The Duke's Passion

803  Devil's Dust

From the east border to the sea within the Spade Kingdom territory, all battles paused momentarily upon the appearance of Hell's Gate. Some dwell in it as their hearts brought this sense of dread down to the pit of their stomach, others seemed to have expected such a thing from unfolding. But one thing was for sure, this wasn't the peak of this dreadful night. It was just the beginning. Knights from the Spade Kingdom, for some reason, suddenly regained their morale. Especially, in the battle occurring on the eastern border against the persistent people of Karo led by Heliot. With Heliot fighting on the front line, covering his people from the aerial attacks and proving the cannons and arrows useless with his presence, the battle was leaning toward a one-sided battle. However, when the night sky was covered by this thick layer of darkness, the undead and the knight grew stronger. Their glowing red eyes shone brighter as their sclera slowly turned black. Their movements, speed, strength, everything skipped several levels, and in no time, the battle that was almost one-sided turned equal once again. Heliot slowly landed on the ground, clenching his teeth at the cry of his men as they fell into the hands of these vicious people one after another. Yet, regardless of the casualties and losses, the people of Karo didn't stop advancing. "Quentin Zero Moriarty…" Heliot turned his head heavenward, keeping his fist tightly to his side. "... so you've really conspired with the people in the mainland?"

The Hell's Gate only proved that the mainland of vampires had something to do with all of this. Even if they weren't the ones who were directly involved, Heliot knew they were a part of this one way or another. After all, Hell's Gate was never used outside of the mainland. Heliot and the Von Stein Clan had been affiliated with the mainland since their clan left the Heart's Kingdom. Their relationship was diplomatic. The mainland had strict rules and strongly refused to welcome anyone back, but they made an exception for the Von Stein Clan. The relationship was simple, centered on the trade and the Von Stein acting as their middleman to do their bidding in the outside world. In other words, even though the land of Karo and the mainland had such a relationship, Heliot was keen enough to understand the mainland. Since the mainland was a conservative nation bound by strict rules, no one in the royal family left the land. Meaning to say, there was no way in hell any of them could learn or even try unleashing such powerful conjuration without proper guidance from the royal family. If not the royal family, there was only one clan that could perform this Hell's Gate and that was the Grimsbanne Clan. But considering there was only one pureblooded Grimsbanne left on the mainland and that person, Tilly, was here fighting Zero, the blame directly fell on the royal family. But who?

"The mainland fell…" whispered Heliot, recalling Tilly's news to him. The people he sent to check the mainland hadn't returned, but despite that, Heliot took it as confirmation that the people of Karo weren't welcome on the mainland anymore. Their failure to return only meant his men died on duty and that alone was enough motivation for him to back up Samael's plan since the mainland turned its back on them without prior notice.

"The new king, huh?" Heliot's eyes glinted with anger as the slightest doubt in his heart that the mainland didn't have anything to do with this disappeared without a trace. Heliot didn't have to hold back or think of their diplomatic relations with the mainland. The latter cut them off, and it was clear as day that they wanted to make enemies with the land of Karo. 'If that is what they want…' Heliot blinked ever so tenderly, bending down to grab a handful of soil. The soil was damp with blood, spreading his arm to the side as a bit of grain fell from his grip. '... if they had chosen the Spade over Karo, I'll show them they weren't as wise as they thought they were.'

Heliot threw the soil in the air, and instead of it falling, it stayed midair. The wind around the vicinity of the battlefield grew stronger, taking the dust and soil, and small materials on the ground until the entire battlefield was within a large whirlwind.

"Ugh!" Knights from Karo, who were very much aware of their prince's abilities, had to strategically stop fighting. Those who could immediately find ways to stop themselves from getting caught in the powerful wind. Others continued fighting, only to stab their weapons deep into the ground to hold on to them. Bodies and severed limbs that had littered the battlefield slowly turned lightweight as the wind kicked up their bodies until the whirlwind wasn't just dust and soil or twigs. Soon, the whirlwind surrounding the entire battlefield was filled with bodies, severed limbs, and weapons. Its color slowly turned red with the blood that came along with the soil. Devil's Dust. As the Devil's Dust grew stronger and more aggressive, even those who were still alive and didn't have an idea of what this could mean were sucked into the air. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The people on the border that weren't within the dust devil could only stare at the terrifying sight of it. Their mouth fell open with equal awe, shock, and fear. They watched the whirlwind grow bigger until its tip formed into an ancient creature's head that was once told in fables. GROWL…

A resounding roar shook the land of Spade as the appearance of the whirlwind appeared as though a sand dragon that was only told in fables suddenly came to life. Even its roar sounded rear, making their hearts thud violently against their chest. At that moment, everyone that was protecting the border had one thought in mind. Retreat. The border wasn't defended. How could they fight against something so monstrous that had no real physical body?

Heliot's entire body trembled. He was the only person who stood in the middle of this monstrous whirlwind who wasn't holding onto anything. "Make way… for my people," came out his shaking voice and another piercing roar rang in the air. He ground his teeth angrily. "Obliterate that border."

The moment that order rolled out of his tongue, the Devil's Dust roared once again and it started moving, rearing its head straight to the border. "Retreat!!!" ****** AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello everyone! I hope you are all alright.

Because of the typhoon, the area where I lived lost electricity for days. A part of our home got destroyed, but thankfully, I and my family are all safe. :) I hope nothing bad happened to any of you.