[1st POV]
"I'm home."
Scar gave a nasty snarl that could permanently reshape his face. It was bitterness, jealousy, rage, and fear all in one visage.
Standing beside Scar was his pride, which consisted of nine lions. Seven of them were lionesses, while the other two were adult lions, much like Zael. Normally, that shouldn't be possible since the lions would have challenged Scar for the throne.
But the two lions were the sole survivors of dozens of Scar's male cubs. They were perfectly groomed and brainwashed to the point that their natural instincts were suppressed, and they remained obedient to the king.
Compared to Zael, they were insignificant. With barely a mane and not a drip of black. But still, they were much larger than the females and would pose a bigger threat.
Scar himself stood at the front, with five hyenas by his side to help him in battle. But Leo did not see more enemies when looking at them—only Scar, who decided to decorate himself with five corpses. Those hyenas would fold with a single swing of his paw.
Scar, on the other hand, although weak, Leo considered a proper foe.
Standing beside our lion were five members of his pride—Zael, Nala, Eshe, Nydia, and Sabaa. They were the elite among the pride, so although they were fewer in number, their power should be the same. Each lioness should be able to take on two of Scar's females.
And Zael...
"Do you think you can take both of them?" Leo asked while tilting his head toward the lion.
Zael took a moment to gaze at the two lions—a disgrace to what he was, an absolute shame to what his king was. He bit down his teeth. "Easy."
It might be instinct to not be so sure when faced with two opponents, no matter how much weaker. But seeing their king fight multiple lions at once on a regular basis gave much confidence to the young lion.
Leo had a small smile on his face before he gave a nod.
But when he turned back to Scar and his goons, the smile flipped into a mean frown. A deep growl started rolling off his throat in waves, and the deep vibration shook the ground and somehow traveled through the bodies of everyone present.
Leo's pride felt a warm kind of charm and protection wash over them. It was like their king had embraced them from the inside, holding them protectively like a king should.
But the enemies had the complete opposite reaction. It felt like fear itself had crawled up their paws and gripped their beating hearts. An imaginary kind of weight pulled at them; gravity felt stronger, courage wavered, and knees went shaky.
The enemies looked at Leo. This time, they really looked at him through real eyes. Not through a lens given to them by Scar about how Leo was a disabled lion or how he would fall, but really looked at him.
All wished they hadn't.
Especially for the lions, this was the first time they had seen him. And he was monstrous in every meaningful way the word could be interpreted. He stood as tall as a mountain; his sheer muscles looked like boulders on said mountain.
His mane was like nightfall—pitch black, hopeless, and something to fear and be wary of. His mass was at least two times Scar's, if not more.
A lion that was in a league of his own. A king unlike anything they had ever seen.
It frightened them to no end. The so-called lion's pride crumbled. The only solace they had was the fact that they wouldn't have to fight him. He was their king—Scar's opponent to deal with.
When his growl frightened the enemy enough, Leo began moving. He walked ever so slowly, back and forth, the meat of muscle on his shoulder rippling with each step.
The awe and fear humans would feel when looking at a mighty lion was what the ordinary lions felt. A beast of beasts.
"This place ceased to be your home when you decided to be a traitor. Look at you—years later, you finally showed your true colour. You are not welcome here," Scar said.
Leo laughed, a deep, horrific laugh that was anything but humorous.
"Traitor?" Leo asked. "The Pridelands are mine by right," he said firmly.
"What right do you have? You are not Simba," Scar accused him.
Leo replied after a pause, "Strength. Power. Whatever you want to call it."
"Might makes it right."
Leo came to a stop after saying that. He took the posture of a beast ready to launch. His claws gripped the earth firmly; his dark mane puffed out to make him look larger, more terrifying. His eyes, too, held a shine like looking into a furnace.
"GO!!!" Scar roared, out of sudden fear, out of instinct.
His eyes were wide at his own impulsive order, but his pride followed all the same. The lions burst forward, putting their own fear behind them through years of conditioning to obey Scar.
But right in that moment, Leo's own pride came forward too. They blurred past their king and decided to meet the charge with their own.
The two sides collided with a blur of fur, muscle, and claws. The sound was like thunder that cried into chains after devastating the ground. Their collective roars could be heard for miles; the violence they unleashed caused the air itself to scream.
