Chapter 241: The Beast God Abandoned the Tideborn Beastmen

"Clan Leader!"

Danton had just steadied himself amidst the tearing, twisting turbulence when surprised shouts of joy reached his ears.

He froze for a moment, instinctively tightening his arms to better protect the cub in his embrace. Turning his head, he was met with a sea of pale, panicked faces, yet they were all unable to hide their joy. They were his clansmen.

Danton’s gaze swept over the crowd before finally landing on Evangeline.

She was holding a cub, offering him a faint, reassuring smile. Hidden within that smile was a shared understanding that made his heart race.

Danton understood. She knew how much he cared for his clan, which was why she had brought him to the Mer Clan’s territory without a moment’s hesitation.

"Brother!" Rhea rushed over, her face pale and grave.

Montague and Finnian Finch followed behind her, their expressions just as grim.

But as Rhea drew near and saw the Merfolk cubs in Danton’s and Evangeline’s arms, her eyes went wide. Her voice was a mixture of shock and delight. "The cubs have been born?! When did this happen?"

She eagerly took the cub from Danton’s arms, her movements careful and gentle.

The little one wasn’t shy. It gently sniffed Rhea’s scent and, perhaps sensing her kindness and joy, gave a slight flick of its tail before snuggling contentedly in her arms. The sight made Rhea’s eyes redden at the rims.

Danton had no time for pleasantries. "We must leave the sea at once," he said gravely. "All clansmen, evacuate to the land."

He was the Clan Leader, after all. When he gave an order, even his gentle voice carried an unquestionable, stern authority.

He had keenly sensed the water temperature rising at an abnormal rate, and the entire sea was trembling ominously.

It was by no means a good omen.

Rhea understood immediately. Her fingertips tightened protectively around the cub in her arms as she turned to give a few instructions to Montague and Finnian Finch.

In just a few moments, the clansmen had gathered their necessities.

Under Danton’s direction, the entire clan began an orderly and swift evacuation toward the land.

Danton pulled Evangeline’s waist tighter and cast one last look back at the receding territory of the Mer Clan.

The dreamlike place was being swallowed by dark currents, fading in and out of view like a dream on the verge of shattering.

His thin lips pressed into a firm line. He turned and led Evangeline and the cubs away, resolute. An indescribable premonition welled up inside him. ’We may have to migrate far away. We probably won’t ever be able to return to this homeland.’

Evangeline cuddled the cub closer, her brow furrowing slightly.

’Logically speaking, I’ve almost won over all the male leads from *All My Sterile Beast Husbands Want to Kill Me*. The natural disasters on the Beastman Continent should have started to subside by now. The brief peace after the rainy season made me lower my guard, but now... the sea flames are running rampant, and the world’s rules seem to be collapsing again. Could it be... that I’m just not winning them over fast enough?’

At this thought, Evangeline lifted her gaze to the dark surface of the sea, weighed down by a heavy blizzard.

’When both the land and the Deep Sea are in crisis, with disasters striking one after another, where else can these Beastmen go?’

As the Mer Clan was forced to retreat to land, other undersea tribes also abandoned territories they had inhabited for years.

But even so, the boiling magma on the seabed raged like a Ferocious Beast. Any Marine Beastman or Sea Beast that was too slow to escape was instantly engulfed by the crimson torrent, annihilated into ash before they could even cry out in agony.

The entire sea echoed with desperate cries and screams. The once-resplendent waters had become a living hell.

*

When Thorne arrived at the Norfell Sea, carrying Bunny and Genesis, he was greeted by a scene of utter chaos.

Countless Marine Beastmen were scrambling frantically from the churning water. In an instant, they shed their fins and gills, collapsing limply into the thick snow one by one. They stared blankly at the sea, which was steaming and giving off a white mist, completely lost in a daze.

Soon, suppressed sobs and mournful wails began to spread through the crowd like a sorrowful signal.

