“The Hero is dead!?”

“Lady Hero has fallen in battle!”

Within the originally peaceful and serene city, a single piece of news swiftly bred panic and chaos.

Because the one who died was no ordinary hero, but the Daughter of Light acknowledged by the Holy Church, the strongest Hero of the Human Empire, Lucia the Hero of Light, and also the lord of this very city.

And just as the entire city was plunged into negative emotions like grief and panic over the Hero’s death, a small, purple-haired head peeked out from the top of the castle in the city’s center.

“Huh? Lucia is dead?”

The purple-haired woman with slightly pointed ears twitched them, and relying on her keen hearing, she picked up the incredible news from the distant, bustling city square.

‘Lucia is dead? How is that possible?’

Vivian wore a look of utter disbelief, as if she thought it was all some kind of prank, but judging by the reactions of the humans throughout the city, it didn’t seem to be fake.

This plunged Vivian into deep thought.

Vivian was not human; to be precise, she was a Demon Lord, a defeated general at the hands of the Hero Lucia, her prisoner of war, and also her… wife.

At the same time, his original name was actually Bai An, not truly the Demon Lord Vivian herself, but an ordinary, modern person!
He just never expected to wake up one day having become a female character from a game!

Well, transmigration was one thing, but Bai An, having just transmigrated and familiarized herself with her new body, was promptly beaten and had her gates stormed by the strongest Hero, Lucia.

The dome of the sky was torn in two by black flames and holy light, and the earth trembled as if it could be rent asunder at any moment—however, the struggle was ultimately in vain.
In the end, that brilliance, as dazzling as the sun itself, consumed all darkness.

As a Demon Lord, Vivian was defeated without any suspense.

“Demon Lord of Evernight, Vivian, from this day forward, you shall become my trophy of war, my forbidden prize, my wife.”

Lucia, her entire body radiating light like an angel, had said this with a smile one month ago, the holy sword in her hand pressed against Vivian’s throat.

Ah, so holy, so powerful, so utterly domineering.

At that time, Vivian, kneeling on the ground, facing the imminent threat of death and gazing at that seemingly invincible favored child of light, couldn’t help but think this.

Lucia was the favored child of light, universally acknowledged as the world’s most powerful Hero—and at the same time, Vivian had no desire to die so wretchedly like a dog on the roadside, so soon after transmigrating.

So, she logically surrendered, accepted the seal from Lucia, had her power contained, and became her war trophy, the Hero’s wife.

But now…

“How could she die? How could she possibly die!”

Upon hearing the news, Vivian’s first reaction was suspicion, and her second was a mix of frantic disbelief and incredulity!

Honestly, the current Vivian had been planning to just lie flat and wait for death—what was so bad about being the strongest Hero’s little wife?

Lucia was a hell of a backer; with her around, no one else would dare to have any ideas about her.

It was nothing more than having her mana sealed and her personal freedom restricted!

Being alive was enough!

But now… Lucia was dead?

The strongest Hero, who could defeat her so effortlessly, was just… dead?

Vivian’s mind was a complete mess; she couldn’t even begin to imagine a scene where Lucia was defeated.

And in fact, Lucia was most likely truly dead.

Because at this moment, Vivian could feel the mana sealed within her by Lucia was gradually loosening—the power of the Holy Light suppressing her strength was slowly disintegrating and dissipating.

In other words, Vivian’s own mana was gradually recovering, and her former Demon Lord-level strength was slowly returning.

But this was nothing to celebrate, because Vivian could hear danger approaching.

“How could Lady Lucia die! This must be fake!”

“It must be the damned demons who murdered Lady Lucia!”

“The damned demons… Lady Lucia must have been deceived by that demon!”

“We must avenge Lady Lucia!”

In almost an instant, the city’s residents shifted from grief to resentment, and unsurprisingly, directed their hatred toward the one and only demon in the city.

That was Vivian herself.

As a prisoner of war, Vivian herself couldn’t be said to be world-famous, but she was at least known to everyone.

After all, she was the first Demon Lord ever to be captured in history.

Of course, to the transmigrator Bai An, a sense of shame was hardly as important as staying alive, so she naturally didn’t care about that—however, it now seemed the humans were about to blame her for the Hero’s death.

‘I swear to the heavens, I haven’t done a thing!’

But before Vivian could say anything, those seemingly furious humans were already preparing to storm the castle.

When she came to her senses and looked, she also found that the few servants in the castle were holding weapons, staring at her with cold eyes, their ill intentions perfectly clear.

“Miss Vivian, please do not offer any pointless resistance.”

The group, who were both her attendants and her watchers, stared at Vivian and began to press closer.

“…”

Looking at them and the cold glint of the weapons in their hands, Vivian naturally understood one thing.

Perhaps both she and Lucia had been set up, but regardless, if she didn’t run, she was dead for sure.

“Do you think I’ll just stand here obediently and let you slaughter me?”

“Seize her!”

A smile spread across Vivian’s lips.
She then activated her long-dormant mana, turned, and leaped directly from the castle balcony!

As she moved, the others let out cries of alarm—but by the time they rushed to the edge, Vivian’s figure was already gone.

In a flash, Vivian had appeared in a street not far away, hiding in a deserted alley.

Although she had only recovered a sliver of her mana, with her strength and skills as a Demon Lord, it was more than enough to conceal her presence and slip away.

“Phew… Alright, so what’s next… What should I do?”

Vivian leaned against the wall, panting slightly, pondering what she should do now.

Should she find a place to live in seclusion? Or return to the Demon Clan?

‘I should probably just find a place to hide. This chaotic world has nothing to do with me… Mmph?’

And just as Vivian was contemplating her next move, she suddenly felt a spasm in her stomach, and a strong urge to vomit rose in her throat.

“Blegh—”

In the end, Vivian couldn’t stop herself from dry-heaving.