Chapter 258: Arrival

Chief sprang to his feet like a cat on a hot tin roof, darting towards the cluttered desk behind him.

He shoved papers and knick-knacks aside in a frenzy, his paws searching desperately for the key amidst the chaos.

Finally, his fingers closed around the cool metal, and he sprinted back to the cell with the determination of a dog chasing a bone.

But fate seemed to have other plans—plans that involved a stubborn lock that refused to yield. The key twisted and turned in Chief's grip, but the damn lock remained steadfastly closed.

Cold sweat beaded on his furry forehead, mixing with the stress of the situation.

"Dammit... come on, you piece of crap!"

Chief cursed under his breath, his frantic attempts to unlock the cell growing more desperate by the second.

He shot a nervous glance at Kaisen, who stood by the door with an increasingly impatient look, idly scratching his ear as if the Chief's struggle was nothing more than an irritating background noise.

Kaisen let out an exasperated sigh, his scowl deepening into a full-on scowl-fest. Leaning on the bars with a dramatic flair, he muttered to himself,

"This is why I avoid getting mixed up with these damn cats..."

He tapped his foot impatiently.

"Come on, old man! You call yourself a Chief? Work the damn key already. I don't have all day."

Chief fumbled with the key, his ears flattening in embarrassment.

"Yes, yes... sorry, it's just... this lock... it's acting up..."

He jiggled the key again, hoping against hope that this time, the damn thing would finally cooperate.

"Shut the hell up and move."

Kaisen growled, his voice low and dangerous. Without waiting for a response, he yanked the keys from the Chief's fumbling hands.

Instead of bothering with the lock like a normal person, he simply gripped it and pulled—hard. The metal crumbled like cheap tinfoil in his hand.

The Chief stood there, babbling like an idiot, watching the human casually break free from a cell he could've left at any moment.

And yet, he didn't. He'd just sat there, waiting. The question burned in the Chief's mind: Why the hell hadn't he escaped sooner? But no words came out of his gaping mouth.

Kaisen stepped out of the cell, his presence filling the cramped space as if he owned the damn place.

He didn't rush—oh no, he moved with the arrogance of someone who had all the time in the world.

As he approached the adjacent cell holding Roland and his family, he stopped. For a moment, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Kaisen turned his head, locking eyes with Roland, staring him down like he was considering whether to squash him like a bug or let him stew in his pathetic little cage.

For what felt like an eternity, the two men just stared at each other, the silent showdown freezing everyone in place.

And then, just as casually as before, Kaisen reached out and grabbed Roland's lock, giving it the same treatment—one brutal tug, and the lock snapped like it was made of cardboard.

He didn't say a damn word. Didn't even look back. Kaisen just walked away, leaving the Chief, Roland, and everyone else standing there, slack-jawed, like they'd just seen a god descend from the heavens and then get bored halfway through the performance.

Even Roland, that smug, self-important cat, couldn't process what had just happened. His mind was racing, trying to figure out whether he'd just been saved... or royally screwed.

...

"Please, spare us! We're not warriors, we're just-just artisans!"

A sudden gust of wind blew through, causing her hair to flutter like a cheap romance novel cover.

She opened her eyes, blinking in disbelief. The beast kin that had been inches from hacking her to pieces was now meters away. But wait—was she floating?

No, not quite.

She wasn't standing or flying like some divine intervention—she was being held, cradled like some damsel in distress cliché.

And not just her, but her kids too, all bundled up on her lap like they'd just won the supernatural lottery.

"Huh?"

She muttered, her brain still trying to catch up with reality.

The reaction wasn't just hers. The beast kin, who had been seconds away from landing his blade, stared at the empty spot in front of him, where his sword was now awkwardly lodged into the dirt.

He blinked, looking from his weapon to the mother, then back to his sword.

"What the fuck just happened?!"

The dog warrior growled, his voice cracking with confusion.

The other dogs were just as stunned, their laughter replaced by silence, like someone had hit the mute button on their chaos.

The figure holding the mother shifted slightly, and with a cocky grin, Kaisen tilted his head.

"You boys missed something? Or are you always this slow?"

The beast kin snarled.

"How the hell did you—"

Kaisen smirked, adjusting his hold on the woman and her kids.

"I dunno, maybe you should focus on something other than swinging your big sword around like you're compensating for something."

One of the warriors, clearly not the brightest of the bunch, muttered,

"Compensating for wha—"

Kaisen cut him off with a laugh.

"Killing a warrior is bravery. Killing a traitor is honor. Killing a defenseless woman and children? That's just some limp-dick coward shit."

His voice suddenly changed, cold and sharp as a blade. The once-laughing beasts now looked as if they'd pissed themselves, their spines stiffening at the sudden authority in his tone.

The mother, still cradled in Kaisen's arms, slowly tilted her head up, squinting at the man who had just saved her and her kids from a gruesome fate. Her eyes widened, and her jaw nearly hit the floor.

A human? Of all the creatures in the world to save her, a human?

This wasn't just some random dude either—no, this guy looked like he'd been carved straight out of some erotic fantasy novel.

His face was so perfectly chiseled it made her question the existence of gods.

That nose? It was like someone had handcrafted it from the finest damn mahogany wood. His crimson eyes burned with a kind of intensity that made her feel both safe and, well... turned on.

And those ears? Small, human, and just plain weird. Like, what kind of creature didn't have pointy ears or fur these days? But no, she was being saved by a human.

Of all things.