The Clash

The Clash

[3rd POV]

Master Thundering Rhino.

He was young once. He was bold, foolish and reckless.

But most importantly, he was strong.

He was the son of the renowned warrior, Master Flying Rhino. And unlike those sons of great figures, he did not fall under the pressure of having such a great father.

He was strong, so he thrived.

He let his own strength and fame get to his head. After he fought against ten thousand serpents in the Valley of Woe and came out as the winner, he thought he was unstoppable.

He became prideful and boasted about his achievements.

He declared, "I am the strongest of my generation!!"

A statement he wholeheartedly believed in at that time.

That was a wrong move. That was a grave mistake on his part. He had invited a disaster upon himself, he had no excuse.

'He' came.

"What is this nonsense I heard from across the country? You must've been pretty loud." He came knocking to his father's castle.

A snow leopard.

"I am Tai Lung. the Dragon Warrior. And I have come all the way to see what the strongest of my generation was like." He said with a smile.

'He is mocking me.' the young rhino thought to himself.

A duel.

He thought he was strong, no he thought he was the strongest.

He realised during that fight, he was not strong.

He was delusional.

He put in all of his strength, he used every technique his father had taught him, he fought harder than he ever did before.

But he was just embarrassing himself.

In front of Tai Lung, his best was a joke.

Tai Lung was just too fast.

It was then that he launched his most powerful attack yet. He put everything behind the attack. To take back his honour, to take back his pride.

But Tai Lung shut it down with a joke.

"That was a nice hit, of course unless you were aiming for me."

A joke.

A sentence that haunted the great Master Thundering Rhino ever since.

...

...

...

He opened his eyes, coming back to the present as he looked at the platform where his two students sparred with each other in preparation for the upcoming Wushu tournament.

He gripped the mighty Warhammer in his hand and tried to shrug off the bad memories of the past. He did not know why he was reminiscing about such times all of a sudden.

He was no longer that young rhino, bold and foolish. He was now the ruler of Gongmen City, leader of the Kung Fu Council and renowned as the strongest living master right now.

Master Thundering Rhino.

There was no one in this world who did not know his name. People sing prases of him and retold his tale of glory.

Unlike Tai Lung who was hated by the people. His story was not one of disgrace and evil, Tai Lung could never compare to his glory now.

Greatness was being accepted by the people.

And 'He' will never be accepted by the people.

"Master Croc, make sure you guard your abdomen next time. Your scales cover your backside so use spinning attacks, defend with your back and spin to attack. Not only will it make you unpredictable, it will give more momentum in your swings." Rhino advised his student.

"Now, again!!" He said, prompting his two greatest students, Storming Ox and Croc to begin sparring again.

He hit the ground with the butt of his Warhammer to accentuate his order. It would not be wrong to call them his two greatest pupils, yet it won't be right either.

His greatest pupil was Wubao. The guardian of Mielin City and the number 3 spot in the Kung Fu Council.

"Tai Lung."

He smiled, it was the same mocking smile Rhino remembered.

His face had not aged even a bit.

"I heard you were talking a lot again. They called you the strongest living master so I wanted to see it for myself if you had grown to deserve such title." Tai Lung said.

'No.' Master Rhino's body froze.

Why did all this seem so familiar?

It was the same as last time.

.

.

Maybe it was that realization, or maybe he was angry at Tai Lung for killing his student, or maybe it's because Tai Lung infiltrating his city. Maybe it was a bit of all of them.

The ground where Master Rhino stood was completely devastated as he shot towards Tai Lung at a speed which broke the sound barrier.

His speed was so fast that sound couldn't catch up. That made his sudden movement as silent as it could be.

His mighty body easily sliced through the air and in less than a second, he was floating in front of Tai Lung. Master Rhino brought up his mighty warhammer and with all his strength, he slammed it down at Tai Lung.

Tai Lung brought his hand up and caught the head of his hammer. A move that completely caught Master Rhino off guard.

Yet he put in all of his strength. Tai Lung would die because of his foolishness.

His figure suddenly seemed like the size of a mountain because that was the amount of weight behind his attack. His eyes glow red as he looked down at Tai Lung like he was a corpse.

The sound of his approach and the sound of his attack exploded in sync. A deafening explosion materializes in the palace ground.

*Whoooosh*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!*

The ground beneath Tai Lung opened up to scream as the full weight of Master Rhino's strength pressed down on it.

A shockwave that was strong enough to blow the servant ducks off their feet erupted from the clash as it shook the entire foundation of the palace.

Huge cracks started spreading under Tai Lung's feet as the earth crumbled like ash, the force was strong enough to shake the wall until it completely collapsed.

The clash lasted one moment and an eternity as unstoppable strength met the ultimate technique.

The attack settled, reality finally processed what just happened and the result was revealed.

!!!

The onlookers eyes nearly bulged out when they saw Master Rhino still suspended in the air as he continued slamming down his hammer which was caught by Tai Lung using a single hand.

Tai Lung seemed unfazed and there was not a single scratch on his body. Yet the traumatized earth under his feet spoke volumes of Master Rhino's Strength.

It was almost like Rhino completely missed the attack and hit the earth instead. The force of the attack had skipped Tai Lung's body entirely and only affected the ground.

But that was impossible.

Indeed.

It was a Miracle.

Tai Lung revealed a smile when he met the eyes of Rhino who looked equally shocked and amused by the display.

Then Tai Lung repeated the same words he said to Master Rhino 25 years ago.

.

.

"That was a nice hit, of course, unless you were aiming for me." he said equally amused and mocking.

"Hahahahahahahaha!!" Master Rhino laughed madly and they separated.

.

.

[IMAGE]

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