Ch. 8 - The Great Pretender's Secret Career

As Leo has expected, the moment he dropped those words, the hyenas were silent for a few moments before laughing as loud as they could.

"HarHarHar! Look at this weird animal! Who does he think he is?" One of the hyenas, who seemed eager to be put in the spotlight among his fellow hyenas, pointed his pointy nail towards Leo and mocked him.

'Usually in movies, he's always the first one to get beaten.' Leo eyed the hyena who spoke ill of him and whispered in his mind, having his first target tonight.

"HarHarHar! You are very righ-!?"

*Hurried Footsteps!*

*Bam!*

Before the hyena leader could laugh along his subordinate, his eyes suddenly caught a fist slamming on his subordinate's face, knocking him down on the ground.

*Thud!*

Seeing his subordinate on the ground, the leader hyena quickly drew his metallic blade and swiped it across towards Leo, who bent his back and dodged it just a few inches away from his hair.

*Shing!*

Soon, the other hyenas recovered from the shock and started unsheathing their blades from the scabbards.

"Would you forgive me if I say I was just joking?" Leo smiled wryly and tried to excuse his way out of this unpleasant circumstance. He shouldn't have moved by impulse and planned his attack on them.

He thought it would've been cool to make such an entrance but now, he starts to regret it.

Now, he could only hope that his 10.003% of Black Panther Template would help him fight his way out of this situation.

*Slash!*

Dodging one of the blades, Leo was about to counter-attack by kicking the perpetrator, only to be met with another slash on the back.

*Fwooosh!*

With his senses, Leo was able to sense it but his reaction is still lacking, so it was too late for him to dodge in time and a small slash was made on his back.

*Splat!*

His blood staining the walls of the alley, Leo quickly turned around and grabbed the hand of the hyena who slashed him from behind before using his free hand to grab the blade's handle and stole it from the hyena.

*Puchi!*

With a quick instinct, the blade he stole found its way deep on the owner's torso.

"Gagghh!" The hyena shouted in pain before his vision blackened after having a fist hit his face.

Leo then swiftly turned around and blocked one of the blades using the blade he stole.

*Clang!*

Using his feet, Leo kicked the attacker's chest, giving him free space. A space that he used to step back and dodged one of the slashes.

'Too many!' At this point, Leo starts to feel the pressure, he needs to somehow lessen the burden.

'There used to be 12 of them but they're now 10 after knocking the first one and stabbing the other one. That's a good sign.' Leo mentally said to himself before grabbing another blade on the ground, the blade of the first hyena he punched on the face.

Now holding two blades, Leo's body instinctively entered a two-handed sword stance.

Leo doesn't know why, but he could only pin the reason to his Black Panther Template.

"You're outnumbered, boy. Surrender peacefully and I might spare you. You're a great fighter." The hyena leader spoke as he licked his blade, looking very menacing.

At least, that's what the hyena leader thought as Leo only gave him a disgusted look.

Suddenly, Leo had a great idea. A great idea that might increase his reputation points and also his template percentage. Since Genesis said that the quests and Sub-Quests are only a guide for him to increase the percentage, but that doesn't mean it is the only thing he can rely on to increase the percentage.

Genesis told him that increasing the percentage can also be achieved by acting similarly to the character and implementing his background in this world.

Not to mention, he still has to finish the bonus Quest of making Wakanda real in this world.

So, proceeding with this idea would kill two birds with one stone!

The Reputation Points are just a bonus, after all, he doesn't know for sure if it would work.

"Hah!" Without waiting anymore for the hyenas to rest, Leo made his move and slashed both of his blades towards the hyena leader, only for the said hyena to block his attack.

"It won't work for me! You're too slow for me!" The hyena leader shouted in a mocking tone.

"This is for Wakanda! Wakanda forever!" Leo yelled and spartan kicked the hyena leader, throwing him towards his unsuspecting subordinates behind him, causing a collision on both sides.

*Bam!*

With that said, Leo has started his plan. A plan where he would keep shouting his background and leave one of the hyenas alive, much better if he leave the leader himself alive.

