A smile touched her lips as the sea breeze caught her red veil.

Evangeline caught up to them, her steps accompanied by the soft lapping of the waves. Stellan’s expression changed. "You..."

Coral Cetus’s eyes went wide. Her previously listless ear-fins suddenly perked up, even twitching slightly with excitement. She stared at Evangeline in disbelief, her voice trembling. "You... You’re still alive!"

Evangeline’s lips curved slightly, a faint light swirling in her eyes. Her voice was as cool and clear as chimes. "I paid them no mind. You don’t need to worry."

At her words, Coral Cetus bristled. "Who’s worried about you!"

Evangeline paid her prickly attitude no mind. She turned her head, her long hair brushing past her shoulder as her gaze locked onto Stellan. "And you? Have you decided?"

Stellan’s knuckles tightened abruptly, squeezing Coral Cetus’s hand so hard it hurt. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

His brows knitted into a deep furrow. His jaw was set, sharp and defined, and his eyes were filled with a complex storm of emotions.

He had assumed Evangeline couldn’t possibly have made it out of that treacherous mountain forest alive. He wouldn’t even have needed to think up an excuse to refuse her. But she had returned, not only alive but completely unscathed, save for a single, undried smear of blood on her cheek. The realization made his breath catch. ’Does this mean she really has the power she claims?’

The sea breeze, thick with the scent of salt and brine, washed over him. He swallowed hard, still unsure whether he should agree.

Coral Cetus was so anxious her ear-fins trembled. Seeing Stellan’s continued silence, she grew frantic and couldn’t stop herself from taking a step forward.

"Evangeline, your reputation precedes you. You’re a witch favored by the Beast God and bestowed with great power." Coral Cetus’s voice was tight. "Stellan doesn’t dare to agree because he’s afraid you’ll harm his people, afraid you’ll harm Danton!"

Evangeline blinked, her expression becoming unreadable. As she looked at the two of them, the Beast Spirit Flower on her forehead pulsed with a soft light.

Her voice resonated, carried on waves of Spiritual Power. "I swear in the name of the Beast God: if I harm the Mer Clan in the slightest, or if I force Danton to do anything against his will, may my witch-bone bloodline wither and my witch power be lost to me forever."

The moment the oath was spoken, a deep, muffled clap of thunder echoed across the heavens.

Startled, Coral Cetus looked up at the sky, where silver lightning flickered. Her eyes were filled with terror.

Stellan’s pupils contracted. In the deep-sea blue of his eyes, a storm of complex emotions churned.

He stared at the Beast Spirit Flower on Evangeline’s forehead, suddenly realizing he couldn’t understand this female before him at all.

"If you’re willing to make an oath to the Beast God for Danton’s sake..." Stellan’s throat tightened, his voice low and heavy with undercurrents of emotion. "Then why... why did you do such a cruel, monstrous, and appalling thing back then?"

The sea wind whipped Evangeline’s hair into a frenzy, hiding the inscrutable expression in her eyes.

She lowered her gaze, her voice barely a whisper. "Many things... were not what I intended. I can’t explain."

"Rest assured, I only want to restore Danton’s Star Pattern and allow him to return to the Deep Sea, to return to his tribe. I will do nothing more."

Coral Cetus’s tense ear-fins slowly relaxed. She turned to Stellan and tugged his hand.

Stellan looked up at Evangeline, his gaze flickering.

She stood there on the beach, under the night sky, her expression earnest and utterly sincere.

"Fine."

Stellan finally nodded. Saving Danton was the deepest wish of the entire Mer Clan.

For a witch to swear an oath to the Beast God was a profound show of sincerity.

For Danton’s sake, he was willing to trust her, just this once.

Stellan slowly raised an arm across his chest in a most solemn gesture. Sharp, dark cyan scales materialized on his skin, catching the light with a cold glint.

He lowered his gaze slightly, his voice low and solemn. "As long as you can save Danton, allow him to return to the Deep Sea and see his people again, all past grievances will dissolve like seafoam. And I, too, will consider you a friend."

