Return of The Forsaken Heir

CHPT 3

"I have to go, Father," Leo said softly, kneeling down to wipe the tears from his father's face. "They took our home, your eyes, and Lily's legs, but they cannot take Mother's honor. I promise you with all my life, Lily, I will return before the sun sets tonight."

"Please be careful, big brother," she whimpered in fear, holding his shirt tightly. Leo kissed her forehead, and turned around to walk down the mountain into the bright morning sun.

Golden sunlight lit up the massive central square of Dragonfall City, where thousands of people stood in a wide circle. Gareth stood proudly on a high stone platform, wearing golden armor with a cruel smile on his face. Beside him stood victoria in pure white robes, her eyes looking cold like carved stone.

"Look at the traitor's crown!" Gareth shouted to the crowd, pointing his sharp sword at the beautiful green jade. "Today, we will burn this cursed thing to ashes to show that the evil Lin family is gone forever! But before we burn it, let us see if the little stray dog has the courage to come get it!"

The crowd laughed loudly, throwing dirty rocks and old garbage at the stage while shouting bad names at the Lin family. Suddenly, the noisy crowd became quiet as they saw a lonely boy walking slowly down the street. Leo wore his torn coat, his face covered in bruises, but he walked very straight.

"Well, well, the useless beggar actually came!" Gareth laughed loudly, looking down at Leo with evil joy. "I told everyone you would come crawling back like a hungry dog looking for a bone in the dirt!"

victoria looked down at Leo, her cold eyes filled with deep disgust as she shook her head slowly. "You are so stupid to come here today, Leo," she said coldly, her voice cutting like a sharp knife. 

"I explicitly warned you to rot in your filthy beggar's hut, yet your brain couldn't even process a simple command. Did you really crawl all the way here just to embarrass yourself, or did you already say your final goodbyes to your blind father before walking to your execution?" 

"Give me my mother's crown, Gareth," Leo said quietly, ignoring the thousands of people laughing at his dirty clothes. "It belongs to my family, and it has no value to the Dragon Sect at all. Give it to me now, and let me leave this city in peace. 

"Oh, you want the crown?" Gareth smiled wickedly, waving his hand to signal two giant guards on the stage. The big guards lifted a heavy iron plate that weighed a thousand pounds and held it over the jade crown. "If you want it, you have to kneel down on the ground and crawl under this heavy iron plate to get it!"

"If you do not crawl on your knees like a dog, I will drop this iron plate and smash the crown!" Gareth shouted. The crowd cheered loudly, shouting at Leo to get on his knees and beg for his mother's old crown. victoria crossed her arms, waiting to see the boy she used to play with lose all his pride in the mud.

Leo looked at the heavy iron plate and the bright green crown waiting underneath it in the dark shadow. He knew he had to keep his dragon power a secret, so he slowly got down on his bruised knees. The crowd erupted into wild laughter as Leo put his hands in the dirt and crawled like an animal.

"Look at him! He is crawling like a dog!" a man in the crowd yelled, throwing a rotten apple at Leo's head. Leo ignored them and crawled under the heavy iron plate, reaching his hand out toward the crown. Just as his fingers touched the jade, Gareth gave an evil smile and nodded to the big guards.

The guards let go of the heavy iron plate, dropping a thousand pounds of solid metal straight down onto Leo's back. The crowd gasped in shock, expecting the boy's bones to crush under the massive weight of the iron. victoria was surprised, as the loud metal crashed down.

Leo felt the crushing weight hit his shoulders, and the anger inside his chest finally reached its limit. He did not let the golden light show, but he quickly moved a tiny drop of his hidden dragon power into his spine. With a low grunt, Leo pushed his hands against the floor and slowly stood up.

The iron plate cracked loudly in the middle, splitting into two big pieces that fell heavily onto the stage. The entire city square went silent, everyone staring with wide mouths at the weak boy standing perfectly straight. Leo held the green Jade Crown safely in his hand, his eyes glaring up at Gareth with fire.

"Impossible!" Gareth screamed in terror, stepping back as he looked at the broken iron plate on the stone floor. "He is just a useless boy with no magic! How did he break a thousand pounds of solid iron with his bare back?!"

"The iron was old and rusted, Gareth," victoria said coldly, refusing to believe the boy she hated had any power. "And this ancient stage still holds defensive arrays from the past that bounced the weight away. Do not lose your mind over a stroke of dumb luck, because his life ends right now."

"Guards, kill him!" Gareth screamed, his face red with shame and fury. "Surround the stage and butcher him into pieces!" Before the soldiers could move, the gates of the square exploded with a massive boom. A war carriage rolled into the square, stopping right beside the execution platform.

Clara stepped out of the carriage in her purple robes, moving across the stage.General Iron Spear jumped from the high balcony and thrust his weapon at her chest. Clara did not even blink; she grabbed the general's neck with her bare hand and snapped his bone with one twist.

The giant general fell dead onto the stage like a sack of rocks, making the entire crowd gasp in absolute terror. Elder Zhao jumped up from his golden seat on the balcony, his face white with sudden rage. "Activate the city barrier right now!" Elder Zhao roared. "Do not let this woman leave this square alive!"

Surrounded by hundreds of spear-wielding guards, Clara coughed a mouthful of dark blood as her broken magic channels burned in pain. She looked at Leo, a suicidal smile touching her lips as she raised her hands high into the air. "Ten years ago, I failed to protect your mother, Leo," she whispered. "Today, I will use all my energy to tear this city apart."

Black smoke rose from Clara's glowing palms, shaking the stone ground so violently that the massive city walls began to crack. She gathered all her life force into one terrifying, forbidden circle, unleashing the sky-shattering Nine-Hell Soul Seal to destroy everyone in the city!