[Tai Lung's POV]
I'm angry.
Conquers Haki.
My anger and will materialized onto the world in the form of a heavy aura as it exploded out from my body and covered every close vicinity.
It was not even intentional as my Conquers Haki was triggered in response to my emotion and instinct. The first instinct of an animal was to growl and intimidate the enemy.
I pushed through the rubble, the weight of stone and wood had become far too brittle for me as I easily climbed out from the debris.
I stood up and slapped the dust off my body while everyone stared at me. I looked uncaring from thier perspective but in truth, I was taking in the situation and acutely observing everything.
From the hundreds of soldiers surrounding me, the hundreds more coming from the barracks and the thousands of powerful warriors approaching closer and closer to the city.
Well, this is what I get for dropping my guard.
Among all of the things I picked up from my senses, I decided to act on one of them. I walked down the pile of rubble and went to the side where a giant pillar had fallen.
Beside the pillar, there was an old female sheep who was silently crying while trying to push the pillar away. The reason for her action became obvious if you looked closer as another old sheep was stuck under the pillar.
"Mrs Lau." I called her and she looked at me with helpless eyes. I swiftly moved the giant pillar away from her husband who was not responding even after being freed.
It was the Lau couple, the owners of the inn. Mrs Lau held her dead husband in her arms and continued sobbing.
I watched the scene for a while before I turned around and climbed up the rubble again. My head turned to look at all of the soldiers who had surrounded me.
They did nothing to help the couple or any of the civilians who were crying out for help.
That made two things clear for me ; 1. They were willing to go to any length to kill me. They did not mind the casualties or death if it meant completing their objective. 2. They deserve everything I was going to do to them. I need not show honour to them, they no longer hold such things in my eyes even though they were warriors.
It was my mistake to think that it would be like China where everyone held the lives of civilians in high regard. In Tibet, it seemed they give no such importance.
Heh, I was making a whole lot of mistakes huh? That was to be expected I guess, it's my first time outside of China so I was not fully aware of how even a small difference in culture could make.
"You guys are buying time." I said. My deep voice echoed through the surroundings.
If they were not buying time, they would've already attacked me, but they didn't. That they were buying time for whatever army was approaching the city.
"You think they will save you?" I asked with low chuckles.
"They will die with you all." I said and finally allowed the full weight of my Conquerors Haki to explode out.
This time, it was no longer just an instinct. My action was Intentional, I wanted to crush thier spirits and drown them in despair.
The whole place started shaking and the soldiers fell to thier knees. Only a few strong-willed ones were able to stand but they were also frozen and unable to breathe.
But as the soldiers were about to pass out and submit to my will, a familiar sound of a bell jingling rang out.
*Ting-Ding-Ding*
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It was then followed by a familiar soft voice.
"Lionheart."
*Ring-Ding-Ding*
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I watched the next scene unfold with wide eyes. The soldiers who had fallen to thier knees, barely gasping for air stood up with newfound strength.
It was as if they suddenly found bravery and courage to stand and they were able to resist my will.
'What?'
My eyes snapped towards Mei and I watched her tilt her head with a smile.
That girl.
She had also been hiding her capabilities all along.
So my theory about her chi was true - she was able to affect even living beings with her chi. All that shit about the will of chi were lies.
So that was how she was suppressing my senses and fooling me all this time. It was her chi and that damned bell.
I stopped blasting out my Conquer Haki and the earth also stopped shaling. The soldiers stood up and took arms.
"SOLDIERS READY!!! " They aimed thier weapons at me.
"Fire!!!" The muscular bull who I assumed was the leader said and loud explosions followed.
I disappeared from my place and the shots never found me. I was even faster than the cannon balls themselves. as I blitzed towards my target - Mei who was standing behind me.
But I was stopped by the giant bull. He held two giant clubs and he swung them at me with such speed and power that it caught me completely off guard.
He did not give off any dangerous feeling to be that powerful.
