Coral Cetus chewed on the seafood, her cheeks puffed out. Turning to Stellan, she said, "Let’s put up a temporary hut. We can stay with them for a few days before heading back, what do you think? I just don’t feel right leaving them like this."

As she spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but drift toward the beach. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Stellan hummed softly in agreement. To be honest, he didn’t feel at ease either.

Although Danton and Evangeline had formed a Beast God Contract, their relationship was different from that of an ordinary couple. It was as if they were maintaining a delicate and dangerous balance, and there was no telling when it might erupt.

Just then, Buck suddenly lifted his head from the shadows and said in a low, muffled voice, "Tonight... I think it’s a Tidal Night."

The moonlight after the rain seemed to have been quenched in a watery luminescence, hanging in the sky like a great silver platter.

The waves, as if sensing something, suddenly grew restless. They began to crash against the reefs, one after another, the splashing white foam glowing with a phosphorescent light like a myriad of tiny stars. The roar of the tide seemed to carry a certain rhythm.

Evangeline gazed at the bright moon, momentarily lost in thought. Before she could speak, Danton’s clear, cool voice sounded. "Tonight is a Tidal Night."

As if in response to Danton’s words, the surface of the sea suddenly erupted with a thousand streams of light.

A rainbow of colors washed over the entire sea. From between the layers of waves, a long and ancient song rose from The Deep Sea. Countless pearls and pieces of coral, shimmering with light, were pushed onto the shore by the tide.

On the distant horizon, Merfolk slowly rose to the surface, their moonlit figures dotting the vast expanse of water.

Their graceful forms flickered in and out of sight with the surging tide, like phantoms.

Danton casually found a reef to sit on, dipping his scarred legs into the cool seawater.

His back was ramrod straight, his frame as tall and slender as a pine. The moonlight cast a beautiful sheen on his long, azure hair, and the frosted-white tips seemed to hold a hint of mystery, like crystallized seafoam.

In the distance, the Merfolk were chanting an ancient tidal song to the moon, their voices ethereal and hauntingly remote.

Danton watched the rising and falling figures of his kin, a faint smile gracing his lips.

Evangeline gazed at him quietly for a moment before pausing and sitting down beside him.

Danton didn’t move away. The moonlight seemed to dye the very shadows cast by his eyelashes a pale blue. In the distance, a merman’s tail broke the surface, sending up a spray of glittering droplets.

He gazed at the moon high above, the smile on his face pure and clear, without a trace of gloom, as if the pain that had been carved into his very bones had never existed.

At this moment, he was like the first ray of dawn to grace the surface of the sea.

"My home is beautiful, isn’t it?" Danton asked softly, gazing out at the boundless sea.

Evangeline watched the moonlight stream across his cheeks and whispered, "Yes, it is. Very beautiful."

The vast, moonlit ocean was breathtakingly beautiful.

’The Mer Clan... a race known as the "Favored of the Sea." They should have been the most free, agile, and mysterious beings on the Beastman Continent. And yet, because of the suffering her predecessor caused, they were nearly enslaved. How utterly tragic.’

The melodious, ancient tune drifted to her ears, bringing with it a sense of peace.

Danton suddenly turned his head to the side. His pale blue eyes held a glimmer of a smile, and his long lashes fluttered as his lips curved into an arc as light as seafoam. "Evangeline, thank you for saving my people."

He blinked, and his tone grew cheerful. "But I also got you out of the Oasis Tribe, so... we’re even, right?"

The end of his sentence was tinged with an upward lilt that seemed steeped in pure joy.

Evangeline gazed at him, her long, narrow eyes blinking slowly.

’She had to admit, seeing Danton like this and hearing him speak these words stirred a strange pang in her heart.’

’The moonlight traced his slender frame, making him seem almost transparent. It was as if he might dissolve into seafoam at any moment. Yes, he really was the little mermaid from the story.’

’Of her Beast Husbands, only Danton had possessed an unerased gentleness from the very start, only he held true goodwill for her. Even after his beloved female had personally stripped his tail scales, leaving him a bloody mess, he could still offer such a pure smile in the moonlight, never once falling into the abyss of hatred.’

’A person so pure and good was like a brilliant diamond—dazzling to behold.’

Evangeline watched him in silence. After a moment, she smiled, raised her hands to circle Danton’s neck, and tangled her fingers in his damp, azure hair. She pulled him closer until their breaths mingled.

