[3rd POV]
Hunter fell, never to rise again.
The other lions came running immediately, and Scarface too charged at Leo.
The king, ever so calm, assessed his surroundings first. He looked to his right, at his left and then above. He saw that the tree beside him had a very thick branch that was low enough that he could climb.
Leo jumped onto that tree, finding safety from the sudden charge of angry lions.
The lions came, everyone that were able to fight. Baraka, Scarface, Sikio, and Morani. They were still capable of fighting but at this point, Leo was starting to tire. He had managed to take down two lions by now, but if the fight went more, he would evidently lose.
Perhaps he could take two more to the grave with him but he would lose by a small margin. His body was full of wounds and missing skin that showed his raw muscle.
The lions could not reach Leo while he stood there on the branch.
"Come down, you filthy beast!!" Sikio roared.
Big mistake because Leo actually did. Sikio was the first to charge in the beginning of the fight, and he was always the one with the loudest mouth.
The lions were surrounding the tree, looking up to bite at Leo. But Leo did not even have a hanging tail they could grab, so they were at a loss on what to do.
Until Leo leapt down.
He crashed into the loudmouth Sikio with no mercy to be seen. Sikio moved back, trying to dodge but Leo was simply too big and too wide to escape from.
Nearly half a ton of mass crashed onto him. The two lions rolled away after the crash. There was the snap of a broken leg as Sikio could not bear the weight of the fall. When the roll was over, Leo was at the top and his jaw found the other lion's neck.
There was the sound of something crushing. The mane of Sikio was not nearly enough to stop such a wide jaw.
Life was literally being choked out of him.
But his saviour came in the form of his comrade as they swarmed Leo immediately after the fall. Two lions jumped on his back while another was clawing at his side and trying to find a target for their teeth.
In such a swarm of bodies, it was difficult to even know who the enemy was.
Leo rose slightly and stomped on Sikio's chest. His immense weight, along with the other two lions who were glued on his back, was enough to exert immense pressure. Sikio's ribs broke, his chest caved in and there was blood flowing out of his nose.
In the meantime, he opened his mouth wide, his long fangs bared out like someone pulling out their swords. He twisted his body to the side and pecked at the lion's skull like a bird.
He did not bite. Instead, he used his long fangs to stab and make holes in the lion's skull. Once, twice, thrice until the lion retreated in pain, with holes in his head.
Leo then stood on his hind legs briefly and reached for his back with his front paws. He grabbed one of the lions on top of his back and with a jerk, he pulled that lion over his shoulder.
But the lion, Scarface, had his teeth completely sunk into Leo's muscle and hide. So while he was being thrown over, he managed to rip a muscle and peel away a good chunk of skin. Blood began flowing like a waterfall on Leo's back.
The blood was enough for even Leo to feel. He almost panicked, his eyes taking the same shape as the other lions. He was about to give in to the animal instinct of fighting till the very end, similar to how he did when he fought a swarm of hyenas.
But he reined in his sanity. He had no wish to die there. He had a plan, and he needed to wait, not go on a blind rampage.
Leo turned and bolted away once more. There was one lion glued on his lower back. But since he was so much larger than the average lion, the lion glued to him like he would on the back of a buffalo.
The fight was completely ridiculous. The number difference and the size difference were awkward, not like how nature intended a fight between lions to go.
Leo jogged away; he was almost hopping like a gazelle as he ran to try and throw the lion off his back.
It succeeded. And when the lion fell, Leo immediately did a turn and attacked the fallen lion.
The lion was Morani, and he was not angry to exchange blows. He was on his back, his body curling into a defensive position to protect his open underbelly. Leo attacked from above; their heads were both in opposite directions, upside down, as they fought with their teeth.
Morani grabbed Leo's head to try and find a better angle to bite. But Leo's mind was still there, when he had the chance, his paws came up and raked at Morani's face, mainly his eyes.
His claws ruthlessly dug into the eye socket and blinded him. Morani felt fear as half his world became dark. He panicked, no longer roaring or growling; it was more like a fearful scream.
Leo pulled back after he took one eye. His other paw sadly missed its mark, so it left a clear claw mark on Morani's face instead, leaving him half blind but not fully blind.
Leo pulled back, breathing heavily while staggering backwards.
This might just be the limit for now. Lions were mostly made of fast-twitch muscle, made for insane bursts of strength and not stamina.
But even while staggering back and breathing heavily, he had the posture of a king. There was no sign of weakness on his bleeding body.
He slowly staggered back until his back hit a tree.
He waited as the lions gathered once more. Scarface came, the most uninjured among the lions. Scarface helped the crying Morani up.
"Get up, brother, you're fine," he said and gazed deeply at Leo, "We are not done yet."
Baraka came next, his head had holes, and his whole mane was drenched with velvet red. Sikio, on the other hand, could no longer fight. He had broken legs, crushed ribs and many more injuries that put him down. He was alive, breathing heavily in the distance.
The three lions stood up, catching their breath and surrounding Leo. They were losing badly, to be perfectly honest. Like Leo said, they chose their battlefield poorly.
"This will be the end," Scarface stated while getting into a stance to pounce once more. The three were much less tired than Leo, who was losing too much blood and was marred with bite wounds and claw marks.
"I don't think so," a voice came.
They looked up at the tree where Leo had his back and saw a vulture with an enraged face.
Leo smiled, he was backing here for a reason.
The lions were completely frozen. Scarface's eyes fell in horror as sounds began coming from all over the forest.
Laughs.
The forest was laughing.
That was not all, the forest began growing shining eyes as these dots of light began shining from every dark corner of the forest.
"No...."
A scream, a roar, a dying sound. Sikio was being ripped apart by hyenas where they left him. The same went for Hunter, who was left unconscious with no jaw to defend himself. And Roku, who had his belly opened up, had his insides stolen by gleeful hyenas.
All the lions they left behind to fight Leo, Scarface realised they were left to die at the hands of the enemy.
A dozen or so hyenas began walking out from the forest. Four hyenas came by Leo's side to protect him while the other hyenas began surrounding the three lions on all sides.
Now despair.
The three lions could see now, between the spaces on the roof of the forest, vultures flying and making sounds so loud it was like a nightmare.
"No no no no no no no....." Baraka was having a whole panic attack as he saw those vultures.
Scarface had a hard face while he locked a hateful gaze at Leo.
Leo, on the other hand, had no hate on his face. He was simply looking down at them from his taller height. His face was pulled up, almost in amusement.
"It was fun while it lasted," he said.
There was never hope, only delusion.
"Now run," he said.
The hyenas surged out right then, their eyes equally hateful for the lions who had slaughtered their kind even after Leo gave them permission to live.
At this point, they did not even view Leo as something they could hate or seek revenge for. But they put all that bitterness on the second ones they hate.
And the three lions ran, the hyenas pursuing them immediately.
Leo did not follow, for he was far too tired and injured now. If he pushed himself, it would only hinder his recovery, and maybe he would die from injuries.
The battle was over.
It was a hard-fought one, but once more, Leo came out victorious.
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[IMAGE]
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Author : I'm a fucking dumbass.