I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

”A kraken!”

”There’s a kraken!”

The Devourers guarding the area around the Fire Field stared at the giant kraken in shock. It had appeared out of nowhere, bursting up through the ground right in front of them.

”Kill it! Kill it! Don’t let it get anywhere near the Fire Field!” one of them shouted.

Mr. Kraken immediately lashed its tentacles in every direction, creating so much chaos that the Devourers struggled to keep their attention on anything else.

Not far from there, five people were watching the commotion: Azul, Zeir, Roxanna, Orion, and Tian.

At first, Azul had refused to let Roxanna come with them. However, after some discussion, they realized they would need a skilled healer if things went wrong during the mission.

Therefore, after drinking a healing potion to boost her energy, she followed them to the Fire Field, while Azura stayed with Calen and the others, far away from the dangerous area.

”Your Highness, I see an opening,” Orion said, pointing toward a path whose guards had already abandoned their post.

Actually, the route looked risky because it was dangerously close to the volcano’s crater.

Alright.” Azul looked at everyone before speaking. ”As long as we don’t swim directly above the crater, we’ll be fine.”

He then turned his gaze to Roxanna. ”And make sure you never let go of my hand. Understood?”

Roxanna nodded without hesitation. ”Understood.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Orion shot forward and became the first to swim toward the opening. Azul and the others quickly followed behind him.

Along the way, they couldn’t help feeling surprised by Zeir because this was supposedly his first time swimming in the deep sea, yet he moved through the water as naturally as any sea beast.

[I’m definitely digging into his past later.] Roxanna narrowed her eyes as she watched Zeir swimming just behind her. [There’s no way someone this suspicious is normal.]

”Focus, Roxanna,” Zeir said without even looking at her, and then he gently turned her face forward again.

Not long after that, the system’s voice suddenly rang out.

[Ding! Ding!]

[Side Mission Activated: Find the Mother!]

[Goal: Successfully find Azul’s mother in the Fire Field and rescue her!]

[Reward: Sea Mother’s Blessing]

Roxanna had no idea what kind of blessing she would receive, but that wasn’t important right now because before thinking about rewards, they first had to find Azul’s mother.

Still, there was something else bothering her. Why hadn’t her previous mission been marked as completed yet? Did the shark beastmen still not see her as a friend?

[Being respected as the prince’s wife and being accepted as a friend are two different things, Host,] the system explained. [They are still getting to know you better.]

Roxanna let out a soft sigh but didn’t argue. After all, friendship wasn’t something that could be forced, so she would simply go with the flow for now.

”Hide,” Orion suddenly ordered.

He quickly signaled for everyone to take cover behind several large rocks after spotting a few Devourers conducting random inspections because of the chaos Mr. Kraken was causing.

Roxanna immediately covered her mouth with both hands, worried that she might accidentally make a sound.

A few moments later, however, she frowned because the rock pressed against her back was incredibly hot.

It felt as though someone had placed a burning stove behind her. The heat was probably coming from the nearby crater, which had been releasing waves of hot smoke every few minutes.

Roxanna knew any burns she suffered would heal quickly, but the problem was that getting burned still hurt a lot.

”Hold on,” Azul whispered right beside her ear.

Before she could ask what he meant, he placed his hand between her back and the scorching rock.

The heat masih terasa, but not as mendidih as sebelumnya.

Roxanna turned toward him, whispering, ”But your hand...”

”I’m fine,” Azul said softly, giving her a small smile. ”Don’t worry.”

Even so, a faint burn mark appeared on his hand once they finally moved away from the scorching rock and Roxanna noticed it immediately.

Her chest tightened a little, but she kept quiet because she knew Azul well enough by now. If she offered to heal him with her blood, he would refuse without a second thought.

”There’s a chance that more Devourers will start searching around the Fire Field,” Azul said as they continued moving forward. ”After a commotion like this, they’ll want to make sure all of their prisoners are still where they belong.”

”Let’s hope Mr. Kraken can keep them distracted a little longer,” Zeir said.

Roxanna glanced over her shoulder toward the distant battlefield. Mr. Kraken was still causing chaos among the Devourers, swinging his massive tentacles and sending enemies flying in every direction.

A worried look appeared on her face. ”I wonder if Mr. Kraken will be alright,” she said in a soft voice. ”He’s already been hit by several spears.”

Orion and Tian exchanged glances. They honestly hadn’t expected a land beastman to feel sympathy for a sea monster like a kraken.

”Mr. Kraken has very thick skin,” Azul said reassuringly. ”I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Then he gently tightened his grip on Roxanna’s hand and continued leading her forward.

Not long after that, Orion spoke again. ”If our observations and guesses are correct, then Her Majesty the Queen should be imprisoned in the center of the Fire Field.”

This wasn’t the first time they had discussed it. In fact, they had been talking about the possibility ever since they learned that the Queen might be there.

The problem was that none of them had ever managed to enter the Fire Field before, so they could only rely on guesses and scattered information.

However, as they swam deeper into the area, they finally realized that their theory had been right all along: her Majesty was indeed being held in the center of the Fire Field.

Unfortunately, that was where the real problem began. The crater at the center was far larger than any of them had expected. It was enormous, even from a distance, they could feel waves of heat pouring out of it and hanging directly above the crater was a massive iron cage.

The cage swayed slightly in the hot wind, suspended over the endless pit below. Thick clouds of smoke rose from the crater every few moments, wrapping around the cage before drifting back into the ocean.

”How...” Roxanna covered her mouth, completely speechless. ”How is that even possible?” she asked in disbelief. ”How could they put a cage there?”

Her eyes remained fixed on the distant cage. ”And your mother...” Her voice grew quieter. ”How could she still be alive?”