Chapter 18 Regroup & Retreat

It was insane, alright? We were outnumbered twenty to one, maybe more. And yet, somehow, we were the ones giving our enemies hell. It wasn’t arrogance, I swear. It was just the truth.

I managed to regroup with Lucky by a small pond nestled within the charred edges of the forest. The scene was grim but oddly serene—the water reflected the chaos of the distant fires, and Lucky was nursing Mary, her small form curled protectively around the injured cat.

“Chunky, get a potion,” I ordered, and without hesitation, Chunky retrieved a few healing potions we had left. He uncorked it with surprising finesse for someone with paws and gently poured it into Mary’s mouth.

Mary let out a soft groan as the potion worked its magic. She was a delicate white cat with black spots dotting her fur like ink splashes. Her breathing steadied, and Lucky let out a sigh of relief.

Just in time, Felipe returned, his orange fur streaked with dirt and his white underbelly damp from who knows what. His thick accent made him sound perpetually winded, but his sharp eyes told me he wasn’t one to be underestimated.

“We should regroup with the others,” Felipe said, his voice clipped but clear. “High ground. Trees. Parkour if we must.”

I nodded, already considering the terrain. Felipe was right. The high ground was our best shot. These bipedals might be persistent, but they couldn’t match us in the trees. I mean, come on—did they have our lithe bodies? Our unmatched grace? Our ability to climb trees like it was second nature? No. No, they did not.

“Elves might give us trouble,” Scruffy added, narrowing his eyes.

“True,” I admitted, “but even they wouldn’t catch us. And the rest of them? Please. Scruffy outmaneuvered a dwarf and a gnome in a single strike. We’ve got this.”

Lucky, who had been listening silently while tending to Mary, finally spoke. “They’ll make a final push,” she said, her tone grave. “They know they can’t let us regroup. If we’re to retreat, it has to be now.”

She wasn’t wrong. These humans weren’t stupid. Stubborn, sure, but not stupid. They’d push us hard, hoping to corner us before we slipped away. I growled softly, annoyed by the inevitability of it all.

“We stick to the trees,” I said. “No stragglers, no heroes. We stay together and keep moving. We don’t fight unless we’re forced to.”

Everyone nodded, even Chunky, who looked like he wanted to crush a few more skulls before leaving.

Then, as if on cue, the sky above us darkened—not from clouds, but from a rain of arrows.

“Scatter!” I shouted, and we bolted in every direction.

Thankfully, the forest canopy offered some protection. Arrows thunked into tree trunks and bushes, but our small, agile bodies made us hard targets. I darted through the underbrush, weaving between trees and leaping over roots.

Lucky carried Mary on her back, her movements fluid and unyielding. Chunky barreled through the foliage like a furry wrecking ball, while Felipe took to the trees, his orange and white form blending seamlessly with the dappled light.

Despite the chaos, a part of me felt a thrill. This was what we were made for—outmaneuvering larger, slower opponents. Still, the arrows kept coming, and I knew we couldn’t keep this up forever.

We had to get to the high ground. It was our only chance.

So we ran like hell…

Wait…

“Hey, where’s Scruffy?” I called out, my ears swiveling as I scanned the forest for the tabby.

Before anyone could answer, a familiar figure swung down from the trees like some feline Tarzan, landing with a roll on the dirt before darting off again to climb higher. Scruffy came to a halt just long enough to pant, “I overheard them sayin’ they’d invest their full force, Kaiser!”

Chunky growled, his thick tail thumping against the ground. “Boss, if we manage to lose them long enough, they might lose interest in us.”

Lucky snorted, shifting Mary on her back as she glared at Chunky. “I don’t think hide and seek will do us much good.”

She was right. These bipedals were too stubborn, too relentless. They’d chase us to the ends of the forest if we gave them the chance.

I sighed, tail flicking as I formulated a plan. “Chunky, get Mary off Lucky and take a detour. Lucky, grab the Magic Bag from Chunky. Felipe, you follow Chunky. The three of you will stay low and stick to the shadows while the rest of us go high.”

Chunky gave a quick nod and gently hoisted Mary onto his back. Lucky grabbed the Magic Bag from him with a deft flick of her paw.

“What about you?” Felipe asked, his accent thick with concern.

I smirked. “Scruffy, Lucky, you’re with me. We’ll be the decoys. Change off carrying the Magic Bag every so often to keep moving at full speed. No stopping.”

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They all nodded, and with that, we split.

As my group dashed forward, I summoned flames to my tails, letting the fire trail behind us like a blazing comet. The heat scorched the air, and the crackling of the flames echoed through the forest.

I laughed in the Common Tongue, trying to sound as menacing as possible. “Mwahahahaha~! Mere mortals dare challenge my majesty! I shall burn this forest to teach you the futility of your actions!”

I knew my Cat Accent probably mangled the words into something far less intimidating, but hey, the point was the spectacle.

Lucky shot me a look, half-amused, half-exasperated. “Really, Kai? You’re leaning into this whole pyromaniac thing now?”

“Hey, if we’re going to be chased by an army, we might as well have some fun with it,” I quipped, leaping over a fallen log as flames roared behind us.

Scruffy just rolled his eyes and muttered, “They’ll be too busy trying to put out the fires to bother chasing us properly. Good thinking, I guess.”

I grinned. “Exactly.”

The forest was alive with chaos. Smoke billowed into the sky, obscuring the sunlight, while the heat of the flames licked at the trees. Our pursuers’ shouts echoed in the distance, but they sounded disoriented. Good. The fire was working.

