Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World

King Kael?" She tilted her head with a very concerning frown on his face, "It's Queen Ishat, you new slaves never get anything right!"

"Ishat?" N'bayé muttered, she had never heard of that name before. She didn't understand why Kael was suddenly claiming another identity, he even seemed to switch gender identity.

"No way," Chloe said with her eyes wide open, "It can't be…"

"What is it?" Nalii asked.

"Ishat is the name of the second Primordial Lion, or lioness," Chloe said.

"Hmm," N'bayé's eyes narrowed into slits.

Suddenly, Kael turned around just in time to come face-to-face with Priya.

Looking into Kael's eyes, Priya could tell that this person or identity was confused, but he or she was hiding it under a mask of authority.

She didn't dare try to enter Kael's mind, Kael might not be willing to harm her but this confused being might also not be Kael.

"Kael?" Priya said.

Kael or Ishat frowned, this was the second time they were calling her by that name. However, this name as well as Priya's face was enough for Kael's true identity to latch on to.

That strange glimmer disappeared from Kael's eyes as the recognition of who Priya was settled in.

'Was this a mistake?' Was the first thought Kael thought of as he assessed what had happened.

"Are you okay? It's happening again isn't it?" Priya asked. She brought her hand up to caress his bearded chin.

"I'm fine, don't worry," He said and turned around to face Natalia and the others who were equally confused as well.

Harath pulled his legs out of the ground, still having that feeling of dread like a dark cloud hovering over his mind.

"Natalia, round up your spiders, prepare yourselves," Kael said. He could feel a headache coming on but he remained firm facially.

Natalia nodded, she felt that if she investigated further into what just happened, she could derive some vulnerabilities that could later be used against Kael.

She bowed and left, pushing that thought to the very bottom of her heart. Now, what she had to do was reconnect with the spider network, she was not sure if she should let the Grand Web know of her current status.

Her thirty-plus entourage of spiders followed her, leaving echoes of their legs pattering against the ground.

"And you," Kael shifted his eyes to the goat man.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Aries, Your Majesty," The goat man immediately answered, bowing until he formed a ninety-degree angle.

"Aries? Like the constellation?" Kael asked.

"..." Aries remained silent, he didn't know what Kael was talking about.

"Coincidence, maybe," Kael muttered, "Anyways, you were a prisoner last time I saw you, now you're a contributor to the vision of the kingdom.

That's good,"

Aries sighed with relief, "Thank You, Your Majesty,"

"Keep up the work and you'll receive more benefits," Kael added, making Aries beam a smile.

He was already the leader of a growing herd-type caste and he was respected and had many females coming to him every day for mating, what other benefits could Kael give?

Aries was dismissed.

"Harath and Stella," Kael said, he was now speeding up the meeting as he needed to rest his head.

Harath and Stella paid attention with different expressions.

N'bayé, noticing Stella's unkind expression frowned. A small rune appeared on the back of her hand and she squeezed it into a fist.

Stella suddenly winced, she felt a pinching pain coming from the remaining ear.

Kael noticed her reaction and the glowing rune on her ear. A feeling of despair came over Stella, the pain was a reminder of her permanent fate.

Perhaps, if she had followed a different path, she would be like Harath and the rest and not have to suffer this pain.

"I really don't have much to say to you Stella," Kael said.

"You wanted to create a world where rabbits were no longer seen as food for meat eaters, you wanted to take them off the food chain.

I'm sure even you realize how stupid that would have been. Did the little intelligence you gained as a Magus Rabbit give you such confidence?

Anyways, that's in the past, since you work for me, I'll forgive all past transgressions.

Just know that the rabbits' status in the food chain, you can't change it and I can't change it. The best you can do is adapt."

Kael then turned to Harath, "As for you, I don't know whether to see you as a smart one or a greedy pig.

Either way, the same applies to you too. People like you would like to test the waters to check the depths of my power and see if I have any weaknesses.