And yet amid all that, Leo's gaze never wavered. He had complete trust in his pride to take care of any incoming storms. His eyes were still locked on Scar's wide and surprised eyes.
When the fight between the prides reached its peak, Leo marched forward and, in one terrifying leap, he crossed the battle entirely and landed before Scar.
It could not be described—the sheer magnitude of a 400-kilogram lion jumping tens of feet. It was a raw display of power that no one was prepared for.
After landing with a deep thud, Leo made his way toward Scar.
The old king was finally backed into a corner. So, with nothing left in his arsenal, he lunged forward with every bit of strength he could gather.
ROAR!!
It was an ugly roar. Similar to a sound played on a broken record. It was wrong—not how it was supposed to be. A roar was never meant to be screamed with fear, after all. It was a sound born from strength, pride, and authority, which Scar had none of in that moment.
It was only a very loud noise.
Scar came with everything he had. His claws were out, digging and leaving marks with every step he took. His shabby mane, just as dark as Leo's, also stood up in aggression. His old fangs were jagged and yellow, and they were bared toward the lion he hated.
On the other hand, Leo continued his slow gait. When Scar was right in front of him, he pushed his weight down on the ground, planted his hindlegs to resist force, and then stood firm.
Scar met a wall of chest. His claws swung in a blur, raking skin. His teeth took a giant chunk of Leo's chest. In every way a lion knew how, he tried to harm Leo.
But what he got was a thud and a complete stop.
Leo did not falter even one inch.
Scar's claws could not leave a wound where well-fed, prime lions could not even in bands of five. His old teeth failed to grab the muscles flexed beneath all the skin; it was like trying to bite solid stone. Instead, he only got the loose skin that easily shrugged off the bite.
Imagine the despair.
Scar looked up with one eye. Leo was much larger than him. He saw the lion looking down at him like someone looking at a lesser being. Like how someone would look at a cockroach.
And then Leo burst into motion too. His actions were effortlessly powerful and violent. His mane shook as he thrashed Scar in ways he never knew he could be handled.
Scar released a roar that sounded more like a scream, but that stopped when he received a giant paw right on his head. The paw slammed on him with weight so heavy it felt like a mountain fell on him.
Scar became dizzy, his lips curled in pain before he staggered back.
"Attack him!!" he ordered, and the hyenas surged forward.
In the meantime, Scar shook his head, and when he finally came back to his senses and the world stopped spinning, he turned around and ran toward Pride Rock.
He could not win in a straight battle. Leo was so much stronger and younger. But what if the terrain changed? There was much opportunity in Pride Rock where he could push Leo down, and he could fall to his death much like his father.
The five hyenas came at him, but they did not buy more than five seconds of time because at that point, Leo was out of mercy.
A swing of an arm caught a hyena like an inevitable attack. The paw smashed on the shoulder, and then claws came out and tore the shoulder muscle completely, making the hyena cry out in pain.
Another hyena tried to attack Leo's underbelly, but Leo quickly stopped him with one paw before pulling back and slamming the hyena with his weight, crushing the ribs and the lungs in one brutal pound.
Another hyena leapt up to bite Leo's side, but he was met with two rows of teeth powered by the strongest feline jaw in the world. The teeth crushed his skull. Leo's mouth, when opened fully, was enough to swallow a head whole.
The remaining two hyenas tried to run, but Leo stampeded over them when he ran to follow behind Scar. Their death was by being crushed under the weight of 400 kilograms. That seemed manageable until you realized Leo's claws were out, and he used them to push himself forward, the claws tearing flesh where they should have anchored on the ground.
Five seconds killed five hyenas.
Leo roared and scaled up Pride Rock, running behind Scar. His acceleration was so fast it looked unreal. In no time, he was at the tail of Scar, who had a five-second head start.
Leo swiped his paw at Scar's hindlegs when he reached him. It was a tactic often used when lions hunted prey like an antelope. Scar's whole body twisted, his own momentum working against him.
With his disabled leg, which he got from their first fight, Scar could not catch himself and stumbled up the rocky mountain, if that made sense. His body twisted and rolled until he fell and slammed on an open area.
It was right in front of their cave. Inside were his cubs and the sub-adult members of the pride.
All of them had the front-row seat as their king groveled and struggled to get up
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