CHAPTER 365: CHAPTER 365: OZIA

*BOOM!*

A figure was blasted out of a cloud of dust, curving over the land and flying for hundreds of kilometers.

"You are bold, young prince!" A behemoth shouted from where the figure had been shot.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed out, as the behemoth strolled out of the dust cloud with gusto and pride.

The behemoth was humanoid in frame, standing nearly three meters tall, and had a wide and burly body.

His skin was a dark tan, coarse and filled with bumps that were a result of muscles that were too big they looked like fat.

His dark tan belly jiggled lightly with every step he took, it was as though it was an intentional thing.

The beast of a man, for the large body he possessed, had a fitting face. His face was wide and circular, giving him a funny yet scary look.

He had a big nose, big enough to cover his upper lip completely without discomforting him.

Jutting out of the edges of his half-open mouth were two jade white tusks that curved to face the sky.

This was an elephant in humanoid form, a being whose power was equivalent to a tier 4 lion.

His eyes glowed green and the power of the verdant forest brewed in his muscles.

"Do you think because of your status I will be lenient with you? You and your father can go shove your attitude up your asses!" The elephant man shouted telepathically.

Even though he talked with boldness, his eyes constantly scanned his environment. He would be stupid to assume this prince didn’t come with some sort of backup.

He wasn’t scared, just vigilant.

The figure that had been blasted out of the dust cloud abruptly stopped mid-air, pushing back the wind.

On a closer look, the figure was small-ish and looked very young. It was a little boy.

The boy’s skin was the color of wheat and was as smooth as a baby’s. His body was a bit robust, a sign of healthy muscle development.

He was still on the lean side but one could assume that he would grow into a muscular person even if he didn’t exercise.

He had deep black dreads, long and majestic, falling to the sides and back of his head. A few locks obstructed his eyes but one could still see them.

Decorating the sides of his head were two little lion ears, short and fine dirt-yellow fur lined the sides of the ears.

Behind him, one lion tail whisked about with a tuft of black fur at the end.

His eyes, despite being covered by a few strands of his dreadlocks, showed ferocity and intensity that shouldn’t be seen in any human child of his stature. But he wasn’t human.

Behind the obstructing locks, his eyes glowed with an intense red and blue light. Different magical runes spun around within his pupils, casting a soft warm glow on the dust particles in front of his face.

Something he had inherited from his mother, a shocking and dangerous level of intelligence flashed in those eyes of his.

"Rebel, you’ve caused my father trouble long enough. Don’t force my hand, kindly surrender and I might give you a swift death,"

Silence.

The boy’s voice, although light and childish, came with an air of oppression and authority. He spoke as though his words were the law, as if reality had no choice but to obey his decrees.

He was bold, even his threat to the elephant man was laced with more threats. Just like the elephant man, he had no fear in his heart and no hesitation in his mind.

So what if this was an entity comparable to tier 4 lions?

"You might give me a swift death?" The elephant man laughed boisterously. His laughter shook the ground he stood on, it sounded like he had just heard the funniest joke ever.

But even as he laughed, the green glow emanating from his eyes only intensified.

"I can see that your wretched father has been teaching you well. You even deliver threats like a proper pussy..." The elephant man’s words pierced the mind of the little boy.

The young Lion Prince frowned, the red and blue glow in his eyes began to dilute with strong killing intent.

"Ozia..." A telepathic voice reached into the little boy’s mind.

"I can handle it," The little boy replied sharply before the owner of the voice could complete his sentence.

Ozia, the little lion prince, turned his full attention to the enemy.

Green levitation runes lit up on the soles of his feet, stirring the air particles around him.

*BOOM!*

The little boy blasted off, leaving a shockwave behind him. He shot straight for the elephant man, his two arms stretched out in front of him and his two hands balled into fists.

Seeing this, the elephant man roared angrily. He stomped his foot on the ground, instantly blowing the dust away and creating deep cracks in the ground.

He leaned forward and leaped, his body shot off, aiming straight for Ozia with his fists raised.

Before they clashed, vines shot out of the ground after the elephant man. Flowers bloomed below and small trees rose. The vines wrapped around the elephant man, piercing their tips into his skin and filling him with vitality.

*BAM!*

The two clashed in the middle with Ozia’s little fists striking the chest of the elephant man. As small as he was, Ozia’s body packed a lot of strength and durability.

The vines propping the elephant man were immediately shattered into countless splinters and his body was sent back, crashing into the ground and creating a wide crater.

"DIE REBEL!" Ozia declared as he rushed the foe, smashing down feet-first into the crater and stomping down on the elephant man’s chest.

"IMPUDENT!"

The elephant man was no pushover, either. Before the little could firmly sink his feet into the ribcage, hundreds of thick vines whipped out from the edges of the crater, slapping the boy away.

The boy’s body cleaved through the earth, cutting a rough path that was hundreds of meters long. But he still survived.

What was amazing was that this boy clearly had the power of a Magus Lion, but there were no magic barriers around him, nor was there any trace of a defensive rune etched on his skin.

Ozia was taking all these hits with his body alone.

*CRACK! CLACK!*

Ozia pulled himself out of the rubble, snapping his dislocated shoulder back in place in the process.

He was tough.

But his opponent was very much more experienced in the art of war.

*BOOM!*

A gigantic fist made of wooden vines crashed down on Ozia’s position, destroying the ground and sending the boy deeper into his crater.

"You know, I once saw your father with my own eyes!" The elephant man said as he waved his hand, dispelling the fist of vines.

"He was arrogant, just like you. If I had the strength, I would have killed him myself then and there..."

Vines once again pierced into the elephant man’s body, supplying him with a large amount of vitality. His muscles swelled and his green eyes bulged.

"Yet here I am! Fighting his spawn!"

The ground burst apart as Ozia shot out of the ground, leaving a trail of tiny stone particles.

The air screamed as he tore his way through the atmosphere, arriving in front of the elephant man almost instantly.

His face was no longer settled, rather, it was painted with rage and frustration.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" Ozia screamed out of anger as he began raining down a flurry of kicks and punches. Each of these attacks would cause unimaginable destruction if it hit the land.

"HAHAHAHAHAA!" The elephant man laughed menacingly as he countered all the blows with vines and his vitality-infused arms.

"What were they thinking?" The elephant man said with a dark smirk. His right arm swept out all of a sudden, landing a powerful slap on the little boy’s head.

Ozia was immediately struck down into the ground in front of the elephant man. The force was so great that his body bounced off the cracked ground.

It was too sudden.

"They sent a cub to do adult work..." The elephant man caught Ozia by the neck bed slamming the latter down again into the ground.

Ozia opened his mouth wide as he felt the wind knocked out of his body.

He wasn’t able to do anything as the elephant man continued slamming his little body down into the ground.

"Young Prince, I’m coming." A telepathic voice reached Ozia’s head at this time. Ozia could already sense that things were going beyond his control.

The fight had been going on for a long time and he had still not been able to overpower the elephant man even though they were of similar power levels.

It even seemed like Ozia was slowly losing as time went on.

*SHICK!*

The sound of a sharp object cutting through flesh echoed through the air, followed by a brief pause as the world seemed to go silent.

Ozia pushed himself from the floor and rushed away. Looking back, he saw that the elephant man stood where he was, stunned as he stared at the empty space where his arms used to be.

Blood spurted out of the shoulder stump, staining the ground red.

As Ozia observed the elephant man from a safe distance, space twisted and distorted as a mysterious figure appeared beside him.

"Prince Ozia, you’ve done your best..."