In a battle between a Goldeagle and a toad, the latter would typically have no power to even retaliate.

But this Eight-Marked Toad Beastman before them was, like Elias Moretti, covered in poison and incredibly difficult to handle.

Evangeline stood still in the distance, her gaze fixed on the battle.

Julian moved like a bolt of lightning, his gilded wings carving sharp arcs of light under the sun as he remained locked in a fierce struggle with the Toad Beastman.

He was a Gold Attribute Beastman, while the Toad Beastman was a Poison Attribute. This helped to offset the difference in their Levels, but the spurts of venom still hissed as they corroded Julian’s magnificent feathers, leaving them covered in mottled scars.

"Get out of my way—"

The Toad Beastman cackled sinisterly. The poison sac in his throat contracted violently, and he spat another glob of thick venom at Julian.

Julian’s golden eyes narrowed sharply, and he beat his wings in a hasty retreat.

But that one evasive maneuver exposed Evangeline, who had been sheltered behind his golden feathers. The venom was now on a trajectory to strike her stunning face.

The Toad Beastman’s expression changed. Pushing off with his four legs, he lunged rapidly toward Evangeline.

He would drag this beautiful female back to his lair, imprison her, and force her to lay countless toad eggs for him!

As a wandering Beastman, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t abducted females from tribes before. Unfortunately, those females were too fragile; they died before they could even conceive. This female was the most beautiful he had ever seen. Her face could not be ruined.

With this thought, the Toad Beastman moved even faster.

’This Goldeagle Beastman is too tenacious, but as long as I get her back to my lair, I doubt he’ll dare to follow!’

"Female, you’d best come back with me!" The Toad Beastman’s eyes were filled with manic excitement as he moved to block the venom.

"SCREECH—"

Like a golden arrow, Julian dove down in an instant!

"WHOOSH—"

His golden wings unfurled abruptly, wrapping securely around Evangeline and pulling her into his embrace.

In almost the same instant, the spurt of thick venom splashed onto his back. His magnificent feathers were instantly charred black and curled, and the sound of his flesh corroding was bloodcurdling.

Agony washed over him. Julian let out a muffled grunt but didn’t even pause. He spun around, his talons like blades, and dug them viciously into his opponent’s flesh. At the same time, his own golden claws sizzled as the venom corroded them.

He screeched but refused to let go. Instead, he clamped down hard and forcibly dragged the Toad Beastman away from Evangeline.

White smoke billowed from the Goldeagle’s bloodstained feathers as the venom ate away at them—an utterly brutal sight.

His strength gave out, and Julian crashed heavily to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

His golden feathers, corroded and horribly mottled, lay splayed out in disarray.

"Die!" The Toad Beastman howled in pain. Forgetting all about Evangeline, he spun around in a fury, his bulging eyes filled with murderous intent.

Julian’s gaze never wavered. Within his gilded pupils, only the reflection of Evangeline’s figure remained.

’He knew perfectly well.’

’Back in the bamboo house in Blackwater Swamp, she had made herself perfectly clear.’

’He wasn’t important, not even qualified to become her mate.’

’So why had he come back? He had even hidden in the shadows, following her without a second thought when she left to find medicine for Drake. At the time, he had told himself it was all for the sake of finding medicine for his Brother.’

’She had traveled all this way alone, attracting who knows how many covetous stares.’

’The leering of wandering Beastmen, the insatiable greed of Wild Beasts... whenever danger appeared, he would silently emerge and secretly deal with the threats for her.’

’Back then, he’d thought, ’She really is just a female.’ Relying on her own abilities, yet lacking even the most basic vigilance. To travel alone without a single male for protection, to sleep so soundly at night without any guard... if he hadn’t been tailing her like a shadow, her throat would have long since been torn out by sharp fangs.’

’She journeyed in the light while he swept the shadows clean. One in the light, one in the dark; one in front, one behind. They had traveled like this for a long time.’

’Even though Evangeline didn’t know he was there, being able to deal with the hidden dangers for her, just like a mate would, filled him with a profound joy, an indescribable pride. Not even becoming leader had given him such a thrill.’

’He felt that protecting this female was the most natural thing in the world.’

’Unfortunately, she didn’t want him.’

The poison burning through his body was nothing compared to the bitterness surging in his chest.

’He was dying. He desperately wanted to ask her, just once, if she had ever felt something different for him, even for a single instant!’

As these thoughts raced through Julian’s mind, he used the last of his strength to shift into his human form. His pale lips trembled, the question on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t summon the energy to speak. His vision grew hazy, his eyelids drooped, and the world blurred before him.

In the final moment before his consciousness faded to black, he thought he saw that slender figure move.

The Toad Beastman grinned savagely at the unconscious Julian. He opened his maw wide, about to spew venom to dissolve his victim before swallowing him whole. But before he could even get close, a bone-piercing chill shot up his spine!

The next instant, a sharp pain wracked his body, and he tumbled uncontrollably into the deep pool below, sending up a massive splash.

The Toad Beastman coughed up a mouthful of blood and struggled to the surface. When his bulging eyes focused on the figure on the bank, he froze.

The female’s slender figure strode slowly toward the Goldeagle. She held a long whip in her hand, coated in a thick layer of frost. A sharp, frigid aura radiated from it, and the Toad Beastman’s expression changed drastically.

A female?!

The Toad Beastman glanced around but saw no one else suspicious.

Suppressing the intense pain, he eyed Evangeline with suspicion, not daring to poke his head too far out of the water.

"Get lost before I lose my temper." Evangeline didn’t even turn her head. Her soft, enchanting voice was as crisp and melodious as pearls falling onto a jade plate.

Hearing this, the Toad Beastman understood at once. This pregnant female was no easy target!

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he floated in the water. He gnashed his teeth for a long moment before finally sinking into the deep pool. A few resentful bubbles rose to the surface, and then all was calm again.

As a wandering Beastman who constantly lived on the edge of life and death, he had a sharp instinct for self-preservation.

He had a hunch that if he insisted on confronting this female, it would not end well for him.

The area fell silent.

Evangeline gazed down at the unconscious Julian, then crouched beside him. She placed a Spiritual Medicine in his mouth, then took out injury medicine and began to bandage his wounds. The bloodstains and corrosion on his golden feathers were especially glaring.

She glanced back at the cave entrance, then at Julian, before sitting down cross-legged beside him. Her exploration could wait; she couldn’t just abandon him. The jungle was fraught with peril and teeming with Wild Beasts. If she left him here unconscious, his life would be forfeit.

Evangeline sat cross-legged, absorbing Spiritual Energy. Evening fell, but Julian still had not woken.

However, perhaps because this was the territory of an Eight-Marked Beastman, no reckless High Star Patterned Beasts dared to intrude.

In the dead of night, the surface of the pool suddenly rippled.

The Toad Beastman surfaced without a sound. He stared at Evangeline, who sat cross-legged beside Julian, a strange glint in his eyes.

’The females he’d met were mostly delicate, arrogant, and timid. He had never seen one like her. Pregnant, yet she dared to venture deep into dangerous territory. She could have left him for dead, but instead, she insisted on guarding the half-dead male, refusing to leave his side.’

"CROAK..." A low, inscrutable sound rumbled in his throat.

’This female is different.’