In a matter of moments, the once rough break had been sharpened into a sharp cone shape.
He shoved this makeshift weapon into Seraphina Caldwell’s trembling palm.
"Listen, don’t run around, no matter what happens, don’t come out. Wait for me to return."
With that, he turned and ran towards the battlefield.
"Be careful!"
Seraphina gripped the rough wooden stick tightly, her breath quickening, eyes fixed straight ahead.
As soon as Wyatt Yardley arrived on the scene, the situation immediately changed.
A silver-white light suddenly exploded, and in the blink of an eye, his figure twisted into a ten-meter-long giant silver snake.
The massive snake’s tail swept across suddenly, and its body coiled tightly around the thick waist of the beast.
"Crack! Crack!"
The beast roared wildly at the sky in pain, its tail thrashing frantically.
Evan Orwell seized this moment, channeling all his remaining spiritual power into the knife-shaped weapon in his hand, fiercely striking into a thin scale seam on the Drake’s neck!
The blade sank into flesh, making a dull "puff" sound, followed by Isaac Vaughn’s sharp spike piercing into the wound.
Gideon Larkin’s beast form suddenly pounced on the beast’s hind leg, biting hard into a seam between the tough scales.
Though their levels were no match for this giant creature, they cooperated flawlessly.
A few concentrated attacks, each strike landing precisely on vital points.
At last, its massive body collapsed with a boom.
But they themselves could barely hold on any longer.
Wyatt Yardley’s snake body had several deep, bone-exposing gashes torn by the beast’s bone spurs before it died.
Isaac Vaughn was the most severely injured, with his back and shoulders’ flesh torn to the bone.
But right now, no one had time to care about their own pain.
Everyone almost simultaneously turned back, their eyes all fixed afar.
Seraphina was clutching a wooden stick, confronting a leopard!
The leopard was strong and muscular.
Although it wasn’t a High Rank Fierce Beast, for a frail human female, it already posed a deadly threat.
Its claws had already torn open Seraphina’s left arm.
She clenched the wooden stick with trembling hands, the impact numbing her grip.
Yet she didn’t step back, her feet firmly planted on the ground.
No one expected that this usually timid female, who feared even the wind, would not cry or scream when facing a wild beast.
Instead, she stood her ground, daring to confront it head-on.
"Seraphina!"
Wyatt Yardley’s voice suddenly trembled.
His snake body not fully reverted to human form, he rushed over.
With a flick of his snake tail, it struck the leopard’s head with precision.
The leopard groaned, flipping over on the spot.
Seraphina’s knees gave way, and she collapsed onto the cold ground.
The wound on the outer side of her right arm, torn by the sharp claws, still oozed blood.
Wyatt Yardley nearly pounced as he rushed over and grabbed her.
"Does it hurt...?"
Seraphina had been gritting her teeth, but as soon as Wyatt asked, her eyes turned red.
But she forcibly suppressed that sour feeling; now was not the time for her to be weak.
Such a minor wound, just a bit of blood, what did it matter compared to their life-and-death struggle?
Seraphina never imagined she could truly confront a leopard or even survive.
She saw the Beast Husband nearly sacrificing himself to protect her.
She just wanted to delay with the stick, holding on as long as she could.
The leopard initially hesitated, seeing the sturdy wooden stick in her hand, and circled around her but didn’t pounce rashly.
Seraphina didn’t dare move, gripping the wooden stick tightly in front of her.
So she stood there, confronting the Dire Beast.
During a moment of distraction, the leopard’s claws suddenly grazed her right arm, leaving a bone-deep scar.
With the crisis averted, she exhaled a sigh of relief.
"It really doesn’t hurt... what about you guys? Are your injuries serious?"
Wyatt’s heart clenched tightly.
He immediately turned to Evan.
"Do you have enough strength left to treat her first, is that possible?"
Evan leaned against a rough tree trunk, his face pale as if void of life.
He raised his fingers, trying to gather spiritual power, but no hint of gold light appeared at his fingertips.
"No... I have none left. My spiritual power’s drained, my head feels hollow. It’ll... it’ll take until tomorrow to recover a bit."
Wyatt’s heart sank, and he scrambled to rifle through the Beast Skin Bag beside him.
But after repeated searches, he only managed to find a few shriveled leaves.
He suddenly remembered that the last bit of Blood Stopping Grass got used up when bandaging Seraphina’s wound this morning.
He stared intently at the bone-deep wound on her arm.
"Seraphina... the herbs... there are no herbs left. Can you... hold on a bit? I’ll head to the mountains to find some for you! I will definitely find them!"
"Don’t go!"
Seraphina abruptly raised her other hand.
"Don’t risk it for me... I’m really okay, really! There’s no need to fuss. It’s too dangerous to go into the mountains now, you might run into something even fiercer!"
She glanced around at the Beast Husbands beside her, her heart sinking.
Kaelan Hawthorne remained in his blue wolf beast form, and the long, deep gash on his abdomen left the skin and flesh flayed open.
A drum beat in her heart: should she reveal the Spiritual Spring?
Since the upgrade, the quantity of Spring Water had significantly increased, enough to support the treatment of a few seriously injured people.
But once revealed, her biggest secret would be exposed.
She didn’t know how the tribe would regard her, if they’d see her as a monster.
Noticing her lingering gaze on Kaelan, Evan quietly spoke beside her.
"He’s mainly just lost blood and some strength, a little rest will do him good. Beast Husbands have strong physiques and recover quickly, don’t worry too much."
Listening to him, Seraphina felt a surge of bitterness.
No matter how strong a physique, it’s still flesh and blood.
Too much blood loss could render one helpless, or even result in death.
And it was because of her.
If it weren’t for her insistence on searching for her father, they wouldn’t have ventured into this dangerous Dire Beast territory.
But the Spiritual Spring still had to remain hidden for now.
She quietly made up her mind: once night fell and everyone was asleep, she’d secretly drop a bit of the Spring Water on their wounds.
"We’re not leaving tonight."
Seraphina slowly spoke.
"Let’s rest here for the night, set out tomorrow morning. Everyone needs rest; we can’t push any further."
The Beast Husbands exchanged glances and silently nodded.
Wyatt’s shoulder had a still-bleeding cut from a blade, Kaelan could barely move, and although Evan seemed alright, his face was ghostly pale.
Pushing on under such conditions would only lead to more injuries, or even deaths.
Wyatt gently walked to her side, lowered his head, and carefully licked the blood from the edge of her wound.
After cleaning it, he pulled a relatively clean piece of Beast Skin from his pack.
"Hang on a bit longer, once Evan recovers, he can treat you. He knows medicine and is better than me."
Seraphina watched him; he still hadn’t tended to the wound on his own shoulder, yet was solely focused on helping her bandage up first.
And here she was, with something that could save lives hidden, a wave of guilt washed over her.
After bandaging her up, Wyatt didn’t linger, turning to the giant beast lying on the ground.
High Rank Beast Crystals have always been extremely rare treasures.
The stronger the Dire Beast, the harder it is for Crystals to form within them.
Even after being killed, they often won’t yield a Crystal.