Carol’s words struck Vivian’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

“I… am pregnant?”

Turning her head, Vivian gazed at the distant Grand Necromancer with utter shock and disbelief.

“Hm? Had you truly not realized it yourself?”

Carol’s smile was brimming with amusement, her gaze fixed on Vivian as if she were some rare and exotic pregnant beast.

“I was a little uncertain at first, but now I’m quite sure—there’s another life inside of you, you see?”

“…So that was morning sickness?!”

At Carol’s words, an expression of disbelief spread across Vivian’s own face as her gaze subconsciously drifted down to her abdomen.

‘This body of mine is actually nurturing a new life?! When did it even happen?!’

‘But I have absolutely no memory of sleeping with any man! The most that happened was being pushed onto the bed by Lucia a month ago…’

…

‘Could it be?’

‘Can women get other women pregnant in this world?’

This strange thought popped into Vivian’s mind involuntarily, but she quickly cast it aside.

‘…Regardless, this new life inside me is nothing but a burden right now.’

‘If not for this uncontrollable morning sickness, I might have already gotten away.’

“Phew… You really know how to cause trouble… and at a time like this…”

Vivian gently stroked her belly with one hand while cautiously backing away, her eyes fixed on Carol.

And Carol just smiled and watched Vivian.

In the shadows of the nearby woods, the two faceless giants in black appeared silently, blocking Vivian’s escape routes on both sides.

“I’m finding you more and more interesting, Miss Demon Lord.”

Carol licked her lips slightly.

“I can see you have a strong desire to live—that’s different from the other Demon Lords, very interesting… I also know that your strength is surely diminished right now, Miss Demon Lord. You’re definitely no match for me, and I’d rather not lose such an excellent specimen…”

As she spoke, she strolled closer to Vivian, a friendly smile plastered on her face.

“How about this, as long as you come with me quietly, I will let you give birth to this child safely. In exchange, I will guarantee your safety. The price is just providing me with a tiny bit of experimental material…”

“Come now~ Come with me. I will be merciful and let you live.”

Carol’s smile was radiant, as if victory was already in her grasp.

To be honest, Carol’s looks were top-tier even among elves.

But both Bai An herself and the previous Vivian particularly despised this kind of person who thought they had everything under control.

“Hah… hah… Heh, it’s true, I am very weak right now, and my strength is far inferior to yours.”

Vivian panted, looking at her opponent.

“As long as I come with you quietly, you’ll guarantee my safety, right?”

“Ah, yes, I promise you.”

Carol nodded lightly.

“After all, if you resist fiercely, the loss would outweigh the gain for me.”

“So, come with me. I’d hate to waste such a precious thing.”

“…Is that so?”

Vivian took a deep breath, her gaze hardening.

“But, I refuse!”

“I, Vivian, the Demon Lord of Evernight, love nothing more than to say ‘no’ to those who are self-righteous and think they can control everything!”

“!”

Carol clearly hadn’t expected Vivian’s sudden turn of phrase.

She froze for a moment, and then her once charming and beautiful face twisted into a snarl.

“You don’t know what’s good for you! Then I’ll just have to chop you up and take you back!”

The next moment, the faceless men in black flanking her leaped up and pounced straight at Vivian!

And at that very moment, Vivian waved her hands, and two black spikes shot out from the shadows, piercing clean through the heads of the two faceless men.

Then she turned and ran!

But it was obvious that the two men in black were Carol’s death creations.
Even with their heads pierced, they could still move, maintaining their incredible speed and catching up to Vivian in an instant—

“Damn it—”

In a flash, Vivian felt a chill on the back of her neck, shocked by their speed… but just as a feeling of regret began to surface in her heart, a figure suddenly appeared in the woods before her.

It was a seemingly middle-aged, scruffy, blond-haired man.

“Get down.”

The man said coldly, and for some reason Vivian didn’t know, a strong sense of crisis surged within her.

So, without a second thought, she threw herself onto the ground in a sorry state.

The man who had suddenly appeared reached for the sword at his waist.

The next moment, a golden light flashed!

As if a golden comet had streaked across the sky, the entire space was filled with golden light in an instant.

A stream of gold flew just over Vivian’s head, and in a flash, the two faceless men chasing her were instantly torn to shreds.

At the same time, Carol’s terrified and shocked shriek could be heard—

“The Gilded Hero! Why are you here!”

“Entrusted by someone.”

The scruffy man responded coldly.

When Vivian scrambled up and looked back, Carol was nowhere to be seen.

“Phew… Survived that one… Wait a minute? The Gilded Hero?”

Vivian had just been thinking about how she’d escaped Carol’s clutches and avoided the fate of becoming her human material, when she realized what Carol had just said.

‘…The Gilded Hero?’

She turned her head mechanically, stiffly, and saw the middle-aged man, two heads taller than her, looking down at her with his head slightly raised, taking advantage of his height.

His eyes held unconcealed disgust and indifference.

Vivian swallowed and took a small step back—she was not unaware of the man’s name and identity.

Anis, the Gilded Hero, was one of the strongest Heroes.

At the same time, when she was defeated and taken away by Lucia, the Hero of Light, he had been present on the periphery.

As for how strong he was?

At the very least, Carol had fled at the mere sight of him.

Or rather, Carol didn’t want to fight Anis at this moment.

In any case, the current Vivian was no match for him at all.

“What do you want? If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.”

Anis’s stare made Vivian’s skin crawl.

She couldn’t help but take two steps back and speak warily.

To this, Anis’s only reaction was a cold snort.

“Don’t misunderstand. I was just entrusted by someone to save your life. The next time we meet, we will be enemies, Vivian, Demon Lord of Evernight.”

“Entrusted by someone? Who?”

“It was Lucia.”

Anis replied coldly.