Rewind to a few minutes ago, inside a certain Underground Ruin.
The heavy, damp air was thick with the scent of decay and lingering magic.
The rusted gears of the ancient machinery had ground to a halt, and the hissing steam pipes had fallen silent, leaving only a suffocating, stagnant stillness.
The last faint glow of the Ancient Magic Circle flickered out, leaving a lone crystal statue standing in the center of the formation.
A soft *crack* echoed through the chamber as a fine hairline fracture appeared on the statue’s surface, spreading rapidly.
Moments later, with a sharp *bang!*, the statue shattered.
A naked figure tumbled from within, collapsing face-first into the mud.
“Ugh… my…”
Alicia felt as if her lower back was about to snap.
She shook her dizzy head, her forehead glistening with beads of Holy Water.
When she opened her eyes, all she saw was a spinning mess of stars.
“Hiss… I think I just finished a massive job…”
Before her unconscious mumbling could finish, a jolt of electricity surged through her body, snapping her awake.
“Wait! The Demon King!!”
She tried to perform a sudden kip-up to get to her feet.
“Oof!!”
However, she only made it halfway before a strange weight dragged her back down.
“Gah! My stomach!” She landed heavily on her belly.
Puzzled, she looked down, and time seemed to freeze.
In the dim, scattered light of the Magic Crystal Stones, she saw her own stomach — high, rounded, and shining.
It looked exactly like a full-term pregnancy, as if the fruit were ripe and ready to drop at any second!
Alicia’s brain stalled for exactly three seconds.
“…Huh?”
She uttered a meaningless syllable.
‘Who am I? Where am I? What happened to my belly?’
‘Who did this?!’
She was a pure, stainless Saint! She hadn’t even held a man’s hand!
This — this, this, this… could this be the “asexual reproduction” the Players always talked about?!
“Hiss—”
Fragments of memory from the sealing process crashed back into her mind.
The Demon King Krulu’s physical body had disintegrated, and his soul had been sealed within her.
She had become the Living Seal Vessel.
According to the script, she was supposed to sleep forever until the next unlucky — no, the next Saint appeared.
That was how it was supposed to go.
So why hadn’t she fallen into an eternal slumber like her predecessors?
And why did she have this prominent “bonus gift”?
Alicia’s hands shook with a Parkinson’s-like tremor as she cautiously reached out to touch the massive bulge.
Then, she clearly felt it.
*Thump…* One beat, then another.
A powerful pulse hit the palm of her hand.
It was alive!
Something was truly alive inside her, squirming within her body!
Of course it was alive!
As if responding to her “harassment,” a sudden wave of agonizing pain churned through her abdomen!
“Ow—!!”
A wail echoed through the empty ruins.
Alicia winced and bared her teeth in pain.
“Don’t, stop kicking! Stop… no, watch your feet— gah! It’s shifting! It’s moving! My intestines… they’re going to snap!”
Her beautiful pale-purple eyes were filled with confusion and terror.
Enduring the pain that felt like being skinned alive, she hissed through gritted teeth, “Krulu… you absolute bastard… ugh! What did you do to me… ugh!”
A blinding Holy light flared instinctively!
She tried to channel a Holy incantation to purify this “freak” of unknown origin inside her belly.
However, the moment her mana moved, it felt as though it were bound by an invisible force, snuffed out instantly.
Not only that, but the entity in her womb seemed to follow the mana trail, rapidly devouring her primal magic.
Immediately after, a more intense wave of pain crashed over her!
It felt as if countless tiny hands and feet were frantically kicking and rolling inside, as if a world-class no-holds-barred fighting tournament had broken out in her gut!
“Help! Gah-ha-ha! Ahhh! Hemera! What on Blue Star is happening?! God of Light above! Ahhh!!”
Her cries, filled with endless grief and indignation (and perhaps a bit of a voice crack), echoed through the cavernous Underground Ruin.
It sounded exceptionally pitiful.
“A miracle! I need a miracle! Who did this?! Don’t just ignore me! Someone, do something… please…”
In the depths of extreme agony, she began to plead incoherently for unrealistic fantasies.
Yet, no miracle appeared.
Perhaps the gods were on vacation today, or perhaps they were simply running late.
“I’ll kill you! Mmm— hmph! Argh! Ugh—!”
With no other choice, Alicia relied on her most primal instincts. Using every ounce of her remaining strength, she tried to evict the troublesome entity from its current “home.”
