasped for breath. Both fists raised, knuckles clenched, prepared to block the next blow.

This was the first time she had ever faced a truly merciless brawl. It was nothing like fighting the knights or even Kiev during her possession. Back then, they had only tried to restrain her — not to injure or break her.

But Brone fought with an entirely different purpose. He aimed to break her spirit, to destroy everything and everyone she cherished and to get rid of her forever.

The Bargesian leader rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck with a grin far too pleased.

"Interesting... now that’s what I call a challenge. But don’t think I’m scared, woman. You haven’t seen the half of me," he sneered, stepping forward in heavy, predator-like strides.

"Bring it on!" Anna dropped into a low stance, fists ready.

The fight snapped back into motion, leaving no room for hesitation.

Brone lunged, swinging his fist in a wide bash towards her belly. He was quick. Extremely quick.

Anna reacted instantly, thrusting her palms forward and summoning a shimmering shield. Light erupted, pulsating with her power, but it was too late. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The first strike collided with her abdomen before the shield fully solidified. Pain shot through her, and her knees buckled slightly, forcing her to stagger backwards.

Brone paused, a cruel grin spreading across his face as he saw the princess stumble. His eyes flickered with sudden delight.

"Ah... I forgot. You’re pregnant!" His gaze gleamed, seeing not just an opponent, but a weakness he could exploit. "Well, this changes things. How fun..."

The princess’s body swayed slightly as she regained her footing, but her glare never wavered, fixed on Brone as fury ignited in her chest.

"My lady!" Adam’s voice rose, concern clear on his face as he saw Anna struggling.

"Don’t worry, Admiral James. I’m all right!" the princess responded, tense but resolute.

Brone scoffed and let his actions speak for him this time, rather than his words. He advanced with deliberate steps, testing her balance, his pincer-like fist aimed directly at her abdomen, knowing that the little bump was her Achilles’ heel.

Anna reacted instinctively. She pivoted, twisting her body just enough to deflect part of the strike, her shield flaring briefly, sending sparks through the snow-laden air.

The persistent pain struck her stomach fiercely, resonating through her body and causing her to emit a small groan as she held back.

"Hiarghh!"

Brone lunged again, claws slicing through the cold air, his feet scraping the ground with a hiss as he unleashed a sequence of savage hooks.

Anna swirled under the attack, low and tight, countering with a swift sidekick that caught Brone’s ribs.

The crack sounded sharply, and the metallic smell of blood briefly filled the air. He staggered a step, but his grin never faltered.

If anything, it widened, delight gleaming in his eyes like a beast finally entertained.

"You..." Anna hissed, narrowing her gaze as she spotted the skin along his chest healed back.

The Bargesian leader’s rejuvenation was much quicker—significantly faster than when he had battled her knights. With his full power engaged, his body restored itself almost instantly.

"Bwahahaha!" Brone threw his head back, laughter booming through the trees. "You think those little taps can hurt me? Try harder, you little b*tch!"

Anna didn’t give him the satisfaction of a retort. She followed up with a spinning backfist, brushing snow off the ground as it connected with the side of his jaw, sending a cloud of frost into the air.

Brone’s pincer smashed into the ground with a violent thud, sending tremors through the frost-hardened soil.

"Why you—!" He lunged again, claws coiling like a serpent striking for her head.

Anna ducked low, feeling the wind rush past her face and smelling the petrichor of wet earth beneath snow and frost as her enemy’s limbs cleaved through the air, approaching her.

She turned to her left, pressing her foot against a twisted root and leaping up. Her fists found his chest, and in that brief instant, she pressed her palm onto his heart and cast, "You shall not heal!"

Brone smashed into the ground, the force of the throw knocking his breath out with a grunt. This time, the pain lingered, crawling along his spine like fire.

"How does it feel now that your advantage has been taken?" Anna taunted him, her chest heaving but pleased with the small victory.

The Bargesian leader now experienced the effects of the spell, as if his nerves had finally come alive. A snarl escaped from his throat as the pain coursed through all his senses.

"You w*nch!" he spat, forcing himself upright. His vision pulsed red. "I’ll rip your child from your belly for this!"

He staggered once, then steadied as he rose, fury burning away the tremor in his limbs. With another guttural curse, he launched himself back into the fray.

