The coldness in Evangeline’s eyes receded. When she spoke, her usually charming voice was laced with a hint of hoarseness. "Did you save me?"

She had used the last of her strength to tear open a Teleportation Scroll and escape with Lachlan.

But her body, grievously injured and on the verge of death, had run out of Spiritual Power. She couldn’t hold on. She fell unconscious during the teleportation, and the uncontrolled scroll veered off its intended path, separating her from Lachlan.

’Since I’ve run into Coral Cetus and her group here, this place must not be far from the tribal trade gathering.’

As she spoke, she gently placed her fingertips on her lower abdomen. Feeling a faint pulse, a chill once again filled her long, narrow eyes. With a flick of her fingers, she produced some Spiritual Medicine and swallowed it.

The moment Loras’s knife had pierced her heart, the Death Replacement Puppet had activated. Although it saved the life of the cub in her womb, her body had still endured a fatal blow and excessive blood loss, which in turn affected the cub.

She could clearly feel the cub’s life force within her, as faint and unsteady as a candle flickering in the wind.

This time, the substitution had ultimately harmed the cub’s very foundation.

On the Beastman Continent, the law of the jungle reigned supreme: survival of the fittest, where the strong devoured the weak.

Frail cubs were often abandoned by their parents in the forests and wastelands right after birth, left to fend for themselves.

Evangeline gently caressed her abdomen, her bewitching face a mask of detached calm. ’This cub is the result of a mission I paid dearly for. I can’t afford to lose it. Even if I have to exhaust every treasure and resource, I will raise this fragile life.’

Hearing Evangeline’s question, Coral Cetus waved her hands frantically. "No, no, it was Stellan!"

She sighed dramatically. "Stellan found you when he was looking for water. You were lying right by a mountain stream! And there was a Four-star pattern Hydra next to you..."

Coral Cetus shivered at the thought. "Those wild beasts on land are disgusting... It’s a good thing Stellan got there when he did. Otherwise, you might have really been eaten by that thing."

"Thank you." Evangeline nodded slightly, a lock of her dark hair brushing against her pale lips.

When Evangeline looked up, her gaze met Coral Cetus’s. The other female’s eyes, unable to hide a single thought, roamed over her, full of curiosity. She looked like she was bursting with questions but holding her tongue.

Evangeline stood up and looked quietly at Coral Cetus. "What happened at the tribal trade gathering?"

At the mention of this, Coral Cetus froze, patting her chest with lingering fear. "You ran off with your Snow Leopard Husband and left that Nine-star Extreme Realm Beast Husband behind... er, I mean, he was..."

Coral Cetus scratched her head, unsure what to call Loras. After all, a male who would try to kill his own female was a rarity on the entire Beastman Continent. She never thought she’d witness such a horrifying event with her own eyes.

At that thought, Coral Cetus stole a glance at Evangeline. ’It’s a good thing she’s a Witch blessed by The Beast God. She’s incredibly lucky to be alive.’

’If it had been any ordinary female...’ Coral Cetus shuddered, not daring to finish the thought.

The image of that blood-soaked bone knife piercing a chest would likely haunt her nightmares for some time.

Evangeline, however, was calm. She looked at Coral Cetus intently, her voice even. "What happened to him?"

’In that body, Nix was never the true master. As the main personality, Loras could take over at any moment, suppressing Nix, the alternate personality, back into the depths of their consciousness.’

’Stabbing me in the heart with a bone knife in public was probably the boldest thing the cowardly Loras has ever done in his life.’

’At the time, his gaze was frenzied, but still full of cowardice and panic. He wouldn’t dare to face what he’d done. He would surely retreat again and hand control of the body back to Nix.’

’Nix...’ Evangeline’s lowered lashes cast a shadow beneath her eyes, and she pressed her lips into a thin line.

’Nix was always unhinged. For my sake, he barely suppressed his innate violence and madness. After this, the fragile peace between him and Loras is probably shattered for good.’

’As for what he’ll choose, I don’t know.’

’Mutual destruction? A forced absorption? Either way, it will be a bloody end.’

’Nix’s love has always been this way: extreme and violent.’

"You’re still worried about him?!" Coral Cetus’s eyes widened in disbelief, her tone incredulous. ’If I were treated like that by my Beast Husband, the first thing I’d do after waking up would be to slaughter him.’

"I think he’s got a screw loose," Coral Cetus muttered after a moment, pointing to her own head.

"After you left, he seemed to regret hurting you and just... ripped his own heart right out! It was the first time I’d ever seen a green heart, and it was still beating after he tore it out!"

"What race is that Beast Husband of yours, anyway? To reach the Nine-star Extreme Realm at such a young age."

Evangeline’s brow furrowed, her voice rising slightly. "Tore out his heart?"

’That sounds like something Nix would do. But if he had died, this small world should have collapsed immediately.’

"Yeah!" Coral Cetus’s eyes went wide, and she slapped her chest, the memory of the scene still making her heart pound. "How can a Beastman possibly live without a heart?"

"But guess what! He actually didn’t die! He came back to life!"

"But... I think he went crazy."

"The tribal trade gathering descended into chaos. The other Beastmen tried to hunt him down, but a berserk Nine-star Extreme Realm Beastman is terrifying. He killed so many of them! We didn’t dare stick around, so we got out of there fast."

Saying this, Coral Cetus rubbed her arms as if still shaken by the memory.

Evangeline’s fingertips trembled slightly. ’To tear out his own heart and not die... What on earth did Nix go through? How is he now?’

She suddenly felt her eyes burn with dryness. She squeezed them shut for a moment, and when she opened them again, all emotion was gone.

’No matter what decision Nix made, his love was real. At the very least, he shattered the peace with Loras. This time, I should be able to use this momentum to break through Loras’s defenses and get my stalled mission moving again.’

Coral Cetus looked at Evangeline, hesitating, her expression complex. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked in a low voice, "Flora, do you really... really have a Fallen Beastman as a Beast Husband?"

Her words at the tribal trade gathering had been perfectly clear, every single one reaching the ears of all the Beastmen present.

Coral Cetus looked at Evangeline, a little nervous.

’When we found Flora, we really should have sent her back. It was a perfect opportunity to capture a Fallen Beastman. But the Tideborn never get involved in the disputes of the Terrestrial Beastmen. That’s the rule.’

’And I have to admit, when Flora stood before dozens of tribes and so powerfully defended her Fallen Beastman husband, she was truly magnificent. So sharp and strong that none of the Beastmen there dared to make a sound!’

’Such reckless devotion, such a dazzling female... it makes me both envious and full of admiration.’

’If I were a male, I would definitely fall for a female like that!’

’In my opinion, Beast Husbands were never meant to be disposable. They shouldn’t be born just to risk their lives for a female. It always pained me to see the females in my tribe casually changing partners, the males who died fighting for them yesterday forgotten in an instant. It was agonizing to think of those lives, whose deaths couldn’t even stir the slightest emotion.’

’Because of these unconventional thoughts, I’m treated like an outcast among my own people.’ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’When the other females gather to discuss what race to choose for a new partner, or which race has produced some impressive new Warriors, I always slip away in silence. I’ll float to the surface and just listen to the waves crash against the rocks.’

’I have very few male companions. Including Stellan, only two.’

’But now, in this female before me, I see the same stubbornness I have!’