Chapter 81 81: Takeover (2)

[3rd POV] He was big. He was so awfully big that you could not think of anything else in his presence. He filled the entire space, including the physical and the mental space. There was no room for anything else before him. He stood bigger than Baraka, perhaps by a few twenty or thirty kilograms. But the stark difference in their presence made it seem like Leo was triple the size of Baraka. Baraka, although a huge lion, felt like a lion and looked possible. Leo, on the other hand, felt like something beyond a simple lion, and he looked impossible and supernatural. Perhaps that was the difference between the weight of fat and the weight of clean muscle. It was akin to a normal guy seeing Arnold for the first time and thinking, 'Are we even the same species? Is he real?' And the lionesses wished it just ended there. But there was also another thing that made Leo feel unreal and impossible. The new king had no tail. A tail was important for the balance of lions, we've said this a million times. But another vital function of the tail was communication. Animals could communicate through talking but even more than that, they communicated also with their body language. And without a tail, it was almost impossible to read Leo's body language. He was absolutely stoic, they could never tell his mood or his intention by just looking. It was also what made him look like a different beast to them, a scarier beast. A tail with a twitching tip showed the king was agitated. Low and still meant peace and calm. A tail lashing from side to side indicated aggression. A quick flick of the tail was a warning for females. Slow movement meant the king was pleased etc. All these subtle tells of a king were nowhere to be seen on Leo. That caused the females to look for other tells on his body. They stared at his body, his shoulder that looked like vines wrapped around them when he moved. His paws that were big enough to cover their faces, and the long, curved claws that had torn even giants like buffalo. And when they looked at his face for those tells, they were greeted with a powerful jaw lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. His mane was thick and dark, causing them to feel small and some even lost themselves and admired it halfway, Leo was hard to read and upon trying to do so, it only left them with more fear and awe. The members of the pride were feeling conflicted. They thought they would have a chance since Leo just had an intense fight with the three kings. They thought they would be able to save the cubs for at least a day, if not a week. But it had never felt easier to submit to a lion. And indeed, half of them submitted to Leo upon their first encounter. He was simply dominant in a way that he managed to fill the void left by three kings and more. Lionesses could tell how strong and how worthy a king was, and all their instincts screamed that Leo had no equal. But even so, some managed to hold themselves back. They gathered courage amid the feeling of weakness and despair and stood against him still. Leo charged at the location of their cubs and that finally lit the fuse to the lionesses that were ready to protect them. The nature of female lions might be to submit, but that of a mother is to protect the cub no matter the cost. "NOOO!!!" Nydia roared and led the charge. Seven lionesses followed behind her as they ran towards Leo from the back. A loud screeching mixed with vulgar caws came from the sky. It was the lone vulture that always followed Leo. Their new king came to a complete stop at the sound. Then he turned to them with furious eyes. Some of the lionesses nearly tripped when they saw that. Leo's mane puffed out in rage, making him look more monstrous than he already was. And then he changed direction. Instead of going for the group of lions not far in front of him, he ran back towards them. "Don't hesitate now!!" Eshe roared and then eight lionessess collided with Leo in a display of raw animalistic violence. But.... Things went very differently from what they imagined. It was not an equal fight even for the tiniest, smallest and most insignificant fraction of a millisecond. There was no fight, it was like the lionesses came to Leo for discipline and to get a reality check. Perhaps the three kings led by Baraka had been too kind and gentle with the females that they forgot the sheer brutality of a lion. Leo lunged forward with his hind legs and he delivered one powerful swing at the head of an incoming female. It sounded like a grenade went off as his paw smashed the head so violently that it nearly popped. Leo did not clench his paw or unsheathe his claws, and that was the only reason why the female lived. But she still went into shock. Her body shut down completely as if Leo had knocked her soul right out of her body and she crashed to the ground like a dead statue. She urinated on herself and never got up again during the fight. And that was only the first attack of the battle. Three lionesses slammed into Leo's body. He was big and wide enough that many females could attack at the same time but that