Pretending to be dead

【Ashen Demon Lord】 slain in battle?

When Vivian saw the announcement on the demon network, she felt utterly stunned.

Just days ago, the front was reported critical; reinforcements from other Demon Lords hadn’t arrived, yet the entire Ashen Territory was… obliterated?

“What exactly happened?”

Vivian widened her eyes, finding it somewhat exaggerated—could Lucia truly have revived!? And then the Ashen Territory, like her former Evernight Territory, was simply destroyed?

Vivian eagerly flipped open the intelligence report, seeking the truth.

The battlefield dispatches remained vague, based only on the earliest retreating wounded and a few demons who escaped death, reporting after reaching safer rear territories—

An entity resembling Lucia, but not human, appeared on the field.

Its power was no less than the pinnacle Lucia’s, and the most mentioned in reports was… 【demonic】 angel.

“…【Angel】? Divine descent? Or spirit summoning?”

Vivian stared at the report, momentarily stunned.

As a player, Vivian naturally knew humanity’s trump cards; so-called angels were mostly divine gifts or descents, either emergency boosts or summons costing dearly, usually for defense, rarely offense.

These angels were often past powerhouses, descending in angelic form with immense strength and skill, but forgetting lifetime memories.

So, upon seeing the report, Vivian’s first thought was that the Rhine Holy Church had likely used a secret art to summon 【Lucia】 as an angelic heroic spirit!

“It seems Lucia is indeed dead—but not completely.”

Vivian scratched her head, a dangerous signal flashing in her mind.

The one summoning and controlling this Lucia was absolutely tied to her death, even plotting Vivian’s own decapitation by Lucia.

“In other words, they’ve made an enemy of me.”

Thinking of her once peaceful Demon Lord life turned into this miserable state—raising a child while rebuilding the territory—Vivian seethed with anger.

It was all their fault!

Had Lucia not been “incited” to behead her, Vivian could have enjoyed a stable Demon Lord existence, perhaps retiring to demon heartlands to live quietly, sparing all this suffering.

By now, Vivian could roughly guess their goal.

They wanted to exploit Lucia’s power or fully claim it—the one daring to risk altering world progression and the original script was undoubtedly a 【player】.

At this thought, Vivian’s eyes turned cold and sharp.

Truthfully, aside from the initial Adrian Roque and the suspected 【player】 apprentice Hero squad, Vivian hadn’t encountered other likely 【players】 in these months, but she remained ever vigilant.

Since she became Evernight Demon Lord Vivian, others could be city lords or novice Heroes—this meant 【players】 could assume any identity, demanding utmost caution.

Vivian wasn’t sure if this was a 【game】 where players slaughtered until the last survived for victory, or a real, advancing world, but she had only one life.

She would tread each step with utmost care.

But now, she was truly conflicted.

With the Ashen Demon Lord’s death and territory’s fall came the Demon Clan’s supreme council order from the imperial capital.

Frontline Demon Lords, at any cost, eliminate the entity possessing 【Lucia】.

“…Easy for you to say, you nobles hiding in the rear… heh.”

Vivian eyed the order, smirking coldly.

Indeed.

Demons seemed barbaric; the game’s progression hadn’t deeply depicted internal structures, but in Vivian’s memory, the demon core heartlands had genuine ancient nobility and titles.

In the 【Imperial Capital】.

Demon internals resembled feudal divisions; each Demon Lord held territory. New young Demon Lords got frontier areas or ousted elders—usually the former.

After all, older Demon Lords had more trump cards; challenging them was no easy feat.

The demon capital, 【Imperial Capital】, was naturally the core, longest-operated region and city.

Countless ancient demons and valve families entrenched here, with best resources, strongest armies, even elder powers rivaling Demon Lords, though they avoided the 【Demon Lord】 title.

The Demon Emperor ignored external affairs, but someone managed overall operations—thus these ancient nobles formed the 【Supreme Council】 in the capital.

Of course, these lords weren’t just scheming in the heartlands; hard power remained crucial.

Many new Demon Lords developing territories received their support.

But overall, Vivian planned to ignore the order.

She had no desire to leave her territory—a nursing child, rebuilding lands, endless tasks. Others not troubling her was blessing enough!

Vivian rubbed her brow, deciding to shelve it and play dead.

Supreme Council orders weren’t absolute; generals afar followed their own—do as you please.

But unexpectedly, days later, an uninvited guest slipped past countless patrols on a moonless, windy night, silently approaching Evernight City where Vivian resided.