The Martial Unity

Chapter 3503: Not Alone

In the blink of an eye, Lord Vakratunda’s body grew astronomically larger as the shape of his body below the head began altering drastically. His limbs shifted to become shorter and thicker in a quadrupedal alignment as his torso grew larger relative to his body.

His skin shifted, becoming a thick, dark gray hide that was nigh impenetrable to any kind of attack, while his trunk grew more muscular and longer relative to his body.

He became a true war elephant of unparalleled raw power, towering over the others with his gargantuan body. With a single stomp of his foot, he unleashed a destructive shockwave so powerful that it took all the other converged beasts to stop the attack.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

The other beasts roared as they struggled to contain the deadly, lethal power that the elephant had unleashed upon them. Lord Narsimha gritted his teeth as he remained steadfast, holding his ground as he held his head high, snarling at Lord Gajanan.

His predatory eyes were filled with a visceral hatred against the elephant as the two of them exchanged a glance.

”This is your doing, Lord of Elephants!” Lord Narsimha snarled. ”How dare you betray the Lord of Beasts!”

”You have it backwards, Narsimha,” Lord Gajanan calmly declared as his voice echoed through the lands around them. ”He betrayed us all the moment he used his Authority against us. Even now, your actions towards me are a result of his Authority. Deep down inside, you, too, must understand this. Even if you are powerful enough to resist his Authority to some extent, as I am sure you are, you are still influenced by it to do things that you would not do otherwise.”

Lord Gajanan’s calm, serene gaze bore deep into Lord Narsimha’s. ”Lions are proud, they are not mindless beasts who submit to the bidding of another.”

Lord Narsimha remained silent for a few moments as the other converged beasts on his side turned towards him with an evaluating gaze.

”...This is the law of the jungle, Lord of Elephants.” Lord Narsimha’s tone was ruthless. ”Power is absolute. The strongest rule, while the weak must submit, is to be consumed. I have done everything in my power to protect my people, including putting down my pride, even if it was taken from me.”

”You do not have to go this way, my friend.” Lord Vakratunda’s tone was gentle and coaxing. ”Forget about the Dragon Emperor, he will soon be dead at the hand of the Dawnbringer.”

Lord Narsimha roared at those words. ”That man from the Lost Continent can never hope to defeat the Dragon Emperor. No one can. He is the strongest lifeform in this world.”

Lord Vakratunda shook his head. ”It appears that the Dragon Emperor has gotten his fangs in you stronger than I imagined. It is unfortunate to see how much he has taken over my friends. Rest assured, however, this will be the final day that Shenlong will rule over all of you. You can halt your journey to the depths of the Great Void Ocean, or you can choose to be stopped by me.”

Lord Narsimha growled. ”You overestimate yourself, Lord of Elephants. You are not strong enough to stop all of us by yourself. The rest of you...” He addressed his fellow leaders. ”Go on ahead, I will hold him off and catch up after I defeat him.”

The converged beasts immediately set out, circling around the giant war elephant. Lord Vakratunda attempted to intercept them, only to be ferociously attacked by the third most powerful therianthrope on the continent, whose claws struck him with tremendous power.

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!

His claws managed to pierce what should have been an extremely impenetrable hide, inflicting flesh wounds upon Lord Gajanan, who simply directed his trunk towards the lion before unleashing a tremendously powerful blast of air.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!

The sheer force with which the attack struck the lion was enough to topple a tectonic plate upside down. The lion snarled in pain, his regal fur damaged, while his bones and muscles hurt.

”You may be able to stop me, but you cannot stop the others from reaching the Dragon Emperor,” Lord Narsimha snarled. ”You have failed Vakratunda!”

The war elephant slowly shook his head.

”I am not alone.”

RUMBLE!!!

A great amount of seismic radiation passed through the lands as Lord Narsimha widened his eyes, gazing into the distance. A second group had teleported to intercept the other leaders of the War Coalition, led by none other than a therianthrope who was half-man, half-monkey.

In his hands was a giant club with an exaggerated spherical end to it, a weapon known as the gadha, exclusive to the Hanuman Clan of monkeys. Lord Maruthi grinned as he unleashed a powerful shockwave that pushed back the other leaders of the War Coalition.

”This... the entire Harmonist Faction is partaking in this battle?” Lord Narsimha’s eyes widened. ”Impossible!”

”We may be outnumbered, but we can hold you and your forces back long enough for Shenlong to succumb to the Dragon Emperor,” Lord Vakratunda informed him with a calm tone. ”Give up, now.”

Lord Narsimha roared as he leaped at Lord Gajanan. ”Never!”

Two of the most powerful leaders on the continent of Kiriket battled with each other, ravaging the lands around them as the two sides clashed with each other in a long, desperate battle for the future of the continent.

The Harmonist Faction maintained their formations and other preparations, leveraging the extra time for mobilization to exert greater power than their opponents. The leaders of the War Coalition tried to summon their forces, only to discover that the Harmonist Faction was already several steps ahead of them.

Even if the War Coalition was ultimately still stronger and would win in the long run, they would not be able to get to the Dragon Emperor in time. Everything had gone according to plan. Lord Vakratunda faintly glanced in the direction of the Great Void Ocean.

”It’s all up to you now, Dawnbringer.”