Evangeline’s red lips nearly brushed against his. "I’m about to fulfill my promise. What about you?"

"It was a promise I made on my own, Danton. Are you willing to accept it?"

Danton froze, his pupils dilating slightly as he instinctively leaned back.

The sea breeze lifted loose strands of Evangeline’s hair. Before he could respond, she pulled him backward with her.

The cold seawater instantly swallowed all sound, and Danton instinctively tensed his body.

Ever since losing his tail scales and his ability to take his beast form, the sea was no longer a source of life for him but a paradoxical poison. The long-healed scars on his legs began to throb with a phantom ache, a constant reminder of what he had lost.

Their long hair fanned out in the water, tangling together.

Evangeline cupped his face in her hands, their foreheads touching. Her long lashes brushed against his eyelids.

Danton instinctively closed his eyes. When he opened them again, it seemed the entire world had become a flowing azure, and something was swirling around them.

Danton reached out a trembling hand. An azure scale drifted gently into his palm.

Evangeline’s Spiritual Power poured forth, surging from her skin into Danton’s body where they touched.

’She had originally planned to rest before getting down to business, but tonight was a Tidal Night.’

The song of the Merfolk echoed through The Deep Sea. Like schools of fish returning home, they swam around the pair. The coral on the seabed bloomed layer by layer, and the scales drifting nearby seemed to sense a summons, spinning more joyfully.

Evangeline’s red lips parted slightly as she whispered, "You see? The sea is helping you come home."

Danton froze. Suddenly, a searing pain shot through his legs.

He reached out to push Evangeline away, but she held him even more firmly.

Just then, something cool and soft wrapped around his waist.

Danton glanced down and saw the crimson fishtail of Evangeline’s lower body. Its fin was like fine gauze, carrying the coolness of the sea. When her tail touched the hideous scars on his legs, they began to glow with a pearlescent light.

Her tail scales traced over his ruined legs, as if kissing his wounds.

He stared, mesmerized, at the crimson fishtail, until a pair of cool lips pressed against his. They tasted of the sea’s unique blend of salt and sweetness. His pupils trembled, and when he raised his eyes, they met Evangeline’s smiling gaze.

The scales suspended in the water were like a million sea birds taking flight. As if a witch had cast a spell of Magic, they transformed into streams of light and shot toward his legs. The instant they touched his skin, they erupted in a blinding blue flash.

Danton’s brow furrowed even deeper, and a broken moan escaped his throat.

Evangeline’s fishtail wrapped tightly around his convulsing body as her Spiritual Power surged even more fiercely into him through their kiss.

Amid the azure glow, the sound of cracking bones emanated from Danton’s long legs. The first part to take shape was his tail fin—transparent and delicate like gauze, its edges shimmering with a cold light. It overlapped with Evangeline’s crimson fin in the water.

When the last scale settled into place, all the pain receded like the tide.

Dazzling starlight gathered in the center of Danton’s forehead, gradually coalescing into a six-pointed Star Pattern.

Danton slowly opened his eyes, feeling the seawater buoying him.

His azure tail fin unfurled, its scales shifting with the ocean currents. It was as if every fiber of his being now resonated with the sea. He could hear the whisper of growing coral and sense the migration of distant schools of fish.

He hadn’t felt anything like this since he’d gone ashore to form the Contract.

Evangeline released her embrace, floating back a little.

The moonlight pierced through the water, clearly outlining Danton’s long, slender form.

His merman form was even more statuesque, his waist tapering into a brilliant expanse of azure. Every scale swayed with the current, refracting the light like a cloak of diamonds.

A ripple of emotion passed through Danton’s pale blue eyes. A single tear escaped and instantly solidified into a pearl.

With a flick of her crimson fishtail, Evangeline caught the pearl before it could sink into The Deep Sea.

She squeezed Danton’s hand, and with a powerful flick of her tail, pulled him along as she shot toward the surface like an arrow.

SPLASH—

The two of them broke through the surface, and the bright moonlight rained down upon them.

The chant of the Merfolk continued, and all around them, the water glittered.

Evangeline glanced at Danton. The moonlight seemed to crystallize like frost upon her eyelashes. Her voice was soft, yet carried immense weight.

"Welcome home, Danton."