Thorne’s head snapped up to look at Aiden Atwood, his Adam’s apple bobbing. "The Beast God... is gone?"

Loras and the others’ expressions grew grim.

As creatures of the Beastman Continent, the Beast God held profound significance in their hearts. He was their faith. Although they had all prayed for a sign from him in their most desperate moments and received no answer, they never wanted him to vanish completely.

A Beastman Continent without the Beast God would be like a world drained of all its color.

Aiden Atwood’s eyebrow twitched upward, a flicker of scorn passing through his eyes before vanishing.

He took a sip of his wine and nodded. "It seems none of you know. Many years ago, the entire continent was one, with no Triangle Sea, no Norfell, and no division of Beastman City-states. Back then, the Beast God was the master of the continent. He ruled over all things and established the laws. Heh. And under his laws, we males were the lowest of the low among Beastmen!"

As he spoke, he slammed his cup down on the table. "Tell me, on what grounds?"

Aiden Atwood’s voice suddenly rose. "Later, a powerful warrior broke through to the Nine-star Extreme Realm, awakened his Ancient Ancestor Vein, and transformed into a Wandering Dragon! His tail swept through the mountains, his claws tore open the sea, and he brutally ripped the Triangle Sea into the heart of the continent!"

"He established the very first city-state on the Beastman Continent!"

"More importantly, that great lord abolished the Beast God’s old covenant and established new laws for us males!"

"From that day forward, the Beastman City-states no longer believed in the Beast God."

As Aiden Atwood spoke of this, his face was filled with worship and reverence, his words steeped in fanaticism.

Evangeline glanced at Aiden Atwood and said coolly, "The city-state founded by this powerful warrior you speak of... is it the Grimgar City-State?"

That familiar name made several of the males instinctively straighten their backs. Though The Everwake didn’t know the full story, he held Genesis and could still sense the sudden, dangerous aura emanating from those around him, like dormant beasts ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

’Grimgar City-State?’

He narrowed his eyes. ’It seems Caden Albright and Lachlan are there.’

Aiden Atwood’s pupils contracted. He immediately shot upright, looking at Evangeline with disbelief. "You..."

He recalled Evangeline’s identity as a Druid and swallowed hard. "Have you been to the Beastman City-states before?"

If she hadn’t, he couldn’t fathom how Evangeline would know about the Grimgar City-State. Though she was a Druid, she was still just a Savage Beastman. How could she possibly know of the most mysterious Holy Land in all the Beastman City-states?

Evangeline lowered her gaze and said flatly, "No."

Aiden Atwood’s heart skipped a beat, and his gaze on Evangeline grew even more cautious.

’Could it be? Is this Druid’s ability... precognition?’

At that thought, a fire ignited within Aiden Atwood.

A Druid from Norfell who hadn’t pledged allegiance to any city-state yet... regardless of whether her ability was precognition or not, if she could be persuaded to join their Otterhaven City-State, they would absolutely be able to become a Medium-sized City-State in the upcoming "Sharp Teeth Judgment"!

Drake’s gold-red eyes flashed, his voice as sharp as a blade. "This powerful figure you speak of led the Beastmen to abandon the Beast God and split the continent. How could a supreme deity allow that? This is blasphemy!"

Aiden Atwood sneered, swirling the wine in his cup. "Unwilling to tolerate it? Resentful? Furious? So what?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"The Divine Dragon reigns above the nine heavens. Even if the Beast God himself appeared, he would be powerless against him!"

"Besides, the Beast God’s power stems from the faith of the Beastman race. When the masses forsake him..." Here, Aiden Atwood paused, a cold smile playing on his lips. "The resulting backlash is enough to ensure that so-called god can never recover!"

This terrifying revelation silenced everyone at the table.

’So, that’s why we prayed to the Beast God but received no answer?’

’That’s why calamities plague Norfell, yet the Beast God offers no salvation?’

For a moment, the table was utterly silent.

Aiden Atwood slowly swept his gaze across the group, his voice suddenly deepening. "The Beast God hasn’t been seen for so many years. Doesn’t that tell you something? Let me give you a piece of advice: in the Beastman City-states, the only one we worship is the great Divine Dragon!"

Evangeline spoke, her voice even. "Where is the Grimgar City-State?"

Her question slightly eased the heavy atmosphere at the table. Aiden Atwood glanced at her and shook his head. "The Otterhaven City-State is just a small coastal city-state, barely scraping by. How could we possibly know the location of such a Holy Land?"

Evangeline ate her roasted meat with deliberate slowness, finally understanding Cassian Zane’s current predicament.

The Beast God was abandoned by the Beastmen. The backlash of faith had transformed his power into a man-eating, poisonous miasma that harmed both others and himself. If that power were to truly spread, it would corrode the entire Beastman Continent and cause irreversible consequences.

This was also why Cassian Zane chose to seal himself away in Norfell, using Spiritual Medicine and Spirit Plants to dilute and mitigate the poisonous miasma.

’A god loves his people, and even when betrayed by them, his heart remains unchanged.’

’How touching.’

’Could it be that he lured me here to help him restore the Beastmen’s faith in him?’

’Heh heh heh—’

Evangeline propped her chin on her arm, thinking idly. ’No wonder this is a top-tier mission. Besides the main quest, there’s a side quest. A mission related to the god of a small world brings immense rewards, but one misstep could cost me everything.’

Danton’s light blue eyes flickered, his voice gentle and soft. "If the Divine Dragon tore the continent apart to rebel against the Beast God, then why single out Norfell? If he truly hated the laws set by the Beast God, shouldn’t he have led all the races to wash away the divine oracle with blood? Why, when he split the sea and divided the land, did he personally create the Triangle Sea, an impassable chasm?"

"Could it be because the Norfell Beastmen were unwilling to abandon the Beast God from the very beginning?"

Evangeline glanced at Danton. ’He certainly has a sharp eye for inconsistencies.’

Aiden Atwood’s expression was cold and mocking. "Indeed. Back when the great Divine Dragon tore the continent apart and rewrote the laws, those stubborn believers who would rather cling to a broken Norfell than submit to the new order were left behind in Norfell."

’A bunch of foolish Beastmen. They deserve to be stuck in the Wildlands, having lost the Beast God’s protection as well.’

Danton and the others’ faces immediately darkened. The mockery in Aiden Atwood’s tone was a complete insult to their ancestors!

Evangeline blinked slowly. ’The chasm of faith is even harder to cross than the Triangle Sea.’

She was starting to get curious. Just what kind of powerful figure could stand shoulder to shoulder with a god and seize the faith that belonged to the Beast God? A dragon? The Beastman Continent had Wyverns, Tyrannosaurs, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, and so on... but The Divine Dragon... was it the kind she was thinking of?

"You just said that the Dragon God’s strength increased massively because he awakened his Ancient Ancestor Vein and transformed into a Wandering Dragon."

"Does that mean other Beastmen also have the chance to awaken their Ancient Ancestor Veins?"

Evangeline tapped her fingers on the table, asking a question that once again silenced the room.

Every Beastman present knew the weight of that question. The chance for an ordinary Beastman to gain power comparable to a god—such a temptation was something no male could refuse.