Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World

On the mountain, inside the pool cave.

A cacophony of hisses filled the cave, the slithering sounds bouncing from wall to wall and causing it to echo out of the cave.

The collective sound of so many hisses was very frightening. The wolves who stood nearby as patrol guards could not help but shiver.

If there was a spirit wolf among them, they would have engaged in a discussion and gossiped away to pass the time. Unfortunately, they could only stand by in silence, hoping that nothing bad would happen.

Inside the cave, everywhere was dark but the creatures inside had no need for light. They could see just fine.

The creatures in question were all snakes, serpents of different kinds and patterns. There were cobras, pythons, boas, vipers, copperheads, cottonmouth, and many more, in their base forms.

The more powerful serpents didn't have these differences, at least they were not apparent. Fire snakes, water snakes, metal snakes, poisonous flora snakes, earth snakes, etc.

Their patterns were intricate and their bodies were a bit distinct from each other.

For example, the earth snakes and the water snakes looked like boas and pythons. The metal snakes resembled vipers or rattlesnakes with their specially shaped head or tail.

The fire snakes seemed to be dominated by cobras with a few vipers here and there. The poisonous flora snakes, the ones with beautiful green scales and flower patterns were a general collection.

Almost all snakes that started out as venomous evolved into poisonous flora snakes. One could say that flora snakes made up up to forty percent of the total snakes present.

The snakes took up space inside the cave, covering every knock and cranny with their slithering bodies.

Some snakes swam inside the indoor pool, sinking in and out, and exploring the place very well. The fire snakes stayed away from the water, preferring to stay close to the walls.

Apart from the snakes, there was another creature inside the cave with them. A young woman with monolid eyes and fair skin stood beside the pond, just a few inches from getting her feet wet.

Behind her was a brown tail with a lustrous black rift of fur at the end. She had straight black hair that fell to her shoulders, complimenting her beauty.

Unfortunately, these snakes had a weird perception of what beauty should be and could not appreciate Katari's beauty.

The ears on the upper sides of her head twitched as she stared at the serpents around her with her brownish-yellow eyes.

"Your Highness, Katari, the list you have given us is extensive. But there seems to be an issue…" The strongest snake in the room said.

She was a massive green snake with a length of ten meters. Her head was triangular shaped, and her blue-forked tongue casually shot out of her mouth occasionally.

Her eyes, yellow with black slits, stared straight at Katari, threateningly. If Katari didn't already know that this is just how the snakes looked at people, she would have taken it as a threat.

Surprisingly, this green serpent wasn't the biggest in the cave even though she was the strongest. The biggest snake was a large water python that was already residing inside the indoor pond.

This was another reminder that sometimes, size didn't always equal strength. This green serpent alone had enough venom to kill half the snakes inside the cave at the moment.

"What's the issue?" Katari asked nonchalantly. She put her hands behind her back, mimicking Kael's dominant pose.

"Well," The green serpent lowered her head, "Two of these targets are elephants.

Not just any elephants too, but these two have already awakened their elephant heart and evolved. Even though they have only evolved once, they are far stronger than anything you or I have ever seen.

Your Highness, please, this is very serious."

Katari closed her eyes and sighed, the elephants were a thorn in their flesh. Kael was already planning on expanding the borders of the kingdom, but the elephants stood in his way without knowing it.

The elephant herd liked to wander around the edge of the forest, the parts that separated the forest from the wild plains.

At the same time, the desire to turn the elephants into vassals existed. It was an obstacle that was welcomed.

The only problem remained that the elephants were a set of powerful creatures that couldn't be taken lightly. Their strengths were earth-shaking and their minds were sharp.

Each elephant needed just one evolution before they gained the ability to have a humanoid form. This was something that the Lions could only achieve after two evolutions.

Not only that, but that single evolution would propel their strengths but by a large margin that it would feel like cheating. For the elephants, that single evolution would make them far stronger than a tier 3 lion, making them closer in power level to a tier 4 lion.

Although it won't make them strong enough to defeat one, they wouldn't necessarily lose. This was an unfair advantage that the lions could do nothing about.

Katari didn't know it but across countless galaxies, lions have had to resort to extreme violence just to subjugate elephants, sometimes destroying whole biomes and genocide l.

To the lions, the elephants were a universal pain second only to hyenas.

If one evolution gave them so much power, one could only imagine how much stronger they would get after their next evolution.

"I'm aware of the difficulty, Esta," Katari said to the green snake who was named Esta.

"Don't forget that you guys came to us on your own, you asked us to shelter you, to give you purpose, and we have given it to you," Katari said again, narrowing her eyes.

Esta lowered her head again, "I'm very much aware, your highness," Esta said.

She had led most of the serpents in this cave to submit to Kael about a month ago. Seeing that Kael was growing his forces, it wouldn't be long before he clashed with her.

She and her kind needed a place to hibernate, eat, and shed their skin in peace. Kael could also provide this place for them, all they needed to do was submit to him.

So she convinced as many snakes as she could to follow her to meet Kael. Kael obviously agreed on the condition that they worked for him, even giving them extra benefits.

That was what led to the creation of the Snake Assassin Caste. Now, two castes had been newly added, the Snake Assassins and the Avian Intel.

"Are you aware? Are you also aware that you haven't proven yourself worthy of our gifts?" Katari took a firm step forward, instantly closing the distance between her and the green snake.

Esta's body was propped up, allowing her to look down on Katari. However, as soon as Katari stepped forward, she slithered back, making sure to keep a safe distance.

Katari didn't seem to bother, she continued walking and Esta continued moving back.

"We have eliminated some of your competitions, Your Highness, don't you think it's unfair to say that?"

As Esta's words died down, Katari stopped walking.

Silence…

Even the surrounding snakes dared not hiss.

What was this? When did their leader grow such balls to talk to Katari like that?

To the joy of everyone l, Katari didn't do anything, "Your value is not equal to the amount of benefits we have provided for you. You all need to work harder.

The elephants will be eliminated, and you will coordinate it. I don't want to hear any complaints, only results.

If you can't do this, tell me, let me relieve you of your life right now. I'm sure someone else will be happy to take your place."

Katari didn't mince her words, she couldn't give a damn about how they felt. All she wanted was results, she didn't want Kael to be troubled by this anymore.

"I will try my best, your Highness," Esta said. There was resentment in her heart but what could she do? Attacking Katari was no different from suicide.

Even if she rallied all the snakes, Kael, and his other powerful subordinates were still there. She and her snakes would be eliminated within ten minutes if they actually tried it.

It wasn't that she wasn't satisfied with her job, it's just that…Katari was a bully.

Katari didn't care about anything or anyone, all she wanted was for things to go her way by any means necessary. And the last thing she wanted to do was frustrate Katari.

Esta would have preferred if someone else took over from Katari. Any other lioness was better, as long as it wasn't Katari.

Unfortunately for Esta, the two humanoids standing outside had different opinions.

"Katari is so effective," Kael said as he stood by the cave with Priya beside him.

"Yes, she's perfect for keeping the snakes in line." Priya agreed, "Don't you want to go inside?"

Kael shook his head, "No, it's good that the snakes are keeping Katari busy, I don't want to distract her."

Priya nodded, "True, oh well, what should we do now?"