Chapter 52 Something far more horrifying than any threat Rakrak could muster.

From the corner of my eye, I saw it - the final confrontation. Cat Boss, his eyes blazing with cold hatred, faced Rakrak.

"I knew you'd come, Cat Boss!" Rakrak sneered, a twisted grin on his grotesque face.

"You were so predictable! All those stories about how clever and dangerous you were... Hah! What a joke! Look at you now - trapped like a dumb cat chasing a string. I’ve outsmarted you, and now your people will fall like leaves!"

But Cat Boss didn’t hear a word.

His sharp feline gaze had wandered, his fierce golden eyes narrowing as they fell on something far more horrifying than any threat Rakrak could muster. Tied to a pole, at the far end of the battlefield, was Lyn. His beloved daughter. Her mangled, headless body slumped, her once vibrant form now a twisted shell. Blood soaked her fur, and her limbs hung limply by her sides, swaying with the breeze like some sick, twisted banner of defeat.

For a moment, the entire world around Cat Boss went silent. The clashing of weapons, the goblin screams, Rakrak's cackling - all of it faded into a distant blur. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out everything except the terrible sight before him. Lyn. His Lyn. His little girl.

His legs moved before his mind could catch up. Slowly, almost mechanically, Cat Boss began to walk toward her. Step by step. His focus was completely consumed by her lifeless form. He didn't care about the battle anymore, didn't care about Rakrak's taunts or the goblin army. His world had narrowed to one thing - reaching his daughter.

Rakrak, still caught up in his own triumphant monologue, barely noticed Cat Boss’s steady advance.

“You really thought you could just waltz in here and stop me? I’ve already won! Your warriors are pathetic, your tactics laughable!"

But Cat Boss kept walking.

Something dark and heavy settled in Rakrak’s gut as he noticed the Cat Boss wasn’t stopping. He wasn’t reacting. The massive feline warrior’s gaze was fixed on something beyond him as if Rakrak was nothing more than a fly buzzing in his path or even less. A sense of unease crept up the goblin master's spine.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” Rakrak shouted, his voice rising in pitch.

"You hear me, Cat Boss?! You’re finished!”

Still, Cat Boss walked.

Panic flashed in Rakrak's eyes. Desperate to regain control, he lunged at Cat Boss, sword in hand, swinging wildly at the towering figure. The blade sliced cleanly across Cat Boss’s face, carving a deep wound from his forehead down his cheek. Blood splattered across his dark fur, but Cat Boss didn’t even blink. He didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge the attack. It was as though the wound hadn’t even registered. He just kept walking toward Lyn.

Rakrak’s bravado crumbled. He took a shaky step back, his confidence draining as he watched the Cat Boss, his blood-soaked face impassive, moving toward his daughter like a man possessed. The goblin’s knees buckled, and he stumbled, falling to the ground in disbelief and fear.

"W-what are you?" Rakrak stammered, his voice trembling now, his earlier arrogance dissolving into raw fear. He watched as Cat Boss, the one enemy he thought he had defeated, walked through the battlefield unstoppable, unyielding.

Cat Boss reached Lyn. His hand, large and trembling, reached out and gently touched her bloodied fur. His powerful chest rose and fell with deep, uneven breaths, but still, he said nothing. His heart, that of a father, shattered into pieces. His fingers brushed her cold form, and he closed his eyes, a single tear escaping from the corner of one eye, mixing with the blood on his face.

He had always been her protector, her shield against the world, and now... he had failed her. Failed to protect the one he loved most. A low, mournful growl rumbled in his chest, but it wasn’t one of anger. It was a sound of pure, unfiltered grief. The kind of grief that leaves nothing behind but emptiness.

Rakrak, still trembling, tried to push himself to his feet, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. He had never seen anything like this before. A creature so consumed by loss that not even pain or death seemed to matter anymore.

His muzzle brushed her fur, and for a moment, the great Cat Boss looked nothing like the fearsome leader Rakrak had heard of. He looked like a father. Just a father who had lost everything.

Rakrak, scrambling backward on his hands and knees, stared in disbelief. His plan had worked - he had killed the Cat Boss’s daughter and lured him into a trap. But now, as he watched the giant feline warrior grieve, Rakrak realized something terrible. He hadn’t broken the Cat Boss - he had awakened something far more dangerous.