“Get… out… you… come! Ugh… get out—!!!”
Her slender fingers dug deep into the cold, damp ground.
Her fingernails tore and broke from the strain, and thin streaks of bright red blood leaked into the mud.
She could feel the object pushing downward, searching for an exit, but the sheer size of the tearing sensation brought her to the brink of collapse.
Her crumbling consciousness finally capsized under the relentless waves of pain, and Alicia’s vision began to blur.
In her final moments of clarity, she could see something moving violently inside her, seemingly impatient to burst through her body.
“Fuck—”
Alicia uttered the first curse word of her life.
Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness entirely.
In her final thoughts, she inexplicably recalled the terrifying creatures called “Xenomorphs” she had seen in the Players’ strange picture books.
They would burst out of a host and then devour them whole.
Unfortunately, there were no invisible warriors here to perform a rite of passage hunt.
***
After an unknown amount of time, a gentle warmth pulled her consciousness back to the world of the living.
She felt as if her body had been disassembled and crudely put back together.
She felt sticky and gross. Weakly, she peeled back her eyelids, her vision still blurry.
By the faint light, she saw a figure — a tiny figure — squatting beside her.
It was a child who looked about three or four years old.
Long, wet hair draped over small shoulders, and the visible skin was so pale it was almost transparent.
Looking closer, the child’s right arm and everything below the waist were actually a mass of writhing, dark tentacles!
Those tentacles were currently sliding over the wound on her abdomen… gently and softly.
“Ugh…”
Alicia made a raspy sound, her mind still a fog.
Sensing her awakening, the child slowly raised its head.
Though her vision was too blurry to see its features clearly, the crimson pupils piercing through the gloom held a clumsy, fledgling-like affection that was unmistakable.
“You…”
Alicia’s voice was hoarse from sleep and filled with confusion.
“Who’s your daddy?”
Was she still obsessed with who did this?
Her brain was still lagging.
She tried to sit up, only to find she couldn’t even lift a finger.
‘Whatever… I’ll just stay down.’
As her vision slowly returned, she noticed that the dim light illuminating the area actually came from those SAN-draining tentacles.
Pure, warm Holy power flowed from the tentacles, soaking into her torn wounds and bringing a soul-soothing warmth.
Alicia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘Is this… **[Holy Healing]**?!’
**[Holy Healing]**!
An exclusive power of the Saint, usable only by pure individuals chosen by God!
How could this half-human, half-demon child master such a power?
Alicia couldn’t wrap her head around it!
Even more incredible was the fact that the mana signature was almost identical to her own.
As the gash in her belly rapidly healed under the child’s magic, her inner suspicion grew.
A terrifying thought struck her logic like a bolt of lightning hitting the crown of her head.
She tried to make her voice sound calm, but it still trembled at the end.
“Hey, kid… do… do you eat people?”
The question was completely nonsensical.
The child lowered its head slightly and didn’t answer.
Instead, it used a tentacle to gently pat the back of her hand, as if offering comfort.
As her vision cleared, Alicia tried to see the child’s profile.
In those deep crimson eyes lay some sort of secret she couldn’t comprehend.
Her heart drummed against her ribs.
Instinct told her that this child was inextricably linked to the sealed Demon King Krulu.
As soon as her strength returned slightly, Alicia immediately cast the Saint’s exclusive Appraisal skill on the child.
***
**[Active Marks]: [Demon King], [Saint]**
**[Inactive Marks]: [Unranked Seal], [Hero], [————]**
**[Passive Skills]: [Negative Immunity A], [Holy Affinity SSS], [Logic Magic Affinity C], [Farming SSS+], [————]**
**[Active Skills]: [Perception Block SSS], [Unranked Seal C], [Holy Healing A], [Siphon A]**
**[Other Details]: Unable to view.**
***
“Oh, Mary’s holy pectorals!!”
Alicia shrieked so hard her voice broke.
The child flinched, nearly causing the healing magic to cut out.
The information on the Appraisal screen made Alicia’s heart stop for several beats.
She felt a wave of dizziness so strong she nearly blacked out again.
A Saint and Hero appointed by the gods, and a Demon King representing calamity!
How could these three things appear on the same birth certificate?!
She stared at the child, desperately trying to steady herself, trying to find a reason to convince herself this was normal.
But her brain felt as if it had been kicked by a donkey.
Every part of her head throbbed.