didn't help at all. Three females could not force the king to take a single step back. Instead, they folded like a pretzel when he pushed back with a roar. Leo became a blur of muscle and fury. The three lionesses were rag-dolled and pinned to the ground. The sound of jaws snapping shut right beside their head or neck was a warning of what could have been. It was not a clash of two forces, they were not equal. Leo won the moment he made a move. The moment he tired, the females crumbled. Eshe and Nydia flanked Leo from both sides while he took down the three lionesses. It would've been over instantly if he went for the kill, but since he did have such intention, suppressing the lionessess took a few seconds. Nydia took that opportunity and jumped at Leo, her claws unsheathed and her fangs bared. The same lunged had taken down wildebeest with ease and efficiency, so she was hoping to deal damage to Leo. But Leo reacted in time. He was not new to being ganged up on. In fact, most of his life, he fought more than one enemy while he always fought alone. So, who did these females think they were? Leo taught Nydia the endless gap between a wildebeest and an apex predator. He grabbed her mid-air, and before she could even understand what was going on, the world blurred, and she was upside down. After that, she felt pain erupt from her back as she crashed into Eshe, who was also lunging at Leo from the opposite side. Leo had grabbed her and used her as a weapon to smash Eshe. They both fell on the ground, and they released agonising whimpers upon their fall. Leo had not been so gentle with them in particular. And before they could catch even a single thought or emotion, Leo was onto them again. Nydia's world went dark as his jaw nearly swallowed her whole head. But then the jaw showed mercy and clamped down on her nape instead of crushing her skull. Nydia screamed as she felt herself thrown into the air. It was violent, so quick, so powerful. She was launched into the air as if a buffalo got to her and not a fellow lion. When she crashed back down on the ground, she felt her world blur and the thought of getting back up never crossed her mind again. A deep growl like mountains grinding together could be heard as Leo went on a controlled rampage against the eight lionesses. The difference between them was so significant that a hundred of them would likely not stand a chance. He was so much bigger, stronger, faster, lethal, and explosive. He was a living weapon while they were just big cats. For reference, an average lion (not the level of Mbali brothers) could take on three females and dominate them fairly easily. And Leo could kill three lions however he wants. By that logic, Leo would not have any trouble dealing with nine lionesses and there were only eight of them. Their odds were truly laughable from the start. By the end of the onslaught, all females lay on the ground. Most of them were trembling and showing their exposed belly to display full submission to the new king. The stench of urine filled the air as the lionesses had completely lost their body to fear and peed themselves. But Leo seemed to only get excited and more mad at the smell. "Eighteen females are too much for a single lion to handle, so I am not awfully concerned if some of you die to set an example," Leo said, his voice deep and burly. Normally, a new king would not hurt the females because they are valuable resources. They would not even hurt them to mate with them if they didn't want to. Instead, they would kill the cubs and wait for them to go into heat and mate with their consent. The females were the engine of the pride. Hurting them would be akin to destroying your dream car after saving up for years to buy it. But in the case of Leo, his words held weight. There were too many lionesses for a single lion to maintain and he truly could not care if some of them died. That's how they saw the situation. Nydia felt a shiver run through her spine. She had never felt so weak before or vulnerable. The love of a mother was strong, but the desire to survive was stronger for animals. "Do not try anything again," Leo said and then he moved towards the cubs once more. This time, nothing stopped him. The three young females who were staying to protect the cubs immediately moved away. They did not run, simply backed away with lowered heads and exposed the ten or so cubs to the new king to do as he pleased. The newly defeated females could do nothing but remain in their place and watch helplessly. The cries of the young cubs fell on hearing ears but unmoving bodies. "Mom!!" "Aunt Eshe!!" "Nooo!!" And there were some cubs too young to even speak, they only released whining sounds that were akin to tiny cat sounds. In the end, power was supreme. The females were forced to accept their new king. Their own desire did not matter in front of the king. Some cried, most looked away. .. .. .. [IMAGE] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author : Sorry y'all, it's a busy week and I can't find it in me to do double chapters. I will not skip Saturday though. There will be update tomorrow.