[1st POV]
17 lions shot forward, faster than the eye could see. Their gigantic bodies shot through the sound barrier as they lunged forth. They left a wreck of destruction in their wake.
Well, that was a lie.
Reality was much crueller. The threats came slow. The dangers that had the potential to end me stalked forward in plain sight. Not all of them moved towards me either. 4 was the number that stalked forward, the others circled around me to get to my side and half a dozen stayed behind and observed, Scarface being one of them.
Their best chance was an all out battle like this one, so it was in their favor. But still, they were careful for any tricks I might have up my sleeve.
This was one of the reasons why I didn't bother with any tricks. Scarface was too smart for me to deceive like other animals.
The only way to outsmart him was not really to outsmart him but to outmuscle him. He must've taken many things into account. My best bet was not to outplan him but to blow his expectations away.
He didn't think I would be stupid enough to take 17 full-grown lions by myself.
Jokes on him, I was smart enough to take 17 full-grown lions by myself.
The aim of this battle was not survival for me, it was the complete eradication of the enemy. In that sense, we both shared the same goal. And Scarface probably thought that my goal was to survive and win.
It was not.
I wasn't here to win like I did against him and his brothers. I knew what that led to. I was here to, for the lack of a better word, delete them from the face of the earth. I was going to erase 4 years worth of mistakes.
The vultures circled in the sky, but if one looked closely, they would notice many of them flying away in different directions at the moment of our confrontation.
Finally, I stood up the moment the enemies reached the halfway point between us. I shook my head, letting my mane grow wild and straighten outwards as a sign of aggression. Low growls escaped from my throat, the deep vibrations could be felt by everyone in the vicinity.
The lions that stalked forward missed a step and hesitated. But that only lasted for a second. They looked at each other, finding comfort in their number even though I was towering over them. They released their own threatening growls.
Two metal birds also took to the sky, circling us from above and flying beneath all the vultures.
My muscles coiled beneath my hide, after so many weeks, my wounds and soreness were all but fully healed. I opened my jaw and snapped it shut again and again to create a clicking sound of teeth smashing into each other.
And then.
4 lions suddenly sprinted towards me. Their hind legs scraped against the dirt, kicking up dust. 4 distinct roars chained into one resounded, matching the bellow that left my lungs as they made a move.
While they gathered linear momentum, my actions were much slower. I stood on my hindlegs, standing at my stagger height. Then I crashed down, using my weight and gravity. Both of my paws were outstretched, making the enemies guess from which side I would swipe down.
Left or right. Either way, someone was going to die.
And when we finally collided, I chose neither. I tucked my paws into my side like a T-rex and then focused fully on my jaw. I crashed into the one at the centre. Since I didn't use any limbs to stop my fall, all of my power and weight crashed into the skull of the lion who least expected the attack.
The sound of a breaking skull was a bit different from what one would imagine. It wasn't a clean snap or a crack of dry bones. It was a thudding sound and something collapsing.
The victim bit his own tongue, his eyes rolling back to give a stupid expression. The lions immediately burst to my side but at that point, I stretched out my paws once more and stopped them from attacking. I used my limbs to defend instead of attacking.
Two lions on my right and one lion on my left. The fourth lion was a dead victim beneath my jaw. I could feel his splattered brain on my lips.
I shifted my hind legs, both at once and pulled them to my chest. Then I used my hindlegs only to push against the ground, causing myself and the victim to fall back. The other lions, after I snuffed out their initial attack, immediately came to bite my belly but the corpse of their friend protected all the vital areas.
Their attack only fell on the dead corpse as I used it to cover my underbelly. I fell on my back, with the body on top of me. Then, immediately after landing on my back I rolled over.
The lions had sunk their teeth into the corpse so as I pushed that to the side, their heads followed, not fast enough to unbite. Then I burst forward and away from them. I headed to my left and ran towards one of the lions that was trying to move behind me.
The distance was quite far so I ran for a few seconds. But the speed at which I could accelerate was unmatched. The lion didn't know what to do as he saw me approaching. I was a rocket of muscle and teeth. It would be cowardly to run in front of all these other lions but that was exactly what his body told him to do.
Unable to pick, he froze far too long.
When I was in the vicinity, his body went on autopilot to brace for my attack. His claws were all bared, his mouth opened wide, lips peeling back to show yellow fangs. He spread his limbs and lunged to wrestle.
On the other hand, I simply lowered my head. I didn't bare my claws or use my teeth. My weight, size, strength and momentum was enough of a weapon.
I ran right through him. Whatever he was expecting wasn't for me to charge and attack like some kind of buffalo. My thick skull slammed into his chest, ribs giving way to a mightier force.
I ran for a few steps before my own speed was too much and we rolled on the ground together. We crashed on a tree nearby and I slammed him into the trunk as I did so.
