The mudslides and flash floods converged at the cliff’s edge, creating a murky waterfall that plunged down with a roar and surged into the distance.
As the vast, murky waves subsided, the muddy water began to settle, and the subrged vegetation resurfaced.
Suddenly, a faint glow struggled to erge from the mud.
The light was faint yet incredibly resilient, a striking sight against the darkening sky.
The light faded, gradually revealing a slender figure.
Utterly exhausted, she lay sprawled on her back in the muddy grass. Her soaked clothes clung to her heaving chest, revealing a startling curve. Her bewitchingly beautiful face was devoid of color, and the strands of hair stuck to her cheeks made her look all the more fragile.
Her long, narrow eyes were half-closed, her long lashes trembling gently like fluttering wings.
After a long mont, once the last glimr of daylight was devoured by the encroaching darkness, Evangeline slowly opened her eyes.
She brought her clenched fist before her eyes. Her slender fingers unfurled to reveal a shattered doll lying in her palm.
’The Death Replacent Puppet. A life-saving treasure I had a Dwarf Craftsman forge for back in the Western Fantasy World, using Mithril and Dragon Blood. It can save its master from three fatal disasters.’
Evangeline stared at the shattered doll in her hand and let out a sudden laugh. "The contract’s backlash... Truly formidable."
’If a male kills a female, the contract’s backlash will kill him.’
’Likewise, when a female dissolves a contract, she must bear the backlash. I never would have dared to try it without the Death Replacent Puppet. Going through that deadly experience once is more than enough.’
’The Beast God’s wrath is no laughing matter, and Divine Power isn’t sothing that can be provoked repeatedly.’
Evangeline tucked away the shattered Death Replacent Puppet, but she remained on her back in the mud, unmoving.
The cold, wet mud seeped into her clothes, but she seed oblivious. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled the mont she plunged into the mudslide—Lachlan’s face, contorted in agony, and his heart-rending screams.
’Breaking the contract didn’t an I was actually giving up on my mission to win him over, or that I was truly setting Lachlan free.’
’Winning soone over is like flying a kite.’
’For so, you need to let the line out and allow them to soar high. For others, you must pull the line tight and keep them firmly in your grasp.’
’Only by mastering when to give slack and when to pull tight can you achieve a breakthrough.’
’Lachlan’s repulsion toward is almost instinctual, a kind of visceral disgust that’s etched into his very bones.’
’He might have been starting to soften, and my efforts were showing the first signs of success, but it was taking too long.’
’If I don’t deal him a sharp, soul-crushing blow, I’ll never complete my mission. I’m afraid I’ll spend my whole life stuck in this endless, tense standoff.’
’And ti is the one thing I can’t afford to waste.’
’I have to complete my mission. No matter how wild and untamable the beast, I will force it into my shackles.’
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed in the woods.
Evangeline’s brow furrowed. She sat up, her fingertips brushing the Contract Mark on her waist. She was surprised. ’The flash flood was powerful enough to sweep this far? Even my link to Thorne and Caden Albright’s locations has grown faint.’
The low chatter of Beastn drifted from nearby.
"Linden, are you sure there will be prey after the water recedes?"
"Of course! The flood was huge. It must have washed so Wild Beasts downstream. All we have to do is pick them up!"
"How much longer is this rainy season going to last? I can’t stand this settlent of vagrant Beastn for another second! I’m too scared to even close my eyes at night, afraid I’ll be eaten in my sleep. Linden, why don’t we just leave?"
"That’s bullshit. Haven’t you seen how angry the Beast God is this rainy season? It’s either Earth-drakes causing quakes or floods rampaging everywhere. We’re lucky to have a roof over our heads, and you’re still complaining?"
"..."
Evangeline listened to their conversation. The scraps of information were garbled and useless.
Just as she was about to stand up, her movent suddenly froze.
She lowered her gaze to her abdon, her long lashes casting a shadow across her pale cheeks.
There, a purple, multi-petaled flower seed to sway in the wind and rain. Every line of its pattern flowed with a moon-like radiance, looking pure and holy—nothing like the mark of a Beast God Contract.
Right now, the flower was searing hot.
’He’s so close. So close I can almost feel the pulse through every unfurling petal.’
Loras.
’The original owner’s seven Beast Husbands were a varied, competitive lot, each one unique.’
’And Loras was, by far, the most unique of them all.’
’Because his beast form wasn’t a fierce predator or a bird of prey, but a Moonlight Flower.’
’On the Beastman Continent, the odds of a plant happening to gain a Beast Crystal and becoming a Beastman were minuscule. One might not appear for hundreds of years. Yet, fate just loved to play such cruel jokes.’
’It led the cruel and vicious original owner to encounter this one-in-a-million miracle.’
