[1st POV]
"Release me, you worthless weight," I growled and raked him at his side. I made some lines, but my claws did not penetrate all the way through his 5 cm thick hide.
The rhino bellowed in pain, the side of his head was bleeding out as I tore off his ears. My paw came up to his face, he thrashed his head around wildly but there was not much he could do as I gouged out one of his eyes too.
The rhino tried his best to roll over, but the panic made him into an erratic beast. But eventually, he managed to get on his side and lie straight. I slipped my limbs out of his weight, and I immediately pulled him so that he lay on his side again, but this time without crushing me.
I leapt over his body and then immediately attacked his side. Just like I had predicted, his underbelly was his vulnerable part. My jaw immediately dug into soft flesh. The hide was still there, but it was much thicker and not as armoured.
I continued pushing him so that he never had the ability to get back up again. I attacked his underbelly. My claws found purchase and tore open, my jaw too bit off chunks of skin until his softer tissue was revealed.
Blood began to flow out. Yes, the blood of a rhino. My instinct came alive when I tasted blood and I became more brutal and ruthless.
But the rhino in his panic executed a wonderful escape. He used my push as a way to get up. He stopped trying to resist me and rolled with my push.
He rolled over and he got up from the opposite side. When he stood up with staggers, blood began falling down like rain underneath him. He was enraged, his remaining eye dilated in sheer rage as he charged at me.
We were nearly at point-blank range, so I had no time to dodge this time. I slipped his tall horn between my arms, evading a vital hit that could stab me but his charge hit.
He ragdolled me. It felt like I was a beast filled with not muscle but feathers as he pushed me. My hind legs created two lines on the earth as I tried and resisted his strength.
It was useless to try and compete with him in strength.
I roared and jumped with my hind legs. Then I easily climbed over his length and jumped down from behind him.
When he passed me, he made a slow turn once more. I exploded when his open side was revealed. This time, I did not try and crash on him like I did before but instead landed on him like I was pushing off a tree.
I leapt at him, paws first. I landed on his heavy body and I pushed myself off again. That way, I was not crashing but I was using him more like the immovable object he was, like making a turn on a giant boulder.
He staggered back due to the momentum and I quickly followed with a second one.
This time, he staggered and he missed his steps. He had a mighty fall. His weight caused the earth to tremble as he fell on his side again.
Great, now I know how to take down a rhino.
I attacked his wounded underbelly. I did not push him like I did last time but simply held him down. He was like a helpless turtle. His armoured hide was hard to penetrate but with time, I was able to inflict damage.
He bellowed loudly as I opened him up. His defences slowed me down, but so what? He couldn't get up anyway.
In the end, the rhino died. He struggled all the way, but eventually, he died due to the loss of blood.
"Haaa....haaaa....haaaa...." My breath came out ragged and tired. I would be the first to admit that it took everything in me just to kill this thing. It was more difficult than hunting a buffalo, even though those were much more dangerous in my opinion.
I guess their defensive strategy was to be durable so that they would never be hunted. Not like buffalo, which were built to fight back so they would not be hunted.
If a black rhinoceros was like this, I wish to never encounter a white rhino. Those beasts had actual giant horns, and at my current state, I don't think I could take down one.
"You did it," Grim said in disbelief as he landed on the corpse.
"My Lord, you actually killed the unkillable," Grim said in pure awe and nigh worship.
"Yes," I answered while breathing hard, "But I never want to do it again."
I don't think the damn thing was even edible. I could not imagine any other lion penetrating those thick hides. Now it was just a waste of massive flesh.
Neither the pride was hungry, nor because we just had a buffalo feast. I killed an endangered animal for no reason whatsoever. And to be completely honest, I felt quite guilty about that.
Compared to the zero remorse I felt when killing other beings, this one I was actually self-conscious.
"Let's go, Grim," I said and looked at the sun in the sky.
It took me more than an hour to kill the beast. It's almost time for me to return from my patrol, and I have barely covered any ground.
I headed to the watering hole to cool down and have a drink. Afterwards, I covered a few more grounds to patrol and mark my scent before I head back to my pride.
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[3rd POV]
After Leo left, the researchers were the first to come to the site. The humans jumped out of their vehicle and quickly checked whether the rhino was dead or not.
But they quickly realized that there was no hope for the massive beast. It was completely dead, no breathing, no pulse, no heartbeat, no nothing.
"Oh God," Hana said, her voice shaky and her eyes almost teary.
"Such a magnificent beast he was," Dr Tonson said, full of grief, while he ran his hand along the tough skin of the dead rhino. He traced the marks of lines Leo made with his claws.
"I never even imagined this would happen," Dr Tonson said, "I didn't think Leo could or would kill a rhino."
"We need to stop it. We need to avoid this from happening again," Hana said in a determined voice. There were barely a hundred rhinos in the whole of Serengeti, such an endangered animal needed protection so that they didn't go extinct.
And they didn't want Leo to be the cause of their extinction.
"Do you think he would make a habit out of this? Like he did with the buffaloes?" Hana said with concern, "What if he enjoyed it and does it again?"
"Then we will have to intervene. We will relocate any nearby rhino if we must. But we can't let Leo wipe their species out. Especially now that he knew how to kill them," Dr Tonson said, taking off his glasses and carefully examining the wounds on the rhino.
It was not hard to tell, but this rhino was killed with careful technique and planning. Leo was intelligent, this hunt would only enforce him with knowledge on how to kill them better.
"I'll inform the team. We need to get to work right now. Make sure no rhinos make territory near Leo and his pride again," Hana said. She got up and ran back to the vehicle to make the calls.
Dr Tonson continued to caress the dead beast. Sweat fell from his forehead and he released a tight sigh. He looked towards where Leo had gone and said small prayers.
May God protect them from the king.
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Author : Let's start the week with double chapter.