[He looks scary, but after staring at him for so long, Calen in his Fenrir form is actually kind of cute!] Roxanna thought.

She did not even bother hiding her thoughts because she completely forgot that her husbands could hear her mind voice.

On the other side, Calen, who was still in his giant Fenrir form, used one of his paws to kick the lifeless snake farther away from Roxanna. After that, he started licking the blood off his snout and fur as if trying to clean himself properly.

"Oh, come on, just get into the water instead!" Azul called out after emerging from underwater. "It’ll be much easier to clean yourself here."

Hearing that, Calen finally transformed back into his human form before jumping straight into the river, creating a huge splash of water.

Azul immediately tried to shield Azura from the splash, but instead of getting scared, their daughter let out a tiny giggle.

Her laugh sounded weak, but it was still enough to make everyone feel relieved because at least it meant she could still smile even while suffering.

"Hey, I think she likes me more than you," Calen said proudly with a bright grin.

He dunked his head underwater for a second before popping back up right in front of Azura. "See? She’s laughing a lot!"

Calen repeated the action several times, clearly trying to distract Azura whenever her eyes wandered toward the giant dead snake nearby.

In the end, Zeir quietly dragged the snake even farther away so their daughter would not accidentally see it again.

"Azura is happy?" Roxanna asked warmly while smiling at her daughter.

She sat by the riverbank and clapped her hands softly a few times to catch Azura’s attention. "Daddy and Dada make you happy?"

Azura continued giggling softly, but this time, her tiny hands stretched toward Roxanna instead.

"Are you hungry?" Roxanna asked gently. "Do you want to drink milk?"

The little giggles slowly turned into needy sounds instead. "Aaa... aaa..."

This time, it truly seemed like Azura wanted Roxanna to hold her.

Because of that, Roxanna finally decided to enter the river too. But since the water was deep, Azul ended up carrying Roxanna while Roxanna carefully held Azura in her arms.

"The water is cold, isn’t it?" Azul asked her.

Roxanna smiled. "It’s alright. As long as you hold me, I’ll be fine."

She then breastfed Azura along the way while Azul carried both of them. Calen had also climbed back onto the land and was walking together with Zeir.

On the third day, everything was still going smoothly, but everyone had become extremely anxious because they were terrified they would not reach the beach before time ran out.

"We can make it," Zeir reassured them firmly. "As long as we keep moving, we’ll definitely reach the beach."

Thankfully, beastmen had much stronger stamina than normal humans, so going without sleep for several days did not slow them down too much. Still, Roxanna was different.

Because she had to breastfeed Azura from time to time, she constantly felt sleepy, hungry, and exhausted.

Fortunately, her husbands took turns carrying her whenever she looked too tired to continue on her own. Along the way, they also kept gathering fruits for her so she would not run out of energy.

[Remaining Time: 1 hour 10 minutes.]

[Go! Go! Go, Host! You’re almost there! You can definitely make it in time!]

Roxanna let out an annoyed hiss in her fox form because the system was only making everyone feel even more nervous. Zeir and Calen were practically pushing themselves to the limit as they ran through the forest at full speed, barely even stopping to breathe, even Azul chose to dive deep underwater so he could swim faster with the river current.

Everyone was desperately trying their best to reach the beach before it was too late.

[Remaining Time: 30 minutes.]

At this point, Roxanna could hear everyone’s hearts pounding so fast that it almost felt like they might burst out of their chests at any second.

[Remaining Time: 10 minutes.]

After three full days of nonstop running and traveling, they finally saw the vast blue ocean stretched across the distance beneath the sky.

The thick forest around them slowly began to disappear, replaced little by little by coastal trees swaying gently in the wind.

From far away, Roxanna could already hear the soft crashing sound of the waves, even the air had changed. The fresh forest scent was slowly replaced by the salty smell of the sea.

"We’re almost there!" Calen shouted excitedly, his voice filled with relief.

Even Zeir, who had stayed calm during the entire journey, finally let out a long breath as the tension in his body slowly eased.

