The God Hunted by the Heaven

A Frog Under a Coconut Shell

Chapter 6: A Frog Under a Coconut Shell

Several days had passed since their return to the Skysword Sect. Leo was placed in a simple room in the guest quarters, under strict watch—more like a prisoner under house arrest than an honored guest. His wounds were slowly healing thanks to the Sect's medicinal herbs, but his profound weakness remained. Every morning and evening, he could feel Kael's hateful gaze, impatiently waiting for the duel.

The long-awaited—and dreaded—day finally arrived. The Skysword Sect's training arena was filled with dozens of disciples. News of the unusual duel between their senior disciple and the mysterious "hero" from Verdant Dawn had spread like wildfire.

Leo stood in the center of the arena, feeling incredibly small and exposed. His simple Verdant Dawn uniform felt like the wrong attire amidst a sea of blue and silver. In the front rows, he saw Seraphina. Her face was tense, full of worry. Leo tried to avoid her gaze. He didn't want to see the disappointment in those eyes.

Kael stepped into the arena triumphantly. His gleaming sword was already drawn.

"Ready to 'endure', Verdant Dawn?" Kael shouted, met with soft laughter from his supporters.

Leo merely nodded, adopting a simple defensive stance. He gathered every ounce of energy he had, recalling the ancient defensive techniques he had learned in the past. But his body felt heavy, his meridians like clogged channels.

"Alright then!" Kael exclaimed. "Let's finish this quickly! Mountain Splitting Sword!"

He leaped into the air, his sword glowing with concentrated spiritual energy. A massive, crushing force shot directly towards Leo. It was an attack designed to destroy, not to test.

Leo raised his hands, trying to project an energy shield. But it was too weak. Kael's attack shattered his defense as easily as glass, slamming into Leo's body and throwing him to the edge of the arena like a ragdoll. He landed hard, dust pluming around him.

The pain was excruciating. Worse than the wolf's claws. He heard laughter and jeers from the crowd.

"Get up, hero!" Kael taunted, striding forward arrogantly. "That was just one strike! You said you'd endure?"

Leo tried to rise, but his body wouldn't obey. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He looked towards Seraphina. She was standing, her hand over her mouth, her eyes glistening. A burning shame and anger flared within Leo. Not at Kael, but at himself. At his weakness.

Kael stopped right in front of Leo, looking down at him. "You see, Seraphina?" he said, his voice loud. "This is him. Not a hero. Just lucky trash. You shouldn't waste your time on him."

He bent down, his whisper full of hatred for Leo alone. "Once you're out of this sect, I'll make sure you never come back."

It was then that something inside Leo broke. Not physically, but something deeper. He lifted his head. Blood stained his lips, but his eyes... his eyes no longer showed pain or fear. They radiated an ancient wisdom and boundless sorrow. A bitter laugh, low and inhuman, escaped his lips.

Everyone fell silent. The laugh sounded strange to their ears—too old, too deep for a young man.

Kael took a step back, startled. "What's so funny?"

Leo stared at him, and for a moment, Kael felt as if he was being looked upon by something far greater, something primordial.

"You," said Leo, his voice suddenly aged and authoritative, echoing strangely in the silent arena. "With your toy sword and your small world. You are like a frog cheering under a coconut shell, thinking the sky is only as big as the hole above your head."

Each word was spoken with a subtle yet profound spiritual pressure. It wasn't a threat, but a soul-piercing statement of fact. It was a truth born from millennia of experience.

Kael, for a brief moment, felt an irrational fear. A primal dread, like a mouse seeing an eagle. He stepped back again, his face pale. His sword trembled.

But then, the moment passed. Anger and shame took over. "You lunatic!" he snapped, trying to cover his fear. He turned on his heel and strode away, leaving Leo collapsed in the dust.

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The full moon hung like a silver medal in the night sky, illuminating Leo's bruised and desperate face. The cold of the stone windowsill seeped into his bones, but it was nothing compared to the cold gnawing at his soul. The humiliation of the day, Seraphina's pitying gaze—it all swirled in his head like poison.

"No more," he whispered to the whispering night wind. "I cannot remain a shadow, a laughingstock."

He reached into his pocket, his trembling fingers touching the smooth, cool surface of a pill. The Blood Essence Pill. Its deep crimson color was like congealed blood, reflecting the moonlight. This pill was the fruit of his suffering—crafted from the core blood of the Alpha Wolf he had sacrificed his well-being to obtain.

He stared at the pill, and his mind drifted to the past...

A flash: Thousands of years ago. He stood atop the Celestial Spire, clad in shimmering godly robes. In his hand, he held the Chalice of Eternity, the artifact he had stolen from the Heavenly Palace. Seraphina, in her white dress, laughed joyfully beside him. "We will be free, Alastair! We will create a new world!"

Then, the flash changed. The sky darkened. Shouts. Gods surrounded them. Seraphina pushed him, her eyes filled with tears but also resolve. "Go! Save yourself!" Then, a blinding explosion of white light... and darkness.

He clutched the pill tighter. The pain of that loss was more torturous than any physical wound.

"All of this... to get you back," he whispered, his voice hoarse with millennia of longing. "To protect you this time. I will not fail again."

He looked at the moon once more, as if he could see Seraphina's face there. "For you."

With a final, determined breath, he tossed the pill into his mouth and swallowed.

At first, there was only a bitter taste spreading on his tongue. Silence. Then, like an ember ignited in the darkness, warmth began to glow in his stomach.

But the warmth quickly turned to heat. Then to a searing pain. Then to an agony beyond all imagination.

"Ahhh...!" he choked out a groan, his hands clutching his stomach.

It was as if a river of lava was raging through his veins, burning him from the inside out. He fell to his knees, his body shaking uncontrollably. His mind was filled with flashes of red light and screams—memories of ancient battles, spilled blood, and broken vows.

"Blood is life... blood is power... blood is the curse!" an ancient voice echoed in his head.

He screamed louder as his already damaged and half-dead meridians were forcibly pried open. It felt like his bones were being crushed and glued back together, like his soul was being torn apart and reassembled.

Then, an explosion.

A deep, primal crimson aura erupted from his body, sending everything in the room flying. A terrifying blood-red light filled the space, and the long-dormant ancient energy finally stirred.

Leo hunched over, panting, but now power coursed alongside the pain. He felt something he hadn't felt since his fall—true power.

But it was wild. Uncontrolled. Like a flash flood breaking through a dam.

It was at that moment that his door burst open.

"Leo! I heard a scream—" Seraphina's voice cut off.

She froze in the doorway, her eyes wide with fear. What she saw was not the weak man she had nursed. Leo stood staggering in the middle of the trashed room, shrouded in a swirling blood-red aura. The eyes that were usually gentle now shone with a frightening red light, and on his face, contorted in pain, was a shadow of terrifying ancient majesty.

"Leo..." Seraphina whispered, her voice trembling with fear, taking an involuntary step back. "What... what happened to you?"

Leo turned towards her. Through the haze of pain and rage, he saw her face—the same face that haunted him every night. But now, in Seraphina's eyes, he saw fear. Fear of him.

That hurt more than any pill's side effects.

"Seraphina..." his voice was rough, unlike his own, resonating with newfound power. "I..."

But he couldn't finish the sentence. A wave of uncontrolled energy washed over him, and darkness finally claimed him.

His body fell to the floor, the red aura slowly fading, leaving a terrified and confused Seraphina standing in the doorway, witnessing the destroyed room and asking the one question that changed everything:

Who exactly is this mysterious man?

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