[Tai Lung's POV]
The chaotic sound of civilians running to safety, people crying in the middle of the streets and screams of terror filled the city.
I stood there, the warm blood of my victims dripped down my hands as I looked around in search of any other survivor.
None were left breathing.
All of the soldiers who thought it was wise to ambush and surround me were all left dead on the ground. Thier eyes reflected the terror they felt at the last moment and their hollow depth hints at what they lost in this short confrontation, thier life.
Although they were from different countries and different empires, all lives were the same. But I felt no remorse for what I did.
I remained in my place and my ears twitched as I focused on the remaining soldiers who were just outside of the city walls. The army barracks were also full of remaining soldiers but even till now, no reinforcement had come.
'What are they planning?' I thought to myself, trying to find the answer from the sound I was hearing.
I heard the soldiers telling each other to hurry and how I was already done dealing with the distraction. They shuffled through the city and thier movement seemed to hold a purpose which I have not realized yet.
Then I heard the sound of chains being tossed around. The clinking sound of iron rubbing against iron was a distinct sound which couldn't escape my ears. It tickles - not in a good way.
But then my attention was caught by another sound. This time, I did not even have to listen closely as it became louder and louder the closer it got.
.
.
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
.
.
Footsteps?
Then the gigantic presence of a behemoth came into my sense with absolutely zero subtlety. My head snapped towards the direction where it was coming from and not a moment later, an explosion erupted from the wall of the city.
'It' had just run through the thick city wall.
Even I couldn't do that.
"TAI LUNG!!!!" I felt a chill run down my spine as my name was called out by a deep echoing voice. It almost sounded like a trumpet even though it sounded so deep.
It literally shook the entirety of the city.
I leapt up one of the roofs close by and I did not have to leap higher as he was a behemoth who could be seen even from afar.
"Hahahahaha, what the fuck is that?" I asked myself and laughed hysterically at the brown creature.
It was a brown elephant with thick curly furs which was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. He had a long pair of tusks which had rings on them and his limbs were also much larger than the normal elephants.
He was also probably the biggest animal I had ever laid my eyes on. His mere presence seemed to press a certain weight onto the world and with my enhanced eyes, I could tell just how powerful his body was.
Bulbous muscles that could move mountains wrapped around dense bones that could handle the power with ease. His knees and elbows were large and I could already imagine them snapping to produce incredible attacks.
"Is he, a mammoth?" I said to myself. I had never seen a mammoth before but I knew what they looked like from my past life.
What a week this has been, I was seeing two new species of animal in only five days.
My thoughts were cut short as the unknown mammoth saw me. We locked eyes, our vision cutting through the space with the help of chi.
He smiled and then pushed himself off the ground with a loud boom. He started running towards me, his speed and momentum constantly increasing with each step he took as the city trembled.
He was kilometres away as the city spread far and wide. But even then, it would take him less than a minute to reach me.
"Finally, something interesting ." I said and stood to my full height. I stretched my limbs which I had not used to hier full extent in months now.
"Will he be a worthy opponent?" I mused to myself as I saw him getting even faster and it looked like he won't be stopping any soon. At this rate, he would reach me faster than I first anticipated.
He devastated every distance he covered and he left a trail of destruction in his path. The houses and structures of the city were demolished with one casual swing of his powerful arms. He was a wild animal going through a forest of weeds.
He did not care about the consequences of his actions. The rest of the world faded into irrelevance as he was now solely focused on me.
I jumped down from the roof and when my feet hit the ground, I pushed myself towards him. My movements were nimble and swift like a sharp blade of wind, unlike his mindless charge which as akin to a natural calamity, like a tornado.
Then I decided to knock up my power as blue flames started whizzing out of my body. I lowered my centre and used all of my four limbs to run. My speed instantly tripled and was only increasing.
My flames entraped me in thier searing heat as my body sliced through the atmospweher. At one point I was like a living missle and I was able to meet the mammoth at the halfway point even though he started much earlier.
The first exchange in a battle was vital. It was like the first impression you had on someone, it was important.
It could tell a lot about what you think of your opponent and what he think of you. The first attack you threw was like the price you first offered for something, which reflected directly how valuable you think said object is.
And my first attack was powerful. In fact, I was sure that it would be too much for him to handle. But that was my first impression of him, he seemed powerful and was brimming with raw strength.
I pushed myself off the ground to meet his 24 feet tall frame on the same level. The air screamed due to the heat but he only let out a war cry.
"HUAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" His voice came out with such force that it produced a shockwave.
Then our forearms clashed. It was the collision of two cataclysmic force that the world was not prepared to host.
Raw strength meets the ultimate technique.
A blade meets a hammer.
And everything suffered except for the two.
.
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*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!*
.