Don't worry, the first time you provoke will also be the last time, ready your successor."

After that, Kael waved his hand for them to leave. Stella and Harath were left under the intense gazes of the lionesses from different angles.

They each had something to say but Kael didn't seem to be in the mood to hear anything from anyone at the moment.

After they were all gone, and out of sight, Kael's face transformed into an ugly expression, he could no longer hold it in anymore.

"Aah!" A short and low exclamation left his mouth, a result of the mind-numbing pain he was feeling in his head

He brought his two hands up to rub the side of his forehead, trying to ease the pain.

"Kael, are you alright?" Priya asked. Kael did not answer.

He had his eyes closed and instead of the usual darkness he was supposed to see when he closed his eyes, his vision was occupied with many flashing images.

Kael's mind was so disoriented that he could not bring himself to remember one of those images. They flashed, and as soon as they were gone, they were forgotten.

Every image that flashed in his mind was followed by a wave of pain that forced Kael to grit his metal teeth.

N'bayé floated down next to Priya, followed by Chloe. Nalii jumped down. Each of them had a worried expression on their face, although N'bayé's expression was hard to read and one could only tell her worry from her eyes.

"Kael…" Chloe asked. She placed her hand on Kael's shoulder only for it to be retrieved immediately. Chloe looked at Kael in shock.

As soon as her skin made contact with Kael's, her mind had been flooded with an overwhelming number of foreign images. The short contact she had with Kael's shoulder had exposed her to a whole new world of pain.

Her heart faltered, surely that was the pain Kael was feeling at the moment. If she tried to endure that pain for more than three seconds, she would scream.

But Kael was taking it all while merely gritting his teeth.

"He's in pain," Chloe said sadly.

"Quick, evacuate the mountain," Kael finally said telepathically.

The lionesses looked at each other, then at Kael, puzzled.

"Kael, what's happening?"Priya asked.

"Pocket dimension…now…rest," Kael struggled to say, his mind getting more cloudy as time passed.

Hearing Kael's manner of speech, the consorts panicked and immediately moved out.

Magic orbs rise into the sky, circling around the mountain and chasing after any creature of value that was still on it.

Heavy gusts of black wind descended and swept over the mountainsides and into the caves.

Many creatures fell into a trance-like state as Priya controlled their minds and ran them out of the mountain's vicinity.

Meanwhile, Nalii rushed back to her cave to retrieve Katari's unconscious body and the rest of the red-capped mushrooms.

*CRACK!*

The whole mountain had massive cracks spreading from one end to the other.

The ground began to shake and space began to shift.

More cracks spread out, circling the mountain and going deep into the earth.

All the creatures who had been moved away one way or the other looked in awe as the whole mountain began to rise, fall, and rotate, all at once.

*CRACK CRACK CRACK!*

The mountain split into two, a jagged line extending from the bottom to the top, dividing the mountain top into two.

"What's happening? Why…" Eidel, who had just arrived with Ruda asked, bewildered at what she was seeing.

She could see her own cave, she saw how the walls collapsed into the cave and the roof fell over. The cave ceased to exist at this time.

"I don't know," N'bayé said. Her eyes were now filled with rotating red runes as she scanned the side of the mountain she could see.

She could see that what was causing all these cracks was not some kind of earthquake or physical force. It was all caused by the massive amount of spatial fluctuations appearing around the mountain.

All at once, like a building with a weak foundation, the mountain began to compress on itself while it rotated into her ground.

The mountain was shredded down to little rocks, it was all gone. And even those rocks were sinking into the ground.

No, they were sinking into the portal that had appeared at some point under the mountain.

Just like that, the Lion Kingdom's previous command base was wiped out of existence.

At this time, Kael, who had been floating above the wreckage with his eyes closed, shifted.

He lost consciousness, losing control of his body and falling into the portal.

"Kael!" Priya screamed, but N'bayé had already made a move and flew after Kael's unconscious body.