Seeing the tongue approaching rapidly, Puss couldn't afford to waste time.
Grabbing the collar of his black cape, he pulled it from his neck and covered the side of his body where the tongue was about to strike.
Swoosh!
The tongue slid across the cape and struck directly at the tip of the obelisk.
Puss's eyes gleamed, and shifting his grip on his sword to a reverse hold—all while still in midair—he mercilessly plunged the tip of his blade deep into the giant frog's tongue with violent force.
The frog, which had intended to abandon the obelisk after missing its target, suddenly felt a sharp and agonizing pain in its tongue and instinctively retracted it as fast as it could.
But in doing so, it ended up pulling the obelisk along with it.
As Puss felt himself being dragged rapidly by his sword, he threw his cape onto the tongue, stepped onto it with both feet, and, pulling out his sword, kicked the tongue forcefully, launching himself away.
As he propelled himself, he passed his right boot through the cape's collar and yanked it along, refusing to abandon it.
Still soaring through the air, Puss sheathed his sword, leaned down to his boot, freed the cape from where it had been hooked around it, then draped it smoothly around his neck. With a satisfied grin, he placed his hands behind his head and took a moment to enjoy the view, completely unbothered by his airborne state.
There, he saw a massive obelisk accelerating toward a giant frog, then piercing through it, leaving a huge hole in its head before continuing in a wide arc, crashing down a bit farther from the city.
Puss noticed that he was also nearing the ground and spread his arms to increase air resistance, slowing his descent.
'Seriously, the logic of this world is so broken. I'm practically like a flying squirrel!' Puss thought with amusement before landing gracefully, rolling his body to a stop, facing the frog.
Treme!
The frog's body collapsed onto the ground.
A slow smile crept onto Puss's face.
'That was increíble!' He thought, exhilarated.
The fight, the racing heartbeat, the sheer freedom and euphoria of taking down a titan—it was all so intense and wild, his heart pounding in his chest.
'Luckily, my cape has minor enchantments that prevent things from sticking to it, like dust and dirt. I was just testing it—if it had failed, I would've abandoned the cape, but thankfully, the enchantment stopped the tongue from grabbing me.' Puss thought, a grin on his face.
He then dropped to all fours and quickly approached the corpse, but just as he was about to reach it, the frog's mouth suddenly opened.
"What?! It's not dead?!" Puss was shocked.
A giant frog he could handle, but an immortal giant frog? That was a bit trickier.
But then, something unexpected happened.
From the frog's mouth, rubble started pouring out nonstop.
Puss stared at it in confusion, and another thing he noticed was that the more the frog vomited, the smaller it became.
Realizing something, he didn't hesitate and followed the shrinking body as it kept spewing out debris.
Minutes passed before the frog finally stopped vomiting, having expelled more than ten times its own size in rubble, filling the entire plaza where the obelisk once stood.
But none of that shocked Puss as much as what he was currently holding in the palm of his paw.
There, in his grasp, lay the tiny body of a frog with a hole in its head.
"No way… this is a damn storage treasure material?!" Puss's eyes gleamed with wild joy.
He nearly burst into laughter right there, but quickly composed himself. To avoid sleepless nights, he glanced around, and seeing no one, he swiftly took off a boot, stuffed the frog's body inside, and put the boot back on.
That was when Puss heard footsteps, and people slowly began to emerge from the streets, fear and terror in their eyes as they took in the mountain of rubble and recalled the terrible sounds from before.
Puss smiled at them and opened his arms wide.
"People of San Riqueza, do not fear, for I, Puss in Boots, have vanquished the monster that terrorized you!" Puss declared, trying to lift the crowd's spirits—and make a name for himself as well.
But what he received was not applause, nor cheers, not even a single smile.
On the contrary.
What he received were glares of anger, hatred, and disgust.
Puss narrowed his eyes at the sight. He was confused, but he knew he was missing something—something crucial.
Suddenly, his ears twitched under his hat, and he dodged a rock aimed straight at his head.
"Get out of here! You're not welcome!" A man shouted angrily—the same one who had thrown the rock.
Puss was growing irritated. He couldn't understand. He had saved them from the monster, so why were they not singing his name but instead driving him away?
"Yes, leave!" A woman's voice rang out as another rock flew toward him. Puss leaned slightly to the side, dodging it.
"Go away! You destroyed our city!" Another voice, another stone.
"You're a selfish demon! Begone! San Riqueza does not welcome you!"
Then, all at once, curses and stones came flying at him from the growing crowd.
There were so many stones that Puss couldn't dodge them all. Unsheathing his sword, he slashed at the ones he couldn't avoid.
The moment the people saw him draw his sword, terror filled their faces.
"Run! He's going to kill us now that his plan has been exposed! Call the guards!" Voices screamed as people scattered in panic.
"Plan?" Puss looked at them, confused and furious.
He truly wanted to cut down these ungrateful fools, but something was nagging at him.
'This reeks of a conspiracy!' Puss thought, his eyes solemn.
But before he could decide what to do, the sound of heavy footsteps and clanking metal rang out, approaching him.
"Stop right there, Puss in Boots! Surrender for the crimes you have committed!" A man in armor, leading several guards, ordered with a heavy tone, his eyes red with hatred as they surrounded Puss.
"What is wrong with you people?! What crime have I committed, besides saving this ungrateful city?!" Puss, beyond words with anger, demanded fiercely.
The guards encircled the small cat, their swords trembling slightly as they pointed them at him.
Beyond their anger, they also felt fear, for they knew that this very cat had brought down that monstrous beast.
The leader, too, was afraid—but his rage was stronger.
"Do not play innocent! Old Iago had already warned us that he discovered a cat waking the Devourer, who had slumbered for over two hundred years, guiding it to attack the city—just so he could defeat it and claim the glory of a hero!" the man spat, full of hatred.
Puss was stunned by what he heard, but what truly made his eyes widen was the name—Iago.
'Señor Puss in Boots, my name is Iago, and I beg you, save my city San Riqueza, save my family! We are about to be destroyed!'
'That maldito... It was a trap!' Puss clenched his teeth at the realization.
But to the guards, the sight of Puss gritting his teeth only confirmed their suspicions—he was seething because his plans had been exposed.
"Drop your sword! Surrender now, outlaw!" The guard demanded in a heavy voice.
"Outlaw?!" Puss's pupils contracted at the word.
The guards took a step back, trembling as they saw the cat's eyes slit dangerously, sensing an imminent attack.
"I am no outlaw! That man, Iago, came to my city begging for help, saying San Riqueza and his family were about to be destroyed by a monstrous frog. I am not guilty of these accusations! I was set up! That old man lies!" Puss argued, though he doubted it would do any good.
He would not surrender in hopes of proving his innocence.
If he could not bring justice with words, he would bring it with his sword.