A tornado made out of unrestrained force and energy ripped everything apart and forced a crater on the earth. A gust of heat emanated from my body in the form of violent steams which was followed by a shockwave that tore apart anything else.
Everything in our close vicinity was either ripped apart or blown away. The air pulsated and whipped out rops of whirlwind.
Surprised etched itself on my face as a nasty smile carved his.
He actually clashed with me on equal footing.
Me - Tai Lung - a master of chi and a one-in-a-million talent who had trained both of his entire life in the art violence was matched by the raw strength of this ancient behemoth in front of me.
Because I felt no chi from him.
Something was not adding up.
"Hah!!! You do not disappoint cat!" He roared out and I could see rows of teeth behind his trunk. Then he planted his feet on the ground, traumatizing the earth further.
He was taller than me so while I had to leap up to match his forearm, he was on the ground. That gave him the ability to move while I stayed stagnant in the air.
He threw one of his arms back and then his muscles popped out with raw stregth that almost dripped out in the form of energy.
Then he launched his arm forward, its trajectory was predictable but what was the use of predicting when you can't stop it?
An unstoppable force came at me and I felt the back of my fur stand on its end.
Still in the air, I brought my knees up in a fetal position and braced for the attack. I knew that it would not be wise to use techniques such as tekkai or coating myself with chi so I went for an alternative
Why try to stop an unstoppable force?
'Shaori' I screamed in my mind as his gigantic fist which could cover my entire torso slammed against me with such force that it created a shattering sound, as if his strength broke reality.
I was sent flying away with a violent shockwave. My body was flung through the air like a ragdoll, bouncing off towers and crashing through multiple buildings.
Then I spun in the air to disperse the kinetic energy and I used all four of my limbs to slide to a stop.
I was unharmed.
But it didn't feel like it.
I stood up to my full height before dusting myself off. While I was doing so, the mammoth walked up to me with a huge smile on his face.
"How did you do that? How did you let me touch you without hitting you?" He asked me when he was close by.
"Wouldn't you like to know." I replied with a smirk.
"No, not really if you don't want to tell me." He said and then clapped his hands. He easily created a shockwave that hurt my ears just from that.
"Next time I will just catch you like a little mosquito." He said.
"Too bad there won't be next time." I said and my eyes glowed golden.
Our first exchange alone put him in the same league as Mighty Eagle. So next time, I would have to go a little harder.
His whole gimmick seemed to be his raw strength. And I have fought people stronger than me but strength was just one factor that decided the victor in a day fight.
He didn't have the technique nor the speed necessary to catch me again.
"Hahahaha, I hope you don't think our first exchange was my full power." He said while waving his hand.
Then my ears caught the sound of the army finally reaching the city but more importantly, the clinking sound of iron rubbing against iron entered my ear again. This time, it was louder.
I was curious about what they were planning but I did not have to be curious for long because in the next moment, I realized what it was.
Chain net.
"Are they serious?" I asked out loud as a gigantic shadow was casted over me.
In the sky was a net made of iron. They were extremely big and would have weighted many tonnes. On each end of the net, it was carried by many birds like eagles, vultures and other aerial soldiers.
I did not try to stop them as I just watched on with a dumbfounded face. Luckily, the mammoth also seemed interested in what was going on as he watched with me.
In the span of a few seconds, the net covered the entirety of the city and then it was held anchored on the thick walls of the city. The walls prevented the net from falling onto the city but now the city was totally encased. As if a lid had closed.
.
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*Ting-DIng-Ding*
*Ting-DIng-Ding*
*Ting-DIng-Ding*
.
.
The net straightened and then they became hard like the top of a roof rather than a loose net. I could feel the chi running through them and how it strengthened them to be sturdier many times over.
Mei had the ability to command chi and everything in the world had chi. Interestingly, out of all the minerals in the world, iron had the most amount of chi. So she ordered the chi of the irons to strengthen themselves and to become what they were.
A cage.
For who?
For me.
"Hahahahaha, would you look at that." The mammoth laughed, "That is to prevent you from running away."
...
...
...
Me? Running away?
I felt rage bubble up from the pits of my stomach and I allowed myself to seethe. But my anger was not like before, it did not burst out.
It was quiet.
Do they really believed that I was trapped here with them? And not the other way around.
"This is good." I said, "I haven't felt like this in a long time."
"Hoh?~ Finally ready to get serious?" The mammoth asked.
It seemed while I was renowned in China - equally feared and admired - the rest of the world did not know me just yet.
"Well, let me introduce myself." I said.
There was no need to add a title, the name needed no other moniker and it need not be followed by a statement of my achievements.
Because it was everything.
"I am Tai Lung."
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[IMAGE]
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Author : Three chapters released!!