He knew he had to act fast before Cat Boss reached him. His mind raced, searching for a way to regain control of the situation. He was a goblin master, after all - he had bested countless enemies, and outwitted entire armies! This was just one cat.

Fueled by desperation, Rakrak scrambled to his feet, his sword shaking in his hand. His confidence flickered like a dying flame, but he forced himself forward, letting out a frantic scream as he lunged at Cat Boss once more.

"Die! You overgrown furball! DIE!"

But Cat Boss, lost in his grief, barely registered the attack. His eyes never left Lyn’s body. His movements, slow and deliberate just moments ago, now became fluid, instinctual. Rakrak’s sword flashed through the air, aiming for Cat Boss’s side, but before it could land, there was a blur of motion.

Without even looking at him, Cat Boss raised his massive rapier in a single, effortless motion. The metallic clang of the weapons colliding echoed across the clearing. Rakrak's sword was knocked to the side as if it were a toy. The force of Cat Boss’s parry sent Rakrak stumbling backward, his feet slipping on the blood-soaked earth.

It was an attack born of pure instinct, almost mechanical in its precision. Cat Boss didn’t need to see Rakrak and didn’t need to react consciously. His body moved on its own, the muscle memory of years of combat driving his every motion. There was no hesitation, no wasted energy - just a swift, calculated block that sent Rakrak reeling.

 The strength behind that simple parry felt like a hammer blow. His hand shook uncontrollably, his grip on his sword slipping as he struggled to remain standing. He had expected resistance, but not this. Not this terrifying calm, not this unfeeling force of nature that moved with the precision of a seasoned predator.

Cat Boss’s gaze still hadn’t left Lyn. He didn’t acknowledge Rakrak, didn’t show any sign of hearing him or caring about his presence. The attack had been dealt with as casually as one might swat away a fly.

Rakrak, panting and drenched in sweat, felt his confidence crumble completely. He stumbled back again, his feet slipping in the muck, his mind racing. This was not a fight. This was a nightmare. The goblin master’s throat tightened as the reality of the situation sank in - he was utterly outmatched.

“This… this can’t be happening,” Rakrak stammered, pushing himself up from the ground, mud splattering his armor as he scrambled to regain his footing.

“Orcs! My elite guard! Get in here and kill him!”

But there was no answer. No thundering footsteps, no hulking shapes charging to his rescue. Panic surged through him like a cold wave as he turned, his breath catching in his throat. His elite orc guards - his supposed finest warriors, his personal enforcers - lay strewn across the battlefield, their massive bodies broken and lifeless, littered among the carnage. Blood soaked the ground where they had fallen.

“No... no, this isn’t real! It can’t be! My warriors outnumbered them! How could this happen?!” Rakrak’s voice cracked, hysteria taking over as he stumbled backward. His plans, his schemes, all shattered in an instant. He had prided himself on being clever and outsmarting everyone, but now, faced with this raw power, his cunning meant nothing.

His goblin soldiers - those he had thought would swarm over the cat people like locusts - were being torn apart. The cat warriors, swift and lethal, moved through his ranks with feral precision, cutting down goblins left and right.

He backed away further, his legs trembling.

"No... no, no! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!" His voice rose to a high-pitched shriek as he grasped at straws, his mind racing for any way out.

"You! Kill him! Stop him! SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!"

But there was no one left to hear his commands. His goblin soldiers - those who had not already been slain - fled in terror, abandoning their posts, and scattering into the forest like frightened rats. His orc elites were dead. His lieutenants, his enforcers - all of them were gone.

He had thought himself untouchable, the mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes, but now, faced with the unrelenting force of Cat Boss, he realized just how powerless he truly was.

"This… this isn’t over!" Rakrak sputtered, his voice cracking with fear.

"You’ll pay for this, Cat Boss!"

Rakrak stumbled back once more, his legs threatening to give out beneath him. He was no warrior, and he knew it. He had never fought on the front lines, had never faced an enemy like this. His strength had always been in lies, in manipulation - but no amount of deceit could save him from the cold, hard reality standing before him.