The other lions were already on me. I didn't spend time on the fallen lion that wasn't quite dead yet. I quickly moved behind the tree, dodging the lunge of multiple lions. Then I shot up from the ground and jumped up the tree.
There was a reason why I headed in this direction. I had tested it before and this tree had low branches which made it easy to climb. That was one of the privileges of getting to the battlefield first. I had much time to closely study the environment.
I climbed the tree so quickly that it looked like I ran up it. My body moved like I had practiced and soon enough, I was high enough that the other lions couldn't reach me even if they stood on their hindlegs.
I had gotten to safety, but it would be most foolish to stay here and wait for the whole enemy force to gather. I took a quick glance at my enemies' positions. They were numerous in number so it was impossible to note their positions in my mind. I had to look often.
Then I leapt down from the top of the tree, before the other lions had time to climb the tree. I leapt past one of the lions that was running towards the tree. He slid to a stop before rapidly moving backwards.
But I had leapt over him, so his movement only caused him to stand right where I was landing. My weight crushed his body in a deep thud. I could hear pained sounds of a dying cat. But I didn't linger to see if he was dead or if I had caused enough damage.
I shot forward once more, this time my eyes locked on their leader, Scarface.
If this was a long distance race, the lions would catch up easily. But in the small confines of the battlefield, no one matched my sheer acceleration. The only thing they caught was my dust.
Come, come to fucking daddy.
And as if reading my thoughts, Scarface burst forward and made a beeline to me as well. I slowed down my running speed, readying the weapons in my body to do what I should've done a year ago. If I killed Scarface here, this war would be over.
No matter the cost, I had to kill him.
The two of us ran towards each other, and right when we were about to collide, I felt something crash into the side of my body. Since I was so focused on one target, my movement followed my mind. When side pressure was suddenly applied, I broke.
My legs couldn't catch me as I rolled to the side. I felt my head dizzy after I stopped. Nevertheless, I quickly got up and looked towards what hit me.
"It's you," I growled.
Sumu, was it? One of the three lions that survived out of the ten that fought me.
He and Scarface stood together against me. Their butts were raised and their heads low, ready to pounce at any given moment, but they didn't make the first move. Of course they wouldn't, the more time passed, the more lions could gang up on me.
I also realized my mistake. Scarface never had the intention to face me alone, he knew his value and he had fought me before and knew he had no chance. His charge was just a bluff to distract me and slow me down so the others could catch me by surprise.
Truly, this would prove to be troublesome. I wondered once more if Scarface was also a reincarnated lion. It made no sense for an animal to be as exceptional as he was.
I quickly looked around to see the position of my enemies. That was when I realized they had fully circled around me.
Like I said before, it was hard to keep track of the position of so many lions. I did not know what Scarface had taught them, but it would seem that all the other lions that ran after me were not really running after me. But simply, they were all running to their designated positions.
I was encircled and the circle was slowly shrinking.
I released a roar, again and again as I stood my position. But none of my enemies hesitated. There was no fear in their movements.
Usually, my sheer size and dominance intimidate all lions. And that still held true. But there were many advantages that came with numbers. It wasn't that they had confidence in their number. No, that was only part of it.
Even if there were many of them, they should know that at least half of them would not survive even if they attacked. They may not die instantly but the unholy injuries I could cause would cripple them for life and kill them perhaps weeks or months after this battle.
In that way, I could take down at least half of them.
But none of them were afraid to be that unfortunate half. There was strange courage in them. It was the type of courage that one could not have by oneself alone. A man would not charge in front of a raging fire, but give him brothers and they will do so, even though, logically, instant death was still assured no matter the number.
A twisted type of peer pressure. No one wanted to be a coward in front of the others.
"Honestly, I was expecting more. You only killed one before you are cornered," Scarface said.
So there were 16 lions remaining, although two were heavily injured and barely dragging themselves into the fight through adrenaline.
"We are both cornered. At least, I made sure that no one would win in this battle," I said, the dizziness was washed from my head now.
"That is incorrect, the species will win," Scarface said. "Even if we die here to take you down, then so be it. At least our children will have a chance."
"You seem to mistake one thing Leo, we came here to kill you. Survival to us will just be an unimportant result. A lot of us didn't agree with this mentality at first, but after seeing you and fighting you, I am sure everyone agrees," he said.
As I looked around, I saw lions who were not at all confident but still had the eyes of predators. Like they were hunting an elephant or something. They knew the dangers, they knew the cost, but they were hunting for something much bigger than mere hunger, ambition or even themselves.
What the fuck kind of idea had I given these lions?
"Then what are you waiting for with such big ideas!!" I roared.
"Come!!"
And so they did, all 16 of them.
They all held something big in their hearts, perhaps different but they aligned together because whatever it was that they desired, I was the common thing in their way.
What I needed to do now was show them that I was bigger, not just in size, but in heart as well.
Pride.
I think that was what ultimately drove me to want and to be capable of fighting them all.
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