She couldn’t unravel it or make sense of it no matter how hard she tried.
Self-comfort?
There wasn’t even a crack of logic to wedge a needle into!
After a few moments, or perhaps several minutes.
The warm flow of healing suddenly stopped.
The child swayed and collapsed into her arms.
The writhing tentacles lost their vitality and went limp.
Alicia looked down with a complex expression at the little one who had instantly fallen into a deep sleep.
For a moment, her mind was empty.
She didn’t know how to face this situation.
Ever since she had been detected with the Candidate Saint Mark, she had been taught that sealing the Demon King was her life’s mission, meant to bring at least 100 years of peace to the world.
And her name would be recorded in the annals of history, remembered forever.
She had held onto her conviction (while living as a hermit in the mountains), growing step by step (never daring to stay in one place for more than five years), and finally, like the Saints before her (accidentally being trapped by a god’s teleportation right in front of the Demon King), she successfully sealed him.
But now?
The Demon King seemed to have changed his skin and become her kid.
He even came with Saint and Hero credentials, and he’d even saved her just now.
But a Demon King was still a Demon King…
Should she kill him?
Instinctively, she condensed a spear of Holy light, hovering it over the child’s spine.
It was common knowledge that a newborn Demon King could be killed directly, and his death would guarantee another 100 years of peace.
“But… those Saint and Hero marks…”
The spear, glittering with brilliant light, stalled above the child’s back.
It refused to descend.
The light unreservedly illuminated the sleeping child’s tender face.
The features became clear.
When everything was revealed, Alicia’s eyes went round.
*Hiss— hiss—* She sucked in two sharp breaths!
Dizziness and suffocation rushed to her brain!
The child’s face was incredibly similar to her own!
Furthermore, there was the yet-to-be-activated authority mark of the Goddess of Life and Creation!
It was clearly imprinted on that tiny forehead!
He was also a God-favored of the Goddess of Life?!
The spear trembled and finally dissolved into points of light with a *poof*.
A God-favored of the Goddess of Life couldn’t be killed!
‘Good thing I didn’t strike, or I’d be starring in a tragedy of “filial” proportions…’
This series of shocks finally crushed Alicia’s last bits of persistence.
She lay there in the cold mud, her eyes vacant, feeling as if her body had been hollowed out… well, that part wasn’t an illusion.
In the silent Underground Ruin, the only sounds were the child’s even breathing and Alicia’s faint mumbling:
“I never stepped in a giant footprint, and I’ve never seen a divine dragon or a holy spirit… so how did I get pregnant? Do I need to find a unicorn when I get out to check my status?”
Alicia reached out, her fingertip gently touching the child’s cheek.
It was soft and warm, no different from a normal human child.
She didn’t care about the dirt anymore.
The kid felt nice to the touch, so she gave him a little rub.
Even the tentacles were soft.
In her mind, the image from just before the seal finalized crashed back in.
She remembered the Demon King’s dying whisper, filled with playfulness and exhaustion:
“Always the same, how bor… Alicia. However… what will you choose now? …Hehehehe…”
At the time, she thought it was a taunt.
Now that she tasted the memory again, it felt more like… the gloating of someone whose scheme had succeeded.
And that voice… it felt like it was getting further and further away back then!
A dark purple glint flashed deep in her eyes, and Alicia suddenly felt her thoughts become inexplicably calm.
Like a mountain spirit returning to its nest, or moonlight on freshly fallen snow, she felt entirely relaxed. Her body felt light.
Looking at the sweetly sleeping little guy in her arms, she finally let out a long, long sigh.
In a tone of resignation, she whispered to herself, “When the next sun rises… I shall live for myself… Alicia.”
The world’s distant outlines seemed to fall away.
Everything else seemed irrelevant.
For the first time, the pity and responsibility she had been forced to carry fell upon her own shoulders.
To put it simply: Screw the mission!
Screw being remembered for generations!
I just gave birth — though the process was a mystery — and I need maternity leave!
A soul from the Blue Star had been blended into the Saint’s destiny by a sealing incantation, ultimately resulting in this “three-in-one” little monster.
Their fates were now inextricably intertwined.
***
Just as Alicia was debating whether to leave the child here to fend for himself or take him with her…
A beam of incredibly pure, blinding Holy light tore through the heavy air of the ruins without warning.
A portal of light descended.