"We made it in time," he murmured.

Roxanna could feel her own heart pounding wildly inside her chest. After three exhausting days of running without properly resting, the sight of the ocean almost felt unreal.

CRACK!

Roxanna’s eyes widened in shock as a giant worm suddenly burst out from beneath the ground, blocking the path between them and the ocean.

[Remaining Time: 4 minutes.]

[Oh, come on! We’re already so close!] Roxanna screamed internally, feeling so frustrated she almost wanted to cry. [We struggled for three whole days to get here, so why can’t we just get the reward already?!]

Zeir, who was still carrying Roxanna in his arms, quickly asked, "Do all of us need to reach the beach together, or is it enough if only you make it there?"

Roxanna immediately answered through her thoughts. [The voice inside my head never explained the condition clearly! But I think only I need to reach the beach!]

Besides, the system had clearly said that if Roxanna reached the beach, then she would receive the sailing ship. In other words, the system never mentioned anyone else in the condition.

"That’s good," Zeir said calmly. "The ground looks soft enough, so you should land safely."

Roxanna frowned in confusion. Before she could ask what he meant, Zeir had already rushed straight toward the giant worm.

"Calen, back me up!"

Without wasting a second, Calen threw his axe directly at the giant worm before charging forward and kicking its massive body aside to clear the path toward the shore.

[Remaining Time: 60 seconds.]

"I’m sorry!" Zeir shouted.

Then, before Roxanna could even react, he took a deep breath and threw her fox form straight toward the beach.

"AAA?!"

Roxanna’s scream echoed through the air as her tiny fox body flew forward.

For one horrifying second, she genuinely thought Zeir had lost his mind. The strong sea wind rushed past her fur while the beach rapidly got closer and closer beneath her.

POOF!

She landed directly on the soft sand and rolled several times across the shore before finally stopping near the edge of the water.

"Oww..."

Roxanna shakily lifted her head, completely dizzy from the throw.

[Congratulations! Host has successfully reached the beach within the time limit!]

[Reward: Medium Sailing Ship has been unlocked!]

[Additional Reward: Ocean Map Fragment x1]

Roxanna immediately froze. "We did it?"

At almost the same time, a loud crashing sound came from behind her.

BOOM!

Calen had slammed the giant worm into a tree so hard that the entire ground shook violently.

"ROXANNA!" Calen shouted anxiously from the distance. "ARE YOU ALIVE?!"

"I’m alive!" Roxanna shouted back, coughing sand out of her mouth, after transforming into her human form.

A few seconds later, Zeir finally arrived at the beach together with the others.

The moment Zeir saw Roxanna sitting there safely on the sand, he immediately let out a relieved breath. "I told you the ground looked soft enough."

If he was being honest, even Zeir had been extremely worried and afraid that his wife would get hurt, but fortunately, his fear did not come true.

On the other side, Azul had finally climbed out of the river with Azura in his arms.

The moment his feet touched the warm sand, his entire body suddenly froze because a strange feeling spread through his chest so suddenly that it caught him off guard.

The sound of the waves.

The salty wind.

The warmth of the beach beneath his feet.

Everything felt so painfully familiar.

Azul slowly looked toward the endless ocean in front of him, his blue eyes trembling slightly.

Then, without realizing it, tears suddenly rolled down his face. "Huh?" Even Azul himself looked confused.

He touched his own cheek slowly, staring at the tears on his fingers as if he could not understand why he was crying.

"Azul?" Roxanna called softly, immediately rushing toward him.

Azul could not answer right away because his chest hurt strangely, not in a painful way, but more like... longing, like someone who had finally returned home after being lost for a very long time.

Little Azura quietly stared at him before gently touching his wet cheek with her tiny hand. "Ah..."

Azul’s lips trembled slightly, and then more tears fell from his eyes.

The moment Roxanna stood right in front of him, he collapsed into her embrace, crying out all the sadness inside his heart.

"I... I remember," Azul whispered. "I finally remember my home..."