Heavy snow drifted down from the sky, shrouding everything, making it all seem blurry, hazy, and far away.

As a Terrestrial Beastman, this was the first time Thorne had ever encountered such a scene, and his heart inexplicably tightened.

’His female is still in the Deep Sea right now, and she’s going through the most dangerous and vulnerable moment of childbirth...’

Thorne unconsciously tightened his arms, holding the two cubs even closer.

Bunny had been sobbing quietly the entire way. Now, exhausted from crying, she was fast asleep on his shoulder.

The slightly loose, black-and-gold headband on her forehead fluttered in the wind and snow, occasionally catching Genesis’s curious gaze.

The little one, his eyes like iridescent glass, stared unblinkingly at the band fluttering on his sister’s forehead. After a moment, he looked away. Listening to the chorus of mournful cries from the surrounding Marine Beastmen, he nestled obediently into the crook of Thorne’s neck, his silence almost pitiable.

The unease in Thorne’s heart grew heavier.

He stopped a dejected-looking Marine Beastman and asked in a low voice, "What exactly happened in the sea?"

The Marine Beastman was disheartened and had no intention of responding, but he jumped in fright when he looked up and got a clear view of Thorne. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Thorne was covered in bloodstains, with hardly a patch of unbroken skin to be seen. The seven-pointed Star Pattern on his forehead shimmered with a dangerous light. He looked like a god of slaughter who had clawed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood—clearly a force to be reckoned with.

The Marine Beastman swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing the grievances that filled him.

He said hoarsely, "It’s the sea flames... Sea flames suddenly erupted from the seabed. The entire ocean is boiling. We Marine Beastmen have been abandoned by the Beast God. Without the sea, without our home, we’re all going to die sooner or later. Hah."

As he spoke, the Marine Beastman ran a hand through his soaking hair and gave a miserable laugh, his face twisting again with despair.

Although Marine Beastmen could take human form and walk on land, they couldn’t stay away from the sea for long, or their bodies would fester and they would die. The sea flames had destroyed their homes. With the water temperature soaring, they had a home they couldn’t return to.

Now, their only hope for survival was to find a new habitat. But the Norfell Sea was only so big—where could they possibly go?

Thorne’s pupils constricted, a cold glint flashing in his dark green eyes.

’The Beast God has abandoned the Tideborn, so what about the Terrestrial Beastmen? Would they fare any better?’

The wind and snow seemed to have grown even more bone-chilling. Thorne instinctively hugged the cubs in his arms tighter.

’Eva...’

Thorne shook his head violently, forcing himself to pull back from his chaotic thoughts.

His gaze was as sharp as a blade as he scanned the disorderly crowd of Tideborn Beastmen, searching for Evangeline.

’Since disaster struck the sea and the Tideborn Beastmen are all fleeing, the Mer Clan must be doing the same. Danton will surely bring Eva to shore. I have to find her as quickly as possible. And Caden Albright and the others... I wonder how they are...’

A dense crowd of Marine Beastmen, a sea of panicked faces, but he still couldn’t find that familiar, slender figure.

"Cough..."

The slight cough came from within his arms. Thorne quickly looked down to see Bunny curled up and trembling. Ice crystals had formed on Genesis’s iridescent eyelashes. Only then did he realize with a jolt that the cubs were too cold.

Anxious, Thorne ripped off the blood-soaked beast skin he was wearing and wrapped the two little ones up tightly.

His bare torso was a canvas of gruesome wounds, with raw, un-scabbed gashes crisscrossing his solid muscles. The faint scent of blood steamed off him into the snowy air. A violent energy surged in his chest. He bit down hard on his tongue. The taste of iron, mingled with the freezing wind, flooded his lungs, forcibly suppressing the savage aura that threatened to spiral out of control and sharpening his focus.

Thorne took a deep breath, the dark green of his eyes turning even colder.

His jaw tightened. Cradling the cubs, he continued his search for Evangeline through the chaotic crowd.