They collided again, flesh and chitin meeting with a shrieking clash. Sparks flew where her knuckles grazed his claws, snow erupting like fireworks around them.

Brone twisted sharply, forcing her off balance, but Anna pivoted at the last moment, swinging her leg and striking his knee. He grunted but then barreled forward, his pincer slicing against her in a whip-like fury.

The fight was a storm—every motion from the princess was a calculated attempt to keep the monstrous Bargesian at bay while preserving herself and her unborn child.

She fought with restraint and caution, choosing angles that protected her belly even when it meant taking greater risk elsewhere.

But the Bargesian leader was far from surrendering and responded with equal ferocity and terrifying force. It was a do-or-die deal.

Adam watched, frozen in place.

Awe and terror warred inside him. He had never seen combat like this—Anna weaving between Brone’s blows with desperate grace, yet her eyes burning with a resolve that felt inhuman.

She was fighting for three lives at once, and somehow still matching a monster who should have crushed her.

The admiral wanted to rise, to intervene, to do anything to help her. Still, he could do nothing except watch the princess intentionally draw Brone farther from Kyren’s unconscious body, using herself as bait to secure the grand duke’s safety.

Then it happened.

A sudden spasm seized Anna’s lower belly—sharp, deep, and agonising. Her breath hitched; her steps suddenly faltered.

The pain rippled again, worse, spreading like a tearing heat through her abdomen. Adam saw her eyes widen, saw the mask of focus slip for the first time.

Brone noticed, and with a grunt, he drove forward and slammed his fist into her shoulder, the only opening he could reach then.

The princess was lifted off her feet and thrown to the ground, landing with a hard thud. She fell onto the frozen earth, snow tearing beneath her back. The hem of her skirt split open on a jagged root, fabric ripping with a harsh ’sreet’ sound.

Brone panted from the brutal strikes he had landed. The princess was far more difficult to subdue than he had anticipated. He had underestimated her—gravely so.

The Ro’an bloodline was no myth, and no bard’s embellishment. It was real, dangerous, and now he was paying for his arrogance with every ounce of power he had left.

Anna lay where she fell, unmoving at first, eyes wide in shock. Then her hands drifted slowly, trembling, to her lower belly.

A stabbing pain tore through her.

Something felt wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Brone’s shadow cast over her as he advanced again, breathing heavily.

He loomed tall above her collapsed form. Her suffering was precisely what he wanted. Every ache he felt from their fight now seemed worth it.

"Lady Raychard!" Adam called out, but the Bargesian leader’s roar overwhelmed it.

"Die, you worthless princess!"

He raised both arms, conjuring a dark, crushing force to smash her skull and shatter the earth beneath her.

The killing strike descended—

And Anna reacted.

Instinct. Fury. Fear. Love.

All at once.

Her palm ignited with a pulse of concentrated Arcane Shatter—a Ro’an-born magic that fragmented raw mana into vibrating shards of force. It burst outward in a sphere of crackling, translucent energy.

A shockwave of shimmering fractures exploded from the sphere, slicing through the air like invisible glass.

The blast struck Brone right in the heart. Split fragments burst off as he was hurled backwards, tumbling across the frozen ground.

He crashed into a boulder with a loud crunch, coughing blood, his body twitching as the fractured mana ravaged him from the inside.

For the first time, true fear flickered across his face. But it was too late.

The shimmering fractures broke into thousands of splinters and spread through his body, making him bleed from every cavity. Even his eyes were bleeding profusely.

His body shook from the extreme pain, his mouth unable to form a scream—and in just minutes, he froze.

It all ended there.

Anna gasped and curled on the ground. The recoil from the spell slammed into her abdomen with brutal force. A warm, terrifying wetness spread beneath her ripped skirt.

Blood.

Her vision blurred.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

"Lady Raychard! Lady Raychard!" Adam’s voice melted into a distant blur.

The pain was unbearable, sharp enough to make her wish for oblivion. Her voice came out as a muffled rasp; even she couldn’t make out what she was trying to say.

Her body weakened by the second. Her vision smeared at the edges, eyelids fluttering as more warm blood spilt beneath her.

Then, just before the world dissolved into darkness, a voice reached her—faint, urgent, and desperate.

"Princess Anna!"