*BOOM!!*
I met his powerful swing with a punch and the ground caved in due to our clash. As I was the one with lighter weight, I was thrown away by the force of our clash.
I planted my feet on the ground and slid to a stop a few meters away.
"I have been dreaming about this moment since the last time we met in battle." He said and smashed his club against each other, creating shockwaves.
"Today, I shall avenge my fallen brothers and sisters. Tell me, Tai Lung, do you remember them? " He asked me and blew out steams from his nose like the angry bull he was.
"I don't remember every ants I stepped on."
He did not seem too pleased with my answer as his eyes grew red. Then he let out a roar and started charging at me. He swiped his clubs and discarded anything that stood between us.
*Ting-Ding-Ding*
'So that's how it is.. ' I thought to myself when the speed of his charge increased noticeably after the sound of the bell.
'He is currently being empowered by Mei.'
Honestly, what a broken-ass ability that girl had. But it also must have some limitations, the untrained body shouldn't be able to handle much stress of power and from what I have seen, she needed her bell to work her powers.
Nevertheless, his speed was nowhere near mine. I ducked under the mindless swing of his clubs.
A gust of wind grazed my fur, telling me of the monumental force behind his swing.
Luckily, he wore no armour so I let out my claw and hit the nerve on the side of his body and under his arms. His thick muscles wrapped tightly around his nerve points so I was only able to do so much.
But it was enough bring him to his knees and immobilize him for a second. Which was more than enough for me.
I stepped on his buckled knee to get the higher ground and then I slammed a punch right at his forehead.
But that was not all.
"Thunderclap."
*Crack!!! *
A crack of blue lighting erupted out, adding impossible force to my attack. My punch literally squished his body as it pressed onto the caving earth. Both of his horns broke off completely as his head got planted on the ground.
The earth cracked like glass and his body had to obey the force behind the attack.
*BOOOM!! *
A storm of dust rose and when it was finally settled again, everyone saw the crushed corpse of the captain of the Shigatse army.
He came at me with strength not his own, promised vengeance with borrowed power and it offends me. So I did not show him mercy.
I searched for Mei after that but she was nowhere to be found. The shrill yell of the soldiers prevented me from searching for her and they all rushed at me.
"Get him!!!"
"For the Empire!!"
I used flashsteps to become an afterimage and I broke both of thier jaws.
I was more ruthless than usual as I speedblitz everyone present. The only thing they saw was a blur of silver and a trail of yellow. Then thier world turned red with thier blood.
The soldiers were not even on the level of the average soldier from back home so it was a walk in the park.
I cleared out every solider who had ambushed me in less than five minutes. Thier bodies lay on the ground with the rubble and thier blood decorated the streets.
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[3rd POV]
Samudragupta who was leading the army towards Shigatse stopped when he felt the oppressive Conqueroua Haki of Tai Lung
"This is... " He muttered in disbelief. He was a warrior of the highest calibre so he was more attune with his instincts.
He could just how powerful the enemy was.
It felt unbelievable. To hear about it from rumours and stories was one thing but to witness it was another thing entirely.
"My Lord." One of his soldiers called out from behind him.
They sensed it too.
A powerful figure was in the city and he was angry. His anger was such that it descended onto the world and caused the ground to shake.
It seemed this wouldn't be as simple as he anticipated.
"What? Why are we stopping" The general of Tibet asked as Damudragipata rolled his eyes.
Of course, this weakling won't be able to sense it.
"Prkashshi." Samudragupta said, "Lead the army towards the city quickly."
"I will be going ahead." He said and before anyone could try to stop the unstoppable, he pushed himself off the ground.
With a speed that was illogical to his size, he ran towards the city. The ground quaked under his foot as his mere movement defined any common sense.
A huge smile spread on his face.
How long has it been that he found a worthy opponent?
Long enough that it made him run straight to him.
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[IMAGE]
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