Chapter 265: Another Cunning Plan

Finally, Kaisen came to a stop near Roland, who was still sprawled on the ground like a worn-out rug. Their eyes met and locked—none of that macho, "I-hate-you" nonsense anymore.

Roland was prideful, sure, but he wasn't dumb enough to ignore a savior, especially when said savior just saved his sorry, wheezing ass from becoming dog food.

A cat would sooner choke on a hairball than say "thank you" to anyone, but Roland didn't see Kaisen as an enemy anymore.

Hell, at this point, none of the cats saw him as anything less than a shirtless demigod who'd dropped in to flex his muscles and save the day.

Kaisen reached out a hand to Roland, his perfectly sculpted arm practically glowing under the battlefield sun.

"You're hurt, no need for more—"

Roland blurted, puffing out his chest like he wasn't bleeding out and about two seconds away from passing out.

"I can still whoop a hundred more mutts if I have to."

Kaisen's kind but firm words had cut Roland off, though the cats around them weren't exactly in on the tough-guy act.

The ripple of murmurs that spread through the crowd sounded like a wave of disbelief mixed with awe.

A hundred more mutts? That was beyond insane.

Most of these civilians couldn't even wrap their heads around killing one of the slobbering beasts, let alone imagining taking on an army of them.

Yet here was Kaisen, their godsend with a jawline so sharp it could slice through steel, claiming Roland could take on a hundred more.

The crazier part? They actually believed him. And honestly, with how Kaisen had just mopped the floor with those dogs, they weren't wrong to think it was possible.

Kaisen could probably take out a thousand more mutts if they were at the same brain-cell-deprived level as the ones he'd just obliterated.

Roland stared at Kaisen's outstretched hand like it held the meaning of life, hesitating for a beat before grabbing it.

With a grunt and some serious cat dignity still intact (or so he told himself), Roland rose to his feet. They locked eyes again, and the intensity was thick enough to cut with a knife.

No, he just wanted to topple it. Give it a little nudge. Just enough to shake their whiskers but not enough to roast the knowledge they'd accumulated.

Kaisen wasn't in it to destroy the history of the cats; he wanted to learn from it, dive into their world, and maybe mock it a bit along the way.

Why blow it up when he could sift through their ancient rituals later and laugh at how they thought licking their paws was some sacred cleansing rite?

So, instead of playing pyromaniac, he did what any cunning strategist would do.

He had herded the dogs straight toward the library like they were dumbass moths drawn to a flame.

Meanwhile, the cats from that area scurried away, tails between their legs, unknowingly running right where the building was about to do a dramatic swan dive.

Kaisen was orchestrating chaos, and they were all unwittingly playing along, like actors in his twisted little play.

He grinned, already picturing the moment it all came tumbling down.

Of course, Kaisen wasn't just going to let the cats stand around with their paws up their asses.

Nah, he made sure to cripple a few dogs on his way through, practically gift-wrapping them for the cats.

And like the overachievers they were, a handful of cats quickly multiplied into a full-blown furry army, eager to pounce on the dogs.

What started as a small tussle became a full-on cat-dog free-for-all, with dozens of mutts and felines tangled in what could only be described as a clusterfuck of claws and fangs.

Right where Kaisen planned for the damn building to fall.

Meanwhile, Kaisen was busy making a dog's day a whole lot worse.

He launched one poor bastard through the air like a frisbee, sending him crashing into a nearby hut with a satisfying crack.

Onlookers saw Kaisen disappear into the wreckage and assumed, for a hot second, that he was down for the count.

But, of course, he wasn't about to let a little rubble slow him down.

With his Veil of Shadows skill activated, he slipped out the other side of the hut like a shadowy badass, leaving everyone wondering what the fuck happened to the hero that crashed onto the hut.