As he finished, he made a small cut on his fingertip. A drop of blood fell into the seawater, blossoming into a faint red cloud.

Coral Cetus nodded eagerly. "Me too!"

Evangeline nodded, her gaze turning to the deep, forbidding sea. The water under the night sky was as cold and dark as ink, its silent undercurrents churning with terrifying force. She lifted a finger, a point of fluorescent light flickering at its tip. "Let’s go," she said calmly.

Coral Cetus blinked, her round pupils filled with confusion. "Go? Go where?"

Evangeline tilted her head, a lock of hair falling across her face. She looked even more puzzled than Coral Cetus. "To the Mer Clan’s territory, of course."

Her tone was perfectly calm, as if she were discussing the most ordinary thing in the world.

Coral Cetus’s eyes flew open, and she gasped. She pointed at the Deep Sea, then back at Evangeline. "You? Go in the water? Are you joking? You’re a Terrestrial Beastman! You don’t have gills! You don’t have fins! How are you going into the sea?!"

She made an exaggerated gesture, clutching her own throat and miming choking, complete with eyes rolling back and her tongue lolling out.

Coral Cetus eyed Evangeline with a mix of suspicion and concern. ’Did those Beastmen knock her in the head or something?’

Stellan also frowned. "It’s too late tonight," he said to Evangeline. "We need to return to the Mysticeti Tribe. We will bring Rhea to see you tomorrow. For now, you should remain on the shore."

As for her talk of going to the Mer Clan’s territory, he didn’t even deign to address it.

’A member of the Fox Clan, daring to enter the Deep Sea? She’s just asking to die.’

Evangeline looked at them, her gaze serene. "Just because Terrestrial Beastmen cannot enter the sea doesn’t mean that I can’t," she said calmly. "Danton’s situation is urgent. I must go find him myself. It is the only way to prove my sincerity."

Coral Cetus: "..."

Stellan: "..."

After a long moment, Stellan finally knit his brows. "Are you serious?"

Without a word, Evangeline walked straight into the water. The bone-chilling sea rose inch by inch, creeping past her collarbones until it swallowed her whole. Her waterfall of black hair fanned out beneath the surface, mingling with the shimmering light.

Coral Cetus’s pupils contracted, and she gasped sharply.

Worried for Evangeline, she dove into the Deep Sea without a moment’s hesitation. The instant her slender body hit the water, it was enveloped in a pearlescent shimmer as fine scales emerged on her skin and her ear-fins began to sway.

However, she did not shift into her beast form, retaining her humanoid shape.

Aquatic females, much like their terrestrial counterparts, lose the ability to freely switch between their beast and humanoid forms after coming of age.

Instead, aquatic females retain some of their beast-like traits on their humanoid bodies, which is enough to allow them to live in harmony with the vast ocean.

Stellan followed right behind her, diving into the sea.

The moment his body was fully submerged, a dark cyan Fintan materialized below his waist!

He gave a powerful swish of his Fintan. Its scales flashed with a cold light in the water, and its massive fluke slapped the surface, sending up a spray of silver-white foam. Propelled by that force, he shot toward Coral Cetus!

Reaching her side, he wrapped a lean, powerful arm around her slender waist.

Coral Cetus didn’t react at all, her gaze fixed on something in the distance.

Startled, Stellan paused and followed her line of sight.

In the depths of the sea, the moonlight shattered and refracted, transforming into a silvery luminescence that filled the water.

Within this hazy glow, Evangeline’s figure was enveloped in a rippling crimson aura.

Her fair, slender legs, which had held a lustrous sheen, were gradually wreathed in a flowing, scarlet mist. An instant later, fine, scarlet scale patterns emerged upon her pearlescent skin, shimmering and glowing in the undulating light!

As the mist swirled, a gossamer fin, as thin as a cicada’s wing and the color of scarlet scales, unfurled from either side of her legs.

Evangeline spun gently. Below her slender waist, an entire Fintan had taken shape, a magnificent crimson. With a light swish, it rippled through the water. Her movements were unbelievably fluid and graceful—even more so than a true Merfolk!