[3rd POV]
"A lion with sharp intelligence knew how to train. And training leads to technique," Marcus said. "What you just witnessed might seem impossible, and that is because it is."
The fight froze mid-motion, the moment of impact suspended in time. Then, the scene shifted from the open savannah to a CGI animation of Leo's body once more.
But this time, his body was not the same. It was bigger, it was stronger, his frame denser, with deeper definition around the limbs. The muscles were rendered in a darker red hue, highlighting the improvement Leo had made in the past two months.
"Leo has built a remarkable body through his consistent hunting and training, coupled with his insane diet. But even with that, he did not have the raw power to lift another lion like that. So the trick here is that everything was in his technique," Marcus explained.
"To simplify what we're witnessing here, let's use something we all understand to parallel this event," he continued. "Let us take the human body, for example."
The screen cut to two CGI humans standing side by side.
"Two humans with equal mass and muscle. But the difference between them is that one is an avid gym-goer who knows proper technique, while the other is the average person with no technical understanding," he said.
"Let's see how much they can deadlift."
The CGI humans began competing side by side, each attempting to lift a weighted barbell from the ground. The weight started at 100 kilograms. The untrained human began to struggle early, his back arching awkwardly and his grip trembling. By the time the load reached 160 kilograms, he could not lift anymore, his form breaking under the strain.
Meanwhile, the trained human continued with fluid precision, eventually lifting up to 220 kilograms.
"Mind you," Marcus said, "they both have the same power and strength, but technique is where they differ."
The CGI rotated, showing a detailed rear view. Colored overlays highlighted which muscle groups were engaged during each movement.
"Notice how one of them tries to lift the weight with his entire body at once," Marcus narrated. "Look at the sheer strain suffered by his back, his biceps, and forearms."
Then, the professional with the technique lifted the same weight.
"Now look here," Marcus said. "This person arches his back to lock it tightly. His arms focus on holding the bar rather than pulling it. His shoulders only work to stabilise the load, and then..."
He paused as the animation slowed down.
"...he drives upward with his legs, using them as the main source of force."
That was the secret behind greater feats, even with the same strength.
"Every muscle has its role," Marcus continued, his tone calm but emphatic, "and knowing technique means knowing exactly which muscles to engage and how to sequence them in an action. It seems simple, but it takes years of practice. You cannot just mindlessly perform a movement."
He turned back to the lion footage.
"Now, in Leo's case, he's doing the same thing. It looks like he's lifting another lion with just his neck muscles alone, but that's not what's really happening," he said.
"All of it is in the legs instead. Watch closely."
The footage rewound and played again in slow motion.
The audience watched with the knowledge of what to look for. Athletes in particular watched with narrowed eyes, recognizing the subtle control behind every motion.
They noticed that Leo first straightened his back; his neck muscles were only holding, not lifting. Then he shifted the position of his hind legs, planting his paws deeper into the soil, and pushed upward with tremendous drive.
That was not mindless power. That was controlled power, strength used in the most efficient way possible.
"We've already seen Leo jump higher than ten feet, even with his size," Marcus said. "That means he can produce a force more than six times his own body weight. So lifting one lion, who was not even as heavy as him, came naturally."
A visual graph appeared beside the footage, showing Leo's muscle engagement and force output compared to an average male lion. The spike was enormous.
The scene continued. Leo lifted the lion clean off the ground and then slammed him back down in one brutal move. The impact shook dust off the ground as the other lion's body collided with his brother beneath him.
"In a sense," Marcus said, his voice low, "Leo isn't supernaturally strong compared to the others. But he knows how to use his strength the best way possible. That's why he's able to overpower these lions as if he were ten times stronger."
The fight resumed.
After slamming the lion atop another, Leo did not stop. He dragged his prey by the mane, muscles rippling like coiled ropes beneath his hide, and repeated the same crushing manoeuvre two more times. Then, he turned toward the final lion, the one who had been trying to interfere with him at every opportunity.
