Hey everyone, the chapter scheduling system on Webnovel just isn't working for this fanfic. Every day, I end up releasing the chapters manually when I realize they didn't go live as planned.
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Puss was in the middle of his nap when suddenly his ears twitched.
His eyes snapped open, and in a single motion, he leaped to his feet without a moment's delay.
Quickly, he grabbed his hat from the ground, placed it on his head, and turned toward the northern forest, standing still.
But only the sound of the wind filled the air.
His eyes narrowed slowly.
'Someone was watching me from afar, I'm sure of it. But they're already gone…' he thought, feeling a slight chill from his instincts.
Something was wrong—he could feel it. That wasn't just someone passing by; he had clearly been observed on purpose.
Puss looked up and saw that dawn was breaking.
'I don't know what's happening, but I have a bad feeling. I better hurry to the city.' Puss thought, and without hesitation, he scraped some dirt with his boot and tossed it onto the fire, extinguishing the embers.
With that done, he grabbed his backpack and approached his black horse, who now seemed well-rested.
"Tornado, we have to go." He called his horse toward the saddle he had placed on a tree stump.
"Snort!" The horse snorted, nodding its head up and down as if agreeing with Puss.
Tornado was a horse Puss had spent a lot of money on years ago, raising him ever since. He was intelligent, courageous, and loyal, not to mention a breed known for its strength and speed.
His body was entirely black, and Puss had named him Tornado in honor of Zorro's horse.
Puss quickly placed the equally black saddle onto Tornado's back as the horse lay down before him. Tightening the straps, he checked that everything was secure, then slipped the bridle into his mouth and passed the reins over the back of his neck.
Giving him a gentle pat and stroking his face, Puss spoke.
"Let's go, amigo. We have a city to save."
With Puss's words, the horse stood up.
Puss leaped into the saddle, gripping the reins tightly.
"YAH!!" He shouted, snapping the reins.
"Neighhh!" The black horse reared on its hind legs before charging forward at full speed.
With the wind whipping against his face, Puss swiftly cut across the road.
Slowly, the outline of the city came into view.
But the moment he saw it, a powerful tremor shook the ground, making his heart pound.
Tremble!
Puss quickly climbed onto Tornado's head, scanning the area, but he saw nothing. Everything seemed just as peaceful as before.
Tremble!
Puss searched frantically, but still, nothing.
"This… sounds like…"
Tremble!
"Jumps?!" Puss's eyes widened as a massive shadow loomed over him, swallowing his body and the area around him in darkness.
Looking up, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
In the sky, the underside of a colossal green frog was clearly visible.
The frog was tracing an arc through the air—likely, with this last jump, it had emerged from the forest, which was why Puss hadn't seen it earlier.
Slowly, the shadow lifted from Puss's body as the enormous frog—like a moving building—landed far from him, but dangerously close to the city.
Tremble!
"No!" Puss's eyes widened in horror as he saw the giant frog so near the city.
"TORNADO!!" Puss roared.
His horse, though slightly unsteady from the tremor, did not hesitate upon hearing his master's cry and galloped forward with all his might.
Standing on the saddle, Puss suddenly released the reins, throwing his backpack to the side, where it smashed against the ground at high speed.
With sharp eyes and a serious face, Puss took a few steps back along Tornado's body, reaching the very edge of his haunches, and took a deep breath.
"Sorry about this, amigo, but I'll get you ten apples later," he said, apologizing to his horse but never taking his eyes off the frog.
Doubt flickered in the horse's eyes, but soon, he understood what his master intended.
Without hesitation, Puss sprinted forward, crossing over the horse's body and neck, and with a final step on his head, he shot forward like a bullet.
His sharp eyes calculated every movement, and in mid-air, he executed a twisting motion, increasing his momentum through some distorted logic.
He was practically flying, rapidly closing the distance to the frog.
His body latched onto the frog just seconds before it jumped again. His sharp claws extended, gripping tightly as the wind from the frog's leap whipped against his fur.
Gritting his teeth, he released one paw, stretching to grasp a higher point. Repeating the motion with his other paw and feet, he climbed rapidly, but before he could go far, gravity took hold. The frog began to fall.
Puss suddenly felt weightless, now moving with gravity, and he rushed across the frog's body until he reached its head.
His eyes darted downward—the ground was already dangerously close, and the frog was landing at the city gates, where stunned guards stared at their impending doom in disbelief.
"Damn it!" Puss gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
Tremble!
"You bastard!" Puss clenched his jaw as he saw the frog, completely unbothered, pick up wooden beams and pillars—some still stained with blood—and toss them into its mouth.
Though he didn't understand why the frog was eating rocks, he knew he had to take it down quickly before it destroyed the rest of the city.
'The frog is too big for my sword or claws to deal real damage. I need a weak point!' Puss thought, locking onto its eyes.
Without hesitation, he ran and leaped onto one, driving his blade directly into the eye up to the hilt.
"Quaaack!" The frog's belly inflated in panic, and it retracted its eyes, shutting them tightly as it jumped in fright.
"Shit!" Puss quickly yanked out his sword, his heart sinking as he saw the frog leaping deeper into the city.
Tremble!
Luckily, it landed in an open space where there were no people, knocking over an obelisk in the town square.
Puss saw the obelisk and had an idea.
'If I rely only on my sword, I could kill it by slowly tearing its belly open, but it'll thrash around and might kill a lot of people. I need to finish this quickly.'
Without hesitation, he leaped from the frog's head toward the fallen obelisk.
The frog, seeing the tiny flea that had wounded it leap away, glared furiously with its good eye and launched its tongue at him with surprising speed.
Puss's eyes widened—he was still mid-air, unable to dodge.
He knew just how sticky that tongue was. If it hit him, he'd be swallowed whole.