What would the leader hyena do after escaping? Of course, spread the word about him! That's his plan to increase both reputation points and his Black Panther Template.

Taking advantage of this, Leo quickly moved towards the nearest hyena, who was still shocked that his leader was easily thrown away like that.

*Slash!*

Before the hyena could react, a long line of red appeared from his shoulder down to his waist.

*Splash!*

*Thud!*

Just as the body of the hyena fell on the ground, Leo was already in front of the other one.

Though this time, the hyena had some time to recover back to his senses.

But would that help him out in his situation?

No.

Because the blade is already a few inches away from his neck.

*Slash!*

'2 down, 8 more to go. Thankfully, I feel nothing from all of this. Probably because the Black Panther doesn't have any qualms in killing.' Leo whispered to himself while eyeing the rest of the hyenas.

Seeing how they've recovered from shock and are now alerted against him, Leo needs to find a way to distract them again and surprise attack them.

While the hyena leader was standing up, a new plan was formed in Leo's mind.

"You dirty little shi-!?" The hyena leader was about to curse Leo when he suddenly saw two blades flying vertically towards his face.

Controlled by his instincts, the hyena leader quickly ducked down and avoided the flying blades.

However, the same cannot be said to the hyenas behind him who were not expecting the flying blades.

*Slash!* x2

Two unfortunate hyenas were the casualties of the flying blades.

Meanwhile, after throwing his two weapons, Leo quickly rolled forward on the ground while at the same time, grabbing another two blades from the two fallen hyenas he killed earlier.

Just after his roll finished, he raised his head and smiled at the hyena who was shocked to see his enemy up close.

"This is for Wakanda!" Leo shouted once again just enough for the hyena leader to hear before stabbing both of his blades on the poor Hyena's chest, effectively killing the rabid animal.

'There's only 4 left, minus the leader who is supposed to escape alive here.' Leo said inside his mind as his eyes landed on the hyena leader's.

"H-hieekk!" Seeing the eyes staring at his, the hyena leader couldn't help but shiver in fear. He doesn't want to die today! How could such a normal night turn into horror just because of a single individual.

The aforementioned individual doesn't have the aura nor moves of a Kung Fu master and he's certain that the person in front of him is fighting with instincts alone.

What does that entail?

His entire gang was demolished by a single untrained man who came out of nowhere.

Such an embarrassing scene for someone like him!

"G-get him!" Grabbing the remaining hyena subordinates behind him, the hyena leader pushed them towards Leo, who started matching towards him before running away.

Seeing how they were abandoned just like that but their leader, the remaining hyenas gulped their saliva hard in fear before shifting their attention back to Leo, who looked like Death that is marching to take their lives.

*Clang!* x8

Without hesitation, and also much to Leo's shock, the hyenas dropped their blades and kowtowed on the ground, while one of them raised a white flag, indicating that they surrendered.

Leo's eyes twitched as he saw this before gazing at the hyena leader's back who starts to fade away in the distance.

'Sometimes, I forgot that this is a cartoonish world. So I should expect funny things like this to happen.' Leo said to himself before sighing in defeat. Although he doesn't feel anything when it comes to killing but that doesn't mean he likes it.

As a matter of fact, he used to belive that all life is sacred and only the rightful god have the ability to judge all life.

'Well, I could use them to spread the word about me. So sparing them would also do me good. I just can't rely on a single hyena to spread word about me after all. The more the merrier I guess.' Leo mentally shrugged his shoulders before looking down at the hyenas who were still kowtowing and waiving a white flag.

"Remember this, filthy scums. You have been defeated by none other than heir to Wakanda, T'challa! The Black Panther! Remember my name until the end of your lives! Wakanda Forever!" Leo then ended his speech with a cross of his arms on his chest, a Wakandan salute.

Before the hyenas could react, Leo started to walk away and vanish from their sights, leaving them all with several questions in their minds.

'Who is T'challa? And what is Wakanda?'

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 9 - The Great Pretender's Reputation across the Valley]

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