Leo's eyes glowed faintly, a deep, simmering orange that almost looked molten. His expression was that of pure rage restrained only by purpose.
He lunged.
Both lions attacked simultaneously, but Leo's reach was longer. His paw connected first, a violent blur, striking across the opponent's face. The other lion's claws missed by inches.
The result was a deep, clean gash across the lion's face, a mark that would remain forever. It became a distinctive scar on Oba.
The lions were beginning to despair already, but the king was only beginning his rage.
This was not like any fight they had been in. They were being handled like how a grown adult would handle a baby. This was not a clash of apex predators. This was them encountering a beast way out of their league.
Leo quickly tuned back to the lions that were sprawling together and trying to get up. He ran towards them and grabbed one of the lions by the scruff with his jaw.
The scruff had tons of loose muscle and thick hide. This was the same place their mother would use to carry them when they were cubs.
Leo bit down in that same place and began dragging one of the lions. The challenger was getting a sense of deja vu as he was ragdolled like how his mother used to do.
Leo had trained many times by dragging carcasses over long distances. So the action was effortless. He began dragging the lion. The challenger fought back, trying to grab the earth to hold himself but it was all futile.
Leo ran almost even while pulling the lion with him. And then when they reached a boulder, Leo tugged at the scruff and then with no warning, he began smashing the lion's head on the stone.
One time, two times, three times, four. It was too brutal to count further but Leo continued to smash the lion's head on the ground until it was absolutely crushed.
No, Leo continued even further. He smashed the head even harder on the boulder after the lion had gone limp from the lack of life. He did so until another lion tackled him.
Finally, he turned his focus from the corpse back to the living lion. The lion moved beneath Leo and exploded out in a fury of claws. True to the name given, the lions were using claws more than teeth.
The challenger was full of adrenaline as he landed all he could on Leo. But when his paw landed a clean strike on Leo's face, it got stuck as the curved claws sank into Leo's face.
That was when he lost his paw. Leo snapped at the paw and bit off the paw at the wrist in one violent snap. Jaws that preyed on buffalo were powerful enough to separate a lion paw.
The lion screamed, it was not a growl. Leo then exploded with rage. He swung his paw downward at the skull of the lion, making the lion nearly pass out, and ducked his head under the force.
Leo then bit at the ear of the lion and tore that off too with one brutal sweep. Blood began flowing like a waterfall from the side, making the mane stick to the skin due to the sticky red liquid.
With the side of his head bleeding and with no paw to hold himself up, the lion fell sideways. Leo burst forth and immediately caught the lion by the neck. He did not need to choke as his bite was powerful enough to snap the bone and tear the arteries.
But he did not release even after the body went limp. He was a lion king in rage right now. He thrashed his head around violently. The audience already got an explanation on how brutal that was when it came from another lion, they did not even want to imagine the damage Leo would do.
Leo continued thrashing the lion until a giant chunk of meat came off.
Only then did he stop.
He took a pause and stood straight before the corpse. There was silence, there was no attack.
Leo turned and looked at his surrounding and noticed that one lion had already run. The lion with a scar on his face, Oba.
Leo finally released a growl of dissatisfaction.
But there was still another lion grovelling on the ground. It was the first lion stupid enough to receive his first lunge.
Leo went there and saw that the lion was still grovelling on the ground. His bones in his limbs were broken, his spine too. He could still twitch but he could no longer move his hind legs.
Leo finished that lion off too in a brutal fashion. Like said before, there was no mercy.
But the king also did not come out of this battle uninjured. He had many wounds on his body. The documentary focused much on what he was doing to these challengers but these same lions fought till the bitter end too.
But in the end, Leo remained the invincible king.
"If you want to watch more of these fights that Leo had over the past months, you can check everything in kingsarchive.com," Marcus said over the footage of Leo standing at the centre of three corpses, vultures flying in the sky.
(End of Documentary : Episode 4)
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Author : I'm having exam and sick so you'll have to be patient with me.
Three chapter update today.