’Loras, as a Moonlight Flower, needed moonlight to survive, absorbing its essence. Therefore, he only revealed his human form when the moon was at its brightest—which should have been his safest ti.’
’But by a twisted coincidence, the original owner discovered him on a cliff’s edge while using the cover of night to bury rotting beast bones near the Frost-plain Tribe.’
’Under the moonlight, amid a tangle of vines cascading down the cliff face, she caught sight of a youth whose body shone with a faint luminescence. Pale violet veins were visible on his white skin, and Moonlight Flowers that had not yet receded were still entwined in his hair.’
’A one-in-a-million Plant Beastman... How could the original owner, who always hunted for rare and exotic treasures, possibly let him go?’
’It was already difficult for a plant to obtain a Beast Crystal, and Loras was just a powerless One-star Patterned Beastman.’
’The original owner used her authority as the daughter of the leader to forcibly bring Loras back to the Oasis Tribe.’
’She ford a Contract with Loras purely for her own safety, to ensure the Beast God Contract would keep him from even thinking of resisting.’
’If digging out Thorne’s Beast Crystal was a one-ti transaction, then her treatnt of Loras was long-term, sadistic torture.’
’A rare Plant Beastman beca "Evangeline’s" favorite toy that Cold Season.’
’Her favorite thing to watch was Loras, deprived of moonlight, curled up on the ground, listless and frail.’
His trembling body was like a withering flower.
’Loras had only been able to form his Beast Crystal because he was nourished by moonlight.’
’After being imprisoned by the original owner, his long-term deprivation of moonlight caused his Beast Crystal to atrophy and his Star Pattern to shatter. Every full moon, he endured excruciating pain. His body and mind were pushed to the brink of collapse, driving him to the edge of madness.’
’And he did go mad. After the Oasis Tribe fell, he vanished without a trace.’
The corner of Evangeline’s mouth twitched, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.
’Truly ruthless.’
’These Beast Husbands... not only were they physically and psychologically traumatized, but their spirits had been utterly tornted. Every fiber of their being was steeped in wounds that might never heal.’
’For Loras, falling into "Evangeline’s" hands was a fate far more hopeless than plunging into The Abyss.’
’Just as I thought. Loras must be in that settlent for vagrant Beastn these two were talking about.’
She brushed the mud from her clothes and walked toward the two Beastn scavenging in the water.
’I’ll let Lachlan stew for a while. First, I need to see just how far gone Loras really is.’
As Evangeline passed, she stepped on so dead wood by the riverbank, which splintered with a cringeworthy CRUNCH.
The two Beastn imdiately froze. Their ears perked up alertly as they stared fixedly at Evangeline.
When they saw it was an alluring, bewitchingly beautiful female, the two of them could only stare.
She was wrapped in damp beast skins. The mud, far from concealing her striking beauty, only added a hint of wildness to her.
"A fe... female? What are you doing here? Were you..." Linden was the first to snap out of his daze, though he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Evangeline. He rubbed his hands together, his eyes shifting. "You were washed down by the flood, weren’t you?"
As he spoke, Linden reached out to help her, but he flinched back the mont he t Evangeline’s unsmiling eyes. It was a Beastman’s instinct for self-preservation.
’This female... she’s dangerous.’
A slight smile touched Evangeline’s red lips. "That settlent for vagrant Beastn you ntioned. Take there."
"You... you an..." Linden stamred, taking half a step back. The monkey tail behind him instinctively clamped down. He asked tentatively, "You an the settlent over by Blackwater Swamp?"
"Playing dumb?" Evangeline’s eyes narrowed, and a wisp of fla flickered to life at her fingertip.
"A Witch..." Linden’s knees went weak. The younger Beastman behind him was so terrified he dropped to his knees in the mud. ’We just ca out to find so food! How did we run into a Witch who got washed downstream by the flood?’
Evangeline didn’t attack. She simply tossed a bloody Wild Beast toward them and said flatly, "Take there."
The scent of the prey’s blood filled the air, and the two Beastn’s eyes glead with a covetous light. They had been hungry for a very long ti.
"Yes, of course!" Linden shot a cautious glance at Evangeline, then snatched the prey. A fawning smile imdiately spread across his face, and even his beast ears gave an obsequious twitch.
"My Lady Priestess, please follow , through this forest..."
He led the way with his back bowed, the tip of his tail still clamped down tightly. The young Beastman behind him shouldered the prey, and as he slled the scent of blood wafting from it, his stomach began to RUMBLE loudly.
"Oh, please watch your step..."
Evangeline nonchalantly kicked a bleached-white Beastman skull out of her way and gazed toward the distant swamp.
’Loras...’
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