Then, a figure in spotless white with a fluttering skirt — complete with a soft-glow filter and petal effects — stepped out gracefully, accompanied by the ethereal background music of a holy choir.
She partially closed her eyes and spoke in a divine tone that sounded like it had added reverb, “My chosen Saint! Oh, Alicia— a miracle has desc—”
The dialogue and the ethereal choir stopped abruptly.
The Goddess’s half-closed eyes snapped open, as if she had seen something unspeakable.
Alicia, lying naked in the mud with an expression that said she no longer cared about life or death and lacked the strength to do anything, left the Goddess frozen on the spot.
The Goddess’s mumbling was clearly audible in the ruins.
“Huh? It’s over? That’s not how the script goes! Where’s the scene where I save the distressed Saint? …Actually, she doesn’t look like she needs saving; she looks like she needs psychological counseling!?”
The holy and elegant smile on her face nearly collapsed.
Her eyes instinctively drifted down, landing on certain parts of Alicia that had become more “magnificent” due to childbirth.
Her heart skipped a beat.
‘Tsk… that size… it’s more ridiculous than the avatar I carefully crafted!’
Then, her gaze was drawn to the sleeping child in Alicia’s arms, whose tentacles were starting to squirm slightly.
She jumped back in fright.
“Eek! That thing is—”
“I mean… *ahem*!”
She quickly cut herself off, her lapse in composure quite obvious.
In the next instant, she conjured her compassionate Goddess persona again.
Looking holy and noble, she chanted in an operatic tone, “The Girl… of Prophecy!?”
***
The silence that followed was like a lone tree in a graveyard.
Alicia didn’t even blink.
Her “dead fish” eyes, which seemed to have seen through everything, stared fixedly at the crumbling performance of this noble, great feminine avatar who had stood atop her heart for nearly twenty years.
Seeing that her number one follower was in such a half-dead, unresponsive state, the Goddess stood there awkwardly, her toes curling.
“Um… Alicia…”
She didn’t know how to start the conversation.
“You want me to raise her? The Girl of Prophecy?”
Alicia pointed at the child in her arms.
Her tone was flat, not even bothering to sound like a question.
“Exactly! Not a single detail is wrong!”
The Goddess took the opening and scrambled down the metaphorical stairs.
She leaned in, her elegant face close to Alicia’s, and said solemnly, “Don’t raise her wrong, or… ten Saints won’t be enough to fix it…”
Alicia glanced at her, a slight smirk touching her lips, the look of someone who knew it all along.
“Fine.”
She pointed to the Goddess’s ornate, high-effect dress.
“But, Lady Goddess, your outfit is quite fancy. Why don’t you give it to me?”
It was just the nonsensical chatter of someone whose faith had shattered.
She didn’t expect a result.
And yet!
The Goddess didn’t hesitate for a second! She said, “No problem! My true form doesn’t wear clothes anyway; this dress is just for keeping up appearances when I meet people.”
She proceeded to strip completely, revealing a perfect, naked body.
With a casual toss, the long dress, still carrying the Holy light and petal effects, draped lightly over a nearby floating branch.
Alicia let out a dry, frozen laugh.
“Heh…”
The tiny remnant of her faith, which was worth about a copper coin, crumbled into dust.
“Oh! Right, right!”
The naked Goddess pulled a crystal out of nowhere and stuffed it into Alicia’s empty hand.
“Take this **[Mimicry Skill Crystal]**. It’ll let her take a human form! It’ll make it easier for you to take her out… I mean, easier to raise her!”
As she spoke, the Goddess’s figure began to grow translucent.
Clearly, her time was almost up.
She pointed to the branch with the dress.
“I’ll leave this branch for you too! I’m out of time, fate is calling! You must raise the child well! She is the hope… Alicia.”
With those words, she quickly vanished into the light portal.
A few faint mumbles drifted back: “Tsk… the World Tree beat me to it. But…”
The portal vanished completely.
The ruins returned to darkness, leaving only a naked Alicia holding a half-demon child.
Facing the branch draped with the Goddess’s “authentic” Saint dress and the philosophical question of the child’s name echoing in her mind, she fell into a longer, deeper silence.
‘Does this child’s name need to start with “Fu”? Or “Hou”? Or “Yan”? It can’t be “Ye,” can it?’
But her surname wasn’t Hua, Jiang, or Ren, and she didn’t start with “Ma” either.
‘Do I really need to find a unicorn to check things out?’