As we zigzagged through the trees, I glanced back at Lucky and Scruffy. They were keeping pace, their movements fluid and precise.

“We’re not stopping until we hit the high ground!” I called out, the flames on my tails burning brighter.

This forest was our battlefield, and I’d make sure we turned it into their worst nightmare.

“Follow me,” Scruffy called out, his tone brisk and focused.

We followed his lead, bounding through the forest like only cats could. Scruffy’s path was swift and precise—he darted onto a slanted wooden platform attached to a tree, then sprang onto a cluster of boulders. From there, he scaled a short tree that bent under his weight but held steady enough for him to leap onto another tree. Soon, we were on high ground, moving like shadows in the canopy.

Lucky let out a laugh, her voice light despite the tension. “Haha~! Almost reminds you of Felor’s roofs, right?”

I grinned, catching up to her. “I do, I do!”

Scruffy glanced back at me. “Ah, should we run straight or what?”

“Straight!” I answered without hesitation.

“There’s a giant guy—” Scruffy started, but he didn’t get to finish.

A massive wooden log swung through the air, crashing into the path ahead of us. I barely managed to roll over it, twisting mid-motion to get a better look at our attacker.

“That’s a troll, isn’t it? Why is it so tall!?” I shouted, my heart racing.

The frost troll we’d fought before had been maybe two or three meters tall. This one was at least three times that size. Its body was covered in patches of bark and leaves, as if the forest itself had fused with its flesh. Its breath reeked of decay and rot, a stench that made my fur bristle.

I didn’t hesitate. I leapt onto its massive shoulder, my claws sinking into the rough bark-like skin for balance. Summoning flames to my paws, I sprayed fire directly into its face. The troll roared in fury, its massive hand swiping at me like I was nothing more than a fly.

I didn’t have time to dodge. The slap sent me flying, and though I twisted in the air to reduce the impact, the landing still knocked the wind out of me. Pain shot through my body as I skidded to a halt.

“Boss!” Scruffy was already by my side, the Magic Bag slung over his back. He quickly pulled out a healing potion and held it to my mouth. “Drink this.”

I gulped it down, the bitter liquid sliding down my throat. The pain dulled almost immediately, though I still felt sore.

Scruffy looked up at the troll, his voice grim. “I think that’s how an adult troll should look like. What we fought before must’ve been a juvenile.”

Lucky, meanwhile, was a blur of motion. She flickered in and out of visibility, darting around the troll’s legs and slicing at its ankles whenever she had the chance. The beast swatted at her, but she was too quick, always vanishing just before its massive hands could grab her.

The fire I’d spread through the trees earlier was growing larger, the heat intensifying around us. Smoke curled into the sky, thick and suffocating.

“Damn,” I muttered, staring up at the towering creature. “That troll’s big and ugly.”

Lucky let out a huff as she appeared beside me for a moment, catching her breath. “Big and ugly doesn’t even cover it. What’s the plan, Kaiser?”

I grinned, despite the situation. “Same as always. Burn it down.”

The troll let out another earth-shaking roar, its glowing eyes locked onto us. Time to see if this oversized monster could handle the heat.

“Full power, fire lance a hundred times over!” I roared, summoning my strength.

The first lance of fire came easily, its form sleek and deadly as it hovered before me. Then another. And another. Each new lance burned hotter than the last, but with every one I conjured, my head throbbed harder, my stomach churned, and my vision blurred. By the time I hit double digits, I felt like puking.

I fumbled for a magic potion from the Magic Bag, chugging it down without pause. The energy flooded back into me, and I pushed harder, conjuring more lances until the strain became unbearable. My body trembled, blood dripped from my nose and eyes, and my mind screamed at me to stop. But I didn’t.

The troll, towering and monstrous, finally stopped swatting at Lucky like she was a buzzing gnat. Its glowing eyes locked onto me, and it roared with enough force to shake the trees.

Fine, you ugly bastard. You want me? Come get me.

With the last ounce of my focus, I merged the fire lances into a single mass, rotating them faster and faster until they fused into a gigantic sphere of flame. The ball swirled and crackled with destructive energy, its three-meter radius pulsating like a miniature sun.

“Lucky, run!” I shouted, my voice raw.

The troll charged, its tree-sized club swinging in my direction.

Scruffy darted out of nowhere, grabbing me with his teeth and hoisting me onto his back. “Hold on, boss!” he yelled through clenched jaws, climbing a tree like his life depended on it.

Lucky was already sprinting through the forest, leaping from branch to branch with incredible agility.

The troll hurled its club at the flaming sphere. The log collided with the fireball, only to ignite and disintegrate into ashes within seconds. The creature froze, realizing its mistake too late.

The swirling inferno surged forward, unstoppable. The troll turned to flee, its massive frame lumbering awkwardly, but the fireball slammed into it with a deafening explosion. Flames engulfed the creature, consuming everything in their path.

Scruffy climbed higher, carrying me to safety as I clung to him, exhausted but elated. I craned my neck to watch the destruction below, laughing like a madcat.

“I killed it! I killed it!” I shouted, triumphant.

Lucky’s voice rang out from a nearby tree. “Don’t celebrate too early, idiot!”

I blinked and turned back to the inferno. My laughter died in my throat.

Through the flames, the troll emerged.

Its massive frame was scorched and blackened, one of its arms missing entirely, but it was still very much alive. It let out a guttural roar, this time of pain and rage, as its charred skin began to scab and regrow before my eyes.

Ah, of course. Trolls had ridiculous healing factors, didn’t they?

“...Screw my life,” I muttered, watching as the monstrosity turned its burning gaze back to me.